Lord! Look! Violence and Injustice!

Dr. Alan J. Dunn

Part 1 Habakkuk 1:1-17

Why has our political discourse intensified to such a level of virulent hostility? Why? Because men’s consciences are offended. Our percolating politics boil with the bubbles of “righteous indignation.” The heat of moral outrage melts the bridges of reasoned rapport. The chasms formed by differing conscientious convictions are deep and wide. We hesitate to speak. Our words can unintentionally, inadvertently offend – but speak, we must. Does God have anything to say to us in our current situation of societal upheaval?[1]

Habakkuk’s Perplexing Questions

Scholars tell us that Habakkuk was a prophet-priest who served in the temple in Jerusalem toward the end of the seventh century B.C. Judean society was a mess, and Habakkuk was in distress. He looked over the cultural landscape of the Old Covenant Theocracy and was morally abhorred. He cried out to YHWH, the Lord, asking two perennially perplexing questions: How long? and Why? He was accosted by societal violence, iniquity, wickedness, destruction, strife, and contention: all due to the glaring apostasy of the people of God. The law is ignored, and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted [see Hab 1:1-4]. God’s Word was rendered irrelevant. Civil injustice and religious blasphemy were ubiquitous. Evil was in the ascendency – and this among the people called by the name of YHWH, the Lord! “Lord, Why? How long? Look! I see pervasive violence and injustice. Do You not see it? Why are you allowing this? When are You doing to do something about this? Are You not good? Are You not powerful? Are You not the God of Your people? Why is this evil happening? How long will it be until you rectify all this wickedness?”

The Lord’s Provocative Answer

Habakkuk seeks the Lord with an audacious prayer of perplexed lament. Pretty risky. How will the Lord respond? He begins to answer Habakkuk’s “how long” question. YHWH speaks to Habakkuk and those with him in the temple who were receiving God’s Word from His prophet. He informs them that it is already the time when He is “doing something about this.” I am doing something in your days, and it will stretch your faith to the point of incredulity [Hab 1:5]. It will appear so bizarre that the believing remnant will hardly be able to believe it. The God of Judah is sending the hordes of Babylon to invade Judah!? YHWH then describes the military prowess of the Chaldeans [Hab 1:6-11]. They are heading toward Jerusalem like a demonically energized tsunami of brutality and ruthless cruelty.

There are no defenses, no negotiating. They will simply take whatever you would offer to barter after they rape your wife and daughters, slaughter your sons, and burn your city to ashes. Be astonished! Wonder [v5]! Indeed. Abject horror gripped Habakkuk. One little life-raft of hope floats amidst the envisioned debris of Jerusalem’s destruction caused by the Chaldean flood. We see it at the end of Hab 1:11 – but they will be held guilty whose strength is their god. Ahh, some moral sanity! The Babylonians are idolaters, and YHWH will hold them guilty for their idolatry and their heartless savagery. But… the Babylonians are coming!

Habakkuk’s Persistent Entreaty

Some think that the Babylonians may have already arrived by the time Habakkuk resumes his persistent entreaty in Habakkuk 1:12-17. Babylon deported Judah’s citizenry in three waves and finally destroyed the city in 587B.C. It is possible that as Habakkuk lifted his voice to pray in the temple that the voices of foreign speaking hellions could be heard in the streets, pillaging and plundering, ravaging, and razing. Habakkuk’s faith surges forth in prayerful faith in His God. Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? You, O LORD… O Rock [see Hab 1:12]. Let us never minimize the practical benefit of sound, doctrinal theology. While the waves of Chaldean chaos crash against his conscience, Habakkuk clings to his God, his Rock. His faith is Abrahamic. He believes in the living God of the living [Luke 20:38] who gave life to Sarah’s dead womb and, in prophetic type, raised Isaac from the dead on Mount Moriah. We will not die. He believes in YHWH, who delivered Israel from the death-grip of Egyptian bondage and sustained them in the desolation of the desert. We will not die. He holds on to his God for dear life, for death-conquering life, for resurrection life.

Habakkuk’s poignant questions persist. Like Abraham interceding for Sodom in Gen 18, Habakkuk continues to pursue the Lord. But why? Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You cannot look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they [Hab 1:13]? The violence and injustice of Judah that occasioned Habakkuk’s initial lament is now exacerbated exponentially by Babylon’s grotesque lawlessness. Habakkuk complains to the Lord again and describes the invader’s malevolence and macabre idolatry. The Babylonians scoop up people like fish in a net, and then they offer a sacrifice and burn incense to their fishing net [1:16]! Lord! Why? Lord! How long? Continually [v17]?

Habakkuk evidences that he is coming upon insightful answers to his questions. In his prayer of 1:12-17, he perceives that the Lord has sent Babylon to correct [v12]. Discipline. For those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives [Pro 3:12; Heb 12:6]. Israel was the blessed “national son of God” whose theocratic covenant included curses for infidelity and disobedience. Habakkuk assessed Judah to be more righteous than Babylon. Judah will be disciplined, but Babylon will be held guilty and damned. But the covenant curses are deadly serious! If Israel would not be faithful to the Lord, He will be faithful to Israel and subject the nation to the forewarned curses. Does the Babylonian invasion spell the death of the theocratic covenant? We will not die. The Lord is our God. There is hope.

Habakkuk is relentless. He is disturbed by the fact that YHWH, his God, has sent the Babylonians. His faith is reaching through death to lay hold on the God of Abraham, but he struggles to come to terms with what he sees and hears all about him. He is still prosecuting his case in the courtroom of his conscience. The evidence is overwhelming. This is all so wrong, so blatantly wrong. He has no recourse but the Lord. What if he were to bring some of that evidence before the Lord? He decides to go and station himself on the rampart, the siege-work used by the Babylonians to breach the walls of the city. The violation of Jerusalem is obvious. “Lord! Look! Violence and injustice! Why? How long?” But he senses that he may be crossing a line. He is venturing into dangerous holy ground. He expects to be reproved [Hab 2:1]. Do you know the fear and trepidation of soul in having audience with the Holy One? Habakkuk’s approach to God is no casual, flippant, irreverent impertinence. Here is a son of Jacob, a true Israelite, who wrestles with the Lord with tenacious faith. He expects the Lord to reprove him, and yet he prepares to make his reply. His desperate dependence on the Lord amid his existential dread is astonishing and admonishing. Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have words of eternal life [John 6:68].

Where do we go when we see violence and injustice? To what authority do we appeal when we encounter offensive behavior that provokes our consciences? In what court-room do we argue our case? To whom do we complain? We want to be judged as “right” and “good” and “righteous.” We want our moral judgments to be approved and legitimized. There are several “court-rooms” in which we might seek validation to assuage our conscientious agitation. We construct our grievances in the court of our conscience and look for vindication from others. Every conversation becomes a mini political rally allowing us to give impromptu speeches, with the hope of hearing the applause of approval from our peers. Of course, there are legitimate court-rooms in our society where we can exercise our rights as citizens to bring about real societal change. However, not every believer in the world lives in a country that affords him our civil rights. As we seek “righteous” recourse, let us be careful lest our moral energies and religious impulses fall short of seeking that recourse available to us in the highest court of all: the throne-room of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us accompany Habakkuk and station ourselves before the Lord and plead our petitions to Him. Let us prepare ourselves, however, to receive and accept His answers to our pleas. Habakkuk has a legitimate case, but does he have the requisite faith to hear and obey what the Lord is about to say?

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[1] Your personal reading of Habakkuk as you consider the content of this article will bring additional benefit. Habakkuk and other Scriptures are frequently referenced using italicized words.

First article: Lord! Look! Violence and Injustice!

Second article: Read and Run

Third article: The Silent Serenity of Sovereignty

Fourth article: The Righteous Shall Live By Faith

Fifth article: Wait Quietly

The following books by Dr. Alan J. Dunn are available at Trinity Book Service and Cristianismo Histórico: