Hab 1:12-17 | KingComments | STEP | After this description of Babylon’s actions as the disciplinary rod for God’s people, the problem for Habakkuk is not gone. God’s statements about the disciplinary rod upset him completely. Rather, it has made his problem worse. Should this people, whose ungodliness is much greater than that of Israel, serve as a disciplinary rod for Israel? Surely that cannot be true? He talks about this with God. That gives him a certain degree of peace in his tormented mind. This is an example for us. We are allowed to go to the Lord with everything we experience, with our joy and our sorrow. Then our daily experiences will lead us to get to know Him better. Habakkuk speaks to God as the representative of his people. He speaks to God with some familiar names: 1. “The LORD” is the God of the covenant. That is He “ from everlasting”, which indicates that He is of eternity. He is the Eternal One. 2. He is “God”, Who chose His people to be His property. 3. He is the “Holy One”, Who is perfectly pure, Who cannot see or tolerate evil. By speaking of “my God” and “my Holy One,” he appropriates these names and thus takes possession of God, as it were, in that special trial of faith. From that personal relationship with God in the knowledge of Him as the Eternal One, the Pure One and the Holy One, Habakkuk knows by faith that God’s plans will not fail. Those who believe will not die and therefore will not miss the promised blessing. The statement “we will not die” is a certainty and not a wish. Habakkuk complains, but he is not rebellious. He believes that God is righteous and sticks to His plans. He will preserve His people, despite the devastation that the Chaldeans will cause. Here we see the government or providence of God. It is about the question of how God rules the world. Often things go differently than we expect. God is the holy God, who cannot endure sin, while sin continues and increases. On the other hand God promises to bless the righteous. But we see that the righteous suffer, that they are persecuted and oppressed. How does God’s government deal with this? The wicked ones surround the righteous. How is it possible that God allows that to happen? How is it possible that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer? Asaph also struggled with that problem ( ). Until he entered God’s sanctuary and learned to see things from God’s perspective ( ). It is all about patience and trust that God is not going out of control. It will be all right. Job also struggled with it, as we read in his book. Job argues: ‘God rewards the righteous and punishes the ungodly. I am a righteous one and yet God punishes me. How is that possible?’ His friends think they know the answer, and say that he must have sinned heavily because he suffers so much. We see the same problem in the book of Esther, where evil also seems to prevail. God does not seem to be present, but He is there anyway. The book of Ecclesiastes is also about the government of God, in which so much is described that we cannot understand, but from which we learn that we may leave everything to Him. From all these examples we learn that God does not allow Himself to be called to account. What we also learn is that the great answer to this problem is God Himself and that we can trust Him. Ultimately, His right will triumph. We cannot understand God, but we can trust Him. We can try to explain something to our children, but see that they don’t understand. Then we say that they are too little to understand, but that they can trust us. Leave it to Father. We have to learn to depend on God and to go our way in trust in Him. This is always the answer of faith to things that overwhelm the believer, things over which he has no control. The righteous trusts in God Who is the Rock. He is omnipotent and unshakable. God’s intentions can be nullified by nothing and no one. Habakkuk then says in faith that the Chaldeans are “appointed to judge” and not to destroy. A disciplinary rod is to restore, not to destroy. A father punishes his child not to kill it, but to form his character ( ). God recognizes us as His children when He punishes us. He punishes us precisely because we are His children ( ; ). This is also what Habakkuk believes most deeply. Therefore, he does not allow the problem he sees to undermine his faith. His questions do not come from distrust, but from incapacity and incomprehension.

‏ Habakkuk 1:12-17

Habakkuk Continues to Ask

After this description of Babylon’s actions as the disciplinary rod for God’s people, the problem for Habakkuk is not gone. God’s statements about the disciplinary rod upset him completely. Rather, it has made his problem worse. Should this people, whose ungodliness is much greater than that of Israel, serve as a disciplinary rod for Israel? Surely that cannot be true?

He talks about this with God. That gives him a certain degree of peace in his tormented mind. This is an example for us. We are allowed to go to the Lord with everything we experience, with our joy and our sorrow. Then our daily experiences will lead us to get to know Him better.

Habakkuk speaks to God as the representative of his people. He speaks to God with some familiar names:

1. “The LORD” is the God of the covenant. That is He “ from everlasting”, which indicates that He is of eternity. He is the Eternal One.

2. He is “God”, Who chose His people to be His property.

3. He is the “Holy One”, Who is perfectly pure, Who cannot see or tolerate evil.

By speaking of “my God” and “my Holy One,” he appropriates these names and thus takes possession of God, as it were, in that special trial of faith. From that personal relationship with God in the knowledge of Him as the Eternal One, the Pure One and the Holy One, Habakkuk knows by faith that God’s plans will not fail. Those who believe will not die and therefore will not miss the promised blessing. The statement “we will not die” is a certainty and not a wish. Habakkuk complains, but he is not rebellious. He believes that God is righteous and sticks to His plans. He will preserve His people, despite the devastation that the Chaldeans will cause.

Here we see the government or providence of God. It is about the question of how God rules the world. Often things go differently than we expect. God is the holy God, who cannot endure sin, while sin continues and increases. On the other hand God promises to bless the righteous. But we see that the righteous suffer, that they are persecuted and oppressed. How does God’s government deal with this? The wicked ones surround the righteous. How is it possible that God allows that to happen? How is it possible that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer?

Asaph also struggled with that problem (Psa 73:10-14). Until he entered God’s sanctuary and learned to see things from God’s perspective (Psa 73:15-16). It is all about patience and trust that God is not going out of control. It will be all right. Job also struggled with it, as we read in his book. Job argues: ‘God rewards the righteous and punishes the ungodly. I am a righteous one and yet God punishes me. How is that possible?’ His friends think they know the answer, and say that he must have sinned heavily because he suffers so much.

We see the same problem in the book of Esther, where evil also seems to prevail. God does not seem to be present, but He is there anyway. The book of Ecclesiastes is also about the government of God, in which so much is described that we cannot understand, but from which we learn that we may leave everything to Him.

From all these examples we learn that God does not allow Himself to be called to account. What we also learn is that the great answer to this problem is God Himself and that we can trust Him. Ultimately, His right will triumph. We cannot understand God, but we can trust Him. We can try to explain something to our children, but see that they don’t understand. Then we say that they are too little to understand, but that they can trust us. Leave it to Father. We have to learn to depend on God and to go our way in trust in Him.

This is always the answer of faith to things that overwhelm the believer, things over which he has no control. The righteous trusts in God Who is the Rock. He is omnipotent and unshakable. God’s intentions can be nullified by nothing and no one. Habakkuk then says in faith that the Chaldeans are “appointed to judge” and not to destroy. A disciplinary rod is to restore, not to destroy.

A father punishes his child not to kill it, but to form his character (Heb 12:10). God recognizes us as His children when He punishes us. He punishes us precisely because we are His children (Pro 3:12; Job 5:17). This is also what Habakkuk believes most deeply. Therefore, he does not allow the problem he sees to undermine his faith. His questions do not come from distrust, but from incapacity and incomprehension.

Why Does God Not Intervene?

Though there is trust, faith has its exercises when it sees that God sees such an injustice and remains silent. Habakkuk is sure that God’s “eyes are too pure to approve evil”. He knows that from the teaching of God’s Word and through his own dealings with God. The purity of God is something that is constantly taught to God’s people. In the wilderness their camp had to be pure because of the presence of the holy God in their midst. No one who was unclean was allowed to enter the sanctuary of the LORD (2Chr 23:19). Habakkuk also knows that God cannot look on wickedness with favor.

It is precisely the knowledge that God cannot see all this that causes the tormenting question of why God remains unmoved when He sees how there are people “who deal treacherously” with His people. The word “treacherously” also has the meaning of being unfaithful to appointments or agreements. It is the unscrupulous promise of something, with the intention of not keeping the promise. How can God tolerate such behavior? How can He remain silent, when He sees that “ the wicked one” serves as a disciplinary rod for someone “more righteous” than that wicked one? By “those more righteous,” is meant the believing remnant.

Defenseless People

Habakkuk is dismayed that Babylon is so raging against the people. God gives people “like the fish” and “like creeping things” in his hand. By letting the Babylonians, for whom the life of a human being is like the life of a fish and creeping things, loose on His people, God makes the life of His people as cheap as those things. Fish are caught with a net, with no chance of escape.

Fish and creeping things are dumb, they don’t make a sound and have no right or defense, there is no one to protect and defend them. In this way they, who fall into the hands of the Babylonians, are unable to help themselves. In addition, they are “without a ruler”, which means that they lack effective leadership to organize their defense. The king who reigns over His people does not give leadership, but is only concerned with how he can save himself. It seems as if God has ceased to be their King (Isa 63:19).

The Success and Joy of Babylon

The previous verse shows Judah as defenseless fish being fished out of their land and brought to Babylon. In this verse we see the materials, the means the Chaldeans use to achieve their successes, the subjugation and extermination of peoples. They are called a “hook”, “net” and “fishing net”. The Chaldeans “ rejoice and are glad” about these means and the successes achieved by them.

The words “rejoice” and “glad” are often used in connection with worship and praise (1Chr 16:31; Psa 14:7; Joel 2:21 ; 23; Zec 10:7). It is not only joyfulness, but a reaction to something that is appreciated and honored. It means here that Babylon idolizes himself. He praises his material and is proud of himself for the successes he has achieved. The following verse shows even more clearly the religious homage to himself.

Tribute to the Idols

The word “therefore” links this verse to the previous one, where the idolization of his power has already been hinted at. He does not attribute his successes to God, but to his means. That is why he offers sacrifices to them. With this he idolizes those means, in which we have to think especially of his military strength (Hab 1:11). The sacrifices consist of animals that are slaughtered and sacrificed to the idols. It is a false, idolatrous worship that arises from the greatest arrogance. We have a clear example of this in the golden image Nebuchadnezzar had made of and for himself, which was to be worshiped (Dan 3:1-7).

Because of his enormous military strength, his “catch is large [or: fat]”, and his “food is plentiful”. Everything he has captured serves to enable him to live his life in luxury and prosperity. With his hook, his net and his fishing net, Nebuchadnezzar drags, among others, the inhabitants of Judah into exile to his country. To him they are a fat booty.

Does Evil Always Continue?

Habakkuk returns to his question in Hab 1:13. Can the iniquity represented in the intermediate verses always be tolerated by a God of righteousness? In his despair and defeat, the prophet asks how long the Chaldeans will be successful, without stopping them. Will he always empty his net, in which there is a rich booty, and then take new booty? Can he continue to ruthlessly subjugate and exterminate peoples? The answer will come in the next chapter.

Habakkuk asks the LORD how He can allow that to happen. He struggles with the fact that God does not intervene. After all He has the power to do so, hasn’t He? Like Habakkuk, we would also do well to bring our doubts and confusion to God and leave them with Him for a final solution.