Bible reading and commentary: Habakkuk 1:12-17

Power was not Habakkuk's god; Yahweh was. The Lord's revelation of what He was doing in the prophet's day brought confidence to his heart and praise to his lips. With a rhetorical question, Habakkuk affirmed his belief that Yahweh, his God, the Holy One, was "from everlasting". The implication is that Yahweh is the only true God, and that history was unfolding as it was because the God who created history was in charge of all the events (sovereignty).

Habakkuk believed the people of Judah would not perish completely because God had promised to preserve them forever (Gen. 17:2-8; 26:3-5; 28:13-15). The prophet understood that God had appointed the Babylonians "to judge" the sinful Judeans. The God who had been a Rock of security and safety for His people, throughout their history, had raised up this enemy "to correct" His people—not to annihilate them.

Because God was the "Holy One", Habakkuk knew that he was "too pure" to look approvingly at "evil," nor could he "favor … wickedness." This was a basic belief of Israel's faith. But this raised a more serious problem in the prophet's mind. Why did the Lord then look approvingly on the treachery of the Babylonians? Why did He not reprove them and restrain them when the Babylonians slaughtered people who were more righteous than they? Why did the godly remnant in Judah have to suffer with their ungodly neighbors? The prophet's first question (vv. 2-4) arose out of an apparent inconsistency between God's actions and His character. He was a just God, but He was allowing sin in His people to go unpunished. His second question arose out of the same apparent inconsistency. He was a just God, but He was allowing terrible sinners to succeed and even permitted them to punish less serious sinners. These questions revealed a troubled faith not a weak faith. Clearly Habakkuk had strong faith in God, but how God exercised his sovereignty baffled him.

Babylon was like a fisherman, who took other nations captive "with a hook" and "net," and rejoiced over his good catch. Earlier the prophet compared the Babylonians to hunters (v. 8). Babylonian monuments depict the Chaldeans as having driven a hook through the lower lip of their captives and stringing them single file, like fish on a line. This was an Assyrian practice that the Babylonians continued. The Babylonians even worshipped and gave credit to the tools they used to make their impressive conquests, rather than crediting God (cf. v. 11). They had as little regard for human life as fishermen have for fish. That God would allow this to continue seemed obviously unjust to Habakkuk.

Habakkuk finished his question by asking the Lord if the Babylonians would continue to carry on their evil practices "without sparing" anyone. God’s policy of not interfering with Babylon's wickedness baffled Habakkuk more than his policy of not interfering with Judah's wickedness. It was God’s use of a nation that practiced such excessive violence to judge the sins of his people that Habakkuk could not understand. Next week we will see how God responds.