(August 23, 2025) Dr Jim McClure shares deep insights regarding the troubled prophet Habakkuk…

Habakkuk, a contemporary of Nahum and Zephaniah, was in deep emotional and spiritual anguish!

He would have been familiar with the words of Moses— ‘Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He’ (Deuteronomy 32:3-4).

But how could he reconcile that principle of his faith with the ongoing sense of international insecurity and widespread corruption in the world in which he lived? 

As we watch on television today violent hostility between nations— and within nations— and experience the ever-increasing corruption of moral values, including the devaluing of human life, we may wonder, ‘Why does God allow this to take place? Why doesn’t God do something about it? Is God really in control?’

That also was Habakkuk’s dilemma in his day! 

Background
Habakkuk lived in Judah at a time of great political upheaval, that is, around 620BC during the closing days of the mighty Assyrian Empire that had wiped out the Kingdom of Israel from the map in 721BC.

The population of the ten northern tribes of Israel ‘disappeared’ from history as thousands of people were destroyed and many others integrated with people from other nations and consequently lost their tribal identity. Later they were described as the ‘Ten lost tribes’ but it appears that some had taken refuge in Judah as indicated in 2Chronicles 34:9GNB— ‘The money that the Levite guards had collected in the Temple was turned over to Hilkiah the High Priest. (It had been collected from the people of Ephraim and Manasseh and the rest of the Northern Kingdom, and from the people of Judah, Benjamin, and Jerusalem).’

In 701BC the Assyrian army laid siege of Jerusalem but was unable wholly to overcome it.  As the Assyrian Empire was sliding into decline, the Babylonian Empire was beginning to assert its dominance in the region.  For so many years violence and destruction had troubled that whole region and there seemed to be no end in sight. As Habakkuk considered the current unsettling political situation, he was aware that the consequences could be horrendous.  He was further deeply concerned about the corruption and spiritual apathy within Judah.  And he also wondered where God was while the world seemed to be falling apart! 

The book of Habakkuk is unique among the prophetic books because it is in the form of a dialogue between Habakkuk and God and its message is very pertinent to us today. Habakkuk began by describing his prophecy with the Hebrew word  ‘המשׂא’ (ha masa) that means‘ ‘the burden.’ His ‘burden’ was the responsibility of bringing his complaint to God and then to bring to the people of Judah an answer from God that they would not want to hear.

Habakkuk began with a protest to God.

1. Angry Questions (1:2-4)
Habakkuk was angry!  He lived in a very stressful period of history and as he considered what was happening in the troubled world of his day, he was particularly deeply concerned about what may be in store for his nation, Judah. His anguish was profound and his concerns were valid. He was fully aware that what had happened to Israel could also happen to Judah. 

Apart from wrestling with the stress of ongoing international threats and the moral and spiritual corruption and suffering in his own nation, the prophet questioned whether God really cared!  How can belief in a good, all-loving, all-powerful God be reconciled with the reality of national and international violence, moral corruption, social disorder and spiritual indifference? 

They were  the questions that Habakkuk directly addressed to God…  questions that are still being asked today!

Habakkuk had struggled to reconcile what he believed about God’s loving character with the evil he witnessed daily.  His deep emotion and profound anxiety were powerfully expressed in his opening words in which he dared to question God‘s commitment to His people.  Unlike the other prophetic books, this prophecy is in the form of a discussion with God.

In his frustration Habakkuk began by pouring out his heart to God. His prayer was not expressed in formal ‘prayer language’ but in various expressions that revealed profound emotional pain and disappointment at God’s apparent inactivity in such a very critical situation. He directly challenged God’s apparent indifference to what was taking place in Judah and the threat his nation faced from other nations.  He had many questions to ask of God!

(i) Why was God disregarding his prayers? (1:2)
Acknowledging that Judah had largely abandoned God, apart from performing some of the religious rituals, Habakkuk was deeply concerned that God had now abandoned Judah!  One can almost feel his anguish when he cried out, ‘How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?’(1:2)

Clearly the prophet was feeling frustrated as he had often interceded for his people in those disturbing days but his prayers had been met with silence!  It seemed that all his praying had been in vain as God clearly had not responded.  Was God even bothering to listen to his prayers?   What was the point of praying when no answers were forthcoming?  Was God going to do anything about the deteriorating situation in Judah and the threat to the nation?  Was God indifferent?

(ii) Why was God ignoring the moral and spiritual collapse of Judah? (1:3-4)
Habakkuk’s description of Judah reveals that it was in a state of collapse at many levels. Destruction, violence and fighting were taking place throughout his nation and in verse 3 he pointedly asked God, ‘Why do you tolerate wrong?’ Then the prophet used words and phrases that graphically depicted the dreadful conditions prevalent in Judah at that time—

• Destruction
• Violence
• Strife
• Conflict
• Law is paralysed
• Justice isn’t practised
• The wicked outnumber the righteous
• Justice is perverted

That was a bold and frightening recital of charges against his nation and his  concern was clearly justified.  Judah was in a perilous condition not only because of threats from other nations but because of the culture of moral corruption and spiritual lukewarmness within Judah itself.  The people had essentially departed from a God-centred lifestyle. However, Habakkuk’s comments also have a current application… 

With the wide availability of contemporary news coverage we are daily informed about distressing events at home and abroad. Our world is troubled by political, ethnic, religious and moral issues. Many nations are currently distressed by wars, threats of wars and consequences of wars, and are struggling with social unrest, murders, robbery and violence on the streets.  We can identify with Habakkuk’s concerns!

The unspoken question behind his outburst was, ‘Lord… what are you going to do about it?’

2. Astonishing Answer (1:5-11) 
God said,  ‘I am going to raise up the ruthless Babylonians!’ (v6).  What an unexpected and ominous reply! The people of Judah were aware of the recent havoc and destruction caused by the Assyrians in the northern kingdom of Israel some 40 or 50 years before and it seemed that God was now saying that by the Babylonians the nation of Judah would experience the same outcome.

The Babylonians were becoming a terrifying force. They were a ‘ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own.’ ‘Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong … They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; they all come bent on violence.  They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. … guilty men, whose own strength is their god ’ (8-11).

God confirmed to Habakkuk that the corrupt and godless people of Judah really did have something to fear from the powerful Babylonians! About 100 years earlier God described the Assyrians as His instrument of judgment against the kingdom of Israel— ‘the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath (Isaiah 10:5).  

Now God was raising up the Babylonians who were ‘bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand’ (v9) against the corrupt nation of Judah. The description of the role of the Babylonian forces as described in this chapter is quite terrifying!  Judah was about to be judged by God and the Babylonians were the means by which His judgement was to be exercised!

3. Anguished Questions (1:12-13)
God’s response was not what Habakkuk was expecting and he was clearly stunned by the implications of what God had stated. His anger changed to anguish and his approach to God this time was more subdued and his tone this was quite deferential.

Habakkuk began (in verses 12 and 13) by acknowledging the incomparable character of the One he was addressing—

• Habakkuk declared that God was the Lord (Yahweh), the eternal God.
• He professed his personal faith in Him as ‘my God’ and ‘my Holy One.’
• He expressed his conviction that God wouldn’t wholly eradicate His people: ‘… we will not die.’
• He acknowledged that God had ‘appointed them (the Babylonians) to execute judgment’ and had ‘ordained them to punish.’

He acknowledged that God does not tolerate our sins. However, there were still some things that Habakkuk was finding difficulty in understanding.  From his perspective it just didn’t seem right!   So he had some uncomfortable questions for God:

(i) Why did God tolerate the treacherous?  (v13)
The Babylonians were clearly very violent and wicked people yet it appeared that God had done nothing to stop them.  They were growing from strength to strength, their army was powerful and violent, they were extending their boundaries and they obviously had no relationship with Him! If God was going to punish wicked people, why then did He  tolerate and allow the Babylonians to succeed?

(ii) Why was God silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (v13)
Habakkuk was fully aware of the sins and lack of commitment to God by his own people in Judah but, from his perspective, he was convinced that the Babylonians were significantly worse!  Yet God was going to allow those evil people of Babylon to attack the less-wicked people of Judah? To Habakkuk that did not seem to be fair!  If God were truly good and loving, how could He allow such terrible things to happen to His people?  Habakkuk was questioning the character of God! 

(iii) Are the merciless Babylonians going to continue destroying nations? (1:14-2:1)
In verses 14-17 the prophet attempted to strengthen his argument by comparing his own people of Judah as powerless fish in the sea with the Babylonians (depicted as a ruthless fisherman) who used hooks and nets to catch those fish. The fisherman (that is, the Babylonians) was ruthless! He was proud! He was wicked! And he gloried in his hideous achievements. He ‘rejoices and is glad’ (v15)  with his success.

Habakkuk pointedly asked God why He was letting the Babylonians get away with such savagery. ‘Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?’ (1:17).  God’s answers are sometimes hard to receive and we may not understand precisely what God is doing. That is what God had already told Habakkuk in 1:5, ‘I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.’ 

Habakkuk had difficulty trying to grasp what God’s answer— as we all do at times!  Often we fail to understand why He allows some situations to take place and we struggle to understand why God does not answer our prayers in the ways we want. God had previously told Isaiah, ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:9).  And the apostle Paul admitted that God’s ways are as ‘paths beyond tracing out!’ (Romans 11:33). God’s answers can cause us to have more questions, as Habakkuk discovered.

Nevertheless, he was determined to watch and wait for God’s answer.  ‘I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me…’ (2:1a).  He was keen to hear what God’s reply would be.

‘ … and what answer I am to give to this complaint’ (2:1b).  The ‘complaint’ were the questions he had strongly presented to God.  He was not saying that God was wrong but rather he was humbly acknowledging that there was much that he was unable to comprehend and he knew that he would be asked similar questions from other people.  What answers could he give to them?

This was an appeal for help to God. In part 2 posted later today I’ll share God’s answers.

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Dr Jim McClure, author of several books and Bible studies, offers them free in electronic version in EPUB, Kindle and PDF formats.Particularly recommended is— Looking for Answers in a Confusing World.Questions seeking enlightenment on biblical perspectives are welcomed. Link: jbmcclure@gmail.com. Link: Habakkuk- Prophet Angry With God-Part-2/
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