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Habakkuk 1:12 – 2:5
INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called “The Journey from Doubt to Faith.” In this series we are tracing Habakkuk’s journey from questioning and doubt at the beginning of chapter 1 to settled faith and confidence by the end of chapter 3.
Habakkuk’s three big questions were the same questions that many people have struggled with over the years. “Does God care? Is God fair? Is God there?” Last week we looked at the first of those questions: “Does God care?” This week’s passage moves on to the second question: “Is God fair?” This second section begins at 1:12 and goes all the way through the end of chapter 2, but today we will just focus on the verses up through 2:5.
Habakkuk 1:12-2:5
12 O LORD, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
14 You have made men like fish in the sea,
like sea creatures that have no ruler.
15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17 Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?1 I will stand at my watch
and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.
2 Then the LORD replied:
“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay.
4 “See, he is puffed up;
his desires are not upright —
but the righteous will live by his faith –
5 indeed, wine betrays him;
he is arrogant and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive all the peoples. (NIV)
“Is God fair?” Have you ever questioned God’s fairness? Has something bad ever happened to you, and you responded by saying, “God, that’s just not fair!” Actually, life is frequently unfair. That’s something I often tell my boys. They will complain about something and I will tell them, “I’m sorry, but life’s just not fair.” But saying that life is unfair is very different from saying that God is unfair. I can live with life being unfair. After all, I am a sinner. I live in a world that has been affected by sin. And I live here with . . . a whole bunch of other sinners! So it makes sense to me that life is not going to be fair all the time. But when you ask, “Is God fair?” that is a very different question.
Last week we looked at the question, “Does God care?” We saw that Habakkuk looked around at the ongoing violence and injustice in Judah, and he questioned whether God even noticed or cared. God answered Habakkuk that yes he did notice, yes he did care, and that he was in process of raising up the Babylonians for this very purpose – to judge the people of Judah for their unrepentant sin.
But God’s answer then created a new problem for Habakkuk. Yes, Judah was sinful and unrepentant. But the Babylonians were even worse! How could God use a more wicked nation to judge a less wicked nation? In the first section Habakkuk struggled with the problem of evil in the world. In this second section he struggles with the problem of God’s justice. When confronted with the problem of evil, Habakkuk questioned, “Does God care?” Now when confronted with God’s judgment for sin, Habakkuk questions: “Is God fair?”
I think that is very typical of how many people think of God even today. The two biggest questions people ask about God are: 1) “How could a loving God allow evil in the world?” and 2) “How could a loving God send people to hell? Why doesn’t he just look the other way?” Those are the modern versions of “Does God care?” and “Is God fair?” What they don’t realize is that the second question answers the first. Yes, God is a loving God who cares about evil in the world. We know that because God does not look the other way but in fact will judge all evil and sin in the world. God is both loving and just. Yes, God cares. And yes, God is fair.
Habakkuk’s situation was a little different, though. He wasn’t questioning God’s right to judge sin. He was questioning God’s method. How could God use the Babylonians to judge the people of Judah, when the Babylonians were even more wicked than the people God was judging? Wouldn’t it make more sense to judge the Babylonians? Was God being fair in this situation? Let’s take a look first at Habakkuk’s complaint and then God’s response.
I. Habakkuk’s complaint: How can God use the Babylonians to punish the people of Judah? (Habakkuk 1:12-17)
First of all, Habakkuk’s complaint: How can God use the Babylonians to punish the people of Judah? Habakkuk brings his complaint forward in three stages. There are three things that he is absolutely convinced of in and of themselves, and yet he cannot see how all three could be true at the same time.
A. God is sovereign over the nations. (verse 12)
The first thing Habakkuk is convinced of is this: God is sovereign over the nations. Habakkuk demonstrates this conviction in two ways.
First of all, Habakkuk believes that God is sovereign over the people of Israel. Look at the first part of verse 12 where Habakkuk speaks, “O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die.” (Habakkuk 1:12a)
It is kind of a strange verse at first. What does God’s everlasting nature have to do with the people of Israel not dying? What is the connection? In fact, it is such a difficult verse to interpret that the Masoretes, a later group of Jewish scribes, listed this verse as one of only eighteen passages in the whole Old Testament that they called “the corrections of the scribes.” They proposed that the original reading was not “we will not die,” but rather, “you will not die,” referring to God, and that earlier scribes had changed the text to guard against the idea of God ever possibly dying.
It is an interesting idea, and it would make the verse a little easier to understand. “O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will not die,” seems to make more sense than “we will not die.” The only problem is that there is no evidence anywhere that the text was ever changed or ever read anything but “we will not die.” All the manuscripts and translations of this verse have the word “we.”
So, what is the connection between God being everlasting and Israel not dying? It has to do with God’s sovereignty. God is everlasting. He is the first and the last. He is sovereign over all things. God had bound himself in a covenant relationship with his people, and so as long as God continued, God’s people would live on.
There is an interesting parallel in Malachi 3:6 where God says, “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” God does not change. He is the everlasting God who is sovereign over all the nations. So Habakkuk was confident that even if God judged his people for their sins, he would not completely destroy them. Which is exactly what God told his people through the prophet Jeremiah: “Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.” (Jeremiah 30:11)
Habakkuk firmly believed that God was sovereign over the nation of Israel. But he also believed that God was sovereign over all the other nations as well. Look at the second part of verse 12: “O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.” (Habakkuk 1:12b) God had just told Habakkuk that he was sending the Babylonians to judge the people of Judah for their sins, and Habakkuk had no doubt that that was exactly what God was doing. The Babylonians were coming, and Habakkuk affirmed that God was the one who had appointed them and ordained them for this task. God is sovereign over the nations.
B. God is holy and cannot tolerate wrong. (verse 13)
The second thing Habakkuk is convinced of is this: God is holy and cannot tolerate wrong. Look at verse 13: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.” (Habakkuk 1:13) This is one of the great teachings of Scripture, that God is absolutely holy and pure. 1 John 1:5 says that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” It means that God is perfect, holy, righteous, and pure. There is no sin or evil or darkness in him at all. Habakkuk goes even further here in verse 13. Not only is there no darkness or evil in God himself. His eyes are too pure even to look on evil.
Now this does not mean that God closes his eyes and ignores all the evil and wrong in the world. Far from it. God sees every sin every person commits every day. When Habakkuk says, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,” he means “to look with any type of acceptance or approval.” When we look at sin in the world we are sometimes horrified, sometimes disgusted, but we are also sometimes attracted and tempted. Not so with God. God has only one reaction to sin. He is offended. All sin is a direct affront to God’s holiness. God is holy, and therefore he is offended by sin. He cannot tolerate wrong. Were it not for his gracious love and forgiveness, God’s righteous wrath would destroy us all in an instant. This is why the Bible tells us to avoid even the appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
1 Peter 1:15-16 says, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” Are you growing in holiness? Are you offended by the sin around you? Do your eyes refuse to look upon evil? We all need to grow in this area of holiness.
Of course, the fact of God’s holiness prompts some additional questions from Habakkuk. He asks God, “Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” Habakkuk is trying to reconcile what he knows about God with what God has just told him about the Babylonians. He cannot understand how God could use the wicked Babylonians to punish those more righteous than themselves.
C. Babylon is wicked and yet prospers. (verses 14-17)
Habakkuk knows that God is sovereign over the nations. He knows that God is holy and cannot tolerate wrong. And yet there is also a third thing that Habakkuk is firmly convinced of, and that is this: Babylon is wicked and yet prospers. Look at verses 14-17 where Habakkuk describes the Babylonians. He says to God, “You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?” (Habakkuk 1:14-17)
Habakkuk pictures Babylon as a fisherman and all the people of the nations as helpless fish in the sea. Babylon is violent and cruel, pulling up the people of the nations with hooks and dragging them away in his nets. Not only that, but Babylon takes delight in their misery. He rejoices and is glad over those he captures. The phrase “rejoice and be glad” is usually used of worshiping God in the Bible, especially when the two words are paired together like this. Here Habakkuk uses the two words together to highlight the Babylonians worship of their own power and success.
The worship imagery continues in the next verse as Babylon “sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet.” These words “sacrifice” and “burn incense” are also used in the Bible for worship, although Habakkuk uses them here in a form that almost always applies to false or idolatrous worship. God is the one who has raised Babylon up, God is the one who has given Babylon their power and strength, and yet Babylon does not acknowledge God’s role in any of this. Instead Babylon worships his own strength and skill.
Babylon worships his net because it is by conquest that “he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food.” Babylon enjoys his pleasures at the expense of the nations he conquers. And Habakkuk doesn’t see any end to this. It seems no one can stand up to the Babylonians. Will they continually empty their nets, destroying the nations without mercy? If God is using Babylon for his own purposes, how can he then hold Babylon accountable for its own evil actions?
Habakkuk doesn’t have a problem with any of these three things individually. He knows that God is sovereign over the nations. He knows that God is holy and cannot tolerate wrong. And he knows that Babylon is wicked yet prospers. He is convinced that all three are true. He just cannot see how all three can be true at the same time.
For example if God were not sovereign over the nations, then God could not stop Babylon, and so Babylon’s success would not raise any questions for Habakkuk. If God were not holy, he would not care about Babylon’s wickedness, and so that would also remove the problem. Or if Babylon was good and prosperous, or wicked and suffering for that matter, then Habakkuk would have no problem reconciling that with a sovereign, holy God either. But the problem for Habakkuk was that all three conditions existed at the same time. He knows God is sovereign. He knows God is holy. And he knows Babylon is wicked yet prospers. It doesn’t make any sense. It makes him question God’s justice. It makes him wonder, “Is God fair?”
II. Interlude: Habakkuk looks for God’s answer. (Habakkuk 2:1)
So what is Habakkuk going to do with his questions this time? I love the way Habakkuk deals with his questions and doubts. As we saw last week, when Habakkuk struggled with doubt, he did not walk away from God, but he brought his questions and doubts to God. And so after voicing his complaint to God, look at what Habakkuk does next.
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” (Habakkuk 2:1) Habakkuk stubbornly clings to God even in the midst of his doubts. Habakkuk 2:1 is the Old Testament equivalent of Mark 9:24: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Habakkuk takes his stand upon the watchtower; he stations himself on the ramparts; he looks for God’s answer.
This is something we all need to learn to do. When you have questions or doubts, bring them to God. Take your stand, station yourself for the long run, and wait upon the Lord. God will answer your questions in his time. Now God may not settle some of your questions until you reach heaven. But he will always give you himself, and he will always give you the faith to carry on. Habakkuk takes his stand on the watchtower, and looks for God’s answer.
III. God’s response: The Babylonians will also be judged for their sin. Meanwhile the righteous will live by faith, trusting God to act justly in his own time. (Habakkuk 2:2-5)
And then God answers him. God gives him a revelation, a vision of what will happen in the future. The Babylonians will also be judged for their sin. Meanwhile the righteous will live by faith, trusting God to act justly in his own time.
A. God’s answer awaits an appointed time. (verses 2-3)
The first thing God tells Habakkuk is that the answer awaits an appointed time. Look at verses 2-3. “Then the LORD replied: ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.’”
God tells Habakkuk to write down the content of the revelation. Habakkuk is to write it plainly on tablets so that a herald may run with it. These verses are a little difficult to translate, but the basic gist of it is that Habakkuk should write it down and make it plain for all to see. There is an appointed time for its fulfillment, and when that time arrives the revelation will not prove false. It will not happen right away, but Habakkuk should wait for its fulfillment in God’s perfect timing. God’s word is certain. The fulfillment of the revelation will neither be early or late. God’s answer awaits an appointed time.
B. Babylon’s actions are not justified in God’s sight. (verses 4-5)
Secondly, God assures Habakkuk that Babylon’s actions are not justified in God’s sight. Look at verses 4-5: “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright — but the righteous will live by his faith — indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.”
God is using Babylon to bring judgment to Judah and the other nations, but that does not excuse Babylon’s sin. Babylon is puffed up, unrighteous, drunken, arrogant, restless and greedy. He conquers nations not out of concern for God’s justice but because of his own arrogance and greed. He is drunk on wine and power, and his drunkenness will betray him. In fact we learn from Daniel 5 that drunkenness was part of what led to Babylon’s eventual downfall. Babylon will also be judged for its sin, but all in God’s timing. In fact, as we will see next week, the rest of chapter two outlines Babylon’s many sins and the judgments that are coming because of those sins.
This was the answer that Habakkuk needed to hear. Habakkuk knew that God was sovereign and holy, but he also knew that Babylon was wicked and prospering. And that did not make sense. It threw into question God’s justice: “Is God fair?” But now God had made it clear that Babylon would be judged for its sin after all. Now Habakkuk knew that God was sovereign, holy and just. Babylon would be judged for its sin. Meanwhile, God says, the righteous will live by faith, trusting God to act justly in his own time.
C. The righteous will live by faith. (verse 4b)
This one phrase right at the end of verse 4 – “the righteous will live by faith” – is one of the most important verses in the whole Bible. It is quoted three times in the New Testament, twice by Paul, in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11, and once in Hebrews 10:38. This is the verse that revealed the gospel to Martin Luther and launched the entire Reformation. It is a wonderful verse, both in its Old Testament context, and in its New Testament fulfillment.
For Habakkuk the verse meant that he should live by faith while he waited for God’s righteous judgment to fall on Babylon. The word “live” is also a confirmation of his earlier statement in chapter one: “O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die.” (Habakkuk 1:12) Why would the people of Judah live and not die? Because of their own righteousness? Not a chance. God was bringing the Babylonians to judge the people of Judah because of their sin. They would live because of their faith in God who had bound himself in a covenant relationship with his people. They would be righteous by faith, not by their own works.
The full implications of this verse are brought out in the New Testament through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel, or good news, is that even though we are sinners and do not deserve to go to heaven, Jesus died on the cross for our sins that we might be forgiven. That’s why Paul writes in the book of Romans 1:16-17: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . . For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written” – and then he quotes Habakkuk 2:4 – “The righteous will live by faith.”
It is not your righteousness that brings you to heaven. It is the righteousness of Jesus Christ who died for you. Christ’s righteousness saves you when you put your faith in Jesus Christ even as Habakkuk put his faith in God’s love and faithfulness rather than in the people of Israel. “Lord, you are from everlasting. Therefore we will not die. The righteous will live by faith.”
CONCLUSION: So, what does this passage mean to us today?
First of all, it tells us three things about God:
- God is sovereign. He is active in the affairs of history. He uses the nations to bring about his will whether those nations acknowledge him or not. This is good to remember when you look at all the conflict around the world even today. God is sovereign over the nations, and he will use their actions to accomplish his purposes.
- God is holy. He cannot tolerate any wrong. His eyes are too pure even to look upon evil with any sense of acceptance. Because God is holy, we too should be holy in all we do.
- God is just. He will judge all evil in the world, even those whom he has used to judge others.
Secondly, the passage also tells us three things about us:
- We are sinners, and therefore we are all subject to God’s condemnation. We may think we are “better” than some others in the world, even as Israel thought she was “better” than Babylon, but compared to God’s absolute holiness, we are all the same.
- We cannot save ourselves by our works. Most people are deceived into thinking that they will go to heaven by their works, when in reality they won’t. Our good works are just what we are supposed to do anyways. They do not earn us any merit or cancel out any of our sins.
- Therefore, the righteous will live by faith. It is only through faith that we can be made right with God and know eternal life rather than eternal condemnation.
Many times people look at all the evil in the world and think, “God does not care.” Then they learn that God will judge their own sin and they think, “God is not fair!” Especially when they think that they themselves are better than others and somehow more deserving of salvation. But God does care, and God is fair. Jesus died on the cross for your sins so that if you will put your faith in him, you can be saved. Put your faith in Christ today. “The righteous will live by faith.”
© Ray Fowler
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