Wicked As Executioners

1 ¹² Adonai, haven’t you existed forever? My God, my holy one, we will not die. Adonai, you appointed them to execute judgment. Rock, you commissioned them to correct us.

Habakkuk reasoned that since God is holy, He must be using Babylon as an instrument of His judgment on Judah.

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to see evil; you cannot countenance oppression. So why do you countenance traitors? Why are you silent when evil people swallow up those more righteous than they?

This is a classic statement of the puzzle of how an all-powerful God can allow sin to continue unchecked. Havakuk cannot understand the justice of allowing wicked Babylon to punish a less wicked nation, such as Judah. (He can call Judah more righteous because, even though most of its people were unfaithful to God’s covenants, some of them were faithful.) Havakuk thinks that God’s holiness should have prohibited Him from using the corrupt Babylonians.

¹⁴ You make people like fish in the sea, like reptiles that have no ruler.

Havakuk’s charge against God is that He allows mankind to act like lower creatures (fish and reptiles) with no rulers or judges, so that wickedness goes unchecked.

¹⁵ The evil haul them all up with their hooks, catch them in their fish net, or gather them in their dragnet. Then they rejoice and make merry,

Captives were sometimes taken away with hooks in their noses – an intentionally painful and humiliating treatment. The image is that of a fish helplessly caught in a fishing net; Mesopotamian rock reliefs portray prisoners in nets being hauled off to captivity.

¹⁶ offering sacrifices to their fishnet and burning incense to their dragnet; because through them they live in luxury, with plenty of food to eat. ¹⁷ Should they, therefore, keep emptying their nets? Should they keep slaughtering the nations without pity? 2 ¹ I will stand at my watch post; I will station myself on the rampart. I will look to see what [God] will say through me and what I will answer when I am reproved.

If a righteous God does not step in to end the Babylonians’ wicked plan, who will? Where is God’s justice, and how can He tolerate this? I will stand at my watch post. Like a lookout who awaits a coming enemy, Havakuk waits in the city’s watchtower for God to rebuke His direct challenge.

Wicked Always Punished

² Then Adonai answered me; He said, “Write down the vision clearly on tablets, so that even a runner can read it. ³ For the vision is meant for its appointed time; it speaks of the end, and it does not lie. It may take a while, but wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. ⁴ “Look at the proud: he is inwardly not upright; but the righteous will attain life through trusting faithfulness. ⁵ Truly, wine is treacherous; the arrogant will not live at peace but keeps expanding his desires like Sh’ol; like death, he can never be satisfied; he keeps collecting all the nations for himself, rallying to himself all the peoples.

God replied that the vision must be written down clearly, for, despite Havakuk’s objections, the vision of the Babylonian invasion would come true. The arrogant Babylonians were just as wicked as Havakuk supposed. Yet verse 4b says righteous people, such as Havakuk, must exercise faith in God’s goodness despite His use of evil Babylon. This is similar to the answer Job received from God (Job 38–41). God does not have to explain Himself to humans. We must let God be God and trust in His goodness, even when His ways are difficult to understand. This verse conveys the book’s central message. The Brit Hadashah cites it to show that the Messianic life, from beginning to end, is based on faith (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

⁶ Won’t all these take up taunting Him and say about Him, in mocking riddles, ‘Woe to him who amasses other people’s wealth!— how long must it go on? – and to him who adds to himself the weight of goods taken in pledge! ⁷ Won’t your own creditors suddenly stand, won’t those who make you tremble wake up? You will become their spoil. ⁸ Because you plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples will plunder you; because of the bloodshed and violence done to the land, the city, and all who live there.

Verse 6 begins with a taunt song, containing five woes against Babylon. The first woe is against lust for empire, or aggression. The many nations that Nebuchadnezzar had conquered would taunt him for his ill-gotten gain.

⁹ “‘Woe to him who seeks unjust gain for his household, putting his nest on the heights, in order to be safe from the reach of harm. ¹⁰ By scheming to destroy many peoples, you have brought shame to your house and forfeited your life. ¹¹ For the very stones will cry out from the wall, and a beam in the framework will answer them. ¹² “ ‘Woe to him who builds a city with blood and founds a town on injustice, ¹³ so that people toil for what will be burned up, and nations exhaust themselves to no purpose. Isn’t all this from Adonai-Tzva’ot? ¹⁴ For the earth will be as full of the knowledge of Adonai’s glory as water covering the sea. ¹⁵ “ ‘Woe to him who has his neighbor drink, adds his own poison and makes him drunk, in order to see him naked. ¹⁶ You are filled with shame, not glory. You, drink too, and stagger! The cup of Adonai’s right hand will be turned against you; your shame will exceed your glory. ¹⁷ For the violence done to the L’vanon will overwhelm you, and the destruction of the wild animals will terrify you; because of the bloodshed and violence done to the land, the city and all who live there.’” [1]

A second woe is pronounced on Nebuchadnezzar for his covetousness and pride. He tried to make his dynasty safe from the reach of disaster, but his dishonesty and cruelty would cry out against him. The third woe against the king was for his lust for magnificence and his blood shedding tactics. The cities of Babylon, built by slave labor, would merely end up feeding the insatiable fire, and the earth would acknowledge the true God. This glorious time is predicted in a deservedly famous poetic comparison in verse 14. The fourth woe is against Nebuchadnezzar for taking a savage delight in corrupting other nations, for shamelessness, and for his destruction of Yerushalayim and Judah.

If you find yourself questioning God’s timing in your life, as Habakkuk did, take a moment to reflect on your personal journey. Set aside a ‘God’s Faithfulness’ night each month, where you gather with your family to share testimonies of how God has worked in your lives. Highlight instances where you felt His presence during struggles. This exercise will not only strengthen your faith but also encourage your family to recognize and share the ways God is actively working in your daily lives.

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[1] Havakuk 1:12-2:17.