The Prophet’s Complaint (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

Little to nothing is known about Habakkuk. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, writing at the time of Jehoiakim’s reign and likely witness to the Babylonian invasion and capture of Judah, in which the young man Daniel was taken with a number of other Israelites to Babylon. Jeremiah was prophesying Judah’s destruction and captivity because of her idolatry, injustice, and immorality. Habakkuk is prophesying his struggle with the whole matter.

¹ The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.

² How long, Yahweh, must I cry for help,
    and you will not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    and you will not save?
³ Why do you make me see iniquity?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    strife and conflict arise.
⁴ Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

It is destructive to complain to others about God. It is critical to take your complaint to God. Habakkuk is doing just that. His complaint? “God, why don’t You judge these Israelites for their oppression and sinfulness, their disobedience to Your law? God, You are seen to be tolerating injustice and immorality.”  From Habakkuk’s perspective justice never prevails and the few righteous people among us are surrounded by wickedness. Habakkuk has been crying out to Yahweh for help but has gotten nothing but radio silence.

We know from Jeremiah what Habakkuk was seeing in Judah. He was seeing widespread idolatry, the worship of Baal and Molech, even the sacrificing of infants. He was seeing widespread corruption from the king on down. He was seeing oppression of the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. He was seeing widespread immorality. Israel was breaking every law Yahweh had given, but the long arm of the law was a paralyzed one.

God is open to hearing our complaints against His failure to bring justice, even encourages it, as the book of Job shows us. But as Job also shows us, our complaints are exposing in us a belief that we know better than God, that we’re more just than he is, something Job needed to repent of, to despise in himself (Job 42:6). It is us being brute beasts before God (Psalm 73:21,22).

Do you see injustice? Can you complain about it to God? Can you see yourself more clearly in your complaint?