Occupy Wall St. Black Lives Matter. Tea Parties. What do these, and other, social justice movements have in common? Justice. They want justice. They want fairness. We’re not interested in arguing over their definition of “fairness.” That’s a different subject for a different time. But, here, we’re talking about the idea that many, most people, want fairness. They want the world to be fair.
On a personal level, we sometimes ask God where His fairness is. Where is His justice? Why do evil people get away with doing wickedness? Why does a Christian have to have trouble getting pregnant when wicked people pop children out like a Pez dispenser? Why does a Christian have to experience divorce when he/she did all they could to have a good marriage? Why do Christians have to get horrible, even incurable, diseases when they are wanting to do what is right? When they love Jesus?
When your love for Jesus and your idea of justice collide, what do you do? What do you do when you question God’s justice? That is the very concept we see playing out in the life of Habakkuk the prophet. Habakkuk lived around 600 B. C., before the nation of Babylon will march against and destroy Jerusalem about 15 years later. Of course, Habakkuk does not know that Babylon is going to do that, but, he does ask God about “justice” and what happens when it is perverted.
Let’s step back in time, to 600 B. C., 26 centuries back in time, to the life of Habakkuk and see what happens when God’s justice is questioned. What do you do when you question God’s justice?
PRAY TO GOD – 1:1-4:
As we study through, we will see that the word “oracle / burden” fits Habakkuk’s message appropriately. Because he questions the justice of God.
Notice that Habakkuk has been calling to God for help, praying, and he does not feel that God is responding to his prayers. Habakkuk cried out because he saw “violence” around him, or “wrong.” What is going on?
On account of this behavior, Habakkuk says, the law is “ignored.” This verb literally means, “to grow cold.” The law has grown cold. Habakkuk is speaking of the law of Moses, the law of God, the “Torah.”
What do you do when you question God’s justice?
LISTEN TO GOD – 1:5-11:
The speaker in this paragraph is not Habakkuk. We know that as we read the paragraph. The speak is God. Habakkuk sees this “vision,” this “oracle,” this “burden,” and he is in the presence of God in his vision and he has the opportunity to negotiate, so to speak, with God.
This is God talking, but the verbs are in the plural so God is not just speaking to Habakkuk. He is also speaking to Habakkuk’s people – the whole nation of Israel, or at least those who are of the same heart and mind as Habakkuk and are disturbed about the violence around him.
Listen to God. What does God say in this verse? He’s saying that He is actively working, even if Habakkuk does not see Him working. We would not understand what God is doing behind the scenes even if He were to tell us what He was doing!
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What do you do when you question God’s justice? You listen to God. What does God say here? God says: 1.) He is still working, behind the scenes. 2.) What God is doing would astound you if you actually knew. Do you really want to know what lies in your future? For Israel, a bloody battle with the Babylonians was in their future.
What do you do when you question God’s justice?
MEDITATE ON GOD’S NATURE – 1:12-17:
Habakkuk starts speaking again in verse 12 and he responds now to God’s message.
Habakkuk speaks of God’s nature here. Habakkuk does not like God’s message. It scares him and it doesn’t seem any better than what Habakkuk has already prayed to God in verses 2-4.
If God is holy and cannot approve evil, then how in the world could God remain silent while the wicked (the Babylonians) “swallow up” those who (the Israelites) are “more righteous” than Babylon? If God is holy, how can He use atheists / pagans, to punish godly people? Or at least, people more godly than the Babylonians?
You are not the first person to question God’s ways on earth. Abraham did it. Moses did it. Job did it. Some of the psalmists did it. Habakkuk did it. Jeremiah will do it.
How can we reconcile the nature of God with our perception of God’s behavior?
What do you do when you question God’s justice? You meditate on God’s nature. God is holy and He is perfect and He cannot approve of wickedness. But, God is working behind the scenes and we do not see or understand all that God is doing. We will return to Habakkuk in the future.
But: If we argue that God needs to behave fairly, then that means there must be a standard of fairness to which we can hold God accountable. What is that standard of fairness except God’s own nature? What this boils down to is that we simply do not know how God is operating in the world or in our lives. As with Habakkuk, we will simply have to trust God to do the fair thing!
What do you do when you question God’s justice? Listen to Habakkuk: “But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him” (2:20).
Paul Holland
