First Mennonite Church
August 4, 2024
The Cry of an Anguished Heart
Today, I want to start a new series of sermons based on the Minor Prophets in the Bible. These are the twelve books in the Old Testament, beginning with Hosea through to Malachi. We will be looking at some select passages throughout this list of books with the goal of finding moments in Judah’s life where God was extremely concerned for his people. Some of the themes in these books are oftentimes avoided because of the nature of the issues addressed in them or because we preachers give preference to the Major Prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others, with very little exceptions to some passages from these smaller books. Today, we will start with the book of Habakkuk.
It is believed, based on internal evidence that Habakkuk carried out his ministry some years before Judah was taken away in exile by the Babylonians, beginning 597-586 BCE. Habakkuk was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah.
The influence of this book in the Bible is found mostly in the writings of Paul. The central theme of the book of Habakkuk is faith in God, which we constantly hear in the prophet’s proclamation: “The just shall live by faith” (2:4). Paul quotes and develops the theme of faith, but in light of the work of Jesus on the cross as God’s means for justification of sinners. Paul explains that God now justifies the sinner through faith in Jesus and not by obeying the Law, which Paul says is impossible. Nonetheless, the statement found in Habakkuk that “the righteous shall live by faith” when set in the context of the reign of one of Judah’s most corrupt kings, Jehoiakim, becomes relevant in the context we live today. Let us, therefore, hear the words of Habakkuk.
Habakkuk 1:1-4
The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk is a contemporary of Jeremiah during the reign of King Jehoiakim, who according to the prophet Jeremiah, implemented oppressive policies upon his people. Jehoiakim used forced and unpaid labor to build his lavish residence. He is accused of dishonest gains through oppression and extortion (Jer. 22:17). Jehoiakim imposed heavy taxes upon the citizenry to support his alliance with Egypt (2Kings 23:35). He did not care for the weak, the poor, nor the foreigner; in fact, Jehoiakim filled Jerusalem with the blood of the innocent (2Kings 24:4).
Habakkuk was stricken by the shameless abuse of power that he witnessed where those in power ripped off the flesh of the people. He was deeply grieved at the sight of the perversion of justice, but more so at what seemed that the perpetrators were going unpunished. It seems that the prophet had been crying out to God to intervene, and yet, God seemed indifferent to the prophet’s cries for help. The prophet lamented before God: How long, oh Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
The Message Bible reads this way:
God, how long do I have to cry out for help
before you listen?
How many times do I have to yell, “Help! Murder! Police!”
before you come to the rescue?
Why do you force me to look at evil,
stare trouble in the face day after day?
Anarchy and violence break out,
quarrels and fights all over the place.
Law and order fall to pieces.
Justice is a joke.
The wicked have the righteous hamstrung
and stand justice on its head.
The prophet dispairs that God seems unbothered by what is happening and even indifferent at the prophet’s plea for help. “How long?” Is an expression of lament also found in the book of Psalms (13:1-2; 74:10). Habakkuk couldn’t bear anymore God’s apparent silence. So he pleaded with God, “Why do you not do something?” Furthermore, the prophet suggested it was God who had the prophet see the evil that was happening and yet He did not answer the prophet’s plea for help. “Why do you make me look at injustice? Asked the prophet.
Habakkuk cried out to God on behalf of those he saw were being abused, exploited, dispossessed, and suffering all kinds of institutional injustices. The powerful walked away freely from their crime, while the poor had no means to get redress of the abuses they suffered. There was anarchy. The laws of God were being violated and Habakkuk was anguishing before God to intervene. Yet, his prayers were not being answered. God seemed unbothered or indifferent to what the prophet was pleading God for.
Let us look at Habakkuk’s situation from two perspectives. Habakkuk, as a man of God, is fully aware of what is right and what is wrong. The prophet is thoroughly convinced that God is a moral God, thus not only loves what is right but demands justice, fairness, and caring for the weak. He institutes those who are in power but also calls them to implement justice and policies to protect the weak. God commands those in authority to do everything in their power to pursue the common good for all. But unfortunately for the prophet, wherever he sees, he only finds corruption, abuse of power, suffering, violence, and evil seems to be going uncontrollably.
So Habakkuk turns to God. He pleads with God to intervene and to do something about the terrible condition the Judean people were undergoing. Because Israel lived under a theocracy, the prophet had no alternative but to seek God for the situation.
As we can see from Habakkuk, authentic religion is not merely a matter of personal spirituality or the performance of rituals of worship. Habakkuk’s knowledge of God as a God of righteousness, and who demands social justice, and fairness, where human life can flourish, prompted him to seek the face of God when these qualities of life were missing. Habakkuk was concerned for his neighbors who were being deprived of justice and fairness at the abuse of those in charge of the system. Habakkuk was pained to see his contemporaries go hungry because they had to pay fees to the king so he could live a lavish lifestyle. Habakkuk’s faith included a concern for justice and the well-being of his people. He lamented before God about the terrible social condition of his times.
Therefore the question lies before us, what is our response in light of the violence that we see take place repeatedly? Do we consider matters of social justice outside the concerns of our faith? First, it seems easy to join the chorus of voices calling for one thing or another than to lament before the Lord for the pain our society suffers. However, Habakkuk reminds us that as God’s people, our first and foremost duty is to plead with God to intervene, even when it may seem that God is absent in all this.
The other perspective that I would like for us to see in the situation of Habakkuk is that of his faith in Yahweh. Habakkuk as a prophet knew that his calling to the ministry was from God. As such he expected God’s intervention as he has always done. God had always intervened in the affairs of his people, whether to rescue or to bring judgment on them. Therefore, the prophet trusted that God was going to act. Yet, on this occasion, even when the prophet had been crying before God day and night, God remained silent if not indifferent to the prophet’s plea. So he asks, “How long oh God must I cry for help?” Habakkuk was troubled that God was not acting as he had always done.
Faith in God does not mean we may never have questions about God’s silence or apparent inaction. In the New Testament passage for this morning, Paul says that God raised Jesus from the dead. Those three days Jesus laid buried in the tomb were the most uncertain of days for his disciples. We cannot imagine all the questions that came to their hearts. Had they been conned to believe something that was a lie? Will they face the same predicament as Jesus did? How will they face their families and friends when they return after more than three years of following Jesus?
However, God was working behind the scenes. In the gospel of John, Jesus says, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (5:17). God is working. He never ceases to work, even when it seems God is absent or indifferent to what we might be going through.
If and when you have unanswered questions, ask God. Do not be afraid to tell God your troubles. Faith in God does not prevent us from having doubts or questions. Faith in God leads us to trust God even when there are things we cannot understand. Habakkuk complained before God and in verse five, God answered Habakkuk and said,
“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
We can trust in the Lord that he is at work even when we cannot see it immediately. Let me close with Paul’s blessing to the Ephesians:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Pastor Romero