Habakkuk 1:2-Habakkuk’s First Two Complaints to the Lord in Prayer

Habakkuk 1:1 The following is the message which God revealed to Habakkuk the prophet: 1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help? But you do not listen! I call out to you, “Violence!” But you do not intervene! 1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? Why do you put up with wrongdoing? Destruction and violence confront me; conflict is present and one must endure strife. 1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, and justice is never carried out. Indeed, the wicked intimidate the innocent. For this reason justice is perverted. (NET)

Habakkuk 1:1 contains the superscription or title to the book and identifies the prophet Habakkuk as the recipient of a message.

This man was an ordained prophet who might have been a Levitical musician and he also appeared to be very well educated and zealous for God since he writes in a poetic literary style, which suggests this.

The contents of his book reveals his zeal for God’s holiness.

He identifies himself as “the prophet” (articular form of the noun nā·ḇî(ʾ)), which expresses the fact that he represented God and received a message from the God of Israel, which he in turn was to communicate to the citizens of the kingdom of Judah in 605 B.C. during the reign of Jehoiakim.

Now, in Habakkuk 1:1, Habakkuk asserts that he saw a message, which doesn’t make sense, but however, we must remember that when he says this, he means that he saw the Lord, the God of Israel communicate this message to the assembly of angels in His throne room.

This “oracle” or “message” (mǎś·śā(ʾ)) is used here as a technical expression introducing a message from the Lord.

Specifically, the word refers to a prophetic utterance with emphasis upon the content of the prophecy.

Here it refers to the prophetic utterance which Habakkuk saw the Lord communicate to the angels in His throne room, which the prophet was to communicate to the citizens of Judah.

We also noted in our study of Habakkuk 1:1, that the verb ḥā·zā(h) does mean “to see a vision” but in the sense that the prophet Habakkuk saw the Lord communicate a message to the assembly of angelic beings (1 Kgs. 22:19; Isa. 6; Jer. 1:11; Ezek. 1).

Habakkuk was then sent by the Lord to communicate this message to the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Therefore, this verb ḥā·zā(h) means to see a vision in the sense that Habakkuk saw the Lord speaking in a vision to the angelic beings and which message he was sent by the Lord to communicate to the citizens of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Habakkuk 1:2 begins the first major section of the book which ends in Habakkuk 1:11 and which section records the Lord God of Israel responding to Habakkuk’s complaint that He had not judged unrepentant, apostate individuals in the southern kingdom of Judah.

This verse contains two questions, which are eventually answered by the Lord as recorded in Habakkuk 1:5-11.

Each of these questions are answered by Habakkuk with a complaint.

The prophet’s first question asks the Lord as to how long must he repeatedly cry to Him for help?

Habakkuk answers this question by asserting that the Lord never wants to respond to his cries for help.

The prophet’s second question asks the Lord as to how long must he repeatedly cry out to Him, “Violence!?”

Habakkuk answers by asserting that the Lord never wants to deliver him from the danger.

This danger he was experiencing was from those individuals in the southern kingdom of Judah who were living in a state of apostasy and committing this violence.

Habakkuk presented these questions and complaints to God while in prayer.

Now, we must remember that God hears all prayers because He is omniscient.

However, the prophet was complaining that the Lord had never given him any evidence whatsoever that He was listening to his prayers by responding to them.

The book of Habakkuk was written in 605 B.C. during the reign of Jehoiakim since Habakkuk 1:6 records the God of Israel informing the prophet Habakkuk that He was about to empower the Babylonians to be His instrument to judge the unfaithful in the kingdom of Judah.

Thus, the text says that this attack had not yet taken place and was imminent.

Consequently, the book of Habakkuk was must have been written just prior to the first of three Babylonian invasions led by Nebuchadnezzar which took place in 605 B.C.

Therefore, the book of Habakkuk was written during a period in which Babylon had just defeated Egypt at the battle of Carchemish.

With this great victory, Babylon became the number one super power of the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions of the world.

They struck fear in the hearts of every nation in these regions including the kingdom of Judah.

During this period, the majority of the citizens of the southern kingdom were existing in the state of apostasy and committing acts of violence against their fellow citizens.

This is indicated by the contents of Habakkuk 1:4, which asserts that the law lacked power and justice was never carried out, which is a reference to the Mosaic Law not being administered by the citizens of Judah to those committing this violence.

Also, Habakkuk 1:6 we noted records the Lord asserting that He would send the Babylonians to be His instrument to judge those individuals who were committing acts of violence against their fellow citizens.

Second Kings 24-25, Second Chronicles 26, the book of Jeremiah and Daniel record Babylon destroying the southern kingdom of Judah and deporting many of her citizens to their country.

Furthermore, Jeremiah’s description of the violent state of affairs under Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 22:13-17 is very similar to the situation described here by Habakkuk in Habakkuk 1:2-4.

In Habakkuk 1:2, the noun ḥāmās, “violence” since it pertains to a strong, fierce, destructive force resulting in acts that maim, destroy or kill often implying lawlessness, terror and lack of moral restraint.

Here the word is used with reference to sinful violence committed by these unrepentant apostate Jews living in Habakkuk’s day and age during the reign of Jehoiakim.

Now, we must remember that long before Habakkuk issued these complaints in Habakkuk 1:2 about the apostasy among his fellow citizens of the kingdom of Judah, the Lord was complaining about this same thing.

The Lord had suffered long with these unrepentant citizens of Judah since their unrepentant sinful, ungodly conduct was repulsive to the Lord’s holy character.

To Habakkuk, it appeared that the Lord was unconcerned about this situation, but in reality, His righteous indignation was about to be expressed in judgment against the southern kingdom.

We also must remember that Habakkuk’s complaints to the Lord in prayer about his unrepentant fellow citizens was the result of his concern that God’s holy character was not being respected.

We must not lose sight of the fact that Habakkuk was concerned about God’s holy character and in particular that it would be respected by his fellow citizens who were in a covenant relationship with God.

Therefore, his complaints in prayer to the Lord about the ungodly character of his fellow citizens would have been pleasing to the Lord since prayer is asking for what God wants, and God wants His holy character to be respected.

Now, one of the reasons why the Lord was delaying judgment against these violent, apostate individuals in the southern kingdom of Judah was that He desired that they repent (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4).

The Lord wanted the unregenerate in Judah to repent by trusting in and worshipping Him and no longer worship their false gods.

He wanted the regenerate in apostasy to confess their sins and obey the commands and prohibitions in the Mosaic Law and no longer worship their false gods.

The term “apostasy” is used by myself to describe the state of those Christians who were once exercising faith and obeying the teaching of the Word of God but are now in the state of unbelief and thus rejecting the teaching of the Word of God.

The child of God who stubbornly refuses to confess their sins to the Father has entered into apostasy and so therefore, “apostasy” speaks of a Christian doing a “180.”

During the dispensation of the Mosaic Law, when we use this term we are using it exclusively of those Jews who have been declared justified through faith in Yahweh and are in a covenant relationship with Him.

This term means that they are living in habitual disobedience to the will of Yahweh, i.e. the Father which is revealed by the Spirit through the Old Testament Scriptures.

Whether during the Old Testament dispensations or during the church age, the term “apostasy” refers to a believer justified by faith in the Lord initially habitually obeying the Word of God but then doing a 180 and are now going in the opposite direction by living in habitual disobedience to God’s Word.

Believers in apostasy undergo divine discipline whether they lived during Old Testament dispensations or during the church age or during the eschatological dispensations.