Habakkuk’s Burden.

Habakkuk’s burden was due to the sin, violence and iniquity that were prevalent in Israel at that time. Gary McBride explains.

Four Verses

In this session, we’re looking at the first 4 verses of the Book of Habakkuk.  Habakkuk is one of the minor prophets. He’s not prophesying as much as saying here’s what’s bothering me, here’s what I see going on around me, here’s what I’m wrestling with. That’s what his name means, to wrestle.

Verse 1 says,

“the burden which the Prophet Habakkuk saw.”

Habakkuk 1:1

The word burden has the thought of a weighty matter, something that’s weighing him down. Suddenly it concerned him that he really can’t get around, he’s carrying this load. Perhaps you experience that in your life – concerns, worries, things going on. But with Habakkuk it was the culture around him, the circumstances, what he saw.

Before Babylon

He lived in Israel before they went into captivity to Babylon. As he looked around, he could see that things were not good in that culture. People weren’t obeying God. They weren’t following God’s word; they had no love and devotion. In fact, things were just the opposite. So, this is what he has to say in verses 2 to 4.

“O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear? Even cry out to you “Violence!” and you will not save. Why do you show me iniquity and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; There is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds.”

Habakkuk 1:2-4

A Perplexing Situation

I think we can see, as we look at these verses, how perplexed, how difficult Habakkuk found this situation. He’s crying out to God and based on verse two, we would say that he’s crying out to God, day after day, how long is this going to last?

And then he cries violence, and he says God is not even hearing. Habakkuk’s crying out to God but God doesn’t answer right away.  We might struggle and other writers of the Bible struggled with the silence of God, thinking that God should respond right away. There are times in the Bible where God does respond immediately, there were battles that were fought, there were situations where God intervened.

God’s Long Term View

But often God took a long-term view of things, think of the Book of Genesis, in the life of Joseph. When he was 17 he had those dreams of what God would do in his life. But it was over 20 years later that those dreams were fulfilled. He became a Prime Minister in Egypt and then, according to those dreams, his brothers would bow down to him. But in between he was a slave and then he was a prisoner. But still God was working out his purposes.

Joseph, at the end of the Book of Genesis, says to his brothers, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, it just took a long time to work out. The silence of God can be a difficulty for many, many people, we pray, we cry out, and we don’t get an immediate answer. Well, maybe we do. God can answer no, he can answer not right now, or he can answer yes, it’s still an answer.

Violence, Iniquity and Sin

But what he sees, what Habakkuk views around him is violence and iniquity or sin. He sees things like plundering, stealing, more violence and arguments, strife, contention, fighting among people. He sees all this going on in his culture and his society, and it bothers him to a great degree. Here’s a man who loves God and wants God’s people to behave properly. But they are just concerned with themselves.

And in some ways, these things perhaps remind us of our culture, the violence and strife and contention. But he also says that the law is powerless, and justice isn’t being done. The wicked people are getting away with things and the righteous people, those trying to live a good life, are suffering. And so, he says, judgment doesn’t happen or if it happens, it’s the wrong type of judgment.

Habakkuk’s Burden

You can see from these verses how this was a burden, a weight on Habakkuk, wondering why this should be.
Habakkuk lived at the same time as Jeremiah, and if you read the first 12 chapters of Jeremiah, he saw the same things happening. He saw the leadership of the nation doing terrible things, the priests doing terrible things. Jeremiah’s solution, if you read Chapter 12, was Lord just take these people away, get rid of them, I don’t want to see them anymore.

Well, Habakkuk may be thinking the same things, but God is silent. Because He has a plan and a purpose, but it is not going to be immediate. And so again, we may wrestle with the silence of God in difficult circumstances, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t know what’s going on and that God isn’t in control.

In the next section will see that God does have a plan and he starts to reveal it to Habakkuk. But Habakkuk certainly doesn’t like what he hears.

Have you experienced anything like Habakkuk’s burden in your life? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.