Don’t misunderstand me. Just as you, I would like to have my "why" questions answered. It’s just that I know of a situation in the Bible where a prophet of God asked the big "why" question and ended up learning a lot more than he expected in an answer he really didn’t want to hear.

Some years ago I was standing out on the lawn of the church building in California where I worked, talking to the brother who regularly mowed the grass. He was a fairly new Christian and typically, he was full of questions. He related news to me that he had just received. A seventy-year-old lady, a friend of his, had contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. She was a nice, grandmotherly lady, who never seemed to know a stranger, he told me. She was hospitable and helpful and nice. She wouldn’t hurt a flea. So why would God allow something like that to happen to her?

A few years after moving to Oregon, I was called to the hospital in Corvallis in the middle of the night by a couple who was with us briefly here in the assembly. The young wife had just delivered a stillborn baby. As I arrived, the couple was still holding the dead child in their arms. All that was hard enough, but what made the matter even more difficult was that this was the second baby they had lost this way in the same number of tries. Perhaps you can anticipate their question even before I say it. "Why? Why would God allow this to happen to us? Is He punishing us for something we did wrong? If so, what is it? If not, then how could it be that God really cares about us like you have been teaching us?"

The parent whose child is diagnosed with Leukemia asks the same question, as does the wife who learns of her husband’s tragic death or the soldier overseas who receives a "Dear John" letter during the most difficult time of his life.

"Why?

"Why me?"

"Why now?"

"Why this?"

"Why not someone else?"

I really wish I had easy answers to give to people at times like that. In fact, I wish I had even enough answers to satisfy my own questions about such things.

Have you ever felt compelled during some difficult time of your life to ask God, "Why?" Did you get an answer? It is very possible that you did not. At that time you either gave up on God or decided to trust Him and set the issue aside for some future time when you might receive an answer.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have ten minutes with God so you could ask "why" and receive a direct, on-the-spot answer?

Don’t be too quick to say yes.

Don’t misunderstand me. Just as you, I would like to have my "why" questions answered. It’s just that I know of a situation in the Bible where a prophet of God asked the big "why" question and ended up learning a lot more than he expected in an answer he really didn’t want to hear. This morning we’ll look at his story.

The prophet’s name is not one you hear everyday – not even in church. Unlike the stories of Daniel, Elijah, and the more prominent Old Testament prophets, it’s entirely possible you have never heard this prophet’s story. His name is Habakkuk and he was a prophet of God to Judah after the Assyrians carried away the 10 northern tribes of Israel. The Bible tells very little about this prophet. All we have are the three chapters of the tiny book in our Bibles that bears his name. We know nothing of Habakkuk’s ancestry or place of birth. We can ascertain from his book that he was a man of poetry who had a deeply ingrained sense of equity and justice. In the book attributed to him it appears that, at least for a time, he allowed his emotions to bubble to the surface in what appears to be one of those frustrated "why" questions directed at God.

Please turn to the book of Habakkuk in your Bibles. (You may need to use the index.) While you’re looking it up, here is a bit of orientation to Habakkuk’s time…

After Solomon’s death the kingdom of Israel split in two and there was civil war. The ten tribes in the north immediately proclaimed idols as their gods, setting up golden calf altars at Dan and Bethel. The God of Heaven sent them a series of prophets in an effort to turn them back. As had been their pattern before this, in their stubbornness and rebellion, they did not listen. Finally, after too many of God’s warnings fell upon deaf ears, God allowed the fierce, cruel army of Assyria to overrun them. When the smoke cleared, only the two southern tribes of Judah remained.

But Judah was having it own problems. Idolatry was making inroads into their culture just as it had done in the north. Easy living was taking its toll. There was a godly revival for a time under a king named Josiah, but after his death, Judah’s people and leaders again drifted away from God. The Assyrian nation that destroyed the north fell to an even more powerful force of that day – the Chaldeans (also called the Babylonians). This created enough diversion that Judah and the nations surrounding it had some respite from war. This "peace" as Judah’s enemies fought against one another for dominance fostered a false sense of security. As is often the case during such times, the people neglected the law of God and it began to show up in their lives. Dishonest business practices were more and more common. Courts were corrupt. Government was corrupt. You couldn’t walk the streets of the cities safely at night. Righteousness seemed unnecessary and unprofitable. The wicked seemed to prosper. Few were willing to listen to a prophet of God in those days. Apparently Habakkuk came onto the just a few years before Judah was taken into the Babylonian Captivity.

Those days understandably frustrated the prophet. Finally, he asked God why He didn’t do something about it.

The key to understanding Habakkuk’s little book of poetry is to understand who is saying what. While it is fairly obvious after you spend some time in the book, at first reading it isn’t exactly clear. So as we go through, I’ll provide the "who’s talking" information for you. In fact, I’ll use each part of the conversation between the prophet and God as the main points of my message.

We’ll begin in the book of Habakkuk, with…

Can you hear Habakkuk’s frustration? This is as much a complaint as it is a question. God sends him to preach to the people and they don’t listen. The harder he tries, the worse it gets. There is violence all around. People don’t get along. The wicked oppress the righteous and seem to get away with it. Those who care about doing right go to court against their oppressors but they get no fairness. The judges are bought off. Justice is perverted.

"Why don’t you do something about it, God? How long are you going to put up with this?"

This isn’t an uncommon question, even in this Bible.

Even today it sometimes seems like the wicked get away with murder while the righteous get the shaft, doesn’t it?

Why does God let it happen? Why doesn’t He do something about it? If He is for justice as the Bible claims, where is His justice when we need it?

This is the kind of question Habakkuk was asking God, so if these things have perplexed you, don’t think you’re the first or the only person who has ever wondered about them. And if you would like to hear the answer God gave him, keep listening. Habakkuk didn’t understand because he didn’t know the future.

2. God’s Answer.

God’s answer was, "Judah is going to be invaded. I’m raising up the Chaldeans. I’m bringing to power a nation whose strength and wickedness can become an arm of vengeance upon the disobedience of My people."

Whoa! What kind of an answer is that?

God’s description of the Chaldeans is horrifying – especially when you project yourself back in your mind to the perspective of someone living in a tiny country with few defenses in the midst of many enemies. Look at it again. He describes the Babylonians as "fierce and impetuous" (v. 6a), those who plunder and take what is not theirs (v. 6b) and those who recognize no greater authority than themselves (v. 7). They come on swift horses (v. 8a) that swoop in and devour like birds of prey (v. 8b). They execute violence for the sake of violence (v. 9a) and collect captives like sand (v. 9b). They laugh at any king or army that sets up to defend itself (v. 10a). Every fortress that tries to defend itself against them is turned into rubble (v. 10b). They sweep in suddenly, like a tornado, leaving destruction in their wake (v. 11).

Habakkuk asks his question and God answers, "Don’t worry, Habakkuk, the Chaldeans are coming to wreak havoc on my rebellious nation."

I’m thinking that’s not what Habakkuk wanted to hear! It must have struck terror in his heart! It also raised another question. We’ll look at that next.

Let me try to paraphrase that for you. Habakkuk says, in essence, "OK, My Lord, My God, My Holy One. You have decided to use the Chaldeans to judge us. That part I understand. Though that sounds terrifying, surely we won’t die out completely because of your covenant with us. But how can you who are too pure to approve of evil allow godless people like the Chaldeans to be the ones to punish us? They’re even more wicked than we are! They think no more of killing men than fishermen think of catching fish. We’re so helpless they’ll gather us all up in their net, then they’ll throw a big party and offer sacrifices to the net as though it were the god who gave them their power! Will you use such evil people to punish us and other nations in their path without sparing anyone? You’ll punish us for our sins and let them get away with their sins, which are much greater?"

Habakkuk was genuinely perplexed in all this. To him it just didn’t add up.

So the prophet asked his question, then took his place on the wall of the city to wait for God’s reply.

4. God’s Second Answer.

God’s answer to Habakkuk is rather lengthy. It takes in all the verses from verse 2 to verse 20. It says basically, "I’m also going to judge and punish the Chaldeans for their wickedness. They won’t get away with anything." It was a prophecy of the ultimate destruction of the empire of the invaders that would happen many years later. It concerned the fall of Babylon.

"Write it down, Habakkuk, so that those who are willing to listen will know ahead of time and everyone will be able to know once it has happened that I predicted it. As for the Chaldeans…." (The "proud one" mentioned here is probably Nebuchadnezzar, the first king of Babylon. His pride is also mentioned in Daniel 2 along with the ultimate demise of his kingdom.)

God goes on to describe for Habakkuk how the Chaldeans would ultimately be destroyed for their wickedness. In five "woes" in verses 6-19, God describes His judgment for their greediness, their covetousness, their cruelty, their drunkenness, and their idolatry. Yes, they would get what they had coming.

So what does all this mean? Is God just going to destroy everybody? Will he destroy the righteous with the wicked? What about that relatively few people who still serve Him? How are they supposed to survive in a situation like this? Will God treat them fairly?

Further, how are we today who wish to serve God and live for Him supposed to cope with the gathering storms that seem to be on the horizon for us?

The answer is found in verse 4. We read right over the top of it.

I realize that doesn’t sound very profound. In fact, it sounds a bit like one of those worn out clichés that we sometimes hear uttered by ignorant people when they can’t think of anything better to say: "Just have faith."

But the way Habakkuk understands God’s answer and applies it is more than a worn out cliché. In fact, it gives us God’s answer to how we should live during times when it seems that all our "why" questions go unanswered.

In chapter 3 Habakkuk wrote a song designed to be sung as a prayer. While we lack the musical score today, we still have the words. It was probably a great help among the captives of Judah after they were carried away into Babylon. Time prevents us from reading the entire song of faith, but I want you to hear the gist of it.

The meaning of the word "Shigionoth" is uncertain. Some suggest it may be an instruction to the musicians who would play the musical score for this prayer and that it means "expressive of strong emotion."(2) The last phrase of verse 19 is also a musical instruction: "For the choir director, on my stringed instruments."

Apparently the prophet wrote this prayer to be sung with musical accompaniment. That’s always an excellent way to inculcate and retain truth.

Now what does it say?

He begins with a statement of fear – probably reminiscent of the alarm he felt when he first learned of what was in store for Judah because of her disobedience. Habakkuk is responding with the same disorientation and anxiety that we have when we don’t fully understand what God is doing or where we might fit into it.

In verses 3-15 he writes in poetic style a highly figurative account of God’s power in judgment when His wrath is released. We won’t read it now because of time. I want to get us down to the punch line, which comes next. Again, Habakkuk admits his fear.

Habakkuk was to live in Judah during those last few years before the armies of Nebuchadnezzar overran them. He was scared just like you and I would be. There is nothing wrong with fear unless it keeps us from responding to God in the way that we should.

Then in the next two verses we see the crowning statement of his faith. This is Habakkuk’s greatest contribution to us today when we are facing confusion and uncertainty. If you want a good portion of the Bible to memorize, I suggest you learn these verses. It gave the captives the strength to live through the Babylonian captivity. In fact, I suspect this song was sung often by them as the years went by. It can also give believers today the strength to carry on as it reminds us of what God said back in chapter 2, verse 4: "The righteous will live by his faith."

Habakkuk is saying, "Even though it appears outwardly that the very necessities of life are disappearing, I’m going to continue to trust my God. I know His power. I know He has promised to deliver His people. I know He holds the best for those who continue to serve Him in faith. I know He will do what is best, even if I cannot understand how it could possibly be because I don’t know the future."

Tell me. Do you have that kind of faith? Do I? Can we say in the face of fear and uncertainty, "I don’t care what it looks like - I am still going to trust God?"

It’s the same faith that was behind the declaration made by Job when he was in the midst of his trials. In Job 13:15 he said, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him."

It’s the same faith behind the declaration made by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Their words in Daniel 3:17-18 were, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you… that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

As we read back in verse 4: "The righteous shall live by his faith."

Each one of us has the choice to make regarding whom or what we will serve. We will either serve the fear that is generated by uncertain circumstances in an unstable world or we will make a decision like Habakkuk here – that we will serve our God no matter what happens or what the circumstances bring.

I’ll close with these words, penned by Ruth Bell Graham:(3)

I lay my "whys"
before your cross
in worship kneeling,
my mind too numb
for thought,
my heart beyond
all feeling:
And worshipping,
realize that I
in knowing you
don't need a "why."

Footnotes: (Please use your "back" button to return to your place)

1. Psalm 73:3-9
2. Barnes Notes, on Habakkuk 3:1
3. Ruth Bell Graham, as quoted by Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry #12102.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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