Habakkuk

Here's yet another little two-page filler in the "library of the Bible." This guy had little to say that hadn't been already said by other fellows in pretty much the same setting. However, the interesting verses are quite heavy in the small space of this book.

Hab 1:1-3 - The oracle that the prophet Habakkuk saw. O LORD, how long shall I cry for help and you will not listen? Or cry to you "violence!" and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
I find this statement very appropriate. This person noticed that injustice and evil are very prevalent, even where God stated (Ps 91, Ps 121) that no evil would be allowed. Of course, the writer only asked God what was going on - how long will it be before you follow up on you promises? A more basic question would be, "God, I see that your promises aren't carried through. Do you actually exist?"

Hab 1:12,13 - Are you not from of old, O LORD my God, my Holy One? You shall not die. O LORD, you have marked them for judgment; and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment. Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, and you cannot look on wrongdoing; why do you look on the treacherous, and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?
I thought it quite ironic when I read that God is unable to look at wrongdoing! In light of all the horrendous, unjust and nasty things in the Bible attributed personally to God, I just had to chuckle. But we see again the puzzlement over the problem of evil that has no divine retribution.

Hab 2:18,19 - What use is an idol once its maker has shaped it - a cast image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in what has been made, though the product is only an idol that cannot speak! Alas for you who say to the wood, "Wake up!" to the silent stone, "Rouse yourself!" Can it teach? See, it is gold and silver plated, and there is no breath in it at all.
This shows another talent common to nearly all believers. They have no trouble in finding and pointing out the weak spots in the beliefs of other people. Here, the author easily points out the problem with the worship of idols - they don't do anything. Yet, he has the same response from God, and it never occurs to him to question his own beliefs!

Hab 3:16 - I hear and I tremble within; my lips quiver at the sound. Rottenness enters into my bones, and my steps tremble beneath me. I wait quietly for the day of calamity to come upon the people who attack us.
So this person, who came so close to using logic to see that the problem of evil is one reason to disbelieve, is now going to sit quietly, and wait for God to rescue him? After he specifically stated that he noticed that God doesn't listen to those who suffer? This is a truly sad event to contemplate.