While We Wait - Waiting Through Injustice Part 1

Habakkuk 1:2-4 NIV 

[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. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.2-4.NIV)

Now we tread on very sensitive ground.  

I am acutely aware that injustice is pretty much everywhere. I am also absolutely acutely aware that there is often a racial element to it. I am the white father of a mixed race adult who originated from a poor neighbourhood in a place that was among the poorest in the European Union. I once lost a job I had been in for eleven years because the company decided to close the office, while an Executive Director was paid in a bonus the amount of money it would have cost to keep my office open for two years, and then that very same Executive Director was investigated for corruption. Ironically, our office had pioneered the creation of an Ethics and Compliance team. 

So yes, I an acutely aware of injustice. 

Some of it is historical. World politics has ebbed and flowed over the years. It is cyclical. Sometimes one nation is on top; sometimes it’s another.  

Often the nations at the top have abused and exploited the needy below them. I am aware of that too. I come from a nation that did precisely that. It was wrong. Very, very wrong.  

Injustice is a hot and sensitive topic. One of the hardest waits that exists is the wait for a wrong to be righted.

For example, the Post Office scandal in the UK, where postmasters were incorrectly charged with theft and fraud, began in 1999 and is still not completely resolved.

From the early 1970s to the mid 1990s, sufferers of haemophilia in the UK were accidentally given blood products that were infected with hepatitis and other blood borne diseases – that has still not been resolved.

There is a former British member of the House of Lords whose husband set up a company making personal protective equipment for our health service during the Covid pandemic that was not fit for purpose, and made £110 million, without paying any corporation tax, before it was discovered. That is still going through the courts. 

A few years ago, we were strolling through Monaco. We weren’t staying there. We couldn’t afford it. But looking at the yachts moored in the marina was free. 

There we found one belonging to one guy who stole the pensions from a big corporation in the UK. Not only did he bankrupt the company, he also sent many thousands of pensioners into poverty. But there was his yacht, in one of the most expensive places in Europe, where he was too, most likely: utterly untroubled by the consequences of his crime. 

These are all awful. Add to them miscarriages of justice, wrongful arrests, names slandered on social media – even lives taken as a result. I even read recently of a child with autism who was accused of a theft, without evidence, on social media, went home and took their own life. 

Injustice is rife. It is as clear a sign as any that we live in a fallen world. 

And it is pernicious. It can take years, even decades, to put right.  

Sometimes it may never be put right. Not in our lifetime on earth. 

So how should we react? 

Habakkuk found himself in that position. He was a prophet who is thought to have ministered some time around the late 17^th century BC, as wickedness in Judea was heading to its peak and the voices of other godly prophets were sounding the warning that God would not stand for their behaviour. 

Now, you might have thought that they would have heeded the warning, as the Northern Kingdom of Israel had already been crushed and exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC, but it seems that in their arrogance they had forgotten this. The prophet Ezekiel, an approximate contemporary of Habakkuk, has a stark and brutal prophecy about this very subject (Ezekiel 23). 

But Habakkuk takes a very unusual tack. While his contemporaries focused their prophecies outward and roundly condemned the behaviour of both Israel and Judah, Habakkuk focuses upward and takes his complaint about injustice directly to God. He isn’t recorded as speaking to the perpetrators of evil. Instead, He speaks with their God and asks the questions many of us ask when we find ourselves being unfairly treated: ‘Why?’ and ‘What are you going to do about it?’ 

But before we get into these no-nonsense questions, we first need to understand what the Bible says about injustice, so we will look at A Background of Injustice. 

A Background of Injustice 

Micah 6:8 NIV 

[8] He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mic.6.8.NIV)

Sometimes people are not who they claim to be. Most famously, of course, is the recent case of Anna Sorokin, who successfully conned New York high society into believing that she was a German heiress by the name of Anna Delvey, when she was nothing of the sort. 

Why am I talking about this? 

Because when we talk about injustice and what the Bible says about it, we have to first deal with the unfortunate and tragic reality that some of that injustice has been perpetrated by people who claimed to be Christians. So-called Christian community leaders have taken the wrong side in battles, or carried out the will of cruel and heartless national leaders, or defended or aided and abetted the ill-treatment of the vulnerable and less fortunate. 

These are matters of history and public record. I won’t deny that they happened or try to brush the  under the carpet. They happened. They are real. 

But they are not right. They are totally unjustifiable. They are absolutely wrong. 

True Christianity orbits around the principle of love: God’s love for us in sending His Son to save us (John 3:16); our love for God, our neighbours and ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-28). It’s so important that John wrote these words: 

1 John 4:7-8 NIV 

[7] Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1jn.4.7-8.NIV)

Love is both the litmus test and the watermark of genuine Christianity. If someone does not love, they are not a Christian. That is just how it is. 

Therefore, there is absolutely no room in that equation for any form of injustice towards anyone, no matter whom. 

Exodus 22:21-23 NIV 

[21] “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. [22] “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. [23] If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.22.21-23.NIV)

Exodus 23:1-3 NIV 

[1] “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. [2] “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, [3] and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.23.1-3.NIV)

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 NIV 

[18] Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. [19] Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. [20] Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/deu.16.18-20.NIV)

Justice, especially social justice, was a key part of Jewish law. Of course it was: how can any society built on the principle of love for God, each other and ourselves allow for any form of injustice? There can be no place for exploitation in any God-fearing community. It is not an expression of love – it is an expression of hate. 

But the people of Israel and Judah forgot this – not just once, but many times in their history. And God hated it – even more so when it tried to ‘faith-wash’ itself by pretending to be outwardly religious, or to use religious acts to somehow balance out the hatred, contempt and evil. God was not mocked and God was not fooled. 

Isaiah 1:10-20 NIV 

[10] Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah! [11] “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. [12] When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? [13] Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. [14] Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. [15] When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! [16] Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. [17] Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. [18] “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. [19] If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; [20] but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.1.10-20.NIV)

Isaiah 58:1-10 NIV 

[1] “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. [2] For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. [3] ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. [4] Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. [5] Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? [6] “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? [7] Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? [8] Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. [9] Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, [10] and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.58.1-10.NIV)

Jeremiah 7:2-11 NIV 

[2] “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: “ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. [3] This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. [4] Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” [5] If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, [6] if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, [7] then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. [8] But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. [9] “ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, [10] and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? [11] Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! Declares the Lord. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jer.7.2-11.NIV)

Amos 8:4-7 NIV 

[4] Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, [5] saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, [6] buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. [7] The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/amo.8.4-7.NIV)

Far be it from anyone who claims to follow Jesus Christ to be involved in something as heinous as that! 

More to the point, we are called by the Lord to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, to speak for those who cannot speak up for themselves: 

Psalms 82:3-4 NIV 

[3] Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. [4] Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.82.3-4.NIV)

Now, it’s here where we must be cautious. Just as there are those who still are McCarthy-ite in their thinking and accuse any who oppose their agenda of being ‘Reds under the bed’ or ‘Neo-Nazis’, when those who say such things only prove that they have no clue what they are talking about, so there are those who take no responsibility for their own lives and say they are being oppressed.

Let me tell you, there are so many who claim this in Western countries, when they have little to no clue what oppression really looks like, because they don’t stand up for those outside of their little cultural ghettos who are really being oppressed. As Christians, we should have nothing to do with the Henny Penny-like attention seekers who clearly believe they have nothing going for themselves, and who use alleged oppression and injustice to gain air time. These people are such a waste. If you disagree with them in anything, they were so fragile that they will accuse you of oppressing them!  

But where someone is genuinely being oppressed and is suffering from injustice, whoever they are, then our place is by their side, and even more so if they are followers of Jesus Christ. 

Because injustice is the complete opposite of how we, as Christian, are told to behave. We cannot perpetrate it, we cannot support those who perpetrate it, we must support those who are victims of those who perpetrate it.  

There is no better way to demonstrate love for our neighbours than that. 

So we see that God hates injustice, and He hates it even more when we ‘faith-wash’ it in religious garb. That is utterly unacceptable. 

Habakkuk lived among the people of God. Yet he saw injustice.  And so we move from the background in injustice to A Question of Injustice. 

A Question of Injustice 

Habakkuk 1:2-4 NIV 

[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. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.2-4.NIV)

Accusations against our political leaders are everywhere. Mud is slung in all directions.

Some of it will stick. 

However, what we must be aware of is that some of the people who are slinging the mud are not at all interested in truth or justice, but are doing it to further their own agenda. 

As Christians, we have a duty to respect and honour our leaders, and pray for them: 

Exodus 22:28 NIV 

[28] “Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.22.28.NIV)

Ecclesiastes 10:20 NIV 

[20] Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird in the sky may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/ecc.10.20.NIV)

Romans 13:1-7 NIV 

[1] Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. [2] Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. [3] For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. [4] For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. [6] This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. [7] Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.13.1-7.NIV)

1 Timothy 2:1-4 NIV 

[1] I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— [2] for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. [3] This is good, and pleases God our Savior, [4] who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1ti.2.1-4.NIV)

Titus 3:1-2 NIV 

[1] Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, [2] to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/tit.3.1-2.NIV)

1 Peter 2:13-17 NIV 

[13] Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, [14] or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. [15] For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. [16] Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. [17] Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1pe.2.13-17.NIV)

When our leaders are completely out of line – which, let’s face it, they often are – there are only four places where Christians can express this in a democratic society: the courts, the ballot box, peaceful protest and in prayer.  

We should not strike. That is blatantly disrespectful and dishonouring to God, not to mention detrimental to the organisation we work for and the people counting on it. It is not at all an honourable act. 

We should not become involved in disruptive acts like sit-ins, filibusters or any of the like. They are also wildly disrespectful and not acts of love. 

Where our societies allow us legal avenues to express our disapproval respectfully, we can use them. 

Where they do not, the only avenue open to us is prayer. Under no circumstances should we ever be involved in rebelling against, or even slandering, the rulers of our people.  

Here we see Habakkuk’s complaint to God. He was likely a contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Both of these prophets were forthright and utterly unflinching in their criticism of the rulers and the people in Jerusalem. They did not hold back. Their prophecies were outward. 

And what they had done was not wrong. It was part of their calling. They were speaking truth to power. They had privileged access to the rulers to perform their ministry – a privilege and an access that we don’t have. 

Yet Habakkuk has a different approach. His prophecy is upward. He doesn’t scold the king for the way his rule has gone badly astray, or the people for turning aside to sin. Instead, his prayer is directed to God. 

His complaint is framed around three questions – three powerful questions that I am sure we are asking now: 

How long, Lord? 

Habakkuk 1:2 NIV 

[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? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.2.NIV)

What a question! 

There is a certain rock band who wrote a song about violence in their country. They have been around for many decades, but when they play this song in concerts, you can still hear this cry rise up from the audience: 

How long? 

How long must we sing this song? 

How long? How long? 

Are these your words today? Are you staring out at the pain and the suffering and the wreckage caused by injustice and crying out on anguish? ‘How long, Lord? How long must I sing this song? Why won’t you change the tune, Lord? How long must I wait?’ 

Then you are standing with Habakkuk. And not just with Habakkuk: 

Psalms 6:3 NIV 

[3] My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.6.3.NIV)

Psalms 94:3 NIV 

[3] How long, Lord, will the wicked, how long will the wicked be jubilant? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.94.3.NIV)

Psalms 13:2 NIV 

[2] How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.13.2.NIV)

I want you to take comfort from some obscure verses in a strange part of the Bible: 

Revelation 6:9-11 NIV 

[9] When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. [10] They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” [11] Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rev.6.9-11.NIV)

The Word of God to these martyrs was simple: just a little longer. 

That is God’s Word to you today: ‘Just a little longer’. Let Him take His time and work out His plan. He will not delay. 

The second question is this: 

Why do you make me look at injustice? 

Habakkuk 1:3 NIV 

[3] Why do you make me look at injustice?  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.3.NIV)

Habakkuk isn’t just asking why injustice exists, he’s asking why it is so close to him: why it is within his context and surroundings. 

And that is a huge question – one which, in common with his approach to Job’s questions, God does not answer. 

But Habakkuk isn’t done. He then asks a question that is on the lips of every sensitive Christian: 

Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Habakkuk 1:3 NIV 

[3] Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.3.NIV)

Habakkuk is looking out at his nation and asking God, ‘Why do you tolerate this? Why do you put up with this?’ He seems to be goading God to become impatient and move against those who are destroying his nation. 

Is this how you feel? 

Then look at what Habakkuk says next at the consequences of what he sees as God’s inaction: 

Habakkuk 1:4 NIV 

[4] Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.4.NIV)

What he sees is a catastrophic breakdown in moral and spiritual leadership in his country.  

But here’s the thing: it was nothing new. What, after all, is the refrain of the ultra-violent and chaotic book of Judges? 

Judges 21:25 NIV 

[25] In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jdg.21.25.NIV)

Is that not what we see now? Do we not see people throwing off any restraint and any authority, despising discipline and doing whatever they want? 

In human history, and the history of God’s people, God has often intervened – sometimes drastically – to put this right. For example, before the flood we see this: 

Genesis 6:5-7 NIV 

[5] The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. [6] The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. [7] So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.6.5-7.NIV)

After the fall of Saul, Israel’s first populist king, we see this: 

Psalms 78:65-72 NIV 

[65] Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine. [66] He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame. [67] Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; [68] but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved. [69] He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever. [70] He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; [71] from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. [72] And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.78.65-72.NIV)

Habakkuk is pleading with God to do it again: to intervene in his nation. To put things right. 

And maybe that unnerves you. Maybe you aren’t used to questions like this. Maybe you think it’s a little irreverent, a little impertinent. 

But think of it like this: 

Are you asking these questions in your heart, but suppressing them and stopping them from coming out? 

You’re wasting your time and effort. God knows. 

Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV 

[9] The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? [10] “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jer.17.9-10.NIV)

What Habakkuk did was he took all those negative emotions and all his questions and he directed them towards God, instead of towards other people. He did so not to rant and rave, as we often do, but to seek an answer from God. 

And that is the right thing to do. Jesus specifically advised His disciples to seek God in prayer alone and in a closed room so that they would not perform to a crowd and would approach God in integrity (Matthew 6:6-8). If you are driven to fury and frustration by the injustice you see around you, Habakkuk’s approach has a lot in its favour. 

So we have seen, then that the background of injustice in the Bible shows us that God hates it – and not without good reason. Yet it still happens. This causes Habakkuk’s question of injustice, which is also fully justified and the best way to deal with what is happening. 

Lastly, for this post, we will look at God’s response in An Answer to Injustice. 

An Answer to Injustice 

Habakkuk 1:5-11 NIV 

[5] “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. [6] I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. [7] They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. [8] Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; [9] they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. [10] They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them. [11] Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty people, whose own strength is their god.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.5-11.NIV)

There are few things more self-satisfying than being asked a question for which you already have the answer, or being asked to do something you have already done.  That smug feeling of control, however deceptive, is such a nice feeling. 

God’s answer to Habakkuk can be summarised in just three words: ‘I’ve got this’. God already had a solution in mind. 

And His solution was really astonishing. 

We see firstly that it was a surprising solution: 

Habakkuk 1:5 NIV 

[5] “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. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.5.NIV)

The raising up of Babylon at the time was completely unexpected. They were so riven by internal struggles for years that the prospect of them rising up might have seen distant. Yet God told Habakkuk that they were His solution to the injustice problem in Judah. 

It was also a strange solution. Think about it: God was going to use a ruthless pagan people to enact His will in Judah – a people who would not even acknowledge His Name and who, generations later, would even mock it as if it meant nothing (Daniel 5). 

Still today, it would seem like a very strange thing to do. Yet this was God’s will at the time. 

This is because it was a Sovereign solution. It was a solution that proved God was in charge. 

This is a prophecy Jeremiah gave from God about how He used Babylon: 

Jeremiah 51:20-23 NIV 

[20] “You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, [21] with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver, [22] with you I shatter man and woman, with you I shatter old man and youth, with you I shatter young man and young woman, [23] with you I shatter shepherd and flock, with you I shatter farmer and oxen, with you I shatter governors and officials. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jer.51.20-23.NIV)

There was Babylon, a great city that would finally rise and invade many countries with a ruthless, fearsome army. Yet God was telling them in advance that He was in control of them, not the other way around. According to local thinking, if one army beat another, it was evidence that the gods of the defeated army were weaker and lesser than those of the victor. But it wasn’t true. God was expressing His Sovereign will, His identity as God through them. He was using the armies of Babylon to discipline His own people. He would be behind it all. 

Perhaps we are still a little confused at why God would use a pagan people, who didn’t even acknowledge Him, to carry out His divine purposes against His own people. That’s the source of Habakkuk’s second complaint, which we will examine in my next study.

The main thing to notice here is that yes, God saw the injustice happening in the country of Judah; yes, God was going to do something about it, and yes, He already had a plan in motion to deal with it. 

Sometimes, when we are facing injustice, that’s all we need to know. 

Conclusion 

Habakkuk 1:5 NIV 

[5] “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. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/hab.1.5.NIV)

Several years ago I had an issue with a mobile phone network provider. I tried solving things through their service desk. It just didn’t work. They got nowhere. In sheer exasperation, I located an email address for their Chief Executive Officer and wrote an angry, frustrated email about how I had been a customer for years and I was being treated really badly.

A few days later, I got a call from someone on their Executive Support team. He solved the issue in minutes. He told me that if ever I had an issue again, I should just skip the service desk and contact him and his team directly. 

I had a friend in a higher place. 

Habakkuk here is faced with a serious set of injustices. Now, there is little doubt that the chronic lack of spiritual and moral leadership from both the kings and their priests and some of their prophets were at fault. That is absolutely true. There is no doubting that. Godly prophets like Jeremiah were already handling that side of things. 

But Habakkuk doesn’t take the issue to them. Instead, he goes above them. He goes to the One who truly is in charge. 

He goes to God Himself. 

Now, we might find his questioning a little impertinent. Some may find it disrespectful or worse. But it’s nothing other people hadn’t asked. Job struggled with this very issue (Job 21:7-16). As did the sons of Asaph (Psalm 73). It’s nothing new – nothing God hadn’t seen or encountered before. 

Which makes it all the more preposterous when we feel this way, but don’t pray this way. We can’t keep something like this from God. He knows. 

Nowadays, people try all sorts of ways to make themselves heard and to get their points across. When social media is not enough, they turn to petitions, protests, even the manipulative use of what we euphemistically call ‘fake news’ and ‘spin’, but is essentially lying, fraud and dishonesty. 

Christians often find themselves on the wrong end of injustice. We are, by scale, the most persecuted group in the world. That is undeniable.

So how should we deal with it when it happens? 

In democratic nations, we have so many legitimate means of dealing with it. 

In undemocratic nations, our means are highly restricted. 

My belief is that we should do everything we can to avoid the Gospel being connected to any political, national or social cause, to the extent that all people see is the cause and not the Gospel itself. 

As Christians, we should also not pursue the cause more than we do God. If we do, then we have an idol. 

We should also do the utmost we can to prevent people with evil intentions from hijacking our cause. That is why we must be very careful about public protests, even peaceful ones. These days it doesn’t take much for people with radical political views or anarchic intentions to waylay our cause with violent rhetoric or actions – neither of which have anything at all to do with the Gospel. 

That is why we must do what Habakkuk did. He took his cause to God in prayer. He sought answers first and foremost from God Himself. 

We saw from the background in injustice that it cannot be justified and is never God’s will. We saw from Habakkuk’s question on injustice that his questions were genuine and real. We saw from God’s answer that He was still just and would bring the guilty to account for what they had done. 

We might not know what God is doing. We might even question it. But we know that God is still just. 

And that is what makes us strong enough to wait for Him. 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, thank You for these verses. I come to You right now with all that’s on my heart about the injustices I and other people are suffering from. It hurts, Lord Jesus. Come in righteousness and justice, I pray. Show me what I should do. I trust in You. Amen. 

Questions for Contemplation  

• What does God think of injustice? How do we know this? 

• How does Habakkuk deal with the injustice he sees? Is this the right way to deal with it? Why / why not? 

• What injustices do you see, or are dealing with? What can you learn from Habakkuk’s first complaint and God’s answer that will help you deal with it?