Journey Through Minor Prophets, Part 2ਨਮੂਨਾ

Habakkuk: In Front of the Text

Habakkuk has something to say to people who don’t get rescued quickly from situations that are unjust. It can sometimes take years, or, in the case of some situations, centuries (!) before God’s purposes and oversight become clear.

Habakkuk & the Abused

Habakkuk is a book that resonates with those who have been abused, and here In Front of the Text, let’s reconsider Habakkuk’s two lines of questioning.

1) Why do we suffer for so long? How long must the violence continue?

2) Why are you silent when the wicked abuse the righteous?

Those who are abused often find themselves grappling with the same questions:

1) Why is this happening to me?

2) Why is my abuser going free?

Much like Job, the book of Habakkuk doesn’t offer a pat answer for the problem of suffering and evil. A big part of Habakkuk’s message is simply that YHWH is with us in our suffering, however unsatisfying that may feel. But Habakkuk does offer a few helpful angles on the question of suffering.

To the first question, Habakkuk offers another difficult, and maybe unwelcome question: Am I really the righteous one? Do I really fit in that category, or am I an abuser too? Do I hurt people the way that I’ve been hurt?

This is an extremely difficult line of questioning, especially for victims, but it’s a very relevant one. The cycles of abuse—where victims of physical, emotional or sexual abuse later become abusers themselves—is a well-documented phenomenon. Statistically, people who have been hurt in this way are more likely to hurt others in a similar fashion. As the saying goes, “Hurt people hurt people.” Because of the difficulty of this line of questioning, we won’t ask you to answer it here, but you might reflect on it later.

To the second question, Habakkuk offers an alternative way of framing it: Can I trust that God will punish the abuser eventually? And the answer to this is unequivocal: “Yes!” God’s judgment will come, and he will vindicate those who are his … just not when we want him to:

For the revelation awaits an appointed time;

it speaks of the end

and will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait for it;

it will certainly come

and will not delay

Habakkuk 2:3 (ESV)

We might want to give God a tardy mark for the timing of our vindication, but it will come on his time. It “will not delay.”

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

One of the cultural events that turned the tide of public opinion against slavery in the United States and Europe before the American Civil War was the best-selling novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the story followed the tragic and persecuted lives of African-American slaves and went on to become the second-best selling book of the 19th century—second only to the Bible. Chapter 31 begins with this verse from Habakkuk:

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Habakkuk 1:13 (KJV)

Interestingly, Stowe was inspired to write her book while taking communion at a small church in Brunswick, Maine. While reflecting on the crucified body of Jesus in her pew, she visualized the brutal abuse and death of a slave, who would later become the character “Uncle Tom” in her novel. She went home after the service and started writing that afternoon.

Jesus’ Crucifixion and the ritual of communion (or the Eucharist) follow the message of Habakkuk that God is with us in our suffering. In Jesus’ saving Passion, God comes to participate in our suffering in a new way. In the rite of communion we are able, in our suffering, to participate in God’s life in a new way. Reading books like Habakkuk helps to prepare us for the unexpected New Testament Messiah, whose victory will look a lot like defeat. Instead of abolishing violence or explaining it away, he will become the one who absorbs it like no other—for our sake.

Wrap-up

Nicole wraps up this lesson in which we witness how to wait on God—a path of faith that has room for questions in an honest dialog between God and those who live under his reign.