Based on Jonah and the Minors: Chapter 10—Habakkuk +Zephaniah
Juliette Alvey
Dear Grown-up,
Habakkuk and Zephaniah both deal with the problem of evil. The age-old question is “If God is powerful and good, then why is there so much evil?” This was being asked 2,600 years ago when these two prophets wrote, and humans ask the same thing to this day—usually with valiant attempts at answers that unfortunately never satisfy. Still, when evil surrounds us we cannot help but ask the question…
Habakkuk’s prayers sound awfully familiar to us, especially the first line of each of his three laments:
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“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” (Hab 1:2-3)
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“Lord, are you not from everlasting?... Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (Hab 1:12-13)
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“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (Hab 3:2)
I hate to admit that when we read God’s answers to Habakkuk, they are not the ones we want to hear. They seem to only add fuel to the fire. He does not respond defensively or with petty excuses but instead, he agrees with Habakkuk. God’s answer is basically, “If you think you hate evil, I hate it even more.”
God did not and does not hide away from our laments and our complaints.
Have you ever shared your woes with someone and felt that maybe it was too much for them to handle? God has given us wonderful listeners in our lives who are willing to share our burdens. That is a gift. But the fact still remains that our burdens are too much for another person to carry, even the person with the best intentions.
But we are never too much for God. When we challenge him and question his authority, when we question his goodness, when we complain endlessly about all that’s wrong with his world… he does not turn away. He walks alongside us.
The Jonah and the Minors zine says this in the field notes section:
“Habakkuk took a look around him and felt deep despair, so he cried out to God, asking, ‘Why is there soooooo much badness in the world? How can you let bad things happen?’ God’s answer to him was ‘Hang on! Evil may look like it is ruling the day, but it will not win in the end’” (p. 102).
Hang on! That is what God tells Habakkuk and Zephaniah. He promises a day when evil will be dealt with. The very last verse of Zephaniah, after a lot of woes and wrath, says, “‘At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home” (Zeph 3:20).
Most days it does look like evil is ruling the day. One day in history particularly looked that way. When Jesus hung on the cross, evil looked like it had won. But it was actually about to receive its final blow.
When you look around and see evil everywhere, remember that Jesus is the one who rules the day, and he will come back to eradicate evil for good. Until then, we will bring our laments to God, and in faith we will hang on until he brings us home.
