Is God Tolerating Wrongdoing and Bad People?

Habakkuk 1:3
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.

Habakkuk 1:13
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?

Contemporary English Version
But you can’t stand sin or wrong. So don’t sit by in silence while they gobble up people who are better than they are.

Good News Translation
But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?

This is the complaining prophet, Habakkuk. He complains to God about what is going on and how God seems to respond. Habakkuk teaches us that God is too big to be easily offended by our complaints. God is slow to anger. God is understanding. God doesn’t get emotional and blinded by the facts. God knows our circumstances and bears with us more than we can imagine. God bears Habakkuk’s complaints and even responds.

Habakkuk begins his book by complaining that God is tolerating evil. God is letting evil thrive uncontrolled. To tolerate is to allow something you do not like to continue happening. You do not like it but you allow it to go on, that is to tolerate it. Habakkuk doesn’t doubt the power of God, or else he would have asked God if He is able to address the evil that is going on. He would have paused a question that suggests that he doubts God has power. The word tolerate means, there is the ability to act but it is accompanied by a reluctance to act. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

Habakkuk served as a prophet before the exile to Babylon. Prophets who served at that time had two major messages. First, they warned people of their evil. Secondly, they warned of a major punishment from God that is coming. Habakkuk is different from them though they served in the same period. Habakkuk complains about the evil going on in Israel. Habakkuk complaints to God and not to the people. Habakkuk asks God how He can allow such evil to thrive in Israel of all places. How can You tolerate all these is the question Habakkuk asks. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

Habakkuk observed Israel thriving is sin. Habakkuk saw evil people destroying righteous people. In fact in our text today, Habakkuk says that evil people are destroying people who are better than them. Habakkuk saw this and cried to God for help, but God was just silent Habakkuk 1:2. Now Habakkuk wonders why God has let the righteous suffer and the evil to thrive. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

Habakkuk asks God why He has allowed injustice to carry on. Why outright wrongdoing is taking place and God who can do something does nothing about it? Israel has become a place of conflict. No mediation. No conflict resolution. Habakkuk says that conflicts abound in that community, Habakkuk 1:3. Stories of who doesn’t like who and who is working to destroy who were all over the community. Schemes and counter schemes to destroy each other abounded. Case after case one against another. Conflict abounds, yet God who can do something does nothing. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

In Habakkuk 1:4, he tells God that the law is now paralyzed. Nobody follows even the basic laws of God that once defined that society. Justice never prevails. In any case, brought for judgment, justice never prevails. Everyone whose issue has been discussed has ended up with the loss of justice. Habakkuk tells God that society no longer acts justly. Justice never prevails. How does that happen? The wicked hem in the righteous so that justice is perverted. The wicked meet and strategize and create an impression that the righteous are wrong. The righteous find themselves in an organized scheme that overwhelms them and justice is perverted. Habakkuk sees all these and he asks God why He allows all these to take place. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

In Habakkuk 1:13, he speaks to God while wondering why God whose eyes are too pure to look at evil is tolerating wrongdoing and thriving of bad people. He asks God why He is silent when the wicked are trampling over the righteous, the key reason being, that these righteous people are better than them. They are irritated and annoyed by the excellence of the righteous people and they scheme and destroy them. Habakkuk asks God why He has allowed all these to happen and He is witnessing? Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

One of the key lessons here is that not all cases that end with one declared guilty are justly conducted. Some cases could be the scheming of wicked people that have won over the righteous. Being righteous doesn’t mean every case against you will be in your favor. The wicked can scheme and have a righteous person look so bad and guilty. Being good to everyone and excellent in what you do, could be the very reason why you would soon be destroyed by the wicked who will make you look bad as they look good. This is what Habakkuk asks God why He has allowed it to happen. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

John 15:20
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Jesus went through this kind of treatment. He was right, sinless, and perfect, yet He was nailed to the cross as a criminal and a criminal released as innocent. Until this day, many good people end up on the cross as criminals have the day. Jesus said, since it happened to Him, it will also happen to us His disciples. This is what Habakkuk asked about. Is God tolerating wrongdoing and bad people?

Habakkuk 1:5
“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.
Habakkuk 1:6
I am raising up the Babylonians,
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.

God responds to Habakkuk by telling him that He will act. God tells Habakkuk that what I am planning to do to address this evil will be so serious that no one will believe when they are told. God tells Habakkuk that He will respond while Habakkuk is alive, I will do it in your days. I will deal with wrongdoing and bad people in a manner that no one who is told will believe that such a thing happened. Then God tells Habakkuk that He will use Babylonians to punish Israel for their sins. God is not tolerating, He is mercifully hoping we change our ways before He acts against us.

The message, therefore, is that God is not tolerating wrongdoing and bad people. God will act. God will act in our time. God will act in a manner that will be beyond satisfactory. No one will believe what God will do. Are you among the wicked or among the righteous? Prepare yourself for God has promised to act. God will punish the wicked who will not have repented. God will reward and comfort the righteous who would have suffered immensely. Let the wicked change their ways today. Let the suffering righteous persevere. God will act is the message today. Save me from among the wicked and may justice be done in our time, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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