Rays Problem With Habakkuk 1:13

[Origen II]

"Thou [God] 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)

In his 'Lake of Fire Series: Part 10', Ray explains this passage by stating that though the author of this passage states the truth about God, that this is not contexually correct (generally speaking from reading his argument).

However, I don't feel this passage requires the NLT or any huge explanation. If one reads before and after the passage, the author is in utter turmoil and is trying to point the finger at other nations saying, "Hey, they're worse than us!" In his efforts to 'presuade' God, he goes as far as to question God's ethics in the matter! The author was indeed WRONG for what he was expressing towards God. God replies back to him basically rebuking him...and then Habakkuk starts to pray in FEAR of God.

I truly believe Habakkuk was in the wrong and had no idea what he was talking about.

[hillsbororiver]

OrigenII, I believe you missed the point Ray was making, it was not about Habakkuk per se, but how Billy Graham uses this verse to say God has nothing to do with evil, even to the point of "canst not look on iniquity:"

Here is the portion of Lake of Fire Part X;

BILLY GRAHAM DEFENDS GOD AGAINST EVIL

I don’t mean to continually pick on Billy Graham, as he is, after all, a fine and respected man. Nonetheless, he does personify fundamental religion, and he does teach heresy. I heard Billy Graham deliver a message televised to the entire world, from the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. shortly after September 11th, wherein he stated that, God is not the Creator of evil. I also have an old newspaper clipping from a Billy Graham question and answer column in which he again denied that God is the Creator of evil. He quoted Habakkuk 1:13 as proof of his statement. I think is will be helpful to check this Scripture to see if it indeed backs up Billy Graham’s assertion:

"Thou [God] 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?" (KJVâ€"I left in all the archaic English and italics to show added words not found in the manuscripts).

First of all, one is immediately struck by the fact that Habakkuk unwittingly charges God with a contradiction of characterâ€"if we are to accept this Scripture as translated by the KJV and many others. I paraphrase Habakkuk: Since your eyes, O Lord, are too pure to behold evil and you can’t look at iniquity, why do you then do it?

Interestingly, of the nearly three hundred times the word "iniquity" is found in the Bible, Habakkuk 1:13 is the only time it is the translation of the word amal which means "wearisome toil" and not "iniquity" at all.

Let’s notice a more literal translation of this verse:

"Thou art of cleaner eyes than to see evil, And to look at toil Thou art not able" (Concordant Literal Old Testament).

Even this translation does not help a great deal in our understanding of the verse. Is the meaning of this verse that God absolutely cannot (is unable) with His clean eyes, to "see evil or look at toil?" Sometimes it is necessary to translate the meaning rather than just the words.

I apologize for the fact that the translation nearest to the implied meaning of this verse that I could find is The Living Bible, which is not necessarily among the most precise or accurate translations in many areas. However, sometimes they really do nail the obvious intention of the verse. And yes, I realize that is a value judgment on my part. But anyway, take a look at their rendition of this verse:

"We are wicked, but they far more! Will you [God], Who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should You be silent while the wicked destroy those who are better than they?" (Habakkuk 1:13, The Living Bible).

Now we can make sense of Habakkuk’s cry for a more just judgment from God. Notice verse two in this same chapter with our new understanding: "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear! Even cry out unto Thee of violence, and you will not save!" And so, this verse says nothing with regards to God being or not being the Creator of evil. But the verses prior to verse 13 clearly show what evils are to come upon the people by means of the Chaldeans:

"They are TERRIBLE and DREADFUL… more FIERCE than the evening WOLVES… They shall come all for VIOLENCE… they shall deride [laugh at] every strong hold… Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, IMPUTING THIS HIS POWER UNTO HIS [the Chaldean] god" (Habakkuk 1:7-11).

GOD NEEDS NO DEFENSE FROM EVIL

Notice very carefully that the Chaldeans are "imputing" this fierce and evil power that they possessed, to their god. And I guess that Billy Graham would say, Amen to that. However, what saith the Scriptures? Who is, admittedly, the source and Creator of this evil Chaldean slaughtering-machine? Habakkuk 1:5-6 answers:

"Behold you among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously; for I [GOD] will work a work in your days, which you will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldean, that bitter and hasty [Heb: ‘fierce and impetuous’] which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not their’s."

And there is the plain truth of this Scripture. It was God Himself Who was responsible for "raising up the fierce and impetuous Chaldean." And they were a great evil against those whom they slaughtered! And so the very verse that Mr. Graham used to prove his doctrine turns out to prove just the opposite.

The Scriptures are quite clear on this subject. And the twenty some verses I quoted above should be sufficient proof to even the most stubborn reader, that God is both the Creator and User of many forms of evil, and yet is without sin and not evil, Himself. God uses evil for good. And this is a prerogative that only God uses righteously 100% of the time.

Why do I spend so much time on this subject of evil’s Authorship? Because it is one of the most import truths in the whole world! It is the answer to maybe the most colossal enigma in all creationâ€"Why is there, and must there be, evil in the world? Let me state with all humility that no theologian who believes that Satan is the author of evil, can ever explain why God put evil in the "tree of the knowledge of GOOD…"!! They might attempt a feeble explanation if God had put evil in its own tree, but not when God put it in the same tree with good! God is responsible for not only all the evil in the world, but God is responsible for EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE, and God is the most responsible Being in the universe. Just Who’s responsible for this mess? God is! And just Who’s going to clean up this mess? God is!