God’s Cranky Prophets: Jonah & Habakkuk

Introduction

If we are honest, we have to admit there are times we don’t understand or like the way God runs the world. His ways do not always make sense to us. We know that God is perfectly good and just, yet sometimes it appears that He allows wickedness to prosper and go unpunished.

It frustrates us when we cry out to God for justice but He does not seem to hear or care. You might be pleading with the Lord for justice regarding personal matters in your family or at work. It could be that you are crying out against oppression of the poor, religious persecution, government corruption, or global wars. Perhaps you question why God allows innocent people to suffer.

Scripture reminds us we are not alone in our distress. The Old Testament prophets Jonah and Habakkuk faced the same dilemma long ago. They lived in separate kingdoms one hundred fifty years apart in time and they were called by God to address different circumstances, but what they shared in common was a passion for the holiness, goodness and justice of God. They also shared frustration that God seemed to tolerate evil.

Jonah and Habakkuk each struggled to find a satisfactory theodicy, meaning a justification or explanation of God’s actions with regard to evil in light of His goodness. Jonah was especially troubled by the tension between divine justice and mercy. He resented God’s compassion for the wicked people of Nineveh, Assyria, and angrily refused to conform his will to God’s:

“I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to
anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
Therefore now, O LORD... it is better for me to die than to live.”
(Jonah 4:2-3 ESV)

Habakkuk’s initial complaint was related to God’s failure to punish sin among His own people in Judah:

“O LORD, how long shall I cry for help, and
you will not hear… you will not save… you idly look at wrong?”
(Habakkuk 1:2-3)

However, when God revealed His plan to punish Judah by means of the wicked Babylonians, Habakkuk complained to God about His unfair methods. The candor of the prophets’ complaints makes us a bit uneasy because our sovereign God does not have to explain His ways to us. Is it really all right to tell Him we don’t like the way He runs the world?

Jonah and Habakkuk show us that being in a personal, covenant relationship with God means that our prayers can be honest because He is gracious. But there is more. When we complain to God we should approach Him with a teachable heart. Our goal must not be to get our own way, but to seek God’s counsel and learn from Him. We should develop right feelings and will (orthopathy) so that our hearts are aligned with God.

God does care about injustice and deals with it in His own sovereign and gracious way. We are to trust God’s character and saving purposes, responding in obedience to His call on our lives. Whether or not we understand or like the way God is working in our life and the world, His redemptive purposes are always good and will not fail. Because God has fulfilled His redemptive purposes in Jesus Christ, we can have confidence that God can be trusted for all aspects of life including matters of justice.

In the end neither Jonah nor Habakkuk got the answers they wanted from God. Jonah’s response was to become increasingly angry, refusing to accept God’s right to act as He pleases. Habakkuk, though, faithfully yielded to God’s sovereignty. We are to imitate Habakkuk by trusting and submitting to God even when we do not like what He is doing. Like Habakkuk, our complaints should turn into praise in every circumstance:

“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)

This study guide is designed for group or individual Bible study. The lessons provide background information, related Scripture references, and study questions to deepen the reader’s understanding of the Bible passage along with its application to our lives. There are six sets of study questions per lesson, making it easier to study the lesson a little at a time during a week. A leader’s guide and other appendices are provided near the end of the book.

The prayers throughout the study guide come from John Calvin’s 16th century Commentary on the prophets. Calvin was a leading figure in the Protestant Reformation. Each of these pastoral prayers is actually one very long sentence that has been modified in form to make it easier for modern readers. Enjoy these timeless meditations from one of the Reformation’s most profound theologians.

May this study of Jonah and Habakkuk, two of God’s cranky but beloved prophets, encourage you to take your concerns to God and allow Him to transform your will so that it is aligned with His in all circumstances.