A Criticism of Habakkuk's New Book, circa 600 BC

Justice Prevails is the new best-seller from self-proclaimed prophet Habakkuk.^[1]

The title Justice Prevails is a rather heavy-handed title, seeming to rule out all aspects of God's nature other than justice.^[2] And the justice in the book is not really justice at all. Most of the book Habakkuk rightfully describes all the awful things that the Babylonians are capable of doing, but somehow a just God is just going to let them destroy the chosen people of God. Not only is the love of God missing from this book, but the justice presented is a distorted justice coming strictly from the mind of Habakkuk.

Habakukk starts his book out by asking questions. This relatively small book is full of questions and short on answers. In fact, no reasonable answers are given throughout Habakkuk's entire book. Even by the end, Habakkuk is left to steep in the answerless void that is his theology. A theology of an unknowable yet just God who uses wicked people to punish righteous people. And miraculously, somehow by the end he can still say he will rejoice in the Lord?^[3]

This book of Habakkuk's is dangerous theologically. It portrays God in an irreverent light: The "god" of Habakkuk is a god that can be questioned, a god unconcerned with the people he chose through our father Abraham, a god who would use heathens for his purpose. This is not the God of the Torah. It also portrays a God unconcerned with the wickedness of foreign nations. Did not God send Joshua into the land of Canaan to judge the wicked nations there? How can Habakkuk then write a book exactly counter to the message of the book of Joshua? They both cannot be true. How can an evil people be sent by God to destroy his chosen people? That is not justice! It does not even make any sense!

This kind of "prophecy" of Habakkuk's only leads to a liberalization of interpretation of God's word, a disrespect for God, and in turn the moral degradation of society. We have already seen this in respects to the Northern Kingdom and their prophets. Jonah made a failed mission trip to Nineveh, and the Assyrians destroyed Israel anyway. (Someone should have told Jonah that God is a God of Israel, not Assyria.) Hosea had a prostitute for a wife! A prostitute! No wonder God destroyed Israel with the Assyrians, for all the wickedness of their "prophets"! Habakkuk only follows in the liberal and heretical footsteps of Jonah and Hosea. What is next? A prophet who uses theatrics and imaginative visions to pull in the new generations like a lustful song? A prophet who spends an entire book unjustly criticizing God?^[4] May it never be!

1. This is (hopefully, obviously) a parody on some of the criticism of Rob Bell's recent and controversial book, Love Wins. In using Habakkuk, I am NOT trying to equate Bell's work with Scripture, or even endorse everything he says as right. I am instead trying to point out some of the intellectually dishonest criticisms of his book by criticizing a book that everyone would accept as the inspired Word of God with the same criteria that is being used against Love Wins.
2. I chose the title, Justice Prevails, because that also tended to be one of the big criticisms of Bell, that he ignored justice in favor of love. Here, I flip the criticism. Habakkuk seems to ignore love in favor of justice.
3. Habakkuk 3:18-19
4. A reference to other prophets that came after Habakkuk: Ezekiel (specific reference to Ezekiel 33:32) and Jeremiah's book of Lamentations. 

The Quest for the Sword of UnTime

This is the best argument I can make for the legitimacy of Twitter as a serious tool for communication in the 21st century. Without it, I could not receive essential information in real time in 140 characters or less. Below is my adventure, and make sure to read it from the bottom up. Click on the image for full size. Also, follow me @briefconceits for all my latest exploits.

(Click for full size and read from bottom up.) 

Where's the Box for "Stop Mailing These To Me!"?

I somehow got onto the Republican mailing list, and about once a week I get an annoying "ballot" that's little more than a pathetic gimmick to squeeze money out of me. I got so tired of throwing them away that I decided to fill one out. If I'm lucky this will finally get them to stop.

 (Click for full view)

My Talk with God

I have a pondering spot down by the river. I go there when I need to get away and do some serious thinking. I sit on a rock beside the mighty rushing all-consuming flowing trickling Arkansas River and contemplate the deep things of life. It is also a place I often talk with God.

My pondering place.

That is not quite accurate. It's more like I talk at God, and then God lets me sit there and stew for a bit. God and I have a strange relationship.

Last evening, it was time for one of those talks at God. That is not quite accurate, either. It was time to complain at God. When I feel something is going wrong, I feel like Job felt after all those awful things happened to him. In that moment, I feel like Job. I am Job. I feel no remorse in the moment that I have equated my petty problems with Job losing all his children and wealth, sitting in a pile of ashes scratching himself with a potsherd. That is totally me. And I will quote Job's same line to God, as if God hadn't heard it the first time with Job, or that God would now be moved to answer differently after he sees how bad I have it.

I would lay out my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know with what words he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me with great power? No, he would only pay attention to me. There an upright person could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
~Job 23.4-7 (NET)

It was late at night, almost midnight, and I made the trek to my pondering spot which is about a mile from where I live. I just walk north up a suburban street until I reach the river and then follow the river to the pondering rock. It's not that I have to go to this specific place to talk with God. He's everywhere, right? This is more for my benefit. It eliminates all the other things that might distract me from properly complaining.

After I reached the river and made my way to my pondering rock, I looked up at the night sky and noticed that the stars were obscured by total cloud cover. God wasn't going to play the make-Eric-feel-insignificant-in-the-face-of-the-seemingly-infinite-universe card tonight. He probably didn't think my complaint was worth unfurling the heavens.

I sat on my rock, and I gave God a chance to talk. I always give him a chance to explain himself before I start on my complaints. He's never taken the opportunity, but you never know, right?

So after God doesn't speak, I start to speak. It doesn't really matter what my problem was this particular time (it never really matters). But after I finished God still did not talk. He let me sit there...

...and sit there...

...and continue to sit there...

...until finally I come to a realization that I knew the answer. In fact, the answer had been staring at me in the face the entire week. And I suddenly felt stupid, inconsiderate and arrogant in the face of the Almighty God.

So I said a quick apology and returned home. He doesn't say anything back, but I imagine it would be something like, "See you next week, Eric."

I told you God and I have a strange relationship.

South Africans Love the Colonel

One of the most jarring aspects of my trip to South Africa was the fact that no matter where I went, I was haunted by the ghost of Colonel Sanders. Nowhere was this more poignant than in the town of Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal which has a population of just over 14,000 people.

On one of the main streets (Osborn Road), there is a KFC that always seemed to be doing brisk business the several times I passed by.

But not even a kilometer down Osborn Road is there another KFC that also does very brisk business as well!

South Africans love their Kentucky Fried Chicken almost as much as we Americans love our Starbucks. There is one on every corner!

Zulu Hymns

I had the opportunity to spend time with a church in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal where they have a dual language service in both Zulu and English. I recorded a few of the Zulu songs that were sung while I was there. Zulu has sounds that are not present in English that sound like clicks. You can catch a few of those in some of the songs. You might also be able to recognize an old familiar hymn or two in there as well.

Even More Kruger National Park