Why doesn’t God come in judgment? Habakkuk is now beginning to question the character of God, the motivations of God. He does not see the answer that Paul saw 600 years later. When Paul writes in Romans 1:1–32, and he sees violence—
Derek W. H. Thomasthe wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth—and he goes on to give a catalogue of sins and vices of first-century Rome. And Paul says,you know, you think when you see all this vice, when you see all this sin, when you see all this criminality, when you see all these things that people are doing, that God would come in judgment. But,Paul says,that is the judgment!He has given them over. He has given them over to unrighteousness, to do whatever their hearts desire. God has withdrawn. That is the judgment!1
3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.