You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
Habakkuk 1:13
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
Habakkuk is struggling to contemplate how the pure, holy God can tolerate the evils of this world. He first complained about Judah’s wickedness. When the Lord said he’d punish them via the Babylonians, Habakkuk received an even bigger problem: how can God use an even more depraved nation to punish his people?
Traitors
The prophet asks why God looks at traitors (בּֽוֹגְדִ֔ים, bogedim) and does not act. The verb bagad means to act faithlessly or treacherously.
Jeremiah felt the same as Habakkuk. “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (Jeremiah 12:1; more literally, “Why are all the treacherously treacherous at ease?”). How are they treacherous? He describes their relationship with God as “near with their mouth” yet “far from their heart” (Jeremiah 12:2). They say the right things, but their thoughts and deeds do not align with their words.
Betraying God’s commands
The Israelites fought a courageous battle against the Philistines and won, led by King Saul. Saul had made a vow that none of them would eat until after that battle. Starved, the army pounced on the meat without properly draining it (the passage doesn’t mention cooking it either but perhaps that’s implied). When Saul was alerted that they were eating the blood (which was forbidden; see Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 19:26), he said, “You have dealt treacherously (bagad)” (1 Samuel 14:33) and instructed the people to slaughter the meat properly.
Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, is a song about how much he loves God’s commands. On the other hand, “I look at the faithless (bogedim) with disgust, / because they do not keep your commands” (Psalm 119:158). In contrast to how much he loves God and obeys, he sees those who don’t obey as treacherous, breaking faith with God’s covenant.
The Unfaithful Marriage
One of the more prominent ways this word is used is in the context of marriage, where one is unfaithful to his or her spouse. When the people ask why God doesn’t answer them, the prophet Malachi scolds the people for being faithless (bagad) to their wives, divorcing them (Malachi 2:13-16).
Just as a woman would feel betrayed by her husband, so it is with God. Malachi earlier says the people had been unfaithful to him (Malachi 2:10-12). God commonly uses marriage infidelity to describe how he feels when his people go after other gods. He speaks of Judah as “treacherous” (Jeremiah 3:7, 8, 10, 20). Hosea, who marries a prostitute to portray to the people how God feels about his relationship to his people, says the people “have dealt faithlessly (bagad) with the LORD” (Hosea 5:7).
Treacherous Leaders
How could the situation become so dire? Why would a nation stray so far? A large part of it comes from the nation’s leaders. The prophet Zephaniah describes the prophets, who should be guiding God’s people to do what is right, as arrogant, treacherous (boged) men (Zephaniah 3:4). What’s more, he condemns the nation’s officials, judges, and priests. Leaders who cause their people to stray not only break faith with God but also with the people who they should be guiding. They have betrayed those they should be protecting. We need to pray for Godly wisdom for our leaders!
To Ponder…
Have you ever been betrayed? How did that feel?
How faithful are you to the Lord? Have you ever betrayed him? How do you think he felt?
Pray for our leaders, that they may provide Godly guidance and not betray those they have sworn to lead.