Rose-Colored Glasses

Why do You make me see disaster, and make me look at destitution?  Yes, devastation and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Habakkuk 1:3  NASB

Devastation and violence – Maybe you just need to turn off the news.  It seems that all the news is bad news. Violence. Destruction. Animosity. Hatred. A constant stream of human contention.  Is there no relief?  Do we just have to pretend not to hear in order to find some peace?  Ah, that’s not a new question.  The prophets wrestled with the same issues thousands of years ago.  Once we stop listening to God and to each other, once rational dialogue ends, the world turns ugly very quickly.  As Sacks points out, “ . . . we are shown how, when words fail, violence begins.”[1]

“Devastation and violence” writes the prophet.  The picture is bleak.  šōd and ḥāmās.  šōd—havoc.  ḥāmās—violence.  But the combination is important.  A full investigation even more so.

The phrase šōd wāšeber “havoc and destruction” appears in Isa 51:19; 59:7; 60:18; Jer 48:3. The phrase ḥāmās wāšōd“violence and destruction” occurs in Jer 6:7; 20:8; Ezk 45:9; Am 3:10; (once as šōd wĕḥāmās in Hab 1:3).

This latter parallelism is of special significance because of the import of the word “violence” (ḥāmās). This word designates the type of sin preceding the deluge, “the earth was corrupt and filled with ‘violence’ ” (Gen 6:11). What is meant by “violence”? We tend to agree with Cassuto (Commentary on Genesis, II, p. 52) that ḥāmās does not refer to deeds of outrage and violence, that is, lawlessness perpetrated by force. Rather, ḥāmās refers to anything that is unrighteous, e.g. injustice or social unrighteousness. Perhaps this sheds some light on the meaning of šōd. It is clear, however, that šōd is not only a cause for destruction but also may be the destruction itself (Hos 7:13; 10:14). Isaiah 13:6 and Joel 1:15 connect šōd with the day of the Lord. Such destruction is designed not for unbelievers but for apostate believers. ^[2]

So, it’s not just the news from Israel, is it?  It’s not just terrorist organizations.  “Anything that is unrighteous.”  That covers a lot of contemporary civilization.  Maybe that’s why the news is so difficult to hear.  Unrighteousness is all around us.  Everywhere we look we see injustice and social disintegration.  šōd wĕḥāmās, says Habakkuk.  In a very important insight, Jonathan Sacks touches the source of all this chaos.  It starts with a lack of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not merely personal, it is also political.  It is essential to the life of a nation if it is to maintain its independence for long.  There is no greater proof of this than Jewish history itself.  Twice Israel suffered defeat and exile.  The first . . . as a direct consequence of the division of the kingdom into two after the death of Solomon.  The second—defeat at the hands of the Romans and the destruction of the Second Temple—was the result of intense factionalism and internal strife, sinat ḥinnam.  When people lack the ability to forgive, they are unable to resolve conflict.  The result is division, factionalism, and the fragmentation of a nation into competing groups and sects.[3]

Victor Davis Hanson notes that the West is reverting to tribalism.  By that he means that each faction of the society becomes inclusive, allowing only its own members to belong, and believing that the group is in possession of the truth.  Anyone who disagrees is a heretic, an enemy, and needs to be silenced or disposed of.  Sacks notes: “The only way of bridging these perspectives [the world seen from more than one point of view] is through conversation.  Hence the idea of truth as dialogue.  In Genesis, when speech breaks down, violence—the attempt to impose my version of the truth on you by force—is often waiting in the wings.”[4]

“The more strongly we feel bound to the people like us, the more likely we are to fear and thus dislike the people who are different.”[5]

But the problem isn’t just lack of cross-tribal communication.  Behind this breakdown is a deeper schism.  “An economic system must exist within a moral framework.  It need not aim at economic equality but it must respect human dignity.”[6]  Once a society treats some as if they were less human than others, the moral order collapses.  God is removed from the civilization because God is the creator of all human beings equally.  Political power fills the vacuum created by the absence of divine foundations.  The result: “Sooner or later, power will corrupt those who wield it.  If fortune favors [a nation] and it grows rich, it will become self-indulgent and eventually decadent.  Its citizens will no longer have the courage to fight for their liberty, and it will fall to another, more Spartan, power.”[7]  The history of civilization bears witness to Sacks’ insight.  It is only a matter of time before šōd wĕḥāmās is ubiquitous.

Topical Index: šōd wĕḥāmās, destruction, violence, tribalism, forgiveness, Habakkuk 1:3