Habakkuk's Appeal To God’s Action
Habakkuk emphasized the holiness of God by saying that his eyes are too pure for him to see the evil that the Israelites were doing. This did not mean that he was unaware of the wickedness that the Israelites had committed but rather that he had no pleasure in having to observe it. He would not tolerate the sinful lifestyle of the Israelites, therefore he planned to remove their wickedness from before him through the Babylonians.
Although Habakkuk understood that God had to deal with the evil of his people, he was taken aback by the fact that he seemed to say nothing against the Babylonians who, in his opinion, were far worse than the Israelites. Compared to the Babylonians, Habakkuk thought that the Israelites could even be described as righteous.
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil 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?