Habakkuk 1:13

"Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and boldest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he?"

How can the holy and good God permit the wicked to swallow the people who, however sinful, are yet better than the destroyer? The answer to this lies in the truth that the redemption of anyone on earth was related to the fidelity and perseverance of a remnant of Israel until, in the fullness of time, the Messiah would be delivered upon the earth. Furthermore, the wickedness of Israel had reached a degree that threatened the achievement of that goal; and it was the utmost necessity of preserving a remnant of Israel to remain faithful to God that resulted in their destruction, judged a necessity by the Lord. God does not view righteousness and wickedness in relative degrees. The wickedness of states like Assyria and Babylon make no real difference anyway; they were members of rebellious mankind organized and arrayed against God; but Israel was the Covenant people. That made all the difference. "It is an invariable law of God that the righteous must suffer along with the guilty."[27] This is not due to any action of God, but to the wicked rebellion of Adam and Eve that gave their posterity this type of world. The only alternative possible would be that of the total destruction of mankind, but that would frustrate, partially, the purpose of redemption.

"The man that is more righteous ..." Some have supposed that this spoke of the relative righteousness of Judah as a whole and that of the Babylonians, and this certainly may be true, for it was a fact. The forthcoming invaders would be worse than "the evening wolves" who were Judah's judges (Zephaniah 3:3); but despite this, it is very likely that "the righteous remnant" constituting the true Israel of God in all ages was the group referred to here. Deane, Keil, and Delitzsch believed that, "The persons intended are the godly portion of Israel." [28]

A very significant thing in this question on Habakkuk's part was thus cited by Jamieson, "Instead of speaking evil against God, he went to God himself for the remedy of his perplexity."[29]