Is it true that God cannot look upon sin?

Response

In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet tells God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil” «You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity: why then do you look upon those who act treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? », (Habakkuk 1:13, CSB). This does not imply that God must close His eyes or turn His back when people begin to sin. It is, instead, an acknowledgment of God’s righteous nature and, in context, part of a broader conversation about God’s approach to dealing with sin.

Habakkuk starts with a series of inquiries addressed to God. Habakkuk witnessed the sin and moral decline engulfing the nation and brought his concerns to the Lord. Who today can read this complaint and not recognize the same queries so many are currently posing to God?:

“How long, Lord, must I cry for help,

but you do not listen?

Or cry out to you, “Violence!”

but you do not save?

Why do you make me see iniquity?

Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Destruction and violence are before me;

there is strife, and contention arises.

So the law is paralyzed,

and justice never prevails.

The wicked surround the righteous,

so justice is perverted” (Habakkuk 1:1-4).

Habakkuk observed the people of God immersed in sin, yet he was puzzled as to why the wicked thrived while the righteous suffered. Why was God so patient with wrongdoing? Like Job, Habakkuk questioned God’s apparently delayed response to righting wrongs. Would the violence never cease? What happened to justice?

God replies to Habakkuk by unveiling His intention to utilize the Chaldean nation to subdue Judah and thereby punish the wrongdoers (Habakkuk 1:5-11). This response caused Habakkuk even more distress, and he once again questioned God. The Chaldeans (or Babylonians) were even more wicked and debauched than the Israelites. How could God use such a wicked nation to judge His people (verses 13–17)? Why would He allow “the wicked [to] swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” (verse 13). Does He approve of their sin?

It is within this context that the perplexed prophet declares, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing” «Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? », (Habakkuk 1:13). The key to understanding this statement is found in the parallelism of the poetry. “To look on” is parallel with “tolerate.” Habakkuk is pointing to God’s holiness and stating, “You are too holy to look favorably on evil.”

We use a similar expression today. Our English word countenance can mean “face” or “look,” and it can also mean “to sanction or approve of.” When someone says, “I cannot countenance that behavior,” he or she is expressing disapproval of that behavior. In a similar manner, when Habakkuk speaks of God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,” he means that God’s holy nature ensures that He will not sanction sin. God cannot “look” upon wickedness with favor—so, the prophet asks, why would He allow the Babylonians to overrun Judah?

God is still omniscient and omnipresent, so He is aware of sin, and He is present when it is committed. He does not ignore sin or turn a blind eye to it. He sees it, and, as Habakkuk rightly asserts, He cannot view it favorably. What troubled the prophet is that, by using the Babylonians to punish Judah, God appeared to be couMaintaining the Babylonians’ idolatry, violence, and greed. God assures His prophet in chapter 2 that the sins of Babylon will not be tolerated either. The Chaldeans were dispatched as God’s instrument to judge the wickedness of Judah, and the Chaldeans’ own sin will also be judged. But judgment will come in God’s time and in His way.

Confusion over the idea that God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil has led some to believe that when a Christian sins, the Holy Spirit leaves him or her because the Holy Spirit cannot “look” upon sin. However, that would contradict the Bible’s teaching that believers have been “sealed” by the Holy Spirit, the “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:13-14;cf: 2 Corinthians 1:22). The Holy Spirit dwells inside Christians; although He is grieved by our sin «And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. », (Ephesians 4:30), He does not abandon us. The key is that our sin is paid for by Jesus and fully forgiven. God cannot tolerate sin, and that is why He sent His Son “to destroy the devil’s work” «He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. », (1 John 3:8).