Misused Scripture: Habakkuk 1:13 God's Eyes Are Not Too Pure to Look Upon You

A common teaching in conservative Christianity claims that God's eyes are "too pure to look upon sin," necessitating Jesus' blood to cover believers so God can even bear to look at them. This interpretation, while widespread, fundamentally misunderstands both Scripture and God's character.

This teaching stems from Habakkuk 1:13: "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil." However, context, as always, is crucial. Habakkuk isn't making a theological statement about God's inability to look at sinful humans. Instead, he's lodging a complaint about justice. Or, rather, the lack thereof.

The book of Habakkuk centers on a profound wrestling with the problem of evil. The prophet challenges God: Why do the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer? How can a good God allow such injustice? When Habakkuk says God's eyes are "too pure to look on evil," he keeps going:

Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,
    and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
so why do you look on the treacherous
    and are silent when the wicked swallow
    those more righteous than they?

He's essentially asking: "If you're supposedly so holy, why do you keep watching silently while the wicked devour those more righteous than themselves?"

This is not a statement about God's metaphysical limitations. It's a lament about divine inaction in the face of injustice.

The idea that God cannot look upon sin is immediately contradicted in the opening chapters of Genesis. After Adam and Eve's disobedience, God doesn't turn away in revulsion. Instead, God actively seeks them out, moving toward them despite their sin. This pattern of divine pursuit continues throughout Scripture.

Consider these examples of God moving toward, not away from, sinful humanity:

• God pursues Adam and Eve after their rebellion
• God seeks out Cain after he murders Abel
• God appears to Moses, a murderer in exile
• God continues speaking to David after his grievous sins
• God sends prophets repeatedly to wayward Israel
• Jesus repeatedly touches the "unclean" and eats with sinners
• The incarnation itself demonstrates God's willingness to enter fully into human messiness

The culmination of this divine movement toward humanity is celebrated during Advent - God becoming flesh and "moving into the neighborhood" (John 1:14, The Message). The incarnation represents the ultimate refutation of the idea that God cannot look upon sinful humanity. In Jesus, God not only looked upon humanity but became human, experiencing all our temptations and struggles while remaining sinless.

This matters deeply for our understanding of God and ourselves. If we believe God cannot bear to look at us because of our sin, we'll likely view God as distant, easily offended, and requiring appeasement. This distorts both God's character and the meaning of Christ's sacrifice.

The truth is far more beautiful: God persistently moves toward us despite our best attempts to rebel. The cross isn't about making us acceptable enough for God to look at us. It's about removing the barriers we've erected between ourselves and God, healing the relationship the power of sin has damaged.

This understanding of God has profound implications for our present moment. Like Habakkuk, many of us look at our world and wonder why justice seems so elusive. We watch corrupt, inept, awful leaders prosper, promoted into positions of power, while the vulnerable suffer. We see creation groaning under exploitation while the exploiters grow wealthy.

Habakkuk's complaint resonates across millennia: "How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save?" (Habakkuk 1:2)

The prophet's wrestling with God teaches us that such questions don't reflect a lack of faith—they are expressions of faith. Habakkuk believed enough in God's justice and goodness to demand an accounting when reality seemed to contradict those divine attributes.

The book concludes not with all questions answered, but with a declaration of trust despite circumstances: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines... yet I will rejoice in the LORD" (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

This tension between present reality and future hope remains. We still see injustice flourishing. We still cry out, "How long?" But we can do so confident that God hasn't turned away from our broken world in disgust. Instead, God continues moving toward us, working through those who partner with divine purposes to bend the arc of history toward justice.

God's eyes aren't too pure to look upon you. They're fixed on you with perfect love, seeing you fully—both your sin and your belovedness—and moving ever closer to bring healing and wholeness to all creation.