Habakkuk 1:3-4 (NIV) 3Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. 4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk is listed as one of the Minor Prophets in our Bible...not because his message was in any way “minor” in substance or quality; but only because its length was shorter. Habakkuk was a prophet to the nation of Judah between the times of Jeremiah and Daniel; he was their contemporary. Habakkuk’s message prophesied the fall of Judah to the Babylonians, which history records occurring in 586BC.
Reading this passage from Habakkuk is like reading any modern-day news headline. Habakkuk’s complaint to the LORD is echoed within many of our own complaints today. What is wrong with our nation? What is wrong with our world? Why do bad things keep happening? How did we get to the point that our legal systems are so topsy-turvy, politically-biased, and just plain perverted? How long will this keep going?
My friends, we already know the answers. The problem with our nation and our world is that we have not chosen to follow the LORD our God. This is not a new problem; this is an age-old problem that we have maintained through generations of disobedience and lackadaisical half-heartedness to God.
Psalm 12:1-2 (NIV) 1Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. 2Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.
Psalm 14:1 (NIV) 1The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 (NIV) 29This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.
Isaiah 59:2, 7-8a, 14-15 (NIV) 2But your iniquities have separated you from your God, your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. ... 7Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. 8The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. ... 14So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
Jeremiah 2:17 (NIV) 17Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way?
Hosea 4:1b (NIV) 1bThere is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
Romans 1:28-32 (NIV) 28Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. they are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
2 Timothy 3:1-4 (NIV) 1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God...
Titus 1:15b-16 (NIV) 15b...but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
God demands loyalty and faithfulness. Habakkuk’s message to the nation of Judah (ca. 609BC - 598BC), is just as relevant for all nations of the world, including the United States of America, today (AD2026). And lest we think we are somehow personally exempted; not included among the qualities and characteristics of those evildoers listed above; perhaps we should reread those passages with ears to hear, eyes to see, and a mindful heart to understand.
Gracious Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your love and mercy. We confess that we enjoy reading the happy portions of scripture; yet we know all scripture is provided by you, and much of it for our rebuke and correction. Examine our hearts. Cause within us need for repentance; thankfulness for your redemption; and the blessed hope of restoration.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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Write From My Heart at https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com
Email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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