The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Habakkuk 1:12b-13,
"You, Lord, have appointed them [the Babylonians] to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?"
Habakkuk had voiced his complaint to the Lord about the wickedness he saw about him in Judah. The Lord answered him and told him he was going to send an even more wicked people, the Babylonians, to bring his judgment against Judah.
Of course, this brought rise of Habakkuk's next complaint: how can the Lord use those who are even more wicked to bring his judgment against those who are wicked?
Clearly, Habakkuk had a sense of fairness, a sense of justice, a sense of what he felt was appropriate, of right and wrong. What he was challenged with was addressing the Lord who is the very definition of ultimate, pure and unadulterated justice. Habakkuk did not understand how his Lord, that he knew to be just and righteous, was going to deal with the injustice he saw.
This is clearly why the Lord provided us the book of Habakkuk, that we might better understand how our God of justice carries out his agenda in a perfection of justice and righteousness.
The reality is we all have built within us a sense of justice. Just as the Lord created us in his image to be communicators, creatures who emote and operate within the sphere of our own volition, he has likewise built within us a sense of justice.
This sense of justice dwells with us as beings with a fallen nature. Often times a sense of perverted justice brings us trouble. For example, we see this when some take revenge for a perceived wrong. We might see it in a child as he or she stamps their feet and exclaims, "That's not fair!". We don't need to be taught a sense of justice, we don't need to learn it. It is embedded within us in the way our Creator has wired us.
This is not to say we do not have need for training in justice and righteousness. This is due to our sinful nature. Like everything else within us, things have gone awry with our understanding of true justice. The need for training is very evident when we witness this built in sense of justice being perverted and exploited with the popular notions in our pop culture of things like "social justice" and "political correctness."
In any event, we all have this sense of justice built within us. One of the many, many exciting and refreshing things believers discover when they embrace the Lord in faith is the exposure to true justice, true fairness, a truthful definition of what is right and what is wrong and the resolution of those things that are wrong. This, of course, can only be felt by those who know their sins and transgressions have been forgiven and are persuaded that God's justice for those sins has already been satisfied by Jesus Christ's atonement for those sins on that miserable cross.
There is very little in life that is more satisfying than knowing and experiencing the justice that God expresses. We sense it now, we feel it now, we perceive it and rejoice in the harbingers of what is to come at the end of the age.
How wonderful to know our Lord, who is pristine in his character and nature, without wrinkle or shadow in his dealings, will bring an entirely satisfying (and joyful!) resolution of all things that vex us today, just as in Habakkuk's day. It may take some patience, as it did for Habakkuk, but like a massive freight train headed for the station, it is on the way!
"'Let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,'
declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:24.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"You, Lord, have appointed them [the Babylonians] to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?"
Habakkuk had voiced his complaint to the Lord about the wickedness he saw about him in Judah. The Lord answered him and told him he was going to send an even more wicked people, the Babylonians, to bring his judgment against Judah.
Of course, this brought rise of Habakkuk's next complaint: how can the Lord use those who are even more wicked to bring his judgment against those who are wicked?
Clearly, Habakkuk had a sense of fairness, a sense of justice, a sense of what he felt was appropriate, of right and wrong. What he was challenged with was addressing the Lord who is the very definition of ultimate, pure and unadulterated justice. Habakkuk did not understand how his Lord, that he knew to be just and righteous, was going to deal with the injustice he saw.
This is clearly why the Lord provided us the book of Habakkuk, that we might better understand how our God of justice carries out his agenda in a perfection of justice and righteousness.
The reality is we all have built within us a sense of justice. Just as the Lord created us in his image to be communicators, creatures who emote and operate within the sphere of our own volition, he has likewise built within us a sense of justice.
This sense of justice dwells with us as beings with a fallen nature. Often times a sense of perverted justice brings us trouble. For example, we see this when some take revenge for a perceived wrong. We might see it in a child as he or she stamps their feet and exclaims, "That's not fair!". We don't need to be taught a sense of justice, we don't need to learn it. It is embedded within us in the way our Creator has wired us.
This is not to say we do not have need for training in justice and righteousness. This is due to our sinful nature. Like everything else within us, things have gone awry with our understanding of true justice. The need for training is very evident when we witness this built in sense of justice being perverted and exploited with the popular notions in our pop culture of things like "social justice" and "political correctness."
In any event, we all have this sense of justice built within us. One of the many, many exciting and refreshing things believers discover when they embrace the Lord in faith is the exposure to true justice, true fairness, a truthful definition of what is right and what is wrong and the resolution of those things that are wrong. This, of course, can only be felt by those who know their sins and transgressions have been forgiven and are persuaded that God's justice for those sins has already been satisfied by Jesus Christ's atonement for those sins on that miserable cross.
There is very little in life that is more satisfying than knowing and experiencing the justice that God expresses. We sense it now, we feel it now, we perceive it and rejoice in the harbingers of what is to come at the end of the age.
How wonderful to know our Lord, who is pristine in his character and nature, without wrinkle or shadow in his dealings, will bring an entirely satisfying (and joyful!) resolution of all things that vex us today, just as in Habakkuk's day. It may take some patience, as it did for Habakkuk, but like a massive freight train headed for the station, it is on the way!
"'Let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,'
declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:24.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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