Habakkuk appealed to God in
prayer about the wicked of his day, and God answered that He would
use the Chaldeans as His instrument of judgment. Habakkuk could not
believe God would use such a more horrible nation to punish the
Israelites, however after some thought and observation, Habakkuk
realized that the just shall live by faith, and even though he did
not understand God's ways, God could still be trusted. Afterward
Habakkuk has broken out in this praise song of remembrance in chapter
three which recalls the previous workings of God to encourage belief
that God will work in present situations. In chapter three verse
twelve Habakkuk continues to show the power of God as He marches and
threshes any enemy that is before him. Habakkuk wrote:
You did march through
the land in indignation, you did thresh the heathen in anger.
God is a God of love and grace, and
He extends that love toward everyone. However, God is also a God of
judgment and righteousness, and there is a limit to the offering of
the former. As early in the Bible as the book of Genesis in chapter
six and verse three it says, “And the LORD said, My
spirit shall not always strive with man,...” The
Heavenly Father invites all who will believe in Him to have a
relationship with Him, but there comes a point when people reject Him
so often that He allows them to stay in that state of rejection.
Pharaoh of Egypt was an example of this. He rejected God ten times
before Moses in advance of God setting Pharaoh's heart in the manner
of rejection he exemplified.
Habakkuk
likens God's judgment to a march, “You did march through
the land in indignation,”. The
idea behind “indignation” is anger or wrath. The Bible over and
over states that God is “slow to anger”, and it takes a lot to
bring God to this point. Those who were wicked and opposed the people
of God were to know the march of God's anger when they felt the
judgment of God. Can we imagine that they probably never saw it
coming, and when the marching began there was probably the element of
surprise. We don't know when that point of “not striving” is, and
should God begin to march through any land in indignation, there will
be no stopping Him.
Habakkuk
continued, “you did thresh the heathen in anger.”
Like the sickle and threshing floor used for wheat, God strikes down
and sifts any foe that is against Him. The heathen have no hiding
place in His site, and should He begin to “thresh” which means to
trample on or trample down, there is no hope for their salvation.
Notice too that Habakkuk states that He does so “in
anger.” God does get angry,
and woe be to the people who live in such a manner that they see the
manifestation of that anger.
Habakkuk
recalls the workings of God against prior heathen nations, and his
recounting helps Habakkuk to know that God is able to work in his
present situation. Sometimes we may have thoughts of revenge or be in
such a state of anger that we wish that “God would strike them
down.” Perhaps today we should use this verse as a stimulant for
examining our own lives, our own state, and possibly our own country.
Are there behaviors that would bring on the indignation and anger of
God upon us? Are we so dependent and reliant upon God's grace and
mercy that we have forgotten that He is also a God of judgment? One
thing is for sure, when people repented of their works before God
even if they were evil, God would turn from His anger and forgive
them. If we have any areas in our lives where the relationship with
God has been compromised, may today be a good day to turn back to Him
and subside any anger He may have.
Next
time we will continue our study by looking at God's saving power, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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