Our Bible Study today centered around Habakuk’s wrestling with the apparent lack of action on the part of God to descipline his people. As Lyle taught, he did a great job, I was struck by the irony of Habakuk 1:5. God replied to Habakuk that he was goint to do something he wouldn’t believe were he told.
He then, God, proceeds to outline his agenda for reproving the people of God. He will use the idolatrous Chaldeans/Babylonians to chasties the people of God for their own idolatry and then he will judge the Chaldeans/Babylonians for their idolatry.
God acts consistently with people. Those he loves he chastens. Interesting how he chastens with those who do the very thing the people of God are doing. Irony. Surely if you had told the people of God they were going to be subject to a band of idol worshippers they would have gasped in disbelief convinced God would never let that kind of people ruile the day. Surely when it happens they may have learned that God is not a respecter of persons when it comes to sin. Idolatry is idolatry regardless of who is participating.
The end of the conversation between Habakuk and God leaves us with the clear sense that the faithfulness of God, even in judgment and chastening, will result in faithfulness on the part of the repentant.
Good stuff. We must be on the lookout. For when we least expect it, in our own sin, God may choose to use those we would think he would never use to accomplish the brining of us back to himself.
Any contemporary political illustrations?
