Daily Devotional Thursday 5th March 2020
by William Moody
Habakkuk 1:5–11
The Lord’s Answer
5 “Look among the nations, and see;
wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days
that you would not believe if told.
6 For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation,
who march through the breadth of the earth,
to seize dwellings not their own.
7 They are dreaded and fearsome;
their justice and dignity go forth from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards,
more fierce than the evening wolves;
their horsemen press proudly on.
Their horsemen come from afar;
they fly like an eagle swift to devour.
9 They all come for violence,
all their faces forward.
They gather captives like sand.
10 At kings they scoff,
and at rulers they laugh.
They laugh at every fortress,
for they pile up earth and take it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,
guilty men, whose own might is their god!”(ESV)
Here we have God’s first answer and it begins by God stating that He is already at work (v5). God is not asleep, He who watches over Israel does not slumber or sleep. God has already begun His plans to change things around. The cry of Habakkuk was because of the great difference in how things appeared and what he believed about God. Even in the darkest hours we must realise that God is in control and often moving in ways beyond what we imagine. One of the reasons we don’t see the hand of God, is that God uses a far greater number of ways to accomplish His purposes than we realise.
Paul quotes this v5 in Acts 13v41 when preaching at Antioch, to warn the people that they needed to respond to what God has done through Jesus. God may act in unexpected ways and we need to be open to this.
God now gives the shocking news that God would use the evil Chaldeans (Babylonians). God was using these evil people to act against the pride of Judah the people of God. God is Sovereign and uses who He pleases to fulfil His purposes and this can include the most evil of people. This is the truth of God’s word and this should give us hope in the face of evil.
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