Justice and the Prophets
God Requires Justice
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)
A Prayer for Justice
Habakkuk 1:12-17 New International Version
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12 Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you[ a] will never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. 13 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? 14 You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. 15 The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. 16 Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. 17 Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?
For Reflection
Why does God tolerate the treacherous? Perhaps, only God knows the answer to this common lament.
We are an offending people. Even though offended by the mischief we design, God cannot entertain participation in the sin of violent retribution because some of us have exercised the freedom to choose right from wrong that God has bestowed. Even though we may think hard thoughts about God, we must remember that God is manifested in God's creation and that God declared it good.
God has shown us in Christ that God will not do for us what we must do for ourselves. It is we who offend. It is we who should repent.
Pray
Pray and develop a strong relational bond with the God of Creation. Pray and seek to understand the mystery that is our God. Pray and have confidence that death is defeated and living in the light of the Holy Spirit is our inheritance, our destiny.
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