Habakkuk: Why Would God Do That?

Published: Feb. 23, 2023, midnight

b'One day, I was paging through my Bible and stopped on the book of Habakkuk.\\nI had never read this book in the minor prophets before, and I found it\\nfascinating. Habakkuk was a prophet in Judah who loved God. He would pray\\noften, and one day he was crying out to God about the evilness of the\\npeople of Israel. Habakkuk knew that God was a holy God, hating evil, but\\nthe people had turned their backs on Him, worshiped idols, and refused to\\nfollow any of the commands God had set in place. Habakkuk couldn\\u2019t\\nunderstand why God was just sitting around, seemingly not doing anything.\\n.\\nThen God responded, explaining that He would use the Babylonians to execute\\njudgment. Habakkuk was very confused by the way God intended to deal\\nwith His people. You see, the Babylonians were a ruthless people,\\nconquering nations surrounding them and acting far more violently and\\nwickedly than Israel did.\\n.\\nWhy would God use those people to punish Israel? Habakkuk wanted to know!\\nIn response, God assured him that, in His timing, the Babylonians would\\nthemselves be punished.\\n.\\nSo here was the situation Habakkuk found himself in: very soon God would\\nraise up the army of Babylon to sweep over the nation of Israel\\u2014conquering\\nthem, killing many, and enslaving the rest. Habakkuk was innocent of the\\nwrong that his fellow Israelites were being punished for, but he would have\\nto endure the same hardship as those who did wrong.\\n.\\nYet this prophet knew that God was God and understood His holiness and\\njudgment. No matter what happened in the future, Habakkuk knew he could\\ntrust in the greatness and goodness of his almighty God and in His promise\\nthat one day every wrong would be made right\\u2014a promise we now know finds\\nits \\u201cYes\\u201d and \\u201cAmen\\u201d in Jesus (Habakkuk 3:13; 2 Corinthians 1:20). \\u2022 Doug\\nVelting\\n.\\n\\u2022 Have you ever been disappointed with the plans of God? Read Hebrews\\n4:14-16. Why are we free to bring all our feelings (including\\ndisappointment and frustration) to God?\\n.\\n\\u2022 Read Revelation 21:1-5. As Christians, what hope do we have for the\\nfuture because of Jesus?\\n.\\nBut I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.\\nPsalm 13:5 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nHab.3.16-Hab.3.19|Ps.13.5|Hab.1.1-Hab.1.6'