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Manasseh and Josiah: the Worst and the Best
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before me; there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is
powerless, and judgment never goes forth. For the wicked surround
the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds.”
Habakkuk
1:2-4
.
God answered His loyal children. Through His prophet He
revealed His determination to punish the nation that had turned to
serve heathen gods. Within the lifetime of some who were even then
inquiring regarding the future, He would bring the Chaldeans upon
the land of Judah as a divinely appointed scourge. The princes and
the best of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon; the
Judean cities, villages, and cultivated fields were to be laid waste.
Habakkuk Bows in Submission to the Lord
“Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One?”
Habakkuk exclaimed. Then the prophet’s faith laid hold of the
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precious promises that reveal God’s love for His children, and he
added, “We shall not die.”
Verse 12
. With this declaration of faith
he rested the case of every believing Israelite in the hands of a
compassionate God.
This was not Habakkuk’s only experience in exercising strong
faith. On one occasion he said, “I will stand my watch and set myself
on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me.” Graciously
the Lord answered, “Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets,
that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed
time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries,
wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the
proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his
faith.”
Habakkuk 2:1-4
.
Faith Will Sustain God’s People Today
The faith that strengthened Habakkuk in those days of trial was
the same faith that sustains God’s people today. Under the worst
circumstances, the believer may keep his trust firmly on the Source
of all light and power. Through faith in God, he may renew his
courage. “The just shall live by his faith.” The Lord will more than