Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:3-4 NIV Make me look – “A startled, tormented man is Habakkuk. He is…
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 NIV No wrong or violence – Do not mistreat (yānâ). Do not…
Why do You make me see disaster, and make me look at destitution? Yes, devastation and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Habakkuk 1:3 NASB Devastation and violence – Maybe you just need to turn off the news. It seems that all the news is bad news. Violence. Destruction. Animosity. Hatred. A constant stream of human contention. Is there no relief? Do we just have to pretend not…
Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel, because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, for there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is oath-taking, denial, murder, stealing, and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Hosea 4:1-2 NASB Employ violence – Are you addicted? Ah, then you need to…
How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and yet You do not listen? I scream “outrage” to You, and You do not rescue! Habakkuk 1:2 Robert Alter Outrage – Taken directly from the Psalms, the prophet Habakkuk applies David’s words to his circumstances. We might do exactly the same. “How long?” That’s the real…
I had an insightful conversation with my son Michael on ZOOM. During the conversation we talked about the unrest in the USA and the violence perpetrated on citizens. It reminded me of the prophet Habakkuk’s cry. So I offer you something I wrote some years ago for your consideration. Note especially the citation from Rollo…
How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. Habakkuk 1:2 ANSB Violence! – You know the aphorism. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” It seems that two thousand seven hundred years haven’t made much…
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Proverbs 10:11 NASB Violence – The world with God’s present sovereignty is a very violent place. Imagine what it would be like without His sovereignty! If the world as we know it is under the final sovereignty…
David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.” 1 Chronicles…
Many years ago Rollo May examined a connection between obscenity and violence. In Power and Innocence, he argued that violence progresses through several other mediums before it erupts in physical force. One of these mediums is language. The disintegration of the meaning of words is a step on the pathway to violence. There is a…
