“Their justice and authority originate with themselves.”
-Habakkuk 1:7b [NASB]
In Habakkuk 1:1-4,
Habakkuk, a prophet of God, spoke about God’s judgment on the Judeans-why it
occurred and when it would end. He explained God’s reason for judging the
Judeans in verse four. The Judeans ignored the Law, never upheld justice, and the
wicked surrounded the righteous.
With Habakkuk 1:5-12, He
proclaimed God’s judgment on the Judeans. Habakkuk said through which nation
judgment would come. He described the Chaldeans (Babylonians) so the Judeans
would understand how intense the coming judgment would be. He used words like
fierce, impetuous, dreaded, and feared. Habakkuk described them as having
horses swifter than leopards and keener than wolves. He said the Chaldeans fly
like eagles swooping to devour. They arrive in hordes of violence. The
Chaldeans have no fear, Habakkuk said. They laugh at kings and fortresses.
These warriors sweep through like the wind. With this description of an
oncoming enemy, any person would tremble in fear for their lives and the lives
of their children. They would lose all hope.
The thing we must
remember about the Chaldeans is God was the One who used them. They were
powerless without Him to overtake His chosen people. In verse five, Habakkuktold
the Judeans, “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I
am doing things in your days; you would not believe if you were told.” God was
the one who brought this judgment on the Chaldeans. Without His permission, the
Chaldeans would not have defeated the Judeans. God used them as His judgment
because the people of Judah turned their backs on Him, cast off His Laws, and
worshiped other Gods. The people whom God chose, brought out of captivity, and to
whom He provided land, provision, and protection determined to forget and not
follow God.
When we read verse
seven, we get a deeper understanding, with the Judeans, of who the Chaldeans
were. He said, “Their justice and authority originate with themselves.” Wow,
the Chaldeans decided they knew best and could govern themselves best without
God. They made up their own truths of morality; it came from nowhere else. The Chaldeans
were their own gods.
If we each will stop
here and digest this fact about the Chaldeans, then reflect on it, we will
realize we each do the same thing. Each day we decide we want something or want
to do something so much, that we forgo the moral conscience with which God
created us and which is stirred within each Christian by the indwelling Holy
Spirit. We know the right things we are supposed to do, but choose to do wrong
because of our human nature, our freewill. We make ourselves our own gods.
Whoa! Did you get that? We become like the Chaldeans and the Judeans. Our
justice and authority, at that time, originates with our own selves. We are
sinners, just like the Judeans and Chaldeans, and we deserve the judgment of
God.
(Paul wrote,) I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. [Romans 7:15-20]
This fact hits each of
us hard when we stop as we read this and consider our sinfulness. We have two
options once this occurs. We can regret and repent being amoral. God says He
will forgive every person who repents and calls upon His name. John said in 1
John 1:9, “If we confess out sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [NASB] God waits for us
to repent, though He calls out to us continually.
The other option when
we recognize our sin is to remain turned away from God. This is willfulness,
seeking what you want while not caring about the cost-to other people, to
yourself, and to God. You see, God sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to take the
penalty, that’s the judgment, for each of our sins so we don’t have to pay this
judgment, the price for our sins. What penalty is there for sin? Sin totally
separates a person and all people from God. It creates a wall between us and
Him. Jesus suffered persecution, torture, and death because He loves us even
while we are sinners. Jesus loves us so much that He experienced the torture,
persecution, and being nailed to a cross of wood. He felt the agony of the
nails being pounded into his flesh, and gasping and drowning in His last
breaths. Jesus did this in our place so we wouldn’t have to live that
experience. If you decide not to repent, you choose not to accept Jesus paying
your penalty. You embrace death instead of life. This choice means you elect to
be permanently separated from God and His love.
Each of us, if we are
honest with ourselves, think we know what is best for “me.” We say, “You’re not
the boss of me!” That’s when we become like the Judeans, Israelites, Chaldeans-like
all people. We become sinners in need of saving. It’s either that or God’s
judgment.
Truthfully, which would
you rather have? Now, what must you do to have that?
*Keep doing what you want and be separated
from God eternally.
or
*Repent, believe in Jesus
Christ as God’s Son, and receive salvation from
your sins and death.
You must choose. God
won’t make that decision for you. Your parents and grandparents can’t make that
decision for you. You must make the choice for yourself for salvation and
eternal life. Just like each of us decides to do what we want even if it is
wrong, each of us must choose to repent and accept God’s gift of mercy and
salvation.
Now therefore, fear the
Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your
fathers served beyond the River and Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is
disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom
you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond
the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve
the Lord. - Joshua 24:14-15 [NASB]
