Judgement Belongs To The Lord

Last week we heard about The Minor Old Testament Prophet Habakkuk, minor because the book that bears his name is short, only 3 chapters long as opposed to The Major Old Testament Prophet Isaiah whose book is 66 chapters.

Habakkuk differs markedly from the other prophetic books. Whereas most of the others contain the words of the Lord addressed to the people, in the Book of Habakkuk the prophet, as the representative of the people, addresses and challenges The Lord. He directs his words to The lord. He begins by complaining about the apparent indifference of the Lord to the violence, the strife, and the widespread corruption in Judah.

The prophet is puzzled over this indifference, knowing as he does, the righteous and holy character of God.

From Habakkuk’s perspective God wasn’t doing anything about the sins of the people and Habakkuk, a righteous man, actually complained to God about God.

He had some nerve!

And I am caused to wonder? If we had a Habakkuk in our midst today, what would he or she say?

Would he or she cry out to God in protest about His apparent inaction over the war in Ukraine?

Would he or she cry out to God in protest about His apparent inaction over the corruptions of the politicians in this country and abroad?

Would he or she cry out to God in protest over the rising fuel prices and the astronomical profits the energy companies are making or the fact that people are going to have to choose whether to feed their children or heat their homes this coming winter.

Would He or she cry out in protest, like Habakkuk before them, “ How long, Lord, must we call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make us look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are all around us; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralysed, and justice never seems to prevail. The wicked people surround the righteous people, so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:1-4)

Actually though, God sees everything. He saw the sins of the people. He heard Habakkuk's complaints even before Habakkuk spoke them out and He was already acting. Judgement was coming on the people because God always, always, always punishes sinners.

And that brings us to the subject of God’s judgements.

It seems to me that we have been conditioned to believe that Judgement will come, yes it will, it’s inevitable because our God is righteous and He demands that the sins of the world be atoned for.

Atonement, according to the dictionary, is ‘the action of making amends for a wrong or injury,’ and it is but, according to our NT christian theology, it also means ‘the reconciliation of God and mankind through Jesus Christ.’

In the OT, atonement meant blood sacrifices, the people sinned and then they atoned. They bought to the temple spotless doves, spotless lambs and in the event of really serious sins spotless calves, and the priests killed the animal and sprinkled it’s blood on the alter stones. The meat would then be burned so that the pleasing aroma of roasting flesh would be carried up to God, and the sinner could walk away from the temple courts feeling that their sin had been paid for and that God was satisfied.

In this ‘post Christ’ world we no longer have to sacrifice our animals to satisfy God.

God, by sending Jesus into the world, provided for the ultimate atonement sacrifice.

A once and for all sacrifice that would atone for the sins of all believers, past, present and future sins, and to receive that redemption all the sinner has to do is believe that God did this for us.

And that's great, for individuals who have committed sins, but what about groups of people?

What about tribes who let certain sins become a habit?

What about villages, towns and cities, and what about whole nations?

The longer we are Christian, the stronger our beliefs, the greater our faith becomes, and the more we become aware of the sin around us.

The sin in our own family and in our friends and colleagues, the sin in our town and our city. The sins of our nation as we compromise and dilute the Gospel Of Jesus Christ, and we are offended, righteously so, and if we are offended when we see these things from our limited world point of view how much more must God be offended when He sees the sins of nations from His godly perspective?

And how can He punish those who offend Him?

Well, individuals are easy, from God’s point of view, because scripture tells us that we can expect Judgement in heaven and after judgement comes hell. Thats right, there’s no time spent in hell and then a blessed release, there is just hell. Hell is a place where there is no God.