Who answers the why... (4)

Payday doesn’t always come on Friday...

When we look around us and we see wrongs that seem to go unpunished, it can cause us to wonder if there is any justice, or if a dictator will ever be held accountable for his crimes. We can even see mistreatment of those around us and wonder if there will ever be repercussions for what has been done.

Romans 12:19 NIV

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

Payday doesn’t necessarily come on Friday, but everyone will give an account to God one day.

The Babylonians conquered many nations and left nothing but devastation and destruction in their wake, but God saw it all. We find in Habakkuk 2:5 what God saw,

Habakkuk 2:5 NIV

indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.

In this verse God describes the greed and the sinful nature that is never satisfied, always longing for more. It reminds of a joke about a farmer, “The farmer wasn’t greedy. He just wanted to own the land that was next to his.”

The Babylonians had a desire to rule all the nations around them. It was said of Alexander the Great, who died at the age of 32, that near the end of his life, he wept because there were no more kingdoms to conquer.

As we look at our Scripture today, we’ll see a song that has five stanzas. In this song, there are warnings of what would happen to Babylon, and these warnings are still true for today, for those who take advantage of other people as well as other nations.

For the sake of time, we’ll take a section at a time as we work through

5 Woes

or sorrow that awaits the wicked.

Let’s pray as we ask God to direct us today.

Habakkuk 2:6–8 NIV

“Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ Will not your creditors suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their prey. Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed human blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

Woe #1: For Intimidation

Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion!

The Babylonians were swift. They were ruthless. They took what they wanted and didn’t care about the harm that they caused to others.

They were bullies.

We see intimidation in our world today. Nations attack other nations. They destroy their enemies livelihoods, infrastructure, homes and even lives. They think that nobody will hold them to account.

We have witnessed or heard of genocide, where people groups have been destroyed or treated as slaves, in some have been done in the name of God. How tragic, and how this must break the heart of God.

We can think of the crusades, slavery, the holocaust, and even on our continent with the indigenous peoples. We can tire of hearing it. It can make our blood boil as we wonder when this will all stop.

Yet, I wonder what God thinks when He speaks His would:

Matthew 7:12 NIV

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Romans 12:20 NIV

On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Matthew 5:38–48 NIV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

According to James 5, God hears the cry of the workers who are mistreated.

This is what He says in,

Exodus 22:26–27 NIV

If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.