THE LORD SPOKE (December 24)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Habakkuk 1-3

The Assyrians were notoriously cruel but the Babylonians were ruthlessly cunning (Hab. 1:6) The Babylonians had a well-greased war machine that could sweep in with amazing speed and devastating efficiency.

Habakkuk, like everyone else, was afraid of them. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah and probably lived long enough to see the arrival of the Babylonians (597 BC) and the initial fulfillment of his own prophecies. He probably began his ministry in the days of Josiah (640-609 BC) but we don’t know much more about him. The apocryphal book, Bel and the Dragon, tells how he took care of Daniel in the lions’ den but it’s pure legend.

He did leave us some memorable statements:

• Hab. 1:4 - “the law is paralyzed...justice is perverted”
• Hab. 2:4 - “the righteous will life by his faith”
• Hab. 2:14 - “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord”
• Hab. 2:20 - “the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him”
• Hab. 3:2 - “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”

With his heart pounding at the coming of the Babylonians, Habakkuk expresses a magnificent testimony of faith and...

• REST in the Lord (Hab. 3:16),
• REJOICING in Him (Hab. 3:17), and great
• RELIANCE upon Him (Hab. 3:17).

Even when all human hope appears to be gone, with Habakkuk we can say:

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to go on the heights. (Hab. 3:17)


Proverbs 24

Our excuses aren’t going to sound any more convincing than those of people who lived in the early 1940's. Today there is ample and convincing evidence to show that what Hitler was doing to the Jews was common knowledge long before the end of the war. Contrary to what we were told when growing up, our leadership had detailed information of the extermination of millions.

And we do too. In our day, millions of babies are being murdered - horribly crushed and ripped to pieces. Mothers and doctors are the vile perpetrators of this crime but we are no better because of our silence.

We’re not given the context of Solomon’s words here in Proverbs 24, but the application to abortion cannot be far wrong:

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? (Prov. 24:11-12)

If you need persuading, try googling something like “anti-abortion” and look for the video results. Warning: the graphic images will stay with you for a very long time afterwards. They will haunt you. Maybe they’ll even make you want to do something to stop this horrible crime.