Do Something God!
Scripture Reading: Nahum 1-3; Habakkuk 1; Revelation 16
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…
- Habakkuk 1:13 -
As I approached writing for Christmas Eve, I challenged myself to find a way to write with a Christmas theme. I also didn’t want to force meaning into a text that isn’t there. I think I have found a way…
Habakkuk is one of my favorite Minor Prophets. It’s central themes revolves around the prophet’s complaints. First, he complains about God’s inaction and then about God’s actions.
First, Habakkuk looks at the situation and wonders how it is that God is letting a pagan nation overcome God’s people. He feels as though God is allowing injustice to triumph and wickedness to conquer righteousness.
God answers the prophet, but not to Habakkuk’s liking. God was bringing a pagan people down upon Israel as a means of judgment. Habakkuk was shocked. Notice what the prophet grounds his complaint in. It isn’t in his feelings, although he has strong feelings. It isn’t in his personal interests, although he had those too. He grounds his arguments in the character of God.
God is Holy, Sovereign, and pure. As a matter of fact, the prophet declares, the Lord is “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look upon wrong.”
Often, this interpreted with strict literalism and taken to mean that God closes His eyes and won’t allow Himself to see sin. I hope you notice the problem with this interpretation. God sees everything. It is a part of His nature. We some to call it Omniscience.
What, then, is meant? I believe a better way to understand this, and an interpretation that fits the context, is to say that God cannot look upon evil without doing something about it. God cannot, because of His holy nature, remain neutral concerning evil. He must act.
That is Habakkuk’s point. God can’t allow the wicked Chaldean’s to savage Israel without doing something about it. He was correct. God would do something about it. But my point here is in Habakkuk’s reasoning. God has to do something about sin. He cannot remain neutral.
By now you may be wondering what the connection to Christmas is. Well, the birth of Christ is God acting. If you want to know why Christ came it is because God is of purer eyes than to behold evil. He had to act. He could not let it stand.
People are often like Habakkuk, crying out, “Do something God!” Christmas is our annual reminder that He did something greater and grander than anyone could have dreamed. God sent His Son into the world to deal with the problem of sin. He became the propitiation for our sins. He became the One through whom and by whom we can be saved from our sin.
Merry Christmas Eve
