Lesson 1, Part 1 Notes for the hearing impaired follow the video.
Habakkuk 1:2-4 NLT
[2] How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. [3] Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. [4] The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.
Habakkuk’s first complaint deals with the question of why God allows evil to exist after we pray to Him for help and relief from the evil. Habakkuk saw violence, destruction, and misery around him. He cried out that people everywhere were at strife, arguing and fighting constantly. He did not see laws being upheld or justice fairly administered in the courts. He felt there were far more wicked people than there were good people.
His question wanted to get an answer for why God was not responding to all the prayers to God about all the evil that was going on in his society. There probably are people today who ask God the same question.
Over a dozen major cities in this country set records for violent crimes last year. Riots over the past two years have destroyed businesses, homes and even police stations. Smash and grab robberies are almost commonplace in some cities. Political parties are at each other’s throats constantly. Criminals are not even being given serious slaps to the wrist sometimes, and our immigration laws are trampled underfoot daily.
We pray for relief from the evil that seems to be growing rapidly in our society. We pray for God to bring righteousness back into people’s lives. We pray for a shift in the morals and behavior of our own people. And we ask the same question of God that Habakkuk asked, “God, when are you going to deal with the evil?”
We’ll begin to look at God’s response to the question in the next video.
