SCRIPTURE: ISAIAH 5, HABAKKUK 2

“Woe” (“Hoy” in Hebrew) was a word that was primarily used by prophets when they rebuked & denounced the evil practices of a person, group, or nation (Jer. 23). The word almost always began a message of judgment from God & occurred in a series (Hab. 5). When delivering God’s message as a condemnation of wickedness, prophets were often overcome with emotions of despair & lament over humanity’s sinfulness. We see Jesus using the same expression as the Father when He begins His ministry work in the Gospels.

The prophet Isaiah famously wrote: “woe to those who call evil good & good evil” (Is. 5:20). The meaning is clear: those who pervert God’s definition of good by calling evil good are headed towards the wrath & judgment of God. We are not the authors of what is considered good & evil. In fact, secular laws are based on Biblical laws. That’s why Christians are conservatives, we conserve God’s authorship of good & evil. On the other side of the fence, progressives seek to redefine God’s original authorship because they believe that good & evil are variable.

The book of Habakkuk covers five woes of oppressive nations that provide a proper perspective for viewing the injustices of the world. Nations are guilty of:

(1) greed

(2) covetousness & false security

(3) violence

(4) arrogance & sexual immorality

(5) power & idolatry

Why is it that nations & the ruling class are always handed power & success even though they break God’s law & rebel against His order/creation? Habakkuk warns his audience to not be seduced into their wickedness because of a desire for success & power (Hab. 2:6-20) because when God establishes His eternal Kingdom, all of these nations & their rulers will fall. Everything will be made right. Sometimes it’s easy for us to forget that God is in control of everything because we can’t see immediate results. But God is Justice & Righteousness. He will judge all according to his or her life (Hab. 2:20): the wicked will be judged and the righteous will be saved (Hab. 3:18-19).