God Knows Our Oppressors

Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their strength is their god. —Habakkuk 1:11

After telling Habakkuk that He was sending the Chaldean army to oppress the people of Judah, God goes on to describe them. He knew the details of these wicked and cruel people; He knew how they thought and how they fought.

There was hope to be found in realizing that God knew all about these oppressors. Obviously, His knowledge of them came not as an endorsement of their ways but of having control over their machinations. He used them—within His established limits—as a means of bringing His people back to the way of holiness (see Isaiah 35:8).

Surely God knows our oppressors too. And even if He allows them to trouble us for a while, as He did with Judah and the Chaldeans, we can be sure that He controls what they will do and for how long. God is never reckless; He will discipline His children but never destroy them. He will refine but never reject. He will turn them back; He will never turn them away.