These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. —1 Corinthians 10:11
Scripture does not celebrate condemnation. Where we read about people rebelling and then God judging, we are being instructed. God is not daring us to “obey Him or else”; He is pleading with us to change course, when necessary, so we don’t experience what they did.
Their woe is our warning.
The prophet Habakkuk recorded five such woes and warnings that God declared against the evil Chaldeans. By these both the righteous and the wicked knew that: (1) God was fully aware of their behavior, and (2) He would judge evil in His own way and time. Not might judge it; He would judge it.
Their woe is our warning. A warning issued from a loving Father who longs for His children to be free of the weight of sin and spared the torment of guilt.
Make it Personal
What warnings does God want us to take from the woes in our culture today?