Just as God predicted, Habakkuk could not believe his ears. Yes, Israel was sinful, but they were still God’s people. How could God use such wicked tools to punish His people, the very people that He redeemed out of Egypt? This revelation from God must have hit Habakkuk like a battering ram to the chest. Habakkuk looked out from his point of view and could not imagine how God would use such a destructive plan for His glory; however, the beauty of retrospective viewing is that now we can see the glories of God being displayed through Israel’s Babylonian captivity.

Look among the nations, and see;wonder and be astounded.For I am doing a work in your daysthat you would not believe if told.
Habakkuk 1:5 ESV

We must carefully observe this verse within its context because many have taken it to mean something entirely different then what it originally meant. The thought that God is going to do something that is completely unbelievable is an appealing concept. When we find ourselves pleading along with Isaiah for God to rend open the heavens and come down, this verse seems to appear as an answer: God will do something incredible.
However, while prosperity preachers may proclaim this text joyfully from the conference stage, Habakkuk received this word with fear and trembling. This verse is the beginning of God’s answer to Habakkuk’s question of why God was allowing the Israelites to be so sinful. Habakkuk was looking for justice, and God answered. His answer came in the form of the Babylonians, a powerful and ruthless empire. God would soon use the wicked Babylonians to punish the backslidden Israel.
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Are you, as a Christian, complacent, laid back, and couldn’t care less about what is happening in both the world and the church? If so, you may well need to repent and ask God to share his broken heart with you. We should be grieving heavily over all that we find happening, especially in these increasingly dark days. Woe to us if we do not.

God’s people are meant to image God. We cannot resemble him in terms of things like omnipotence and omniscience, but we can and should resemble him in moral and spiritual ways. As we grow closer to God, his mind should be our mind, and his heart should be our heart.
That is, we should rejoice in what he rejoices in. We should love what he loves. We should hate what he hates. And we should grieve over what he grieves over. The things that concern God should concern us. That is one test to see if we are growing in grace and becoming more Christlike.
Thus if God hates certain things, we should hate them too. That does not at all sound like something most folks today – including most Christians – would ever countenance however. Such talk is totally foreign to them. ‘Christians hate? No way.’ ‘God hates? No way at all!’
But both are fully biblical. There are plenty of biblical passages to support both. But I speak to this matter in much more detail here: billmuehlenberg.com/2016/11/23/divine-love-hate-part-one/
And here: billmuehlenberg.com/2020/09/12/yes-we-should-hate-evil/
But in this article I want to look at another way in which we are to imitate, to mirror, God. God grieves over sin and evil and wickedness – and so should we. That God grieves is clearly taught in the Bible. Let me mention just a few passages here.
Way back in the early chapters of Genesis we read about how grieved God was over wayward and rebellious mankind: “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain” (Genesis 6:6). Wow.
And God can be grieved over those he has chosen to use: “Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: ‘I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions’.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night” (1 Samuel 15:10-11).
The Spirit of God can be grieved: “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them” (Isaiah 63:9-10). And Paul quotes that passage in Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Jesus also was grieved by various things. In Mark 3:5 we read this: “And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”
God’s people also grieve over the things that God grieves over. Just the other day I again read about this in Nehemiah. Consider what is found in Neh. 2:1-3.
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The ongoing crisis in the ARP Church has taken a new turn. Officers in the denomination are now refusing to release congregations with their property after their Presbytery has already granted them the right to dismissal. Does this recent turn in events indicate that the ARP is following the pattern of the PCUSA or the Episcopal Church by forbidding congregations and their ministers to disaffiliate with the denomination for the sake of their conscience? The events of the past several days seem to make one wonder.

The General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church approved at their annual meeting in June 2024 to dissolve Second Presbytery effective September 1 (How a 224-Year-Old ARP Presbytery was Dissolved in a Day). In response to this historic action, Second Presbytery scheduled a called meeting on August 13, 2024. They needed to consider several items of business related to their dissolution.1
Even before the moderator, Billy Barron, could open the meeting in prayer, an elder from the Greenville ARP Church, Dan Eller, stood to make a point of order. He declared that items 2-6 (see endnotes) were out of order because these items did not “require immediate attention” by Second Presbytery (Form of Government [FoG] 10.12) and that if the members of the court deliberated them, they would be violating their ordination vows by not submitting to the FoG and sowing discord among their brothers. The moderator agreed with Mr. Eller’s point of order. But his ruling was challenged and overruled by a roll call vote of 32-14. Therefore, the court proceeded to deliberate the 6 items of the “first called meeting.”
According to another notice distributed by the Stated Clerk, David Griffin, a “second called meeting” per FoG 10.12 was requested by three members of the Presbytery. The purpose of this second called meeting was to “provide for open response and any actions related to the dissolution of Second Presbytery for congregations and ministers.” This second called meeting was necessitated by the fact that the moderator, Mr. Barron, was not willing to amend item 6 in the first called meeting when requested by one of the three ministers.
Once again before the meeting could begin, Mr. Barron declared the second called meeting out of order and that he would not call the meeting to order. There was once again a challenge to the moderator’s ruling, and his ruling was overturned.
During business, the following motion was moved and seconded: “That Second Presbytery grant dismissal or transfer to any minister or congregation who requests so in writing to the Stated Clerk of Second Presbytery prior to September 1, per FoG 9.65 and 10.3.E, K.” (all emphases added)
After much debate, the motion was approved by a standing vote of 25-19. However, at the end of this second called meeting, Mr. Eller placed a Complaint (Book of Discipline [BoD] 5.12) on the Clerk’s desk protesting the approval of the motion. As of the writing of this report (8/20/24), Second Presbytery has not called a meeting to consider the Complaint (BoD 5.13.A).
The next day, August 14, the Principal Clerk of the General Synod, Kyle Sims, filed allegations2 against several members of Second Presbytery accusing them of breaking the Ninth commandment and/or violating their ordination vows. In his email to Mr. Griffin, Mr. Sims did not include any details.
On Sunday, August 18, 2024, at least three congregations in Second Presbytery at their duly called congregational meetings voted to be dismissed from Second Presbytery. The actions of these congregations were notified to the Clerk of Second Presbytery in writing via email that night and a hard copy of the notice was delivered to him on Monday, August 19. Furthermore, five ministers in good standing transferred their credentials to a non-ARP Presbytery on Monday as well, according to FoG 9.65.
However, later that day, August 19, Mr. Griffin, sent the following emails to the congregations and ministers:
“I am writing to let you know that I received your communication regarding your congregation’s vote to leave Second Presbytery and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination. However, be advised that a Complaint has been filed against Second Presbytery’s actions, accusing Second Presbytery of violating the Standards of the ARP Church. As such, I would advise you to refrain from any legal action until such time that the appropriate church court can act upon this Complaint. There may be legal ramifications given the constitutionality of your actions, based not on the action of Second Presbytery, but instead on the Standards of the ARP Church. As such, I cannot remove your congregation from the roll until such time that this matter is adjudicated.”
“I am writing to let you know that I received your communication regarding your decision to leave Second Presbytery and the ARP denomination. However, be advised that a Complaint has been filed against Second Presbytery’s actions, accusing Second Presbytery of violating the Standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. As such, I would advise you to refrain from any action until such time that the appropriate church court can act upon this Complaint. There may be ramifications given the constitutionality of your withdrawal, based not on the action of Second Presbytery, but instead on the Standards of the ARP Church. As such, I cannot remove your name from the roll until such time that this matter is adjudicated. If you are not properly transferred to another ecclesiastical body by September 1, you will no longer be considered ordained.”
What is being implied by the Clerk? What “legal ramifications” are being explored? Is the ARP facing another constitutional crisis (see Constitutional Crisis in the ARP Church: What is the Point of a Complaint?)? Complaints are not judicial matters and thus are not “adjudicated.” Even if Second Presbytery receives the Complaint at a called meeting and “reverses its alleged errors,” the actions that have properly taken place since the motion’s approval cannot be overturned. Is Second Presbytery trying to seize the properties of congregations and defrock ministers who acted in accordance with the will of Second Presbytery? On what basis can Mr. Griffin claim that the action of Second Presbytery was unconstitutional? Why is the Clerk of Second Presbytery or some other members not allowing these congregations and ministers to live in peace when they have acted properly? Does the Clerk have the authority to deny the removal of a congregation and a minister from the roll of Presbytery? Will the Executive Board of Synod declare “an emergency” to overturn the action of Second Presbytery when they were unwilling to do so when two Complaints were filed against the General Synod regarding the unconstitutional dissolution of Second Presbytery? Will the Executive Board violate the Manual of Authorities and Duties that clearly states that the “Executive Board has no authority to over-ride or act on any Presbytery matters” (p. 13 Authority of the Executive Board of Synod) to prevent these congregations and ministers from leaving in peace? The sad saga continues.
Seth Yi is a Minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and is the Pastor of Newberry ARP in Newberry, SC.

Endnotes
1. The items of business for the called meeting were announced as:

Approval of the retention of an attorney to advise on matters related to the dissolution of the corporation and distribution of funds.
Approve the dissolution of the Corporation of Second Presbytery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church; also, approve the distribution of Second Presbytery assets, per Recommendation 6 of General Synod Report Index 11.
Appointment of Trustees to handle any matters directly related to the dissolution of the corporation and/or Second Presbytery before and after September 1.
Receive and vote upon the following two recommendations of the Stewardship Committee and any matters directly related hereunto:

a. That Presbytery NOT approve the $600,000.00 to the Board of Benefits for the purpose of reducing the debt on the Retirement Pension Fund
b. That an endowment be established for the purpose of church planting and revitalization in the footprint of Second Presbytery and that it be funded with $5 million in our Vanguard investment account. The additional outstanding mortgages due to Second Presbytery be added to this account upon receipt. A distribution of between 4 and 6% be distributed from the endowment for such purposes each year.
5. Receive a report on the Lower Long Cane Church and consider any action that needs to be taken.
6. Provide time for discussion regarding the decision of General Synod to dissolve Second Presbytery.
2. Mr. Sims’ allegation email:
On Wed, Aug 14, 2024 at 8:48 AM Principal Clerk [email protected] wrote:Mr. Clerk,I alleged that Mr. Seth Yi has broken the 9th commandment and violated his ordination vows.Praying for his repentance,Rev. Kyle E. Sims, D.MinPrincipal Clerk,Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
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