Wait on Jehovah is certainly an EXCUSE for inaction-either to protect guilty ones, or simply to be lazy and cowardly.
Isa. 59:16 (& the surrounding verses[I think]) show how Jehovah feels when those with the responsibility and opportunity to right wrongs deliberately fail to act.
Isa.59 Verses 11 to 16
[11] We all growl like bears,
we moan and moan like doves;
we look for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
[12] For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
[13] transgressing, and denying the LORD, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
[14] Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands afar off;
for truth has fallen in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.
[15] Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
[16] He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intervene; then his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him.
[16] He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intervene; then his own arm brought him victory, and his righteousness upheld him.
Why would Jehovah
wonder that there was no one intervening? Because these were
HIS PEOPLE!!! He had persons in positions of responsibilty and authority to handle such matters. He would not wonder about "pagans" abandoning justice-their very nature described in the Bible make it clear that they held to different standards than those laid out for Isreal.
Bible, Revised Standard Version
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Feel free to look this scripture up in the NWT also-I believe the language is even clearer.
Props to my brother WORF for bringing this scripture to my attention on H2O a coupla years ago.
Boozy