Echoes of Judah’s troubled past

When I awakened and said my little prayer in the morning the other day, the epic plea of prophet Habakkuk: “How long oh Lord shall I call for help and you will not hear?” came to mind. Habakkuk 1:2: Here, he cried out to God to do something to the people of Judah—His own people—who had grown wicked, violent, and corrupt. With the pervasive and growing wickedness in our country today where the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, I also wanted to call out to God and implore Habakkuk’s entreaty.

I am no Habakkuk. But like him who initially thought that God was indifferent to the long-standing iniquity of the people of Judah, I am also astounded that God seems to have turned a deaf ear to the untold wickedness of the people in our land today.

God answered Habakkuk’s plea. But not in the way he expected it to be. God revealed to Habakkuk a vision of future judgment on Judah where he would let the Babylonians who were more wicked, more violent, and more corrupt punish the people of Judah for their sinfulness. Further confused, Habakkuk questioned God; “Lord how can you allow a more wicked nation punish God’s people?” God told Habakkuk: “Watch and be terribly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you will not believe even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5. In time, the people of Judah were restored by their faith and the Babylonians perished.

The parallelism of our country’s present circumstance to that of Judah in Habakkuk’s time is evident. As a Christian, I find comfort in the reassuring words of God to Habakkuuk. Let us not despair. We Filipinos are also God’s people. And what happens to those who disobey Him? Only He knows. Let us hope and pray that He will be gentler this time in bringing justice and restoring order to our country, and the world.

JULIUS TURGANO,
turgano.julius@gmail.com