The Righteous Shall Live By Faith (27th Sunday of Ordinary Time)

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The prophet Habakkuk lived in the southern kingdom of Judah during the late 7th century B.C. Like Amos, who lived over a century before, Habakkuk is concerned with injustice and lawlessness among God’s people. He also predicted that as punishment for Judah’s sins, God would raise up the Chaldeans against them, who would destroy Jerusalem and take the Judeans into exile.

One major theme that appears in this reading is waiting for God in faith. God promises to dispense justice and rectify all the wrongs that are done. He also promises to remain with the faithful even in the midst of adversity. The important thing is for the faithful to remain faithful and obedient and not waver when all of the external pressures of the world around them tempt them to do what is contrary to God’s word. Habakkuk expresses this faithfulness in the final chapter of the book (Habakkuk 3).

This temptation not only existed back in Old Testament times, but exists even today. Disregard for God’s Law pervade today’s societies just as it did back then. The law and its demands for justice are just as relevant for us today, as well as God’s promise to be faithful to those who remain faithful to Him.

Finally, a word needs to be said about verse 4: Though most translations say “the righteous shall live by faith,” it would be more accurate to translation the Hebrew word ’emunah as “faithfulness,” “trustworthiness,” or “reliability.”¹ The word doesn’t mean mere mental assent, but involves fidelity to all that God has revealed in His Law. One believes, but also expresses that belief through steadfastness to God’s Law. This is reinforced by the parallel line that describes the one who lives by faith as “he whose soul is upright.” This is in contrast to the unfaithful Jews who do whatever they please. And this is the exact same sense in which St. Paul quotes Habakkuk in Romans:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

J. Luis Dizon

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