Prose

(Read Psalm 79)

Let me share to you a short story that I once constructed in my mind some months ago. I actually am about to write it down as a literary work but totally forgot about it. But now that the Word of God reminded me of it, I have now put them here in letters.

There was once a wise king who ruled his kingdom with great power and influence. He held a large army very powerful enough to conquer an empire, with every soldier faithful enough to be willing to die for his king. But in the days of his youth, this sovereign was trained to practice restraint in everything that he is able to do. Grew up with a balanced discipline, the king was well respected by his people and his soldiers for his wisdom.

But as the history books of many nations tells it, there will always be an oppposition no matter how righteous the ruler is. For there was a group of renegades who banded themselves against the king's rule. Everyday, they would secretly sneak in to the towns and cities of the kingdom to spread lies about the king and to persuade many to ally with them. They even used intimidation by ruthlessly killing anyone who opposes them, coercing some people to be recruited. And every year, this deed of the rebels get worse.

But the king so loved the people that he was not willing that anyone should experience his wrath. So instead of just simply crushing the rebellion, he just used his power and the respect of his soldiers to secretly gather information about the recruits of the outlaws. He built an archive of books where he wrote every information he received from his soldiers. And from time to time, he would send each of his soldiers to the rebel's recruits with a contract of amnesty and reconciliation, sealed with the king's emblem. In this royal document, the king promised that he shall risk a great amount of his wealth in order to pay for the crimes that they have committed so that they could be reconciled back to his jurisdiction. The only condition given to the recruits was to sign the contract, promising the sovereign their loyalty to him. Some soldiers came back to the royal palace with positive results, while some failed to come home alive. But the powerful ruler still restrained himself to sit down and write, waiting for more information from other soldiers.

The captain of the army, who was closest to the king, was troubled about his lord's behavior of just sitting down to write and seemingly doing nothing to punish the renegades. So with humility, he approached the king, saying, "The king forgive the rudeness of his servant. But if his servant found favor in his king's eyes, the servant wants to ask the king about a question that troubles him night after night." Then the king kindly replied, "Go ahead, for you are as a younger brother to me." So the captain asked, "Why is it that the king, who is far more potent enough to hastily put an end to the anarchy, is just sitting down to write and does nothing about the rebels?" And with much grace, the king answered, "You are badly mistaken, O captain, for I am doing something for the good of many. Let me just give you a practical advice: wait and see, for there is a right time for everything under heaven!" The captain no longer had a response.

So it came to pass that the lawlessness of the outlaws got even worse than before. Still, the king did his routine of just sitting down to write and wait. But this habit ended in a certain date when the king summoned the whole army, including his captain. He gave each of the soldiers a page of the books of his archive with names of people and places where they could be found. Now, the captain and his soldiers took notice of the erasures in some pages. But just before the captain attempted to raise a question, the king mightily spoke to them, saying, "Now is the right time for judgement! For my books can no longer contain the crimes that the rebels have committed. I have given them enough time and grace so they could be amnestied, but enough is already enough! I will no longer have mercy to those who are foolhardily determined to unheed my call. For this reason, I have given each one of you names of people to be punished. You are to slaughter them without showing any hint of mercy. And you are to plunder all their possessions, private or shared, and take them to this palace. For I am about to divide them among the people who are not appointed to be killed - even to the families of those who were unjustly murdered." So the heavily armored royal soldiers went on and executed the king's orders. And a great number of outlaws were torturously slaughtered, each of them never given a chance to relent of his lawlessness. In that day, a great sum of spoils were collected in the palace and were divided among the citizens as the king had ordered.

After the great judgement was done, the captain once again approached the king to ask about the erasures, saying, "May the king's servant find favor in his lord's eyes." The king graciously replied, "Go ahead, soldier." And so the captain asked, " What about the erasures in some pages?" So the king answered, "Oh! Those are the names of the former rebels who signed the contract. They are promised to have their part in the spoils." After that fateful day, the king was more feared and honored for his wisdom.

The story is actually a parable about God's sovereignty over the evil ones. God is a Sovereign God - even called by the name the LORD Almighty - yet, for goodness sake, is able to restrain His own power. The corruption of the world, as we can notice, is hastily getting worse. Sometimes, it seems to us that God doesn't care. Thus, people complain and in desperation, they ask, "Where is [Israel's] God?" (Psalm 79:10). But the Lord does care. He is just patiently wait, for like the king in the parable, He is "not willing that any should perish, that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). That's why God sent His Only Son Jesus, "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). But as there is a right time to restrain, there is a right time for pay back (Ecclesistes 3:1-8). For God has appointed a time for the evildoers to pay for their deeds.

In need of justice? Trust and wait for the Lord, for His judgements will surely come to pass. "For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land" (Psalm 37:9).

-Yehoshua Hamoshil ben Peleh Shim'onai :D

(2/12/13)