Prophets and Power Yesterday and Today

My brother is a missionary in Ukraine. Him and his wife run a Christian camp, provide assistance for families in their poverty stricken town, have a transitional living center for teens, and are now raising two children that were left after a local man killed his wife and hung himself. Recently someone made this statement to him, “Jesus didn't set up centers for orphans" in reference to their transitional living center. This statement rocked me because while this is true, Christ left us the responsibility to do it (James 1:27). The New Testament shows that Jesus has compassion on the poor and widowed. But it’s amazing how much compassion God reveals in the Old Testament.

The 8th century prophets made social justice a big priority. While their message centered on salvation or judgment, it was often the result of actions taken against the peasants, widowed, and poor. Isaiah 3:14-15 is an example,
14 The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people: “You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor. 15 How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?” demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Here, God calls the crushed poor in Judah “my people”. Suddenly we see the “side” God is on. Judah, a remnant of Israel should be called that, but instead the leaders have pursued selfish, sinful gains that have called for God’s judgment. Prophets true to the Lord proclaimed unpopular messages. To announce that the poor have been mistreated and are favored in the eyes of God rubs against the grain but thousands of years later allows us to see these men as 8th century reformers!

Micah condemns the actions of oppressors and prophesies “Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors” in Chapter 2:1-12. The actions of the rich who, “want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance (Micah 2:2 (NLT))” are about to face judgment. Micah continues to say, “But this is what the Lord says: “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time” (Micah 2:3).

The false prophets disagreed but Micah just continued to show where God stood on the matter of social injustice.

“You have evicted women from their pleasant homes and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them. Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely.” (Micah 2:9-10)

These are a few examples of 8th century prophets carrying messages to the Jewish people. On matters of Judgment God allows them to explain why He is condemning them- often regarding their treatment of the people under them! Prophesies with the salvation theme are sometimes in part due to the righteousness of the ruler-one who treats his subjects fairly.

This implies that God really cares about His people- the Israelites, but more so, those who are treated unjustly. For those who follow God today, we must remember that God has compassion on the poor, needy, and mistreated.
Elijah prophesied the destruction of a king and a nation due to their worship of Baal. They sacrificed to idols and so God didn’t accept their offerings that they made to Him. Proper worship of God therefor means to keep Him first and only in your life, and to have compassion on the afflicted.

I tend to be very critical about American social justice concern. Perhaps a prophet would notice that many social justice concerns are not really done for the sake of social justice. There are too many selfish motives involved in why we actually assist others. America excels compared to the rest of the world, but we like the “fairness” in tax write offs and wealth distribution. This is dangerous as we do “the right thing” while also turning as a nation away from God.

By doing our responsibility as God’s people to “God’s people”, we adhere to the message the 8th century prophets carried as well as Christ himself. While we may not see the exact words to “build a center” or giveaway shoes, we see the results of those who chose not to.

Comments

  1. Great post, Jess! What specific things do you think a college student like yourself could do to work for social justice?

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  2. We can serve wherever we are. As a college student, sometimes I feel like my job at this point in time is to learn. But this is the prime time to plug into our communities. For myself, the distance from home, lack of parental accountability, opens so many doors. As an outsider in the town that God has placed me for the next few years, I can see possibilities to serve. College students can mentor younger neglected children, listen to, learn from, and care for older adults, serve the hungry, teach english. While those are not specifically targeted for social injustice, they are the foundations that students need so that as they age, circumstances change and opportunities arise, they have a background knowledge to draw upon to truly combat the injustice. Witnessing it firsthand and sharing in empathy and love with others will make a college student more effective as they combat it.

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