The recent escape of the well-known blind Chinese human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng from house arrest to the American embassy has attracted a lot of attention in the media. The story is rife with possibilities in an election year, and pundits and politicians are quick to spin it to their own advantage, be it to extol their virtues or launch preemptive strikes against their opponents. It would be easy to dismiss the American reaction as cynical and crass. The state-controlled Chinese press certainly does. But to do so would overlook something deep in the heart of the American character.
Chen's story engrosses us because it embodies all the right elements to tug at our American heartstrings. Chen was blind from childhood, but studied law to become an advocate for his fellow villagers who were forced by the authorities to undergo abortions. He filed a class-action suit against the authorities that resulted in his harassment, imprisonment and eventual house arrest. He was David going up against totalitarian Goliath. That he managed to escape to the American embassy, setting off a chain of high-level diplomatic maneuvers, only adds to his mystique. Here is the story of the little guy succeeding in rattling big bad government: just like the lone man standing up to a battalion of tanks at Tiananmen Square or the ill-equipped early American minutemen beating back the British to garner for us our inalienable rights and freedom. Chen's story is our national story, so we Americans might be forgiven for a little irrational exuberance. We are the standard bearers of rights and freedom, and we love to tell the world about it.
Being prophetic is no trivial matter, however, if the Prophet Isaiah's experience is any guide. Isaiah 6 describes an extraordinary vision of a divine court, but the vision takes place not in heaven but on earth, in the very temple where heaven and earth meet and where political sovereignty and religious authority intersect. As the seer looks on, the court is in session. The Lord of hosts sits aloft on a throne and dresses in a robe that fills the whole temple, a temple that reverberates with the sound of the seraphs' acclamation: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3). That the divine judge fills both temple and earth gives us a glimpse of the universality of God's lordship. The legal standing of God extends to not just a small tribal corner in a closed society but the whole world where true justice is valued. Tyrants come under judgment not just because they violate the rights and impede the freedom of their own citizens; they are judged because they violate a universal code of conduct whose sole guarantor is none other than the Ancient One. The judge does not speak, not yet anyway, nor do we see any of the characteristics that we normally associate with the Divine One. There is no need. The sight of the sweeping robe and the seraphic voices, accompanied by quake and smoke (Isaiah 6:4), is enough. The mere presence of God establishes the universality of rights and justice. There is no independent warrant for rights and justice. There can be none.
But an incongruent thing happens in the midst of this awe-inspiring scene. The would-be prophet cowers before the throne and whimpers, "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5). No posturing. No preachiness. No self-righteousness. Only a spontaneous, reflexive, even involuntary confession of guilt. There is none of the modern legal trappings of proof and evidence. In the presence of the author and originator of true justice, the only proper response can only be an admission of guilt -- not just one's own guilt but the collective guilt of a whole people. Thereupon the judge cleanses the guilty man before commissioning him as prophet (Isaiah 6:7-8).
Antoinne Murphy is serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for homicide at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Murphy grew up in a middle class home in Flushing, Queens and attended private school. At 16, he says he headed down the wrong path and began selling drugs. Since his incarceration Murphy has obtained his bachelor's degree through Mercy College, and earned a Master's of Professional Studies from New York Theological Seminary. Through his studies and reflection, Murphy has chosen a path in ministry, "I actually found out who I am now," he says. "And it's all about giving back to the community and I know that despite the fact the way I am, prison doesn't define me."
We pay lip service to humility as a virtue, but now as ever amassing power is more likely our personal and national operating principle. In biblical parlance, humility and humiliation are one and the same word. We blunt the sharp paradox of the cross when we prematurely transmute Christ's humiliating death, the cruelty of crucifixion, into a virtue (Philippians 2:8). In refusing to accept Christ's grotesque execution as defeat, as a total forfeiture of all prerogatives, his rights and freedom as a human being, we fail to heed the demand on us for repentance and self-reflection. But this is exactly the difference between prophets and megalomaniacs. Megalomania is little more than a counterfeit messianism that uses a veneer of rights and freedom to mask its selfish ends, but authentic prophecy is predicated on and preconditioned by cleansed guilt. A true prophet is led by an ego transformed by the spirit. The Gospel of John is describing this very phenomenon when it says that the spirit, literally the wind, blows where it wills. We hear its sound but don't know whence it comes or whither it goes (John 3:8). We are left with only no alternative but to align our transformed self with the spirit of freedom.
Many today use the Puritan John Winthrop's notion of "the shining city on a hill" to support a form of American exceptionalism. Many believe with historian Gordon Wood that "we Americans are a special people with a special destiny to lead the world toward liberty and democracy." We indeed have a prophetic role to play in the world. It's a noble calling, and we should be proud to discharge our awesome responsibilities that go with it. But lest we forget the preconditions for the Prophet Isaiah's commissioning, he confesses his own guilt and the guilt of his own people. Then, he insists on dwelling in their midst. Not to lord over them or to manipulate them for exploitation, but to be one of them. Are we willing to pay the price?
Editor's Note: ON Scripture - The Bible is a series of Christian scripture commentaries produced in collaboration with Odyssey Networks. Each week pastors from around the country will approach the lectionary text of the week through the lens of current events, providing a religious voice that is both pastoral and prophetic.
Brad Reid: Flawed Leaders of the Old Testament
Matthew 6:9.. Sanctified his name. That means the anointed ones will teach and preach the will of God and not of man's ways....and the will worship in truth ans spirit in accomplishing the mission of' "Kingdom of God"
And no- the prophecies were not fulfilled when Christ's disciples were still living, nor as you say, should they be. Christ told his folowers to look for a "composite sign" mentioned at Matthew 24, and a great preaching campaign had to be accomplished first (verse 14). Also the parable of the wheat and the weeds explained that true and false Christians would grow together until the end, at which point the true would shine and be obvious over the false.
Jesus is not "coming back" , Jesus the risen Christ is already ruling in his kingdom and his presence has already begun.
One of the best lines I've read in a while and very true.
I'm reminded of the time I asked a self-proclaimed psychic why, if he had the gift of foretelling the future, he didn't use this "power" to play the lottery. He piously replied that he could not use his "gift" to enrich himself, but was at a loss for words when I pointed out that charging "clients" more than $120.00 per hour-long reading was exactly the same thing.
Some scholars have been more cautious. After all, critics once labeled Belshazzar “fictitious” as well. Undoubtedly, the case of Darius will prove similar. Already, cuneiform tablets have revealed that Cyrus the Persian did not assume the title “King of Babylon” immediately after the conquest. One researcher suggests: “Whoever bore the title of ‘King of Babylon’ was a vassal king under Cyrus, not Cyrus himself.” Could Darius have been the ruling name, or title, of a powerful Median official left in charge of Babylon? Some suggest that Darius may have been a man named Gubaru. Cyrus installed Gubaru as governor in Babylon, and secular records confirm that he ruled with considerable power. One cuneiform tablet says that he appointed subgovernors over Babylon. Interestingly, Daniel notes that Darius appointed 120 satraps to govern the kingdom of Babylon.—Daniel 6:1.
It may include elements of warning, but it's primary purpose is to warn about the course of present conditions.
It is typical of a prophet not to relish the role of being "outspoken."
And all the Scribes who have copied the word down through the centuries, taking great care to do it accurately only goes to show the amazing canon of books that the Bible is. Look at you coming here to talk about it, along with millions of others who consult, talk about, share, follow and discuss the Bible. It is an amazing book, whether you think so or not.
Fanned and faved you.
:-)
Hey I’m going to say some crazy stuff and then predict that it will be scoffed at by people in the future.
Wow… I just discovered that I’m a prophet. Now give me some money.
. . . well, maybe not .. in an uncertain multiverse physicists (including Dr. Sheldon Cooper) tells us there exists the possiblity (not probablity) that it won't. . . course we would not be here to see it if that happened! So, in this case, as in so many other cases, phrophecy is well, moot, to be nice about it.
On a more personal note are you as sick to death of the Nostrdamus stuff as I am? ;)
I might add that the Prophets included David and he dealt in power and corruption
which brings me to what the Phrophets were really talking about, that is spiritual matters, they used a term called "the Day of the Lord" or some similar wording, the time period when G_d would be acting upon a person, as "in that Day" or "Today if you can hear my voice"
I would say once G_d destroys the oppressor inside: evil spirits, nature or character, the person outwardly will be kind to the oppressed.......Daniel 4:27 and "afterward I will pour out my spirit"....Joel 2:28
that downfall and destruction like Job, is the sign, which is why many people "find the Lord" in their darkest hour (darkness and gloom and blackness) Antoinne Murphy's story is probably right up there with 'em
until the transformation; called circumcision of heart, we know the heart is wicked and not right with G_d, this would be why Jesus said such things "honor me with lips but heart is far away from me" and that ones enemies is of their own household, leaving mother and father, and the Prophet is without honor, because before the change, people are wild (evil) and destructive
As believers we have received from Christ a command to enlighten the nations with democracy and freedom? I have never heard such a thing from his lips. There is absolutely no humility in the thought that my form of government is the answer to all the world's woes.
The article seems to miss the spiritual importance of Christ's death, the choice he had, and the virtue of it because he did not have to die. Christ himself said of his death: "...and I lay down my life for the sheep" Jn.10:15. "Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" Jn.10:17-18.
The virtue was in the decision to give his life for others. It was a violent death; a death he chose. The greater good out weighs the lesser evil.
"It is to blessings and calamity that happiness and misery respond."
Hebrews 2:10-18
New International Version (NIV)
In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
Shalom
Isaiah's message was dynamic back then and still holds true today- 'Holy holy holy is Jehovah, the fullness of his earth is his glory. The vision of God's throne was so profound (at Is. 6:1- 5) that Isaiah was "brought to silence" as he contemplated his role in God's magnificence. We have the same privilege today to speak of God and talk to people about him. Many will be just as unresponsive today as they were in Isaiah's day, but the small percentage who listen is definitely worth while to tell them of God and his purpose for the earth and those who obey his righteous decrees. And it is worth it for all of us to keep learning about God, as he helps us all just as he did Isaiah.
if you are discerning enough, and acknowledge your spirituality
and the spirituality of others, past and future,
of earth and of the heavens...
you may notice that, sometimes, at least,
the wind, especially in the trees,
has a certain recognisable personality.
You can attribute it to animism if someone criticizes you for acknowledging it.
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind..." - Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin