“‘What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 3:15
Poverty in Scripture is not merely a social problem. It is a sign of immorality, a witness to human corruption. Poverty is the evil byproduct of oppression. No wonder then that the prophet must pronounce God’s judgment upon leaders who have presided over a society that had declined to such moral depths.
The presence of the poor points to a fundamental brokenness in our soul. Our time-bound bodies are quickly addicted to amusement. When we move into positions of power, we are too easily tempted to use our authority to increase our amusement. But this increase of our amusement often comes at a cost. We must take from others the pleasure due to them, so that our pleasure can be maximized.
This robbery of others is quite often subtle. Few of us openly break into homes and walk away with stolen goods. However, we steal in smaller measure. We detract from another person’s reputation, cutting and demeaning, so that we look bright by comparison. We manipulate spouses and friends, so that they cater to and flatter us as often as possible. We barter our favor for theirs. We cannot resist taking advantage of our employees, making them do work that we are no longer willing to do. We leverage our power to build our own accounts, rather than to fill the need of others.
For a while, society may succeed in keeping its greed wrapped within this subtle garb. Over time, however, our desires can easily overflow these boundaries of conscience, until we no longer need to pretend. Very quickly, we freely flaunt our mastery over others, veiling it with the only barest mist of concern for those in need. Before too long, we openly boast of our conquests, of others depending upon us for their daily bread.
How far are we in our time removed from these proud statements? To what extent do we ‘haves’ complement ourselves because we are not among the “have nots”? We have risen above them. Clearly we have poor among us, and they bear witness to some level oppression here in our own back yard. When we look for the source of that oppression, it is easy to blame the wealthy, the corporate moguls or the government. But perhaps we should find the source of oppression much closer to home, also within our own back yard. Perhaps our own sin has given rise to the class division among us. All of our individual sinful decisions, to demean the other and glorify ourselves, have conspired together to produce an unholy culture of oppression. Our own sins have given rise to leaders who become the public voice of the oppression, while secretly, we desire to be in their place. Perhaps we covet their authority, we want their power so that we may enrich ourselves.
The prophet brought a word from the LORD. God looks upon the land and hears the cry of the poor, the victims of oppression. He is angered and troubled, They bear witness against the leadership of His people. They have failed to provide the moral leadership that would exterminate oppression, and thus liberate the poor. He had no choice but to judge their failure of trust. When God looks upon us, how I wish we would not force Him to judgement. How I wish He would find that each of us has already judged our own acts of oppression, that we have already championed the cause of the poor, and come to the aid of the oppressed. May our own ears hear intensely the cries of the victims, before their accusations reach our heavenly Father, and force Him to rescue them by judging our land. In that day of judgment, we will no longer be numbered among the ‘haves’. Rather we just might be among the victims of other oppressors, and perhaps then we will humble ourselves enough to cry out to our Father to rescue us again.
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About dirk
Executive Pastor
Bethany Church
Greenland, NH
Victim Accusers
“‘What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 3:15
Poverty in Scripture is not merely a social problem. It is a sign of immorality, a witness to human corruption. Poverty is the evil byproduct of oppression. No wonder then that the prophet must pronounce God’s judgment upon leaders who have presided over a society that had declined to such moral depths.
The presence of the poor points to a fundamental brokenness in our soul. Our time-bound bodies are quickly addicted to amusement. When we move into positions of power, we are too easily tempted to use our authority to increase our amusement. But this increase of our amusement often comes at a cost. We must take from others the pleasure due to them, so that our pleasure can be maximized.
This robbery of others is quite often subtle. Few of us openly break into homes and walk away with stolen goods. However, we steal in smaller measure. We detract from another person’s reputation, cutting and demeaning, so that we look bright by comparison. We manipulate spouses and friends, so that they cater to and flatter us as often as possible. We barter our favor for theirs. We cannot resist taking advantage of our employees, making them do work that we are no longer willing to do. We leverage our power to build our own accounts, rather than to fill the need of others.
For a while, society may succeed in keeping its greed wrapped within this subtle garb. Over time, however, our desires can easily overflow these boundaries of conscience, until we no longer need to pretend. Very quickly, we freely flaunt our mastery over others, veiling it with the only barest mist of concern for those in need. Before too long, we openly boast of our conquests, of others depending upon us for their daily bread.
How far are we in our time removed from these proud statements? To what extent do we ‘haves’ complement ourselves because we are not among the “have nots”? We have risen above them. Clearly we have poor among us, and they bear witness to some level oppression here in our own back yard. When we look for the source of that oppression, it is easy to blame the wealthy, the corporate moguls or the government. But perhaps we should find the source of oppression much closer to home, also within our own back yard. Perhaps our own sin has given rise to the class division among us. All of our individual sinful decisions, to demean the other and glorify ourselves, have conspired together to produce an unholy culture of oppression. Our own sins have given rise to leaders who become the public voice of the oppression, while secretly, we desire to be in their place. Perhaps we covet their authority, we want their power so that we may enrich ourselves.
The prophet brought a word from the LORD. God looks upon the land and hears the cry of the poor, the victims of oppression. He is angered and troubled, They bear witness against the leadership of His people. They have failed to provide the moral leadership that would exterminate oppression, and thus liberate the poor. He had no choice but to judge their failure of trust. When God looks upon us, how I wish we would not force Him to judgement. How I wish He would find that each of us has already judged our own acts of oppression, that we have already championed the cause of the poor, and come to the aid of the oppressed. May our own ears hear intensely the cries of the victims, before their accusations reach our heavenly Father, and force Him to rescue them by judging our land. In that day of judgment, we will no longer be numbered among the ‘haves’. Rather we just might be among the victims of other oppressors, and perhaps then we will humble ourselves enough to cry out to our Father to rescue us again.
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About dirk
Executive Pastor Bethany Church Greenland, NHPosted by dirk on January 3, 2012 in Isaiah
Tags: isaiah, poor, poverty, victim