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Prophets and Politics

We know that today, if conservatives hear a sermon pushing a social justice agenda, they will complain that politics has nothing to do with religion.  Or if liberals hear a sermon telling people not to vote for a supporter of abortion rights, the topic of tax exempt status is threateningly raised.

Those who say that politics should have nothing to do with religion should think about the ancient Hebrew prophets; this kind of separation of political from religious matters did not exist in their time. And looking at verses 15-25 in this week's study, we can see how much Isaiah was involved in the governmental processes.  Isaiah here is engaged in day-to-day politics and endorsing one official against another.

Prophets in general stepped into the political arena through their ministry. Amos did so and experienced rejection: "To Amos, Amaziah said: 'Off with you visionary, flee to the land of Judah!  There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and royal temple' (Am 7:12-13).  Amos was rebuffed because he prophesied: "Hear this: you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land . . . and say, 'we will fix our scales for cheating. . . '"(Am 8:4,5).

Jeremiah condemned Judah's kings for their wrong doing.  An example of this was his charge that Jehoiakim built lavish buildings in Jerusalem despite general poverty in Judah: "Woe to him who builds his house on wrong, his terraces on injustice; who works his neighbor without pay and gives him no wages" (22:13).

But Isaiah was the most "political" of the prophets.  His status, free access to the palace, and relations with the senior members of the royal house enabled him to influence events.  But his closeness to powerful people did not prevent him from being an outspoken mouthpiece of the common people, who were being victimized by the rampant corruption of the ruling class: "'What need have I of all your sacrifices?' says the Lord. . . .  'Put your evil doings away from my sight. . . .  Devote yourselves to justice. . . .  Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow'" (1:11-17).

Isaiah challenged other power bases such as those with the power to legislate: "Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and who write oppressive decrees, depriving the needy of judgment and robbing my people's poor of their rights.  Making widows their plunder, and orphans their prey" (Is 10:1-2).  He also confronted the judicial system: "Woe to those who acquit the guilty for bribes and deprive the just ones of their rights" (5:23).

Isaiah addressed the international political scene as well.  In the face of Assyrian expansionism, he counseled a nonaggressive approach.  He put his faith in divine salvation.  Any earthly attempt to alter the course of events was foredoomed, since Assyria was no more than a "rod" in God's hands with which to punish the sins of Jerusalem.

One of the kings who consulted Isaiah for advice was Ahaz; he was caught in a difficult squeese.  His neighboring states Israel and Syria, vassals of the Assyrian Empire, were in open rebellion against the Assyrians, and they were demanding that Ahaz join their little coalition.  Israel and Syria besieged Jerusalem in order to force Judah to join the alliance.  Ahaz needed to know whether he should wait out the siege, or whether he should appeal to Assyria for help and essentially become a vassal state of Assyria.

Isaiah, however, took an unwaveringly dim view of attempts to forge alliances, even as a wedge against Assyrian expansionism.  Such efforts, he said, attested to insufficient faith in the Lord.

Isaiah tied Judah's fortunes in the geopolitics of his day to such things as how Judah treated the poor and the orphan and the widow.  But this is not what rulers and people in power wanted to hear.   They were concerned about international schemes and were influenced by greed.  As other prophets found out, such appeals for faith and justice went unheeded by those with political power.

There are voices today crying out for life and social justice.  In most cases, they are not heeded either. Things have not changed.

Text: Isaiah 22:1-25

1  Oracle of the Valley of Vision: What is the matter with you now, that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops,

2  O city full of noise and chaos, O wanton town! Your slain are not slain with the sword, nor killed in battle.

3  All your leaders fled away together, fled afar off; All who were in you were captured together, captured without the use of a bow.

4  At this I say: Turn away from me, let me weep bitterly; Do not try to comfort me for the ruin of the daughter of my people.

5  It is a day of panic, rout and confusion, from the Lord, the GOD of hosts, in the Valley of Vision. Walls crash; they cry for help to the mountains.

6  Elam takes up the quivers, Aram mounts the horses, and Kir uncovers the shields.

7 Your choice valleys are filled with chariots, and horses are posted at the gates,

8  and shelter over Judah is removed. On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest;

9  you saw that the breaches in the City of David were many; you collected the water of the lower pool.

10  You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, tearing some down to strengthen the wall;

11  you made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to the city*s Maker, nor did you consider him who built it long ago.

12  On that day the Lord, the GOD of hosts, called on you to weep and mourn, to shave your head and put on sackcloth.

13  But look! you feast and celebrate, you slaughter oxen and butcher sheep, You eat meat and drink wine: *Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!*

14  This reaches the ears of the LORD of hosts-- You shall not be pardoned this wickedness till you die, says the Lord, the GOD of hosts.

15  Thus says the Lord, the GOD of hosts: Up, go to that official, Shebna, master of the palace,

16  Who has hewn for himself a sepulcher on a height and carved his tomb in the rock: *What are you doing here, and what people have you here, that here you have hewn for yourself a tomb?*
17 The LORD shall hurl you down headlong, mortal man! He shall grip you firmly

18  And roll you up and toss you like a ball into an open land To perish there, you and the chariots you glory in, you disgrace to your master's house!

19  I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station.

20  On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah;

21  I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

22  I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.

23  I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family;

24  On him shall hang all the glory of his family: descendants and offspring, all the little dishes, from bowls to jugs.

25  On that day, says the LORD of hosts, the peg fixed in a sure spot shall give way, break off and fall, and the weight that hung on it shall be done away with; for the LORD has spoken.

Discussion/Reflection Questions:

In verses 15-25 today, we see Isaiah, under the direction of God's word to him, pressing his influence into the local political structure by the endorsement of one public official over and against another. In what way might these verses apply or not apply to how Christians apply political influence and pressure today?