Of Justice and Global Warming
The earth dries up and withers,
the world languishes and withers;
the heavens languish together with the earth.
The earth lies polluted
under its inhabitants;
for they have transgressed laws,
violated the statutes,
broken the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24:4-5)
Given the increasing prominence of global climate change as a threat, these words from Isaiah struck me as appropriate today. In short, they suggest a cause-and-effect relationship between following God's laws of justice and the wellbeing of our planet. Surely there is a correlation between greed and environmental degredation— between the exploitation of people and of the planet.
It's interesting, too, that even in Isaiah's day when monarchy was the rule, the people of a nation were held accountable for the actions of its leader— and for the actions of the people around them. In the preceding verses, Isaiah wrote:
Now the LORD is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate,
and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.
And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest;
as with the slave, so with his master;
as with the maid, so with her mistress;
as with the buyer, so with the seller;
as with the lender, so with the borrower;
as with the creditor, so with the debtor.
The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly despoiled;
for the LORD has spoken this word. (Isaiah 24:1-3)
We like to think we're not reponsible for the actions of our democratically-elected leaders, our bosses, and our business associates, but Isaiah suggests it isn't so.
The good news in all this is that Isaiah (and indeed all the prophets) bring warning— and a way out. All God wants is for us to return to His path. There may be consequences from our past actions (as scientists tell us some effects of climate change are already unavoidable) but we need not continue on to utter desolation.
The good news in all this is that Isaiah (and indeed all the prophets) bring warning— and a way out. All God wants is for us to return to His path. There may be consequences from our past actions (as scientists tell us some effects of climate change are already unavoidable) but we need not continue on to utter desolation.
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-8)
Isaiah promises that righteousness will prevail. But the longer we wait, the graver the consequences.
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