You think the world is unfair? The strong get rich and the weak stay poor? Everyone is on the make? Big business will rip you off if it can get away with it? Government is in the pocket of the fat cats?
Things don’t change. Over 2,500 years ago the prophet Isaiah speaking to his rulers and community says:-
Cease to do evil, learn to do good;
seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. (Isaiah 1:16-17, ESV)
The writings of Isaiah are just one of the treasures found in the Bible. His writings spring from a time of national difficulty and a miraculous deliverance from what seemed like an unstoppable external threat. Isaiah’s teaching bears witness to the failure of his people to seize the opportunity to create a better society after their danger had passed. Sound familiar?!
But Isaiah speaks the words of the one God. And the message is that God himself will transform society:-
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 40:4-5, ESV)
Of course it’s not really about valleys and mountains. It’s about the poor and the rich; an equal and fair society that transcends today’s political borders. It’s so different; so much better than man-made society that Isaiah calls it “new heavens and a new earth”. That’s the world God promises. That’s the world we’re praying for.