Somebody's Coming
Tell anybody that ain't got nobody
Somebody's coming
Tell all these people who think they need money
Somebody's coming
Tell everybody walkin' tall and proud
That their money talks, but it talks so loud
That there's somebody coming
That's gonna change everything
-Mark Marchetti, Shannon Hills, Todd Snider
*”Every single day, 21,000 children die before their fifth birthday of pneumonia, malaria, diarrhoea and other diseases. Despite substantial progress in reducing under-five mortality around the world, children from rural and poorer households remain disproportionately affected. Children from the poorest 20 percent of households are nearly twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday as children in the richest 20 percent.”
-Levels and trends in child mortality. Estimates developed by the UN inter-agency group for child mortality estimation, 2011 Report (World Health Organization website)
*”According to the latest estimates, the number of people living in hunger in the world is over a billion, the highest on record.”
—United Nations: The Global Social Crisis. Report on the World Social Situation, 2011, pages 1, 32 (World Health Organization website)
“Somebody’s Coming” is from Todd Snider’s first album, released in 1994, entitled Songs for the Daily Planet. His music is fun and honest; the lyrics are simultaneously in your face and humorous. This song in particular throws the gauntlet at wealth and privilege that ignores the plight of the vulnerable. It is a song that is about both righteousness and justice. Eugene Peterson relates artists with the biblical prophets (Run With the Horses). It is not hard to see why. Artists are creative. They synthesize ideas and use metaphor to reveal the truth that is so clear to them. Todd Snider understands the story. Hope is not lost. But, we have only one hope. Somebody is coming that will change everything…because everything is jacked up.
If Jesus is that hope, didn’t He already come? Then why is everything still so screwed up? If He came to bring a New Kingdom, where is it? If His church is His body, what is it doing? What is its purpose? The purpose is righteousness and justice.
Todd Snider sings of what humanity craves: to care for one another and promote conditions that benefit us all. He sings of a new power structure that lifts up rather than squashes the weak. He also sings of consequences for those who seek to dominate and subordinate the less powerful. He sings of righteousness and justice.
What do these terms mean exactly? Tzadeqah is usually translated “being righteous.” From Generous Justice by Timothy Kelle “Biblical scholar Alec Motyer defines ‘righteousness’ as those ‘right with God and therefore committed to putting right all other relationships (p 10).” This is evident in the daily conduct of a person as they relate to “family and society with fairness, generosity, and equity.” Quoting from Francis I. Anderson’s commentary on Job, Keller writes: “to omit to do good to any fellow human being, of whatever rank or class, would be a grievous offense to God.(p 12)” It also entails confronting people who exploit the vulnerable. Righteousness is often misconceived as obeying all the rules. It is better summed up in the shema of Deuteronomy 6. To love God with all our heart, soul, and “muchness,” according to Jesus, is how we love others. His character, His Presence reigning in His people restores shalom and blessing to His world. Each sphere of shema is a sphere in which heaven invades earth, and the Kingdom advances. But what about judgement?
Mishpat is the Hebrew word translated as “justice.” The emphasis here is on action. It is “giving people what they are due, whether punishment or protection or care (p 4).” Justice reflects the very character of God. He is a father to the fatherless, defender of the poor, widow, orphan and sick. Keller cites Nicholas Wolterstorff as saying: “lower classes are ‘not only disproportionately vulnerable to injustice, but usually disproportionately actual victims of injustice. Injustice is not equally distributed (p7).” Judgment comes to reckon with the sequelae of an infected heart, Justice is about restoring righteousness.
Righteousness and justice form a couplet throughout scripture. In Old Testament Ethics for the People of God by Christopher Wright, he uses “social justice” as the best English expression to convey its true meaning. He sums up the relationship thusly: “Mishpat is what needs to be done in a given situation if people and circumstances are to be restored to conformity with tzadiqah (p 237).” The story of God’s relationship with humanity, throughout scripture, is expressly this theme.
A virus, according to one definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “ something that poisons the mind or soul.” Scripture paints the picture of this virus. Genesis (Samuel and Kings are also examples of this theme), uses the thematic story arc of God humbling the proud and exalting the humble. The proud and arrogant lift themselves up, and in so doing, necessarily oppress others and the land. This also runs throughout Isaiah and the prophets. The antithesis to the selfishness emerging in the world was “righteousness and justice.” But how will humanity come to this?
The first mention of this pairing, as best I can find, is in Genesis 18. The action is brisk here. The narrative moves from God making a covenant with Abraham, to Sarah resigned to her barrenness and offering her servant Abraham’s hope of fruitfulness, and now, three angels appear to announce that Sarah will bear a son of promise. What happens next? The angels prepare to go to Sodom. Then the Lord spoke: “ Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by him?” But why has the Lord chosen Abraham, what is the purpose of this? “For I have known him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” The angles then go to Sodom to bring judgement on Sodom. Why? What cries have come to God from Sodom? The ESV of Ezekiel 16:9: “Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” Sodom was unrighteous and unjust. God was sending judgement, as He must. If, like the Amorites in Genesis,” their sin was not complete,” then mercy still has opportunity for efficacy. If their sin is complete, if they are so aligned with the rebellious powers and gods, then destruction is the only option remaining. God is immensely patient, but He is just.
Incidentally, homosexuality is not the issue here. They were wicked and demanded sex with these angels- a perversion described within the Torah and alluded to by the prophets and New Testament writers. Sodom was unrighteous and unjust. Sodom’s people were governed by rebellious powers, so much so that nothing else could be done with them. Their wickedness was complete. This was not how God wanted His world to be ruled. There is much more to be said about this misunderstood story, but that is for another time.
Biblical righteousness is inevitably social, because it is about relationships. When most modern people see the word “righteousness” in the Bible, they tend to think of it in terms of private morality, such as sexual chastity or diligence in prayer and Bible study. But in the Bible tzadeqah refers to day- to-day living in which a person conducts all relationships in family and society with fairness, generosity, and equity (Keller).
The purpose of the covenant with Abraham was to bring about a people of righteousness and justice. A people infected with self-exaltation, ruled by the powers saying “all of this can be yours'," are idolatrous people. Idolatry is always linked to injustice and oppression. The world will experience the blessing if they shema God and pursue righteousness and justice. The story advances and a cycle of affliction leads to desperate pleas, to which God responds with deliverance and promise of relationship, to which they avow loyalty (allegiance), but quickly give their hearts to another, thus continuing the cycle.
Isaiah enters the scene at the end of the narrative of Kings. He scans back to the exile in Genesis, the warnings of Moses in Deuteronomy, the conditions of distinction in Leviticus, and the events of Numbers. Their hearts have become what Moses foretold. These people have infected hearts. This does not look like His New Creation, His Kingdom. What is the problem? Were the terms no good? Was He not wondrous and faithful? Weren’t they religious, performing the required sacrifices, celebrating the feasts, praying and using the name of God regularly? Israel, the Northern Kingdom, not so much, Judah more so. Does scripture says that you can be religious and yet still have something fundamentally wrong? Yes and that something is the heart. God is not pleased, explicitly because of their unrighteous community relationships and lack of justice to correct it. Their hearts do not shema God; they listen and obey their selfish ambitions. Will this cycle ever change?
Isaiah is a book of judgement that gives way to hope. Isaiah calls out the unrighteousness and injustice of all nations, including Israel and Judah. Like Todd Snider, he throws down the gauntlet and says we have only one hope. God has seen and is sending someone to restore all things, to deliver the oppressed and humble the proud. The remedy is the son of promise. The angels promised Abraham and Sarah a son to be the seed of a new nation that will bless all other nations, so Isaiah reminds the people- somebody is coming. God Himself will come as king and priest to govern His people. He will crush the serpent and end its rule. He will circumcise their hearts, cut away the infected heart to transplant His into their chests. He will show them, teach them, and equip them to be righteous and just. Heaven will set up residence on earth.
Isaiah 28 through 35 reveals this. Isaiah pronounces woe to Israel and Judah. They are prideful and arrogant; that is why they stumble. But God will send a Spirit of Justice. Why? Because this is what they lacked. This is part of how they failed to shema (Deut 6:6). Pride and self-assurance made them unclean- same as Sodom. Just like Sodom, God is required to bring judgement. All things have a telios. They have trusted in lies and wicked men have ruled. God will reclaim rule from these powers and kings. His son, a righteous king, will rule instead. Isaiah 28:7 says this king will overcome Death itself. The scourge will pass. What kind of King does all this?
Isaiah sees a sealed scroll, like John in Revelation. Like Revelation, there is a question about who can open it, who can read it. Here no one stepped forward. ( In Revelation, someone does!) Isaiah writes what happens next. The Lord responds here: your religion is empty and worthless (idolatrous), your lips mouth my name but your hearts are far from me (no shema), teachings of men have replaced awe and wonder of God. This is the condition.
The prescription is awe and wonder. He could have crushed them, or us. But mercy, God’s chesed, accompanies His judgment. Mercy is how loyal love tempers justice. He is faithful; He continues. Awe and wonder often look like His dynamic presence on Sinai or the mighty acts against the gods of Egypt to deliver His people from their rule; it often looks like judgement and mercy! His marvelous works were acts of judgement (against gods of this age) to bring about His people and His Kingdom. The awe and wonder of Jesus was no different, every act declared His authority as King over the principalities and powers, every act declared the wisdom and mercy and of God. The wisdom that blesses us, begins with awe and wonder according to Proverbs.
John the Baptist’s disciples asked Jesus, “how do we know you are the Messiah, should we expect another?” Jesus gestures to an image of the Messiah that echoes here in Isaiah 29: the deaf hear, the eyes of the blind see, the humble and the poor rejoice, and the terrible one is brought to nothing. This is awesome and wondrous! The Messiah, according to Isaiah, will do these things when He, as the seed of the New Creation, comes. Out of Jacob, YHWH will establish justice and righteousness just as He promised. Should they expect another? No, Jesus is God’s exact image of righteousness and justice. Philippians 2 fills out this image, the image we are becoming- our telios. Jesus Christ doesn’t just recalibrate the human heart, He judges the powers that hold it captive and reclaims it at is His own.
This Messiah and His Kingdom stands in bold contrast to the arrogant rulers of the nations. The rest of the chapter gives shape to the image of their unrighteousness. They rely on violence and military alliances. They aspire to the strength of the Pharaoh. Like the kings of Israel, their rule became the very image of Pharaoh’s rule. They adopted oppressive rule. They ignored the pleas of the poor. They took bribes. The gods whispered something false in their ear and they bit.
Isaiah 30 paints an image of rest and quiet confidence. His people looked like something else. They were striving and covetous. They were boisterous and insecure, looking for alliances with military strength. All the while, God waits so that He can be gracious.
It is grace that supplies righteousness, just as it is mercy that tempers justice.
He waits to be exalted in order to show mercy. The covenant does not require this! He has every right to scrap the heap (not unlike the flood). Their way of being human will not give them what they want. God offers blessing. The gods offer pride and power. God knows they will cry out. He is a jealous God. He is jealous for them. He longs for His children to listen to Him, reflect His image. He knows that listening to the powers is not the way of blessing. The more they hear and obey the gods, the more they become like them, and their fates become joined.
When they cry out, He will answer as before. “But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying ‘This is the way, walk in it.” I think this is the first usage of this phrase. Jesus used this phrasing often following parables. “Let him who has eyes see, ears hear.” Jesus responds to the oppression of the powers in His time with awe and wonder. His sayings confront the injustice and false alliances of the people. As it says in this passage, the people will say to these false gods, “Get away!” Our eyes see, our ears hear, the way is here! What is the way then, how should we walk? Jesus would respond, I am the way. He shows and tell us what true righteousness and justice looks like.
The rest of Isaiah 30 describes the rebellious people, revised and reshaped by His grace. Jesus will heal and restore the people as the gift of grace to the world. Captivated by false gods and alliances with the powers, they became like them. But now, the Deliverer has come. The rhythm of His work is emerging.
Isaiah 31 paints a picture of the folly of trusting in military machinery and alliances for assurance. God will tell Jerusalem, “So the Lord of hosts will come down / To fight for Mt Zion and for its hill…So the Lord of hosts will defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also Deliver; Passing over, He will also preserve it.” The destroying angel of Exodus that brought final judgement to the gods of Egypt and demonstrated God’s power of death is reflected here. All false allegiances will be crushed. But God has plans for His people. Remember the promise to Abraham?
All oppression will end. Isaiah 32 inaugurates a new king, the Messiah. “Behold a king will reign in righteousness. And princes will rule with justice.” The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will accomplish its intended purpose. This chapter contrast the king leader with the fool leaders (king and fool are related words in Hebrew). The fool is ungodly, has a heart of iniquity, is never satisfied, has destructive schemes, and oppresses the poor with his words and deeds. But somebody’s coming who is going to change everything. Jesus will bring His Kingdom, and it will be marked by generosity. As it says here, “but the generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.”
Isaiah 32 uses the language of the curse to describe the complacent people. But the curse will end.
(Until) the Spirit is poured upon us from high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field (Genesis 1 imagery), and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
The Lord will hear the prayer of the oppressed. He will breathe His very life into them. He will join His life to theirs, their suffering will become His suffering, and His victory will be their victory! Somebody’s coming that is going to change everything.
“The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. (Is 33:5)” The chapter goes on to describe those the Messiah will rule. Psalms 1, 15, and 24 are of the same mold. They will walk righteously and speak with integrity. They will despise oppression and greedy gain. They will act justly by refusing to give preference to the wealthy. They govern their eyes and ears from violence and evil. The Messiah’s presence will be assurance and trust. The hungry and thirsty will be satisfied. The sick will be healed. All iniquity will be forgiven. Even Death will lose its power!
Jesus is the image of the Messiah Isaiah hopes will come to establish righteousness and justice. His death, burial, and resurrection were the inauguration of His Kingdom. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit was the cutting away of the infected heart and the planting of the very heart of God Himself into the chests of those who will shema. So, was the gift of God not efficacious? Jesus is the only remedy of the human condition, and He is the very image we are intended to become. It is His Spirit that will bring this about. Jesus is the head (source) and, as in ancient Greek thinking, the body grows into the head. The body must become such that it suits the head or source of its life and being. Heaven is indeed advancing into earth. But it is not in religious rites, it is not in political alliances, it is not in the syncretism of nationalism and religion, it is not in private salvation messages, it is not in the prosperity gospel, it is not in fists clenched to protect and defend the rights and privileges of the powerful. Jesus showed us the way and His Spirit leads us in the same direction. Just as phototropic plants seek out the light, the Spirit looks to enter suffering to restore righteousness and bring justice. The Spirit shapes us to deal with fairness and equity and generosity. The Spirit challenges us to confront systems that oppress the poor, widow, immigrant, and fatherless. These systems are governed by the powers and Jesus has stripped them of their power. He entrusted this to us. Somebody is coming, and this time righteousness and justice will be complete. In the meantime, the world groans as it suffers from the virus; it groans for us to fulfill our purpose: righteousness and justice.
Micah 6:8 (ESV)
He has told you, O man (adam- human), what is good (towb); and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice (mispat), and to love kindness (hesed-steadfast loving-kindness, mercy) , and to walk humbly with your God?
Doing justice “means to go to places where the fabric of shalom has broken down, where the weaker members of societies are falling through the fabric, and to repair it (Keller, p. 177).” He goes to say:
“If we keep our money, time, and power to ourselves, instead of sending them out into our neighbors’ lives, then we may be literally on top of one another, but we are not interwoven socially, relationally, financially, and emotionally. Reweaving shalom means to sacrificially thread, lace, and press your time, goods, power, and resources into the lives and needs of others.”
This is to love with all your “muchness.”
So, this is the way, walk in it. The wise and righteous follow Christ’s example in Philippians 2 and disadvantage themselves for the benefit of the disadvantaged. The arrogant, foolish, disadvantage the community for their own benefit. The concept of “good” is functional. “Evil” is dysfunctional. Humanity functions as New Creation, “good”, when relationships are based on care for each other with actions to protect and provide for one another based on a humble relationship (God exalting, not self-exalting) with God. Grace is the gift of Christ birthing righteousness in His people. Mercy is the gift of God that restores us to the “good” of New Creation. Shalom is the result of relating from this heart. Generosity is the rule. This is the way of the our source, Christ Jesus.
Somebody's coming
Somebody's coming, been here before
If you think you're outta chances, well you've got one more
'Cause somebody's coming
That's gonna change everything
