The Voice of a Prophet

The Voice of a Prophet


“Then the Lord said to me, ‘There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. They have returned to the sins of their forefathers, who refused to listen to My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers. Therefore this is what the Lord says: I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.’” Jeremiah 11:9-11

The Hebrew Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the Lord God has nothing but love for His people but once in awhile, they incurred his wrath. This small portion from Jeremiah is only a small sample of the “judgment” verses in which the Lord had been provoked to anger by their actions of disobedience; “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

Verses like these cannot be overlooked when we read the Bible as an exploratory of a budding relationship between the Lord and ourselves. Just as we take time to get better acquainted with a new friend by learning as much as we can about them, we are touched by the Holy Spirit in such a way that provokes a genuine hunger in the soul that can only be filled by Him. This is the way He seems to work in His constant efforts to draw us closer to Him. He also uses His "witnesses" to send out the invitations! That would be you and me.

When we are convicted of our sins, verses like these strike a little harder at the conscience because a relationship has been established, and our hearts tell us that the One who loves us with an “everlasting love” has been hurt. I’ve often wondered if the story of King David’s son Absalom in 2 Samuel 18-19 and the king’s mourning over the loss of even a rebellious son was as much historical as it is theological, indicative of a “king” who still weeps for His own children when they perish even while actively working against Him.

The Westboro Baptist church in Topeka KS first came to my attention in 1998 when a young man by the name of Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence in Wyoming. We learned later that Mr. Shepard was homosexual and had been beaten by two other men who maintained that Matthew had “made a move” on them. Whether this was all true or not is irrelevant.

What is relevant is that it had been reported that on the day of Matthew’s funeral when he was being laid to rest and his parents were mourning the loss of their beloved son, these “Christians” from Westboro church in Topeka showed up at Matthew’s funeral to “protest”. It was their intent to remind everyone of what the Bible says about homosexuality. These Westboro people even went so far as to try to raise money to build a monument which would essentially state that Matthew is in hell for all eternity.

If this is not enough, these people showed up in Lincoln NE on February 25 of this year to protest, or picket or whatever the heck it is they think they are doing, at the funeral of Army 1st Lt Garrison Avery. Why? Because he was killed in a war defending a nation that “promotes” homosexuality. Their banners read, “God is your enemy”, and “Thank God for IED’s”, an apparent reference to the ever-present roadside bombs our brothers and sisters in Iraq contend with almost daily.

Would Jeremiah have been so bold? Would he have even thought it necessary to show up at Matthew’s funeral? What does this “reverend” Fred Phelps hope to achieve by leading this crowd around the country to do nothing more than anger and genuinely hurt decent folks? Incidentally, an online search will reveal that Westboro church is made up almost exclusively of Phelps’ own family. Little wonder why this church is not a growing concern.

Is it possible that Phelps truly is the “prophet” he apparently claims that he is? I suppose anything is possible and if we believe the Bible as it is written, what is it about this man and his “message” that can be theologically challenged? I realize no one takes him seriously; I certainly don’t.

The Bible makes it clear that the Lord God “hates” sin, and He curses those who curse Abraham’s descendents. Jeremiah and other prophets also make it equally clear that the Lord, when provoked to anger, pronounces judgment and people die. What does it all mean? Can it really be that such a mean-spirited, hateful, angry old man and his family can be entrusted to “translate” scripture for us in such a way that they would virtually spit in the face of a family in mourning? Is this representative of the Lord our God?

In the face of this brand of Christianity, it is little wonder that the Church struggles to be relevant.