The Occupy movement has certainly been controversial. But its calls for fairness and responsible leadership are a strong echo of the teachings of the Old Testament prophets and of the New Testament as well.
In the eighth century before the Common Era, there was a wide gap between the rich and the poor in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God sent Amos to preach against the unfair economic structures of his day. He calls out the rich for their mistreatment of the poor: “They sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.” He also warns those who have more than one luxurious home while their countrymen live in hovels: “I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end, says the Lord.” Amos relays the call of God upon the whole people to change their ways in a verse that was often used by Martin Luther King Jr. “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.”
The prophecies of Amos were fulfilled as the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and the rich were the first to be taken away in exile into the vast Assyrian Empire, never to be heard of again.
The remaining Kingdom of Judah did not learn from this lesson, however. About 150 years later, another prophet was sent by God to accuse the rich of mistreating the poor. In the 34th chapter of the book of Ezekiel, the prophet calls the wealthy leaders of Judah false shepherds: “Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.” Ezekiel warns that these “shepherds” will face the consequences and they do. Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and again the wealthy were carried off into exile.
Lest we think that these admonishments to the rich to help the poor are confined to the Old Testament, we should remember the words of Mary and her sons. The book of Luke contains “the magnificat,” Mary’s song of praise. “God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty,” she sings. Her son, Jesus, famously remarked that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. And his brother, James (his cousin, if you are Catholic), warned early Christians not to give undue respect to the rich, for “Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court?”
The themes of the Occupy movement are well-attested in the Bible. Let us hear what God is saying to all people.
The Rev. M. Christopher Boyer is pastor of Good Shepherd Baptist Church in Lynnwood.
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