The Prophets of Old and the Wealthy of Today

A few days ago I finished up Jim Wallis’ book God’s Politics. I thought the book as a whole was really great. However, one paragraph in particular has seriously grabbed my attention—I can’t get it out of my head. A major topic presented in the book has to do with the ever widening gap between rich and poor. Wallis shares about a conversation over dinner he once had with Bono from U2, a big advocate for overcoming poverty and HIV/Aids. Wallis writes:

I talked to Bono that night about a subject surprisingly pertinent to his mission—biblical archeology. He smiled and confessed that he’d never studied it, but he became very interested when I shared what some of the biblical archeologist had found. When they dig down into the ruins of ancient Israel, they find periods of time when the houses were more or less the same size, and the artifacts show a relative equality between the people, with no great disparities. Ironically, during those periods, the prophets were silent. There was no Micah, Amos, Isaiah, or Jeremiah because there was nothing to say. But then they dig down into other periods, like the eighth century, and find remains of huge houses and small shacks, along with other evidence of great gaps between the rich and poor. And it was during those periods that the voice of the prophets rose up, to thunder the judgment and justice of God.

Not too long ago I read an article about the world’s first billion dollar home, owned by Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani. Once the 27-storey skyscraper is completed it is expected to cost more than 2 billion dollars. Check out the video below for more information about the home.



Clearly, the discrepancy between rich and poor has never been more pronounced. In a world where billion dollar homes are built, and three billion people now live on less than $2 per day, and one billion people live on less than $1 a day, I wonder what Micah, Amos, Isaiah, or Jeremiah would say if still alive today?