John Fischer The Catch

Why We Can’t Wait Any Longer

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. — Isaiah 1:17

The Command We Can’t Ignore
Justice isn’t a suggestion. It’s not a bonus round for Christians with a heart for activism. It’s a command — direct from God, rooted in Scripture, and repeated across the prophets, the teachings of Jesus, and the life of the early Church.

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Go, and say to this people, “Listen carefully, but do not understand; watch closely, but learn nothing.” — Isaiah 6:9

This is truly one of the strangest prophesies in the scriptures. It’s a prophecy that tells the people they’re not going to get it. Listen, but you won’t understand; watch, but don’t bother learning anything because you’re not going to.

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“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

When God’s Word is hidden in your heart, it doesn’t lie dormant like a buried seed. It’s alive—growing, reaching, reshaping who you are from the inside out. It’s not about memorizing verses or collecting knowledge; it’s about internalizing truth until it begins to think and move through you.

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If I warn the wicked, saying, “You will surely die,” and you do not speak to warn them… I will hold you accountable for their blood. — Ezekiel 3:18

I love this series in which Marti has selected a number of prophetic passages for us to study and write about. However this one I’ve been dreading. That’s because it smacks of legalism and a fear tactic that was used on me by eager youth pastors when I was growing up to try to get us in the youth group to witness to our friends. The picture was painted of us getting to heaven and having to face our friends on their way to hell crying out to us as they filed by to their doom, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

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When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.— Proverbs 29:18

Without a prophetic vision, people run wild.
Without a prophetic vision, people cast off restraint.
Without a prophetic vision, people perish.
Without a prophetic vision, people are out of control.
Without a prophetic vision, people do whatever they want.
Without a prophetic vision, law and order disappear.

You get the idea. These are all examples of how various Bible translations have translated Proverbs 29:18. Bottom line: without a prophetic vision, everything flies apart. There’s nothing to hold it together. Nothing to focus on. No direction. No path. Without a central voice — without a prophet — it’s chaotic. It’s very much like the world today.

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Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.” — Habakkuk 2:2

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays could have used a runner last night carrying a tablet around the stadium that read, “Enough, already!” It was Game 3 of the World Series and when I checked the score it was tied 5-5 in the ninth inning. I talked Marti into watching it with me under the pretext that it would be over very soon. Marti is warming up a little to baseball but she still thinks watching the game, especially on TV is a little like watching paint dry. But this was no ordinary game, this was the World Series for goodness sake, and the fact that it was tied in the ninth surely guaranteed an exciting finish.

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