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In 1837, Elijah Lovejoy left the pulpit. He did it so he could devote full time to abolishing slavery. He edited newspapers in St Louis and later in Alton, Illinois. Mobs attacked him repeatedly, and finally, they killed him. Four days before he died, he said, “Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post.” While he lived, he made little headway in abolishing slavery, but his martyrdom deeply moved another young man who saw him die. That man was Abraham Lincoln. The prophet Isaiah expressed God’s anger at evil and injustice. He told of a day when God would send a righteous king to rule with integrity. He wrote in chapter 32, “Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land. Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it.” Of course, we know he spoke of the Messiah who will fully fulfill this prophecy when He returns. But until then, God’s people foster the values of justice and righteousness in society. We do it because we know God is grieved at injustice. We seek to reduce it even as we tell people of God’s offer to forgive sin through Jesus Christ.
