Isaiah on Tuesday - The Scroll is Sealed

The more I read Isaiah, the more he is my friend. I never cease to be amazed at the words of this prophet. In the 28th chapter of Isaiah, an indictment is leveled against Israel and the future is laid out - a future revealed by the the Revelation of Apostle John , particularly the 5th chapter.

As Isaiah closes his vision of "that day", the day of the LORD, he foretells of a time when Ariel is
besieged by hordes of enemies and

4 Brought low, you will speak from the ground;
your speech will mumble out of the dust.
Your voice will come ghostlike from the earth;
out of the dust your speech will whisper.

[An aside - the language here is stunning. I think that's an incredibly vivid picture, purely from an aesthetic standpoint]

Yet the besieging enemies will be "blown like chaff." The destruction of Ariel's enemies is not a wholly triumphant affair for Israel, however:

6 the LORD Almighty will come
with thunder and earthquake and great noise,
with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.

and

9 Be stunned and amazed,
blind yourselves and be sightless;
be drunk, but not from wine,
stagger, but not from beer.

10 The LORD has brought over you a deep sleep:
He has sealed your eyes (the prophets)
he has covered your heads (the seers).

But here is the tie-in with John's Revelation:

11 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." 12 Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I don't know how to read."

Read this alongside Revelation 5:

1Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

The vision of "That day" is sealed in a scroll and none are worthy to open it, indeed, they cannot. And why is the scroll sealed? Isaiah continues:

13 The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.

They have exchanged the love of God for the love of rules, the fear of God for the fear of man. In fact, as Isaiah continues, they even begin to think that God cannot see them while they make their plans, plot injustice and think of themselves as greater than the one who formed them.

John weeps in his revelation that no one could open the scroll. He longs to see the scroll opened . Why? Isaiah finishes:

18 In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll,

and out of gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.

19 Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD;
the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 The ruthless will vanish,
the mockers will disappear,
and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down-

21 those who with a word make a man out to be guilty,
who ensnare the defender in court
and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.

22 Therefore this is what the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, says to the house of Jacob:
"No longer will Jacob be ashamed;
no longer will their faces grow pale.

23 When they see among them their children,
the work of my hands,
they will keep my name holy;
they will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob,
and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

24 Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding;
those who complain will accept instruction."

The opening of the scroll harkens a day of justice when "The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down" and "No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will their faces grow pale." I too look forward to "That Day."

College Makes for Better Fathers

CNN has an article about a study done on fatherhood. The low-down: college grads tend to be more involved parents. What this really means is that the better your class position economically, the more likely you are to be more involved with your kids.

There's more in the study, and it doesn't really go into truly qualitative aspects of parenting but a clear line can be drawn between class and parenting. There are probably numerous reasons for this, but the implications are pretty clear to me: get as many people to college as possible. It's good for them, it's good for society, it's good for families.

College improves one's chances of a better income and, thus, better security. Maslow's pyramid works for social units as well as individuals and the higher up they go, the better off we all are. Sending everyone to college won't cure all of society's ills, but it certainly seems to give a booster shot. We really should make public education truly public from pre-k all the way through college.

Strategies for Raising Wages

Nathan Newman has a nice post over at TPMCafe.com about how various state and local governments are working on raising wages outside of the federal minimum wage law. It's worth taking a look at. I have some more radical thoughts, but nothing concrete to post at this time.

Beyond the Minimum Wage: New Policies to Raise Wages

Keep the Estate Tax!

Another salvo is about to be launched in the ongoing American class war. The House has voted to repeal the Estate Tax and the Senate may likely follow suit, which would either increase our already large deficit or push the tax responsibility down to those who can least afford it.

Sebastian Mallaby has a nice op-ed with the details: Reward for the Hereditary Elite

A few key facts:

1) The Estate Tax allows up to $4,000,000 (that's four million dollars) to be bequeathed tax free
2) The Estate Tax affects only the richest 2 percent of Americans
3) According to economist Jon M. Bakija and tax policy expert William G. Gale:

Estate tax repeal would have significant deleterious
effects on charitable bequests and charitable giving
during life. Although estate tax reform will raise many
issues, the impact on the nonprofit sector should be a
central part of the debate.

That is, charitable giving will likely fall significantly if the Estate Tax is repealed.

Aside from the practical effects of increasing the deficit and reducing charitable giving, the bigger issue is a philosophical one. Mallaby sums it up nicely in his article:

The nation faces rising inequality. Since 1980 the gap between the earnings of the top fifth and the bottom fifth has jumped by almost 50 percent. The United States is by some measures the most unequal society in the rich world and the most unequal that it's been since the 1920s. What is the dumbest possible response to this? Identify the most progressive federal tax and repeal it.

The nation faces the prospect that inequality will damage meritocracy. When the distance between top and bottom widens, it becomes harder to traverse the gap; people of low birth are stuck at the bottom, and human talent is wasted. What is the dumbest possible response to this? Take the tax that limits what the super-rich pass on to their children and get rid of it. Send a message to hereditary elites: Go ahead, entrench yourselves!

Mallaby is advocating economic justice and a leveling of the playing field (well, OK, reducing the grade slightly) and he's right to because a significant gap in economic equality destroys our notion of democracy, increases class tensions and ultimately makes for a society which is inherently unjust.

There is a deeper argument here, as well, that I don't have time for right now, but would like to write on in the future: what is the purpose of government and why have taxes anyway? There is a certain faction of people in the US who want most, if not all, taxes repealed. It's a silly notion, but goes to the heart of the government question. For now, let's just be intelligent, moral and just and keep the Estate Tax.