Next-Wave: God, will you be around in the Year 2001? by Dann Pantoja

While I thank you for giving my family a chance to enjoy the beauty and the economic abundance of Vancouver, British Columbia, my heart continually bleeds for billions of human beings around the world who are created in your own image. Half the world—nearly three billion people—lives on less than two dollars a day. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the poorest 48 nations (i.e., a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined. Nearly a billion people will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. Less than one per cent of what the world spends every year on weapons would be needed to put every child into school by the end of this year. (Global Issues)

Are you with those whom you created in your image?

While my country of residence—Canada—is enjoying its economic stability, my country of origin—The Philippines—is still paying the debts incurred by the Marcos Regime. The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. (Jubilee 2000) This is a major factor why the Republic of the Philippines is regarded as a supplier of cheap labor and cheap raw materials in the scheme of the global economy.

Are you with the poor nations?

While my wife and daughters are enjoying their journey towards their full potential as persons-in-community, millions of women continue to be subject to persistent discrimination in education, employment, health and nationality. Violence against women and sexual exploitation remain serious problems, despite government efforts to address the issue. There had been an increase in trafficking of women--especially from Latin American countries to Europe and from Eastern Europe. As we enter the 21^st Century, there has been an increase in trafficking in women, a drastic rise in domestic violence and the fact that unemployment was higher among women even though they still receive lower pay than men. (UN Report On Women)

Are you with the women of our time?

While I praise you for the growth, security, and safety of my own children, I can’t help but cry for the millions of children around the world. Between 1997 and 1998, an estimated two million children have been killed in armed conflict. Three times as many have been permanently disabled or seriously injured. (Center for Defense Information)

Are you with our children?

While I am grateful to you, God, for the support of my wife in many daring and risky adventures in our 21 years of marriage, my friend, whom I think deserves more than what I enjoy, has been abandoned by his wife for a younger and wealthier man.

Are you with those whom you joined together?

Immanu El. God, you promised that you would be with us: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give a sign to you: See! A young woman bearing a child. And she will call his name Emmanu El.” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23)

I’m aware that I do not belong to the nation of Judah, the people group you originally gave this promise to. The approximate year when you gave this promise to that people was 735 BCE. Israel was a divided kingdom then. Northern Israel (often referred to as Israel or Ephraim) was at war against Southern Israel (often referred to as Judah). Ephraim’s king, Pekah, made an alliance with Aram (ancient Syria).

It was a frightening situation for Judah. The combined armies of Ephraim and Aram who were marching against the south intimidated Judah’s King Ahaz. And yes, Judah’s royal family belongs to King David’s dynasty. You promised the Davidic Dynasty that they will remain on the throne of Israel forever. So, it was a time of multiple crises in their life—political, theological, social, economic, and spiritual.

In the midst of these crises, you spoke through the Prophet Isaiah. Your message was frightening. You assured King Ahaz that the two small nations who formed an alliance against Judah were not really the problem. You were sending Assyria, a superpower, to defeat Ephraim and Aram. However, you warned Ahaz not to put his trust in the strength of Assyria. But Ahaz chose to align his kingdom with Assyria and supported Assyria to conquer Ephraim. In 722 BCE, Assyria razed Ephraim to the ground. Ahaz thought he was safe. But no. The Assyrians made Judah a vassal state. The king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, made Ahaz one of his puppet kings.

You promised King Ahaz, through the Prophet Isaiah, that all these unpleasant political-military prophecies will surely happen. That was the time when you gave a sign: Therefore, the Lord himself will give a sign to you: See! A young woman bearing a child. And she will call his name Emmanu El. (Isaiah 7:14)

From its context, how would I interpret this verse? What is the meaning of Emmanu El in my personal experience? What is the meaning of Immanu El in the context of the global realities of the 21^st Century?

Even though I do not belong ethnically to the nation of Judah, I feel I can identify with their feelings of superiority as a chosen people, and their feelings of insecurity and helplessness as a small, powerless nation in the context of geo-politics. On one hand, as a Christian who lives in Canada, I tend to project a feeling of superiority because in many Christian instructional activities, I have been told repeatedly about the superiority of Christian worldview against all other worldviews. Historically, this religious superiority complex translated well into military-cultural superiority complex that brought about imperialistic crusades. On the other hand, as a Filipino, I have an experiential or existential knowledge of what it means to be discriminated because I came from a "Third World" country. My country of origin—The Philippines—was even named after King Philip of Spain. My people were enslaved by Western Christian colonial powers.

So God, I hope you don’t mind me embracing your promise of Emmanu El.

The more I reflect on the meaning of Emmanu El, the more I sense your presence in my life. God, I cannot deny the ultimate reality that, when I talk to you, you’re there. I cannot deny the truth that I really do experience your presence and I’m in you. Our time together helps a lot. In the midst of millions of uncertainties in my life, I’m certain that you are present. I experience Emmanu El!

Your presence is real inside our space-time world. A child was born in Judah as a sign that you were present among your people in the 8^th Century BCE when the Assyrians were in power (Isa. 7). The Child was born in Bethlehem around 6 BCE as a sign that you were present among your people during the Roman occupation of Palestine (Mt. 1:23). Matthew, the Gospel Writer, saw both pictures as a continuum of your presence and intervention in human affairs. Both events were instances of Immanu El in history. These events show that you continually intervene in human affairs to remind us of your presence.

You are present where I live. You are present among my friends and loved ones who are in the Philippines. In mysterious ways beyond our comprehension, you are present among the billions of people who are experiencing pain, suffering, and injustices. You are present in the midst of all the crises and struggles we experience as one humanity. Therefore, we are never alone.

Your presence is also real outside our space-time world. The prophecy of Isaiah included your statement of your eternal presence and sovereignty: “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (Isa. 40:25-26)

You are present where we are. But you are not “boxed” by the limitations of our place and time. You energize us with spiritual power from sources outside our time and space. Therefore, we are supernaturally resourced and empowered!

Your promises are based on your presence, not on our expectations or perspectives. In 722 BCE, you saved Judah, the Southern Kingdom, from the Aram-Ephraim military coalition using Assyria. You disciplined Ephraim or the Northern Kingdom. But in 586 BCE, you also disciplined Judah by sending the Babylonians. Judah was sent to exile.

Your presence involves both the promise of protection and the promise of discipline. The promise of protection is pleasant. The promise of discipline is unpleasant. But both protection and discipline are promises of blessings! Therefore, we are always blessed!

Your presence does not guarantee economic security and socio-political power. In The Book of Isaiah the coming of Emmanu El meant Judah becoming a puppet kingdom under the Assyrians (7:14-25). It implied economic poverty because of King Ahaz’s tributary gifts to the King of Assyria. In The Gospel of Matthew, the coming of Emmanu El meant triggering the fury of King Herod, an insecure monarch who was a puppet of the Roman Empire. Herod’s psychological and political insecurity led to the massacre of male children 2 years old and below (Mt. 2:16). Jesus, the Emmanu El, became a Semitic, trans-continental refugee—from West Asia to North Africa. Jesus, a Jewish boy, became a target of Anti-Semitic hatred.

Your presence is true whether we succeed or fail in whatever we seek to accomplish, both in the areas of economic security and socio-political causes. When we allow your presence to determine the meaning and significance of our life, then we are allowing your power to do your purpose in, and through, our lives. Therefore, we will seek your power to be the person you want us to be.

Your presence does not change. God, your presence is a constant. Our awareness of your presence is a variable. You are never absent. Our perception does not always tune-in to your presence. All along, you have been present in human affairs, even during the times when we are weak and weary (Isa. 40:28-31). All along, you have been preparing the coming of the Emmanu El (Matthew 1:1-17). The ancient Jewish religious leaders and scholars were not aware of the coming of Emmanu El; they merely responded to the Magi from the East who made them aware that the Emmanu El has been born (Mt. 2:1-6). Indeed, your presence do not change!

Because you are always present, you are always faithful. Through your power, we can focus our whole being to the fact that you are present—moment by moment, day by day. Therefore, we will be faithful to you!

Wow! God, I thank you because your presence is an eternal reality. Your presence—not my perspectives and expectations—is the ultimate basis of your faithfulness.

Emmanu El is real in the year 2001.

DANN PANTOJA's passion is to help multiply effective leaders for the global and digital realities of the 21st Century. He makes his living and has traveled globally as a leadership consultant. He's married to Joji, his college sweetheart. They have three young adult children--Alethea (20), L'nielle Joy (17), and Byron (16). They live in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.