Corruption 15 – Biblical Individuals of High Integrity

Biblical Individuals of High Integrity

Continuing now on other biblical characters of high integrity who condemned corruption in Israel society, we list the following:

1. Ezra – Ezra  was a high official in the court of the Persian king Cyrus the Great and a priest and scholar of the Jewish scriptures. Probably he and Daniel were contemporaries, which explains why he also enjoyed the trust of the king. The Israelites had been in exile for the past 50 years in Babylon, and now the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus to free the Israelites so that they could begin reconstructing the temple in Jerusalem in accordance with prophecy (Ezra 1:2). Arriving in Jerusalem, Ezra was shocked by what he saw,  and lamented to God: “But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other.”(Ezra 9:10-11).

2. Nehemiah – King Artaxerxes’ cup-bearer (the equivalent of a cabinet official today), Nehemiah had just been appointed governor of Judah. Arriving in Jerusalem with a special commission to rebuild its walls, he found the rich oppressing the moneyless. Unable to pay the high interest on their debts, they forced the poor to sell their properties, even their sons and daughters to slavery just to be able to buy food and grain. Enraged, Nehemiah  “accused the nobles and officials. [and] told them, ‘You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!’ So [he] called together a large meeting to deal with them.”(Nehemiah 5:7).

3. Malachi – Malachi prophesied during the recall of both Ezra and Nehemiah back to the royal court at Babylon. During their absence the Israelites were again backsliding to their corrupt ways. Malachi  especially deplored the corruption widespread among the priesthood: keeping for themselves the healthy animals for sacrifice and substituting it with diseased ones (1:6-10; 12-13); and misleading people with false teachings (2:1-9).

3. Micah – Micah was the prophet of the downtrodden and exploited people of Judean society in its days of prosperity in the late 8^th BC. He prophesied during a time of great social injustice, exposing judges bought by bribes, priests and false prophets selling their services, and merchants who used deceptive scales (Micah 3:11).

4. Habakkuk – Habakkuk, a so-called “professional prophet” who also served as a temple priest,  witnessed the death throes of  the nation of Judah around the beginning of the 6^th century. Babylon was now a world power and within only a few years would  invade Jerusalem. The particular target of Habakkuk’s prophecy were violence, injustice and perversion of justice in Judah(Habakkuk 1:2-4).

5. Zephaniah – Zephaniah was the only prophet in the Bible who could actually trace his lineage from two Judean kings. As such, he conceivably had free access to King Josiah and could have been instrumental in influencing this good king to institute national reform in the face of extensive moral and religious corruption in the region. However, Judah itself was not spared by God’s accusation against the businessmen of the day: Wail, you who live in the market district ; all your merchants will be wiped out,  all who trade with silver will be ruined.” (Zephaniah 1:11).

6. Haggai and Zechariah – The 75-year old Haggai and the younger prophet Zechariah both lived in Jerusalem after the Exile and were with the company of Zerubabbel when the Jewish Remnant returned to their homeland from Babylon 16 years earlier. However, the temple had not been rebuilt, contrary to God’s command, for the people had become too preoccupied with their own worldly affairs and had neglected their spiritual life. True, they still observed religious festivals, fasted and made sacrifices, but something very important was lacking: justice and mercy. Zechariah reminded them, in Zech. 7:9-10: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ’Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’” For his part, Haggai struck a warning in their hearts, in Hag. 1:5-6: “Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but have never enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.’”

7. Hosea – Hosea was a prophet of Northern Kingdom of Israel whose lifetime ministry spanned at least forty years and seven kings. He was also contemporary to three other prophets, namely: Amos in the Northern kingdom, and Isaiah and Micah in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. He had a peculiar ministry in that – in accordance with the Lord’s wishes – he married a loose woman named Gomer who later prostituted herself to other men and left him and their children. Later,  he bought back the utterly-destitute Gomer for the price of a slave, and restored her back to his household but with many restrictions. His stormy married life was highly-symbolic of God’s relationship with the nation of Israel (the Northern part), whereby the nation – like his wife Gomer – had become separated from God (symbolically the prophet Hosea, the husband) and prostituted itself to other gods. Israel, like Gomer, became unfaithful to God and took on many lovers – symbolized here as the Baals. Baalism was the religion of Israel’s neighbors and was characterized by the worship of many gods who demanded many immoral practices from the worshippers. For example, it required that a woman between the ages of 18 to 40 serve as a temple prostitute at least once in her life. Another god required a child sacrifice yearly to ensure a good harvest. The nation’s morality was at an all-time low, as we listen to Hosea 4: 1-3 – “Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land. You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery.    There is violence everywhere— one murder after another. That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.”

The people of Northern Israel had been living in unprecedented material prosperity under the reign of Jeroboam II, and – as is usually the case – attributed their prosperity to their own abilities and good fortune rather than to God’s goodness and grace. Hosea 2:8 said: “She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has— the grain, the new wine, the olive oil;    I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.”

Now, isn’t those a familiar refrain in our times also? Man has advanced so much in science and technology, built structures and monuments in an unimaginable scale, explored the highest mountains and the deepest seas and even the moon itself, pushed back the frontiers of knowledge to the point where a ten-year-old now knows more about his planet than his grandfather did  100 years ago, and has a better understanding of himself more than ever. Yet, have all these accumulated accomplishments and knowledge  eliminated the evil in man’s heart? Have they reduced his corruption and greed? Apparently not, going by his dismal record of violence and wrongdoing these past centuries.

Corruption 14 – Other Men and Women of High Integrity in the Bible

Previously we described the Evangelical Convergence Movement, a landmark campaign spearheaded by Cagayan de Oro’s evangelical leadership to  ‘shepherd the community’ through its political leaders towards good government and spiritual renewal. Mayor Jaraula has committed his administration to this goal through his own vision of a ‘City of Man.’ The biblical underpinnings of this movement can be found in the rededication by Joshua of the covenant relationship between God and Israel.

Other Men and Women of High Integrity in the Bible

We will now wrap up our illustrations of some other men and women whom we select for their high integrity.

1. David – He was the warrior-king who united the 12 tribes into one kingdom by sheer courage and charisma. Although he had the blood of Israel’s enemies on his hands and was an adulterer and murderer, he had one outstanding quality that qualified him as a man “after God’s own heart:” he acknowledged his weaknesses and constantly confessed his sins to God. The Psalms of David is best read like an open diary to this man’s humble spirit and his utter dependence upon his God.

Many of our political leaders are like little Davids in that they, too, have charisma and display courage. Yet they lack one thing that David had plenty of: humility. Everyday we are treated in radio and TV to an appaling display of  arrogance of those in power.

Interestingly, arrogance often grows with power and security. Second Chronicles 24 documents Joash as the seven-year-old king who survived the massacre perpretrated by his aunt, Athaliah, against the members of the royal family. Joash was hidden in the temple by the high priest Jehoiada during the murderous reign of Queen Athaliah, and surfaced to reclaim the throne as a boy-king. Under Jehoida’s tutelage, Joash was an obedient king and even restored the Temple. When Jehoiada died, his son Zechariah succeeded him as high priest. However, King Joash, now grown to manhood, began to corrupt himself and his kingdom. The high priest Zechariah would regularly needle him about his corrupt ways, until one day, he ordered that Zechariah be stoned to death. As the high priest was dying, he cried out to God for vengeance   (2Chronicles 24:20-22).  Sure enough, Joash himself died a violent death not long afterwards – wounded in battle against a weaker enemy, he fled the battlefield to his palace, where, while recuperating in bed, his own officials killed him. Joash became a victim of his own arrogance and greed for power.

1. 2. Esther – Esther had great physical beauty and charm that attracted the Persian king Xerxes to  make her his wife, although she was a Jew.  She could have just been content to live a cloistered and luxurious life in the royal palace, where it not for his uncle Mordecai who revealed to her Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews completely – a genocide no less. Like Daniel before her, she took great courage and diplomatic skill to turn the tables on Haman and save her people from annihilation. We recall Esther’s famous words to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews..and fast for me…Do not eat or drink for three days..I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the King, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:15-16).
2. 3. Ruth – The Ruth of the Bible is known for her steadfastness, an important ingredient of integrity. Ruth and her sister Orpah were Moabites, shunned by Israelites as ancient enemies. When they were both widowed, Naomi, their mother-in-law urged them to go back to their people to remarry, as in those days widows were prohibited to work for a living  unless they were too old or sickly. Orpah complied, but not Ruth, who told his mother-in-law in these memorable lines :  “Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17).

1. Solomon – Solomon, son of David, who asked the Lord for “a wise and discerning heart to govern Your people, and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (1Kings 3:9), wrote in the Book of Proverbs these words:

“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Prov. 1:7). It was Solomon who, for the first time, clearly articulated the correct relationship between man and God:  that man (whether he be king or commoner, official or plain citizen) must have reverent and worshipful  fear of God. This is the true knowledge; all others are false, foolish even.

The question is: how many of us, our officials especially, have the fear of God in their hearts? Judging from the corrupt state of our society today, not very many I’d say!

Solomon not only fostered in us the command to fear God, he also promised us health and prosperity if we do as he says. He wrote in Proverbs 3:1-10: “My child, never forget the things I have taught you.

Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body

and strength for your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain,

and your vats will overflow with good wine.”

We will now fast-forward to the time of the prophets and what some of them said about corruption in their time:

1.Isaiah’s warning against the corrupt regime (Is. 6:11-12) – “Lord, how long will this go on?”And he replied: Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland; until the Lord has sent everyone away,  and the entire land of Israel lies deserted.

2. Jeremiah on God’s judgment against the evil king Jehoiakim (Jer.22:13-17) – “And the Lord says, “What sorrow awaits Jehoiakim,       who builds his palace with forced labor. He builds injustice into its walls,

for he makes his neighbors work for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor. He says, ‘I will build a magnificent palace  with huge rooms and many windows. I will panel it throughout with fragrant cedar and paint it a lovely red. But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know me?” says the Lord. But you! You have eyes only for greed and dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly.”

3. Amos, although he was from Judah, went into neighboring Northern Israel in answer to  God’s call to condemn its corrupt ruling elite (Amos 2:6-8) – “This is what the Lord says: The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They sell honorable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. They trample helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way. Both father and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy name. At their religious festivals, they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security. In the house of their god, they drink wine bought with unjust fines.”

My friends, I could go on and on with more condemnations of corruption by the rest of the prophets, but my time is almost up.

Corruption 13 – Principled Men of Integrity

Principled Men of Integrity

In the last two segments we cited Daniel as one of the Bible’s greatest men of integrity, together with the prophet Job, and the seer and statesman, Joseph. From Daniel’s unsullied life, we were able to extract certain principles of integrity, namely, that men of integrity: stand up to their values and beliefs; self-sacrificing, not expecting any reward or payment; great faith in God, to the point of death; boldness to confront his own weaknesses and failings of others (even of kings and rulers); prayerfulness; the gift of prophecy which in this case means being able to faithfully interpret visions and predict future events. Prophecy may also mean an ability to receive God’s messages in behalf of others.  We also mentioned Daniel’s special role as spiritual adviser to successive kings in the Babylonian and Persian kingdoms, having been an exemplary public servant for at least eight decades.

Other biblical personages with solid characters were mentioned: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Joshua. Joshua’s covenant call  from God to be “strong and courageous” in Joshua 1:9 is especially significant as he prepared to lead God’s people – now numbering around two million – into unknown and hostile territory. Our own elected officials would do well to emulate Joshua: be strong and courageous in the exercise of their duties – strong enough to resist the temptations of their office, and courageous enough to expose wrongdoings in government transactions.

Landmark: Covenant of Office  in Cagayan de Oro City

Last August 3, 2007 evangelical leaders – pastors and church workers numbering about fifty from the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Gingoog, Malaybalay  and surrounding areas – converged in the first-ever
Evangelical Convergence Prayer Breakfast at the Celebration International Fellowship Center, under the leadership of the Reverend Genesis T. Udang. What made this meeting significant is that the guest speaker was no less than the Mayor of Cagayan de Oro City, the Honorable Constantino “Tenix” Jaraula.

I happened to be invited to that event by a pastor and fortunately took some notes of the highlights of the landmark meeting. The Rev. Udang (“Pastor Bong” to most people) opened the proceedings with his keynote call of “shepherding the community,” the challenge identified by Pastor Bong and the evangelical leadership that is  urgently required for the spiritual renewal of the political community – not only in Cagayan de Oro and the cities and towns of Mindanao, but for the country as well.

For his part, the newly-elected Mayor of Cagayan de Oro, Tenix Jaraula, enunciated his administration’s twin concept of public service: individual initiative and the rule-of-law. Declared Jaraula: “Ang kaugmaon sa siyudad sa Cagayan de Oro, naa kanato.” Almost wistfully, the mayor talked about his vision of “The City of Man,” the physical representation of the ideal, heavenly, and invisible  “City of God” that Saint Augustine wrote about in the year 1470. Now, of course, the inhabitants of the City of Man – wrote the Bishop of Hippo – were secular and given to earthly pleasures. But, let no one despair, Augustine declares, for there are still principled men and women in that City of Man with strong moral values, and they shall be the ones to   make this City a “City of God. “(http://www.bethel.edu/~letnie/AfricanChristianity/WNAugustine.html).

It was a beautiful, if sobering, thought that the meeting-together, or, convergence (if you will) of the political and spiritual leadership of Cagayan de Oro that began that fateful day in August 2007, would culminate in a big public rally in Cagayan de Oro last November 2, 2007. In that rally, the city officialdom – led by Mayor Jaraula – once more rededicated the City to a spiritual Covenant made seventy years ago  by its city officials under the auspices of the Church. Since that Covenant Dedication made in 1937, Cagayan de Oro City has continued to exist in peace, progress, prosperity and spiritual richness  probably unsurpassed by any other city in the Philippines. Moreover, it is perhaps no accident that the city’s Patron Saint, St. Augustine, has continued to bless and protect Cagayan de Oro City,  its residents and officials.

In the year 1330 B.C. , God’s people, Israel, had finally settled the land of promise after a 30-year war of conquest. Joshua -their leader – thirty years earlier, had built an altar of large and rough stones, and there dedicated to God the campaign to settle the land by animal sacrifice and by the reading of the Law of Moses to the people – its blessings as well as its curses – and reminding them to be faithful and obedient to the Lord’s commands (Joshua 8:30-34). Their campaign had been mainly successful although much had yet to be done. Joshua, now 110 years old, gathered them one last time,  and he gave them his final plea, in what was to become a “make-or-break” admonition to the now-powerful Israelite  nation feared by others on all sides. Joshua said:

“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”(Joshua 24:15).

We know from the Bible that the Israelites failed to follow Joshua’s advice. Shortly after Joshua’s death, the Israelite nation allowed itself to be corrupted by the pagan culture and practices of  its neighbors: corruption and bribery in all levels of government and society, institutionalized prostitution, unbelievable cruelty towards the poor and their enemies, lifetime slavery for unpaid debts, and even child sacrifice to the pagan gods. They had completely forgotten what they had been taught of God by Moses down to Joshua for the last 70 years, and, as a consequence, suffered terribly for it . The Bible says it all,  in Judges 2:10-15:

“After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. They forsook the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the LORD’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the LORD gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the LORD was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.”

It was the period of Israel’s Judges. This was going to be three centuries of one of the darkest period in Israel’s history, where the nation lost its military and economic power, was enslaved successively by its neighbors, and the nation broke up once again into segregate tribal communities feeding themselves on survival agriculture. Even the Judges, or petty leaders who came up from time to time to lead the tribes in revolt, never really were successful in uniting the country because it repeatedly “did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 3:7; 4:1; 6:1; 8:33; 10:6: and 13:1). In the story of the last Judge, Samson (Chaps. 13-16), the nation of Israel had become so pathetic and helpless they had become entertainment to their enemies. So much so that Samson’s death among his tormentors became a sort of poetic justice to us today – regrettable but justified.

However, the remaining episode of the book (Chaps. 17-21) only reminds us of the evil that exists today. For the one of the tribes, the Danites, practiced genocide by wiping out an entire people of Laish, although these were peace-loving and held no grudge against them.  Genocide is defined as the systematic killing, or attempted killing, of all of the people from a national, ethnic or religious group. (http://thirteen.org/edonline/wideange/lessonplan/Rwanda/procedure.html). And because they practiced genocide, they were punished themselves with the same crime.  In Chaps. 19-21, we read about a holy man – a Levite – whose concubine (today, she would be known as his common-law wife) was raped and killed by some Benjamites in what is now Jerusalem. The Levite- husband cut up her body and distributed the pieces throughout the land, as a gruesome way of cursing the nation.  As a consequence, war broke out between the Benjamite tribe and the  rest of its brother tribes. It was brother against brother. In the end the Benjamite tribe were so decimated by the casualties of war that it all but disappeared. Only the Benjamite women survived (Chap. 21). The curse of genocide had descended on Israel, as  it is now descending on many countries of the world in the 20^th century – Kenya, Sudan, Serbia and Kosovo, Cambodia, Rwanda,  East Timor, Nazi Germany, Armenia, and so on).

Next time we will wrap up our illustrations from the Bible of many other men and women of high integrity.

Corruption 12 – The Importance of Spiritual Advisors

The Important Role of Spiritual Advisers

Last time we examined the extraordinary life of Daniel, statesman and prophet, a man of unquestioned integrity. Despite his high position in the government of Babylon and Persia (as Prime Minister he occupied a position lower only to the sovereign of the kingdom), he never took advantage of his position to enrich himself. Yet he wielded enormous influence with the king and the court.

History tells us that under the reigns  of Nebuchadnezzar, Cambyses, Belshazzar, Darius and Cyrus the Great, the Babylo-Persian empire rose to become the most-powerful nation on earth. Daniel faithfully served under these kings. He became their spiritual adviser – much like Bishop Matthew Simpson was to Abraham Lincoln; or Father Michael van der Peet, a spiritual adviser and close confidant of Mother Teresa; or Louis McHenry Howe, mentor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32^nd president of the U.S.; or Rev. Robert Hunt, spiritual adviser to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain; or Geshe Thuppten Jinga, interpreter and spiritual adviser to the 14^th Dalai Lama; and Dr. Ferdinand Blumentritt, the Austrian schoolmaster who was the spiritual and ideological brother of Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. Most of us, myself included, do not know these people and yet it is not farfetched to say that they played quite a significant role in the lives and decisions of these famous men and women of history.

Most of the prophets in the bible also played a major role in influencing the affairs of their nation Israel and even that of the surrounding powerful nations: such as Egypt, Syria, Babylon-Persia, and even as faraway Rome. Some of these influences were positive, like Daniel’s in Babylon and Joseph in Egypt.  Daniel and Joseph operated as important court advisers in secular affairs, and as divinely-appointed seers and dream-interpreters, to distinguish them from numerous false prophets, magicians and charlatans who seemed to surround every king or pharaoh in the ancient world.

Parenthetically, during his time, President Erap Estrada reportedly had no less than “eighty (80) presidential advisers/consultants/assistants , some of whom don’t even report to work, such as the case of Mark Jimenez and Celia de Castro” (http://gina.ph/CyberDyaryo/features/cd1999_0708_008.htm). Among the Articles of Impeachment submitted by the Lower House against President Estrada was the charge that he appointed too many presidential advisers, a clear case of “patronage” and actionable as a crime of graft (http://www.lawphil.net/current/impeachment/articles.html). It will be recalled that former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez (whose real name is Mario Crespo) was convicted by a U.S. court on charges of “conspiracy to commit offenses against U.S. Income Taxes” (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1504801/posts). He served two years in a federal prison and was deported back to the Philippines in late 2005. What about presidential assistant De Castro? According to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism: “An even more controversial business associate of [presidential mistress Guia] Gomez’s is Cecilia Ejercito de Castro, who is known as the President’s cousin. De Castro was appointed presidential assistant in 1998. In 1999, she figured in a P200-million textbook scandal in which Education Secretary Andrew Gonzalez said she approached him for the speedy release of textbook funds” (http://www.pcij.org/stories/2000/erapwealth2.html).

So, in governance, it is really important for a ruler, president or chief executive, to appoint men of integrity.

Other Men and Women of Integrity in the Bible

Here we cite some biblical examples of men of integrity and how they influenced the leaders of their time. Here, for lack of time, we will simply cite their pronouncements or the circumstances in which they had occasion to show their solid character.

1. Enoch – Enoch was the great-great-great grandson of Adam. He lived such an exemplary and pure life that he did not die naturally. “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (Genesis 5:24).
2. Noah – Noah was the great-grandson of Enoch, who lived in a world so corrupt and evil that God sent a Great Flood to destroy mankind, except the prophet Noah and his family. After the Flood, God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants,  that they be fruitful and blessed (Genesis 6-9).
3. Abraham – Abraham was ninth-generation descendant of Noah who received a call from God to leave his roots in Mesopotamia and journey to faraway land under His protection and blessings, to become “the father of nations” (Genesis 12). It was also in the time of Abraham when God destroyed the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of its “wickedness and unrighteousness” (Genesis 18-19).
4. Isaac – the favored son of Abraham by his wife Sarah who received the birthright. Isaac was marked as a peacemaker among the quarrelsome tribes surrounding him (Genesis 26). Men of integrity seldom, if ever, pick quarrels with their fellowmen.
5. Jacob – Jacob, whose name in Hebrew means “he deceives,” was a grandson of Abraham through his father Isaac. Jacob had a reputation of deception, as when he deceived his father Isaac to give him the birthright which his elder brother Esau had forfeited for a bowl of soup. However, he was reformed of his corrupt ways when he wrestled with God in the wilderness. Henceforth, God changed  his name to Israel, meaning “he struggled with God” (Genesis 32:22-32).
6. Joseph – One of the sons of Jacob/Israel, who, at the age of 17, exhibited the gift of foretelling the future, much to the irritation of his 10 other brothers, who felt they were discriminated upon by their father Jacob to favor his favorite, Joseph. So, one day they contrived a plan and sold Joseph to slave traders. But Joseph, exhibiting both a gift of prediction and a high moral standard, attracted attention in Egypt until he eventually became Prime Minister of that country.
7. Moses – the “Prince of Egypt” who chose to recognize his true Jewish roots (men with integrity are always true to themselves) even when it meant loss of privileges in the royal Egyptian court. Forced to flee because he killed an Egyptian who had abused an Israelite, Moses underwent a cleansing period of 40 years until God called him to lead God’s people from Egyptian bondage  into freedom. It was at this point that God sent the 10 Plagues to punish Egypt for its wickedness and enslavement of Israel that lasted 400 years. (Read the Book of Exodus)
8. 8. Joshua – After the death of Moses, “the servant of the Lord,” Joshua took the leadership of the Israelite nation that had now grown to perhaps to 2 or 3 million. I particularly liked what God told Joshua as he was about to lead the people across the Jordan into a land “flowing with milk and honey” but inhabited by “giants,” to wit: “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”(Joshua 1:6-9).

My friends, would it not be wonderful if these verses were included the Oath of Office during the swearing-in of our government officials, including the President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, and the Chief Justice? Then, perhaps, we will hear a future President, being sworn into office, with these words:

I,_________, as President of the Republic of the Philippines, do solemnly swear that I will abide by and defend the Constitution…to be strong and courageous, and obey all the laws of God and of the land; neither turning to the left nor to the right, that I may be successful wherever I go. That I do solemnly swear that this Book of Law and the Constitution of the Philippines will depart from my mouth; that I shall meditate on them day and night, so that I may be careful to do everything written on them. As the Lord my God will be with me wherever I go, I shall be strong and courageous; I will not be terrified nor discouraged. I shall lead this nation to prosperity and success, so help me, God.”

We will continue next time to discuss about other men and women of integrity found in the Bible.

Corruption 11

Men of Integrity in the Bible: Daniel

We will today continue with Daniel of the Bible. Living in a foreign land of their conquerors, among a people that did not recognize God but instead worshipped idols (and at times, their own kings as deities), it was a foregone conclusion that the Jews who were forcibly brought to Babylon in three successive waves (601 B.C., 598 B.C. and 587 B.C.) would soon forget their Jewish traditions and take on the ways of their masters. Not so with Daniel and some of his friends, as we will shortly see.

King Nebuchadnezzar lost no time in utilizing the Jews for service. Chosen for their good health, attractive looks, and mental alertness, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego began to learn the Babylonian language and literature and to eat the choice food and wine from the king’s table. Daniel, however, resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, asking instead for only vegetables and water . This was to be Daniel’s first test of his integrity: standing up to his values and beliefs. This is what most of us probably lack.

After ten days, he convinced his guard that he and his friends in fact looked healthier with the simple food they took. His guard was more than happy to exchange their choice food with vegetables. For the next three years, Daniel and friends surpassed the others in intelligence and looks, so they entered the king’s service as court pages. Daniel became the smartest page and could interpret dreams and visions, much to the delight of the king.

One time, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that disturbed him greatly. No one among his magicians could tell him his dream, much less interpret it, so he ordered them all killed. When Daniel heard about it, he prayed to God in heaven, who revealed to him the king’s dream and what it meant. He immediately went to the king and revealed the dream and its meaning. The king was so grateful he made Daniel his prime minister and, at Daniel’s request, promoted Daniel’s friends to high positions in the government.

Here, Daniel demonstrates his integrity for the second time: he saved all the wise men from certain death without thought of any reward. That he could have taken advantage of the situation (such as demanding for a bribe) was farthest from his mind. Daniel teaches us that a person of integrity thinks about the welfare of others and does not put a price to his generosity.

Daniel’s three friends – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – men of integrity also, underwent severe testing of their own. Over the years, Nebuchadnezzar had become proud. He made himself a 90-foot gold idol to whom, at the sound of music, everyone must fall down to and worship -or be thrown into a super-hot, blazing furnace. The royal decree was issued and all complied – except the three friends. The jealous palace officials reported this to the king who then ordered the three to prostrate themselves before the image. Their reply to the king is a classic that continue to inspire Christian martyrs who have shed blood for their beliefs down through centuries. They said: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”(Daniel 3:16-18). This honest reply only enraged the king some more and they were promptly thrown into the blazing furnace.  In the face of certain  and painful death, Daniel’s companions experienced the most-severe testing of their integrity:  sacrificing themselves on the altar of their belief and principles. One should note that, unlike the second test of integrity, God this time was silent: seemingly, they were on their own, yet Nebuchadnezzar and his officials could not help but notice that there were four people walking about within the furnace. God was providing them a protector even within the furnace!  How many times have we faced a similar situation? A serious crisis comes into our life. God, it seems, has chosen to be silent, and now we have to make a life-and-death decision. Are we going to abandon our integrity in order to save ourselves? In the end, not even the hottest furnace in the kingdom could singe Daniel’s  companions. God saved them because they honored His name above and beyond the most-powerful human being in the ancient world at that time.

After this, Nebuchadnezzar had another dream that terrified him. None could understand his dream except Daniel who warned him thus: “Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue” (Daniel 4:27). Here, Daniel presents another facet of his integrity: his boldness to confront the king with his sins. How many of us have the stomach, the “guts,” to renounce the wrongdoing of our leaders? Certainly it can be a lonely and dangerous crusade, as many of our friends in media can attest. In any case, a warning or advice given in sincerity must be taken seriously.
Apparently Nebuchadnezzar ignored Daniel’s advice and even became more prideful. But a  year later, his dream was fulfilled: Nebuchadnezzar became insane and lost his kingdom. Seven years later, he raised his eyes to heaven and began to praise God, whereupon his sanity was restored. This is what he said as he humbled  himself before God: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37).

Daniel was now and old man (about 80 yrs. old). He had served three Babylonian kings. Now, he was serving the new Persian king, Darius, faithfully and exceptionally well according to the Bible that, once again, he was appointed prime minister of the kingdom. This promotion did not please others, as we read from Daniel 4:6: – At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

Accordingly, Daniel’s enemies tricked Darius to issue a decree that no one should pray to any god except only to the king. Like previous kings before him, Darius fancied himself to be a deity.  Now, Daniel had always been a prayerful man, praying three times a day on his knees. Another principle is illustrated here: A person of integrity is a prayerful person.

So one day they reported this matter to Darius who reluctantly had to enforce his own law, because Daniel’s detractors kept reminding the king that “no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed” (Daniel 6:15).  As the well-known story goes, Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den. After a few hours however, it was discovered that Daniel was not touched: the lions’ mouth had become shut. However, when Daniel’s detractors were also thrown to the lions, they were immediately killed.

The extraordinary life of Daniel the Statesman is best understood if one also considers him also as a prophet, as the Bible does. His long and distinguished service to at least five foreign kings, where he rose to become the prime minister of their kingdoms would not have been possible except that he led a life of high integrity: honest, consistent, self-sacrificing, humble, prayerful and true. No wrongdoing or dishonest gain ever tainted his private or public life. Because of this, he became “highly-esteemed” to God (Daniel 10:10) and was entrusted with a prophetic vision that “concerns a time yet to come.” (v.13). This vision was contained in a Book of Truth that Daniel had been instructed by an angel to  “close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” (Dan. 12:4).

In a sense, Daniel’s life is similar to that of Joseph. Joseph was also a statesman as well as a prophet. He would have dreams and visions that accurately predicted future events. Sold by his own jealous brothers as a slave, he eventually found his way into Egypt where he became a lowly servant boy, then a trusted steward of one of Pharaoh’s officials, and finally appointed prime minister over the land by Pharaoh himself. All these because Joseph never compromised his integrity, never yielded to temptation, never took advantage of his position.

Which brings me to my last point: when someone has integrity both in his or her private and public life, God also gifts  him with the gift of prophecy. In the next segment, we will cite other biblical personages who led a principled life of integrity and who also possessed the prophetic word.

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