America’s “Holy Highway”?
Reflections on Contemporary Approaches to Interpreting Prophecy
Photo by Chris J
The CNN.com headline of December 19, 2007 caught my attention: "Hitting the Road (Literally) with Some Faith." The reporter, Gary Tuchman, opened the piece with "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness," a quotation from Isa. 35:8. He raised the question: ". . . Is it possible that this ‘highway’ mentioned . . . is actually Interstate 35 that runs through six U.S. states?" He observed that some Christians have faith that is indeed the case. He decided to do a story about a prayer campaign called "Light the Highway," in which Christians in six states (the states that Interstate 35 runs through) had completed 35 days of praying alongside the interstate.
What? He wrote "Some of the faithful believe that in order to fulfill the prophecy of I-35 being the ‘holy’ highway, it needs some intensive prayer first. One particular group of Dallas Christians prayed that "adult businesses along the corridor would ’see the light’ and perhaps close down." They also prayed for the safety and freedom from crime for people who lived along the interstate.
Who? Who started this was a preacher by the name of Cindy Jacobs who says that even though she can’t be sure that Interstate 35 is what is mentioned in the Bible, she says she received a revelation to start this campaign after "once again reading Isaiah, chapter 35."
So what? The way minister Jacobs handles Scripture reminds me of the way some handle the book of Revelation, seeing the U.S.S.R. (well, at least some did a few years ago!), Iraq, China, the USA in its "prophecies." Once again I am reminded of the G.K. Chesterton’s words: "Critics are madder than poets. . . . And though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators." Or television prophecy experts (How many of their predictions came true in 2007 or will not come true in 2008) or authors of books whose volumes eventually end up in the close-out bins of Christian bookstore at the end of this year.
I am tempted to pray "Come, Lord Jesus" and deliver us from such Scripture-twisters.
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