Posts By This Author
At the Apocalypse
Allan Boesak, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and moderator of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in South Africa when this article appeared, was interviewed in his home outside Cape Town.
Jim Wallis: You have said that you received a great deal of nurture from your family, your home, and your church. How did these lay a foundation for you in your early years?
Allan Boesak: The family is the basis of all, I think. I was 7 years old when my father died. That was too soon, I thought. I still think so. After that my mother took the responsibility in almost every way.
Also the church has always played a very important role. I was very lucky to be the second youngest of eight children in a home where we had daily Bible readings and prayer. And we got to really know the Bible, and we would talk about the biblical stories and the meaning of faith.
We have always believed that the Bible is a basic source of strength and comfort for the whole family. And when you're really poor, then the biblical story is not just another story. When it is applied to your life, often in the very powerful way that it was in our lives, it becomes very, very meaningful; in fact, one of the very few meaningful things in your life.
'Your Days Are Over!'
Elijah went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life..."
—1 Kings 19:4
THIS SCRIPTURE, so well known, is a very beautiful story, one of those gripping stories that I remember well from my childhood. Elijah—that great prophet who becomes the symbol of prophecy for Israel and for the church of all times—is now under this broom tree completely dispirited, tired, ready even to give up his life.
Before this, Elijah had made up his mind that it was the time to come to grips with Israel and with all these prophets of Baal who were misleading the people, and with Jezebel and her husband, Ahab, who formed the government of the day. And so they came to Mount Carmel, and there Elijah made his challenge, "Today you must make your choice. Either you choose Baal or you choose God." And you remember the incredible victory for Elijah and for God on that day.
And then came the message from Jezebel, saying, "Tomorrow I will have you killed because you are the kind of minister who does not want to keep out of politics." That's essentially what she said. "You keep on interfering, you are inspired by I-don't-know-who. But I am telling you now, you must stop this, because you are going to die."
The Presence of the Living God
Last November I was in a place called Mogopa in the Western Transvaal.