Many of us have seen the 1939 musical film “The Wizard of Oz,” starring Judy Garland. This young girl finds herself whisked away to a magical kingdom called Oz, ruled by the Wizard, who is said to be able to grant any wish. Her wish is to return to her home in Kansas, and after hearing that the Wizard lives in the Emerald City, she sets off to see him. Along the way, she meets a brainless scarecrow, a cowardly lion, and a heartless tin man, whom she enlists to join her with the hope that the scarecrow will get some brains, the lion courage, and the tin man a heart.
When they arrive and enter the Wizard’s reception chamber, fearful noises accompany a booming voice full of fire and brimstone whenever the Wizard speaks. Dorothy has her small dog named Toto with her, who was also plucked from the cornfields, and the dog is nonplussed by all the fuss. Toto spies a curtain next to the giant, fearsome image of the Wizard and pulls the curtain to reveal an aged man with an almost pathetic appearance, pulling levers and shouting into a microphone.
Stripped of his façade and farcical enhancements, the four guests realize he does not have any power at all, except for the fear and awe he has created in his kingdom of Oz. His whole career and reputation was based on lies and deception.
Other famous phonies
I can think of several who fit this bill. One of these individuals occupies the seat of our government in Washington at this very moment. He greedily accepts the homage and admiration of those Americans who blindly serve him while sowing fear and chaos among those who do not.
However, I want to apply this scene in “The Wizard of Oz” to a passage in the Biblical book of Isaiah chapter 14, verses 3-17 (passim). Isaiah is, strictly speaking, referring to the King of Babylon and the fall of that regime. However, many theologians see the King of Babylon as a proxy for Lucifer (a.k.a. Satan) and are convinced that Isaiah’s words (verses 12-14) are equally applicable to the devil. Namely, that at some point in the future, before being cast into the Lake of Fire, Lucifer will be stripped of his sound and fury, which by then “signifies nothing” (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5). Just as Toto exposed the helplessness of the pretentious, pseudo wizard of Oz, Lucifer himself will be humiliated. They’ll exclaim “Lucifer, wherefore art thou fallen?!” Isaiah records the scene in this passage:
“On the day the LORD gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labor forced on you,
You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!
The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers,
which in anger struck down peoples with unceasing blows, and in fury subdued nations with relentless aggression.
All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.
Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon gloat over you and say, “Now that you have been laid low, no one comes to cut us down.”
The realm of the dead below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you— all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones— all those who were kings over the nations.
They will all respond, they will say to you, “You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us.”
All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you.
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble,
the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?”
That Lucifer should meet such an inglorious end should be no mystery or surprise. After all, he was never a god. He is a mere created being like ourselves. This should have been obvious to any who looked closely.
Back to Oz
In some sense the scarecrow, the lion and the tinman are archetypes of the American people, who in many ways are not so different than the people of other nations.
The scarecrow represents those who lack the ability to understand and discern the greater problems facing our world. They may not appreciate the challenges that our children and grandchildren will inherit if we do not care for the environment and resolves our disputes peacefully. Often shortsighted, they are incapable of making wise decisions and are impatient and altogether too cavalier in their relationships. Those who actually work
Is this the city on a hill that Jesus spoke of?
may unrealistically expect salaries that are beyond the abilities they possess.
These well-intentioned but mindless individuals often fall prey to scams and conspiracy theories. They receive news from sources that reduce complex stories to simple soundbites, failing to explore every side of every issue. Too often, scarecrows are comfortable letting others think for them, whatever the consequences.
The lion in the musical is a cowardly cat. He cannot summon the least bit of courage. He has trouble making decisions and second-guesses himself when he finally does. In times like these, when trial and tribulation occur, individuals of good conscience, courage, and conviction are needed to lead; yet he is nowhere to be found. He is a naysayer, and if a silver lining has a cloud, he is sure to find it. He lives with a spirit of
fear that pulls his strings as if he were a marionette. His timidity keeps him at home, often with his parents, long after his peers have left the nest, and he eschews cultivating relationships with the opposite sex or starting off on his own. There are many things he could do to make his community and country a better place in which to live, but his anxiety gets the better of him. His fear can easily manifest as hate, which may motivate him to harm others weaker than he.
Then there is the Tin Man who wants a heart. He yearns to feel love and compassion. However, these individuals are not always the adorable mechanical man who is depicted in the movie. Many of my countrymen share his lack of compassion as well. They resent people from elsewhere in the world coming to America, even if these refugees and immigrants only seek the same opportunities that the ancestors of these Tin
Men desired. Without a heart, they cannot connect with others in a deep, meaningful way. Today, we see Tin Men in various European countries who rail against and riot against migrants. Once these individuals have carved out a comfortable niche in their communities, they would deny others the same opportunity. They defend their selfish interests at all costs and act in mean-spirited ways. Often, they exhibit narcissistic personality disorders that lead them to blame others for their malfeasance, causing emotional, if not physical, harm to their loved ones.
Counterfeits
When I was much younger, I worked for an employer where I had to handle large sums of money. We would have to be polygraphed regularly, and we would receive training on how to detect counterfeit money. Now, U.S. currency has changed a lot in appearance over the past half-century, so my comments may not be current today.
One way to detect phony money is through
touch. It feels phony because the U.S. Mint uses a special type of paper to print greenbacks and this stock is available nowhere else. Once you know what real cash feels like, you can fairly easily detect a counterfeit bill. Another thing we were taught to do was look for smudged ink or differences in the coloring of the money. But most important (at least to me) was to focus on the most delicate detail of a bill. Our money had “fishnet” lines along the perimeter of the bill. These are very hard to reproduce in terms of consistency and clarity. It takes skill, patience, and, most of all, real money to buy the equipment and expertise in engraving to make convincing fake money in large quantities. Counterfeiting is much more than a local group of gangsters in a big city passing out fake twenty-dollar bills to pay for cigarettes or alcohol. A rogue country (say North Korea) that can commit our equivalent of tens of millions of dollars to producing as much quality fake American money as possible can undermine our currency on the world stage. Years ago, large sums of fake currency were showing up in Las Vegas, which is an ideal place to launder money (for example, by presenting a fake one hundred-dollar bill and asking for five real twenty-dollar bills in exchange).
We also have fake (knockoff) merchandise and people with phony credentials (for example, vets who inflate their battlefield accomplishments—this is called “stolen valor”). People often disguise their intentions when they meet others on dating sites and can be hiding things from you. Senior citizens are vulnerable to cons and scams that may wipe out their savings.
False prophets
Nor is the church immune. We have people (especially today) who call themselves prophets, but more often than not, they are not true prophets. They usually don’t make a lot of money with this scheme, but they can gather a good deal of power, access and influence (see photo below). These individuals sometimes wind up in the White House, where they whisper in the President’s ear. Think about what they might be saying to him in the name of God. If it doesn’t matter to you, it should! I think most people who believe they have the gift of prophecy have deluded themselves. Maybe something extraordinary has happened in their life, but that doesn’t mean they are exalted or chosen. I would guess that if the Holy Spirit confers a gift, it would be a humbling experience used discreetly. If I called myself a prophet and told you that you are above average in intelligence and that you have more friends than you realize, how could you argue with that? Who would respond, “I’m not as intelligent as you think?”
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“To say no to President Trump
would be saying no to God . . .”
Empowering the beast
Martin Luther (1483-1546) is credited with saying, “I don’t fear the devil, but I do fear the devil in people.” I have since tried to cite that statement but have been unable to do so. However, there is a certain truth in that. As a Christian, I am not concerned about some false god striking me dead. However, I do accept the possibility that some crazed adherent of another religion might attack me à la the sort of violence we see today in Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. With false religions, power comes from the people who worship the idol or who serve it. This is why so many members of Congress are concerned every time President Trump suggests that this congresswoman or that senator likely committed a capital crime worthy of death. Our own Wizard discounts the power of suggestion. It reminds me of Henry II railing against Thomas Becket. Eventually, some minion will act, thinking he’ll get into the King’s good graces by ridding him of some meddlesome monk. This is, after all, what happened on January 6, 2021. For several weeks in late December, angry sore-losers were encouraged to come to Washington on the day the electoral votes were presented to Congress. “It will be wild” their Wizard promised. On that fateful day, it did not take much to get them to “fight like hell”. After beating cops and smashing public property, threatening the life of the Vice-President of the U.S. and the Speaker-of-the-House, these “patriots” are back on the street.
False visions
There are more than a few warnings in the New Testament that advise Christians not to be deceived. While I believe that the word of God is powerful, I also know that it is not unusual for people to ignore or misconstrue it.
Consider this: thousands of evangelical Protestant churches have filed for bankruptcy so far this century. Some church leader had a “vision” that God wanted the church to triple the size of its sanctuary. How do you argue with someone who claims to have a special revelation? Or someone felt “led” to propose a full-service coffee bar be built to the glory of God? If a member of the congregation pointed out that interest rates were too high to borrow at the moment, or that a recession was underway, or questioned the necessity of an extravagant coffee bar, or suggested that there is no reason to expect church attendance to rise from 200 to 1,200 on a typical Sunday, then he was criticized for a lack of faith. Parishoners were pressured to pledge money to support this “vision”. Freed from their sins, these good folks once again came under bondage, this time to a bank.
A multi-million-dollar mortgage was procured, and a building program began. After a year of less-than-desired contributions from the congregation, the minister left for greener pastures, perhaps to repeat this error, and the church filed for bankruptcy.
Who can possibly believe that bankruptcy was God’s will?
Afterword
To sum it up, there are many cheap imitations in life: mirages in the desert heat, Ponzi scams, and prospectors looking for gold but seduced by pyrite instead—perhaps hence the saying, “All that glitters is not gold.” I remember seeing a line of almost a hundred people after a concert waiting for an autograph from an Elvis impersonator who had just performed. And he was just someone in disguise pretending to be Elvis!
Perhaps we expect too much of the inhabitants of Oz who sang and danced about their “Whiz of a Wiz.” They lived in fear of the Wicked Witch and her demons, much as many of us live in fear today of demons of our own. Yet, this is not the way our Creator intended for us to live. Too often, we settle for inauthentic relationships, which are certain to disappoint. We vote for false messiahs. We cringe when the doorbell to our house or apartment rings unexpectedly during the day (or worse, at night)! In some way, we feel we are dying before we’ve even had an opportunity to live.
There is a solution to this. Jesus came not only to offer you life but abundant life. Read about it here.
