Cleansing the Unclean (טָמֵא) for Mission: Empowering a Man of Unclean Lips to Minister to a People with Unclean Lips – An Interpretation of Is. 6: 1-13 and Its Implications for Today’s Politics and the Anti-Corruption Drive in Nigeria

Abstract

In a political dispensation where almost everybody appears to be part and parcel of the woes of government and tends to be influenced by its ‘unclean standards,’ it can be very difficult to make steady progress in responsible governance especially in the anti-corruption war. This has been a problem and proposes to degenerate into worse experiences in many developing countries like Nigeria, if it is not checked today. The search for a ‘worthy Minister’ in Church or in State is difficult to conclude. Where, then, lies the future of ministry and political service if no ‘good person’ can be found? This work, in response to the above question, seeks to give direction invoking the provisions of Religion. Employing the Historical Methods of Exegesis to interpret Isaiah 6: 1-13, and especially analyzing the import of verse 5 where Isaiah, a man of unclean (טמא) lips, was empowered to minister to a people of unclean lips, this research progresses with the assumption that just as Isaiah was cleansed and qualified to minister to the rest of his unclean people, some ‘unclean politician’ could also be made clean for political service to a corrupt society. The aim of this research, drawing inspiration from findings of the passage of study, is to examine and discover how this can be done and apply it to benefit today’s politics. The conclusions and recommendations are very relevant and promise to benefit not only politics in general and the anti-corruption drive especially in Nigeria, but also Biblical scholarship.