Understand Physical Realities
Accept and Adapt
Live within Gaia
The second chapter of Faith in a Changing Climate is now available for pre-publication review. One of the themes of that chapter is that prophets are needed to guide a people when they are in exile, or when they return from exile. In the Hebrew Bible such guidance is provided by Jeremiah, Ezekiel and (Second) Isaiah.
Given that we are now in our own exile, the question becomes who will provide the needed prophetic voice? To help me answer that question I posed the following prompt to both ChatGPT-4-turbo and Grok 3.
The chapter [of my book] contains information about the Hebrew prophets regarding the Babylonian exile. Their messages were not identical. They all gave the Hebrew people hard truths but they also provided a message of hope.
Jeremiah urged people to settle in Babylon, plant gardens, and seek the welfare of the city.
Ezekiel envisioned a new kind of temple — one not yet built, but spiritual in nature.
Isaiah spoke of a servant community called to bring justice, not dominance.
Please write a modern-day prophecy to do with the Age of Limits. It should focus on Isaiah’s message: the idea of a servant community.
Write it in King James English ― about 250 words.
Here are the replies.
ChatGPT-4-turbo
A Modern Prophecy for the Age of Limits
(After the manner of Isaiah the Prophet)
Thus saith the Lord: Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto this generation its transgression, and unto the people their folly.
For ye have heaped up treasures, and laid waste the garden that I gave unto thy care. The mountains bleed, the rivers are defiled, and the breath of the earth is grown thin.
But behold, I seek not destruction, neither delight I in the fall of nations. I call forth a remnant — a servant people — who shall not strive nor cry aloud in the streets, but shall do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.
These shall bind up the broken, and turn again to the work of their hands. They shall till the soil with reverence, and feed the hungry with the labor of peace. Their strength shall be in stillness, and their wealth in contentment.
They shall not boast of power, nor make idols of progress, but shall dwell in harmony with the earth and with one another.
And I shall go before them as a pillar of wisdom, and behind them as a voice saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Grok 3:
A Prophecy for the Age of Limits
Hear ye, O people, in this Age of Limits, wherein the earth groaneth under the weight of thy greed. As Isaiah of old spake of a servant community, so now I call thee to a new covenant, not of dominion, but of humble service. The rivers dry, the forests fade, and the air choketh with the fumes of thy folly. Yet, fear not, for the Lord hath not forsaken thee.
Arise, O servant community, and bind thy hearts to justice. Cast aside the idols of endless growth, as Isaiah bade (Isaiah 42:1-4). Plant gardens, as Jeremiah counseled, to nurture the earth, not to plunder it. Build not towers of pride, but homes of simplicity, sharing with thy neighbor. Let thy churches be beacons, guiding all to lowliness, where the mighty stoop to tend the soil.
Seek ye the welfare of all creation, for in service to the least—the sparrow, the stream, the stranger—thou shalt find hope. The Lord requireth not sacrifice of wealth, but righteousness in deeds. Walk humbly, O people, and restore what hath been broken. In this exile of thy making, be thou the servant, bringing light to the nations through love and care.
Thus saith the Spirit: turn from thy wastefulness, and the earth shall yet sing. Embrace this calling, and thou shalt dwell in peace, a community of justice, forever blessed.
The two programs are operating with different training data, therefore I would not expect the two replies to be the same. Nevertheless, of the two I think that Grok 3 does a better job of conveying the needed message.
I then asked each program to generate an image of a Hebrew prophet. Grok generated four images almost instantly, whereas ChatGPT took about three minutes to generate just one. They are shown below.
The image from ChatGPT seems to be more appropriate, but it’s a close call.