In Huntington Park, Where There Is No Vision

"Where there is no vision, the people perish."

Those words are posted to the back wall of the Huntington Park City Council Chambers.

What is it about vision which is so essential to any city governance?

The word "vision" is a translation of the Hebrew word "razon", and speaks of direct revelation from God.

The first mention of a word in the Bible often grants a reader insight into the deeper senses which God our Father wants us to receive:

"And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli.
And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision." (1 Samuel 3: 1)

"Where there is no vision, the people perish …"

Now, Samuel was a gift from God to Hannah (whose name means "grace" in Hebrew).

She prayed in great pain for the LORD to deliver her from her barrenness.

She had a wonderful son, Samuel, whose name means "heard of God".

Now, what was happening in Israel in earlier section of First Samuel?

The high priest, Eli, was corrupt, and so were his sons.

Eli refused to discipline them. He would not train them it the way of God's goodness (Proverbs 22: 6).

The sons were immoral, sleeping with other women and stealing sacrifices from the people.

As a sign of the sinful blindess of the people, the high priest was blind himself and obese.

Yet God visited Samuel, a type of God's grace, and blessed him with a revelation of His Word.

The young boy shared a harsh vision with the corrupt high priest Eli:

"15And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of
the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. 16Then Eli
called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. 17And he
said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it
not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me
of all the things that he said unto thee. 18And Samuel told him every whit, and
hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him
good. (1 Samuel 3: 15-18)

There was no open vision during the corrupt rule of high priest Eli, yet God visited Samuel with a vision. Godliness flourished once again as the corrupt high priest and his wicked sons died:

When the Ark of God's Covenant was taken by the Philistines …

"10And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and
they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for
there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 11And the ark of God was taken;
and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain." (1 Samuel 4: 10-11)

and then

"And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before
the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people,
and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is
taken. 18And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he
fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake,
and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty
years." (1 Samuel 4:17-18)

When there is no vision, the people perish, become loose, have no discipline.

All of this happened because the sacrifices were not  honored, and God's righteousness was not accorded through the shedding of blood.

As for the last mention of the word "chazon" in the Old Testament, we can receive further revelation:

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end
it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will
surely come, it will not tarry." (Habakkuk 2: 3)

This passage speaks of "vision" a number of levels.

Here is the key passage:

"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and
will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am
reproved.

"He who keepeth the law, happy is he"