Recently, I wrote about Jesus’ second coming in light of theologies of disability. This time, I want to expand on that topic by briefly studying prophecy in that same vein. How can (certain) biblical prophecies demonstrate God’s clear and unwavering orientation towards an inclusive church? As always, I’ll define prophecy in itself, look at select examples in the Old and New Testaments, and add to those examples with some insights about our current sociopolitical situation. Let’s look into the text together.

First, so that we can contextualize our discussion, what is prophecy? In his significant work Prophetic Imagination, the late eminent Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann claims that biblical prophecy entails a person’s stance against the “enculturation” of their community of faith. That is, for Brueggemann, a prophet is one so “at home” in a tradition of faith that s/he discerns a disjuncture between what s/he believes and the way that the faith community—in our case, the church—is acting in the world. A prophet identifies, interrogates, and usually indicts the gaps between belief and behaviour.

Given this incisive definition of prophecy, how can Scripture help us to find examples of prophecies that support a church inclusive of disability and other differences? The Old Testament provides multiple fascinating patterns. For instance, at the burning bush, God specifically calls Moses—a person “slow of speech and of tongue,” one who may or may not have had a speech impediment—to free the enslaved Hebrews from the Egyptians (Exodus 3:1-10, 4:10-11, NIV). Later, the Lord’s Spirit asks Samuel to assess the suitability of each of Jesse’s sons for kingship at a sacrifice, and—even though all of Jesse’s sons are attractive and worthy of praise—guides him to anoint David as Israel’s next king (1 Samuel 16:1-13, NIV). David himself acts in a prophetic way during his war with Saul’s house by taking in Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who is paraplegic. The poetic justice of David, a warrior, poet, and king renowned for his beauty, taking a disabled person into his household is of great importance for an inclusive church. David acts in God’s mercy by simply widening his table.

Prophecy in the Old Testament doesn’t just reflect a desire for the freedom of the Hebrew people grounded in God’s mercy. Some prophecies, including in Isaiah 35:6 and 40:3-11, speak of the accessibility of God’s coming Reign. In 35:6, the prophet makes clear that, in the coming Day of the Lord, “the lame will leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy” (NIV). As a person with mobility issues, I’ve never leapt like a deer, but I certainly want to experience the joy contained in that verse! Furthermore, in Isaiah 40, the speaker demands that the righteous believers “make straight…a highway for our God” (40:3, NIV). The word translated straight connotes moral uprightness, rather than rigid, formal religion. We can rest assured that one aspect of moral rectitude is mercy for people with disabilities, whether they are people with mobility needs, neurodivergent folks, or others. Isaiah shows us that God’s mercy specifically applies to persons with disabilities!

In the same Isaian vein, Jesus of Nazareth, God’s living Word, acts out God’s prophetic power in almost every instance of the Gospel healing stories. Like his forebears in the Hebrew scriptures, Jesus portends good news for people with disabilities because—when he heals—he heals the whole person. Substantive examples of Jesus’ restorative power include his dramatic healing of Bartimaeus, where Jesus returns the man’s sight after shaming the crowd who tries to quiet him (Mark 10:46-52), the healing of the ten people with leprosy, particularly the Samaritan (Luke 17:11-17, NIV), and the healing of the man born blind in John 9. In the last case, the man becomes one of Jesus’ vociferous early disciples, contending with the Pharisees both ably and at length (John 9:11-34, NIV). Like David and Isaiah, Jesus illustrates God’s joy and mercy by truly healing people.

What does this biblical portrait of prophecy mean for believers, and all other people, of diverse abilities in the current sociopolitical landscape? Let’s look at the numbers for a moment. In Canada in 2024, according to the University of Toronto, “25.5% of people in the ten provinces lived in a food-insecure household.” In the United States in 2025, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP—called “America’s largest anti-hunger program” by researchers at Johns Hopkins—is under dire threat alongside other public services. Some of those who are struggling with food insecurity are surely people with disabilities (in 2023, 10% of SNAP recipients in the US were nonelderly individuals with a disability.) Significantly, all of the Hebrew prophets foretold a Day of the LORD where all would have enough to eat (Isaiah 65:21, Micah 4:4, NIV); furthermore, Jesus follows in the prophets’ footsteps by feeding literally thousands of people (e.g., Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 8:1-9). Thus, any understanding of biblical prophecy that aligns with a liberating theology of disability will stringently criticize the pervasive presence of hunger amongst human beings in North America and worldwide.

Likewise, both the prophets and Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of prophecy, decried economic inequality (e.g., Amos 4:1-11, Isaiah 5:8, Luke 12:16-21). According to Debt.org, “The United States is considered the richest country in the world, and yet 37.9 million (11.5%) of its residents live in poverty.” According to Statistics Canada, between 2022 and 2023, deep income poverty—persons whose family disposable income is 75% below Canada’s official poverty line—sat at 5.3%, a 6% increase. Once again, many of those who experience these forms of material poverty also embody difference and/or disability. These figures mean that there are people who cannot afford rent or other necessities in two of the world’s wealthiest countries; these shameful facts indict our self-inflected society. Accordingly, I’d argue that an inclusive understanding of biblical prophecy would both excoriate the systems that allow these injustices, and seek stringent and sustainable economic policy changes—transformations in line with Christ’s compassion.

By itself, this short blog post can’t do justice to the richness of the biblical tradition of prophecy. That said, in the last couple pages, I’ve tried to point out what biblical prophecy is, identify how Moses, Samuel, David, and Jesus represent prophetic critiques of their societies, and illustrate how an inclusive model of biblical prophecy can help us to assess and change our own contexts. I hope that these reflections help you, as you learn more about and participate in different aspects of God’s justice.