Martin Luther King

The night before he was killed, Martin Luther King gave his last speech at Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. He was there to march for the right of sanitation workers to fair pay and improved working conditions.

In the speech, he references several biblical stories and parables. He mentions the New Jerusalem from the book of Revelation, he discusses the importance of helping our neighbor like the Good Samaritan, and he refers to himself as Moses leading his people from slavery in Egypt to a better life in the Promised Land, a land full of liberty and justice for all people:

3 April 1968

"Something is happening in Memphis. Something is happening in our world.

And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?"

I would take my mental flight by Egypt, and I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek, from the dark dungeons of Egypt across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the Promised Land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there [...]

We are saying that we are God's children. Now what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we've got to stay together. We've got to stay together and maintain unity.

You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves.

But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh's court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that's the beginning of getting out of slavery.

Not let us maintain unity [...]

I'm always happy to see a relevant ministry. It's alright to talk about "long white robes over yonder," in all of its symbolism. But ultimately, people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here.

It's alright to talk about "streets flowing with milk and honey," but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day.

It's alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the new New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee".

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