THE
PROPHETICAL MINISTRY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
WAS A
DIVINE MISSION FOR THE BETTERMENT OF ISRAEL
WITHIN THE
INSTITUTIONAL RELIGION
(Isaiah 6;
Jeremiah 2; Ezekiel 9:2-3)
I. The
Prophet in the Community
A real prophetic tradition came into
existence thanks to the disciples of the prophets. In this body of living
tradition, Scripture naturally plays a role which grows with time. The prophets
from the beginning are all animated by the same Spirit of God and it is from
God that they have the word. The prophetic charism is a charism of revelation,
which makes known to man what he could not discover by his own efforts. Its
object is at the same time multiple and unique: it is the plan of salvation,
which will be concentrated and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Thus, constituting a tradition, the
prophetical ministry has also a definite position in the community of Israel.
It is an integral part of it, but it does not absorb the community. One
perceives that the prophet with the priest plays a role in the coronation rite
of the king (1 K 1). King, priest and prophet are for a considerable period of
history the three pillars of the society of Israel, sufficiently distinguished
so as occasionally to be antagonistic to one another, but normally linked in a necessary
interdependence. Whether the state as an institution exists, these prophets are
on hand to counsel the kings: Nathan, Gad, Elisha, Isaiah especially and on
occasion Jeremiah. It is their prerogative to declare whether the action
undertaken is such as God wishes, whether such policy clearly fits into
salvation history. Nevertheless, the prophetical office in the strict sense of
the word is not an institution like the kingship and the priesthood. Israel on
its own initiative can make a king (Dt. 17,14ft), but it cannot create a
prophet. The latter is a pure gift of God, object indeed of promise, yet freely
given. One can sense this especially in the periods when prophecy is
interrupted (1 Mc 9, 27; Ps 74, 9). Israel lived then in the expectation of the
prophet already promised (1 Mc 4, 46; 14, 41). It is easy to understand why,
under these circumstances, the Jews responded so enthusiastically to the
preaching of John the Baptist.
II. The
Mechanics of Prophecy
The prophets were not philosophers,
constructing a speculative theory from their observation of events. They
essentially are preachers, but inspired preachers whose words were not their
own but words of God. What they said was, "Thus says the Lord..."
They firmly believed that God spoke to them (spoke to an inward ear, the
spiritual sense). The mechanics of inspiration, as we know, do not require
anything so gross as divine dictation. He spoke to them out of the events,
which they experienced. The interpretation of history to which they offered was
not invented by process of thought; it was the meaning, which they experienced
in the events, when their minds were opened to God as well as open to the
impact of outward facts. Thus, the prophetic interpretation of history, and the
impetus and direction which that interpretation gave subsequent history, were
alike the word of God to men. The prophet's message is always primarily
addressed to his contemporaries; he is a preacher who speaks to the men of his
own generation. He does so even when he predicts the future.
The problem of inspiration is not so much
how the prophets communicate the words of God to their audiences; but how the
words of God were communicated to His prophets. Its essence is rather a subtle
influence upon the will and the intellect of the prophet inclining him to speak
those things and only those things, which God wills to be communicated.
This impact of this influence is so
unobtrusive, we might almost say so supernaturally natural, that the
personality of the prophet suffers no change. Thus, we have no difficulty in
penetrating to the distinctive personality of each prophet from a study of his
words. They speak as they would speak even if they were not inspired. But,
unlike the generality of inspired writers, the prophets were to a certain
limited extent conscious of God's influence upon them. Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and Amos speak of visions they have received from God which are genuine
mystical experiences by which God made His presence and His message was
experientially manifested to them. Theologians distinguish between external,
sensibly perceived visions and visions impressed on the intellect. Whichever
type of vision it may be in any particular case, the important thing is that,
it is the actual vital experience of a finite human being receiving a direct
divine contact and communication. The prophets would be conscious for the most
part only of fulfilling their divine mission/calling by preaching the things of
God but not necessarily of the divine influence under which they preached.
Thus, their experiences of inspiration would probably extend only to those
occasions, rare on the whole when they received a vision or a revelation of
some points which could have been known in no other way expect through a direct
divine revelation or communication. Only those messianic prophecies that added
something new would require direct revelation.
III. How
to Read the Prophets
The following table is a descriptive
analysis of the characteristic feature of the Old Testament Prophetism. Each of
the classical writing prophets exhibits the qualities listed in it though in
varying individual proportions. The pre-classical 9th and 10th century
prophets, about whom relatively little is known, will not be included.
Characteristic Content Source
A.
Style - Ecstatic Behavior -world of
ecstatic - Prescience phenomena
- Utter conviction in speaking
B.
Rhetoric - Messenger formula - Institutions:
temple,
- Legal, cultic secular formulas court, school.
- Allusions to older sacred tradition low court, secular life
C.
Constituencies - people as a whole - Institutions: temple,
- People seeking prophet in his court, special interest
institutional setting groups
- Disciples
D.
Message - Appeal for equity - Sacred Tradition
- Indictment of the corrupt - Covenant Tradition
power establishment - Salvation history brought
into
sharp contact with new experiences
- Demand for purification of
the "Church"
- Call for hope
IV. Characteristic
of the Old Testament Prophets
A. Style
Throughout the OT, prophets gained a
hearing for themselves by exhibiting a certain flamboyant style, a vigor and
abrasives, often expressed in socially unacceptable ways sometimes even
involving an apparent suspension of rationality. In a culture, which could not
distinguish clinical insanity from creative passion, madness and ecstasy alike
inspired awe and brought to mind the numinous world of the divine?
The power to exhibit the spirit, the
power to perform miracles, the power to foretell the future, and the
overwhelming, burning conviction that the words he speaks are not his own but
God's -- these are the elements in the style of the prophet.
B. Rhetoric
A second feature of the OT Prophets is its
characteristic way of speaking its rhetoric. Often a prophet would introduce
his short, pithy oracles with the messenger formula, "Thus says the
Lord", a formula well known to those who had occasion to receive
directives from higher authorities of any kind. He employs familiar cultic,
legal and commercial formulae, but always with the special burden of the word
of God. He would use the very familiar and very stereotype indictment form,
often introduced by the expletive "woe" or combine a threat by the
relative adverb "therefore". (Amos 6:7)
By employing familiar ways of speaking, the
prophets made their fears and angers and hopes accessible to and even reusable
by the entire community and primarily to facilitate the understanding of their
hearers - the whole nation.
C. Constituencies
The prophets spoke within particular
institutional contexts and they spoke to and for particular constituencies. The
culture was perhaps the foremost institutional setting of Prophetism; however,
schools, courts of law and public office can now also be postulate as settings
from which the prophets spoke. Classical prophets were not "voices crying
in the wilderness". Instead, they were men whose voices represented
interests strong enough that their words were eagerly collected preserved and
advanced to the community as sacred scriptures. Occasionally, one gets glimpses
of the prophets in their institutional roles: e.g., Amos 7,10-13. Jeremiah is
presented as operating in a political context, some seer to the king - prophets
going back to Nathan and even to Samuel. The largest constituency for which the
prophets took responsibility was the nation. It was their social
responsibility, which forced them into a suffering role, because inevitably
they shared in the disaster of the establishment, which they were condemning
but from which they would not separate themselves.
D. Message
The final and most decisive feature
characteristic of the prophets of the OT was the consistent and faithful
content of their message. A man had indeed to present a limited number of
religions themes with appropriate style, rhetoric and communal responsibility
to be recognized and remembered as a prophet. But all these in themselves could
not earn him that authority. It is a message found true, faithful and
beneficial by the community, which validated his claim.
The Great Themes of the Prophets:
1. The perennial call for justice for the
politically weak, the powerless, the economically outcast. For example: Nathan
(the parable of the rich man and the poor man's sheep) 2 Sam 12,1-7;Am 8,4-7;
Jer 22,13-16
2. To indict corruption in the circles of
power wherever they saw it, and they would face it whatever it might cost to
them. (Ho 7.4-7)
3. Call for purification of the religious
establishment. (Am 5,21) 4. Throughout the prophetic tradition there runs
a note of hope. Hope for redemption
and peace. Ho 14,3f; Jer 31,31; Ez 37,24-28; Is 35,10. This hope, although most
frequently is in eschatological form, nevertheless, implies an ontologically
renewed world in continuity with the unredeemed world of present experiences.
In Interpreting the Prophets
the reader is urged to attend to the following rules:
1. Determine the historical background of
the prophet's sermon and interpret it in the context of that background. .
2. Distinguish what is new from what is
traditional.
3. Distinguish the symbolic from the real
and interpret the symbolic according to the rule for symbolic languages.
4. In interpreting messianic utterances,
remember that the prophets speak about the future in symbolic language, without
temporal perspective and without complete and detailed knowledge.
Exegesis of Isaiah VI
The
mission of Isaiah to proclaim the fall of Israel and Judah because of their
infidelity is shown in chapter 6, after the earliest pronouncements he had in
chapters 1-5.
The
call of Isaiah must have its mortal natural place at the beginning of the book;
however, this call introduces the "Book of the Immanuel". It is
indeed very clear that Isaiah lived during the reign of King Uzziah for it was
at the king's death that Isaiah received his prophetic vocation, dated 740 B.C.
The sanctuary, which Isaiah meant is the "Hekal"
i.e., a chamber leading to the
Holy of holies.
The
seraphs are the heavenly beings, which Isaiah associates with Yahweh. Their
name means burning ones; they could be the same as what is presented in Exodus
25:18, who are half human and half animal and who are the tutelary deities
guarding the approach of the temples and palaces. Just as Isaiah saw, they
covered their face with their two wings so as not to see the face of Yahweh for
they feared him. Likewise, Isaiah uses euphemism too, to avoid vulgar terms.
Instead of literally writing the term for sexual organs, he uses "to cover
its feet". An allusion to the seraphs of Isaiah are also found in the
vision of Ezekiel in 1,11; 1O,2l.
The central theme of Isaiah's
preaching, calling Yahweh as the Holy One of Israel is shown when the seraphs
cried to each other "Holy, holy,
holy is Yahweh Sabaoth"; this is so because the Holiness of Yahweh is
one of the essential attributes of the God of Israel. Yahweh himself described
this attribute when he was giving the rules regarding the clean and the
unclean. (Lv.11,44)
The
original meaning of the word 'holiness' is the conception of separateness, of
inaccessibility and awe-inspiring transcendence. God's sanctity is so removed
from man's unworthiness that he must perish if he looks on God, as we can see
when Yahweh ordered Moses to warn the people not to pass beyond their bounds
and look on Him. As Moses covered his face when he was shown the face of God on
the mountain of Sinai. Similarly, the seraphs that Isaiah mentions in verse 2
do likewise.
Those
who are still living and had seen the face of Yahweh are overwhelmed with
astonishment and gratitude for the favor, which God rarely grants and concedes
to man. Moses and Elijah are one of those who were favored to see God face to
face.
In the New Testament, the glory of God
is manifested in Jesus as in Jn.1,14 and 11,40. It was Jesus alone who has
gazed the Father. Man cannot look on God's face except in heaven. The sanctity
of Yahweh is communicated to everything in His vicinity and to everything
consecrated to Him, places and people, priests in particular. Smoke in the
temple is equivalent to the cloud on Sinai. When the sanctuary has been
consecrated, Yahweh manifested Himself and His presence, in the form of a
cloud. This time, it is not only to show God's mastery of nature but also His
majesty, His sublimity and the religious awe that He inspires.
Yahweh
purifies and sanctifies through those objects that man could not easily
reconcile as to its usage. Here, God uses as a means the live coal, which in
itself naturally is harmful and destructive. Isaiah is sanctified by the seraph
who brought him a live coal to touch his lips so as to make them clean; the
coal is holy inasmuch as it has come from the altar that Yahweh had sanctified.
Normally, fire is associated with Yahweh in the theophanies at Sinai. Exodus
19,18 shows how Yahweh descended on the mountain in the form of fire, which
made the people tremble. Fire, if taken in its very natural state could be a
cause of destruction and could kill man but in Isaiah it is used as that which
is purifying and whatever it touched is sanctified.
Comparing
Abraham's calling with Isaiah's, Isaiah's readiness is so similar to that of
Abraham.
Isaiah's
readiness to respond to the call of Yahweh, however, is very much in contrast
to that of Moses and Jeremiah, who were both reluctant to accept the invitation
of God to proclaim to the whole nation the message that God is to give to them.
Jeremiah answered back to Yahweh that he is a child and Moses pleaded that he
is not a good speaker which angered Yahweh that He called on Aaron to be the
spokesman of Moses for the people. On the contrary, Isaiah seemed to be just
waiting for the signal that Yahweh would give and he would be there every ready
to do the command of Yahweh for him.
This
call of Isaiah made him a national figure, but, by person, Isaiah is a genius
poet. The brilliance of his style and freshness of his imagery make his work
pre-eminent in the literature of the Bible. He wrote a concise and majestic
prose unsurpassed by any of the Biblical writers who were to follow him.
The
vision he had in the temple at the time of his vocation is a revelation of the
transcendence of God and the unworthiness of man. This vision left a lasting
mark on him. Isaiah knew clearly how hard the test would be, but his hope was
that a remnant will be spared and the Messiah will be the king.
Exegesis
of Jeremiah 2
Chapter 2 of Jeremiah is considered as one of the earliest oracles of
Jeremiah, preached even before Josiah's reform (between 627-622 B.C.). Assyria
here still appears to be the world power together with Egypt. No threat of
punishment is present. We also find in this text the influence of Josiah on
Jeremiah.
The whole chapter is poetic in form and its literary style is called rib or "lawsuit" which is the
characteristic of a prophetical oracle when a covenant is broken. According to
J. Harvey, this literary style came from the international law of the second
millennium (2000 B.C.). Parallels are found in Hittite literature. We have rib
patterns in Hosea 4, Isaiah 1,2-3; Mi 6,1-18, Dt 32,1-25.
The structure of the rib is as follows:
1. an introduction in which a call for
hearing was made and in which the heavens and earth were frequently addressed;
2. the questioning of witnesses and the
statement of the accusation;
3. an address by the prosecutor before the
court (in the QT, Yahweh's gracious acts were compared
with Israel's
rebelliousness;
4. a reference to the vanity of cultic effort
at compensation;
5. the threat to total destruction.
The chapter begins with God's
recollection of the chosen people's affection (hesed) during the early days in the desert. Hesed is a term to define the mutual love between Yahweh and his
people. Israel was separated as God's portion, the first fruit (reshith) which has to be offered only
to Him, and anyone thus who eats this fruit (invaded Israel) commits a
sacrilegious act.
However, no sooner had Israel entered the
Promised Land that they "pursued vanity", "defiled the
land" by practicing the same abominations as the Canaanites, deserting
Yahweh. The leaders of the people are blamed for this act - the priests, the
legislators, rulers, kings, royal functionaries and the prophets.
Because of this, the people are not put
into trial-rib. The 'heavens' just
like the other elements of nature as earth, rivers, mountains, as attested in
the rib pattern are poetical
witnesses of the lawsuit because of the breaking of the covenant.
The people have abandoned Yahweh who is
the fountain of living water and preferred “cisterns that hold no water”. After
abandoning God, the fountain of living water, the people now seek help from
foreign lands. Because of Israel's transgressions, she was treated as slave.
Verses 20-28 give us three instances to
prove the abandonment of the people:
1.
breaking the yoke or transgression of Gods laws (v 20). As soon as the
people arrived in the Promised Land many
of them followed the Canaanites in their idolatry, here given as harlotry (v
20). Even cult prostitution was practiced in these sanctuaries.
2. becoming
degenerate vine (vv 21-22). Note that the image of Israel as a choice vine
is also frequent among the prophets, especially 5,1-7.
3. running after Baals and
Asheras, i.e., idolatrous practices (vv 23-28). Israel's lust for idolatry is compared to a she-camel
which cannot be controlled when 'she is on heat' (vv 24-25). Because of this,
Israel will be shamed (vv. 26-28).
Exegesis of Ezekiel 2-3,9
Chapters 2-3,27 present to us the call
and commission of the prophet Ezekiel. This passage contains the essentials of
the prophet's call. Five different commissions are generally recognized as
being given to Ezekiel in his prophetic call, corresponding to the four
prophetic calls found in 1,28b-3,9; 3,10-11; 3,1721; 3,22-27 (the first
commission is divided into two). Perhaps, the best biblical description of the
prophetic experience and the prophetic office is given here. A prophet receives
his mission in full consciousness and fully recognizes its difficulties. Here,
we are going to treat only the first commission (with its two parts) and the
second commission.
A. First Commission
1. Mission to Rebels (2,1-7) - God
addressed to Ezekiel as "Son of Man"; here it has no messianic
connotations; man, essentially mortal, is contrasted with God, essentially an
immortal spirit. The 'spirit entered' into him (v 1); to bridge the gap between
man and God. God's spirit entered into the prophet, strengthening him to be
attentive to the message of God - stand up. Ezekiel's consciousness of being
moved by the spirit (ruah) in his
prophetic task will be constantly re-iterated. The influence of the spirit on
the heroes and the prophets of Israel before the exile was to fill them with
physical energy beyond their normal portion so that their physical actions
seemed ecstatic and out of control. With Ezekiel the spirit's influence is most
commonly exercised upon his psychic powers and often simply in the sense of
making him attentive to the Lord's presence and the meaning of his words. The
people ignore the prophet's words even though they originated from God, but
Ezekiel's presence speaks harsh realities that cannot be ignored. (v 5 'they
shall know').
2. The Divine Communication (2,8-3,3) -
The eating of the scroll is a graphic representation of an inner religious
experience by which the prophet received an insight into the covenant
relationship between God and the people. Recognition of his role in it followed,
bringing a sense of harmony and joy. It is possible that the scroll in v. 9
suggests a more expensive use of the written word in Ezekiel's prophecy than in
the case of the former prophets. Only wailings and woe appear on the scroll (v.
10). This lamentation is the totality of the prophet's message, for a prophet
who preaches peace is suspect. By eating the scroll (5,1) is signified
Ezekiel's total assimilation of God's message so that his whole being is
permeated by it and it torments him until it is expressed.
B. Second Commission (3:4-9)
Largely repetition of the first (2,3-8)
it is less harsh in its indictment. This reason, and the reference to the
"barbarous language" suggests that the commission is probably given
in Babylon and possibly represents Ezekiel's call to prophesy to the exiles
there. Israel's sensitivity to Yahweh's words is so blunt that the pagans who
never heard the word before could recognize it more easily. Verse 8 refers to
the fact that the prophet is hardened by those whose midst he works, and he
consciously steels himself for the task. Because it is provoked by God's
commission, it is attributed to God.
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