We hear the word "prophecy," and we think of Nostradamus or some exotic fortune teller. The biblical prophets were not mystics gazing into a crystal ball, predicting what would happen centuries later. The Hebrew word, nabi, means "spokesman, one who speaks for another." The prophet was summoned by God, not to voice personal opinions or shrewd thoughts, but the very words of God. "Thus says the Lord!" - and people were confronted with the truth from God's heart. They needed to hear God's word to them for their day, not a forecast of a distant future.
Interestingly, prophecy was rare before Israel became a political power, and prophecy pretty much ceased when Israel was a power no more. David was the first king to wield significant might - but he had to put up with Nathan, who fearlessly shamed David when power had corrupted his faithful judgment. Ahab and Jezebel were rich and militarily successful - but Elijah nagged and harassed them with God's critique. Ahaz had Isaiah, Jehoiakim had Jeremiah... God was never shut out of the corridors of power: Just when the economy was booming and the army was flexing its muscle, God would inspire a spokesman to point out how Israel was really going astray, how power was perilous, how prosperity can mask evil. Amos, Joel, and Micah thundered God's judgment on those who overreached, who were not humble before God, on idolatry, failure of justice or compassion, or hollow religiosity.
We do not know a lot much about their personalities. Amos was an affluent herdsman, Hosea endured a heartbreaking marriage (which helped him sympathize with God's heartbreak over Israel!), Jeremiah was just a teenager and wound up in jail deserted by his family, Isaiah was sawn in two by a wicked king, Elijah was hounded into the desert. Prophets never got ticker tape parades for popularity.
Not all prophetic sermons were of judgment. God spoke through them "to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." When Israel suffered crushing defeat at the hands of Assyria or Babylon, the prophets (Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah) trumpeted a powerful vision of hope, that God would not leave them desolate (however much they deserved their fate): God would intervene miraculously in history and restore his people. So the prophets were not predicting the coming of Jesus, yet their words reveal the heart of God: judgment on humanity's waywardness, and healing for the broken. Jesus then is the fulfillment of these patterns of God interacting with us.
Are there prophets today? If we mean an official, biblical spokesperson to be heard even centuries from now - No. But if we mean prophetic voices, mimicking the prophets of old, employing their strategies to expose idolatry, injustice, and bogus religiosity, offering a wise (if harsh) theological critique of the powers that be - then Yes. They are not independent thinkers, but hold up their Bibles, quote the prophets and say "God still cares about justice, God still is not mocked..." Martin Luther King, often regarded as a modern day prophet, climbed on the shoulders of the Prophets, as in his "I have a Dream" speech: "Let justice roll down like waters, righteousness like an everflowing stream" were not his words, but those of Amos!
James
james@mpumc.org
eBibleQuestions23 - Did Israel believe in life after death?
eBible Question24 - What was going on between the Testaments?
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