Chapter 6 Part 1: Covenant Advocates

by Chaplain Ron McCants

The Prophets of Ancient

Israel

The Latter Prophets

Prophet

• Someone who predicts future events before they occur and to prophesy is simply to predict.

Prophecy as a Social Phenomenon

• Hebrew word Nabi means “one who announces or one who is called.” It is the notion that prophets were speakers who carried messages from the divine realm to the earthly.

The Spirit World (Anthropologist View)

• Establishing contact with holiness was connecting with the realm of reality beyond the ordinary, everyday time and space.

• Shamans have inborn talent or gift for moving between the world of normal wakefulness and the world of the spirits, gods, and ancestors.

• The word spoken by the prophet was the Word of the LORD.

• Prophets were perceived as useful to have about.

Basic Call Narratives Pattern

Prophetic Oracles Formula

• “Thus says the LORD” or “Hear the word of the LORD”

• Oracle of Judgment: A denunciation in a situation of present faithlessness or announcement of a future punishment

• Future Deliverance

• Woe Oracle

• Biblical prophets vigorously denounced the veneration of other gods such as the fertility gods associated with Ba’al (lord) in Canaan.

• Canaanite religious festivals of orgiastic drinking and sexual license contrasted the Torah’s demand for moral behavior.

The Latter Prophets

First Isaiah

• Pre-exile - Chapters 1-39• Dates: 742-695• Rulers: Jothan of Judah (742-735)• The Temple Vision in Chapter 6• The year of Uzziah’s death, 742 B.C.E.• The holiness of the LORD• In 735, Isaiah had a son with a symbolic name,

“Shearjashub,” which means “a remnant shall repent (or return).”

Covenant Lawsuit

• The LORD is portrayed as bringing Israel to court, accusing the nation or its leaders of violation of the stipulations of the Sinai Covenant, stating the evidence, and announcing the punishment. The prophet plays the role of prosecuting attorney.

Isaiah 3:13-26 (Read)• Summons - To the people of Israel• Charge - A general accusation of covenant dereliction

with specific allegation of violations.• Evidence - The upheaval in nature by behavior of priests

and prophets.• Verdict - Priests, prophets, and people to be punished

Second Isaiah • Exile in Babylon - Chapters 40-55• Dates: c540• Rulers: Nabonidus of Babylonia

(605-562)• Uses the “Holy One” as a name for

God• The prophet speaks of a “new

exodus” through which the LORD will bring the exiles out from bondage in Babylon. Isaiah 41:17-20

• The prophet cordially invites everyone to partake of God’s gracious bounty.

Third Isaiah

• Post-Exile – Chapters 56-66

• Dates: c515

• The setting of Jerusalem after some of the exiles have returned to Jerusalem

• A New Heaven and New Earth – Isaiah 66:22-23

Jeremiah

• Judah

• Dates: 627-580

• Rulers: Josiah, Jehoahaz (609)

• Secretary Baruch wrote down a collection of Jeremiah’s oracles.

• Admonitions to Repentance

• Jeremiah 3:12: “Return, faithless Israel,’ says the LORD.”

JeremiahDuring and After King Josiah

• Reign of King Josiah years from 620-609 B.C.E.: Nationalism, Reform, Expansion, Prosperity

• After death of King Josiah: Disaster piled upon disaster, destruction of Jerusalem and Temple by Babylonian army in 587-586 B.C.E.

Jeremiah’s Career

• Jeremiah was an unwilling prophet.• In his career he tried, but failed, to quit

prophesying.• His prophetic activity made him the target of an

assassination plot.• He was barred from the Temple.• He was without friends.• He was forbidden by the LORD to marry.• He was put in stocks, beaten, left in a muddy

cistern to die, and imprisoned through much of the Babylonian siege.

Ezekiel

• Babylon• Dates: 593-570• Rulers: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (605-562)• A priest among the exiles of the first Babylonian

deportation (597 B.C.E.)• His primary activity was in Babylonian captivity,

but he claimed access to Jerusalem by vision and levitation and seemed well informed about the situation there.

Ezekiel’s Vision

• Valley of Dry Bones – Ezekiel 37:1-14 (Read)

• The vision symbolizes what will happen to the house of Israel. Although they are languishing in exile (dead bones), with no hope for a new live, the LORD will give them hope and a new life.

Class Assignment

• Read The Contemporary World• Pages 144-145• Case Study: What Would the Prophets Say?

Gap between rich and poorAccumulation of material things Waste of wealthy nationsLuxurious houses of worshipPlight of the poor and homelessWhat leaders and people must do?Who should be recognized as a prophet?