Course Code: BBO16

Prophetic Responses to the Struggles of the People of God

By Binyamin & Chandra

Unit.I- Role of prophets and prophecy

A prophet is a representative for God. The prophet admonishes, warns, directs, encourages,
intercedes, teaches and counsels. He brings the word of God to the people of God and calls
the people to respond.

The prophetic ministry begins in the presence of the Lord. This aspect of the ministry is well
described in Jeremiah's challenge to the false prophets.

Which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? If they had
stood in his council they would have proclaimed his words to his people and they would have
turned from their evil ways and from their evil deeds. Jeremiah 23:18,22.

When the prophet knows the heart and mind of the Lord, he speaks the word of the Lord to
his people. He stands before the people as one who have stood before God. Because his
words come from the heart of God they are powerful and effective.

A prophet can undertake a huge variety of roles. This is an expression of the creativity of
God. A prophet may act in every role occasionally, but mostly he will move in one or two of
these roles. Prayer will be important for every ministry. No two prophets should be the same,
but each should be a reflection of God's creativity and calling.

The call of a prophet usually but not always includes his job description (John and Paula
Sanford - The Elijah Task p.42).

Some of the roles that a prophet can function in are outlined in the following sections.

1. Prayer

An important part of the prophet's task is prayer. Because he knows the mind of the Lord, he
is in a position to pray effectively. He has a clear picture of what God is doing, so he knows
where prayer is needed most. The prophet watches over the word of the Lord and prays it into
being. He must not rest until God has fulfilled his word (Isaiah 62:6).

An important part of the prophets task is unceasing prayer for the Christian Community. The
prophets, because they knew what the mind of the Lord was, were in a position to pray more
effectually than other men. They had a clearer picture of what God was doing and so they
knew when prayer was needed most. They were also able to pray true 'prophetic prayers' in
which the Holy Spirit directed and guided their very manner and words (Isa 62:6) (Bruce
Yocum - Prophecy and Prayer).

Prayer belongs in a very high and important sense to the prophetic ministry. Praying prophets
have frequently been at a premium in the history of Gods people. God's watchmen must

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always and everywhere be men of prayer. Praying preachers are the true prophets of the Lord,
and are they who stand as mouth pieces of God to a generation of wicked and worldly-
minded men and women. They are the boldest and truest, and swiftest ministers of God (E.M
Bounds - The Weapon of Prayer).

Prayer was essential to the prophetic ministry. It came naturally to the prophets and was the
life-blood of their ministry. Prayer was their principal means of communication with God and
lay at the heart of their personal relationship with God (Clifford Hill - Prophecy, Past and
Present, p. 117).

The prophet is also a mediator. Moses stood between the people and God. Time after time,
Moses stood in the gap on behalf of the nation before an angry God. Consequently,
intercession played a vital part in Moses life. As a prophet Moses felt in his heart the burden
of the message he brought to the people. He was deeply moved when Israel did not respond
to the command of God (Milton Smith - The Prophetic Office).

People have always looked to prophetic people when they needed prayer - they still do today.
Out of their request for prayer will often come the very signs that confirm the word of God
we speak. Be bold! Be vigilant! Be fervent! Anything might happen!
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A prophet and his message is born before the Lord. Prophets are men of prayer. A man who
has learnt to sit in quietness before the Lord cannot but be contaminated by his pain regarding
the situation of the oppressed (Lars Widerburg, Prophets Without Burden).

Prophetic burden-bearers are called to pray. These are the prophetic intercessors. They can
feel the grief of the Lord over the things that are not right. These prophets seem to live in the
doldrums much of the time, but they are called there to pray "right" again those things that
are wrong. God bless them! (Jim Wies - Different Kinds of Prophets).

Men of prayer must be men of steel, for they will be assaulted by Satan even before they
attempt to assault his kingdom (L Ravenhill- Why Revival Tarries.).

I believe prophetic ministry is the gas that fuels the tank of intercession and purity. It's the
prophetic hope that causes our prayers for a coming great visitation of God to be persistent
through the many years and the diverse seasons of hardship (Mike Bickle - Growing in the
Prophetic p.25).

2. Receiving the Word of the Lord

A key role of the prophet is waiting in the presence of God to receive the word of God. God
is sovereign so we cannot tell him when he should speak. Hearing will always require
waiting.

The task of the prophets was to know the will of God, so that they could convey it to the
nation. Their ministry consisted in handling revelation, ie the knowledge that God has
revealed to them. From the earliest times prophecy was conceived as being the activity of
God, rather than the activity of man. This is true not only for the receiving of prophecy but
also for it's delivery. When the prophecy actually conveyed the word of the Lord to the
people he was deemed to be under the power of God. The hand of the Lord was upon him,

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empowering and directing the delivery of the word (Clifford Hill - Prophecy, Past and
Present p.31).

The Prophet stood before men, as man who had been made to stand before God (Milton
Smith - The Prophetic Office).

3. Suffering

A prophet is often called to suffering. Deep dealing at the hand of God will often be needed
to prepare the prophet for receiving the word of God. Sometimes he may actually have to
experience beforehand, something of what his people will experience. Jeremiah spent many
years in captivity before his people went into captivity. He was often rejected and ostracised;
he was even accused of being a traitor. Ezekiel had to lie on his side for 390 days to
symbolise the judgement that would come upon his nation. This suffering made the prophets
extremely aware of their human frailty (Jer 20:7-10). It also equipped the prophet to give
what was often a very harsh message in a spirit of compassion. A true message is nullified if
it is spoken in the wrong spirit. Suffering softens the prophet's spirit, so that he can give the
hardest word, in a spirit of love. Suffering contributed to Jeremiah's compassion.

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, the chief officer in the temple of the Lord, heard
Jeremiah prophesying these things, he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks
at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the Lord 's temple (Jer 20:1,2).

There is an especial message in the ministry of Jeremiah for those who are compelled to stand
alone, who fall into the ground to die, who fill up what is behind of the sufferings of Christ,
and through death arise to bear fruit in the great world of men, which they passionately love
(F.B Meyer - Jeremiah).

In the faith chapter of Hebrews, a number of prophets are recorded as heroes who suffered for
their calling.

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered
justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of
the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and
who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead,
raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a
better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in
prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They
went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was
not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the
ground (Heb 11:32-38).

A prophetic ministry involves having a foretaste of the suffering and judgement that will
come as a result of the sins of the church and the whole world, since iniquity would soon be
universal. In such commission one must be willing to pay the price involved in foreseeing the
coming events, in suffering and experiencing them in advance. Only then can the warning be
passed on. A study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture
to the anger, fury and wrath of God, than his love and tenderness (A W Pink).

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A messenger who has not been willing to move into close combat with reality, with the pain
of the downtrodden, will not be able to bring a message of relief and healing. A painless
message cannot ease the pain. A painless message cannot carry a burden. A true messenger of
the Lord begins every voyage at the Cross. Each and every piece brought forth from his
mouth is marked by the Cross (Lars Widerburg, Prophets Without Burden).

Many are eager to wear the Prophet's mantle, but are reluctant to bear the Christian's cross.
This cannot be. Given the choice between Christian or Prophet, choose Christian (Chip
Brogden - Letter to a Reluctant Prophet).

There is a burden in being a prophet, which the OT prophets found that they could not always
bear (Ian Breward).

4. Worship

The prophetic ministry can often play an important part in worship. Paul said that when the
church gathered together,

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And
if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you
can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of
prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace
(1 Cor 14:29-33).

A prophecy that speaks of the glory and wonder of God will inspire his people to worship. 1
Chronicles 24 lists a number of men who were set aside for the ministry of prophesying to the
accompaniment of musical instruments as part of the temple worship. This ministry is needed
today. In small fellowships, it can be provided by the gift of prophecy. Large meetings for
celebration will benefit from prophets who can bring a word from the Lord to build the
worship. Miriam, the prophetess led the children or Israel in worship after they had crossed
the Red Sea.

When Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters
of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then
Miriam the prophetess, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with
tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them, "sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted."
(Exodus 15:19-21).

In the temple, there were people whose role was to prophesy as part of the worship. They
were professional worshippers and prophets, responsible for leading the worship in the house
of God.

David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph,
Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and
cymbals. Here is the list of the men who performed this service: . All these men were under
the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the Lord , with cymbals, lyres
and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the
supervision of the king. Along with their relatives- all of them trained and skilled in music for
the Lord- they numbered 288 (1 Chron 25,1,6).

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 5. Encouragement

Encouragement of the brethren is an important aspect of the prophetic ministry. Everyone

who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort he who
prophesies edifies the church (1 Cor 14:3,4

The words of the prophets will build up and strengthen the church. This will be especially
important in times of trial and tribulation. Silas and Judas were two prophets who encouraged
the church in Antioch.

Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the
brothers (Acts 15:32).

The scriptures give a number of examples of prophets who encouraged the leaders of their
nation to act boldly.

When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took
courage. (2 Chron 15:1,).

Then Haggai, the Lord 's messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: "I am with
you," declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of
the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord
Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King
Darius (Hag 1:13-15).

Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the
Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Then
Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of
God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them (Ezra 5:1,2).

So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the
prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to
the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of
Persia (Ezra 6:14).

The prophetic ministry is to alert the church to the "now-ness" of the Holy Spirit. It awakens
us to the will and purpose of God for us in the present - what He specifically wants to do in
us and through us (Mike Bickle - Growing in the Prophetic p.74).

6. Foretelling the Future

Prediction of the future is part of the prophetic ministry. Almost every prophet in the Old
Testament appeared first as a foreteller. Through his fellowship with the eternal God, the
prophet has access to the future. He is the seer who has insight into God's purposes for
history. However, whatever he sees for the future is always related to the present. He warns
of future judgements so that people will change their behaviour now. He speaks of future
blessing to give hope for the present.

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The prophet speaks to the present, in light of the future that God has revealed to him. For
example, Isaiah warned Hezekiah, that he would die.

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of
Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because
you are going to die; you will not recover." Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to
the Lord (2 Kings 20:1,2).

Calls to repentance and calls to practical holiness are based on a word concerning the future;
the vision of wrath to come is the basis of a present seeking of the mercy of God.

Prophets must know God and understand the world and bring God's revelation to bear to
show people where it is going. They should show people what to do next.

History becomes revelation because there was added to the historical situation a man
prepared beforehand to say what it meant. The prophets were not left to struggle with the
meaning of events as or after they happened, they apprehend them beforehand and were
warned by God of their significance.

Almost every prophet first appears as a foreteller.

Repentance and practical holiness are based on a word concerning the future; the vision of
wrath to come is the basis of a present seeking of the mercy of God; the vision of bliss to
come is a call to a walking in the light now.

Prophets see more than others the continuing influences that issue from the past and
profoundly affect the present and the ultimate future. They see the continuum, the unbroken
span of past, present and future as few see it.

7. Direction and Guidance

Prophets bring the word of the Lord to the church. Christians can get so caught up in the
events of the world that they do not see what God is doing. This is particularly true in
tumultuous times, when it can be very hard to see the hand of God at work. Prophets will give
direction and vision in these situations, so that God's people know what is happening, and
what they should do. For example, the prophet Gad provided guidance to David and showed
him how to avoid trouble.

But the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah."
So David left and went to the forest of Hereth (1 Sam 22:5).

Prophets can give direction to those who are seeking the will of God. Sometimes the
prophetic word will be for the church as a whole or for the leadership of the church.

The Prophet admonishes, warns, directs, intercedes, teaches and counsels. Far more
importantly he stands at the walls to see what the Lord is doing that he may call the body to
respond (Sanfords).

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A prophet is called to stand in the councils of the Lord. He stands before the living God.
Having stood before God he is sent to stand for God, before his people and speak his word
(Tom Marshall- The Coming of the Prophets).

To prophesy is to communicate the mind and heart of God to a person, a group of people or a
territory; therefore, prophecy is linked with the promise of God over our lives. God's promise
is an announcement of His plan of salvation and blessing to His people. A promise embraces
both declaration and deed. God's promise begins with a declaration by God and covers His
future plan. (Chuck Pierce - The Future War of the Church).

Personal prophecy must be treated with caution. The gift of prophecy is not usually directive,
so it is dangerous to make life changing decisions on the basis of a prophecy uttered by a
person who has not been recognised as a prophet. Prophets will sometimes give direction, but
generally this should come as a confirmation of something that God has already spoken to the
person concerned. God wants to lead his people by his Spirit. He desires that every believer
should learn to hear the Spirit's voice. A message from a prophet should normally come as a
confirmation of something that the Spirit has already spoken.

Getting confirmation from a prophet before we act can be really encouraging, but we need to
be very careful. A personal prophecy can be misleading if we have let our own plans and
desires control our thinking. Ezekiel gives a surprising warning about this.

When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his
face and then goes to a prophet, I the Lord will answer him myself in keeping with his great
idolatry (Ezek 14:4).

If a person has let something that they want to do become an idol of their heart, God may
prophesy to them what they want to hear. If the person acts on the prophecy, it will lead to
disaster. God does this to reveal the idol and recapture the person's heart. This means that we
must be careful with personal prophecy. If a prophecy confirms what we want to do, it may
just be a sign that we have made our own plans into an "idol in our hearts".

Making important decisions on the basis of a word from another person is dangerous. It is
wrong to be totally dependent on others for guidance. Many Christians have been led astray
because they failed to get their own word from God. (John Bevere provides excellent advice
on how to handle personal prophecy in his book Thus Saith the Lord.)

The major thrust of these servants was to declare God's heart to his people, pricking their
hearts that they might Return to His ways. The purpose of all of His prophets sent to Israel
and Judah. In fulfilling this they may have spoken of things to come or given a personal word
to an individual. However, these were minor components of their ministry, which helped to
accomplish the major. Too often we are deceived or led astray by majoring on that on which
God minors, while minoring on that on which God majors. It would seem that the emphasis
of today's prophetic ministries is focused on the minor, the giving of personal prophecy and
foretelling of the future. We've drawn our definition of a prophet from limited and specific
scriptures rather than stepping Back to capture the overall picture. An erroneous view of a
prophet has left the church vulnerable to deception (p.32).

Christian prophets do not tell people what to do, they confirm what God is saying. To go to a
Christian prophet for direction and guidance is to violate the New Covenant which gives us

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direct access and approach to God through Christ by the Spirit (Graham Cooke - Developing
Your Prophetic Gifting p.199).

Telling the people what they want to hear at the expense of what they need to hear weakens
the church. It causes people to seek the gifts and manifestations to the neglect of pursuing the
character of God.

For far too long the prophetic has only been seen as a blessing ministry. Prophets come into
the church, take a few meetings, bless people and then move on (Graham Cooke -
Developing Your Prophetic Gifting p.272).

8. Interpreting Dreams and Visions

An important aspect of the prophetic ministry is interpreting dreams and visions. God often
speaks in dreams to people who are not listening. We must learn to interpret these to
understand what he is saying. Prophets are sometimes skilled in interpreting dreams.

This is that time in history in which God is raising His prophets for His end-time purposes.
"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you... (Deuteronomy 13:1)," makes it
unequivocal that the Lord regards prophets and dreamers as one and the same. Unfortunately,
the Body of Christ, for the most part, has not yet grasped that. It is imperative that at least His
prophets, and hopefully the entire Body, come to comprehend how important this aspect of
prophets' equipment actually is, and that all His prophets become adept both in having their
own dreams and in interpreting theirs and those of others.

Daniel was a prophet who was skilled in interpreting dreams (Daniel 2:1-28).

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God
of heaven and said: "Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are
his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to
the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what
lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my father: you
have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you
have made known to us the dream of the king" (Dan 2:19-23).

Dreams often include people and objects with which we are familiar used in symbolic ways.
We must not assume that they will be fulfilled literally. For example, Joseph saw the sun,
moon and eleven stars bowing before him. This was not literally fulfilled, but he eventually
saw his father and eleven brothers bowing before him. (Genesis 37:5-12; 40:5-22; 44:11-32).
Dreams should be interpreted like parables.

Kings and rulers will often hear God through dreams. Prophets can help them to understand
what God is saying.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of Kings (Prov
25:2).

Those particularly gifted with dreams, visions, prophecies and revelation need to be careful
not to think of themselves too highly, as being the prophetic group. They serve only one
dimension of the church's greater calling as a prophetic community.

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John Paul Jackson has good teaching on the interpretation of dreams.

9. Correction and Admonition

There is also a negative side to the ministry of the prophet. This can be seen in the calling of
Jeremiah:

See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and
overthrow to build and to plant.

Four of the six expressions used by God to describe Jeremiah's ministry are negative. God
often has to up root and tear down, destroy and overthrow, before he can begin to plant and
build. Prophets co-operate with God in breaking down all that is not built on the true
foundation. They do this by announcing his judgement. At the same time they watch over all
that God is building to see that it is built according to his Word. This is an awesome task but
God cannot complete his restoration work until the prophetic ministry is restored.

Two thirds of his work was therefore in the direction of destruction. It is not pleasant or easy
work (F.B Meyer - Jeremiah p.109).

It was Jeremiah's lot to prophesy at a time when all things in Judah were running down in a
final and mournful catastrophe, when political excitement was at its height and the most fatal
counsels prevailed. It was his stand in the way, over which his nation was pushing headlong
to destruction: to make an heroic effort to arrest it and to turn it back; and to fail and be
compelled to step to one side and see his own people, whom he loved with the tenderness of a
woman plunge over the precipice into the wide weltering ruin (Dr Moorehead).

Paul described a prophetic ministry that cut to the hearts of the people.

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is
prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the
secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God
is really among you!" (1 Cor 14:24,25).

When Jeremiah was first summoned to the work of prophet, it was summarised under six
distinct divisions. He was set over nations and to overthrow; to build and to plant (Jer 1:10).

No Compromise; that's a prophets heart when he sees the thing that needs to be opposed, and
hears God's word he is merciless (Art Katz - The Heart of a Prophet).

The leader is rarely a prophet who sounds the initial warning: he is an early listener who
obeys the prophet. The prophet's job is lonely. He is usually a one-man verbal demolition
team. He must attack the root of the evil, which goes very deep and affects everything. He
does not criticise this or that evil; he criticises the system that produced a forest of bad trees
and bad fruit. He is not a tree-trimmer; he is in the tree-uprooting business.

Elijah prayed a terrible prayer. But there is something far more dreadful than physical
calamities and suffering, namely moral delinquency and spiritual apostasy. This is very rarely
perceived. Desperate diseases call for drastic measures.

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Elijah was a confrontation prophet. God used him to confront the evils of his time.

One element of Christian compassion is outrage. If we see what is wrong as God sees it, we
feel about it as God feels it. Moses was outraged when he looked on the burdens of his
people. His nation was immature but his outrage was natural. In the time of the prophets, as
Israel's national decadence brought in its wake violent social injustice and inhumanity the
outrage of prophets is searing. Amos was furious when he saw the poor sold for the price of
shoes (Os Guiness).

The prophetic voice of Israel was primarily a word of judgement upon the people of God. So
the prophetic voice of the church must be a word which warns of impending judgement upon
the church. Warning to the world is secondary (Ez 3:5,21; Ez 33:7).

Amos was a prophet who understood the condition of his nation, and knew the issues in Israel
with which God took exception. It is not the worldly society, but God's people with whom
God is primarily concerned and with whom he will first enter into judgement.

Like most prophets, Amos was not welcomed in his own society. When a genuine prophet
arrives on the scene, he tends to make people uncomfortable. The people of Amos' day were
affluent and religiously devout- as well as being military secure and governmentally sound.
The last thing they wanted was a prophet to meddle their well-ordered lives.

10. Exposing Rotten Leadership

Rotten leadership has done terrible damage in the church. It has imparted sin (and perhaps
evil spirits) to hundreds and thousands of ordinary people who trusted their leaders and were
vulnerable because they submitted to them. When the leadership of a church is rotten, the
prophets should be exposing it.

The reality is that a prophet is not needed to expose most problems within church leadership.
The people who are close to the leader, usually know what is going on. The problem is that
they are too loyal to challenge the leader that they look up to. The prophet is usually the only
one tough enough to call the leader on their faults.

God has provided a way to protect leaders and people, but the church consistently refuses to
adopt it. Leadership incidents will only stop when the church goes Back to Balanced
Ministry, with churches led by a team of pastors, prophets and evangelists working together
in submission to each other. As long as we perpetuate the myth that one guy must be top dog,
embarrassing incidents will continue to shame the church and hurt innocent Christians. God
cannot protect his people from evil, while the leaders of his church refuse to adopt
the Spiritual Protection he has provided. Prophets should be exposing this problem.

11. Announcing Judgments

God raised up the prophetic ministry to speak to evil people and nations and warn them of
approaching judgments. God's purposes in judgment are clearer, if a prophet announces them
in advance.

The prophet's declaration and intercession gives God authority to deal with evil. When a
situation turns sour and God needs to take action, his prophetic announce God's

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condemnation of the evil. This prophetic declaration would give God permission to send
judgment event against the evil that the prophet had pronounced judgment against. The
prophet's declaration expresses God's judgment/verdict on the evil. God's action against the
evil represents his sentence against the evil.

Prophets and judgments go together. Without the prophets, God does not have authority to
bring preventive judgments against evil. Unless God sends judgments against emerging evil,
the prophets would be just crying in the wind. Prophets and judgments were God strategy for
constraining evil in the world.

The modern world thinks of judgment as a grumpy god going round wacking people.
However, most people in the world do not get justice. Their life is full of injustice. Various
empires and political leaders have promised to get them justice, but they ordinary people
never receive it. Fair judgment is good news for most people.

If we want to understand God's judgement we should read the Beatitudes. The poor will be
blessed. The rich will be disappointed, because they have already received their comfort.
Those who have had plenty and privilege might miss out.

12. Warning of Danger

When Paul was going up to Jerusalem the prophet Agabus warned him of danger that he
would face there (Acts 21:10,11). God often prepares his people in this way. The prophet is a
watchman, who warns God's people of coming trouble.

Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up
from the earth when there is nothing to catch? When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the
people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Surely the
Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets (Amos
3:5-7).

13. Interpreting the Signs of the Times

Jesus criticised the Jews because they could understand the weather, but they could not
interpret the signs of the times.

He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's
going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and
it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is
it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? (Luke 12:54-56).

Prophets must be able to understand the signs of the times and interpret them to the world.

The seer is one who has understanding of the times. This person has the ability to perceive
and discern the spiritual significance of a situation and can give the Lord's perspective on a
given situation. This person's strengths are giftings of illumination and discernment, though
they may or may not communicate what they see in any one set or particular manner. This
kind of prophet is extremely valuable as a watchman and intercessor in the midst of the
Church. (Jim Wies - Different Kinds of Prophets)

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Within the long, circuitous, often delayed progress in understanding, there were sudden
explosions of saving activity.. It is to the prophets that God revealed the coming and meaning
of such times; indeed from one point of view, the prophet may be described as the person
who, more than anyone else, knows what time it is (Robert - Banks - the Tyranny of Time
p.180).

If a prophet has no personal history with God, no spiritual depth to draw from, no deep root
in firm soil established over many seasons of Christian experience, how can the prophet
presume to speak from a position of revelation into what God is telling the Church today?
Furthermore, if a prophet cannot accurately interpret and read the signs of the present times;
if a prophet cannot correctly judge and precisely discern his own generation; if a prophet
cannot relate to what God is saying and doing in terms of present truth, how can the prophet
presume to speak of future events? (Chip Brogden - Prophetic Dissonance).

The prophet knows what time it is, knows what kind of time it is. He holds prophetic
understanding of the mentality and mood of this present time. He identifies and knows the
trends of a society by looking at its roots. He is able to analyse trends and upcoming events
by judging foundations. His words are a force against the mentality of the day (Lars
Widerberg - Aspects of the Prophetic Office - The Forthteller).

The seer is made able to read the spiritual climate. He is made able to identify the prevalent
motivational force. His role is to see through masks and veils of pretension, to expose man's
folly and evil, for the sake of seeing the poor and needy through. The watchman is set over
men's hearts to discern motivation, and to pray for and to call forth correction. The seer is set
over men's hearts to call them to heavenly living. The prophet is a seer. The basic nature of
his commission is observation and watchfulness. He is prone to contemplation and skilled in
the art of deduction. (Lars Widerberg - The Seer).

14. The Meaning of History.

Prophets have a role in explaining the meaning of history. When a culture loses an
understanding of its history, it loses its sense of direction. Clifford Hill has explained this
really well.

The church has been unable to give an effective lead in secular society due to the loss of a
sense of mission and direction. Without a clear sense of its own purpose, identity and destiny
the church has been powerless to influence an increasingly secular society. A major cause of
the church's loss of direction has been due to the lack of a clear concept of the meaning of
history. Mankind is crying out for an understanding of history. This is of fundamental
importance for grappling with the underlying issues concerning the meaning and purpose of
life itself. The church will never be able to satisfy the deepest longings of mankind and give a
lead to secular nations or point the way to creative policies promoting health, happiness and
the well-being of mankind until Christians recover an understanding of history (Clifford Hill
- Shaking the Nations p.21).

God's actions in human history had to be interpreted and this was one of the major roles of
the prophets (Clifford Hill - Shaking the Nations p.23).

The Bible reveals a God who has plans for the whole world, which cannot be thwarted. Once
God has announced his purposes nothing can stand against him or prevent him from fulfilling

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his word. This understanding of God as the Lord of history is something that has very largely
been lost by the western church. It has resulted in a powerlessness to declare the word of God
with prophetic power and conviction in the second half of the twentieth century when all the
nations have been shaken. When God stretches out his hand and says that the time has come
for a nation or a people, they can no longer stand (Clifford Hill - Shaking the Nations p.26).

God's plan for history is revealed through his prophets.

In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the
Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets (Eph 3:4,5).

15. Testing of Prophecy

Prophets are called to speak God's word. Another important part of their ministry, which we
need to see developed, is testing prophecy.

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said (1
Cor 14:29).

Part of the prophetic role is to sit and listen to prophecies and "weigh carefully" the words
that are spoken. This is something that two or three should do together. If a prophecy does
not get a consensus of support it should be discarded.

Testing prophecies is a very important aspect of the prophetic ministry. We are now hearing
more and more prophetic words being spoken to the church, but the quality is still very
mixed. Christians do not know which words they should take seriously. Many warnings of
disasters have not been fulfilled. This unclear sounding of the trumpet is producing confusion
in the church. The solution is for prophets to get more involved in testing of prophecies and
sorting out the wheat from the chaff. Churches that are moving in prophecy should set up
processes for this to happen.

16. Watchman

Some prophets are watchmen or men of vision who stand on the walls of the city of God to
see what God is doing. They look into the distance to see what is coming. They often see a
long way ahead. Several scriptures describe the role of the watchman.

The prophet, along with my God, is the watchman over Ephraim, yet snares await him on all
his paths, and hostility in the house of his God (Hos 9:8).

Ezekiel was called to be a watchman.

The word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them:
'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men
and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the
trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and
the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the
sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had
taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and

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does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one
of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman
accountable for his blood.' "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel;
so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, 'O
wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways,
that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you
do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin,
but you will have saved yourself. "Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you
are saying: "Our offences and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them.
How then can we live?" ' Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take
no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.
Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' (Ezek 33:1-11).

The prophet was called a watchman because he basically functioned in the spiritual realm just
as the literal watchmen did in the natural realm. The natural watchmen were stationed at
specific posts on the walls of the city that gave them the visibility to watch for the king or
other members of the nobility to announce their coming. They were also to look for enemies
from without, or disorder arising within the city, or camp of Israel.

The watchman should not be in the city eating and drinking with the townsfolk. He should be
out on the watchtower looking into the night (Ron McKenzie).

The watchman, like the eagle must be free to fly as he or she wills (in God) and to flow
prophetically in all the prophetic function and not be restricted by man. Without the freedom
to fly like an eagle the watchman will become a controlled, chained prisoner of the Church,
unable to report even abuse, error and sin seen within the church itself (Steve Snow - Eagle
Watchman Resources).

The true church could not have become the "institution" it has, if the watchmen had not been
rendered impotent (John Martin)

Elijah's servant needed to have his eyes opened to see the full reality of his situation. This is
something we all need.

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army
with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the
servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than
those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then
the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots
of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:15-17).

17. Challenging the Nation

The primary responsibility of the prophet is to speak to the people of God. He brings both
direction and correction to the Church. But a prophet may also be called to speak to his
nation. Many of the prophets of the Old Testament found themselves confronting kings, and
taking an important role in national affairs. Some also addressed their words to foreign
nations. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel each prophesied to the surrounding nations (Is 13-12,
Jer 46-51, Ezek 25-32).

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The church will always be the prophet's main concern, but this wider prophetic role urgently
needs restoring.

The prophets of Israel did not live in isolation -they were acutely aware of international
politics and the rise and fall of nations. Some of them pronounced messages against the
nations of their times. All of them were concerned about the world situation, and it was part
of their calling to issue prophecies against the other nations of the world (Milton Smith).

Having matured in their prophetic gifting through years of faithful obedience to God,
prophets will begin to operate on new levels of prophetic authority. Worldwide, prophets will
speak before civil governments, delivering powerful prophetic speeches to nations, literally
shaking their existing political foundations (Dennis Cramer - Prophetic Political Power).

The march of nations, the rise and fall of earthly powers, and the rule and reign of kings and
sovereigns all comes under the overview of God's heart for the earth. He sees the end from
the beginning (Graham Cooke - Developing Your Prophetic Gifting p.135).

18. Initiating God's Action

God does nothing without warning his people first. Part of the prophetic role is to release
God's activity by providing these warnings (Amos 3:7). Isaiah spoke of God stretching out
his hand according to his plan.

The Lord Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have
purposed, so it will stand... This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand
stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?
His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? (Is 14:24-27).

The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth
will see the salvation of our God (Is 52:10).

Prophetic hearts, not prophetic charts, will change the course of history and bring God's
prophesied will into actual effect.

19. Explaining What Must Be Done

Many prophets are warning of future disastrous events, but very few are explaining what God
is doing and how he will work through these events to bring change. Seeing from within the
dark cloud of events seem to prevents them from seeing what Jesus is seeing.

A related problem is that many Christians to enjoy warnings of judgement on the world, more
than they want strategies that would require them to take action to bring in the victory of
God.

God does not cause troubles and calamities; they are rooted in human evil or folly with a bit
of demonic mischief thrown in. During a judgement, God takes this human mess and works it
for good to achieve his purposes. One role of the prophet is to warn of troubles before they
come, so God's people can prepare. Their more important task is to explain what God is
doing through the event, so his people can participate in his purposes. Prophets can only

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accomplish the latter task, if they are standing outside the dark cloud of human events and
seeing with the eyes of Jesus.

When a prophet receives a warning of a calamitous event, their task has just begun. The next
step is to find out what God plans to achieve through the event, and his strategy for the
people who want to participate in his purposes during that event. We need more of eyes of
Jesus and less of the dark cloud.

According to Romans12:6, Christians with the gift of prophesying should prophesy in

proportion to their faith. Prophesying judgment to a nation in decline does not take much
faith. Prophesying the strategy by which God will use the judgement to change the nation and
bring a great victory takes much more faith. That is a challenge for modern prophets.

20. Theology

Prophets should be experts on God. Part of their role is to pass on theological and biblical
insights to the church. A prophet should also be a theologian.

Jeremiah was of all the prophets of the Old Testament, the supreme prophet of the human
heart... Jeremiah would have nothing from his hearers and readers but their hearts. Let other
prophets negotiate and send ambassadors as they pleased. Jeremiah, in season and out of
season, for a long lifetime laid siege to the heart of his hearers.

Seers are men of revelation. Seers are men of enlightenment. Seers are men of intellectual
maturity.

21. Healing the Sick

Some prophets are used in healing the sick. Elijah was a prophet who moved effectively in
the gift of healing. Elisha followed in his mentor's footsteps.

When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut
the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the
boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the
boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then
got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and
opened his eyes (2 Kings 4:32-35).

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill
and bring Back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy?
See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!" When Elisha the man of God heard that the
king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes?
Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman
went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a
messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be
restored and you will be cleansed." (2 Kings 5:7-10).

22. Appointing and Anointing Leaders

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In Old Testament times, God often used a prophet to appoint and anoint a king. Samuel
anointed Saul and then David as King. A prophet anointed Solomon as his successor.

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the
Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon.
Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they
sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!" (1 Kings 1:38-
39).

Elijah was told to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel (1 Kings 19:16).

The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him,
"Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead.
When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him
away from his companions and take him into an inner room. Then take the flask and pour the
oil on his head and declare, 'This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then
open the door and run; don't delay!" So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.
When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. "I have a message for you,
commander," he said. "For which of us?" asked Jehu. "For you, commander," he replied. Jehu
got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu's head and declared,
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I anoint you king over the Lord 's people
Israel.' " ..Then he opened the door and ran (2 Kings 9:1-10).

In a godly nation prophets may have a role in the appointment of political leaders. Prophets
also have a role in anointing other prophets for ministry

Anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. So Elijah went
from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and
he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him
(1 Kings 19:16, 19).

23. Advising Kings and Political Rulers

Prophets have a powerful role in providing advice to kings and rulers. When God wanted to
give guidance to a ruler, he often gave it through a prophet. David had the prophets Nathan
and Gad in his palace. They advised him about a whole range of matters.

After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies
around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the
ark of God remains in a tent." Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go
ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you." That night the word of the Lord came to Nathan
Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation (2 Sam 7:1-4,17).

But the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah."
So David left and went to the forest of Hereth (1 Sam 22:5).

David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord,
"I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of
your servant. I have done a very foolish thing." Before David got up the next morning, the
word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David's seer: "Go and tell David, 'This is

17
what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out
against you.' " So Gad went to David and said to him, "Shall there come upon you three years
of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you?
Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer
the one who sent me." David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of
the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men." (2 Sam 24:10-
14).

A prophet advised Ahab as he went into battle.

Meanwhile a prophet came to Ahab king of Israel and announced, "This is what the Lord
says: 'Do you see this vast army? I will give it into your hand today, and then you will know
that I am the Lord.' " "But who will do this?" asked Ahab. The prophet replied, "This is what
the Lord says: 'The young officers of the provincial commanders will do it.' " "And who will
start the battle?" he asked. The prophet answered, "You will".. The king of Israel advanced
and overpowered the horses and chariots and inflicted heavy losses on the Arameans.
Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "Strengthen your position and see
what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again. The man of
God came up and told the king of Israel, "This is what the Lord says, I will deliver this vast
army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord. The Israelites inflicted a
hundred thousand casualties on the Aramean foot soldiers in one day (1 Kings 20:13-29).

Elisha provided guidance to the army of Israel that frustrated it's enemies.

The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the
Arameans are going down there." So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the
man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such
places. This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them,
"Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" "None of us, my lord
the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of
Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom" (2 Kings 6:9-12).

24. Historian

Some prophets are historians. Their interest in the future rolls over into an interest in history.
Many of the historic books of the Old Testament were written by prophets who recorded the
works of God.

The other events of Uzziah's reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah
son of Amoz (2 Chron 26:22).

The other events of Abijah's reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the
annotations of the prophet Iddo (2 Chron 13:22).

As for the events of King David's reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records
of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer,
together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him
and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands (1 Chron 29:29,30).

25. Guiding Angels

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Angels are ministering spirits sent to serve God's children (Heb 1:14). They are sent by God.
They serve God's people.

The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all. Bless the
LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His
word. Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You ministers of His, who do His pleasure. (Psalm
103:19-21).

Angels are created for obedience. They do not have the frienship with God that is opened up
to us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Angels often do not know as much about what
is on the Father's heart as we do. They often "excel in strength", far more than they excel in
wisdom and decision making.

Angels move between heaven and earth. When they are in heaven, they know what God is
doing, because his Kingdom is established there. When they are on earth, they are dependent
on other messengers from heaven to keep them up-to-date with what God is doing.

Angels are sent to earth tp serve us, but as events change develop, they often do not know
what to do next. They sometimes have to wait for our prophetic declarations before they
know what to do. When they hear the Holy Spirit's word through us, they do it. They
recognise his voice and obey it. They listen to a prophetic word and work to accomplish it.
That is one reason why God does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the
prophets (Amos 3:7).

Speaking in the language of angels is good (1 Cor 13:1), because it helps the angesl to hear
what the Holy Spirit is saying.

Levels of Activity

Prophets can minister at different levels.

1. People

Some prophets specialise in speaking to individual people. Personal prophecy provides:

oguidance
ocorrection
2. Church

Other prophets speak primarily to their church. As they develop in this ministry, they may
also speak into other churches. Prophets provide a church with:

o guidance
o vision
o warnings
o purity

Loren Cunningham said that pastors are like wet cement. They are very accepting and draw
everything together. He said that prophets are like reinforcing steel. They give the concrete
strength by keeping it pure. A strong building needs both cement and steel.

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 3. The Nations

Some people will be called to be a prophet to their nation. They may also develop to speak to
other nations. A prophet to a nation provides:

o advice to rulers
o interpretation of God's law
o warning of judgement

It is for this reason that the prophets so often appear in the presence of rulers. It would
sometimes seem as though they were primarily sent to kings. For through the king, they
might best influence the welfare of the nation. Hence also their closeness to the priest. It
would be a grave mistake, however to assume that, because of the great interest of the
prophets in the monarchy, they were themselves primarily politicians. Their political activity
is always subservient to a religious end. They did serve as the counsellors, but they did so in
order that the theocratic kingdom might prosper (Edward J Young - My servants the Prophets
p. 82).

Daniel would be an example of a prophet of government. His prophecies spoke of

monumental changes in world order. There are just such prophets today. Some of these
prophets are actually in governmental positions. I have found that God places His gifts in
people from all walks of life. Prophets seem to be sent to various institutions of society, such
as legal, educational and governmental offices. Governmental prophets may not give as many
personal prophecies. They also understand trends and are watchmen on the wall for their
nations (Cindy Jacobs - The Voice of God p.223).

The prophetic institution as such may be regarded as the guardian of this theocracy. The
prophets were to build upon the foundation of the Mosaic Law, and to expound that law unto
the nation. They would thus be the preservers and defenders of the principles upon which the
theocracy had been founded by God (Edward J Young - My servants the Prophets).

Q. 2. The Bible’s answer (Prophecy)

A prophecy is a message inspired by God, a divine revelation. The Bible says that prophets
“spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20, 21) So a prophet is one
who receives God’s message and transmits it to others.—Acts 3:18.

How did prophets receive information from God?

God used several methods to transmit his thoughts to his prophets:

 Writing. God used this method in at least one case by directly supplying to Moses the Ten
Commandments in written form.—Exodus 31:18.
 Oral communication through angels. For example, God used an angel to instruct Moses
about the message he was to deliver to Pharaoh of Egypt. (Exodus 3:2-4, 10) When precise
wording was crucial, God directed angels to dictate his message, as he did when he told
Moses: “Write down these words, because in accordance with these words, I am making a
covenant with you and with Israel.”—Exodus 34:27. *

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 Visions. These were sometimes given while the prophet was awake and fully conscious.
(Isaiah 1:1; Habakkuk 1:1) Some were so vivid that the recipient participated in them. (Luke
9:28-36;Revelation 1:10-17) At other times, visions were conveyed while the recipient was in
a trance. (Acts 10:10, 11; 22:17-21) God also transmitted his message by dreams while the
prophet slept.—Daniel 7:1; Acts 16:9, 10.
 Mental guidance. God guided the thoughts of his prophets to convey his message. This is the
sense of the Bible’s statement: “All Scripture is inspired of God.” The phrase “inspired of
God” can also be rendered “God-breathed.” (2 Timothy 3:16; The Emphasised Bible) God
used his holy spirit, or active force, to “breathe” his ideas into the minds of his servants. The
message was God’s, but the prophet selected the wording.—2 Samuel 23:1, 2.

Does prophecy always involve foretelling the future?

No, Bible prophecy is not limited to foretelling the future. However, most messages from
God relate to the future, even if only indirectly. For example, God’s prophets repeatedly
warned the ancient Israelites about their evil ways. Those warnings described the future
blessings if the people would heed the warning, as well as the future calamity if they refused.
(Jeremiah 25:4-6) The actual outcome depended on the course that the Israelites chose to
follow.—Deuteronomy 30:19, 20.

Examples of Bible prophecies not involving predictions

 On one occasion when the Israelites asked God for help, he sent a prophet to explain that
because they had refused to obey God’s commands, He had not helped them.—Judges 6:6-
10.
 When Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman, he revealed things about her past that he could
have known only by divine revelation. She recognized him as a prophet even though he had
made nopredictions about the future.—John 4:17-19.
 At Jesus’ trial, his enemies covered his face, hit him, and then said: “Prophesy! Who is it that
struck you?” They were not calling for Jesus to foretell the future but for him to identify by
divine power who had hit him.—Luke 22:63, 64.

Unit II

II. (A, B, C) Prophecy (Origin and Development, Forms and Formation) and
Prophets (Cult, Ecstatic Prophets) in Israel
1.0. Introduction
Prophets and prophecy were part of the life of the Israelite community. Prophets were the
servants of God who communicated God’s message to the people of God. They played a
major role in the socio-cultural-religious life of the people of God. God encouraged,
convicted, warned, appreciated, blessed and destroyed through prophets and prophecy. In this
paper an attempt has been made to discuss in brief about the prophets, their psychology, their
origin and development, their forms and formation into books.

2.0. Ecstasy

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 The word ecstasy is usually understood to refer to a type of trance behavior marked
by psychological and physiological symptoms such as reduction of sensitivity outside stimuli,
hallucinations or visions, a garbled perception of surrounding events, and an apparent loss of
conscious control over speech and actions. The intensity of ecstasy and its specific
characteristics vary depending on the individual being possessed and the group in which
possession occurs.

2.1. Ecstatic Prophets

It is likely that some of Israel’s prophets were ecstatic. Sometimes ecstatic behavior in
Israel was incapacitating or dangerous (1. Sam 19:18-24, 1 kings 18:26-29), but at least in the
case of those prophets who wrote, ecstasy appears to have involved controlled actions and
intelligible speech (Jer. 4:19, 23:9; Ez. 1:1-3:15). The narratives about ecstatic prophets show
that the ecstatics were mostly seized by the ruah spirit of God. In pre-exilic time ruah is a
power which seizes on the self, transporting it into ecstasy, enthusiasm, frenzy, making a
person capable of psychological and physical acts which would seem inconceivable in a
normal state. If a nabi is seized by the ruah, he may be swept away by it, so that no one can
follow him (I kings 18:12). But it can also lay hold on a whole collection of prophets. Then
they shout and dance until they tear the clothes from their bodies and lie naked all night under
the stars (I Sam. 19:23ff). At the same time, the ruah does not act in blind rage. The wind
sings its song, and the person who is seized by the ruah breaks into words, into singing,
shouting yet poetical words. Out of ecstasy there finally emerges the prophecy, which is
directed to the people, bringing them a dabar, a saying of Yahweh. This phenomenon of
prophecy has different degrees.

The attitude of the people towards the phenomenon of ecstatic prophecy is a mixed
one. On the one hand, as the phenomenons of ecstatic prophesy seemed to be a strange thing
in Israel, it was held in contempt (1 Sam 10:9-12, 19:20-24). On the other hand, the Israelites
revered them.

3.0. Prophets and Cult

The very foundation of Israel’s life was its covenant relationship to Yahweh which
was affirmed through certain cultic rites. As such Israel’s religion was cultic in expression
from the earliest period. The cult was from the beginning the tangible expression of the faith
of Israel. Israel’s understanding of her own divine creation in the exodus event was very early
culticizied in the Passover.

22
 Prophets were cultically institutionalized and regularly discharged certain cultic
professional functions. The prophets were familiar with the ritual and meaning of the cultus;
that they sometimes spoke in language borrowed from it; that they even quoted directly from
its rituals, prayers, and liturgies; and that the role and meaning of the cultus was itself in turn
influenced by prophetic interpretation. But it does not at all necessarily follow that the great
OT prophet was a “cult” or “guild” prophet, a member of an “association” of cult prophets
official and professionally related to the cultic institution in manner and degree comparable to
the priest. Form critical studies have further confirmed the prophets’ cultic orientation,
several shorter prophetic writings (Habakkuk, Nahum and Joel) have been interpreted as
virtually or totally or in significant part produced out of cultic influence, in the liturgical style
of the cultic ritual.

But the cult which played a very important role in the shaping of the religious life of
the people, failed to achieve its end of making known to the people the true knowledge of
Yahweh. The cult was at the whim of the king and it could not express the demands of the
covenant law. The Israelites when they settled in Canaan adopted and borrowed much from
Canaanite practices of cult and the types of sacrifice. The cult which had become concretized
with the rites and practices of Canaanite cult failed to uphold the demands of the covenant
law.

When the prophets saw the failure of the cult in carrying out the demands of the
covenant law, the prophets of 8th and 7th centuries BCE intervened to reawaken the
knowledge of the covenant really meant and in doing so they attacked and criticized the
contemporary worship of the sanctuaries. Amos, the ‘prophet of social justice’ saw the cult
was a poor substitute of practicing justice and righteousness and that Yahweh was not pleased
with all external forms of religious activities done without sincerity. Hosea strongly attacked
the northern religious practices. The Canaanite worship with its emphasis upon fertility and
power of correctly performed rituals to achieve divine blessings were tended to be
emphasized and enforced and thus rebelling against Yahweh by making and using Idols (Hos
4:17; 13:2, 14:8) which was strictly forbidden in the covenant forms. The prophets rejected
sacrificial worship of the shrines on account of the cult’s failure to accord with the nature and
demands of the covenant. These expressions of prophetic impatience with or even intolerance
of the cults is not of cultic practice per se, but of the cults in its present guise-the even
enthusiastic performance and perpetuation of formalized, regularized, prescribed outward

23
acts of piety unsupported by the qualities of justice and righteousness revealed as at once the
character and demand of very Yahweh upon whom the whole cults centres.

II (B) Origin and development of prophecy in Ancient Israel

Prophets were the accredited teachers of the people, whose work and privilege it was to
declare the word of God. But whence they originated and how they reached that unique
position are questions which cannot be answered with certainty. In almost the earliest books
of OT we find them existing as though a matter of course. It had been the general idea that
prophecy was a unique phenomenon in Israelite religion till it was discovered that prophecy
was a common phenomenon in the ancient west Asia. Israelite prophecy served a definite
function in the life of a larger whole, contributing to the dynamic process. Individuals who
function as intermediaries and who are known as prophets began to appear at the time that
Israel adopted statehood as its form of government.

Scholars do not have a consensus concerning when did prophecy exactly begin in Israel.
Holscher is of the opinion that the Israelites adopted and imitated prophecy of the ancient
oriental world. This was propounded by [Link] Rad, that when Israel came in contact with the
surrounding nations and as they often adopted other religious practices, they adopted it and
modified it for Yawishtic religion as such it was not originated with Israel. Eichrodt on the
other hand proposed that prophecy was an unique phenomenon to ancient Israel, and it was
originated with Yahwishtic religion, even though it was existing among other nations, it is not
possible to regard it as adaptation from other nations. These biblical passages Deut. 34:10,
Exod. 15:20, Judges 4:4 indicate that prophecy was already known during the period of
Moses. With monarchy, prophecy and prophets gained importance. Where common sense
was not enough nabi was approached in an attempt to find out what God had to say. This
information was even more urgently required in nationally vital events-in military
expeditions, or famine. An Israelite king never waged a war without having a nabi beside
him. The prophets were even more concerned with the appointment and deposition of kings
than they were with war. In Yahweh’s name they designated canditaes for the throne and saw
to it they were deposed again if necessary, e.g. the very Samuel who enthroned Saul as King
dethroned him and made David the new king.

II (C) Forms of prophetic speech

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 As part of their characteristic behaviour, some prophets may have used stereotypical
speech patterns and shaped their oracles in certain traditional ways. In addition to using
speech patterns that seem to be primarily prophetic, Israel’s prophets employed specialized
language drawn from various spheres of Israelite life. For example, from the courts they took
legal language and formed trial speeches that mirrored judicial proceedings (is. 1; Mi. 6;
Jer.2; Is. 41:1-5, 21-29). From temple they took priestly instruction and liturgical fragments
and incorporated them into prophetic oracles. They spoke in poetry, and some of the poetry
that the prophets created is virtually unmatched in world literature. On the other hand, some
of the sayings are cryptic, or crabbed, or too tied to a particular setting for them to offer a
clear meaning today. There are abundant examples of other borrowings from varied kinds of
activities with specific speech patterns. Songs and parables were also imitated by various
prophets. Even the funeral service seems to have contributed a frequent form used by the
prophets, the “Woe” oracle. They also used the “reproach and threat” form, “because you
have done this evil, therefore, thus says the Lord, disaster will come upon you.

Formation of Prophetic books

A marked feature of the postexilic age is the growth of official or semiofficial

versions of older writings, which gradually moved in the direction of becoming “Holy
Scripture.” At first perhaps these were revered by particular groups, but in due course they
became part of the shared heritage of all Jews. It is usually thought that exile itself provided
the initial impetus toward the collection and codification of prophetic writings. The process
by which the prophetic books were compiled was almost infinitely complex, but it involved
at least three separate elements. First, the authentic utterances of the prophets were arranged
in order, sometimes chronologically, sometimes thematically. Secondly, narratives about the
prophet, which might or might not be of any historical value, were added. And thirdly, further
oracles which had no original connection with the prophet in question were appended or
worked into the earlier collection, until the ordinary reader could no longer discern the
difference.

Conclusion

Though the exact time of origin of prophecy cannot be determined, it is very clear that
prophecy existed even before formation of statehood of Israel. The people of God in Israel
was guided by the Prophets who brought forth the message of God to the people. They spoke
using different literary genres of the time and they are continuing to speak to the people of
God irrespective of time and space.

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II (D) Prophecy in Ancient West Asia

Introduction:
There have been certain debates on the understanding of the prophets in Old Testament and the
phenomenon of prophesy that existed at that time not only in Israel but also in its surrounding region
of Ancient West Asia concerning their nature of evolvement and the roles that they played in the
society Certain extra biblical findings have drawn light to it which we will try to explore in the paper
besides trying to understand the old testament prophets through the role that they play, their social
locations and the titles that were designated to them. Besides in this paper we will also attempt to look
into the recent discussions of the prophets based on postcolonial feminism, political and liberative
perspectives.

1. Prophesy and divination in Ancient West Asia and significant archaeological findings from
Mari, Ebla and elsewhere; similarities and dissimilarities with prophesy in Ancient Israel.
Prophesy and divination existed long before Israel was formed as a nation. It existed not only among
the Israelites but also among other neighboring nations of Israel in Ancient West Asia. In the
following lines we will discuss the prophesy and divination in Ancient West Asia which are supported
by archaeological findings, and we will then explore some of the similarities and dissimilarities of it
with that of Ancient Israel.

1.1. Prophesy and divination in Ancient West Asia and significant Archaeological findings from
Mari, Ebla and other places
Prophesy is human transmission of supposedly divine messages. Prophesy is also revealing of ‘divine
will to humans’, which is a distinctive branch of the consultation of the divine which is generally
known as divination. Prophesy is a form of divination but is of non inductive kind, that is, it does not
employ methods based on ‘systematic observations and their scholarly interpretations’ but act as
mouth pieces of gods whose messages they communicate. They convey their messages orally or in
writing or both. It was not a gender-specific role. Prophecy is cross-cultural, being observable in
various cultural environments throughout human history. The most noteworthy examples in Asian
West Asia are that of Mesopotamia, Mari, Neo-Assyrian Empire and Syria Palestine. 1 They are
briefly discussed below:

1.1.1. Prophesy in Mesopotamia

The importance of divination in Mesopotamia is indicated by the relatively large number of tablets
that deal with the omens or related matters. Since the Old Babylonian Period (ca.1894-1595 B.C.E)
the Scribes have been collecting and systematizing certain types of omens which continued
throughout Babylonian and Assyrian history. Because the Mesopotamians considered all events as
potentially ominous and different divinatory techniques were used to communicate ‘the will of the
gods’. One major source of Omens has been that of the Scribes catalogue which recorded all sorts of
unusual occurrences together with the events that accompanied them. These catalogues presumably
served as manuals that could be used by future diviners.2

1.1.2. Prophesy in Mari letters:

1
[Link], “Prophets, Prophesy” in T. Desmond Alexander and David W. Baker, eds.,“Dictionary of the Old
Testament: Pentateuch” (Inter Varsity Press: USA)p-663
2
Robert [Link], “Prophesy and Society in Ancient Israel” (Fortress Press: Philadelphia,1984)p-91

26
 1934/35, when A. Parrot discovered the archives of the kings of Mari 3 which was an important city-
state in the middle Euphrates it gave a good resource to study about prophesy. Mari letters for decades
have formed the primary extra biblical evidences for prophesy. Prophetic words were found in the
excavations of the eighteenth century B.C.E. achieves. 4 The prophetic message varies from
admonition to pay more attention to the cult of the respective god and to oracles concerning military
actions of the king. 5 There were various types of oracular speakers at Mari in relation to their relation
to the larger society and their social functions. They could be divided into two general groups-a)
individuals having special titles b) individuals with no particular title and who play less defined social
roles. Some of the tiles and oraculars without a title are discussed below:
a) Apilu (the feminine of Apilu is Apiltu): the designation of Apilu/Apiltu means “answerer”
suggesting that they give answers put to the deity though it needn’t necessarily be only that way. They
seem to have exhibited no unusual behavior apart from delivering rational messages. Some apilus
represented personal god. They delivered oracles in the temples, palace gate or messages were send
even through letters. However, they were peripheral to Mari’s central social structure and were not
always viewed positively in the royal establishment as at times they were intermediaries who seek to
improve their own status or social change or even seek to obtain royal favor for the deities and cults
represented by them.
b) Muhhu ( the feminine of Muhhu is Muhhutu): this designation means “to go into trance”. When
they were in trance in some cases there were indications of violent and at times uncontrolled behavior.
In some circle their behavior were considered irrational and destructive and seen as some form of
insanity. However, this behavior varies from group to group. The trance state didn’t affect them to act
rationally and speak coherently. Their relation to the central social structure of Mari was that they
were at the periphery though some of them were central cultic participants entitled to supplies some of
which came from the royal court. They were also regarded favorably in the Assyrian royal court. They
settled within cultic centers and were restricted to the temple.
c) Assinu: they were cultic personnel of goddess Ishtar who acted in certain stereotype ways. They
were eunuchs, homosexuals, transvestite, or male cult-prostitute. When individuals were possessed
by a deity of the opposite sex, they act and speak in ways appropriate to the possessing deity.
Nowhere else are they portrayed delivering oracles. However, they gave cultic responses, sang special
songs and performed dances. In other words they have specific roles to play in cultic settings. Their
social relation to the central social structure is unclear. They were peripheral in relation to the central
cult. They were concerned with the stability of the central government and protection of the king.
Thus their messages were usually seen as attempts to gain favor from the king.
d) Qabbatum: means “speaker”. Qabbatum played a peripheral role to the central cult and spoke in the
name of Dagan of Terqa, and had special hairstyle and dress.
e) Nabu: means diviner. This title has been regarded as related to Hebrew. Nabu is related to King
who gives divine oracle of god even to king.
f) The Oracular speaker without a title: thirteen of the oracular speakers at Mari have no particular
title related to their revelatory activities. Majority of them received their messages in dreams. Even
where the actual message came in the temple, the recipients describe it as being received in a dream.
Dreams were an acceptable means of revelation. They seem to lack social status. Eight of them were
women who presumably had less social and religious influence then men in the patriarchal society of
Mari. Several of these men and women were servants.

3
[Link], “Ancient Near Eastern Text relating to the OT,3rd Edition, Princeton,1969,26:38ff” in [Link],
“The People of God in the Old testament” (Lakshi Publisher’s & Distributors: New Delhi,2012)p-250-251.
4
[Link].,Martti Nisiinen…p-13
5
[Link].,[Link]…p-250-251.

27
1.1.3. Prophesy in Neo-Assyrian Period
After the Old Babylonian period, there are no reports of prophetic figures until Neo-Assyrian times
that are from the 7th Century B.C.E. onwards. Some sources suggest that it was part of the West
Semitic language religion and was able to exist only at the fringes of the society. In contrast, Neo-
Assyrian sources show them operating in the Assyrian royal court and that it became part of the core
cultural tradition of Mesopotamia. It is unclear if the shift took place gradually or it was Western
influences in Assyria. During the Assyrian time the title used was mahhu. However, in neo-Assyrian
period several other titles came out. Raggimu (feminine name for it is raggintu) it means “caller” or
“shouter”. Their social roles are obscure though they operated in cultic contexts. Sabru was another
title meaning “to show, to reveal” which is used specifically in connection with dreams and visions.
Their messages usually came through dreams. The last title is selutu specifically a woman dedicated
to the service of a particular diety. She had regular cultic functions. Apart from individuals who had
titles there were also people who delivered oracles but were not professional intermediaries.

1.1.4. Prophesy in Egypt

Most of the figures that Prophesies were attributed in Egypt were not intermediaries and do not claim
to derive their messages from the supernatural world but there were evidences of direct contact with
the divine world. The oracles were given in response to enquiries and no elaborate rituals were
performed. Usually prophesies were thought to have come from the wisdom and perspective of the
speaker. Society played an important role in training certain types of intermediaries like the diviners.
They present prophesies to the king dealing with the future and sometimes with the present as well.
They affirmed traditional views of morality and government, sought to prevent rapid social change
and through them the gods dispensed oracles to maintain justice and stability of the society. They
formed the central part of the social structure.

1.1.5. Prophesy in Palestine and Syria

Inspite of the fact that Canaanites prophesy is sometimes thought to have been an important influence
on prophesy in Israel, there are few nonbiblical references to Palestine or Syrian intermediaries.
Earliest reference of it is the Report of Wen-Amon’s Journey, an Egyptian text published in 1899 was
for a long time the only non-biblical and the only Ancient Near East parallel that was found existing
to the phenomenon of OT prophesy. This text clearly describes an ecstatic who in the state of ecstasy
without being asked conveys the divine message in Phoenicia. This shows that the phenomenon of
ecstatic prophesy was known at that time. The Seers in Syria who were called as hzyn were similar
figures to the intermediaries that are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible who were known as hozeh. The
reference to Syrian intermediaries occurs in an Aramiac inscription of Zakir, the king of Hamath and
Luash which dates back to the end of the ninth century or the beginning of the eighth century. in the
North Eastern region the Ebla, Emar texts that were found are one of the important contributions to
the prophesy. Anabbi’atu and Munabiatu associated with prophetesses indicating the presence of
prophesy are mentioned.

1.2. Similarities and dissimilarities with prophesy in Ancient Israel

The phenomenon of prophesy existed in Ancient West Asia where Israel was a tiny part of it and all
these ideas penetrated through Israel. Most of the comparisons in Ancient West Asia and Israel are
made in the Mari Letters.

1.2.1. Similarities
*like the Prophets in the Old Testament the other prophets also communicated divine messages to
human beings.

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*majority of them spoke to authorities without asked
*in both cases, they are forced to speak by the gods.
*some of the revelation was through dreams and visions.
*their messages were directed towards the king.
*their messages sometimes were against other nations.
*they intermediated for social change.

1.2.2 Dissimilarities
*O.T. prophets were of intuitive type meaning their messages came to them as inspired words while
the other prophets were of inductive type where their messages came to them by reading obscure
objects or using systematic formulas.
* some of the prophets in went into trance and depicted violent and uncontrolled behavior but the Old
Testament prophets didn’t necessarily went into trance and depict such behavior.
*O.T. Prophesy was based on monotheism while the other prophets not necessarily did so.

2.0. Debate of the title ‘Prophet’, Role of prophets and Location of the prophets.
A prophet is one inspired by God through the Holy Spirit to deliver a message for a specific purpose.
God's calling as a prophet is not to elevate an individual for their own glory, but for the glory of God
and to turn people to God. The reception of a message is termed revelation and the delivery of the
message is termed prophecy.

2.1. Debate of the title: ‘Prophet’

The English word ‘prophet’ is derived from the Greek ‘prophetes’, a noun that means both, "one who
speaks forth" or "one who proclaims" and "one who speaks before" or "one who speaks of the future."
We will look at few prophetic titles used in the Hebrew Bible:
 The most common and frequent title used is ‘nabi’. Albright appeals to the fact that the verb
‘nabu’ means ‘to call’ so he concludes that ‘nabi’ means ‘one who is called (by God) or ‘one
who has a vocation (from God).
 Theophile J. Meek says that ‘nabhi’ is derived from the root word ‘nabu’ which means ‘to
speak’ and therefore the word ‘nabhi’ means ‘a speaker’ or ‘a spokesperson for God.
 Eduard Konig says that ‘nabhi’ is practically a synonym for ‘mouth’ so it means ‘speaker’.
 There are also attempts been made to derive the word from the Arabic ‘naba’a’ which means
‘to announce’.
 The title of ‘ro’eh’ is also used for the prophets which means ‘seer’. It is the extraordinary
insights that came to the prophets.
 Another title used for prophets is ‘hozeh’ which means ‘visionary’. It is the method of
reception by means of vision and dreams.
 It is also argued from Isaiah 30:10 that the ‘ro’eh’ (seer) and ‘hozeh’ (visionary/seer)
performed similar functions, and that the two words were practically synonyms. Both stress
the method of receiving, revelation, namely seeing.
 Konig makes an attempt to say that the two terms ‘ro’eh’ and ‘hozeh’ are not synonyms. He
believed that the root ‘hazah’ was applied only to the false prophets, whereas ‘ra’ah’ was
restricted to true prophets.
 One more title used for the prophets is ‘ish ha-elohim’ which means ‘the man of God’. It
refers to the person chosen by God for special service. They revealed the will of God.
These are few titles and the arguments on the title ‘prophets’

2.2. Role of the Prophets

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The most important characteristic and distinguishing features of prophetic consciousness was the
certainty of being called by God. This is an essential mark of true prophet. The legitimacy of true
prophets and the authority his message is established by his call. The prophet was certain that he/she
was called by God to carry out God’s task. This tells us that prophets had certain role to play, so we
will look at the roles of the prophets.

2.2.1. Visionaries
As the title ‘hozeh’ tells that prophets played the role of visionaries. The definition as visionaries to
the prophets arose asthe prophets reported their vision and their experience of the word of God. In a
sense it is correct to identify them in terms of their special experiences. We see that they never
emphasized the means of revelation but only on its content and reality. What God had told them to do
or say through vision was central message of the prophets.

2.2.2. Seer
The most common understanding of prophets is that they tell about the future. The prophets did not
predict but announced future events as divine intervention. The announcement may be of judgment or
of salvation. When judgment was announced they even gave reasons for it by listing the crimes of the
addressees. The salvation was announced as God’s initiative to save people. The prophet’s word was
the word of God, and thus powerful.

2.2.3. Preachers of repentance and change

Prophetic messages were a positive program to reform or change either society or the individual.
There are occasional calls for repentance as we see in Amos 5:6 ‘Seek the Lord and live, lest He will
break out like fire in the house of Joseph’. There are also times when the words of doom could
become part of admonitions and exhortations to change. There were also times when the words of
judgment would strike fear in the hearts of people that would lead to change.

2.2.4. Poets and speakers

This view was popular in the literary critical era of biblical scholarship, especially in Germany in 19 th
and 20th centuries, and is still found, for example in courses and books on the Bible as literature. The
prophetic words are indeed outstanding literature, filled with striking images, dramatic phrases,
captivating similes and metaphor, and most of their lines are in poetry or poetic prose.
The prophets were also speakers, and it is only with a generous definition of the term that what they
said can be called as speeches. They presented short, memorable addresses; many of them were no
more than two or three verses long. (It can be found in the book of Amos).

2.2.5. Giver of messages with powerful theological content

The prophets spoke of God, the world, and human nature. They were especially concerned about the
will of God, and the relationship of God to the nation and to individuals. The messages were for
particular situations, addressing the problems and so on. Prophetic theological motif is represented by
the frequent linking of two powerful terms: justice and righteousness. They refer to concrete and
specific actions of persons in relationships when they accord others what is due to them. They are the
foundations of society at its best.
The message of every prophet was based on the convection that Yahweh, the God of Israel, was also
Lord of all the earth and all history. Lord had established a covenant with Israel, was active in human
events, and communicated with human beings. God’s purpose was to save, but God could also judge
and punish wrong.
Thus the messages of prophets contained powerful theological content.

30
2.3. Social Location of the Prophets
In Ancient Israel prophets carried out their activities in all part of the society. However because of
prophet’s function to a certain extend depended on their social location, it is useful to identify
prophets according to their relationship to the society’s centers of social, political and religious power.
At the center of the social structure were prophets who may be identified as ‘central prophets’. They
carried out their activities in the context of the royal court or the central sanctuary, and individually or
as part of a prophetic group they performed the functions considered necessary by the establishment.
Because of their central social location, they enjoyed a certain amount of prestige and were
considered authoritative by Israelite leaders.
At the other end of the social spectrum were prophets who were located away from the centers of
power and carried out their activities on the fringes of society. They were considered authoritative
only by the small groups of supporters who shared their social location and theological views.
Peripheral prophets were usually dispossessed individuals who were accepted by the religious
establishment but enjoyed little social status or political power. In Israel prophets were located at
various points on the range that stretched between the society’s center and its periphery, and some
prophets changed their position on the range when there were alterations in the social structure.
Locating a particular prophet in the social spectrum was sometimes a subjective process, particularly
in the case of peripheral prophets. Because prophets with small support groups and little status had
minimal power, they could easily be classified as peripheral by the establishment and their messages
could be ignored. However, to the members of the prophet’s support groups played the crucial role of
articulating group values and concerns. For this reasons the prophets could be considered central by
the groups that supported them.
Biblical views on the social location of prophets thus often depended on the social location of the
people articulating those views.

3.0. Discussion of the prophets based on the political, liberation, feminist postcolonial by
reading of the prophets.

3.1. Prophetic role in Political life

According to biblical sources prophecy and kingship are parallel phenomena in Israel and coincided
almost in exactly in the same time. From the very beginning prophecy appeared in Israel in
association with politics and closely related in many ways, as such the prophets have very important
place and role in national life of Israel. Prophecy was partly stimulated by politics and kingship
exercised great influence on prophetic ministry. Samuel plays a vital role in the origin of kingship as
he anointed Saul the first king, and it was he who told him that Yahweh rejected Saul and anointed
David king in his place. Prophet Ahijah designated as king of the Northern Kingdom, and one of the
disciples of Elisha anointed Jehu a king( 2kgs 9:1-13), he also designated that a foreigner, Hazael, was
to be asking over Aram (2 kgs 8:7-15) Prophet Nathan and Gad seem to be entirely related to David
and His kingship.
The functions of early prophets were announced the oracles of judgment against the kings. Because
according to the concept of secret kingship the king was responsible for the wellbeing of the people. It
was regarded that the positive as well as negative actions of the king affected the entire community. In
the middle of 8th century BCE when with Amos he started to address the entire nation at large. The
task of prophet was to correct the kings and deliver message against their wrong doings, to form and
make right the conscience of the people not to dictate its politics. When prophets spoke oracles
against the kings of their evil deeds, their effort was to make kingship truly Israelite.

31
3.2. Liberation
The exodus event is the most important liberative act of God in the Old Testament. The exodus is the
fundamental biblical symbol for this prophetic-liberating tradition, but it is carried on by prophets and
by Jesus. The salvation offered in this central tradition is an alternative future, a new society of peace
and justice where there are no oppressed. God in this tradition is the God who denounces oppressors
and defends the oppressed.
For Ruether, Jesus continues the prophetic-messianic tradition; Jesus is seen as the political figures
that defends the lowly land judges the mighty. He models a leadership based on service to others, and
expects his followers to act in the same way so that the result can be mutual empowerment. In his
political action, in His defense of the oppressed, Jesus radicalizes the view of God’s reign that was
current at His time. For her the true church is the community of liberation from oppression, a
community where the spirit is present to empower us to renounce patriarchy, where a community
committed to the new life of mutuality is gathered together and nurtured and where the community is
spreading this vision and struggle to others.”

3.3. Feminist postcolonial

Postcolonial feminism is a subset of feminism that developed as a response to the fact that feminism
seemed to focus solely on the experiences of women in Western cultures. Postcolonial feminism seeks
to account for the way that racism and the long-lasting political, economic, and cultural effects
of colonialism affect non-white, non-Western women in the postcolonial world. Postcolonial
feminism originated as a critique of feminist theorists in developed countries. The critique points out
the universalizing tendencies of mainstream feminist ideas and the way that women living in non-
Western countries are misrepresented.
Postcolonial feminism has strong ties with indigenous movements and wider postcolonial theory. It is
also closely affiliated with black feminism because both black feminists and postcolonial feminists
argue that mainstream Western feminism fails to adequately account for racial differences.
Postcolonial feminism, black feminism, and other racially-conscious strands of feminism have
struggled to add racial and ethnic differences among women to the feminist dialogue.
The aim of the postcolonial feminist critique is to strive to understand the simultaneous engagement
in more than one distinct, but intertwined, emancipator battle. The hope of postcolonial feminists is
that the wider feminist movement will incorporate these vast arrays of theories, which are aimed at
reaching a cultural perspective beyond the Western world by using experiences of the feminists of the
Third World.
Women’s experience as the source and norm of feminist postcolonial and the common starting point
of feminist colonial is the experience of women of patriarchal oppression. Women have long been
experiencing oppression in various ways; they have suffered long under the social, religious and
stereotyping of their life. Hence they are classed as “oppressed or poor group”.
Judith Plaskow, summarizes women’s experience as “Women’s experience means simply this: the
experience of women in the course of a history never free from cultural roles of definitions”. It is
women’s feminist experience and historical experience that make women to raise the question of
womanhood, full humanity of women and to discover and recover the lost history of women. These
experiences made them to question who defined womanhood, humanity and who shaped theology. A
Christian feminist colonial tries to articulate adequately the Christian witness of faith from the
perspective of women and the oppressed groups. In traditional Christian feminist colonial, many
women have been non-persons, and also there have been many other non-persons, by race, by class,
or due to geographical factors.

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 Racism has a major role to play in the discussion of postcolonial feminism. In the past, mainstream
Western feminism has largely avoided the issue of race, relegating it to a secondary issue behind
patriarchy and somewhat separate from feminism. Race was not seen as an issue that White women
needed to address.
Postcolonial feminism attempts to avoid speaking as if women were a homogeneous population with
no differences in race, sexual preference, class, or even age. The notion of whiteness or lack thereof,
is a key issue within the postcolonial feminist movement. This is primarily due to the perceived
relationship between postcolonial feminism and other racially based feminist movements, especially
black feminism. In Western societies, racism is sometimes viewed as an institutionalized, ingrained
facet of society. Postcolonial feminists want to force feminist theory to address how individual people
can acknowledge racist presumptions, practices, and prejudices within their own lives and try to halt
their perpetuation through this awareness.

4.0. Conclusion
The Prophets in what age and social location they were in, and no matter what methods they
employed to receive and communicate the divine message to the humans, their role have been
consistent in all aspects. That is, their vocation was to respond to God and be responsible to and for
the world. They attempted to create awareness of the existent of God and their loyalty to God. They
also intermediated for social change that stood for a co-operate society rather than a self centred
individualistic society. They had moral decisiveness of courage.

Unit III Prophet: Person and practice

(A) Prophet call, Identity formations, praxis a critical intervention for the people and
radical empowerment of the people

Introduction

The Old Testament prophets were God’s messengers to Judah and Israel. They declared
God’s words to common men and women, wealthy kings and judges and large groups at
public events. The prophetic books are the written record of what the Spirit directed the
prophets to communicate to their audiences. Some prophets condemned those who oppressed
the poor while others provided spiritual answers for the difficult questions of everyday life.
God’s messengers challenged audiences to transform their behaviour so that they could enjoy
the blessing of God’s presence. In this paper we will make an attempt to focus on the Prophet
as person, call, practices and how the prophetic ministry empower the people especially the
marginalized with the help of Walter Brueggemann’s-“Responding to Crisis, Evoking
Crisis”.

1.0. The word “Prophet” and its formation

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The Hebrew designation for prophet in the Old Testament is nabi, while its Greek
correspondence is prophetes. The calling of a prophet in the Old Testament involved a
twofold role: forth-telling the word of the Lord concerning Israel and the nations for his own
time and foretelling the future. These two aspects focused on the divine calling of the
prophets to be the enforcers of God’s covenant with Israel. A call was not peculiar to the
prophetic task but it was relevant for the most sacred and most important role in society. It
was Divine inspiration was what made a person a prophet and what caused the prophet to
speak out and what made others listen to the prophet as a legitimate spokesperson for the
divine. A conception in the early period is that “the spirit of the Lord” speaks through the
individual (1 Samuel 10:10; 1 Kings 22:24). Later terminology preferred “the word of the
Lord came to” the person (Jeremiah 1:2, 4; Ezekiel 1:3). The prophet is the one who can
speak in the name of God.

Prophets came from all walks of life. Some seem to have a wide variety of experience and a
deep acquaintance with various aspects of life and work in Israel. They are given background
as varied as sheepherder, priest, agriculturalist, and scribe. They spoke where and when they
thought they would be effective. The Prophet’s person is of extreme importance and receives
considerable attention in the relevant literature. It is reported in autobiographical style that
not only initial election but also subsequent commission is reported. Such commission
include symbolic actions or in imagination especially by Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Zechariah. A Prophet can be either male or female (Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4, Isaiah 8:3, 2
Kings 22:14; Ezekiel 13:17, Nehemiah 6:14).

1.1. Prophetic practices critical intervenes in the life of the people or to empower them

The Prophets were commissioned to bring forth Yahweh’s message to Israel, foreign nations
and the universe as a whole. Their call implies consecration and preparation for prophetic
ministry.

Walter Brueggemann examines the witness of the prophets toward the nation of Israel
(specifically the monarchy) and applies that critique to our contemporary situation in the
church. He says “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a
consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the
dominant culture around us.”

Brueggemann views the radical break of Israel from Egypt through the actions of God
through Moses as the framing consideration of this alternative consciousness and community.
He views the drift in Israelite community toward the monarchy as a drift to a pre-Exodus
consciousness, a reversal of the liberating act of God in their past. The role of the prophet,
then, was to constantly recreate and nurture the new consciousness defined by Moses and the
Exodus.

[Link] Prophetic Ministry as critiquing dominant consciousness and institutions

According to Brueggemann Prophetic ministry is characterized by two actions; critique and

energizing. Critique is not simply aiming darts at something that we disagree with, but it is

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engaging the dominant powers of the day and declaring them to be unable to provide what
they claim to provide.
The Prophetic ministry consists of offering an alternative perception of reality and in letting
people see their own history in the light of God's freedom and his will for justice. The issues
of God's freedom and God’s will for justice are not always and need not be expressed
primarily in the big issues of the day. They can be discerned wherever people try to live
together and show concern for their shared future and identity. So these dimensions of
prophetic ministry arise from our study:

1. The task of prophetic ministry is to remind an alternative community that knows it is about
different things in different ways. And that alternative community has a variety of
relationships with the dominant community.

2. The practice of prophetic ministry is not some special thing done two days a week. Rather,
it is done in, with, and under all the acts of ministry-as much in counselling as in preaching,
as much in liturgy as in education. It concerns a stance and posture or a hermeneutic about
the world of death and the word of life that can be brought to light in every context.

3. Prophetic ministry seeks to penetrate the numbness in order to face the body of death in
which we are caught. Clearly, the detachment sometimes evokes from us rage and anger, but
the numbness is more likely to be penetrated by grief and lament. Death, and that is our state,
does not require indignation as much as it requires anguish and the sharing in the pain. The
public sharing of pain is one way to let the reality sink in and let the death go.

The Institution of Prophecy is to be regarded as a gift of God. God who raised up the
prophets and gave them their messages. They were not merely human of religious genius, nor
did they appear because Israel was a particularly religious nation. According to the picture
which they themselves give that Israel was a corrupt and backslidden nation, a people of evil
doers and hard of heart. The more one considers the character of the Israelites as that
character is presented by the prophets, the more wonders how sublime an institution could
have risen in the midst of such corruption.

2.0. Prophetic empowering as the total empowerment of the people, in particular, the
marginalized

The prophets whose revelations have been transmitted to us in the prophetic books were only
a small minority of the prophets who were active in Israel during the monarchy and the first
centuries after the deportation. In the same books mention is often made of contemporary
prophets and of those of earlier times. Amos says that before his days prophets had been
raised up in Israel by Yahweh. Jeremiah says that Yahweh had sent his servants the prophets,
early and late, from the day of the liberation from Egypt even to this day. Prophets were also
active among the exiles in Babylonia. The names of individual prophets other than the
canonical prophets have been preserved in the historical books as well as in the books of the
prophets. It is said that as long as Israel exists, prophecy will never expire. In the Messianic
age the spirit of prophecy will be poured out upon all the members of the elect people. In
tradition the term prophet was also applied to other persons who were endowed with special

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divine gifts: Abraham and the other patriarchs, Moses, Miriam, Deborah. The prophets are
regarded as the ‘eyes’ and the ‘heads’ of the people.

3.0. Moses authority to empower people

Moses was the leader who consider as a unique leader in history of the Biblical history. He
was not different from others but he had something which forced God to give him the
authority to Moses. In the beginning of his journey with God was the beginning of the leader
who gave his whole life to empower people as well as gave them a way through which they
can lead themselves to the promise land which was the ultimate goal of God as well as people
of God. Moses met God in a very different way which was wonderful and surprising for him
to understand God. God chose him not only to lead but also to fight for justice and against the
possessive authority which ultimately leads them towards the freedom of life is called
empowerment. In his 40 years in wilderness with the Israelite, he had faced many types of
problem, not only by the Pharaoh but also by the Israelite who were never had faith in him.
But he never lost his Faith on God that, God who had chosen him He/she will never forsake
him in the difficulties. He empowered people through the help of God.

3.0. Evaluation

Today we have some social issues which are continually threatening our society as well as
the Church itself. Especially issues like Dalit and women and their struggles. But there were
many things in the time of prophets which helped the Israelites to establish their identity.
That will also help us in today to understand the situation and to solve it. Dalit and women
are struggling today for their empowerment. So today as servant of God, or as a leader our
responsibility to empower those people who are struggling for their identity and the better
society with peace and justice. We have to understand need of the people and as a church
leaders we have to do something which can be little different from our so called tradition, like
open air meetings, Hospital visiting, we should affirm our position in social issues etc. All the
time preaching is not solution for every issues, we have to provide spiritual & physical food
or supports according to victims of oppression or marginalized people of our society. So, we
have to understand prophets are not something out of the world, but they were part our
society. Prophets are those, who convey the God’s messages or God deliver God’s word
through them. So as a God’s creation we have potentiality to be a prophet and for this we
have to build our relation with God as they were.

(D) Prophetic Ethics, Spirituality and Eschatology

Introduction

This paper makes an attempt to explore the message (the content and its basis) of the Old
Testament prophets specifically looking in to their prophetic voice which called everyone to
practice justice and their eschatological vision of Shalom as harmony and wholeness to the
whole created order. Further an attempt is made to relate this message to contemporary
issues.

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Prophets and their practice:

The Bible is divided into Old Testament and New Testament. The word Testament is
translated as covenant, which is an agreement between two parties in which both parties
make some promises to perform or refrain from doing [Link] shows that the story of the
Bible revolves around covenant and describes the relationship between God and people.
Though the historicity of the Sinai Covenant is questioned by some scholars, there is
certainty that there was a covenantal relationship between YHWH and the old tribal
confederacy of Israel.

Historically, the prophets within the Biblical accounts appear more or less in relation to the
monarchy. Samuel, Nathan, Gad appear with the institution of the Kings. They were closely
associated with the king and challenge them on account of Israel’s prior religious and ethical
traditions, basically the covenant. Further, Ahijah foresees the division of the united
monarchy. The next major historical crisis happens with the advent of the Assyrian invasions
in the eighth century B.C.E. In Israel, Amos and Hosea prophesy the coming destruction,
again the covenantal perspective is used. In Judah, Micah and Isaiah do the same. During the
Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah and Ezekiel affirm the necessity of destruction of Judah.
There is also a stream of thought that refers to what will happen after this. Ezekiel, Second
Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah’s prophesies were concerned about this, which talks of a new
covenant. We can conclude that more or less that the prophets in general were concerned with
preaching, warning, forth telling and fore seeing with the lens of YHWH’s covenant with the
people of Israel.

1.0. Practicing Justice: keeping covenantal obligations and sustaining inter-relatedness:

The Covenantal Relationship: The verse in Exodus 20:3 “You shall be my people and I will
be your God” reflects the covenantal relationship between YHWH and the Israelites. This
relationship had two aspects: the fidelity to YHWH as their only God and the relationship to
each other in the community as of a family of brothers and sisters since YHWH had the same
relationship with everyone equally. For the prophets both these aspects, spirituality and
ethics, are in fact connected. The other Canaanite gods could be seen (idols), are human made
and can be manipulated and controlled. But YHWH is beyond human control, cannot be seen
and can only be experienced “indirectly through just relations among the members of the
community”. The people were expected to be just in all relationships like economics, politics,
religious commitment, etc. The prophets emphasized that only such a justice that
acknowledges their inter-relatedness would alone make a harmonious and ideal community.

Justice as Spirituality:Petersen comments that in general the prophets were not poor and from
lower classes, yet they spoke in favour of the marginalized. In the prophetic understanding,
God’s justice (mišpāṭ) refers to the rights of the poor, that has been violated (Amos 2:6-7, Jer.
5:28). There is always the special concern for the poor, widows, fatherless, oppressed. The
law also tells, “You shall do no injustice in judgement; you shall not be partial to the poor or
defer to the great, butin righteousness shall judge your neighbour (Lev. 19:15). This justice

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concept is grounded on the commandment “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Lev.
19:18).

Prophets of the Narratives:Gottwald in his socio-literary analysis suggests that the Elijah-
Elisha stories must have been popular stories preserved by the poor people and YHWH
followers who were denied justice by the monarchy and the law courts. It was for these
people the prophets did miraculous works usually associated with food, land, shelter, tools
(basic needs). Further in the stories of Ahijah in relation to King Jeroboam I (I Kings 11:26-
40; 14:1-17), Jehu to Baasha (I Kings 16: 1-4), Michaiah to Ahab (I Kings 22:1-36) and the
Elijah –Elisha stories reflect the values of Justice based of the covenantal understanding.

Classical Prophetsand covenantal obligation: Among the writing prophets, Amos do not
directly quote any of the Israel’s covenant with YHWH. He refers to the Exodus event (Amos
2:10 & 9:7). For Amos crushing the poor is the central sin. It is clear that on one hand he had
first-hand experience of the oppression and on other he also knew that it was exactly opposite
of YHWH wished. He may not have been exposed to the written covenant but it is possible
that he was familiar with it from the narratives and law shaped by the old tribal life which he
might have seen in practice of mutual help and discharging of justice in local courts in his
home town Tekoa in Judah. He forthrightly condemns materialistic self-indulgence that the
royalty and elites were involved in by crushing others, as reflected in Amos 6:4-6 “Alas for
those who lie on beds of ivory,and lounge on their couches,and eat lambs from the flock,and
calves from the stall;who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp… but are not grieved over
the ruin of Joseph!”He also condemns the unjust trade practices (Amos 8).

The law states, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges
of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare,
or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I
am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 19: 9-10). This was perhaps followed in the earlier times as
narrated in the story of Ruth. But in Amos’ times most of the population consisted of poor
peasant farmers, and a wealthy, privileged upper class had emerged and greatly advantaged
over the poor by unjust means (Amos 4: 1-3; 6:4-5; 5:11; 8:4-6).

According to the covenantal understanding, the Hebrews were commanded not to oppress
their neighbours but reflect upon the plight of the poor, wages were to be promptly paid (Lev.
19:13). Provision is even made for the forgiveness of debts, redemption of lands and freedom
to slaves once every 50 years in the year of Jubilee (Lev 25). Micah also condemns those who
covets fields and seizes them and houses and take them away (Micah 2:2). Hosea also goes in
congruence with Amos and opposed unequal distribution of wealth and depression of the
lower classes (Hosea 5:1, 11; 10:4). Pushing the metaphor of love, Hosea envisions an
eschatological hope.

Isaiah of Jerusalem was called to announce the destruction both Israel and Judah. The basis of
this destruction is the violation of the rights of the common people and their endless run to
amass quick wealth and political power at any cost (Isa. 1:12-17; 3:13-15; 5:1-7, 8-10).
Beyond the punishment he also foresees a faithful remnant who will survive and form a new

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city. This tradition was later developed by his disciples in exilic and post exilic periods on
eschatological hope (Isa. 40-66).

Jeremiah, who actually witnessed the destruction of Judah, saw the oncoming destruction to
be fundamental for the re-alignment of the nation who has long violated the practice of social
justice. He believed that such reformation could occur by submission to the Babylonians and
so encouraged the people to do so. He also did foresee the return from exile and the
establishment of the new covenant (Jer. 30-31).

So the core message of the prophets is about practicing justice and maintaining inter-
relatedness with each other in the community.

2.0. Envisioning Shalom as harmony and wholeness in the whole created order:

Prophetic eschatology is about ‘hope’ that God would one day destroy evil, rescue the people
and restore creation, under terms of a new covenant (Jer. 31:33; Ese. 36:26-28; 37:13-14; Joel
2:28-29). In fact newness is the salient feature of the prophetic vision, almost all the prophets
after uttering the words of doom give words of hope and restoration. The centrality of the
new community that was envisioned by the prophets was Shalom (roughly translated into
peace in English).

Shalom means to be intact, well, succeed, return whole, be complete, perfect, be satisfied
with, be favorable, replace, restore, settle, a greeting, reconciliation, alliance and all this
especially for a social group. In a wider sense, Shalom means prosperity or welfare. In a way
it was connected to the peace in sense of the absence of war as in those times war, invasions
and exile completely sucked out possibilities of Shalom. Shalom denotes a supremely
positive quality of beings and denotes a state of the world that can be called unconditionally
positive; not only in terms of political and military sense but also in terms of law, the
religion, social order, etc.

Isaiah 11 talks about the peaceful kingdom of God, which is our ultimate hope for future.
Especially in 11:9 Isaiah says “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord”, that
means one day the peace or shalom of God will established in this world, people will realize
their fault/ sin against each other and they will be gathered with each other in love and
equality and justice, Because Lord is going to destroy the wicked or evil (Isa. 32:1-8).

Regarding creation Isaiah says that creation only will complete when the peace that will be
establish in this world. And that is possible only through the spirit of wisdom and
understanding of the knowledge of the fear of the Lord (Isa 11: 2). This we have to
implement it in our life. There is a tradition in Old Testament which recognizes the need for
the redemption of the natural world, as well as individuals and their societies. It does not
ascribe sin to any creature other than human beings. The Old Testament has made the bold
theological move of introducing an ethical cause for what is (from the prospective of human
life and health) wrong with nature. Human sins has inflicted a curse on the natural world so
that it suffers because of our misdeeds, and because of our dependence on nature that curse
rebounds upon us, making life in its Divinely intended fullness impossible until the curse is

39
removed. The prophetic eschatology says that it is God’s intention to make things right in
nature.

For a new ecology two partshave to be dealt with. The first deals with the changes that
concern righting what is presently wrong with the natural world; the second with the text that
speak of immense changes in the earth’s topography and even in the heavenly bodies.
Theology has generally taken anthropocentrism for granted when it has discussed the place of
nature in the Bible, but in recent years the damage we have done to the world in the name of
human progress has led theologians and other to challenge this human- centered views. In the
creation narrative says that creation was made for the sake of the whole humanity, but
actually it was made for the wholeness or for the completeness of the world not for human
nature-threatening attitude.

So for the restoration of the creation prophet Isaiah says that the barriers in animal kingdom
will be removed. Nobody will hurt or destroy anybody; especially poisonous things will not
harm others. The wolf and leopard sharing food with their prey and a poisonous snake is
harmless as a child plays along with it. The dispersed shall gather, jealousy shall depart, and
hostility shall cut off. The judgment of God will be established where there will be no human
authority, no hierarchy. God shall utterly destroy the wicked; God will judge and decide with
equity of the earth. Then shalom shall establish all over the world.

The prophetic book of Amos for the most part of it spells doom on Israel, yet in the final
chapter the prophet talks about restoration. In contrast to the opening verses that tell about
complete destruction of the natural world, the end of the book presents a vision of the
renewal and fertility of the natural world (9:13) as well as of human social and political
institutions (9:11-12, 14).

Reflection:

The messages of the prophets are still relevant in our context today. Strictly speaking our
scenario is not drastically different. Monarchy, Empire, accumulation of wealth and poverty
is still there, but in a different sense. Capitalist countries like the U.S.A. are building up their
own empires by monopolising trade and being unjust in their dealings which is merely profit
oriented and they are not seriously bothered about the consequences that the people at the
margins are facing. There are enough distractions that are made through the media to divert
attention from real issues to that like news of wars, terrorism, nationalism, sports, etc. Today,
justice is not an issue of ethics nor spirituality. God can be worshipped with spiritual
satisfaction by reading the word and praying and by actively involving in religious activities
and still be part of the systems of injustice without any guilt. The consequences are worse,
our rapid industrialisation and globalisation has made enormous impact on our ecology and
our climate systems are changing. Again the brunt is faced by those at the margins. Be it
heavy rainfall and floods, droughts and higher costs of living, encroachment of land and
erosion of coastal areas, epidemics and lack of health care, unemployment and poverty, the
marginalised are facing it. The created order is used and abused by human beings to the
extent of making animals and plants extinct and destabilising the ecosystems. Just like the

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prophets of the biblical times, we as covenant people are called to be the prophetic voice
challenging power structures and to be in solidarity with those at the margins whose rights
are denied and from whom justice is taken away for a price and to envision a future where
harmony and wholeness is prevalent for everyone, for the whole created order.

6.0. Conclusion:

In this paper we were able to briefly look at the major emphasises of the message of the
prophets and its validity in contemporary world. In short, the ethics, spirituality and
eschatological vision of the prophets help us with a rationale and a hope that inspires us to
renew our call and commitment in God’s ministry.

Unit IV Role and Mission of the Prophets during the 10th and 9th
centuries in Israel (A, B)
1.0. Introduction
The Deuteronomistic traditions of prophecy especially deal with the prophetic voices of 10 th
and 9th century prophets. The Deuteronomist or Simply D is one of the sources underlying the
Hebrew Bible together with the Priestly source, Yahwist and Elohist. It is found in the book
of Deuteronomy, in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. The term
“Deuteronomy” was coined in 1943 by the German Biblical scholar Martin Noth to explain
the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and [Link] law code which was found during
Josiah’s reign forms the core of Deuteronomistic tradition. In this paper, we are trying to
present some contributions of Deuteronomistic prophets and their prophetic implications on
society.
1.0. Deuteronomistic Movement and Tradition
The discovery of a scroll in the treasury of temple during the time of King Josiah was a
turning point in the history of Israel (2 Kings 22:8-10). When King Josiah heard the scroll
read out before him, he rent clothes and inquired the mind of Yahweh and declared that the
Law would be enforced in his kingdom. The deuteronomistic religious renewal movement
that began with the finding of the scroll in the temple encouraged the scribes to write down
more of the oral religious traditions. The royal patronization of this new venture led to the
production of some of the sacred writings. Deuteronomistic historians had a very simple
theological belief in regards to God and His powers. The core of this theology was
represented by God looking after the Israelites so long as they followed the covenant and
were obedient in worshipping the Lord and no other gods. If the people were dutiful in their
services and stayed true to God, everything and everyone would be protected. However, if
the people were disobedient (worship false idols, put their King ahead of God, oppress
others), God would punish the people by removing His protection. This theological belief
system explains exactly why the kingdoms fell to the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The
fall of the kingdoms is preceded by a rash of Kings who do not follow the Lord’s wishes and
do not implore their people to worship only one God like the covenant says.

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2.1. Deuteronomistic understanding of Prophetic Role
The Prophets were God’s spokesmen and often their sermons included indictments of social
evils and exhortations to Justice, charity etc. They were protagonists of the lower strata of
society, intent upon safeguarding the poor people’s rights. After the conquest of Palestine, the
Israelites switched to the sedentary form of life from the nomadic way of life. The result of
this was the development of social classes, the distinction between the rich and the poor, and
social evils like competition, exploitation etc. Deuteronomistic history covers the period of
conquest and the entire history of the monarchy, so the Deuteronomistic corpus not only
supplies general information on the relationship between prophesy and society in Israel but
also gives Ephraimite perspectives on the historical development of prophesy.
2.2. Prophetic Narratives
The accounts of the northern kings are expanded by miscellaneous literary traditions, the
great majority being stories about prophets. There are also stories of anonymous prophets in
the reigns of Jeroboam 1 (1kings 13) and of Ahab (1kings 20). Many of the prophetic stories
carry overt military –political content that focuses on changes of dynasty, sieges and battles,
and confrontations between kings and prophets. Each of the dynasties of Jeroboam1, Baasha,
and Jehu is shown to have been endorsed by prophets. The account of Jehu’s purge of Omri
dynasty, triggered by Elisha, is full and vivid. The Elijah, Micaiah, and Elisha prophetic
inserts for the reigns of Ahab and Jehoram are particularly extensive but historically
confusing. The prophetic narratives as a whole disclose varying supportive and critical
stances of prophets toward kings, and vice versa, but it’s not always clear how to transpose
the moral- theological judgements of the prophetic stories and messages into the terms of
military and political policies in the conduct of state. Here we are trying to present the
contributions of some prophets who belonged to the deuteronomistic tradition.
2.2.1. Ahijah of Shiloh, the Prophet
The Prophet Ahijah appears twice in the Deuteronomic history (1kings 11: 29- 39; 14: 1-18)
and is the first of a series of Ephraaimite prophets who appear regularly to deliver divine
messages to the kings of Israel and Judah. The oracles of these monarchical prophets reflect
Deuteronomistic theology and usually condemn the kings for not obeying the deuteronomic
law. Ahijah lives and prophecies during the tumultuous time of the final days of Solomon, the
civil war that ensued after Solomon’s death, and the early days of the split kingdoms of Israel
and Judah. Ahijah is a true prophet and plays a significant role during those troubled times. In
Kings 11:1-13, Solomon, the son of David turns away from God and leads the nation into idol
worship. As punishment, God declares that he will take away the northern tribes from
Solomon’s descendants and will create a new nation. Thus Prophet Ahijah opposed the
idolatry of Solomon. He predicted the separation of kingdom through the symbolic tearing of
his robe into twelve parts. Ahijah, the Prophet delivers this message to Jeroboam (11:26-39).
Ahijah also tells Jeroboam that God has chosen him to be king over this new kingdom.
Ahijah prophesied that if Jeroboam follows the pattern of David, he will be blessed and his
dynasty will be established. But Jeroboam disobeyed the Word of God. Jeroboam’s son
became ill, Jeroboam send his wife in disguise to Ahijah to find out what will happen to the
boy. Ahijah sees through the disguise and prophecies severe judgement on Jeroboam and his
entire household, includiung the death of the sick son, thus declaring an end to Jeroboam’s
dynasty.
2.2.2. Gad, the Prophet

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Gad is a prophet who served to David. In Samuel 22, David who has not yet become King,
flees from King Saul and seeks safety in Moab. Gad, the prophet appears with no
introduction and advises David to leave Moab and return to Judah, which David does. When
David became king, Nathan is his primary prophet, and for most of David’s reign there is no
mention of Gad. But towards the end of David’s life, he takes a census of his fighting men
and incurs the anger of Gad, who speaks once more through the prophet Gad. It was contrary
to the Law. So Gad proclaimed the God’s judgement on David for the census he had taken.
David realised the fault and asked forgiveness to God. Indeed, Gad functions as the mediator
between God and David to resolve the serious situation. Similar to Nathan, Gad also was
involved in recording David’s court history (1 Chronicle 29: 29) and in prescribing how the
Levite’s musicians were to function (2 Chronicle 29: 25).
2.2.3. Nathan, the Prophet,
Nathan, the prophet served the LORD during the reign of King David and survived well into
the reign of Solomon.
 Nathan’s message to David that David was not to be the one to build the temple (7:5-
7). Following verses, Nathan also prophesied about the God’s covenant love for
David. In which God promised David, his name would be great; his people would
have peace, and his son would build a “House for my name”. The throne and
kingdom of David and his son would then be established for ever. This prophetic
message eventually became the basis for messianic expectation and has become
known as the Davidic Covenant.
 After the murdering of Uriah and the adultery committed with Bethseba, Nathan was
sent by God to David with a parable of poor man had one ewe lamb. After hearing
the parable, David became furious and said to Nathan” as surely as the Lord lives, the
man who did this deserves to die”. Then Nathan said to David” you are the man”.
The judgement of God on David pronounced by Nathan was that his wives would be
taken by someone else and the child of this union with Bethsheba would die.
 Nathan played a big role in appointing Solomon as a king, amidst of
Adonijah’s( David’s another son) crooked planning for becoming king.
 The only other information we have about Nathan is that he kept records of the
events of David’s and Solomon’s reign. (1 Chro. 29:29; 2 Chro 9:29).He must have
given some instructions concerning music in the temple. (2 Chro. 2:29:25).
2.2.4. Samuel, the Prophet
Samuel was son of Elkanah and Hannah. The Lord called Samuel at a young age to become a
prophet (1 Sam. 3). After Eli’s death, Samuel became the great prophet and judge of Israel
and restored law, order, and regular religious worship in the land (1 Sam. 4:15–18; 7:3–17).
The Hebrew Bible portrays Samuel in a variety of roles: priest, prophet, judge and seer.
Moreover, at a critical juncture in the history of the Israelite people, Samuel appears very
instrumental in the establishment of the monarchy. In the words of one writer, “all the great
predicates which Israel had to bestow in the period before the growth of the monarchy have
been heaped on this man-and in spite of this, or more accurately, because of this, it is difficult
to classify the historical Samuel.” The Lord raised up Samuel in this period of crisis in
Israel’s history. He is an important transitional figure, for he bridges the gap between the time
of the judges and the time of kings. Samuel also portrayed as the leader of a band of prophets
residing at Ramah. (1 Samuel 19: 18-24). As the last of the judges (Acts. 13:20), and the first

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of the Prophets (acts 3:24), he was the transition figure between the era of the judges and the
kings. Samuel was God’s chosen instrument whose spiritual descent links him with Joshua,
Moses and Abraham. Samuel played a double role; As God directs, Samuel anoints the first
king Saul and supports him. But after, Saul repeatedly disobeys Samuel and the LORD,
Samuel rebukes Saul and anoints David. Throughout the reign of Saul and into the time of
David, Samuel frequently functions in the role of a true prophet, presenting God’s word to
the king. Samuel’s death is recorded in 1 Samuel 25:1.

2.2.5. Elijah, the Prophet

Elijah is one of the most significant prophets of Old Testament appearing in the historical
narrative (1 kings 17: 19, 21; 2 kings 1-2) though he does not produce any written book, as
the literary prophets do. Thus, he is not often referred to as a non- literary prophet. Elijah is
mentioned in Malachi and several times in New Testament. Elijah’s ministry takes place in
the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab. One of the kings of Israel who
was most blatantly idolatrous and disobedient to God. Much of Elijah’s ministry fits in the
context of confrontation with Ahab and the false religion that the king followed. Elijah is
mentioned numerous times in the New Testament. Jesus apparently identifies John the
Baptist as the one who fulfils the prophesy in Malachi 4:5 about Elijah. Some scholars also
noticed the points of similarity between some of Elijah’s miracles and the miracles that Christ
performs in the New Testament such as multiplication of food, raising of the son of widow
from dead etc. Elijah also appears along with Moses at the Transfiguration of Jesus. Some
scholars suggesting that Moses represents the Law and Elijah represents Prophets, so that the
event demonstrates the superiority of Christ over the law and the prophets.
[Link]. Elijah in Mount Carmel
In 1 kings 18:16-46, Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab climaxes in a context between the
prophets and gods on Mount Carmel. The false prophets of Baal (the Canaanite storm or
fertility god) and the false prophets of Asherah (a Canaanite goddess) agree to contest with
Elijah (the prophet of the LORD) concerning which God Israel should serve. After the false
prophets are unable to call down fire from heaven, Elijah prays and the LORD God sends
down fire to consume Elijah’s altar and sacrifice, thus demonstrating clearly that the Lord is
indeed the true and sovereign God. In Mount Carmel, Elijah challenged the false prophets
and people. Thus the miraculous sign challenged the people, they responded with the
confession of faith; “The LORD, he is God, The LORD, he is God”. They then participated in
the capture of the pagan priests. Thus the miraculous sign challenged the people to respond in
faith.
[Link]. Victimisation of Naboth
Ahab was influenced by his Tyrian wife Jezebel. Ahab continued his life of compromise with
the Canaanite culture around him. Ahab desired the vineyard of Naboth at Jezreel (1kings
21). Although this was the patrimony given by God to Naboth’s family, it meant little to
Ahab and nothing to Jezebel. The king should have what he wanted regardless of the
covenant between God and His people. Naboth was falsely accused and put to death. Ahab
seized the vineyard. For all this, God had a message of doom for Elijah to take to Ahab. The
king and his queen would die and also dogs would devour them both, this was a terrible
judgement. This is a story of the misuse of royal power to achieve a selfish end. In the
process an innocent life was sacrificed. For Naboth, it is more than a piece of land; it is part
of his family and inheritance. The old family rights and customs being destroyed by a new

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social order where wealth and privilege counted far more than citizen rights. Justice is denied
by the responsible people of the country.
[Link]. Elijah as a True Prophet
Elijah demonstrates the characteristics of a true prophet of the Lord in several dramatic ways.
He began his ministry by predicting a severe drought (1 kings 17:1). Later predicted the end
of drought (1kings 18: 41-46).God works several miracles through and for Elijah; such as the
multiplication of flour and oil for the widow who gives the prophet a place to stay, Elijah
raised the widow’s son from the dead, Land restoration of Shunamite etc. Another
characteristic of the prophet Elijah was his close connection with the word of God. So he
could speak authoritatively on LORD’s behalf. Elijah obeyed the Word of God and
commanded obedience from others to the Word and foretells judgement based on the
“Word”. The signs given to the widow at Zarephath (1 kings 17: 7-24) led her to responded in
faith. When Elijah restored her son to life, her accusation of Elijah turned into a confession of
belief in his mission and ministry. God takes him up to heaven in a whirlwind accompanied
by a chariot of fire and horses of fire (2 kings 2: 1-12). His prophetic role and ministry is
transferred to Elisha. At the end of the Old Testament period, Malachi brings Elijah back in
to the picture of prophetic history (Malachi 4:5). This text connects a reappearance of Elijah
to the inauguration of the future day of the LORD.

2.2.6. Elisha, the Prophet

Elisha was an important prophet who ministered in the northern kingdom. He first served as
the attendant of Elijah. Elisha prophecies during the reigns of Jeroboam, Jehu, Jehoahaz, (ca.
850-800 B.C.E). Like Elijah, he does not produce any written works, thus he is not one of the
literary prophets. Elisha is introduced in 1 king 19: 19-21 as Elijah selects him to become his
successor. Elijah and Elisha are similar in that both ministered at a time when the northern
kingdom Israel has fallen into apostasy. The monarchs have turned away from the true God
of Israel and are worshipping Baal and other false gods. Both proclaimed judgement on the
nation and monarchy because of this sin, but they also proclaimed hope for the individuals
who trust in God, no matter how poor or downtrodden these individuals might be. Elisha’s
recorded miracles are more numerous than Elijah’s. Unlike Elijah, the prophet Elisha is
specifically mentioned once in the New Testament (Luke 4:27). Jesus refers to the healing
Naaman, whose leprosy was healed after he followed Elisha’s directions. Jesus stresses the
parallels between the reaction of the Jews to His ministry and the reaction of Israel to Elisha’s
ministry.
[Link]. Elisha’s Ministry
 He treated the ordinary folk with love and power.
 He was concerned about the subordinates; prophets and their families.
 He was identified with their desires and needs.
 He was a balanced blend of the “ goodness and severity of God”( Rom. 11: 22), on the
one hand, sustaining the undeserving( 2 kings 3: 17), supplying the poor( 4:1-7), feeding
the hungry( 4: 38ff), weeping over the suffering ( 8:11) , restoration of Child ( 4: 8-37)
and also the land ( 8:1ff). On the other hand, Elisha was stern in his denunciations (3:13f,
2: 23-25), resolute in promoting the just judgements of God (9:1-2) and over throw of His
people’s foes.

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 In 2 kings 4, we can see four miracles of Elisha which connected the common theme of
hope out hopelessness; especially for the down-trodden and or poor who came to Elisha
for help.
 In 2 kings 5, we can see that Naaman, the gentile is healed. It demonstrated the fact that
even gentile individuals can be delivered if they turn from following pagan gods and
follow the specific directions of God’s prophet.
 In 2 kings 6, Elisha demonstrates that he also has power to defeat the enemy armies that
attack Israel, underscoring the fact that if the kings of Israel turn to God and listen to
God’s prophet, the nation itself can be saved.
2.2.7. Miracles of Elijah and Elisha in general (Concern for Poor and Marginalised)
The Elijah and Elisha stories are a rich reservoir of popular stories about conflicts over
military and political policies between prophets and kings, and also of “marvel” or
“problem resolution” stories that tell how prophets met the basic life needs of common
folk who were suffering under government abuse and famine. Prophets made a particular
sector with in the northern Israelite populace. They did miracles. Both prophets
underscore the fact that individual deliverance and salvation can be found through faith in
their message even as the nation as a whole heads towards national judgement. The point
is not that they indiscriminately did marvels, but they did their wonders by the power of
Yahweh against Baal and his followers and on behalf of YHWH believers in dire need.
The bearers of these stories must have been active propagators of Yahweh allegiance and
consistent opponents of Baal, who suffered from famine, sickness, poverty, expropriation
of their land. Elisha’s stories have to do with scarcity of food, shelter, and tools, both
among prophetic communities and the rural populace at large. The elaborated legend of
2kings 4:11-37; 8:1-6 implies that the prophetic miracles were performed on behalf of
weak and endangered members of prophetic groups and their supporters in cases where
no juridicial relief from king or law courts was forthcoming. Elijah- Elisha stories may
even be conceivable as a fund of stories intended to advocate the cause of defrauded and
wronged Yahwist who, abandoned or even victimised by Israelite officials, were
repeatedly brought to the attention of the established leadership by prophetic intervention.
More and more people pushed out of the old protective tribal structures by political
centralisation and social stratification. These groups helped to fuel the sentiments for
dynastic change and religious reform.
Reflections
 Prophets in the Deuteronomistic traditions were spokes persons of God and the
liberators of people who are in bondage and struggle. Prophetic voices in
Deuteronomistic traditions still stand as a challenge before present pastors and
ministers. In the midst of harsh opposition and social injustices, they propagated the
prophecy of warning, doom, judgement, and also the rays of hope and restoration. In
this, contemporary world also has so many injustice practices and oppressive
measures in different aspects such as in political, economic and religious sectors.
Most of the time, we are turning deaf ears to the problems of people in and around us.
 Today we are lacking the presence of persons (prophets) like Nathan, Elijah, Elisha
and so on. Today, most of the people are trying to please the leaders for comforts and
selfish motives. We want Post-modern Nathan/ Nathans for diplomatically pointing
out the faults of responsible leaders.

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  When we clearly observe, we can listen the suppressed cries of present day Naboths
such as dalits, adivasis and tribals, because of their struggles; displacement, denial of
justice, identity crisis and so on.
 In the context of Elijah, the exclusive claims of Yahweh became a success but it
slaughtered the lives of many. Today, in India, in the midst of religious diversities,
those types of exclusive claims and extremity will lead to Religious fundamentalism,
communalism, and violence and so on. As future pastors, our exclusive stand points
and claims should not destroy the lives of people, but enrich them. We should develop
alternate ways of prophecy or praxis in relation to the present context.
 The lives of people in Ancient Israel were more associated with the land and nature.
The changes in Nature really affected the lives of people. During those time, famine
and withheld of rain were considered as the results of Human’s disobedience towards
God. Today also, the actions of Humanity are directly or indirectly affecting the lives
of entire creation.
Conclusion
Deuteronomistic tradition of prophecy still stands as a challenge and inspiration for our
ministry. It has dealt with the realities of life and its implications. Prophets really played an
important role in the history of Israel for bringing up the children of God in a more effective
manner. To cultivate a profound sensitiveness to the Prophetic message, and to discern the
voice of the living God in all areas of our personal and social conduct have become more
urgent today than ever.

Unity V. The relationship between the socio, economic, political

and religious background of the early classical prophets (8 th
Century Prophets) and their theological messages, values and
ethos.
1.0. Introduction

The 8th century BCE is a foundational time for understanding the history of Israel and the change in
the prophetic tradition within the history. It is characterized by the revival of the imperial desires of
Assyria in the Fertile Crescent, the first classical or writing prophets, namely Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and
Micah. In fact the later are called classical because their prophecies had been written and conserved
under their names by themselves or by their disciples. Instead from the former prophets, we only have
stories about their deeds, about them. Various socio- economic, religious and political aspects
contributed to this change. These events, not only affected the Israelites, but also, constitute the
concerns of the prophets. In this paper, hence, we intent to look first at the Socio- economic, religious
and political context of 8th century BCE Prophecy, and also dealing with their theological messages,
values and ethos.

2.0. Socio-Economic Background

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During 8th century B.C.E., Israel’s social structure was disrupted. Israel had originally been a
Covenant community in which there was no class distinction. But all these had changed during this
period. Wealth, power and affluence came to some in Israel. But affluent, rather than using their
wealth to benefit all of God’s people, squandered it on luxuries and station symbol and use their
newly gained power to keep their poor brother into further subjugation.

The long wars that Israel had undergone brought about significant changes in their social fabric. The
small owners had been dispossessed. Their prosperity had passed into the hands of those who were
engaged in the building of large estates. The rise to power of a wealthy merchant class threatened the
stability of the society (Amos 3:10). Their luxurious stands in food, drink (Amos 6:4-6) residence
(3:15) and clothing altered the standard of value not only of the city dwellers, but even of the farmers,
as a result of the debts incurred by the latter. Small farms were be absorbed by the estate and slavery
becomes the lot of many of the peasants, partly as a result of the corruption of justice and bribery by
the rich. Israel, which had previously been a nation of shepherds and small farmers, now turned to
trading on a large scale and great wealth was found side by side with extreme poverty.

The merchants were so eager to increase their profit by all means both fair and foul, that they can
scarcely wait for the Sabbath and new moon to pass. All this desire for wealth and luxurious living led
to increasing oppression of the poor by new rich merchant class. Economic prosperity was evident
everywhere: in commerce, trade and building activities. Contrary to the Mosaic Covenant, wealth had
created a social imbalance, which resulted in two separated classes; rich a/nd poor. Those at the top of
the pyramid exploited the weak and oppressed the poor by alienation of land, forced labor and heavy
taxes. There was a commercial dishonesty where the dealer cheated with money and measures. There
was injustice in the court by the judges, who accepted bribes and giving the case against those whom
they knew to be guiltless. The Law court were packed by the friends of the wealthy and verdicts sold
to the highest bidder, so that the name of justice became a by word, learning a taste in the mouth like
wormwood.

3.0. Political Background

Under the rule of Saul, David and Solomon, the 12 tribes of Israel formed a United Kingdom. But,
after the death of King Solomon in 922B.C.E, Israel and Judah become separate entities. Previously
the name Israel designated the United Kingdom. After the schism of 922 B.C.E, the northern kingdom
came to be known as Israel and the southern Kingdom was called [Link] a brief surge forward in
the 9th century, the Assyrian experience a half century of decline during which the Syro-Palestinian
states were able to pursue their own policies unmolested. The dynasty founded by Jehu was therefore
able to consolidate itself, reaching a high water mark of political successes under Jeroboam II (786-
746 B.C.E). The meeting of Jeroboam’s son and successor Zacheria after less than a Year’s reign
coincided with the accession of Tigllath-Pileser and may have been un-connection with it. Therefore
the dynasty came to an end and there followed in the Northern Kingdom a period of Chaos (745-722
B.C.E) during which five kings ascended the throne, of whom three were assassinated and other, the
last, was deported by the Assyrian. The accession of Tigllath-Pileser ushered in a century of
achievements that brought Assyria to the pinnacle of its power. The Assyrian success was built on a
highly organized standing army. He began to campaign in Northern Syria in 738 B.C.E occupying
Hamath and reducing Damascus and Israel to vassalage.

4.0. Religious Background

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 In Judah, the same situation obtained during the long reign of Uzziah(786-742 B.C.E). Jeroboam II
had set up two golden calves at Dan and at Bethel, in order to turns the mind of the Israelites away
from the temple at Jerusalem. This disobedience led the northern kingdom to involve itself in an
increasingly material religion. Israel disregarded the ethical demands of Yahweh and served local
Baal worshiping and bringing offering to them (Hosea 2:8-12). Israel loved sacrifices and practiced
such Canaanite fertility cult with accompaniment of image and special regard was paid to the calf of
Samaria (Hosea 8:5ff). The people were very religious, especially the rich people. Great numbers
made journey to the shrines at Bethel, Gilgal and Bersheba. Songs, offering, elaborate ceremonies and
regular religious observances were all visible in abundance. Religious service were well attended,
Tithes and offering were given joyously and punctually. Splendid and impressive festival were held
with great music and singing. But this was pure ritualism, simply as external cult in which man’s
inward nature was not involved. Their particular brand of religious did not make for better moral
behavior. Their religious leaders were professional preachers. There was much eschatological
expectation. The worshippers were facing the future without fear. They thought that they were in the
favor of God and under his protector.

5.0. The roles of the 8th century prophets:

The prophets in the Old Testament and particularly the 8 th century prophets ministered to the people
of Israel when they were in a deep trouble in relation to their God and between their relationships with
each others. In such a situation, the prophets carried God’s messages against their wrong doings that
endanger their own lives. The 8th century prophets are known as prophets of morality. They saw
morality as the decisive factor in determining the destiny of Israel. Their main emphasis was God’s
demand for right conduct from his people. During this period, the rights and needs of the poor were
largely ignored. Worship of idolatry was also rampant.

5.1. Overall Message of the 8th century Prophets

5.1.1. Condemnation of empty ritual

The 8th century BCE prophets confronted the hypocrisy of going through the motions of religious
rituals, without sincere heart for obedience to God. This concern was combined with a call to justice,
right living and walking with God. (Is.1: 10-15; Hos. 6:6; Amos. 5:21-24; Mic. 6: 6-8).

5.1.2. Contemnation of injustice and oppression

The confronting of injustice and oppression, along with a call for ministering to the needs of the poor
and oppressed. (Amos. 2:6-8; Is. 3:15).

5.1.3. Oracles of God’s wrath and punishment against evil and injustice.

The prophets proclaimed God’s displeasure with idolatry and unfaithfulness to the covenant. (Amos.
3:11-15; Hos. 5: 8-14).

5.1.4. God’s mercy and passion for Israel to return to God and repent.

God’s purpose in His wrath is not destruction but rather is to bring about repentance and turning back
to God. (Amos. 5:4-7; Hos. 11: 8-11; Is. 1:16-19).

5.1.5. Hope of restoration and the promise of saving a remnant.

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God’s promise to preserve a remnant that sustains God’s promise in relation to the Davidic covenant
(always have a descendant of David on the throne of Israel). This theme reflects God’s ultimate desire
and renewal for His people. (Amos. 9:11-15; Hos. 14: 4-9; Is. 12; Mic. 4: 1-5).

5.2. AMOS

Amos was an 8th-century Hebrew prophet who was born in the Southern kingdom of Judah but whose
ministry was directed mainly to the Northern kingdom of Israel; the king of Israel was Jeroboam ben
Joash (Jeroboam II). The title of the book in Amos 1:1 indicates the reign of Uzziah died in 742 B.C.,
but he had become leper, so we can count that his son Jotham [Link] prophesied probably shortly
after 760 B.C.E., Amos is reckoned as the earliest of the so-called writing prophets. Amos was known
as the Prophet of Justice. He was a shepherd from village called Tekoa. He was an observer of social
and political life before he became prophet.

5.2.1. Message of Amos

He rejected the wealthy life style of the rich (3:10-15). His message is God will send an avenging fire
on the strong hold of the nations who violate human rights. God takes the side of the poor and
exploited ones. He talks about the heedless, luxurious life led by an exploitative ruling class. He
pictured it with cows of Bashan. He also criticized the religious places and ceremonies of his
[Link] and Sedeque: The words Mispat and Sedeq are translated as “Justice and
righteousness” are the key words in the preaching of Amos.

5.2.2. Theological message of Amos

Amos was particularly worried with the moral corruption of his generation and their misleading
notion. He criticizes the corrupt nobility and its neglect of the poor. He also criticized those who made
sacrifices to God but dishonestly neglected the moral law. He verbally attacked against those who
presumed that they need give no accounting to God for their action because they were His chosen
people. Above all, Amos shocked his contemporaries by split-up his message and work from the
prophets of his day and by foretelling doom and destruction for Israel. As a counter balance to this
apocalyptic message, Amos also predicted the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom and the return of
the exile. It is at this point that one can find a universalism in Amos which appears again for the first
time in vibrant from in the writing of Isaiah. The God of Amos was not limited to one nation. Amos
has always been important in both Jewish and Christian theology and beliefs. The Talmud (Makkot
24a) states that all commandments of Judaism are contained in one warning of Amos “Seek Me and
live”. Amos is quoted in the New Testament and by the early Christian Church Fathers, who
interpreted him as prophesying the doom of Judaism and the rise of Christianity.

5.3. HOSEA

The prophet Hosea was also one of the writing prophets who were a native of the northern kingdom
who also prophesied there. His ministry extended from around the mid-eighth century to the fall of
Samaria in 721 BC. He was son of Beeri. He was active during the peaceful period under Jeroboam II.
Hosea pointed the unconditional calamity just like Amos. He foresaw the downfall of state and
people, the advance of Assyrian power. HIs marriage is to expose the guilty of contemporary Israel,
who has given way to the Canaanite fertile rites. The whore Gomer, Israelite women submitted her
bridal rites to Canaanite.

5.3.1. Message of Hosea

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Major period of Hosea’s proclamation is linked with the crucial events of Syro- Ephraimite war and
subjugation to Tiglath- Pileser III in 733. He used parallelism in his poetic [Link] brought
accusation against two groups- the priests and political leaders. He measured the priestly sacrifices
and oracles and activities against positive ideal of knowledge of God. He changed the political
leadership with zealous revolutionary to intrigues (plots) and constant charges of direction of foreign
policy. He describes God’s profound sorrow for the apostasy (abandonment of one’s former religious
beliefs) of his people. Hosea’s exhortations for repent became ultimatum (final demand with a threat
of hostile action). He used the ultimatum as follows – in terms of natural catastrophes, interms of
military catastrophes. Most peculiar characteristics of his proclamation are law – suit speeches.

5.3.2. Theological message of Hosea

In the book of Hosea the theology was centered on the covenantal relationship between Yahweh and
His people. The call of Hosea is that as the people of God they must have faithful relation with the
creator God Yahweh. The word “my people” clearly states the covenantal relation among the people
and the chosen as the people of God. The word “not my people” denotes the unfaith less act of the
community it shows the warning to the people of God. So the prophet here takes the challenge to warn
the people to restore the relationship with God. The vast majority of the oracles God spoke through
Hosea were of woe, not weal. In the book, we can see the reminder to the faithful that God would one
day again bring prosperity to Israel. The main intention of the prophet is that to show that Yahweh is
real God concern for His people.

5.4. MICAH

Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, he was born in Moresheth south west of Jerusalem. He was
prophesied in the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah. Micah was active in Judah from before the fall of
Samaria (1:2–7) in 722 B.C.E.; he lived under Ahaz (735–715) and Hezekiah (715–687). In Hebrew,
Micah (a shortened form of Micaiah) means "Who is like Yahweh?" Although the book contains
some later, added material, the core of it goes back to Micah of Moresheth, a prophet who lived
during the 8th century BCE, before the fall of Samaria in 721 BCE . Micah used rhetorical form of
style in his preaching, with sarcastic pictures. He also introduces judgement speeches, as well as
elements of mourning rites – rolling in the dust, lamentation, shaving the head etc.

5.4.1. Message of Micah

The central message was Yahweh is bringing inexorable doom on Samaria, Jerusalem and the cities of
Judah. Prophet was concerned about his home town and also was concerned about Jerusalem. For
Micah, Samaria will be demolished, Jerusalem will be completely destroyed, temple, mount will
become wilderness present authorities will be enslaved, children of people will be carried into exiles.
He condemned the authority their actions were contradiction to the laws of Yahweh (Lev 19:13; Exo.
20:17). He portrayed the life and sufferings of the working class as the animals in the butcher shop
(3:2-3).

5.4.2. Theological Message of Micah

The very existence of Micah as a prophetic writing witnesses to God’s character as a

communicator. While revelation is not an explicit theme of Micah, the truth that God reveals
himself is a clear implication of Micah’s frequent references to God speaking (1:1-3; 2:3; 3:5;
4:2; 6:1, 8). God reveals himself in His sovereignty as the “Lord of all the earth” (4:13), to
whom all the nations will someday submit (7:16-17). The repeated emphasis throughout the

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book on justice and judgment reveals God’s righteous character (7:9; cf. 2:7; 3:1, 8-9; 6:1-8;
7:2, 4). Parallel to God’s righteousness is His holiness (1:2), and these two attributes together
form the basis of His wrath and judgment upon sin (1:3-4; 5:15; 7:9, 18). In harmony with
God’s righteous character, Micah reveals Him as a witness against His people (1:2), a
prosecuting attorney (6:1-8), and a judge (6:9-16). Balancing God’s wrath is His mercy
(7:18) which pardons sin, forgives rebellion, and causes Him not to retain His wrath forever
(7:19). The totality of God’s attributes establishes Him as absolutely incomparable (7:18).

5.5. Isaiah

Isaiah was a prophet who lived and worked in Jerusalem from about 750 to [Link] was the
son of Amoz, he was the Prophet in Jerusalem, the capital of Southern kingdom of Judha. He was
called in the temple in the year of Uzziah’s death. Isaiah was a noble trouble maker, a highly educated
man, who was able to converse frankly with kings as well as to proclaim harsh words against a
shallow worship which had become meaningless. Isaiah was known as Prophet of Holiness. Isaiah is
said to have worked less than four Judean Kings (1:1): Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. A
marvelous picture of the future of Jerusalem (2:1–4) and a chilling description of Babylon’s fall
(13:1–22) are directly attributed to him. He was deeply committed to royal Davidic tradition. His
favorite title for God is the holy one of Israel (1:4). He regarded Jerusalem as a place on account of
the presence of God. Isaiah was acted as a political advisor to two kings – Ahaz and Hezekiah.

5.5.1. Role of Isaiah in four important Issues

A. The syro- Ephramite crises

This crisis had its beginning in the early conquest of Tiglath Pilesar, who captured Hamath in northern
Syria. Assyrian spread the threat of military invasion, to terrorize and weaken national economy of
Judah. Isaiah’s message to Ahaz had two aspects – first is the symbolic prediction in his son’s name,
Shear – Jashub (a remnant will return), the other is comforting and strengthening message to king “do
not fear, God can deliver his people”.

B. The fall of Samaria

The aftermath of Syro-Ephramite coalition was disastrous to northern kingdom, Israel by 722 B.C.
Samaria revolted from Assyrian rule, city was besieged and fallen in 722 to Shalmanesar [Link]
remained as a status of vassal, country subordinate to another.

C. Alliances with Philistines and Egyptians

The third phase of Isaiah’s life was Judah pre-occupied with intrigues (secret plots) and alliance
involving Philistines and Egyptians. Isaiah political advice again to Judah is relying on God, not on
human beings.

D. Assyrian crisis

701 B.C Sennacherib tried to involve Judah in Assyrian crisis. Isaiah apparently condemned the
alliance of Judah with Egypt as an attempt to make a covenant with death. He said the true security
comes from Yahweh who provides a secure rock in Zion for those who trust him.

5.5.2. Theological Message of Isaiah

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Isaiah’s theological message is focused on under four heads: God, humanity, world and the sin,
redemption. For Isaiah God is the “Holy One”, and “the whole earth is full of his glory”. This
awareness of divine majesty shapes every presentation of God. Isaiah focused on the greatness of
God, he stressed on that He is the “I am” before whom idols fade to nothingness. His greatness is not
only merely in his power; it is also in his ability to stoop. God is not only great and majestic; he is
also holy. What Isaiah was able to do was to demonstrate that God’s purpose was much larger than
short-term victory or defeat and that his control of human destiny extended even to those who would
not acknowledge him. Humanity is seen as being ultimate, the measure of all things, and the logical
center for all thought .But on the one hand, it is made God itself; all life springs from it; it must be
cherished and nourished as mother. For Isaiah, this rebellion of people is an expression of pride. We
refuse to accept our creature-ness and to admit that we are dependent. God’s response to sin is
judgment or redemption, depending upon the response of humanity to God’s actions. According to
Isaiah, the basis of redemption lies precisely in the faithfulness of a god who is willing to let his anger
go and is unwilling that his people should be estranged from him.

6.0. Reflection and Conclusion

The message of the 8th century prophets is crucial and relevant in our contemporary Indian context. In
India, there are lots of violations of civil and human rights. Looking at our economic, social and
cultural rights to works is not implemented in various part of India. In our today’s world, social
inequality, discrimination and economic deprivation and impoverishment affect and afflict the vast
majority of the people in the world especially in India. This is what the 8 th century prophets
condemned during their time. So, the ministry of the church is to identify with the poor and the
marginalized in their struggle for justice and liberation from bondage. The church has to preach the
Good News to the poor and shares the kingdom values of truth, love, freedom, equality, justice and
peace with all living being. God is the God of poor and the oppressed and God is the God of Justice.
These prophets’ message to walk in the path of justice and righteousness and care for the needy and
the poor has everlasting meaning and value. It had ethical and moral conditions. The justice preached
by the prophet Amos is for the whole generation. The ruined nation has to be rebuilt by doing justice
and righteousness in the society.

Unit-VI- Role and response of the prophets during the 7th and
early part of the 6th century (Pre-exilic Judah)
The Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah

1.0. Nahum: Introduction

The name ‘Nahum’ means most probably ‘comfort’ or ‘reassurance’. Nothing is
known of the Nahum associated with this prophecy except that he was an Elkoshite, coming
from the town or region of Elkosh. A native of Elkosh, he has been considered a cultic
prophet, but there is no consensus that the sphere of his activity is limited to Jerusalem. It is
likely that Nahum wrote in Judah close to 612 during the reform of Josiah, before the death of
Josiah (609) and before the evidence of Babylonian imperial might quenched the spirit of
optimism surrounding the fall of Assyria.

1.1. Historical Background:

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 After destroying the Northern Kingdom in 720 B.C., Assyria continued to be the
dominant power in the region, reaching its zenith around 650 B.C. During this time, Judah
repeatedly resisted the Assyrian invasions, most notably under Hezekiah (2 Kings 18).
Although Assyria was the regional "super power" of the time, they were under periodic
pressure and challenge by the Egyptians to the SW, the growing Babylonian Empire to the
south, the rebellion of vassal states (including Judah), and (according to some scholars) some
invading people from the north. It would only be about 40 years after their zenith before they
would fall to the next regional "super power", the Babylonians, around 612 B.C.

1.2. Message:

The prophecy concerns the destruction of the Assyrian oppressor and the resulting relief
for the oppressed Judah. Yahweh is jealous of his position as God and visits judicial
vengeance upon those who oppose him and oppose his people (1:2). While he shows patience
by at times delaying punishment, he is just and his righteous demands must ultimately be met
or judgment will follow (1:3). Even though God has chosen Assyria to act as his instrument
of punishment against the rebellious and recalcitrant Israel, he holds the nation corporately
responsible for the excess and atrocities committed in fulfilling this role. God will execute
vengeance against Nineveh. The destruction of the oppressor will bring joy to God’s people
and to all who have suffered Assyria’s cruelty. The fall of Nineveh, although once used as an
instrument of God’s wrath against the covenant people, is an act of divine justice. Assyria has
plundered the nations and torn them like prey for its voracious appetite; now Assyria in turn
will be plundered and became the prey of another. God who is faithful has not abandoned
Judah. The enemy will not prevail forever; the punishment will come to an end. Just as God
once delivered those enslaved by Egypt, so now God will deliver those oppressed by Assyria.

2.0. Habakkuk: Introduction

Habakkuk identifies himself as a prophet in the opening verse. Due to the liturgical
nature of the book of Habakkuk, there have been some scholars who think that the author
may have been a temple [Link] is no biographical information on the prophet
Habakkuk; in fact less is known about him than any other writer of the Bible. The only
canonical information that exists comes from the book that is named for him. His name
comes either from the Hebrew word (khavak) meaning "embrace" or else from an Akkadian
word hambakuku for a kind of plant.

It is unknown when Habakkuk lived and preached, but the reference to the rise and
advance of the Chaldeans in 1:6–11 places him in the middle to last quarter of the 7th century
BC. Most commentators place Habakkuk around 600 B.C. This dating is based on several
historical clues. For example, the reference to the Chaldeans (Babylonians) coming in
ferocity (1:6) suggests a date prior to the first Babylonian incursion into Judah in 605.
Furthermore, the absence of any reference to the strategic city of Nineveh may suggest a date
after its destruction in 612 B.C. Some commentators suggest that Habakkuk’s portrayal of an
immoral Judah best fits a date after Josiah’s reforms which ended with his death in 609 B.C.
and during the reign of wicked Jehoiakim. Taken together these clues seem to point to a date
around 607–605 B.C.

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2.1. Historical Setting:

The times of Habakkuk were characterized by threats from without and corruption
from within. The declining Assyrians were giving way to the rising Babylonians. Whatever
respite that Judah had briefly experienced during this time of transition between world
powers would soon be brought to an end, culminating ultimately in the destruction of
Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the exile of the people. Josiah’s reforms had not lasted beyond his
death in 609 B.C. At the same time, Judah was disintegrating within. The country was corrupt
socially, morally, and religiously.

2.2. Message:

The major theme of Habakkuk is trying to grow from a faith of perplexity and doubt
to the height of absolute trust in God. Habakkuk addresses his concerns over the fact that God
will use the evil Babylonian empire to execute judgment on Judah for their [Link]
makes an important and original contribution to the sum of Israel’s reflection on the nature of
its God and of God’s ways with Israel. The book begins with a question which the prophet
dares to direct to God, raising doubts about divine justice and God’s treatment of the wicked.
The question represents a first step in an attempt to deal with a breakdown of order and
justice, a situation to which God seems implicitly to assent by silence and apparent inaction.
But despite the doubts the prophet expresses, there is an underlying attitude of Faith and trust.

3.0. Zephaniah: Introduction

Zephaniah was a Judahite prophet active during the reign of Josiah (640-609
B.C.E.)making him a contemporary of Jeremiah, Nahum and perhaps Habakkuk. In addition
to the usual mention of his father's name (Cushi), his ancestry is traced back four generations
to Hezekiah, possibly the king of that name. If so, Zephaniah was a distant relative of King
Josiah (cf. Zeph. 1:4). He lived in Jerusalem and prophesied there. Zephaniah is firmly in the
prophetic tradition of the great Judahite prophets of the 8th century, such as Isaiah and Micah.
The structure of the book of Zephaniah follows the familiar prophetic pattern of oracles of
disaster and judgment followed by oracles of salvation.

3.1. Historical Setting:

The long reign of Manasseh (687–642 B.C.E.) witnessed the promotion of cults of
other divinities alongside Yahweh, a situation which the Hebrew prophets, with their zeal for
the worship of Yahweh alone, opposed. Manasseh rebuilt the high places that his father,
Hezekiah, tore down. Manasseh was eclectic making altars to Ashtoreth (Canaanite),
Chemosh (Moabite), Milcom (Ammonite), and Baal (Canaanite) and restored child sacrifice
(2 Ki 21) even sacrificing two of his own sons in the Valley of Hinnom. Worship of the
heavens (stars, sun, moon, astral bodies) was common. Manasseh paid tribute to Esarhaddon

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to keep Assyria from invading. The breakup of the mighty Assyrian empire with the
consequent catastrophic upheaval was already causing a premonition of doom to pervade the
international atmosphere.

3.2. Message:

 In the world of political turmoil, Zephaniah sees the fates of nations in Yahweh’s
hands.
 Zephaniah’s prophecy is concerned totally with the future “Day of the Lord” in which
God’s judgment will be upon Israel and Gentile nations (2:4-15). Zephaniah
emphasizes the day of Yahweh. He portrays this period to be horrible judgment
followed by a time of great blessing upon the remnant of faithful Jews (3:8-20).
 Zephaniah clearly ties the day of Yahweh to two quite different aspects. This coming
day will be a time of judgment on rebellious Judah as well as on the surrounding
haughty nations that defy Yahweh. Yet it will also be a time of blessing on the faithful
remnant of Judah along with those Gentiles from among the nations who come to
worship Yahweh. Thus the day of the Lord is linked to judgment as to restoration,
both for Judah and for the nations.
 He looks at this future judgment as a means of preparing a people for His name.
 Judgment on the world in general and Judah in particular for their idolatry, violence,
and deception.
 But because destruction is reserved for the rebellious and arrogant, its effect will be
purification and formation of a people vastly smaller, but pleasing to Yahweh.

Unit VII Prophetic response during the exile and the post-exile context

(C) Post exilic context as the period of Persians and Prophetic ministry of
Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi

Introduction:

Persian rule was charitable, especially compared with the policies of Assyria or even of
Babylon. In Babylon, the people were tired of internal conflict and the hated policies of
Nabonidus, so Cyrus was welcomed as a liberator. He reciprocated by treating the people
generously. Since the country had been taken without any large scale fighting, the nation was
spared most of the results of war and Cyrus sought no retaliations from the people or cities.
He encouraged the restoration of the worship of Marduk, and even participated in the rituals
himself. He returned the gods to their places, forbade his troops from persecuting the people,
and reversed some of the more repulsive practices of Nabonidus. This policy of toleration and
acceptance of diverse cultures and beliefs would characterize Cyrus’ reign. It was this policy
of toleration that likely gave the exilic prophets hope that God might work through these
events to restore them to the land. After the exile, when the people were allowed to return to
Jerusalem, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi announced God’s will for the rebuilding of the

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temple, the rebuilding of the nation. This paper attempts to discuss the post-exilic context as
period of Persians and the prophetic ministry of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

The Post-exilic context as Period of Persians

The Persian period extended from 539 to 333 BCE. The Persian Empire was founded by
Cyrus and superseded the Babylonian empire. Now as a province of the Persian Empire,
Judah became known as Yehud and the Judeans as Yehudim, from which the label Jews is
derived. Cyrus was benevolent to the Jews, both those who had remained in Palestine and
those dispersed throughout his empire. He allowed any who so desired to return to Palestine
and even provided support to help rebuild the infrastructure of Judah. The first hundred years
or so of the Persian period is reflected in the latest books of the Latter Prophets, as well as in
the books associated with the Chronicler.

In 539 Cyrus struck his final blow. He won a battle at Opis and Babylonia turned to him as a
deliverer rather than as a conqueror. Babylon itself submitted without resistance to the
Persian army under Gobryas and handed over Nabonidus to his enemies. Cyrus entered
Babylon in triumph and appointed Gobryas as its governor. He acted with far-seeing
statesmanship, representing himself to the people as called to deliver Babylon by its own god,
Marduk. According to the Chronicler, it was in the first year of the reign of Cyrus that he
issued a proclamation and permitting the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple
(Ezra 1.1) and they did under the leadership of Sheshbazzar. There can be no doubt that
Cyrus did initiate a policy of some kind of religious restoration for his subject peoples, since
we have his own account in the famous Cyrus Cylinder. But he did all in the name of Bel-
Marduk, not Yahweh.

A favoured thesis of recent historians is that Cyrus (539-529 BCE) cannot have permitted a
return of the Jews at the beginning of his reign, since he knew nothing about this part of the
former Babylonian Empire and that not until the reign of Cambyses (529-522 BCE) were the
conditions ripe for such a return. Cyrus’ motive was not an enlightened toleration but
restitution for the sacrilege perpetrated by the Babylonians. He had therefore permitted the
restoration of the temple, but there had been no large scale return. The return was most likely
in 523 BCE before the disturbances which marked the beginning of the reign of Darius (521-
485) made such a move impossible.

Another form of the proclamation supposed to have been issued by Cyrus is given in Ezra
6:3-5 which at once raises doubt by its dating “In the first year of Cyrus the king”, for
certainly Cyrus himself would have dated from the beginning of his reign and not from the
capture of Babylon. In fact the wording of proclamation is such that it is impossible to think
of them as genuine. The chronicler cares little for the accuracy of history in comparison with
the enforcement of his particular theories and when we find the case that his account of the
building of the temple is quite inconsistent with the little contemporaneous history that has
come down to us in Haggai and Zechariah. These last three prophets in the Old Testament are
from the period following the Babylonian captivity which we often call the "Restoration
Period" or post-exilic period. The common message of these prophets was: return to the right
ways of the Lord. Haggai and Zechariah were particularly concerned with the rebuilding of
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the temple which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians nearly 70
years before. The people had been tending to their personal affairs and neglecting the temple
and other spiritual responsibilities.

Prophetic ministry of Haggai

When the exiles returned from Babylon, they experienced many bitter disappointments. Both
Ezekiel and Deutero- Isaiah promised so much that the people expected an era of great
happiness and material prosperity. However, despite the help and encouragement given the
exiles by Cyrus, the Persian ruler, when they returned to their own land, they experienced
miserable conditions. The land was neglected, the buildings were broken-down, and the
people who had remained behind had become careless and indifferent toward their religious
obligations. To make matters worse, the neighbouring states assumed aaggressive attitude
toward the Hebrews; in attempting to rebuild the walls of their city, the Hebrews found it
necessary to have their swords close at hand while working with bricks and mortar. Under
these conditions, Haggai appeared as a spokesman for Yahweh.

Haggai's message is essentially one of reproof because the people have neglected to rebuild
the Temple so that Yahweh might dwell in their midst. The people responded to Haggai's
message and set to work with a newfound will. They did the best they could under the
circumstances. When they had finished, Haggai told them that even though the building they
erected was poor in comparison with the earlier Temple, Yahweh would be with them; in due
time, the promises Yahweh made would be fully realized.

The temple foundation had been laid almost immediately after the exiles returned from
Babylon. But then about sixteen years intervened before the work resumed. It took the
powerful exhortationof Haggai and Zechariah to motivate Zerubbabel and Joshua to arise
and begin to rebuild the house of God.

Message of Zechariah

Joining with Haggai in bringing a message of hope and encouragement to those who returned
from the exile was Zechariah, whose analysis of the situation was more profound than that of
his contemporary. Zechariah realized that something more than a rebuilding of the Temple
was necessary before Israel's hopes could be realized. A moral transformation must take place
within the people themselves, who must be cleansed of their evil nature. Furthermore, the
foreign nations whom the people consider their enemies must be subdued, but not by the
Israelites' taking up arms against them: Yahweh will quash the aggressors when the time is
right for him to act.

Zechariah's messages are expressed in a series of eight visions, each of which symbolizes
some aspect of the situation having to do with the future of his people. In one of these
visions, the prophet sees an angelic reviewer measuring the area on which Jerusalem is to be
built and marking the line of a wall. Another angel explains that the city will have no need of
a wall because Yahweh's protection is all that is necessary. In another vision, the high priest
Joshua, dressed in soiled clothes, stands before an angel. At Joshua's right stands Satan, the

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accuser, who brings charges against Joshua and the people to whom he ministers. The angel
does not accept these accusations. Joshua is then clothed in a white robe, which symbolizes
forgiveness of the sins of the people. Other visions symbolize the destruction of the forces of
evil. One of the most significant statements found in the book is Yahweh's message to
Zerubbabel, including the saying "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the
Lord Almighty."

The Message of Malachi

A prophet whose name we do not know spoke to the returned exiles and offered them an
explanation of the situation that they faced. He is known as Malachi not because this was his
name but because the word means "messenger," and in his predictions concerning the future,
he says that a messenger will precede the coming of the Day of Yahweh and will prepare the
people for it. Later editors supposed mistakenly that the prophet was referring to himself, and
hence this name was attached to the writings. He was not a great prophet, but he did have
some words of encouragement, as well as words of rebuke, for the people to whom he
addressed his messages. Insisting that Yahweh still loves the Israelites in spite of all the
misfortunes that have befallen them, Malachi calls attention to the fact that the Edomites
were severely punished, which was good news to the Israelites because they despised the
Edomites as traitors to those whom they should have befriended. The prophet quotes Yahweh
as saying "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains
into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."

According to Malachi, one of the reasons why Yahweh withheld his blessings from the
Israelites for so long a time was their frequent use of sick and inferior animals for sacrificial
offerings. Yahweh demands the best and will be satisfied with nothing less. Another reason
why Yahweh did not bless them was their failure in the matters of tithes and offerings; here
the prophet accuses his people of robbing God. Also, some men divorced their wives in order
to marry women of foreign ancestry which is contrary to the will of Yahweh. So careless and
indifferent have many of the people become that the prophet says that even among the
Gentiles, Yahweh's name is honoured and feared more than it is among the Israelites. When
the Israelites repent and correct all of these mistakes, Yahweh will open the windows of
heaven and pour out a blessing so great that the people will not be able to receive all of it.
This blessing will include such material benefits as bountiful crops, increase of their flocks,
and freedom from sickness.

Conclusion:

The Persians had a different political philosophy of managing conquered territories than the
Babylonians or Assyrians: under the Persians, local personages were put into power to govern
the local population and during this period, the books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
were composed as they were in the postexilic period of Israel’s history. They were intended,
among other purposes, to bring hope to a people whose national and even personal lives had
been shattered by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the
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subsequent deportation of much of the Jewish population. That hope centered not only on the
return of the exiles and restoration of their religious and political community but pre-
eminently in the eschatological promise of a messianic redeemer and ruler.

Unity VIII Study of Major of themes in the Prophetic Books:

Prophetic Understanding of God, Word of God, History, Election
and Covenant
Introduction: This paper attempts to reflect on the understanding of God, word of God, History and
Election and covenant within the writing prophetic prophets. There is no one view or a single
“theology” of the prophets, but the prophetic understanding of the different theological issues are
distinctly varied from the understanding of other traditions within the Torah. A brief summary of
different ways in which the prophets viewed the issues are discussed below.

The Prophetic Tradition: The Israelite religion was not an essentially monotheistic religion from the
beginning. Scholars assume that monotheism evolved over a period of time. And during this process,
there were different trends of understanding God/s. It is worth noting that most of the traditions which
authored, redacted, compiled and passed on the Scripture as we have it today represent the elites
(Deuteronomist, Preistly traditions, etc), which did not represent the view of the populace and were
colored by the interests of the elite. The prophetic tradition, on the other hand, echoes the
understanding of the common people and are claimed to be written by those who were from rural
places such as Anatoth, Tekoa, etc. This understanding was not welcomed by the rulers and the elites
to whom it was a threat. They critiqued the past and present and called out for repentance for a better
future. They claimed to be the heralds of YHWH, the only God of Israel. Their words bore authority.

(1) Prophetic Understanding of God:

 The prophets do not put forth a philosophical or theological argument for the existence of
God. Given the context of Ancient West Asia, they take the existence of God for granted.
 Scholars believe that monotheism reached its peak in the time of the prophets. The prophets
stress the existence of one God and any allegiance of Israel to any other than YHWH is seen
as an offence. Isaiah 45:14-25 is one of the passages that explicitly states that there is only
one God, YHWH.
 God is active and alive. It is God who creates, sustains, rescues people and delivers them from
bondage. A contrast is made between God and other idols which are lifeless and are unable to
save. Even though, people think they are at work, it is God who is actually at work. Deutero-
Isaiah alone mentions 17 times that God is the creator and rescues people, precisely because
God is the creator.
 God calls the prophets and gives those words to speak and authority over nations. The
prophets are instruments at work.
 The names such as Holy One of Israel, Light of Israel, Rock of Israel, Mighty One of Israel,
etc. These names reflect that the prophets understood God as Holy, and one who is a refuge,
strong helper and supporter of the people of Israel.
 The prophets clearly see God as a God of justice and righteousness. Accuses Israel of social
injustice (e.x., Amos and Micah). Doom is decreed if there is no repentance, when there is no
repentance, God accomplishes justice by letting God’s chosen people to go into exile. Yet

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 God promises hope and rescues them and brings them back with promises of restoration and
blessing.
 God is understood as sovereign who is in control of the international affairs and politics. God
is not only the God of Israel but the God over all the nations.
 God is also seen as a compassionate God and portrayed as a mother. Hos. 11:3-4, 13:8; Isaiah
49:15, 63:13, are examples.
 God is also seen as the covenant partner who is sad and angry because Israel has broken the
covenant (Is 1:2-20).
 God is also a God of ethics, who applies different standards to different people. For foreign
nations are punished for extravagant violence and behavior that all humans would find
heinous. While for Israel, the principles of Justice and righteousness was applied. To do
justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) is what is expected of
Israel.
(2).Understanding of Word of God: Word of God is very central and equally known to all prophets
as the “Word of Yahweh”. The word of Yahweh is both necessary precondition of prophetic
preaching, and also it is the fundamental basis of prophet’s existence. Their relationship was so
personal and direct, that is to say, the word was so exclusive bound up with the specific time at which
it came to them and with the specific which it gave them that for the most part they found it simply
impossible to think of the Word of Yahweh in object terms and have something very specific
properties of its own.

 Word: The prophetic understanding of Word is used for the purposes for intellectual self-
expression. This function of the word conveys an intellectual idea. Here we can see the word
of God used in many times in the life of people of Israel as well as in the life of the prophets,
and especially God used prophets as the mediator to announce the message to Israel. So that is
not directly but through the prophets.
 Shema: Shema Israel or Sh'ma Israel; derived from Hebrew, meaning "Hear, O Israel" are the
first two words of a section of the Torah(Deuteronomy6:4–9), and is the title of a prayer that
serves as a focus of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Here God is saying to
Israel to hear the voice of the Lord, and that through the prophets.
 Word as order:Prophets bring the word of God to people those who consider as the people
of [Link] is sometimes like an order to obey the commandments of God.
 Word as promise:Many times God promises to the people of Israel to bring them out from
the bondage or from the sufferings whenever Israel calls the name of God, God hears the cry
of Israel.
 Word for judgment: We can see in prophetic books that many times God judges the people
of Israel for their sin. And also God talks to many kings whenever they commit sins or
whenever they do something apart from God’s will.
 Word for repentance: Many times God warned people for their wickedness, and for their
sinful nature to repent for their sin and to come to God, because if people will not repent then
God will destroy them for their sin
 Word for testing: God tested Abraham, God tested Job, and God also tested people of Israel
many times to make them more perfect, or make them stronger in their faith of God.
 Word of satisfaction: God is sometimes satisfied with offerings and good deeds of people of
Israel that whenever they work according to God’s will.
 Word because of love: God’s order, promise, judge, test, and ask for repentance that all
because God loves the people of Israel. And all these words God used for Israel to bring them
closer to God through the prophets. So this shows prophets had very significant role to play in
the life of people of Israel. Prophets are the bridge in between people and God.

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(3). Prophetic Understanding of History:

 The prophetic literature do not seek to furnish a history of the past in terms of historiography,
rather it is more an analysis of the past, especially certain aspects of it, to bring forth a
message in times of national crisis and to call for a re-orientation of moral, cultic and political
values.
 Most of it condemns the government and the populace for war atrocities, moral indifference,
injustices, and cultic hypocrisies. The tone of the analysis of the past is judgmental. They
interpret the destruction of the states of Israel and Judah as God’ punishment.
 Assyria and Babylonia who devastated the two states are considered to be instruments in
God’s hands.
 This reflection of the past lays a foundation for a future-oriented religious understanding of
mercy and forgiveness. Hopes for a national life where Justice and Righteousness will be
practiced and that everyone would have Shalom.
 Unlike the other histories which look back into the past and remember the heroes and great
characters to give meaning to certain things in the present and to boast about the past, the
prophetic tradition remembers the past to create a revolutionary future to realize the purpose
for which Israel had been chosen.
 The prophets understanding of history is mainly rooted in the act of God in the midst
of the Israelite people. Not only for the prophets whenever anyone talks about the
Israelite’s history, is the act of God the basic root. The prophets represent the
spokesperson for God to the people of Israel. They are the mediator of God and the
Israelite people. Therefore, the prophet understanding of history could not finish
without the act of God.
History as the will of God: The Prophets of Israel believed that all the historical
events among them were the will of God. Everything was done by God, Yahweh.
Even the bondage in Egypt, Exile in Babylonian, etc. are the will of God. In the
bondage to the Egyptians it seems that they did not do anything wrong but it was the
plan of God that He might glorified his name. God also said that He will rise up the
Egyptians to show his greatness. The Exile in the Babylon was also a punishment for
them. Whether it is good or bad from the view point of Israel, all the historical
events are the will of God. When the people of Israel are doing the law of God, it is
blessing, but if they turn away from it is a curse.
According to Von Rad, “the Deuteronomist’s conception is manifestly this: Yahweh
revealed his commandments to Israel; in case of disobedience he threatened her with
severe punishment, with the judgment of total destruction, in fact. That had now
actually taken place [i.e. the Exile]. Yahweh’s words had been ‘fulfilled’ in history -
they had not ‘failed’, as the Deuteronomist is also fond of saying. There thus exists,
the Deuteronomist means, an inter-relationship between the words of Yahweh and
history in the sense that Yahweh’s word, once uttered, reaches its goal under all
circumstances in history by virtue of the power inherent. The Deuteronomic history
was probably composed during the Exile and, as such, stands closest to Deutero-
Isaiah’s prophetic ministry in time as well as in thought. Certainly it is this
Deuteronomistic theology of history, a “theology of the word”, that lies at the heart
of Deutero-Isaiah’s interpretation of history.
History for realizing the present situation: Prophesy is not always predictive it is
mistake to think that OT prophesies was always predictive of foretelling of the
future. There were times when the prophets spoke only for their own present
generation without any special reference to the future. They used to call their
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generation to repentance or any social changes within the nations or political
changes. They warn the nations and its leader wrongs that needed to be correct. They
were primarily messenger of God whether they spoke of the past, present or future.
Even the prophets were not all members of the same social or religious group; they
inherited different historical and theological traditions. All of the prophets knew the
basic facts of Israel’s history and shared the major elements of Israelite faith, but
they understood these things in somewhat different ways and used different words to
speak about them. In addition, the prophets spoke to specific groups of people and
directed oracles to particular historical and social situations. For example, the exilic
prophets were spoke about the sins Israelite had committed, and the exile as the
punishment of God. The prophets prophesy could not be completed without the sins
they had committed in the past years. Secondly, Jonah also prophesied that the
people of Nineveh had committed sins, due to the sins they had done they will faced
punishment. It is connected with the history of the people of Nineveh.
History for Forthtelling/fore-telling: The prophets are not simply the forth teller,
but all their speech are related with their History. Jeremiah and the other Prophets
were also talking about the the punishment which will be fall on them. They do not
talk directly the punishment but it is the result that the people of Israel were rebel
against the Lord and did not want to turn back to Yahweh. If they repent what they
had done they would not be punished. The prophets prophesied that the futures are
also based on the History of the people of Israel. They were not simply fore-telling,
but they warn the people that the future will be effect by the actions of the people as
well as their kings or leaders.
Prophets as Historian: The prophets are the one who told the history of the people
of Israel. But all their records are not to be taken as exact numbers. The prophets
reflected the understanding that history was a long road down which Yahweh
accompanied his people. For them, time was irreducible from concrete events. A
basic tenet of the prophetic interpretation of history and of the prophetic self-
consciousness as well, was that only those events previously foretold by the prophets
would come to pass as “saving history” (Amos 3:7). This is made particularly clear
in Jeremiah where everything is made to depend upon the power of the prophet’s
word. To be sure, it was the word of Yahweh that was being spoken through the
mouth of the prophet, but one that could not be spoken without the prophet. It was
like a fire (Jer. 5:14) burning in his bones (Jer. 20:9) and it gave this son of a
Benjaminite priest the power “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to over
throw, to build and to plant” .with respect to nations and kingdoms (Jer. 1:9f). In this
regard all of the prophets of the monarchical period were directly involved in Politics
not so much because they were acute politicians per se, but because politics was the
arena in which historical decisions were made. Gad (I Samuel 22:5; II Sam.
24:13,18) Nathan (II Sam. 7:1-7, 12:1-14; I Kings 1), Ahijah (I Kings 11:29-39,
14:1-11) Shemaiah (I Kings 12:21-24), Jehu ben Hanani· (I Kings 16:1-4) - they all
prophesied before kings in whom they saw concentrated the responsibility for
Israel’s well-being and destiny under Yahweh. In bringing the religious traditions of
Yahwism to bear upon state decisions, there early prophets were makers of history as
well as interpreters of it. But all the facts of their records are not trustable. We can
say that their records are one of the sources for the Historical events.
The “salvation-history” recited in Josh. 24:2ff makes more explicit the “signs and
wonders” of Deut. 26:8. The importance given to Yahweh’s deeds in war suggests
that destruction of the Egyptians and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds constitute the
most elemental data in the confession concerning the deliverance from Egypt. For

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 example, the Exodus that occurs in Deutero-Isaiah: Thus says the Lord who makes a
way in the Sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army
and warrior; they lie down, they cannot arise, they are extinguished, quenched like a
wick. (43:16f.) If any significance can be attached to verses 16ff and the verse that
immediately proceeds, it seems that the redemption (and election) of Israel that took
place at the Exodus was also an act of creation.
Conclusion: Prophets were prophesying their words according to the History of the
people of Israel. When the people of Israel were following the will of God, they were
blessed from God and the speeches of the Prophets were also sweet for the people of
Israel. But when they did not obey the will of God they were receiving punishment
from God. All the prophets were not came out from their willingness but from the
urging of God. Therefore they dare to speak about the wrongs of the people as a
whole, as well as their Kings or leaders. They did not fear them because they were
very sure that the leaders and people were wrong in the History.
All the Messages of the prophets were related with their history. Their speeches were
based on the things they had done in the past. They were historian but not the one
who records all the fact and figure in the History.

(4). Prophetic Understanding of Election and Covenant:

The act of choice where by God picks an individual or group out of a larger company
for a purpose or destiny of his own appointment. Election is associated also with such word
as “call/calling,” “covenant” “predestine” “foreordain” and “people of God” the primary
word for expressing the concept of election in the Hebrew Verb bhr, commonly rendered
choose.
Within the OT election signifies God’s special relationship to Abraham’s descendants
through Isaac and Jacob. Thus the people of Israel an their physical descendants the Jewish
people are commonly called the chosen people. In the NT, the church, composed of both Jew
and Gentiles who proclaimed belief in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, came to see
itself as the new Israel.

OLD Testament: the classical formulation of the doctrine of election is Deut.7:6-11.

Israel is told “You are a people holy to the Lord your God: the Lord your God has chosen you
out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession”. God chose Israel,
not because of her superior numbers or morality, but because of hi love. The election of Israel
is expressed in God’s redeeming power and fidelity to the oath sworn to Israel’s fathers.
Concept of Election:
Election is most thoroughly developed in the prophetic literature, especially in the
work of the anonymous prophet of the Babylonian Exile known as second Isaiah. In a period
of national despair over Israel defeat, the prophet offer a word of comfort (Isa.40:9). Indeed,
he refers to Israel as God’s “chosen” seven times (41:8-9;43:10,20;44:1-2), of which all but
one reference connect the term with the mission of the servant who will be “Light to the
nation that may salvation may reach to the end of the earth”

God elects a people (Israel), its king (David), and the city of Jerusalem. His free
choice is not base on the previous accomplishment r on the natural superiority of those he

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chooses; yet, the chosen are under obligation the live by God’s will and his servants (e.g.,
Deut.7:6-11; 1Chron.16:9-13;Jer.33:19-26; Amos 3:2)

Election is associated with Israel’s covenantal obligations, the prophet’s occasionally

reflect on the consequence of Israel’s failure to honor her special relationship with God.
Amos appeals to the election of Israel when he announces Israel’s punishment (Amos 3:2).
Isa 65 distinguishes between a “rebellious people” (v.2) who did not keep the covenant (vv.
2-8, 11-12) and God’s “chosen” (vv. 9, 15), who have remained faithful. God promises future
blessings for his servants, but punishment for the rebellious people. This distinction between
the promises for the “chosen” and the punishment for the disobedience reflects an initial stage
in the distinction between “the chosen” and the remainder of Israel.

COVENANT:
A “Covenant” is an agreement enacted between two parties in which one or both
made promises under oath to perform or refrain from certain actions stipulated in advance. In
the Hebrew Bible a covenant might be a pact of mutually concerning individuals, such as
Laban and Jacob, David and Jonathan, state or other political units such as Abrahman and
Amorites.
A covenant also might be imposed by a greater power upon a lesser one. The greater
power demands loyalty and obligates itself to the protection of the loser one, such as Israel
and the Gibeonites and the request by Jabesh Gilead of the king of Ammon.

1. The covenant of Sinai:

The vast majority of the reference to covenant in the Bible is to such a treaty- the
covenant that God makes with Israel at Sinai. This covenant must be understood on the basis
of political and judicial category.
At Sinai, the delivered people entered into a covenant with Yahweh, and it is thus that
the worship of Yahweh became its national religion. The covenant in question clearly is not a
pact between equals; it is analogous to the treaties of vassalage; Yahweh decides with a
sovereign liberty to grant His allegiance to Israel and He dictates His own conditions.
The judicial element of Sinai covenant is manifested in the stipulations, which are the
law of the nation. Now, any crime committed is against God, whether it be ritual or civil.
Israel is apparently unique in its perception that all its law is divinely given.
The covenant motif appears much more often in both the Major and Minor Prophets,
especially in conjunction of with the people’s disobedience to the covenant stipulations as
they were set forth in the Ten Commandments.

2. The Abrahamaic covenant:

The Major Prophet: In the Abrahamaic covenant God promises Abraham a great
name, a great nation and a great land. The promises partly fulfilled by the tome of Moses and
Joshua.

Minor prophet: Sin, Judgment and restoration are the three main theme on which the
minor prophet focus. The people’s sin is particularly tied in with failure to obey the Mosaic
covenant, but the Abrahamaic covenant is alluded to in the language of restoration. The

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restorations that minor prophet speak about relating to the Abrahamaic covenant is the
promises of the return to the land following the judgment through exile.

3. Noah Covenant: The narrative of the covenant established with Noah, his descendants,
and all the occupants of the ark (Gen 9;8-17) perhaps illustrate the ultimate demise of the
“covenant” tradition. The historical development of the covenant from a constitutive act
instrumental in creating a new society and correspondingly new value system in the time of
Moses has, in the late narrative become little more than a theological motif or literary device
by which to confer religious value upon that which already existed, namely, the orderly
process of the natural world. Even the oath that upheld a promise is gone, but in its place
there is simply the sign that serve to remind God of his promise.

4. The Mosaic Covenant:

The minor prophet reminds the people of their responsibility to keep the stipulation of
the mosaic covenant, the people for breaking the covenant. The people’s idolatry is
constantly condemned by the minor Prophet because the people rebellion represents a clear
violation of the first three commandments, which were the backbone of Mosaic Covenant.

5. The Davidic Covenant:

The Major Prophet: The Mosaic covenant had the structure of a suzerain-vassal
treaty; the Davidic covenant is a grant/royal covenant whose promises are articulated in 2
Samuel 7:8-16.
God’s covenant with David is addressed by both Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Even though
the language of judgment against the Davidic Kings is Harsh (Jer 13:13-14, 22:2-5), the
language of hope speaks of the certainty of the future fulfillment of the royal covenant with
David.’
The Minor Prophet: Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Zechariah envisage a future time of
restoration in which the royal covenant will be fulfilled by the eternal reign of a Davidic king.
During this time of restoration the people will turn back to God by seeking the Lord and
“David their King”.

6. The New Covenant:

The expression of new covenant appear only in the book of Jeremiah (31:31-34), but
the concept is present in other Prophetic books, such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and Malachi.
The servant of Yahweh, the embodiment of God covenant, is the agent through whom God’s
covenant blessing will be extended to all people. The new covenant is also anticipated by
Isaiah through the promise of the eternal covenant of peace (Is 54:10).

 The texts like Amos 3:1-2 (You only have I known among all the families of the
earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.) and Hosea 1:9 (Lo Ammi-
Not my people), explicitly states that Israel has been elected by YHWH as a separate
nations and is answerable to YHWH.
 The prophets not only give the message of doom, but also say that out of the passage
of judgment there will come a new community and that in those days, the other
nations will also be included as the people of God (Is. 19:19-25, 45:20-25).

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  Only once in Malachi 1:2-3, it is explicitly said that Israel is chosen over the other
nations. But elsewhere in the post-exilic scenario, the prophets do not see all of Israel
is not elected, but those who follow him in heart and the other group will be judged
(Is. 65).
 When the prophets were having an understanding of expansion of election in the post-
exilic scenario, the priestly tradition, Ezra and Nehemiah, were establishing a counter
tradition of preserving the purity of the race and denouncing inter-marriage. Thus,
trying to say that Israel is unique, which is contradictory to the universal
understanding of the prophets.
 Though, the prophets seldom use the term covenant to indicate the relationship
between Israel and YHWH, it is understood that such an understanding was prevalent
with respect to the Siniatic covenant. The prophets tell that the covenant is broken.
This is brought out by the Covenantal lawsuit (rîb). It is parallel to the AWA’s
covenants of a super power with its subject state. The literary structure goes thus, 1.
Calls the heavens and earth as witnesses for the case, 2. The previous favors conferred
on the defendant is withdrawn, 3. Due to violation of obligations, 4. Announcement of
punishment (Is 1; Micah 6:1-8). The theological point is that, grace has been given to
Israel, which it would have never earned, therefore, there is an obligation in the sense
of gratitude. This obligation is to show the grace experienced to others. If it is not
been done continually, the divine grace will be withdrawn.
 In the Siniatic Covenant, the God was directly governing the people, but to legitimize
the political centralization and monarchy, it was replaced by the Davidic Covenant,
which saw a descendant of David to rule over the people as an instrument of God. In
the old covenant when the people remembered the exodus, it evoked a sense of
gratitude to God. However, in Davidic covenant, the exodus evoked, rituals of
Passover. This is ascribed to the Deuteronomist and the Priestly tradition. The
prophetic tradition calls for the old way of remembering.
 Without dismissing the Davidic covenant, they re-appropriate it by portraying a
descendant of David who is like God, and will establish a kingdom alike to God’s
kingdom. The hyperbolic language is too much extreme that no human can deliver
such a rule, except God. Thus, re-establishing the connection with God and people.
For this to happen the oppressive political system should be dismantled and therefore
the exile is mandatory.
 Jeremiah (31:31-34), gives the idea of a new covenant. It sees that after the oppressive
politic body is dismantled, in the post-exilic Israel, the old covenant which was
written on the stone tablets and was held in the hands of the literate elites and
enforced in law, would be replaced with this new covenant which is written in all the
people’s hearts. There is no need for political bodies and religious rituals and the
written texts are not important. The elites and the common people will have access to
the words and experience the Divine as like in the proper sense of the old covenant.
Conclusion: The prophetic understanding of different aspects brings to the fore that the
prophetic tradition is a tradition on its own, which saw God and various theological concepts
from the perspective of the common people. And this perspective is not an oppressive one but
a liberative one. We have to accept the existence of different strands of understanding of God
with in the biblical tradition. It is our call to hold the different traditions in balance when we
read the Scriptures.
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(5). Prophetic Understanding of Salvation and liberation
Salvation and liberation in the understanding of the prophets goes side by side, liberation is in
the realm of salvation and salvation too aims at the liberation of the Israel’s suffering and
bondage.
Salvation: The notion of salvation is expressed in Hebrew by a whole collection of roots,
which are all related to the same fundamental experience: to be saved is to be taken out of a
dangerous situation in which one risked perishing. According to the nature of the danger, the
act of saving manifests itself in protection, liberation, ransom, cure and health, victory, life
peace etc. (The Hebrew words for salvation include nasal (deliver), palat (bring to safety),
padah (redeem) and malat (deliver)}.
Salvation in the prophetic book is always portrayed as a means to an end. The reason
for deliverance or liberation, especially from human oppressors, is practical. The prophet
highlight that salvation be it from one’s enemies, from one’s own sin, or from God’s
righteous act. The liberation was firstly for the covenant people and then to the foreigner,
whenever the prophets prayed for the deliverance or liberation from the enemies, it always
get in line with to the oppressor that the latter will know that their Lord is the only one. And
further the deliverance and salvation for the people themselves that they will know him and
not fear. We can also see that salvation is for the Lord himself from Ezekiel 20:9-10 God
mentioned that he did the deliverance for the sake of his name and his name will not be
profane from among all the nations that the Israelite live with.
Liberation: Liberation as the OT conceives, it means on the one hand, deliverance from
created forces that would keep men from serving and enjoying their creator, and on the other
hand, the positive happiness of living in fellowship with God under his covenant in the place
where he is pleased to manifest himself and to bless. Liberation is a covenant blessing,
something which God has promised to maintain as long as his people are faithful. The
Isaianic prophecies of the release from captivity and the restoration of Jerusalem gave added
religious content to the idea of liberation by stressing that these events would herald a new
and unprecedented experience of joyful and satisfying fellowship with Israel’s gracious God
(Is. 35:3-10; 43: 14-44; 61:1ff., etc.; Ezk 36:16-36; 37:15-28).
God, the ‘Go’el” of Israel - After the infidelities of God’s people had brought about
the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile, the liberation of the Jews in Babylon was a second
redemption, the good news of which is the main message of Isaiah 40-55. Yahweh, the holy
one of Israel, is its “liberator,” its Go’el. The use of the title Go’el in Is. 40-50 suggest that a
bond of relationship still persists between Yahweh and Israel; in virtue of the covenant made
at the time of the first exodus, the chosen nation, despite its sins, remains the spouse of
Yahweh (Is 50:1). The parallelism between the two liberations is clear (cf Is 10: 25; 40:3); as
was true of the exodus, the return from exile is a complete favour (Is 45:13; 52:30, and God’s
mercy is still more evident in the latter case, since the exile was meant as a punishment of the
people for their sins.

1. Liberation from Injustice

The prophets speak against the judges who were not liberated enough to prevail over the
bribes and the external influences. Amos, Isaiah, Micah and Jeremiah were also speaking for
the liberation of the people from injustice.

3.2 Liberation from the Exploitation

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The exploitation of the poor is closely related to the courts of injustice. In Amos 2:6 and 8:6
mentioned about selling the poor for sandals which seem to refer to the symbolic pledge of
transferred property. The rich have grown richer and built up huge palaces with the expense
of the poor (Amos. 5:11). In this context Amos proclaimed that God will destroy the winter
houses.

3.3 Liberation from Empty Worship

People may be tempted to compensate their wickedness with a free flattery words to their
God or to cover up their injustices to some act of charity. The prophets are unanimous in
proclaiming that, Israel in a deceptive illusion in continuing a worship that has nothing to do
with concrete practical life (Am. 4: 4-5, Is. 29:13, Mic. 6: 6ff etc). So they prophesied; if
worship is to be a liberating experience of joy and thanks giving and dependence it has to be
a genuine expression of one’s life. Prophets invited the people of God to self-reflection and
self-criticism. So that being aware of their recent condition, they may converted and liberated
to real knowledge of YHWH which alone can establish them in [Link] the prophets,
liberation is a process of conversion to the covenant which is an authentic knowledge of God.

Dimension: J.C. Moeller noted the three different dimensions as follows:

The earthly dimension: In Isaiah’s terms, salvation and liberation means Israel enjoying
earthly peace with other peoples.(2:1-5) The messianic king will not any rule with wisdom
and justice, but will also restore a harmony with nature. (11:1-9)
Spiritual dimension: The redemption and restoration of Israel (Is.43:14-44:5) after the
Babylonian captivity illustrate strikingly the spiritual aspect of salvation. Like a valley of dry
bones, the people will be raised to life, brought back from Exile and given a new beginning
(Ezek.37:1-14). God will cleanse the people from their sins to give them a new heart and
spirit (Ezek.36:22-32). Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and the people and the land will be restored.
(Ezek.40-48). these visions of salvific future go beyond the merely political and social to
involve a new religious relationship with God. They hold out the hope of enjoying the Lord’s
intimate presence in the temple, and as a renewed people freely living again with God in their
own country. (Jer.31:17). Deutero-Isaiah uses the most powerful imagery; the Lord loves his
people like a mother (Is.49:14-16).
Future Salvation: Amos expected Israel’s present existence to end through new divine action
(7:1-9, 8:1,2). Hosea proclaimed a renewal which would let the people experiencing a new
start. (2:6,7,14,15; 3:4,5). Isaiah announced the coming of a new Davidic king (9:2-10; 11:1-
10). Jeremiah a new covenant (31:31-34). Ezekiel a new life for the people (37:1-14),
Deutero-Isaiah a new exodus as God comes to restore the people (40:1-11).
The incomparability of God:
God is not only portrayed as the typical agent or his people, but as the only agent of salvation
and hence the savior. Several passages highlight that there is none besides God. (Isaiah.
45,59, 43:3; 49:6; 63:8-9; Hos.13:4; Mic.7:7)
In relation to idols: A technique often used by the prophets to demonstrate the
incomparability of God’s salvation is to contrast it with the inability of others to save; idols
are unable to deliver.
In relation to other Gods: Often used interchangeably with the idols are the gods identified
with them and neither are they able to save.
In relation to humans: Along with the idols and other gods, human beings are also incapable
to bear salvation to the people, human salvation cannot be compared with that of God.

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Astrologers cannot save themselves, the king cannot save the people, one nation cannot save
the others, and Judah is certainly not able to save itself; likewise, the possessi0on of human
cannot save the owner.
NATURE AND SCOPE OF DELIVERANCE
Scope: While the threats of enemies are ever present in the prophetic books, the scope of
God’s salvation and liberation is broadened to include deliverance from the threats of
people’s own sin, and somewhat of God’s wrath.
-The people’s own sin has been alluded to above: creating and worshipping idols and looking
at other nations for their salvation. Thus, the people’s trust in that which cannot save
represents the very sin which they need to be saved.
-God’s wrath, often described by the prophets in terms of the dreaded day of the Lord, will
ultimately be a day of deliverance for his people.
Duration: Forever, will never end, to all generations, etc. (Is. 51:6, 8; Zeph. 3:11-20).
Recipients: Related to the notion of God’s everlasting salvation is the idea that it is reserved
not only for the remnant of Israel, or even of Israel (Amos3:12); some prophetic passages
suggest that foreigners may also be the recipients of divine attention that can lead to divine
salvation. (IS.45:22; 56:1-3).
Reasons: Often portrayed as a means to an end. The reason for deliverance, especially from
human oppressors, is practical life: life can continue, privately and nationally. Yet, more than
that, the prophets highlight that salvation, be it from one’s enemies, from one’s own sins, or
from God’s righteous wrath, is for the sake of foreign nations and for the sake of God’s own
people, that all might know God. Salvation is even for the sake of Himself.
For the sake of foreigners: Divine deliverance comes to the people of God, or even to the
foreign nations, so that the ends of the earth will know God. (Is.52:10; 37:20; Ezek.13:21-23)
For the sake of God’s people: God saves his people so that they themselves will come to
know him and not fear. To that end, the themes of salvation and of the divine presence
sometimes are coupled.
For God’s own sake: Salvation is for the sake of God’s holy name. (Is.43:25; Jer.14:7-9;
Ezek.36:22-32)
Many prophetic texts promise a renewal of people and land after the judgment of
exile. In particular, there are seven promised components of renewal in the prophetic texts
that together testify to God’s purpose for earthly flourishing.
1. Return to the land: First, return from exile is promised, which involves a resettling of the
promised land. (Is.10:10-12; 60:4; Jer.32:37; Ezek.34:27; 37:11-14; Amos9:15; Zeph.3:19-
20; Zech.8:7-8). Since the judgment of exile was fundamentally characterized by landlessness
and alienation, a return to the land is key to salvation and liberation. This will also fulfils the
original state of human beings at creation.
2. Restoration and healing of God’s people in the society:
The promise is not for a bare or marginal existence in the land. Rather, Israel is
promised renewal and healing as people, such that their communal and urban life will be
restored to flourishing, fruitfulness and blessing. (Is.35:5-6; 61:1-4; 62:4-7; Jer.31:4-6, 11-
14; Exek.34:25-31; 36:33-38; Amos (:14; Zeph.3:11-18; Zech.8:1-5, 11-15). Instead of
mourning over the corrupt city and bringing judgment on Zion, God will one day ‘rejoice in
Jerusalem’ and ‘delight’ in the people. This promise reverses Israelite corruption and the
destitute and shame of exile, to which they have been subject.
3. Flourishing of the natural world, including peace among the animals:
Some prophetic visions of nature as Israel’s return homes- both during the return
journey from Babylon and when the people resettle the land. (Is. 35:1-2; 55:12-13;

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Ezek.34:26-29; 36:8-11; Joel2:23-24; 3:18; Amos 9:13; Zech. 34:25). Some texts portray a
new harmony with the animal kingdom, such that people and animals will live in peace.
4. New relationship with the nations, centered in Zion: It is not only the peoples
relationship with the natural order and the animal kingdom that will flourish. Since the Israel
has often been oppressed by the other nations, the prophets promise a new relationship with
the nations, in which enmity is transformed into service, and some texts envision the
fulfillment of Israel’s vocation of mediating God’s blessings to the world as the nations
stream to Zion to seek God and his ways. (Is.2:2-4; 61:5-6; Jer.3:17; Mic.4:1-4; Zech. 2:11;
8:20-23).
5. Forgiveness of sin and new heart: Some prophetic texts also promised inner renewal for
the people, in the form of a new covenant, through which God forgives sins, pours out his
Spirit or grants a new heart that will enable the people to keep Torah, to conform the God’s
requirements. (Is.30:20-21; 59:20-21; Jer.31:31-34; 32:40; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26; Joel 2:28-29).
6. Restoration of righteous leadership for Israel: some texts also promise new, trustworthy
leader for the nation, replacing the corrupt leadership of the past, that the people may be led
into righteousness. (Is.11:1-5; Jer.3:15; 23:5-6; ezek.34:23-24; Hos.:3:5; Amos 9:11-12;
Mic.5:2-4; Zech.9:9-10). These promises are quite desperate, but they become, in the Second
Temple period the basis of messianic hope, the anticipation that god will raise up someone
who will truly lead the nation in fulfilling God’s will, thus establishing God’s kingdom on
earth.
7. God’s presence among the people in the renewed land: This is the fulfillment of the
ancient and often reiterated claim that it is God’s intent to dwell among the redeemed in the
context of divine-human relationship, where he would be their God and they would be his
people. The book of Zechariah envisions God dwelling in the midst of Israel along with many
nations who will have joined God’s people (2:11) and speaks of the day when YHWH will
become king over all the earth (9:14).
The instrument of Messiah:
Prophetic references that traditionally are understood as being messianic address the
topic of deliverance by speaking of God’s instrument of salvation, the coming Messiah.
Jeremiah makes reference to the righteous branch(23:5-6), Micah introduces a ruler from
Bethlehem(5:2), who will immediately deliver God’s people from the Assyrians. Zechariah
announces the coming of Zion’s king, righteous and having salvation(9:9). The character
referred to as the servant of YHWH in Isaiah is the one who brings the salvation of God. He
will establish justice, will free the captives from prison and release from the dungeon who are
in darkness (42). M. de Jonge observes that the messianic prophecies “announce a decisive
and lasting change in the plight of the people, brought about by God. War will end; peace and
plenty will be restored. Israel and Judah will be reunited, people in exile will return; salvation
has worldwide dimensions.”
Conclusion: The theme of salvation, expressed in rich and varied language and
communicated by the prophet with the oracle, occupies a prominent place in the prophetic
books. Only God can save and he will do so how, when and for whom, and for whatever he
pleases.

VIII. (6) Prophetic Understanding of Justice and Righteousness

In several Bible passages, the two terms- justice and righteousness are used
synonymously (Amos 5:24; Genesis 18:19). Justice was central among the Israelites because
they were very much concerned with social relationship among themselves as the people

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covenanted to God, and also among the nation surrounding them. The Israelite expected were
appointed to the office of monarch or judge were expected to reflect God’s holy nature.
The interrelated concepts of justice and righteousness inform the exhortations and
encouragement communicated by the prophets as they act as intermediaries between God,
king and covenant people. The terms justice and righteousness are found throughout the
prophetic literature of the Old Testament. Although justice and righteousness often are
characterized as legal terms, an overview of the terms as used within the Prophetic Books
indicates that these concepts are indicative of God’s expectations for his people with regard
to every aspect of society.
These terms are used with reference not only to legal matters, but also to royal court,
worship and community well being. When mishpat (justice) and tsedeq/tsedeqa
(righteousness) appear as word pair, they form a particularly significant hendiadys, pertaining
to the right ordering of society within God’s covenant community. Social justice and
righteousness is one of the most important themes of the prophets, particularly of the 8 th
century prophets. Social justice is also the dominating themes in the message of prophets like
Nathan and Elijah.

Justice
The term mishpat (justice) is found in all of the Major Prophets and Minor Prophets,
including Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah and Malachi. Most
frequently, mishpat is translated as justice. It is also used to describe legal situation. It also
includes the concepts of judging and judgment, rules and ruling, being just and right. It is also
a socio-ethical norm that is used to evaluate or critique social and economic
relationship/interaction within the covenant community and between different social groups
(Isaiah 1:11-17; Jeremiah 22:3, 15-16; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8).
In the socio-political and economic context of the prophets, justice could also mean a
healthy humanitarian social relationship, that is, reversal of unhealthy economic conditions.
For the people who were existed on the periphery of the social structure, care must be taken.
Justice has to do with impartial arbitration, equitable treatment or adherence to an ideal of
what is right. In addition to these, the biblical nuances of justice focus on the highest values
of a right relationship to God and others. It refers to the ideology about humanitarian and
social relationship.
In prophetic books, God is portrayed as having a special concern for the poor,
particularly the widow, the fatherless and the oppressed. Justice does not solely refer to moral
norm, but also refers to basic Human rights. For this reason, when Prophet Amos refers to the
poor as the righteous, he is referring to their beings on the right with respect to their dispute
with the oppressors over the infringement of their basic rights. It was therefore natural that
the people such as the sojourners who experience some injustices, and oppressed by the
economics, socio-political system and others, should appeal to God to intervene in order that
their right might be restored.
The definition of oppression and the circumstances of this phenomenon, regarding
widows, strangers and orphans in ancient Israel are central philosophical and hermeneutical
questions for understanding justice in the prophetic books.

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Righteousness
The prophets attribute righteousness to God and speak of righteousness as a gift from
God. As a spokesperson of the covenant, they admonish the people to seek to do
righteousness as part of their covenant loyalty to God. It covers the idea of a righteous act on
behalf of the oppressed. The righteous God is not only one who demands strict justice, but the
one who saves and rescues (Isaiah 41:2). His people are obliged to act righteously on behalf
of the widow, the orphan and the stranger.
The terms derived from the root tsdq are also found throughout the Prophetic Books.
These terms include the noun forms tsedeq and tsedaqa (righteousness) and the substantial
adjective tsaddiq (righteous one). The substantial form ‘righteous one’ can refer to God
(Isaiah 24:16; Jeremiah 12:1; Zephaniah 3:5), society (Isaiah 53:11) and individual humans
(Isaiah 26:7; Ezekiel 3:20; Amos 5:12; Habakkuk 2:4). The used of this term to refer both to
God and his people highlights the relational nature of righteousness: even as God is
righteous, so his people are to be righteous. Additionally, even as God is the arbiter of justice,
so his people are to exhibit justice in their relationships with one another. This is especially
important for kings and leaders because the consequences of their behavior devolve upon
their subjects (Jeremiah 22:3; Ezekiel 45:9). Righteousness in its various iterations is also
paralleled in OT text with khesed (goodness/kindness/faithfulness), the word used to describe
the covenant relationship between God and Israelites.

Justice and Righteousness in Isaiah

The interwoven themes of justice and righteousness are most prevalent in the book of
Isaiah, as evidenced by the use of both terms throughout the book. The two terms occurred
together 18 times in the book of Isaiah. In his discussion of the Isaiah text, J. Goldingray
notes that justice and right permeate the entire text. Justice and righteousness are rhetorically
significant from the perspective of the text as a whole. Doing justice and being righteousness
are important concerns both for the prophet and for the original audience. Isaiah’s confession
on behalf of the people repeatedly mentions the failure to maintain justice and righteousness
according to covenant expectation (59:9-11, 15). The role of doing justice and being
righteous within the themes of accusation, restoration and future faithful leadership through
the line of David permeate the message of Isaiah. The role of doing justice and being
righteous finds its way from the book of Isaiah to the New Testament by way of direct
quotations, allusions and echoes of some of these verses.
Isaiah similarly appeals for justice and rejects worship that does not produce good
relationship and that is devoid of reality. Rituals and ethical standards should link as such
sacrifices without justice is worthless; justice for the prophets means protection of the
underprivileged members of the society. He links his attack on the sacrificial system at the
Temple in Jerusalem (1:10-14) with an appeal for justice (16-20). It is not the blood of
sacrificial animals that has to be washed off, but the blood of innocent victims of injustice
and oppression as well (5:7; 59:3 & 7).

Justice and Righteousness in Jeremiah

The themes of justice and righteousness are prevalent in the book of Jeremiah. The
call to turn from false worship and injustice and to return to right relationship with God is

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heard throughout the book. He calls all who entered at the gate of the city, to do mishpat and
tsedaqa i.e. to make it right the wrong done to the oppressed, and to give justice to the alien,
the fatherless and the widow. This details of what it means to do justice are elaborated upon
in his instructions to the king of Judah (22:3). The terms justice and righteousness are found
across genres in the book of Jeremiah, evenly divided between prose and poetry. He
condemns people, the common people, priest and prophets alike who are craving for unjust
gains as everyone deals falsely (6:13-14).

Justice and Righteousness in Ezekiel

The themes of justice and righteousness are significant for the book of Ezekiel. In this
book, Ezekiel is speaking to an audience in exile. For the exiles, choosing righteousness is
seen to be the correct response to the fall of Jerusalem. A detailed list is given in 18:7-8, no
idol worship, not oppressing others, no robbery, taking care of the hungry and the poor, not
charging interest, not committing iniquity, executing justice in the court, following God’s
statutes and ordinances.

Justice and Righteousness in Minor Prophets

The themes of justice and righteousness are important to several of the Minor
Prophets. The terms justice and righteousness appear in 7 (Hosea, Amos, Micah, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Zechariah and Malachi) of the 12 books. The terms are used individually in each
book at least once in each book. Amos, Hosea and Habakkuk used the word pair which
emphasizes the right ordering of society within the covenant community.
Hosea targeted idolatry for his criticism (8:4ff). The faithlessness which he
recognized in his people, their disloyalty to the Lord, their harlotry (4:10; 6:10, 17-19)
should be understood as example of devotion to material things. Yahweh takes the initiatives
so as to bring Israel back to him. He will remove the Baals, i.e., false worship, make a
covenant, and abolished disorder. He will act toward Israel according to his Proper, loyal,
Merciful and constant way of acting, and Israel, experiencing his steadfast love, will respond
with mishpat and tsedeq.
Amos begins by comparing the social justices in Israel (2:6ff) with, among other
things, the atrocities of the Ammonites (1:13), and appeals for a revolutionary shift of
emphasis towards justice and righteousness, away from ritualism (5:24). He is known as the
prophet of social justice, he denounced any religiosity which is devoid of justice in the day to
day life of the people. He emphasized the importance of justice done to the people,
particularly to the poor over against the practice of religious pietism and ritualism. He
accused of people who with their utmost best and regularity practiced regular observance of
all forms of worship such as religious festivals and assemblies and making music and songs
that do not contain reality. In Amos, righteousness is the order that God’s rules over creation
through his acts and bring harmony, peace and joy. He accused the leaders who having
abandoned the royal ideal by their utter disregards for justice and righteousness.
Micah calls on the people to look back and experience Yahweh’s saving acts in
history (6:5). He stresses the vanity of worship and sacrifices done without justice, love and
righteousness. He combines the three virtues when he appraises the requirements of God to
human beings viz. justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God (6:7-8).

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 Materialism constitutes one of the prophet’s major concerns. There are many attacks
on the idle rich: property-owners who join house to house (Isaiah 5:8; Micah 2:2), squeezing
out peasants; men who live of drunkenness (Isaiah 5:11-12; 28:1, 7-8; Joel 1:5) and self-
indulgence at the expense of the poor jewelry that money can buy (Isaiah 3:6-23; Amos 4:1).

All these demonstrate that the nature of justice and righteousness was seen as
multifaceted, and the expectation for just and righteous behavior was rooted firmly in the
realities of Israel’s religious, political and social life. The prophets explored the multifaceted
nature of justice and righteousness at the cosmological and human levels. The Creator, God
himself is the model and origination point both for being just and righteousness. By
extension, God’s people who were called to be holy as God is holy. They were expected to
conduct themselves with justice and righteousness in all spheres of life.
For the Israelites, proper worship and effective community leadership were the
expected manifestations of a flourishing relationship between God and his people. However,
this was not always the case. In many instances failure to uphold the standards set forth
elsewhere in Scripture gave grounds for God’s just judgment. Often times what is known
from the prophets about justice in the social sphere is defined not in positive terms but rather
by descriptions of social injustice: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Amos decry those who
would oppress the poor and neglect the widow and orphan (Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 22:3;
Ezekiel 18; Amos 5:4-8). By implication, true social justice would include speaking for the
poor and caring for the widow and orphan. Sacrifice without justice is therefore worthless.
These actions were the purview of king and leader. Failure on the part of king and leader
would constitute grounds for God’s judgment on king, leader and people alike.
Justice (mishpat) and righteousness (tsedaqa/tsedeq) are highly important for the message of the
prophets. A just and righteous God asks nothing less than that his people do justice and be righteous.
The two terms often occurs together, they are components of ethical and moral standards which
should characterize the religiosity of the people. Regularity in various religious practices and worship
is in vain in God’s sight, the Prophets denounced faith and its practices which do not contain justice
and righteousness.

VIII. Prophetic Understanding of Sin and Punishment

Prophets are often called the conscience of Israel. They spoke of almost everything and told
the nation how God judged its actions. A prophet is afraid of nothing; his duty it is to
denounce sin wherever it is found – in the court, in the temple or in the sanctuary. The
prophet is sent not only to upbraid, but also ‘to strengthen the weak hands and make firm the
feeble knees’ (Isa. 35:3). Almost every prophet brings consolation, promise and the hope of
reconciliation along with censure and castigation. He begins with a message of doom; he
concludes with a message of hope. Here in this paper we are briefly discussing some of the
prophetic themes found in the Old Testament.

Sin and Punishment:

The description of sin by used almost entirely in the substantive form ‘awon, derives from a
verb of motion meaning ‘bend’, ‘veer’, ‘go aside from the right way’. The prophet’s
predictions can always be proved wrong by a change in man’s conduct, but never the

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certainty that God is full of compassion. It is against this double aspect of God’s holiness and
mercy, severity and compassion, that we can understand the nature of God’s punishment
(Divine Punishment) upon the sins of his people.

1. Amos:
The first and the fiercest of all prophets in diatribes and invectives felt compassion for
the people and pleaded with YHWH to forgive his people (Amos 7:2, 5). His
categorical announcements of doom were with a view to bring about conversion;
hence his exhortations: “seek me and live” (5:4); “Let justice roll down like waters
and righteousness like an ever flowing stream” (5:25).
2. Hosea:
The prophet of God’s tender love has also severe words of threat: “I will fall upon
them like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will tear open their breast, and there I will
devour them like a lion as a wild beast would rend them. I will destroy you O Israel;
who can help you?” (Hosea 13:8ff). The sinful people will be led out once again into
the wilderness; there in their punishment, they will be having the salutary chance to
come to themselves and repent; then they will be restored. Hosea felt compassion for
the people, for they were enslaved by sin, unable to shatter the fetters of evil, (Hosea
5:4). These people will be liberated from the clutches of sin by the God of Exodus.
Through punishment and judgment YHWH will heal Israel. It is YHWH who strikes,
but the same striking hand will bind them up, will revive them and raise them up
(Hosea 6:1ff), and will betroth them to him forever in righteousness an in justice, in
steadfast love and in mercy (2:19).
3. Isaiah:
For him sin meant lack of faith. In his political interventions Isaiah viewed sin as
infidelity to the unique covenant with the God of Israel. Faith denotes, for Isaiah,
complete and unreserved trust in YHWH with faith Israel stands, without it she falls
(7:9). This faith, to be genuine, had to rest exclusively in YHWH. Any pact with any
foreign power meant reliance on human diplomacy and human wisdom. The God of
Isaiah was a God who could not be content with half-measures. He is a God whose
thoughts are not human’s thoughts, whose ways, not human’s way; and this
transcendent God is not bound to render an account to any one, nor bound to give
reasons to Israel for his mysterious and perplexing and often puzzling and
contradictory ways with her. Israel betrayed her God compromised her faith in Him
and trusted in political alliances; punishment would be expected, but a remnant would
be saved (7:3). For Isaiah too, punishment did not signify extermination; even in his
punishing, YHWH maintains His promises to the dynasty of David!
4. Jeremiah:
He was a great prophet and who really knew the heart of God. During the early part of
his ministry, he was sent to comfort the people of the northern kingdom. But people
have sinned and there was no question of scheming at sin. The stricken people receive
compassion and sympathy, but they are told of the gravity of their and the purpose of
divine punishment: “I will chasten you in just measure and I will by no means leave
you unpunished” (30:11). The significance and ingratitude of sin, GOD’s severity
with sin. GOD’s saving designs behind His punishment, His loving care for the
stricken sinner, His enthusiasm in winning the sinner back and His joy at the
reconciliation of the sinner.
5. Ezekiel:
Prophet Ezekiel was puzzled by the ways of God that defy all human logic. Far away
in exile God’s glory in its full majesty confronted Ezekiel. As a priest he will knew
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 that God’s dwelling place was in Jerusalem, the chosen place of his presence and that
here in Babylon YHWH had been “a sanctuary to them only in small measure”
(11:16). Ezekiel comes to such a proclamation with his own typical “word of
demonstration” that occurs so often in his book: “and they shall know that I am
Yahweh” or “and they shall know that I Yahweh have spoken in my jealousy” (5:13)
or “that I am Yahweh who smites” (7:7). God judges sin so that Israel may know that
he is a God of moral holiness who punishes sin; but punishment is not the end of all.
After judgment has been dispensed to the full, Yahweh gets inflamed with a new zeal
for His people. The vision of the valley of the dry bones (37:1-14) indicates that after
the terrible punishment upon the people for their sins, Yahweh by virtue of His
absolute creative authority creates new life out of the fragments.
The God of the prophets is a severe God because He cannot tolerate sin; but this God suffers
with the people, feels for them and saves them in ways that defy logic, that puzzle human
reason, that inspire awe at the greatness of this merciful God!

The prophets described sin of human nature sometimes as ingratitude (Amos), or as inner
aversion and hostility (Hosea), as arrogance and self-exaltation (Isaiah), or as a deep-seated
falsity (Jeremiah), etc. But they all point in the same direction, namely toward an alienation
from God which, because it is a voluntary abandonment of YHWH, breaks the bond between
God and Human, and can therefore be nothing other than a disruption of the divine order.

7.0 Conclusion

We all know that the contemporary context is not much differing from the context of the
prophets. The prophets in the Old Testament spoke for the context where injustice and
immorality prevailed. So we believe that these prophetic themes will help us to encounter
with some of the issues in front of us in the society today.

VIII.(8) Day of YHWH, (9) Eschatology, and (10) Ecology

1.0. Introduction

Prophetical books are abundant with variety of themes and issues. They spoke about their
contemporary situations of people and also the presence of God in their Midst. But, it’s not
only for that particular time, those messages are still valid and urging us to reflect and act
upon it for the betterment of our communities. Through this paper, we are trying to present
some prophetical themes such as Day of YHWH, Eschatology, Abuse of Women and
Children, Ecology etc.

2.0. Prophetic Understanding of Day of the Lord/ Day of the Yahweh

The idea of the Day of the Lord was a popular belief in pre-exilic Israelite religion. The
prophets adopt the popular imagery and apply it either to the judgement of Israel or the
judgement of all humankind. Day of the Lord/ Day of the YHWH is a central feature of
prophets’ message to their contemporaries. According to the prophetic book of Amos, the
Day of the Yahweh “evil day” (Amos 6:3; 8:9; Isa. 2:11ff; 13:9-10).This phrase and such

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closely related expressions as “the Day of the Anger of YHWH” or “YHWH has a day”
occurs over two dozen times in prophetic books most frequently in Isaiah, Joel and
Zephaniah – and once in Lamentations (2:22).Here, we are trying to present different
understanding of Day Of YHWH in Prophetical books.

 YHWH’s Judgement against Foreign Nations

Most of the prophetic books contain oracle against foreign nations. Commentators generally
agree that in Amos’ time “the Day of YHWH” popularly was thought to mean the time when
YHWH would vindicate Israel by defeating its enemies. In contrast, Amos warns his Israelite
hearers that “day of the YHWH” will not be what they wanted (Amos 5:18-20).Several later
prophets declared that day of YHWH would be one of disaster for certain other nations –
namely Egypt, Edom, Ethiopia, Babylon, Ammonites, Damascus, Moab, Philistine and Tyre.

 YHWH’s judgement against Israel, Judah, or Jewish people

Amos and Joel warned the people about Day of YHWH – as darkness (Amos 5:18, 20; Joel
2:1-2).In general, the pre-exilic prophets proclaimed that God would punish Israel or Judah
through oppression by other nations, e.g. Hosea 11:5; Amos 3:9-11; Isa. 5:26-30. After the
exile, when the nations Israel and Judah had ceased to exist, prophets looked for YHWH’s
judgement against the Jewish people in one or two forms “natural disasters” such as plagues,
drought and crop failure or “supernatural” demonic hordes, as in Haggai 1:5-6; 2:14-19; Mal.
3:9-12; Joel 2:1-11. Day of the YHWH was near is also mentioned (Ezek. 7:7; Joel 2:1; 3:14;
Zeph. 1:7). For many years scholars have accepted the view that Israelites up to the time of
Amos Day of YHWH as that time when YHWH would deliver Israel by punishing foreign
nations and that Amos radically altered this understanding by proclaiming that Day of
YHWH would also punish Israel for her offenses (Amos 1:1-3:2), because of breaking the
covenant.

 Deliverance or Blessing for Israel, Judah, Other Nations and All

Creation( Universal Day)

Some 60 occurrences of “the Day of YHWH” would re-establish the fortunes of Israel/Judah
or the Jewish people. A few passages, particularly in Isaiah and Zechariah, look for the
redemption of other nations as well (Isa. 2:2-4; 11:10; 19:18-25; 25:6-9; Zech. 2:11). Relating
few of these texts explicitly mention a future Messiah or Davidic king (Isa. 11:10; Jer. 223:5-
6; 30:8-9; 33:15-16; Hag. 2:23; Zech. 3:8-10; Amos 9:11; Hosea 1:11). According to Isaiah,
those who had been sick and disabled would restore to full health (Isa. 29:18-19; 30:26;
Micah 4:6-7). Then all will enjoy the supernatural abundance of milk, honey, fruit and
produce, peace to all creation, all will know that YHWH is God, exiled Jews will return,
Jerusalem and the Jewish people will experience God’s favour etc.

 Variety of other Suggestions (Scholarly debate)

Mowinckel (1956) urged that the prophetic expectation of a coming day of Yahweh derived
from a cultic New Year festival which celebrated YHWH’s enthronement as king and gave
expression to hope for the beginning of a new era of blessing. According to Von Rad (1959),

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Day of YHWH represented YHWH as a “Holy Warrior” who had overwhelmed. Israel’s
enemies in battle in the past, and would do so again. According to Hanson (1975), Zechariah
12-14 as the work of visionary group which looked for YHWH for punish particularly the
Jerusalem Temple hierarchy, deliver the faithful from foreign hordes, and renew the order of
nature. According to Everson (1974), he observes that several of the passages of Day of
YHWH refer to different historical events. On that basis, he concludes that prophets likewise
looked for separate future events of divine judgement or deliverance and that interpreter
therefore should refer to the prophet’s belief concerning the days rather than to a single day
of YHWH.

2.0. Prophetic Understanding of Eschatology

Eschatology refers to the study of last things, but it extends also to a broader biblical
perspective as God’s purpose and direction for history. In order to a cyclical view of history,
scripture reveals that God is moving history toward a future goal. As a result, eschatology
deals not only with the end of history, but also with the out working of God’s good and
sovereign purpose for his creation. Biblical Eschatology begins with God’s original purposes
for His creation. Israel, God’s people continued disobedience to God, it resulted in the
destruction of Jerusalem and exile from the land.

A key element in Jewish eschatology was the concept of a Day of the Lord, when God would
express his wrath against the wicked and reward the righteousness. Amos decreed that such a
day will be a time of doom (Amos 5: 18-20). For the Prophet, Zephaniah, it will be an era of
destruction for nonbelievers followed by the establishment of glory of the remnant of Israel.
Isaiah declared that at this time, God will be king and all nations will serve Him (Isaiah 11:
10).

 The prophets, however also sounded a note of hope that God would one day restore
His people under terms of a New Covenant (Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:26-28; 37:13-14;
Joel 2: 28-29).
 One day a Davidic king would be arise in whom the promises made to David would
be fulfilled (Isa. 9:6-7; 11:1-10; 32:1-8; Jer. 23:5-6; 33:14-22; Amos 9:11-12; Micah
5:2-4).
 Daniel also speaks of “one like a son of man” who would establish a universal reign at
the end of time.
 The promise of the OT begins to be fulfilled in the NT Jesus Christ began his ministry
by announcing the arrived of the kingdom of God (Mk. 1:14-15).
 The New Testament reference to Rev. 21-22 ultimate destination of God’s people is a
new heaven and new earth, where God will live with them in intimate fellowship. Old
Testament prophets spoke of last day when God would destroy his enemies
(Jer.23:20; 36:24), bring salvation to his people (Isa. 48:20; 49:6; Hosea 3:5).

Eschatology in 20th Century

 Thorough going Eschatology: It was advocated by Albert Schweitzer, it is the view

that Jesus and his followers proclaimed the imminent end of history. Since the end did

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 not come when the expected, Jesus submitted to death as a way of forcing the full
arrival of the kingdom.
 Realised Eschatology: Rudolf Otto and C.H. Dodd take the position that the first
coming of Christ represents the full presence of the kingdom of God.
 Inaugurated Eschatology: Oscar Cullmann and George E. Ladd view the first coming
of Christ as the beginning of the kingdom that will be consummated at his second
coming. As a result, believers live between the overlap of the “already” and the “not
yet”. This last view most regularly represents the evangelical understanding of the
biblical materials.

4.0. Prophetic Understanding of Ecology

The dominant role played by agriculture in ancient Israelite society might suggest that the
earth’s natural resources be regarded purely as commodity. This does not seem to be the
perspective of the prophets, who not only recognize the material and economic value of the
produce of the land, but also assign place for the wider non- human creation in YHWH’s
story which for outstrips any utilitarian ethics. The wellbeing or misery of the people is
depicted in terms of the failure or success of their agriculture and husbandry. The image of
wild animals also referred as the means of God’s judgement.

 Land and Nature in Prophetic Tradition

For Israelites, the land is presented as their inheritance from God. We can see references of
Promised Land in various parts of the Bible. In Deuteronomy 28, God summarises the terms
of Mosaic Covenant. If the Israelites obey God’s law and stay faithful to God, they will be
blessed abundantly in the land, but if they disobey, it may result in the loss of the land or
destruction. Unfortunately, as 1-2 Kings and the Prophetic book record, Israel and Judah do
turn their backs on God and worship other gods. Thus, as the prophets warn, the Israelites
lose the land and are exiled. Scholars today differ on how to interpret the Old Testament
prophecies regarding the future restoration of Israel back in the land. Judgement and the
desolation of creation: The wisdom tradition has suggested a correspondence between the
moral and natural - if there is disharmony in the former, serious consequences will follow for
the latter. The prophet Isaiah emphasises an ecological catastrophe following the judgement
of the Lord (Isa. 17: 1-13). Hosea’s picture of desolation is based on human sinfulness:
“Because of this the land mourns, and all who dwells in it languish...” (Hosea 4:3).

 Some References regarding Ecology

The inter connection between human and non-human creation, and between God and the
world is one of the significant themes of the Prophetic books of Amos, Hosea and First
Isaiah. In this book, prophets are using certain figurative languages to portray the natural
world, human beings and God.

Amos: God warns and judges His people through various means on earth such as drought,
earth quake, flood and so on. The restoration of Israel’s fortune is expressed both in terms of
urban regeneration and supernatural abundance of fertility in the natural world. The texts of

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Amos invite an understanding of the world that sets the cooperation of the non-human world
with its creator against the rebellion of its human inhabitants. In Amos 3:12, the deliverance
of Israel is likened to snatching part of a domestic animal from the jaws of a lion, whilst in
5:19, the dangers of the natural world (lions, bears, and snakes) are used as metaphors for the
danger about to come upon the Israelites. According to Jobling and Loewen, it is not that
these animals are dangerous because God uses them as a means of punishment, rather that the
people’s ‘experience’ of nature precedes their experience of God.

Hosea: Hosea also used various imageries of the natural world to portray both YHWH and
His people apart from marriage metaphor and parent-child metaphor such as rain fall images:
rain, spring rain, dew etc. Some other prophetical texts such as Haggai 1:10 and Zechariah
8:12, YHWH is presented as a giver or withholder of rain and thereby of fertility. Another
image used to denote YHWH in Amos, Isaiah, Hosea and Joel as the image of a Lion. This
image used of YHWH always “bespeaks power and threat, even and especially threat”. In
Hosea, the relation between God and humanity is articulated by means of the deliberate
interweaving of the themes of the land and the people.

First Isaiah: In Isaiah 11:6-10 gives us the very good example of harmony between
humanity and creation: The prophet’s vision is one of harmony between humanity and the
rest of the creation, not of enmity, nor of creation forced cruelly into doing human tasks. It is
important to note that these apocalyptic visions do not diminish the diversity of creation, nor
speak of it as something to be destroyed. The evil is not in the cobra, the viper, or the lion;
rather, it is in the alienation between these things and human – and between those things and
each other. The theme of disaster as a sequence of disobedience to YHWH and His order is
woven throughout First Isaiah, in prophetic oracles (especially the passages of Isaiah 13 and
Isaiah 34). This theme is set forth in terms of the relationship between human beings and the
rest of creation, whether animate or inanimate.

Some common concern of Ecology in Prophetical books

 God as referred as creator and sustainer.

 Land is considered as God’s gift to His people, So Land ultimately belongs to God.
 Sin has direct influence upon the Land. The way in which we live on it determines
whether were stay in it or taken away from it.
 Land as God’s gift is offered to all in bounteous and abundant equality- the poor,
strangers, and the outcaste alike all have a place within and on it.
 God’s land as a sign of inclusivity rather than exclusivity.
 Human disobedience and selfish interests become the causes of ecological disorder or
disharmony.

6.0. Reflection and Conclusion

 The prophetic themes and concepts of “The Day of YHWH” and “Eschatolgy” are
giving a note of hope for the people who are in struggles and bondages. This also
stands as a challenge for all types of people for living a responsible and good way of
life. As, Future pastors and ministers, we should have the conscious of these realities

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 and also better to consider all days are the Days of God (not only a particular day).
Because days and ways of God are beyond human intuitions and perceptions.
 The texts of the Biblical Prophets are a rich source of reflection on ways in which
human beings interact with the rest of creation as well as with God. Although the
issues that their authors addressed are vastly different from those we face today, those
texts invite us to rediscovery of our fundamental interconnection with the rest of
creation and to discover ways to live more sustainably with it. The lives of people in
Ancient Israel were more associated with the land and nature. The changes in Nature
really affected the lives of people. Today also, the actions of Humanity are directly or
indirectly affecting the lives of entire creation.
 Like prophetical times, women and children are still facing so many struggles and
problems such as gender injustice, domestic violence, victims of war and communal
riots, Rape, trafficking, Child labour and so on. Today, abuse of women and children
more and more increasing in various levels. So as church and future pastors, we
should raise our voices against those kinds of subjugations and oppression. We should
Reread the Prophetical texts in the light of present day realities and become the spoke
persons of subaltern community like prophets such as Amos, Hosea and so on.

VII, (11) Hosea 1-3, Ezekiel 16 and 23; Jerimiah 3: 6-11; Nahum 3:5-6;
Isaiah 54:1-6.
Introduction

During the years when kings ruled Israel and Judah, God spoke through prophets. Though
some prophets did predict future events, their primary role was to call God’s people back to
Him. And in order to present the prophetic message, the prophets employed various
imageries and metaphors. One of such poetic tactics that the prophets used were sexual and
marital metaphors. In this paper we would look into some of it in the book of Hosea, Ezekiel,
and Jeremiah.

1.0 Background of Hosea

Hosea was a prophet of the Northern Kingdom. His message was the occasional reference to
Judah. He began his ministry when Israel under Jeroboam II and prophesied in the reigns of
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Kings of Judah (760- 720). Some 200 years before
Hosea’s time the ten tribes had seperated, and set up an independent kingdom, with the
Golden Calf as its official national god.

1.1 The examples of the Context (Hosea Chapter 1, 2, & 3)

Hosea was directed by God to marry Gomer, a promiscuous woman of ill-repute, and he did
so. Marriage here is symbolic of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel.
However, Israel has been unfaithful to God by following other gods and breaking the
commandments which are the terms of the covenant, hence Israel is symbolized by a harlot
who violates the obligations of marriage to her husband. The metaphor itself remains
controversial in its meaning and interpretation in modernity. In Hosea Chapter 2, the woman

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in the marriage metaphor could be Hosea’s wife Gomer, or could be referring to the nation of
Israel, invoking the metaphor of Israel as God's bride. The woman is not portrayed in a
positive light.

Biblical scholar Ehud Ben Zvi, describes the role of the Gomer in the marriage metaphor as
one of the “central attributes of the ideological image of a human marriage that was shared by
the male authorship and the primary and intended male readership as building blocks for their
imagining of the relationship.” Tristanne J. Connolly also suggests that in context, the
marriage metaphor was necessary in that it truly exemplified the unequal interaction between
Yahweh and the people Israel. According to Coogan, Hosea falls under a unique genre called
“covenant lawsuit” where God accuses Israel of breaking their previously made agreement.
God’s disappointment towards Israel is therefore expressed through the broken marriage
covenant made between husband and wife.

2.0 Background of Ezekiel

Ezekiel was a prophet of the captivity. He was taken to Babylon in 598 B.C, his message of
judgment and doom (end of the day). After 586 he focuses on hope and salvation. The source
of his hope was not in political power of his day, but in God’s own nature and purpose. The
book ends with a great vision of the future restoration of the people and the temple. The book
of Ezekiel was written by himself dated around 593 to 562 BC. The book of Ezekiel,
addressed to the people who continue to listen to false prophets and practice idolatry.
Therefore, Ezekiel indicates that little changed in the attitude of the Jewish people who have
come to Babylon.

2.1 Ezekiel Chapter 16 and 23

In both chapters, Ezekiel describes the history of the people Israel and the abomination of the
Temple by means of using a metaphor of whores. Chapter 16 opens with a baby girl born to
Amorite and Hittite parents, who was abandoned by them and adopted by God. The girl is a
metaphor for Jerusalem and she trusted in her beauty instead of God. Chapter 16 portrays the
allegory of the unfaithful wife. This chapter is very graphic and vivid portrayal of Israel’s
idolatry under the imaginary of a Bride, beloved of her husband, who made her a queen, and
lavished upon her silks and sealskins and every beautiful things; who then made herself as
prostitute to every man that passed by, shaming even Sodom and Samaria. The abominations
are repeated, with variations in chapter 23. In this chapter the allegory of harlots (prostitute)
is reappears with two lewd (rude) sisters, Ohalah( Samaria- the kingdom of Isreal) and
Oholibah ( Jerusalem- the kingdom of Judea), both grown old in their Adulteries. The relation
between husband and wife is used to represent, God and His people.

3.0 Background of Jeremiah

The book preserves an account of the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah, whose personal life and
struggles are shown to us in greater depth and detail than those of any other OT prophet. The
meaning of his name “The Lord exalts”. Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry began in 626 B.C. and
ended sometime after 586. Jeremiah was a member of the priestly household of Hilkiah from

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Anathoth (1:1), a priest during the days of King Solomon. At the events Jeremiah saw his
nation disintegrating morally from within and saw the siege and sack of Jerusalem and his
people taken captive to foreign lands. At this time, his warning and pleas that Judah should
turn back to God fell on deaf ears.

3.1 Chapter 3: 6-11

In chapter 3 shield outlines the concrete underpinnings of metaphor is employed in the study
highlighting the works of Donald Davidson, David E. Cooper, and Wayne Booth. Following
this brief but valuable discussion she hones in on Jeremiah 3:6–11 and its use of (extended)
metaphor, inter textuality and intra textuality, and conventions of gender. When one
compares Jer 3:6–11 represent different forms, styles, and (likely) provenances. Jeremiah
3:6–11 is a prose piece written in third person and in the form of an “extended metaphor” that
develops the language and symbolic implications of sexual promiscuity. Against the
background of certain cultural assumptions of gender, the metaphor of marital promiscuity
and the web of inter textual and intra textual relationships create a powerful rhetorical
catalyst. For example, the text plays on an underlying anxiety associated with the “lack of
male control over female sexuality” and as such “allows a male audience to identify with the
husband’s troubles”, which in turn exerts pressure to change (unacceptable) behavior.

4.0 Background of Nahum

Nahum an otherwise unknown prophet whose name means “comfort”. The book addressed to
the Assyrians , written by Nahum himself between 663 B.C, when Assyria conquered Egypt.
Nahum’s message is for God’s people, the nation of Judah. In 722 B.C. Assyria defeated the
northern kingdom of Israel almost 100 years later; the southern kingdom of Judah was ruled
by Manasseh, a puppet king of the Assyrians. The book of Nahum is to assure people that
evil does not endure forever and that God will one day fulfill His plan to restore good
permanently.

4.1 Chapter 3: 5-6.

In the ancient world the term harlot was a standard insult leveled at any one who broke a
promise or violated treaties. Therefore, Nahum implies that practice in all nations, based on
these verses 5 and 6 the question can be arise, why would a Holy God do such humiliating
things?. Prostitutes and adulteresses were sometimes publicly humiliated in this manner
(Ezek. 16: 37-39). Nahum refers to this practice to illustrate the degree of humiliation God
would bring to those who disobey him. This description of Assyria’s humiliation could also
be a play on words since the Hebrew term for nakedness also means ‘exile’. The picture of
another embarrassed harlot nation was Israel which also found in Hosea 2:10.

5.0 Background of Isaiah

The book of Isaiah is named for the prophet who composed the book. His name means "The
Lord is salvation." Isaiah identifies itself as the words of the 8th century BC prophet and
three separate collections of oracles; Proto-Isaiah (chapters 1–39), containing the words of
Isaiah; Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40–55), the work of an anonymous 6th-century author

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writing during the Exile; and Trito-Isaiah (chapters 56–66), composed after the return from
exile. Isaiah's ministry occurred at a critical time in Judah's history. The Assyrian power was
rising, and in the light of this fact two groups appeared within the nation (734-701B.C). One
sought alliance with Egypt and the other with Syria. Isaiah, however, forbade human
alliances and urged the nation to trust in God. Isaiah's work as a prophet began in the year
King Uzziah of Judah died, 739 BC (6:1). His call was accompanied by an apocalyptic vision
of God on His throne which foreshadowed John's parallel vision in Revelation four (ch. 6).
He prophesied during the reigns of "Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah"
(1:1). Isaiah ministered at a time when both Israel, under Jeroboam II, and Judah, under
Hezekiah, had reached their zenith of prosperity and political power.

5.1 Chapter 54: 1-6;

Prophecies of encouragement directed to the Jews living in Babylon, preparing the way for
their return to Jerusalem. The Chapter deals in the metaphor of couple, God as Husband and
Isreal as wife. The metaphor implies submission to authority on the Church’s part and for
both the Lord and the Church mutual possession and comradership. The Lord chooses and
weds his bride. Her unfaithfullness break the bond but does not quence his amazing love. He
abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself ” ( II Tim. 2:13). She must keep the balance between
the outreach of her mission and the depth of her life in God. The demand is not numerical
growth but the areas of life which she leavens, which God asks of her. The essence of the
marital tie stressed in this passage emphasis on “being rich toward God”. The Holy one of
Isreal, her maker and her husband, who has chosen, educated, and is now redeeming his
people. Therefore, Isreal seemed unvisited of God and left to her own lonely thoughts. A wife
wooed and won in youth holds a unique place in a husband’s heart.

Conclusion

In order to make their message more comprehensive to the people, the prophets used these
sexual and marital metaphors. These metaphors were drawn out from a certain context that
they belonged to. The use of metaphors could be subjective pertaining to the context.
Therefore, it’s important for us as we read through such passages and draw out the message
contained in it.

Note: Other references in the prophetic books Hosea 4: 14ff, these sexual and marital
metaphors are used in relation to covenantal relationship between God and Israel. In bible it
is common that male is always been portrayed as faithful but female is portrayed always
unfaithful. Here we can see the language of man dominant culture in particular context.
Although, most of the evil things are done by male persons but all the time women are
accused. Why?

We need to re read the prophetic books with new insights.

In Torah also we find that, if woman does sexual relationship with other person apart from
her husband shall be stoned but in male case there is no certain punishment.

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 Unit X Exegesis
1. Exegesis on- Comfort for God’s People (Isaiah 40:1-8)

Introduction

Jerusalem lies in ruins, Israel is in exile in Babylonia and the Exile has lasted a long
time. The people of Israel are in great distress. Yahweh anger lies heavily upon them because
of their sins. Some of them have come to regard the place of their exile as their homeland.
But the prophet promises that Yahweh is about to liberate his people, and he urges them to
believe this promise. This section of Isaiah is now popularly called “Second Isaiah”, the
exegetical part deal with setting, author, religious context, major themes etc.

Historical Background

Isaiah 40-55 were written in Babylon the time of rebuilding of the community and the
temple. It was preached in the second half of the 6 th century almost centenary and half after
Isaiah of Jerusalem. The Persian King Cyrus II who reigned from 559-530 BCE, is mentioned
in 45:1. Second Isaiah presumes that his audience knows that Cyrus is the unstoppable
conqueror of the Near East, an assumption that would have been possible only after 553 BCE
when Cyrus conquered the Medes. He controlled the Neo- Babylonian Empire and other
lands as well. The Neo- Babylonian Empire began its decline and new empire and leader
emerged: Cyrus II of Persia. If one could name a single external factor that offered hope to
the scattered remnant of Judah, it would be Cyrus. The Persian Empire, though highly
centralized like previous empires, respected the diversity of the peoples.

At Nebuchadnezzar’s death in 562 BC no one could have for seen the turn of events
which in the next twelve years would make the prince of an obscure Persian tribe a threat
before which Babylon trembled. Babylon at that time was ruled by Belshazzar. Corruption,
economic failure, military weakness and religious confusion characterised its life. It was a
hopeless in this time in which dreams and oracles shaped history and events. Yet the gods
and their cult personnel were considered an important part of life.

Authorship

On the literary grounds there is no good reason for distinguishing the author of these
poems from the author of the rest of Isaiah. 40-55, but the condition of the servant in the
poem and elsewhere does raise the question whether the same prophets could be responsible
for both portraits. In the section other than the poem he is despondent, sinful, suffering indeed
but for his own sin and humiliated by his enemies. But being redeemed by God he is a
witness to mankind of God’s power and forgiving love. In the poem the servant responsible
for this not so except at 49:3 (my servant Israel’) which is followed by a statement that the
Servant a mission to Israel which is then extended to earth’s farthest bounds’.

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 Another author of the poem was a collection of prophetic oracles might well include
saying by more than one prophet, as may be seen in Isa 1-30. Yet his suggestion creates its
own problems. There is an obvious development of thought as we move from one person to
another, reaching a climax in the fourth poem. Whoever was responsible for the present
literary form of Is 40- 55. Why then were the poem separated and placed in their present
contexts. ?

Form /Structure /Setting

This message begins a new poetic literary unit that discontinues the historical
narratives account of Hezekiah in Chap 39. Many of the themes in this new literary unit are
consistent with and might be called elaborations on what the prophets has already said in the
early chapters. The passage is clearly set off form what follows and what proceed by a very
nature. Melguin has correctly seen that vv 1-8 are a tight unity and their relation to v 9
mirrors the structure of chaps. 40-55 as a whole. The scene is a prologue composed of four
well-defined speeches: vv 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, and [Link] setting of the speeches is similar to that of
chap 1and has through the vision. Yahweh and the members of the court are present and
speak sometimes among themselves and sometimes to Judah and Jerusalem. In Yahweh great
hall three groups are discernible. One group is composed of the usual members of Yahweh
court who are lowered to speak in Yahweh’s behalf. Two other groups are silent addressees
for the speeches. They also present in earlier acts. But the situation has changed with the
movement of time. Jerusalem is no longer a proud, though embattled city.

This message of comfort contains repeated linguistic characteristic that divide it into
several parts based on who is speaking. Initially God himself give instructions for someone to
speak words of comfort us in imperative verbs (40:1). The speeches are urgent calls for
messengers to represent Yahweh and the heavenly court in spreading the word of Yahweh in
decision and coming actions. The first two speeches (vv 1-2, 3-5) urge that a mission go to
Jerusalem to encourage her with the good news Yahweh will return to the city very shortly.
The group is to prepare a way through the Arab for his victorious return. v 6-7 record a
sceptical reply which will be echoed in succeeding chapters. The protest is common in the
call narratives, but the protest not only complains of weakness. It is sceptical of the integrity
of humankind.

Detailed analysis of the text

v. 40:1-2. The repeated imperative strikes the note of compassion and urgency. The emphasis
upon comfort pervades many poem, the consolation form a sharp contrast to the judgement
which Isaiah is commissioned to speak as he participate in the divine council (6:9-13).The
prophet’s comfort starts with the announcement that his people’s period of harsh discipline is
over and god has forgiven them. God it at hand to lead them back to their homeland. This
new literary unit begins with two imperative verbs in which God exhorts someone to give
words of divine “comfort/compassion” (naham) to God’s people. In other passages in Isaiah
(12:1; 30:18, 49:13 etc) God’s comfort is closely associated with a time of great joy, the
restoration of the land and the redemption of his people. These are events that mark
eschatological establishment of His kingdom on earth. The word comfort has used because
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God has positive plans to act in compassionate ways towards those within his family. This
terminology was connects “your God” to “my people” employing covenantal language that
reflects God’s relationship to his Hebrew people.

v. 40: 3-5. The first of them vs.3 calls upon equally mysterious celestial agents to prepare the
way for God’s arrival. God himself, the one supreme factor in the ongoing of the universe are
preparing a route along which God will arrive and lead them. The second strophe of the poem
now details how it is that comfort can be offered to a sinful, ruined people. The cause for
encouragement is solely the activity of the Lord, his coming into the sphere of human
activity. Once again we hear a disembodied voice crying and once again it is apparent that the
identity of the messenger has been completely subsumed under the message. The Hebrew text
says that it is God who comes out if the wilderness for this people. It is likely that is a
reference to the Lord bringing the exiles back across the wilderness form Babylon. The one
thing the people can do is to prepare the way for the king, they do not see the King, but they
are dare to believe that he is coming. Then the direct result of the Lord’s coming will be the
revelation of his glory.

v. 40: 6-8. That is the burden of the second voice. The prophets hear it saying Cry and he
records his response, “What shall I cry?” Many a conscientious soul in critical times hears an
imperative to speak. This is the usual plight among the ministers. Week after week the
demanding situations and the expectation of their people say Cry. These dispirited exiles
were over ward by the mighty and the splendour of their oppressors. The political and the
financial prestige of its people might well overawe captives on whom its lordly inhabitants
looked down with contempt. To rise their spirit the prophet’s first message is of the living
and almighty God above and behind all things seen. Flesh is man in his weakness and
mortality, contrasted with God who is spirit, potent and eternal. All flesh includes both the
Gentile nations and Israel.

Those who view this passage as a prophetic call narrative consider these words as the
prophet’s lamenting objection to God’s call. This approach also does not adequately deal with
the fact that 40:6-7. It is far better to interpret 40:6-8 as God’s words of hope and comfort
that the speaker should declare to his audience in Zion. The good news of comfort for God’s
people is that like the bloom of the flower and those who opposed God will fade just like the
grass fade when God comes.

Comfort, comfort: God salvific acts will extend his compassion to his people know that he
has promised to defeat their enemies, to establish his glorious kingdom, to set his eternal king
form the line of David on his throne and to extend his love to his faithful followers to dwell
in their land. The opening words of this verse can hardly be surpassed. Without any transition
or preparation, the repeated imperatives strike the hearer with sudden poignancy. Here the
directness and the power are to remind the people of God’s ultimate tenderness and kindness.

This tone of kindness and gentleness is reinforced in several ways. The opening words
themselves are not mighty words, but homely, common ones. They speak of the compassion

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expressed to someone who is griever over the death of a family member (Gen 24: 67; 37:35;
2 sam 10:2; Jer 16:7). Furthermore these are the words spoken to my people by your God.
Without question this is the language of the covenant. Whatever the branches of covenant
‘this people’ may have committed and however grievous the punishment the nation will have
suffered, the descendents of Abraham and Jacob need not fear that will forget his promises to
their ancestors.

Conclusion

In the year 587BC the Babylonian army destroy Jerusalem, they plunder and loot all the
treasures from the king’s palace and temple. They took many of the Jews to Babylon as
slaves. God wanted to comfort His people Israel, because their sufferings and hardship were
over. God himself come from the wilderness to comfort His people and bring back from the
exile. God put His word forever and his people will blossoms like flowers and those who
opposed God words will fade.

Exegesis on Isaiah 43:1-7

INTRODUCTION: Isaiah tells of God’s desire to call his people out of bondage of sin and
bring them into a loving relationship with him. Chapter 1-39 are consistent to tell of God’s
judgment on nations persecuting Judah and the surrounding areas. These chapters also speak
of God’s sovereign ability to triumph over those who are persecuting his people. Isaiah
begins chapter 43 with “But now” signifying that the following verses are in contrast to what
was prophesied earlier. As stated previously chapter 1-39 focus on judgment while a message
of hope begins in chapter 40. God uses the scolding in chapter 42 to then dive into chapter 43,
thus beginning with “But now”.

Isaiah communicates to us God’s disgust with sin and still our created purpose to be in
communion with him. Although this book was written for a specific people at a specific time,
God’s ultimate message of judgment and hope still rings true for all included in the body of
Christ. This is the literary context where we find Isaiah 43:1-7. Great stress is laid on names
in Scripture. These two parallel and antithetic clauses bring out striking complementary
relations between God and the collective Israel. But they are as applicable to each individual
member of the true Israel of God.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: In 612 Ninevah, the capital of Assyria, fell before an

attack of Medes and Babylonians. In 605 the Egyptian Pharaoh, Necho II, was heavily
defeated at Carchemish on the upper Euphrates, by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, and the
greater part of what had been the Assyrian Empire came under the control of a revived
Babylonian (sometimes called the neo-Babylonian, sometimes the Chaldean) Empire, which
lasted until 538. In 586 B.C. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians; the Temple was destroyed and
a large number of the inhabitants of Judah were deported to Babylon. Some years before 550
a new conqueror, a Persian named Cyrus, appeared in the east. After a series of spectacular
victories, first over the Medes, then over Croesus of Lydia (547) and finally over the
Babylonians, Cyrus entered Babylon in 539, and gave permission to the various people who
had been deported there to return to their own countries.

AUTHORSHIP: Nothing is known of the person and fortunes of the prophet. He remains
‘the great unknown’. The middle section of the book of the Prophet Isaiah (Chap. 40-55) is

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generally known as ‘The second Isaiah’ or, alternatively, ‘Deutero-Isaiah’. This name for it
dates only from the last quarter of the eighteen century, when doubts began to be expressed
whether the second half of Isaiah (Cap. 40-66) was written by the prophet of that name. It had
always been assumed that the book was a unity and that everything in it was the work of
Isaiah of Jerusalem, whose ministry extended over the second half of the eighteen century
B.C. (roughly 750-700). Another designation of him, besides the second or Deutero-Isaiah, is
the ‘Babylonian’ Isaiah. The prophet was not the prophet Isaiah who lived and prophesied
during the eighteen century B.C., but a prophet whose name is unknown to us (hence the title
‘Deutero-Isaiah’) who lived and prophesied in Babylon during the sixth century B.C. He was
a prophet, and a prophet for his own time: that is, he believed himself to be the messenger of
Yahweh to his people in a time of crisis.

DATE: Isaiah 40-55 is the work of a prophet who lived in Babylonia during the middle years
of the sixth century. In the closing verses of the prophecy (55:12f.) the release from Babylon
appears still to lie in the future, so that it is probable that his work was finished before the
return from exile. The beginning of his ministry almost certainly dates from a time after
Cyrus set out on his career of conquest. The earliest of his oracles which can be fairly
definitely dated is 41:1-5, and it fits in well with the early victories of Cyrus, up to the fall of
Sardis, the capital of Lydia, and in the autumn of 547 B.C.

Later interpreters also favored a Babylonian geographical location because of (a) the
complaints of the exiles (40:27) (b) Information about Babylonian life, religion, and
conditions (43:14; 46:1-47:15); (c) knowledge of Cyrus, the Persian king who defeated
Babylon in 539 BC (44:28; 45:1); (d) the use of a first person style of writing found in the
hymns of Ishtar and Royal Babylonian inscriptions. In addition, some pointed to verses where
Jerusalem was pictured as a city in ruins (44:26), and the people were under Babylon’s yoke
or in prison (47:6). All these arguments set out above are quite sufficient to establish that
these chapters come from the sixth and not the eight century B.C.

FORM/STRUCTURE/SETTING: 43:1-7 is usually called an oracle of salvation.

Stuhlmueller shows its full outline: “Salutation (v 1a), Expression of Encouragement (v 1b,
5a), Reason for Encouragement (v 2, v3b-4 impf), Purpose (v7 pf 1 st per).” Although Begrich
treated the oracle as a unity, von Waldow and Westermann have divided it into two separate
oracles. Melugin prefers two oracles (vv 1-3a and vv 5-7) with an intervening promise that
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba will be given up in ransom for Israel.

However complex the inner structure may be, the entire speech is clearly spoken by Yahweh
and should be viewed as a unity. E. W. Conrad has identified the two “fear not” speeches (1b-
4, 5-7) and classified them with the patriarchal oracles in Gen 15:1, 21:17, 26:24, and 46:3.
They fit Israel’s role of witness to the new thing God is doing. Their structure has four parts:

a) Self-identification of God (1a, 3);

b) Assurance (1b-2, 5a);
c) Basis of assurance (3a, 4);
d) Promise (3a, 4a, 6-7).

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The two “fear not” oracles have been shaped into the larger composition (vv 1-7) addressed
to Israel who is a witness as well as defendant in the larger trial proceedings. Pieper rightly
notes a chiastic structure in the segment. Vv. 1 and 7 make the point that it is because of
God’s special relationship to Israel that it will experience his grace. He created and shaped
the nation long ago and will not forsake it now. V. 2 parallels vv. 5-6 in describing the
encouragement that should arise from the knowledge that no calamity can swallow up the
chosen people. Vv. 3 and 4 speak of Israel’s value to God: no cost is too high to ransom his
people.

EXPLANATION OF THE VERSES

Verse 1: God proclaims that Israel is His (43:1)

Whatever Israel’s blindness and insensitivity may have been in the past, God says
they are to forget that and concentrate on one fact: whose they are. The oracular form thus
says the Lord underlines the firmness of this call. It is a called not be afraid: Do not fear. The
repeated “do not fear” (41:10. 13, 14; 43:1, 5; 44:1, 8) particularly addressed this issue: the
fear that God had forsaken them, or worse, never was theirs in the first place. In the language
of Gen 1 and 2 Isaiah reminds the people that just as God created and shaped the physical
universe, so he brought them into existence as his own people. “Just as he created the heavens
and shaped the earth, so he has created Israel. The mentioning of Israel and Jacob together
suggests “God’s grace to an unworthy people and His great purpose for them”. The use of
Israel and Jacob together also suggests God’s “tenderness” towards them and His creatorship
over these people. Next, God says to “fear not” because he has redeemed them. The Israelites
were tempted to live in fear because of the exile, but God assured them that He still had a
plan and destiny for them that would prevail. He had chosen them and they were not about to
be forgotten no matter what they faced.
In the case of its use in Isaiah chapter 43 it is meant as a frightened feeling or anxiety.
The Israelites are told to not to feel this way. Furthermore God next says that he has
redeemed Israel. By saying, “I have redeemed you” God speaks it as something that
happened in the past but is also active. His redemption of Israel is not something that will just
happen in the future, but it is taking place. Some scholars see the word “redeemed” as
prophetic and “called” as referring to the past. In other words the Israelites are not to fear
because they have been called by God and will be redeemed in the future. The last phrase in
this verse is “I have summoned you by name; you are mine”. God began with speaking of His
redemption and ends the verse by calling Israel His moving from general to specific. Calling
someone by name means that they are known. This creates even more of a special
relationship between them.

Verse 2: God comforts and assures His people (43:2)

Verse 2 describes the outcome of belonging to God. The endurance the Israelites will
have is a result of God being with them. Isaiah writes saying “when” they “pass through the
waters”, the rivers, and “walk through the fire” He will be with them. This shows that these
are not possible things that the Israelites will face, but they will happen. So being in God’s
presence does not assure avoidance or an escape from evil but a promise to endure it.
Overcoming these circumstances is another reason to give God glory because it’s His
presence that will help the Israelites through, not their own strength or a change in
circumstances.

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 This verse can also be hinged with chapter 42 as both refer to fire. In chapter 42 fire is
in reference to a form of judgment. They are, “you will not be burned” and “the flames will
not set you ablaze”. Throughout the Old Testament fire is used either as a form of
“destruction or approval”. In this case it is used to show God’s “approval” of them. This fire
that was used to engulf God’s enemies will be the very form of the protection for the
Israelites. In this particular case fire was used as a form of persecution for Daniel. However
God protected and saved them from the “fiery furnace”, just as He promises to protect Israel
in a similar circumstance.
This verse in particular seems to be in reference to the Exodus event; pertaining to
water.
The book of Isaiah uses water as an image of judgment “in connection with Assyria”. God
promises earlier in Isaiah chapter 8 that the waters would overtake Judah as a sign of
judgment. God shows His sovereign control over the waters by using them for destruction or
approval.

Verse 3: God proclaims His love for Israel (43:3-4)

This verse begins with “For” which supports the point made in the previous verse.
God has the position to tell Israel to not fear because of who He is. This verse begins with a
description of just that. God says He is, “The Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior”. Lord means someone who exercises control and has power, using both effectively.
By calling Himself “Savior” God is saying He’s the “One who saves”. Also by calling
Himself the “Holy one of Israel” God is declaring Himself to be “set apart” from everything
and everyone else. Because of the use of “Your” in these phrases, God is emphasizing who’s
He is and that in His love He gives Himself to them. Just as Israel belongs to God; God also
belongs to the Israelites.
The first statement in this verse of, “I am the Lord, your God”, serves as a reminder of
what God has already done for Israel and what He can and will do again. The second
statement emphasizes God’s holiness, and the third shows that He alone is their redeemer.
The next phrase tells of giving Egypt, Cush, and Seba as a ransom for Israel. This is in
reference to the Exodus because God gave them to set free the Israelites. Giving Cush and
Seba in Israelites “stead” is also a reference to taking their place. To give someone as a
ransom to rescue another shows that they are treasured, honored and loved. It is clear from
this verse that only a God who has power to ransom someone’s life could do this, and He
makes it known that He is more than able.
Verse 4 once again begins with God’s declaration of love for Israel. He says that they
are “precious and honored” in His sight. The introduction into this verse begins with the word
“since”, causing one to believe that the action described in the latter part of the verse is
because of His love. The language used in verse 4 is very emotional. The words “precious”,
“honored” and “loved” are similar to what a groom might say to his bride. Even when others
might not see these characteristics in the bride they are always evident to the groom. This can
of course be compared to Christ as the groom and the Body of Christ as the bride. The love
that Christ has shown us is the same supernatural love that God speaks of in this verse. God’s
character is truly displayed in these examples of grace.

God calls Israel back to Him (43:5-7)

Verse 5 begins with another message of comfort and encouragement to not be afraid.
God is giving them a valid reason to have no fear. “I am with you” is an active phrase,
showing that His presence wasn’t just with the Israelites in the past or will only be with them
in the future, but that His presence is currently with them. It is a message of encouragement

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and consolation. This is similar to what was spoken to “Ahaz when it appeared that Judah
would be annihilated” in Isaiah chapter 7:4.
God’s promise is extended to the scattered Diaspora Jews. This promise can be read
in three possible ways. Firstly it can be understood as hyperbole; or an over exaggeration.
From Isaiah’s standpoint he has only seen two small dispersions, such as what occurred in
Israel in 721 B.C. and Judah in 586 B.C. However in chapter 43 he uses “extravagant
language” to describe God’s calling of His people. His emphasis shows the reader that there
is no place to far for God to bring His people back to Him. Secondly the next possibility is
that Isaiah was speaking prophetically about the future of these scattered Jews. There was a
much greater dispersion than the minor ones in 721 and 586 B.C that happened after A.D. 70
and 135. In this case they were most definitely “scattered” to the ends of the earth and did not
yet begin to come back together until the 20th century.
God calls the Israelites His “children” and more specifically His sons and daughters.
This makes a point to the family type relationship held between God and His people; as the
Father of His children. The word “gather” also has a parental connotation. It conjures the
image of a parent gently calling a child to their side. By calling them His children God
reaffirms the special relationship that is held between the two.
Verse 6 shows a lot of similarity with the previous verse, as it is also about bringing
the Diaspora back. God refers to, as stated above, the Israelites as His “sons” and
“daughters”. The repeated phrase found in verse 5 and 6 of “I will” shows that God is the one
actually doing the bringing back. The credit can be given to no one else. This verse paints a
picture of God actually fighting for His people because He boldly says, “Give them up!” and
“Do not hold them back”. God is willing to do anything that will get His people back at His
side. To finish this verse, God makes it clear He would go to any length to get back the ones
He loves.
Verse 7 is a continuation of the previous verse. It begins with “Everyone who is called
by my name”. This is who God wants brought “from afar”. This is the first use of call in this
section of verses. Next there is a list of what God has done closely linked to verse 1. He
repeats that God is the creator, former, and maker. God also says that Israel was created for
His glory. It is for no other purpose that He created them; only to bring himself honor.

Interpretation: Israel’s redemption (43:1-7)

This is the first ground on which the Lord will say, you are mine (Eph. 1:4; 2:10). The second
ground is redemption. The Lord made himself the Next-of-kin of the people he had created.
They are his family and he shoulders all their needs as if his own. The third ground is the
personal relationship between the Lord and his people (summoned by name) whereby, as we
might say, they are on first-name terms. The “blind” in 42:16 can be connected to the “blind”
in 42:19. As a result of the nation had come under the severest judgment from God. But now,
God says, a new day is at hand. God will act on behalf of his chosen people out of the purest
grace. Although God was silent for a short time during a time of great pain (42:14), and
allowed his people to be punished (42:22), in the future God will summons his people by
name (43:2,7) and deliver them from their punishment (43:3-6).

Application/Relevance: God punished Israelites deporting them into Babylonian exile for
their sin. With this captivity they thought that they were departed from God. This is because
their city, Jerusalem fell into the hands of the idol worshippers and their Temple also
destroyed. Even many people were deported into the Babylonian exile. They were in

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hopelessness and feared that they might be wiped out from a nation. But at that time of their
crisis the LORD comforted them through his prophet saying “do not fear…you are mine”.
Though he persecuted and caused them to be afflicted yet he loved them and not forgot. God
says that he will be with them when they are in danger and also no nation will destroy them.
He makes known the identity of himself and themselves. And promise that they will be re-
gathered and delivered from their captivity under his mighty hands.

The LORD is the gracious redeemer. He indeed redeemed the Jewish from their captivity
through Persian king, Cyrus. He punishes and corrects whom he loves. But he does not make
them to suffer a long. Though he punishes that is the glory for himself and that people might
draw near to him. One of the great attributes of God that Deutero-Isaiah reveals is that his
unconditional grace upon his people. Other earlier prophets, especially Ezekiel much
exercised the question of repentance. They made repentance a condition of reconciliation
with Yahweh. But in this case there was not any sign that the people had repented. Deutero-
Isaiah stressed the grace of Yahweh which does not wait for repentance. Here, as so often, he
comes closer to the New Testament than any other Old Testament teacher. Deutero-Isaiah’s
theology is a theology of grace which outweighs all other consideration. Likewise, Jesus also
shows his grace upon the adulteress when her accusers intend to stone her. Jesus said to her,
“Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (Jon 8:11) This demonstrates that he
forgives before repentance. God gave Egypt, Ethiopian and Seba for Israel’s ransom. Because
of his exceedingly love God gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ for human redemption
from sin. As God has grace to his people in early period even today also he continue to have
grace upon his people because God is always present. He is never changed. Concerning
relationship this passage implies that the depth of divine-human relationship. To God
everyone is precious and respectful. As a result of this one should not despise others but show
his/her respect. Moreover, it manifests that through his love he promises to be with them and
save them from their exile. Though sin separates both of them, yet God does not forget them
and is mindful to bring them back to him. In the same manner he saves human beings from
sin through Jesus Christ and embraces them in his bosom through his act of redemption.
God’s favor and good-will to his people speak abundant comfort to all believers.

This word “Do not fear…you are mine” is very great. Nothing will happen upon his people
without the consent of God. Even this Jews deportation is witnessed by God. There is nothing
to be fear for his people when they are in danger because God himself is with them. One
loves and cares for his/her own. Likewise God also sincerely loves human beings because
they belong to him. God wants to rescue his own people for they are precious to him. He
delivers them from their physical and spiritual exile. God does not allow that his people
suffer a long under the oppressor. He indeed delivers them. Even today many are oppressed
in physical and spiritual. So, this passage tells us that those who are oppressed should be
rescued from their distress through grace. Even God is gracious to human being while they
are sinful. Israelites exile denotes that God really hates sin. Therefore, we can imagine that
God is so fearful for those who commit sin. All these things are learnt from this passage. So,
this passage is relevant and applicable in our present context.

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 Conclusion: If people fail to follow the laws of nature or of God, there are normal
consequences that will naturally result. When God does not miraculously intervene to stop
these normal consequences, people may feel abandoned or question if God really cares for
them. These theological struggles with God’s providential control of history only demonstrate
how blind people are when it comes to understanding the ways of God. The fact is that God
groan in agony and pain (42:14) as he watches his struggling people groans in agony and pain
with the hard events in life. He will allow them to suffer, but he will not completely forsake
them (42:16). God indicates that he treats people in different ways at different times of their
lives. In a famine, a war, a natural disaster, or when fighting cancer, life may be traumatic
and seemingly out of control without God’s hand of compassion. Rejecting God’s instruction
in his covenant (42:21,24) can bring on God’s disciplinary wrath (42:15, 17, 22, 24). But all
hope is not lost when that first disciplinary action occurs, for God has the power to open
people’s blind eyes to his truth; he has the ability to guide them through the trials of life and
he has promised not to forsake those he has chosen (42:16).

Fear not, God will deliver his sinful blind servant (42:14-43:7): In this message Isaiah
explains God’s plans for the blind servant (42:18-19) who does not seem to understand God’s
actions (42:25b). This servant is the nation of Israel, and it needs to realize that the present
circumstances of the nation are directly connected to the sinful behavior of blindly ignoring
God’s covenantal instructions in the law (42:18-21, 24). Therefore, God will allow these
people to be plundered, so that they will once again listen to what he says (42:22-24). In spite
of all their problems, God assures his people of his love by reminding them that he has
redeemed them; so they need not fear (43:1,5). In the future he will turn darkness into light
and cause all his scattered people to return to their land (42:16; 43:5-6)

Exegesis On Isaiah 45: 1-7

INTRODUCTION: Isaiah 40-55 come from a time when many of the people of Judah were in exile in
Babylon, crushed and without hope. The prophet proclaimed that God was about to set his people free and take
them home to Jerusalem, to begin a new life. A notable theme of these chapters is that God is the Lord of history
and his plan for his people includes their mission to all nations, who will be blessed through Israel. The passages
about “the servant of the lord” are among the best-known in the Old Testament.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The Historical background of Isaiah 40-55 is believed to be in the middle
of the Sixth century B.C, the close of the Neo-Babylonian period. Israel has long ceased to be a kingdom and
Judah is languishing in Babylonian Exile. Cyrus king of Persia is twiced mentioned by name (44:28; 45:1) and
there are a number of other passages where he is clearly in the writers mind. His great military campaigns are
mentioned, and the fall of Babylon is believed to be imminent.

DATE AND AUTHORSHIP: Isaiah 40-55 is the work of the prophet who lived in Babylonia during the
middle years of the sixth century. In the closing verses of the prophesy (55:12f) the release from Babylon appears
still to lie in the future, so that it is probable that his work was finished before the return from exile. The
beginning of his ministry almost certainly dates from a time after Cyrus set out on his career of conquest. The
earliest of his oracles which can be fairly definitely dated is 41:1-5, and it fits in well with the early victories of
Cyrus, up to the fall of Sardis, the capital of Lydia, and in the autumn of 547 B.C. Nothing is known of the
person and fortunes of the prophet. He remains ‘the great unknown’. Another designation of him, besides the
second or Deutero-Isaiah, is the ‘Babylonian’ Isaiah.

EXEGESIS OF THE TEXT:

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 v. 45:1. In this verse Cyrus is given a most distinctive title, the “anointed one”. The word used happens to be
the word that coincides with the name Messiah, although it should be remarked at once that this title is never
used in the Scripture of the Old Testament for the Christ that is to come. It is however used for kings like Saul (I
Sam. 12:3, etc); for the people of God (Hab. 3:13); and even for the patriarchs (Ps. 105:15). It does not
necessarily imply that an actual anointing of the person in question took place. It is a designation of honor.

The main emphasis of this paragraph is on God’s sovereign work of accomplishing his will
through this king. God’s taking hold of his hand results in or has the purpose of bringing nations into subjection
before this king. God will unloose the sword and other instrument of war from the lions of the kings he fights,
making them defenseless before his advancing army. The next thing God will do is to open before him the “two
doors” and the gates of various undefined cities. In light of God’s preparatory work, it is hardly possible to call
this king a great conqueror; he merely cleans up the enemy after God defeats them.

v. 45:2-3. God’s activity is further stressed; it is God who will go before the conqueror and prepare the way
for him. When Cyrus arrives at the city by the smooth road God has prepared, he will find the mightiest defenses
already broken for him, with their carefully hoarded and concealed treasures his for the taking.

In language reminiscent of Exodus (6:7 etc) v.3 introduces the first of the three reasons why God
has chosen to use Cyrus. God wants Cyrus to recognize who it is that has commissioned him. Duhm and others
have questioned the authenticity of all or part of this verse because there is no reason to think that Cyrus ever
converted to the Hebrew faith. But the verse does not product conversion; it speaks of Cyrus knowing who had
called him. Thus, just as the Pharaoh came to recognize that the God of Israel is the Lord without ever coming to
faith in him. So, Cyrus could well acknowledge that he has been commissioned by the God of Israel (as
according to Ezra 1:2-3) he did without surrendering himself to the exclusive worship of the Lord.

v. 40:4. In this verse the Lord adds what it was that he had in mind with regard to his own people Israel. It
may be said to have all been done “for the sake of my servant Jacob”. This honorific title (“servant”) for Israel
occurs often enough in the course of the book (41:8, 42:1, 43:10, 44:1-2, 49;3-6). To it is added the further title
“my chosen one”. But together show how high Israel stands in the Lord’s esteem. True this is traceable to the
covenant relationship. But it still makes it apparent why he will use so select an instrument for the liberation and
restoration of his people as Cyrus. He has much at stake as Lord of his people. In addition he honor Cyrus by
calling him by his name, even as he did Israel (43:1), and also asserts that he has given to this instrument that he
uses ‘a title of honor’. That the personal merits of Cyrus were not the determining factor in God’s choice of the
man, good though he otherwise was, appears from the further assertion here made: “you did not know me”.
God’s dealings with man can never be motivated by the merit and achievements of man.

v. 40:5-6. In verse 5 God boldly claims that “I am the Lord”, the one and only real supernatural power who
controls history. The exclusively of this claim is emphasized by the two additional short cryptic explanations:
“there is no other” and “apart from me there is no God”. There were many other pretenders who claimed to be
gods and many people who falsely that there were other deities with other names, but none of the other angels,
seraphim, demons, or other supernatural beings were Yahweh and they could not do what God could do. He is
the one who will act on behalf of Cyrus by “girding” him for battle and at the same time “ungirding” his enemies.
Thought the king will not acknowledge that it is God who is doing this, God will still accomplish his plan
through him. In verse 6 one further factor that entered into the choice and equipment of Cyrus is added here: the
impression that all this is calculated to make on men the world over, from “the rising sun and from the west”.
Somehow God’s choice and guidance of Cyrus will bring his sole claim to deity to the attention of men,
whenever he may dwell. That men will then follow through logically on this basis and will, the world over,
renounce their inferior gods and turn to Yahweh that is not claimed by the prophet, although some men feel that
this is actually his position.

v. 45:7. This verse attempts to further clarify the big issues that are at stake. Monotheism involves that
Yahweh must be regarded as sole ruler and controller of the universe. Of course, he is never the source of evil.
But both good and evil, no matter with whom they originate, are never out of God’s control. Basic are the two
elements, light and darkness, and all that they represent in common phrasing. Equally basic almost are the two
possible types of deeds of men, the good and the bad, or as here stated: “weal’ and “woe”. All heathen systems of

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religion were basically dualistic, having two separate sources for all that is done, one good and one is evil, and
one as powerful and efficient as the other. This dualism is disavowed strongly by this text.

REFLECTION/ CONCLUSION:

When Israel people suffered in Babylon, God knows what His people have been suffered and from that
suffering he wants to set them free. In this section anointed one has been seen and King Cyrus a non-Israelite has
been designated this title which compare with the anointed one, Jesus (Messiah). Cyrus was God's instrument to
deliver Israel from Babylon, but Christ delivered humankind from the prison of sin. He became a "light for the
Gentile”, so that those nations that faced judgment could find salvation.

The Lord's kingdom on earth, with its righteous Ruler and his righteous subjects, is the goal toward which the
book of Isaiah steadily moves. The restored earth and the restored people will then conform to the divine ideal,
and all will result in the praise and glory of the Holy One of Israel for what he has accomplished.

Exegesis on Isaiah 53: 7-12.

Introduction:

Isaiah delivered his prophecies during a time of great moral and political Upheaval. In the
early part of his ministry, about 722 B.C., Judah’s sister nation, the northern kingdom of
Israel, fell to the invading Assyrians. For a while, it looked as if Judah would suffer the same
fate. But Isaiah advised the rulers of Judah not to enter alliances with foreign nations against
the Assyrian threat. Instead, he called the people to put their trust in God, Who alone could
bring real salvation and offer lasting protection for the perilous times.

Historical Background:

Isaiah of Jerusalem lived in the Second half of the eight Century BC. And addressed himself
to the conditions existing at that time. Judah and Israel were still in Existence as independent
kingdoms. Their kings are referredto by name (Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Pekah). And the
prophet’s encounters with there are described in simple narrative discourse. Assyria was the
oppressing power; Sargon and Sennacherib are clearly referred to. It is not difficult to discern
the various Assyrian Campaigns and the reactions of the kingdoms to each threat. The death
of Uzziah, the Syros Ephraimitic crisis, the fall of the Northern kingdom, the siege of
Ashdok, and the invasion of Sennacherib are among the central events. In Ch. 40-55,
however, the background is the middle of the sixth century B.C. close of the neo-Babylonian
period. Israel has long ceased to be a kingdom, and Judah is languishing in Babylonian exile.
Cyrus king of Persia is twice mentioned by name (44: 28; 45: 1), and there are a number of
other passages where he is clearly in the writer’s mind. His great military Campaigns are
mentioned, and the fall of Babylon is believed to be imminent.

Authorship and Date:

The question of who wrote the Book of Isaiah is a matter of much disagreement and debate
among Bible scholars. In one Camp are those who insist the entire book was written by the
famous prophet Isaiah who ministered in the Southern kingdom of Judah for 40 years, from
about 740-700 B.C.

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 Exegesis of the text: Isaiah 53:7-12.
The servant goes quietly to Slaughter (53: 7): Isaiah described the servant as silent
amid oppression and affliction. Usually, people who are in the right at least’s have something
to say to defend themselves. Even orphans and widows, who often were not in a position to
defend themselves because they did not have the necessary societal clout, would at least try to
do so (1:17-,23). But the servant suffered in silence. Isaiah described the servant as going
“like a lamb to the slaughter” and silent “as a sheep before her shearers.” He endured it all
without protest. The victim’s silence (contrast the outcry of another ‘gentle lamb’, Je. 11: 19;
12: 3) springs from love and faith, as Jesus was to show (I Pet. 2: 23-24), not from weakness
or prudence. Taking note of the NIV mg. on v 8, ‘From arrest and judgment (sentence) he
was taken (led) away’ the whole stanza irresistibly evokes the trial of Jesus and its sequel.

The servant Dies for God’s people (53:8) as the servant was taken away to judgment, all
appeared lost. The question “Who can speak of his descendants?” is again rhetorical,
anticipating a reply of “no one.” The servant had no descendants to continue his name or his
ministry. The expression “land of the living” is a common poetic expression designating life.
Consequently, to be cut off from the land of the living was to die. Hezekiah had despaired
during the days of his own illness that he would no longer see the Lord in the land of the
living (38: 11). Isaiah added an almost parenthetical note reminding his audience that the
people actually deserved the servant’s lot. Nevertheless, he had died for their transgressions.

The translation descendants agrees better with the LXX, Quoted in Acts 8: 33, than with the
Hebrew text, whose word dark points rather to one’s contemporaries. It is best rendered ‘as
for his (own) generation, who gave it any thought?’ Cf. ‘Who has believed…?

The servant Dies innocent (53: 9): The servant’s death highlighted two stark
contrasts. First, his death and burial were linked with both wicket men and a rich man. Some
commentators have suggested the parallelism between wicket and rich signifies a negative
connotation for the latter, though nothing in the text suggests this. Mysteriously, the servant
was associated with both the wicket and the wealthy as he died. Second, the servant died for a
sinful people, but he died innocent. The Hebrew word translated “violence” is Hamas, a word
that carries with it the notion of unjust violence (Ob 10; Hb 1: 2,3).The servant committed no
violence or deceit, yet he died in shame. The NIV should restore the Hebrew’s singular, ‘a
rich man ‘, It was an enigma until the event of Mt. 27: 57, 60, and it still embarrasses those to
whom detailed prediction is unacceptable. But the ancient versions and the Scrolls confirm
the authenticity of rich, the latter source indeed correcting a plural found in the LXX,
retaining the singular, as found in the standard text.

God Made the Servant a Guilt Offering (53: 10): Isaiah explained the ultimate reason
behind the servant’s death: “It was the Lord’s will to crush him.” A slightly more literal
translation (NASB) reads, “The Lord was pleased to crush Him. “Either way, the prophet
places ultimate responsibility on the Lord for the servant’s death. Why would the Lord
delight in such an act? Isaiah also described the servant’s life as a guilt offering. The Bible
uses the term “guilt” in a legal sense. The term denotes a condition in which sinners find

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themselves regardless of how they feel about their sin. The concept of guilt here is identical
to its use in our modern legal system. To find a defendant guilty means the defendant
committed the crime and therefore owes restitution. The amazing fact regarding the servant in
53: 10 is that the giving of his life provided restitution for others, not for himself. It was the
Lord’s will is ‘It was the Lord who willed/delighted. . . (vhapes means ‘to wish, will, desire,
be pleased to’; cf. the noun hepes in 10d), Just as Cyrus ‘fulfilled all the Lord’s will and
pleasure’ in the restoration of Jerusalem (44:28), so the heart of God is revealed in his
delight, even at such cost, in finding and providing a guilt offering.

The Servant will justify many (53: 11): The legal language continued as Isaiah
described the servant’s triumph. The servant had been despised, rejected, condemned, and put
to death. But he would know satisfaction following his anguish. The servant was earlier
described as raised, lifted up, and highly exalted (52: 13). Now Isaiah described him as the
Lord’s righteous one. The servant had demonstrated his own righteousness through his
willingness to follow his Lord’s will completely. Now he saw the fruit of his labor. The
Hebrew word translated “justify” and the Hebrew word translated “righteous” are from the
same Hebrew root (tsadaq}. Again, the sense is legal, for one who was justified was declared
not guilty. However, the servant did not justify himself, for he was innocent (53: 9). Rather,
he justified the many, whose sins, they were counted not guilty. Had they been guilty? Yes,
but not at anymore. Isaiah thus described a servant despised, rejected, and put to death. But in
the end, the servant gained God’s approval, which ultimately was all that mattered. Through
his faithful ministry, the servant demonstrated himself righteous. The divine verdict was “not
guilty.” One of the fullest statements of atonement theology ever penned. I) The Servant
knows the needs to be met and what must be done. 2) As ‘that righteous one, my servant, he
is both fully acceptable to the God our sins have offended and has been appointed by him to
his task. 3) As righteous, he is free from every contagion of our sin. 4) He identified himself
personally with our sin and need. 5) The emphatic pronoun ‘he’ underlines his personal
commitment to this role. 6) He accomplishes the task fully. Negatively, in the bearing of
iniquity; positively, in the provision of righteousness.

The Servant Receives God’s Reward (53: 12): Isaiah used the language of battle to
describe the victorious servant. He would receive a portion with great ones and divide the
spoils with the strong. We should probably understand the initial “I” of 53: 12 as God
speaking, thereby registering divine approval. And the servant gained his victory by pouring
himself out unto death. Notice the careful distinction in Isaiah’s description. The servant
“was numbered with the transgressors. “Although he was not a transgressor, he cast his lot
with them. Further, he bore their sin and interceded for them. Such was his path to victory.
According to the usual translation, the Servant is to take his share of spoil with the GREAT
and STRONG. The alternative translation offered makes them his SPOIL, there ward for his
sacrifice. Nor does spoil necessarily indicate a military conqueror. It is found in 9.3 in
parallelism with harvest rejoicing (cf. Prov. 31:11).

Theological Reflection:

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 As Israel’s faith could never be divorced from the great acts of deliverance and
salvation that God wrought on her behalf. Any who joined Israel by confession of faith could
justly say, “We were slaves to hand” (Deut. 6:21), so is today who profess faith in the living
God. We do so by justly claiming participation in the great act of deliverance and salvation
wrought by Jesus Christ on the cross 2,000 years ago.

The Old Testament recognizes that idolaters are spiritually blinded and the idols are nothing
and meaningless. So, there is no other gods apart from our living God whom we could put
our trust and confidence.

Conclusion:

It is clear that Jews were (and are) not all agreed in their response to this invitation.
Nor are the rest of those to whom the invitation is now addressed. Resistance to the word and
plan of God has been constant throughout the Vision. The resisters are rebuke for spending
money and labor for things without substance or satisfaction, that is, for their own ideas and
fantasies. These may include idolatry as such. But they may simply be chasing after shadows
of pride and ambition, hoping for the return of what they believe were days of glory, or
determining to satisfy a hopeless desire for vengeance for long-past wrongs.

They are guilty of resisting God. They are violent people who fancy that holding fast to their
convictions are a virtue. But their acts are rebellious offenses against the empire, a disservice
to their own people, and rebellious unbelief and blasphemy against God. So the rebels are
invited to change, to become a part of God’s new city and new age. They are offered a warm
reception and a full pardon. God will not change his plan. The Vision has charted the course
he has followed since first choosing Tiglath-Pileser as his instrument for demolition. Now he
is near to his goal. He will not change.

Exegetical Study on Amos 5:18-24

Introduction Amos is one of the most important prophetic books which could be utilized
source fully in our present context. We are reading today the ancient script to be able to speak
to us. We may compare and contrast our situation with that of Israelites and may find points
of differences and similarities. While critically analyzing, it is important to know what
message do the book might give us to our political, social, economic and religious realities. In
other words what would be Amos’ voice in our world today? Let us try to see his messages
for us in this Exegetical Study of the book.

Historical Background During the reign of Jeroboam II, Israelites’ enemies such as Egypt,
Assyria and Babylon were all relatively weak. He succeeded in subduing the Arameans,
Israel’s most powerful nearby enemy (2 Kings 14:25-28). Moreover, there was no Israelite-
Judean war during his reign. In the final half of his tenure (i.e., the 760s and 750s), Israel
reached what was probably its height in terms of economic prosperity. Excessive wealth led
to the creation of a leisured upper class who increasingly adopted a corrupt lifestyle (2:8; 4:1;
6:1-6). But other forms of unfaithfulness to the covenant were rampant as well, including
sexual immortality (2:7) and idolatry (8:14). These were hardly limited to any socio-
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economic class. Nevertheless, it was the exploitation of the poor and defenceless by the rich
and powerful that God particularly exposed through Amos’ oracles and which constitutes a
remarkably frequent theme in the book. In light of the overt references to judicial corruption
as well (2:7; 5:10-12), it is evident that a genuine breakdown in the delivery of justice to the
citizenry had occurred in Israel in Amos’ day. The establishment of the Northern kingdom
must have raised hopes for many that a fairer, more balanced society would result and the
values of the past would be maintained. But greed, unleashed from the constraints of the
agricultural institution of old Israel. The new structure of society in Israel prompted
widespread exploitation of the masses by the royalty and the urbanized rich in both
kingdoms.

Author The word ‘Amos’ by derivation might mean “Burden-bearer.” Amos is one of the
twelve Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. He was a Hebrew prophet of the eighth century
B.C., a native of Tekoa in Judah and was active in the Northern Kingdom (Israel). He
identifies himself as a “herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees” who was called to
prophesy against Israel. Nothing else is known about Amos apart from what he says about
himself. He was contemporary of other prophets Micah, Isaiah, and Hosea. He was certainly
a prophet. His disclaimer to the priest Amaziah (7:14-17) stressed that he did not train to be a
prophet but was called specially by God from his usual employment.

Date On the basis of the superscription of the book (1:1), this places him in the reigns of
Uzziah and Jeroboam, and his historical allusions in his speeches. The time of Amos ministry
was ‘two years before the earthquake’ (Amos 1:1)-This earthquake may be very serious that
Zachariah also mentioned in 14:5 and also Josephus the Jewish scholar believes that it is the
punishment of God to Uzziah for entering into Jerusalem temple. His work can be dated ca.
750 B.C. Thus, he is the earliest of the Prophets whose words have been handed down in
writing. Since there were both long reigns, a lengthy time frame emerges when the book
could have been written. Jeroboam II began to reign over Israel in 793 B.C., and Uzziah King
of Judah dies 739. So, some scholars suggest a date roughly in the middle of the period
dealing with the circumstantial evidence found in 7:17 and the exile of the northern kingdom
occurred in 722 B.C. Therefore, since the time Amos prophesied was during the reign of
Uzziah, it must surely be before 739 B.C., and thus, the middle of the period could be roughly
dated.

Form/ Structure/Setting the present passage is a “woe oracle,” an announcement of

judgement beginning with ‘woe’ followed by a participle designating those on whom the
judgement will come. In this regard it is typical; covenant violations are placed in evidence,
and the judgement sentence is pronounced. Woe oracles have little to do with laments and it
say in effect, “You are in trouble. Here’s why and here’s what will happen to you.” Thus,
5:18-24 has a very different style and format from the lament of the previous periscope.

In 6:1, a new passage begins, as evidenced by a new ‘woe’ directed at the capitals of Judah
and Israel respectively. The structural unity of the entire passage is evident. The “Day of
Yahweh” announcement in vv 18-20 leaves unspecified the reason why Israel’s expectations

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of deliverance on that day are so completely incorrect. Those reasons come only with vv 21-
24. If vv 18-20 are isolated from what follows, the only woe they announce is a day without
sunshine. The reference to the inescapability of the coming trouble (v 19) still warrants a
clarification of what trouble will be. Only from vv 21-24 does Amos’ audience learn that
divine rejection and exile will constitute the long-awaited day. The overall passage is
functionally unified, even though its individual components may be clearly demarcated.

Exegesis of the text

Verse 18 ‘Desiring the Day’ Amos’ audience expected the day of the Lord to bring victory,
blessing and brightness. They considered themselves to be God’s people and worthy of God’s
rescue. But, Amos rebuked and warned them that it would be rather a day of “darkness not
light” which implies defeat, calamity and evil.

Verse 19 ‘No Escape from the Day’ The prophet used two comparisons to illustrate how dark
the day would be for Israel, both showing the inescapability of disaster – man fled from lion
to meet bear and rested at home to be bitten by snake. Whichever direction he goes, he is
doomed. The day of the Lord in all its darkness will be that inescapable for Israel.

Verse 20 ‘No Brightness in the Day’ Amos made a rhetorical question aimed at challenging
the popular understanding of what the day of the Lord would mean to them. Only a miserable
future awaited those whose false sense of security was encouraging them in sinful behaviour.

Verse 21 ‘Feasts’ Amos, acting as God’s representative, methodically considered each

element in Israel’s worship and rejected each one. Rather than hating evil, Israel hated
advocates of righteousness. Therefore, God hated their presumptuous worship which was like
a foul odour. False worship arising from sinful lives is hated by God and is worse than
unacceptable to him.

Verse 22 ‘Offerings’ The next element of Israel’s worship that God rejected was the
presentation of sacrifices. These are the “pleasing aroma offerings” because of the phrase
occurring with them (Lev. 1:9, 13, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, 16) and because they are the ones that
in particular represent consecration and worship. Clearly they represent here the false
worship in Israel that the Lord despised.

Verse 23 ‘Music’ Singing and playing the ‘harp’ was form of rendering cultic praise. God
refused to listen to their instruments. God’s acceptance of the rejection of human expressions
of worship is based on his assessment of the motives of the heart.

Verse 24 ‘Lack of Justice and Righteousness’ Israel’s rejection of justice and righteousness in
the social order made inevitable God’s rejection of their worship activities. This verse starts
with a third-person command form (jussive) that expresses the will of the Amos speaking for
God and expects response from the audience. God’s will was for Justice and righteousness to
prevail in Israel’s social order as an outward sign of their religious devotion.

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Interpretation Some interpreters treat 5:18-24 as a rhetorical unit. Others propose two
divisions of the material: vv18-20 and vv 21-24. Verses 18-20 constitute a woe oracle
announcing judgement, whereas verses 21-24 contain an indictment furnishing additional
reasons for judgement. The woe oracle is addressed surprisingly to those “who long for the
day of the LORD.” Apparently the concept of the day of the LORD was well known to Amos’
audience. It is generally recognized that it would involve an appearance of the Lord
(Epiphany) and sometimes was associated with covenant curses and holy war. The prophet
was concerned to correct theological error that gave Israel false hopes and contributed to their
sinful behaviour. He challenged the popular understanding that – 1) Israel’s covenant assured
them of God’s presence, 2) their prosperity confirmed it, and 3) the day of the Lord would be
solely a day of salvation for Israel. Defeat of God’s enemies and blessing of God’s people
were the two cardinal elements of the day. But, God’s people failed to understand the nature
of their relationship with the Lord. By their corrupt lives they had become God’s enemy, and
as such they would experience defeat and destruction.

A style shift to first-person divine speech sets off from 5:21. The entire passage reflects the
messenger speech style. Nevertheless, a connection between vv 18-20 and 21-24 is that both
deals with Israel’s false hopes – first through the day of the Lord and then through the
sacrificial system. The setting for 5:21-24 probably was Bethel at the royal sanctuary. Amos
may have interrupted a cultic festival there. These verses demonstrate clearly that Israel was
not judged for lack of religion. They were celebrating religious holidays with feast and
assemblies, bringing burnt offerings, grain offerings and choice fellowship offerings, filling
the air with songs of worship and instrumental music. But the Lord rejected this religious
activity. God rejected every aspect of Israel’s worship because they were inundating him with
rivers of religiosity when he wanted rivers of righteousness and justice.

Application/Relevance The dominant theme is clearly stated in 5:24, which calls for social
justice as the essential expression of true piety. Amos was a enthusiastic spokesman for God's
justice and righteousness. He declared that God was going to judge his unfaithful,
disobedient, covenant-breaking people. Despite the Lord's special choice of Israel and his
kindnesses to her during the exodus and conquest and in the days of David and Solomon, his
people continually failed to honor and obey him. The shrines at Bethel and other places of
worship were often paganized. They thought performance of the rites was all God required,
and, with that done, they could do whatever they pleased an essentially pagan notion.
Without commitment to God's law, they had no basis for standards of conduct. Amos
condemns all who make themselves powerful or rich at the expense of others.

God's future judgment on Israel would not be a mere disciplinary blow to warn, but an almost
total destruction. The unthinkable was about to happen because they had not faithfully
consecrated themselves to His lordship. God would uproot his chosen people by the hands of
a pagan nation. Even so, if they would repent, there was hope that “the Lord God Almighty
has mercy on the remnant.” In fact, the Lord had a glorious future for his people, beyond the
future judgment. The God of Israel, the Lord of history, would not abandon his chosen people
or his chosen program of redemption.

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 Today, in the same way, God for whom Amos speaks is not only the God of Israel. He also
uses one nation against another to carry out his purposes. He is the Great King who rules the
whole world; so that He is Sovereign God, who holds the history and destiny of all in his
hands. He is not only the Lord of her future for Israel, but also the Lord of the future for all.
Therefore, the present world which is bound by injustice and unrighteousness, where
subduing of the poor by the powerful exist, and modernization and globalization is creating
huge gap between human being due to greediness. God is extending his arms of mercy and
speaking to the people through this book of Amos in order that they might turn from their
wickedness and be redeemed.

Exegesis on Amos 7: 10-17

Introduction: This section is “one of the great scenes of history.” It reports the conflict between a
priest who spoke for and with the authority of the king and a prophet who delievered the word of
God. This section (vv 10-17) is structured simply: Amaziah’s complaint to Jeroboam (vv 10-11),
Amaziah’s attack on Amos (vv 12-13), Amos’ stubborn reply (vv 14-17).
The Historical Setting
It appears that Amaziah was at this time the chief priest at Bethel. There was the conflict between
him and Amos the prophet is isolated phenomenon in religious history. During this period, a time of
political security for Israel, which was reflected in the pride and carelessness of the ruling classes.
This mood of carelessness characterized the later years of Jeroboam’s reign rather than the early
period. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, accused Amos of being a conspirator against Jeroboam, and
ordered him to return to Judah. Amos responded that he spoke by the command of God.
Authorship
There are three kinds of material in the book which bears his names – narrative, visions, and oracles.
Since it is in the third person, the one narrative passage was not writing by Amos (7: 10-17). In
contrast to the rest of the book, there is some reason to consider their composition the work of a
disciple rather than of Amos, but how near to or far from the events that composition took place
cannot be known.
Exegesis of the texts
V. 10: Amaziah accused Amos of conspiracy and was trying to destroy the government. Certainly,
he hated the attack on Israel’s religion. So he appealed to the king. This was because the king
controlled nearly all the religion in Israel. In fact, the first King Jeroboam almost made a new
religion. But this religion was not true to God’s covenant.
V. 11: The words reported by Amaziah seem to be based on the threat recorded in v. 9. Amos did
not say that Jeroboam would die because of a strong attack. In fact, Jeroboam died in a peaceful way

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(2 Kings 14:29). Clearly, Amos said that Israel would go into exile (5:5; 6:8, and other verses). He
repeated the prophecy in 7:17. Jeroboam shall die by the sword: the priest makes the incidental into
the main statement. Moreover, what Amos had said referred to ‘the house of Jeroboam’ (v.9). Shall
surely be led away captive: Translate, ‘and as for Israel, he will certainly be taken into exile from
upon his land’. This is not expressed in 7: 7-9, but it is said categorically in v. 5, 27; 6: 7.
V. 12-13: Jeroboam’s reaction is not given, but it is likely that it is reflected in Amaziah’s order to
Amos. Amaziah hoped that Amos would return to Judah. Then his prophecies would not make the
leaders in Israel so nervous. Amaziah tried to say that Amos could earn more money in Israel.
Prophets needed to receive gifts of money. So it was easy for Amaziah to attack Amos in this way.
seer: An obsolete term for a prophet (1Sam 9:9), which may have had insulting overtones.
Eat your bread: i.e., earn your living. The mention of Judah stresses Amos’s status as a foreigner; as
such he is interfering in Israelites political and religious affairs.
but never again prophesy at Beth-el: lit. ‘but at Bethel thou shalt not add to prophesy further’. The
prohibition is emphatic and absolute. With the utterance may be compared that which the prophet
Jeremiah’s fellow-villagers said to him, ‘thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the LORD’
(Jer.11:21).
For it is the king’s sanctuary: In Hebrew, ‘a (or, ‘the’) sanctuary of a king.
v. 14 Amos’s reply to Amaziah’s order is not without its interpretative problems. Then Amos
answered Amaziah, ‘I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd. I also took
care of sycamore-fig trees.’ I am no prophet: Perhaps the most discussed verse in Amos. It is best
understood as countering Amaziah’s charge that Amos was nothing more than a prophet-for hire.
Note 3:8, which implies that Amos does “prophesy.”
Nor a prophet’s son: One who belonged to “guilds” of prophets, known in Israel from the early days
of the monarchy (1 kgs 20: 35; 2 kgs 2: 3, 5, 7, 15; 4:1, 38). Amos is thus denying any relationship
to the “professional” prophets. His prophetic activity is not his choosing but is based on Yahweh’s
choosing him.
v. 15 “the Lord took me”: means the Lord intervened to take Amos away from his normal business
of “tending the flock.” cf. 2 Sam 7:8; Ps 78:70-71. Amos describes how God chose him to be a
prophet. God chose David, who was also a shepherd, in the same way. It was only God who chose
kings and prophets. Perhaps Amos wanted Amaziah to compare him with David.
‘Go, prophesy….The priest’s command, “Go…but never again prophesy” (vv 12-13), is a direct
contradiction of Yahweh’s words to the prophet. What distinguished Amos from the typical court-or
false- prophet and from members of the prophetic guilds was that he had heard, as it were, the voice
of God within his heart, saying, ‘Go’ (in reference to Yahweh’s choice of David).

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My people Israel: Amos declares that he has heard the call to prophesy to Jehovah’s people: ‘The
terms of my commission included all Israel’.
v. 16- 17: Amos’s encounter with Amaziah ended with a prediction of dire judgment, despite his
insistence that Amos resist in his preaching against Israel (v.16). Therefore Amaziah was actually
asking Amos not to obey God! Amos mentions both Israel and Isaac. All Israel, both north and south
(including Judah) was part of God’s plan. Amaziah was opposing the real king who was God.
So listen to the Lord’s message: “You tell me not to prophesy against Israel. You tell me not to give
a message against Isaac’s family.”
an unclean land: i.e., a foreign land. Dying in an “unclean” land would be a particularly distasteful
fate to a priest, who is supposed to preserve ritual purity.
Reflection/ Conclusion
The narrative of the encounter between Amos and Amaziah settled the issues of authority. This
section shows that all the authority is come from God and the priest must obey and serve Him. But
in this passage the ignorance of the priest, Amaziah who did not obey the word of God but to the
king, Jeroboam. The Lord was in charge in Israel because the people there were the Lord’s people.
The same is true in the church, where leaders as well as congregation all serve under the Lord’s
authotiry. Each one is responsible directly to God, and each one has accountability to the others in
the church. As the passage shows that not obey the authority of God and serving for the benefit of
oneself will follow misfortune.
Amos Exegesis 8:1-6
Introduction: the book of Amos is one of the minor prophetic books in the Old Testament.
In the book itself the name of the prophet is mentioned. As we see in the book, the prophet
talked against the injustice in the social, political, economical and religious issue, which is
relevant in today’s context. Now, let us see by comparing the differences between Israelite
context and our present context by exegetical the book.

Author: Not very much is known about the life of Amos. All that we know do know is found
in the book itself. He lived at Tekoa a small town in Judah near Bethlehem, he work as a
shepherd or herdsman. He may also have been an expert fruit-grower, since he spoke of
himself as a ‘dresser’ of sycamore trees, which gave an edible fruit rather like a fig. Amos
came from his farming work to be a prophet to the people of Israel, he did not belong to a
priestly or prophetic family, and he became prophet because he experienced the calling of
God.6 Amos himself is only known from the book in which his sayings were collected and
preserved. The direct information which supply about him is precious little, and the title (1-1)
warns that the book was not designed to serve any historical quest for Amos.

6
Thorogood. Bernard, A Guide to the Book of Amos (London: SPCK, 1971), 9.

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Date: Amos probably preached on the 8 th century B.C. On the basis of the superscription of
the book (1:1), this places him in the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam, and his historical
allusions in his speeches. The time of Amos ministry was ‘two years before the earthquake’
(Amos 1:1)-This earthquake may be very serious that Zachariah also mentioned in 14:5 and
also Josephus the Jewish scholar believes that it is the punishment of God to Uzziah for
entering into Jerusalem temple. His work can be dated ca. 750 B.C. Thus, he is the earliest of
the Prophets whose words have been handed down in writing. Since there were both long
reigns, a lengthy time frame emerges when the book could have been written. Jeroboam II
began to reign over Israel in 793 B.C., and Uzziah King of Judah dies 739. So, some scholars
suggest a date roughly in the middle of the period dealing with the circumstantial evidence
found in 7:17 and the exile of the northern kingdom occurred in 722 B.C. Therefore, since the
time Amos prophesied was during the reign of Uzziah, it must surely be before 739 B.C., and
thus, the middle of the period could be roughly dated.

Historical Background: During the reign of Jeroboam II, Israelites’ enemies such as Egypt,
Assyria and Babylon were all relatively weak. He succeeded in subduing the Arameans,
Israel’s most powerful nearby enemy (2 Kings 14:25-28). Moreover, there was no Israelite-
Judean war during his reign. In the final half of his tenure (i.e., the 760s and 750s), Israel
reached what was probably its height in terms of economic prosperity. Excessive wealth led
to the creation of a leisured upper class who increasingly adopted a corrupt lifestyle (2:8; 4:1;
6:1-6). But other forms of unfaithfulness to the covenant were rampant as well, including
sexual immortality (2:7) and idolatry (8:14). These were hardly limited to any socio-
economic class. Nevertheless, it was the exploitation of the poor and defenceless by the rich
and powerful that God particularly exposed through Amos’ oracles and which constitutes a
remarkably frequent theme in the book. In light of the overt references to judicial corruption
as well (2:7; 5:10-12), it is evident that a genuine breakdown in the delivery of justice to the
citizenry had occurred in Israel in Amos’ day. The establishment of the Northern kingdom
must have raised hopes for many that a fairer, more balanced society would result and the
values of the past would be maintained. But greed, unleashed from the constraints of the
agricultural institution of old Israel. The new structure of society in Israel prompted
widespread exploitation of the masses by the royalty and the urbanized rich in both
kingdoms.

Historical Setting: Hebrew prophets’ ministry and message were inherently connected with
the condition in which the people to whom he preached lived, and in this Amos was no
exception. Therefore it is important to know the setting as to comprehend the message of the
prophets.

Political Setting: The period of Amos ministry was a period of peace internally and
externally. The neighbouring kingdom Assyria to the North East and Egypt to the south were
both on the decline and were not threat to them.

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Social Setting: The prosperity in economic and peace in the country was ill-used by the
people of Israel. There had been moral breakdown. The rich ruthlessly oppressed the poor
and they were indifferent towards the affliction of the hungry.

Religious Setting: Religiously, the people of Israel were very spiritual and strict in their
ritual practices. They believed that their prosperity was the blessing they received from God.
However, their social condition affected their religious habits. Thought they did not neglect
their religious duties, but corrupted. So the religious life was looked well on the surface, but
it was a shame and corrupt beneath. At the national religious shrines (5:5) ritual was being
maintained (4:4), but it went hand in hand with godlessness and immorality. Thus, while they
thought that they pleased Yahweh by their sacrifices and worships, they invited his wrath and
judgement (3:14; 7:9; 9:1-4). It did not remove but increase transgression, because he could
not accept the worship there (5:21-23). In addition these rich ceremonials and the costly
sacrifices were being offered at the expense of the poor (2:8; 5:11). In this condition of
corruption and immorality God sent Amos with his prediction of his judgement and coming
doom.
Exegesis Part: Amos 8: 1-6.
Fourth vision of the prophet, it is about doomsday carnage. The fourth vision has been aptly
called a ‘word play vision’. It resembles the third vision in its four part structure: vision, the
Lord’s question, the prophet’s answer, the interpretation. It differs however in details: the
Lord does appear; the particle construction character three visions are absent. The
introductory question is abbreviated (And he said, as compared to “And the Lord said to me”
in 7:8 and it concentrated not on the symbolic significance of the object seen but on a
homonymic (a word with same sound but different meaning, a word that is spelled the same
or sound the same as another word but has different meaning) wordplay).

This Oracle is denouncing the wicked rich in North Israel 8:4

These verses describe the fourth vision, which follows very closely the pattern of the first
three visions in 7:1-9; many scholars think that 8:1-3 should immediately follow after 7:9.
And that the verses 7:10-17 were inserted at that by the latter editor of the book.

8:1-3. A basket of summer fruit: like the vision of the plumb line, Amos fourth vision was
based on an everyday sight, such as he must often have seen in the market place. Amos
interpreted this vision in two ways:
1. The fruit was of a sort which ripened at the end of the harvest, the end of the summer.
So Amos saw it as a sign of the end of Israel’ summer, the end of her time of security.
2. He also understood it as a sort of pun, or play on the words, because the Hebrew word
“summer fruit” was qaytis (this may also be transliterated qais or kayis), which
sounded very like the word for ‘end’, qets (qes).
8:2. The end has come… I will never again pass by them: These words show us that God’s
judgement on Israel was inevitable. In his first and second visions, Amos had pleaded for
Israelites, and God had turned aside from punishing them. But in this fourth vision the end

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was decided and confirmed by the Lord. The Israelites had been giving a final warning, but
they had chosen to ignore it.

8:3. Wailings…dead bodies… in every place….cast out silence: these words could be used to
describe some modern scenes of death; this passage could be a part of report about Vietnam,
or Biafra, or Hiroshima. That is one sort of end for human. It is from that result and every
other result of sin that Christ comes to deliver us. Christian believed that there are two ends
that are possible for human: death or life. The holy persons whose words are recorded in the
Old Testament were thinking about the people as a group. They were thinking of the choice
which the people had to make, between a way of life which would cause the destruction and
death of group as a whole, and a way of life which would bring security for themselves and
for future generations.

8:4. –The prophet, by admonishing the grandees of their iniquities, which they will not cast
away, shows how ripe they are for judgement. That swallowed up; better, that pant after
(Amos 2:6, 7), like a beast after its prey, eager to devour. Even to make the poor of the land
to fail; and cause the meek of the land to fail. They grasp at the property of the unresisting
poor, adding field to field, and impoverishing them in various ways, to root them out of the
land.

8:5. When will the new moon be over: The Israelites were not only joining in false worship.
The wealthy merchants wanted to hurry through the religious festivals as quickly as possible
so as get back their trading. There was a close connection between the new moon and the
Sabbath in the religious life of Israel. People who used a lunar calendar, like the Canaanites
kept the day of the new moon as a festival day, when no trading was allowed. In those places
were the Israelites were joining in the pagan worship of the Canaanites, they saw little
difference between the monthly festivals and their own weekly Sabbath. By the time the book
of Chronicle was written, the moon festivals have been given official approval by the Israelite
priests. King David told the Levites to stand in the house of the Lord “whenever born
offering are offered to the Lord on Sabbaths, new moons and feast days” (1 Chronicle 23:31).
By the time of Amos this combination of the pagan and Israelite festivals seems to have been
quite usual.

8:5. That we may make the ephah small and the shekel great: Besides regarding religious
festivals as an interruption of business rather than occasion of worship, the merchants of
Israel were trading dishonestly. Amos sternly accused them of using false weights and
measures. The ephah was the measure of grain that was being sold. The shekel was the
measure of coins that people paid. So by making ephah smaller and shekel larger than the
proper size, the trader made the people pay more money less grain.

8:6. Buy the needy: The merchants treated poor people as thing to be used, rather than human
beings. Those who got into debt might be bought or sold as slaves, even for as little price of a
pair of shoes.

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8:6. Refuse of the wheat means the husks and sweeping from granary floor, spoilt and dirty
grain that richer people would refuse to buy. Even this merchant sold at a profit to those who
could not afford anything better.

Reflection: The prophetic message of Amos is very much relevant as we see the injustice as
being done to the poor people in the society. The people of all religion practice their religion
and seek from God only their own prosperity. Though people are following their religion but
at the same time they are not thinking about the poor people. In the time of Amos he rebuked
those people who were doing injustice to the poor even though were very pious in observing
their religion. People should not think that prosperity in our lives is because God is happy
with our lives if we are exploiting the poor and neglecting justice to the poor, or else God will
not allow us to live in peace. Today world is at chaos because people are not doing justice,
even though there are many religions, it is not able to bring peace in society. The reason is
justice is not being practice. If we want to worship God in a true manner we must practice
justice in all the area of our life.

Exegesis of Amos 9:11-15. Re-establishment of Davidic kingdom and

future fortunes of her land

Introduction:
In Amos Chapter 9:11-15 deal with the future restoration of Israel’s nation during the reign of
Jeroboam II in Israel. The restoration with unconditional fortune to be bestow upon the
people of Israel and the land.

Historical Background
According Chapter 1:1, Amos prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah over Judah (792–740
B.C.) and in the prosperous period of Jeroboam II over Israel (793–753). During Jeroboam
reign Israel was economically prosperous, agriculture flourish, gain wealth through
international trade. They could make enormous profits. This excessive wealth led to the
people living in luxury. Israel at the time was politically secure and spiritually down/smug.
However as Amos condemn national prosperity idolatry, extravagant indulgence in luxurious
living, immorality, corruption of judicial procedures and oppression of the poor. As a
consequence, God would soon bring about the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom
(722–721). Amos continuity prophecy was God’s past punishments for unfaithfulness will be
forgotten, and his patience was at an end to restore which God sent Amos to announce.

Form Critical analysis:

Form/literary Genre/Structure:-
These verses contain the only salvation oracles in Amos. The oracle is later addition of
Amos. Verse 15 read like prose rather that poetry and would appear to be a prose conclusion
to an otherwise poetic oracle. The used of messenger formula “Says the Lord” divine

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summary quotation of hope and restoration Shows that the prophet gather Israelite’s people to
hear an official proclamation. From chapter 9:1-10 Amos speak about the iniquities will bring
God judgment to the Israel but the destruction will not be the end of the dynasty, the prophet
gives hope for future restoration of Davidic dynasty. Judgment oracles normally predicate
punishment on a history of covenant disobedience. The unjust practice in the society will lead
to the “Doom” but the prophet also give hopes for restoration to “all nations who are called
by my name”(Vs.12) after the destruction of Israel.
-Vs. 11-12 concerns promise of power over enemies.
-V. 13 deals with agriculture bounty
-Vs. 14-15 deal with a promise of return and repossession in their own land.

Important words/Key words:

“Booth of David” refers to rude shelter in contrast to “house of Jacob” (9:8) and “house of
Israel” (9:9; cf. 5:2; 8:14).
Edom: Edom is the name of the nation that sprang from Esau, the son of Isaac and Rebekah,
(Genesis 25:30). Edom bordered Israel on the south and was a kingdom long before Israel
(Genesis 36:31). Historically they are enemy of Israel nation.

Exegesis on the Text:

Vs. 11-12. Amos begins with the phrase, “on that day,” and in verse 13 says, “The time is
surely coming.” Here the prophets in reference to the time when the shifting activities will be
initiated, that is, the period of the exile (vs. 9,10). The prophet see this period as continuing
till the coming of Messiah. The languages of verse 11, “raise up, and rebuild.” indicate that
Davidic dynasty is described as merely “the booth of David.” It gives pictured of fallen,
powerless and weakened condition. The Davidic dynasty had fallen so low that it could no
longer be called house of Israel in Amos time. The continuation of the Davidic dynasty is
envision in the prophecy as continuing in Messiah, who is referred to in Davidic motif, the
perpetuity of David house. The promised of God to Israelites cannot wipe out by the downfall
of the nations. The Prophet assured that the devastated nation David’s dynasty will be
restored through Messiah. It will be rebuilt “as in the days of old” (9:11). The glory of the
kingdom will return, it will stand in glory like in the days of the reign of David.
Further, this coming glorious kingdom will possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations
who are called by my name. When the Lord rebuilds His kingdom, it will possess the enemies
that stood against her. Israel was to look forward to a day when they would be so great that
the nations would be subject to them. Amos saw the Gentles inclusion in the redemptive
Programme of God in Davidic dynasty, as “all the nations who are called by my name.” God
will possess the nations and they will submit to him.

Verse 13. The fact that reaper will be overtaken by the plowman in this time describe a great
abundance of the field, kingdom plentiful the grape will be ready for pressing. The great
amount of wine in this time is picture in the metaphor of sweet wine flowing from the hills.
Amos saw a radical reversal of Israel fortunes. He depicted future God’s blessing would be
poured out in unimaginable abundance. The new Messianic era will usher in a time of

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abundance and a reversal of fortunes. This is the promise God made to Moses in
Deuteronomy 30:1-3. After the disobedience of the nation and its judgment, God would
restore the kingdom yet again.

Verse 14-15. NIV. translated as “I will bring back my exiled people Israel, they will
rebuilt…” Amos saw that God will bring back Israel from captive to their own land. The
abundance will witness the restoration of Israel to her own land. Ruined cities will be rebuilt
and Israel will again flourish as a nation. This restoration will be permanent. I will plant them
upon their land, never again to be plucked up… This pictures the kingdom with eternal
security. The Lord would plant Israel and they would never be uprooted is a pictured of
permanent in Davidic Messiah which promised was made by God to Israel. This promised
was given to Abraham, reaffirmed to David and expresses throughout Old Testament that
God redemptive work to all nations will be from the genealogy of David/ dynasty of David.

Application and Relevance

The restored kingdom possess Edom was God’s inclusion of Gentiles in his kingdom. The
restored kingdom would not militarily or politically possess the physical land, but by offering
the right to seek the Lord, Gentiles would become part of this restored kingdom. This signify
that the Gentiles (nations) and the wicked opposition (Edom) would be possessed because
they will seek the Lord and become part of this glorious, restored kingdom. The kingdom was
now being extended to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ as they were, not by them becoming
Jews or trying to keep the Law of Moses. Acts 15:19. “Therefore I have reached the decision
that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God.” The Gentiles who call/
belief in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ belong to the restored kingdom of God.

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