Biblical Prophets

REL 150 – Intro to Hebrew Bible Prophets Essay Due April 14th Name: Kathleen C Pereira Student ID: 12553974

The biblical prophets are usually seen as people who forecast the future; indeed, this is the actual concept of a prophet nowadays and this is what I thought. However, a careful analysis will change this concept. First, they were aware of their community problems and could be called activists nowadays. Secondly, in an oral culture they used linguistic tools in order to reach the target audience and be understood by everyone. Finally, their message is against the idolatry, hypocrisy and injustice, but also, it is a message about repentance and restauration. To a biblical prophet, the aspects of life were connected in such a way that they could not be divided and their message still relevant. A prophet was a person that knew very well his community and culture. Thus, when he heard God’s call his view changed and the “small” faults became a disaster; as Heschel states, “to us the World is often serene, in the prophet’s eye the World reels in confusion”. It was a torment watching the society being indifferent to God’s law and becoming insensitive to cruelty (Heschel, p. 9). The prophet understood what Heschel points out: “Above all, the prophets remind us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible. If we admit that the individual is in some measure conditioned or affected by the spirit of society, an individual's crime discloses society's corruption.” (Heschel, p.16) A society that accepts silently the abuse of the weak and pretends to be blind to people who are marginalized while going to the Temple to worship and loudly announce how they are righteous is not righteous in the view of the prophet. Actually, they are guilty of evading their responsibility and letting the evil install itself quietly and unnoticed among them.

The prophets' oracles are a profound and desperate call to catch people’s attention in order for them to repent and turn back to the Torah. However, it was not always that the prophets' voice was heard; in fact, his voice sounded blasphemous to many people in his time (Heschel, p.10). Consequently, he was a lonely person, someone that talked and no one wanted to listen, someone that exposed the naked truth and no one wanted to see (Heschel, p.18). In order to be heard, a biblical prophet often uses linguistic tools to draw people’s attention to the severity of their actions. For example, Hosea uses sexual and family metaphors to describe the relationship between God and Israel (The Jewish Study Bible, p.1143). Ezekiel, differently, describes visions that astonish and amaze people (The Jewish Study Bible, Ezek. 1). Meanwhile, Amos exploits the usage of hyperbole as in the verse below. “I loathe, I spurn your festivals, I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies.” Amos 5:21 (The Jewish Study Bible, p.1186) Instead of using any gentle synonyms, the author prefers to use harsh words to demonstrate the intensity of God’s displeasure about people’s current situation. The biblical prophets were in deep anguish since they could see and feel what others could not; like a volcano about to erupt, they could not keep to themselves the message that they received. Exposing the wound of their nation and revealing the obscenity of their society, the prophet brings to light what people wants to hide in the dark. As the messenger of God, he will denude the holy hypocrisy and its servants. “The prophet is an iconoclast, challenging the apparently holy, revered, and awesome. Beliefs cherished as certainties, institutions endowed with supreme sanctity, he exposes as scandalous pretensions.” (Heschel, p.10) The prophet talks against the religion when it is more important than its source. In Amos, it is seen that the rituals at the Temple did not result in good deeds; instead, people remained in their

actions without repentance (The Jewish Study Bible, p.1183 – Amos 4: 4-5). Based on Heschel, “the prophet knew that religion could distort what the Lord demanded of man” (Heschel, p.11). Consequently, the Temple, symbols, liturgy, sacrifices, and priesthood become empty of goodness and justice. The piety that is shown is insincere. The prophet, as an iconoclast, shows that society’s religiosity is nothing more than a window dressing that hides their evil deeds. The biblical prophets smashed the hallowed images (in social, political and religious domain) in their community in order to remember people about God’s commandments. God does not want actions, wealthy, offerings; He wants a heart truly committed to Him, and this is what the prophets say. “But let justice well up like water, Righteousness like unfailing stream.” (The Jewish Study Bible, p.1187 – Amos 5:24) As Heschel says, “…every prediction of disaster is in itself an exhortation to repentance.” The God’s message in the prophet’s mouth faces a corrupted society, but is also a word of a better future, a reminder that the Lord did not abandoned his people. Ezekiel, beautifully, announces what God declared to His people when they felt forgotten and Isaiah encourages a helpless king by stating a God’s sign. “You shall know, O My people, that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and lifted you out of your graves. I will put My breath into you and you shall live again, and I will set you upon your own soil. Then you shall know that I the LORD have spoken and have acted”—declares the LORD. (The Jewish Study Bible, p.1115 – Ezekiel 37: 13-14) “Assuredly,

my Lord will give you a sign of His own accord! Look, the

young woman is with child and about to give birth to a son. Let her name him Immanuel” (The Jewish Study Bible, p.798 – Isaiah 7: 14)

Being a prophet (in biblical terms) is beyond forecasting the future or saying what people wants to hear; indeed, it is a rough activity. Nowadays, my concept of what is a biblical prophet has changed; it includes the social and political spectrum as important roles in society’s health. The biblical prophets talked about destruction and regeneration, empty religiosity and acts of justice, death and life; briefly, they talked about contemporaneous topics. Finally, people such as biblical prophets are necessary in our time, to defy the idolatry, to fight against the injustice dressed in meritocracy and to bring us hope in the future.

Works Cited Heschel, A. J. (1962). The prophets (1st ed.). New York, NY: Harper & Row. Jewish Publication Society. (2004). The Jewish Study Bible: Tanakh Translation (1999 JSP). (A. Berlin, M. Zvi, Brettler, & M. A. Fishbane, Eds.) New York; NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.