Today we begin a 10 week, 2 part worship series that helps
us to engage with the Hebrew (Old) Testament prophets: Elijah, Amos, and Hosea,
and invites us to reflect on our call to work for justice, righteousness, and
peace in the world. It seems most appropriate that we begin this series on
Peace with Justice Sunday!
Here is a briefer than brief introduction to prophets:
Called by God and filled with God's Spirit, a prophet spoke
God's word to people who had in one way or another distanced themselves from
God. In one sense, a prophet is a preacher. But in marketplace terms, a prophet
is often a whistle-blower, particularly when an entire tribe or nation has
turned away from God.
The prophets peopled the pages of Israel's history. Moses
was God's prophet used to rescue the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, then
to lead them to the land God had promised them. Again and again, these people
turned away from God; Moses was God's mouthpiece to bring them back into a just
relationship with God. In the Old Testament history books (Joshua, Judges, 1
& 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah), prophets
like Deborah, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, Huldah and others came forward to
speak God's word to a backslidden people.
Israel's religious worship was organized around the labor of
priests, first in the tabernacle, later in the temple. The day-to-day job
description of priests lay in slaughtering, butchering and roasting the sacrificial
animals brought by worshipers. But a priest's tasks went beyond the heavy
physical work of dealing with thousands of animal sacrifices. A priest was also
responsible to be a spiritual and moral guide to the people. While the priest
was often seen primarily as the mediator between the people and God in the
temple sacrifices, his larger duty was to teach God's law to the people.
In Israel's history, however, the priests themselves often became
corrupt and turned away from God, leading the people in the worship of idols.
Prophets arose when the priests failed to teach God's law to the people. In a
sense, God called and spoke through prophets as whistle-blowers when the whole
enterprise was on the brink of self-destruction.
One of the stunning tragedies of the people of God was their
persistence in pursuing the worship of the many gods of their pagan neighbors.
The common practices of this idolatrous worship included offering their
children in the fires of Moloch and ritual prostitution with every imaginable
lewd practice "on every high hill and under every green tree" (2
Chronicles 28:4). But an even greater evil in forsaking Yahweh came in
forsaking God's structure for living in community as a distinct and holy people
of God. Concern for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger in the
land was replaced by oppression. Business practices overturned God's standard
so that extortion, taking bribes, and dishonest gain became commonplace.
Leaders used power to destroy lives, and religious leaders despised God's holy
things. Far from enriching the nation, these ungodly practices led to the
downfall of the nation. The prophets were often the last voices in the land, calling
people back to God and to a just and healthy community.
In most cases, the prophets were bi-vocational. God tapped them for
special duty while in the midst of other professions. Some prophets (e.g.,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel) were priests with the duties described above. Others were
shepherds, including Moses and Amos. Deborah was a judge adjudicating issues
for the Israelites. Huldah was probably a teacher in the university sector of
Jerusalem. The task of "prophet" overlaid their other jobs.