A Word about the Prophets
In reading the history of Israel in the Old Testament, we have encountered a number of prophets—people whom God raises up to speak God’s truth in a situation. Sometimes these prophets are understood as “seers” blessed with vision from God to perceive what others cannot see. The prophet hears and sees God’s will, then proclaims it in obedience to God’s command.
Hebrew tradition understands Moses as not only the leader and liberator of his people but also the first and preeminent prophet of Israel. We read of the prophet Nathan’s condemnation of David for his sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. Elijah and Elisha are major prophetic figures whose pronouncements challenged the errant spiritual leadership of the kings of their time. It seems that as OT history proceeds through the period of the divided kingdoms (and their increasingly faithless monarchs), the role of prophet becomes more visible and necessary: God raises up those who announce the nation’s failure to adhere to their covenant with God.
These figures whose stories are told in the books from Joshua through Kings are customarily known as the former prophets. In contrast are the latter prophets, whose writings we have recorded for us as scripture. These prophetic books were organized according to their length, the three major prophets being the longest books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel), followed by twelve minor prophets (Hosea to Malachi). [Contrary to the OT canon, the Hebrew Bible lists the books of Lamentations and Daniel among “the writings,” not among the prophets.]
Our reading schedule seeks to present the Old Testament chronologically as much as possible. Hence it includes the prophets in the order of their proclamation, in the context of our OT historical readings. If you have trouble managing the details of the history or discerning the differences among the many biblical prophets, do not worry. Just read for the spiritual message of these prophets appointed to speak God’s truth to their people and in their times.
Old Testament Readings: Jonah; 2 Kings 13-14; 2 Chronicles 25; Amos
The Book of Jonah recounts the story of a reluctant prophet called by God to speak a word of judgment against Israel’s foe, Assyria. God sends Jonah east to Ninevah, the capital of Assyria, but Jonah heads by boat in the opposite direction, west, to Tarshish. The maritime adventures that beset Jonah demonstrate the providential power of God, whose purpose will not be frustrated by Jonah’s evasions. God sends a storm to wreck the ship and foil Jonah’s escape. Notice the ironic contrast between the faithless prophet and the pagan sailors, who respond with prayerful devotion to Jonah’s God! The Lord appoints a large fish to swallow Jonah, saving him from death and delivering him unceremoniously (“vomited” 2:10) back to shore after three days.
When Jonah finally obeys the Lord’s directive and preaches to the despised Ninevites, they surprise him by heeding God’s word and repenting earnestly. Instead of celebrating this spiritual victory of God, Jonah pouts childishly. His prejudice against the Nivevites prevents him from seeking God’s saving will for them. The book ends with Jonah in a self-imposed exile, moping outside the city, “angry enough to die” (4:9).
What are we to make of this story? Clearly it is more than a child’s Bible tale. By making the reader consider the faulty perspective of the prophet Jonah, it invites us to consider the breadth and depth of God’s compassion for the world. Jonah cannot love the Ninevites, but the Lord does. The story illustrates the limits of a nationalistic perspective on the faith: Israel may be the chosen people of God, but its call is to extend God’s blessings to all the families on the earth (see Genesis 12:1-3). The satirical portrait of the faulty prophet invites the faithful reader to question his or her own perspective on the gift of God’s love.
2 Kings 13-14 and 2 Chronicles 25 provide a sense of the unstable political dynamics of this time. Israel faces the threat of its northern neighbor, Syria, as well as tensions with Judah to the south—all while the Assyrians farther east are threatening. The prophet Elisha’s death involves a prediction of victory against Syria (2 Kings 13:14-25), which bears out. Notice as well the story of the rash challenge of Judah’s King Amaziah against Israel’s King Jehoash (2 Kings 14:8-14), which results in the loss of sacred objects from the Temple. The Chronicler expands upon this story, taking pains to ascribe this defeat to the faithlessness and idolatry of Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:5-16).
Amos prophesies to the northern kingdom of Israel in the middle of the eighth century BC—“in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jereboam the son of Joash, king of Israel” (Amos 1:1). Though the Assyrian Empire was gathering power in the east, Israel and Judah were in a period of relative peace and prosperity. Apparently the Israelites had been lulled into a sense of false security, expecting that their material blessings indicated God’s favor. Israel naïvely desires the “day of the Lord,” envisioning an era of comfort and abundance; Amos’ oracles puncture that illusion. The day of the Lord will bring judgment, not reward, to Israel (cf. esp. Amos 5:18-24). Their rituals of worship outwardly express a devotion that they inwardly lack. Amos decries the social oppression of the poor and powerless as a sign of the rottenness of Israel’s life, and he points them back to the Lord’s true desire, for justice and righteousness among God’s children.
A deliberate reading of Amos takes us not only into the critique of Israel’s wayward society; it invites us to look at ourselves as well. Where today do we see the kinds of injustice that the Lord detests? [cf. 2:6-8; 8:4-6] Are we susceptible to—or outright guilty of—the material excesses (4:1-2; 5:10-15; 6:4-7) and empty faith (5:21-24) that Amos exposes? Do we take too lightly the will of God?
New Testament Readings: Matthew 11-15
As we read these chapters, we get a sense of Jesus as prophet and teacher. His careful, measured revelation of God’s truth engages his listeners sometimes for comfort, sometimes for challenge. Whether they are John’s disciples (Matthew 11:2-6), the crowds surrounding him (11:7ff.), his own disciples (11:25-30), or the Pharisees who often are standing at the edge of the scene (12:1-7), Jesus has truth to reveal to those who engage him. The more we walk with Jesus--through this gospel and in our living--the more we apprehend the strange good news of who Jesus is and what God accomplishes through him.
Note the growing tension with the Pharisees in chapter 12. Jesus’ fresh revelation of God’s purposes challenges their authority, and Matthew shows us how their disdain for Jesus escalates throughout the gospel. By chapter 23 Jesus will be pronouncing woe upon them, in the tradition of the OT prophets. By the end of the gospel, the religious leaders will have called for Jesus’ death.
We get an especially rich section of teaching in chapter 13, which presents a collection of the parables of Jesus. These simple analogies invite even the humblest of people into understanding, yet the wisest can continue to learn from repeated readings of these teachings. Jesus explains that this approach intends to obscure the truth from those who refuse to approach him in faith (13:10-15). Faith in Jesus, then, becomes the interpretive key to apprehending the kingdom of heaven. Read these parables slowly and humbly, asking God to show you more of the truth of his rule. How is God’s kingdom like a hidden treasure, or a pearl of great price? How is God’s judgment like a field of wheat and weeds, or a net full of all kinds of fish? What does that mean for your faithful living?
Chapter 14 offers the miracle stories of Jesus’ feeding the multitudes and his walking on water. Both of them illustrate the divine power at Jesus’ command, but they also suggest the resources available to followers of Jesus—the Church that seeks to continue his ministry after his resurrection. The feeding of the 5,000 occurs seems a lesson for the disciples who are distributing the food, that the meager resources for their burgeoning ministry are enough when dedicated to God. And the threats to their ministry—indicated in the crashing waves and blowing winds on the Sea of Galilee—subside at the voice of the One whose mission they seek to fulfill.
Psalms: 53, 55
Psalm 53 is virtually the same as Psalm 14, which we studied earlier. The psalm laments as “fools” those who do not believe in God, and it describes the harmful effect of this lack of faith—the corruption that devours innocent (v.4). Yet this widespread corruption is not beyond God’s power to address: the psalm ends in the confidence of the coming vindication of the faithful, “when God restores the fortunes of his people” (v.6).
Psalm 55 is a poignant lament of an individual who feels alienated among the many wicked people around him. The speaker’s pain has him wishing for death, or at least escape (vv. 4-8) because of the betrayal of one who had been his friend (vv. 12-14, 20-21). The psalm follows the typical pattern of the individual lament: after laying out the complaint, the speaker brings the request to the Lord (vv. 16-17) and expresses confidence that God will redeem him (vv.18-19, 22-23). Indeed, it is a good word to claim: “Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you” (v. 22).
