Transcript Chapter 6: Covenant Advocates by Chaplain Ron McCants

Chapter 6 Part 1:
Covenant Advocates
by Chaplain Ron McCants
The
Prophets
of Ancient
Israel
The Latter
Prophets
Prophet
• Someone who predicts future events
before they occur and to prophesy is
simply to predict.
Prophecy as a
Social Phenomenon
• Hebrew word Nabi means “one who
announces or one who is called.” It is the
notion that prophets were speakers who
carried messages from the divine realm to
the earthly.
The Spirit World
(Anthropologist View)
• Establishing contact with holiness was
connecting with the realm of reality beyond the
ordinary, everyday time and space.
• Shamans have inborn talent or gift for moving
between the world of normal wakefulness and
the world of the spirits, gods, and ancestors.
• The word spoken by the prophet was the Word
of the LORD.
• Prophets were perceived as useful to have
about.
Basic Call Narratives Pattern
Prophetic Oracles Formula
• “Thus says the LORD” or “Hear the word
of the LORD”
• Oracle of Judgment: A denunciation in a
situation of present faithlessness or
announcement of a future punishment
• Future Deliverance
• Woe Oracle
• Biblical prophets vigorously denounced
the veneration of other gods such as the
fertility gods associated with Ba’al (lord) in
Canaan.
• Canaanite religious festivals of orgiastic
drinking and sexual license contrasted the
Torah’s demand for moral behavior.
The Latter Prophets
First Isaiah
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Pre-exile - Chapters 1-39
Dates: 742-695
Rulers: Jothan of Judah (742-735)
The Temple Vision in Chapter 6
The year of Uzziah’s death, 742 B.C.E.
The holiness of the LORD
In 735, Isaiah had a son with a symbolic name,
“Shearjashub,” which means “a remnant shall
repent (or return).”
Covenant Lawsuit
• The LORD is portrayed as bringing Israel to court,
accusing the nation or its leaders of violation of the
stipulations of the Sinai Covenant, stating the evidence,
and announcing the punishment. The prophet plays the
role of prosecuting attorney.
Isaiah 3:13-26 (Read)
• Summons - To the people of Israel
• Charge - A general accusation of covenant dereliction
with specific allegation of violations.
• Evidence - The upheaval in nature by behavior of priests
and prophets.
• Verdict - Priests, prophets, and people to be punished
Second Isaiah
• Exile in Babylon - Chapters 40-55
• Dates: c540
• Rulers: Nabonidus of Babylonia
(605-562)
• Uses the “Holy One” as a name for
God
• The prophet speaks of a “new
exodus” through which the LORD
will bring the exiles out from
bondage in Babylon. Isaiah 41:1720
• The prophet cordially invites
everyone to partake of God’s
gracious bounty.
Third Isaiah
• Post-Exile – Chapters 56-66
• Dates: c515
• The setting of Jerusalem after some of the
exiles have returned to Jerusalem
• A New Heaven and New Earth –
Isaiah
66:22-23
Jeremiah
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Judah
Dates: 627-580
Rulers: Josiah, Jehoahaz (609)
Secretary Baruch wrote down a collection
of Jeremiah’s oracles.
• Admonitions to Repentance
• Jeremiah 3:12: “Return, faithless Israel,’
says the LORD.”
Jeremiah
During and After King Josiah
• Reign of King Josiah years from 620-609
B.C.E.: Nationalism, Reform, Expansion,
Prosperity
• After death of King Josiah: Disaster piled
upon disaster, destruction of Jerusalem
and Temple by Babylonian army in 587586 B.C.E.
Jeremiah’s Career
• Jeremiah was an unwilling prophet.
• In his career he tried, but failed, to quit
prophesying.
• His prophetic activity made him the target of an
assassination plot.
• He was barred from the Temple.
• He was without friends.
• He was forbidden by the LORD to marry.
• He was put in stocks, beaten, left in a muddy
cistern to die, and imprisoned through much of
the Babylonian siege.
Ezekiel
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Babylon
Dates: 593-570
Rulers: Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (605-562)
A priest among the exiles of the first Babylonian
deportation (597 B.C.E.)
• His primary activity was in Babylonian captivity,
but he claimed access to Jerusalem by vision
and levitation and seemed well informed about
the situation there.
Ezekiel’s Vision
• Valley of Dry Bones –
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (Read)
• The vision symbolizes what will happen to
the house of Israel. Although they are
languishing in exile (dead bones), with no
hope for a new live, the LORD will give
them hope and a new life.
Class Assignment
• Read The Contemporary World
• Pages 144-145
• Case Study: What Would the Prophets Say?
Gap between rich and poor
Accumulation of material things
Waste of wealthy nations
Luxurious houses of worship
Plight of the poor and homeless
What leaders and people must do?
Who should be recognized as a prophet?