The Roles and Functions of the Prophets in the Eight Century B.C.E.

Introduction

The great proclaim of the word of God to the people who were from the land of Israel and Judah was known in the development of Israelite rely on as Prophet. The Old Testament Prophets were the talented preachers who had the courage and dynamic qualities. They throw light on not only Israel but also to the present situations by announcing the eternal principles of divine providence which will always operate whenever similar conditions are at the present’s times. It is a truism to say that in God’ plan the same things are true today that was true in the time of the Old Testament. If the people of the present times are living or acting like the people of the times of the prophets, they will be sure of reaping the same situations or facing the punishment from God. In this paper, I will present…..

I.                  Meaning of the Prophet

Many meanings in the Bible which are used for the prophets who came to the people with a distinct message from God. One of after first misunderstandings which must be set aside is that of viewing the prophets as primary predictors of the future. The word used for “prophet” in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is nabi, which appears to have come from an old root word nabu, which meat “to call”. The Greek word for “prophet” (from which we derive our English ‘prophet’) indeed “someone who spoke for another”. One can ascertain almost immediately, then, that foretelling the future was not a primary consideration in the total program which the prophet was compelled to undertake. Being called and delivering God’s message were the two fundamental ingredients in being a prophet.[1]

II.               The Roles and Functions of the Prophets in the Eight Century B.C.E.

A prophet is a man who stands between God and man with the responsibility of faithfully declaring to man what he has heard from God”.[2] According to John Skinner, the prophets appear to have been endowed with remarkable insight into the providential significance of the political events of their times.[3]The task is demanding in that it is a dual role which the prophet is called to fulfill. The role is a negative one of Judgment, and it is a positive one of the promise of hope and redemption and healing. The negative role is a responsibility to pick people’s consciences about those evils and disorders in the world which stem from a ruptured relationship between God and man. On the positive side, the prophet is a voice calling for the restoration of the fragmented relationship between creature and creator.[4]

The distinctive features in the prophecies of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah might well lead us to the conclusion that all comparisons are dangerous; because once we have discovered the radical differences between them it is differences to avoid the temptation of going on and smoothing these out. What, in actual fact, do Hosea and Isaiah have in common? Hosea comes from the farming world of the Northern Kingdom, he was opposed to everything that in his day was implied by the word “king”; of all prophets, he was the most deeply involved in particular attention to problems in the sacral sheper and to cultic irregularities. Isaiah was a townsman, brought up in the traditions of the royal city and sharp-sighted observer of the world politics; he explained all the change in the political kaleidoscope as part of Yahweh’s rational scheme, he placed his confidence in the divinely guaranteed protection of the city, and he looked for a king who would bring peace and righteousness.[5]

Much the same can be said of Amos and Micah. Amos was apparently quite unmoved by Hosea’s main topic, the threat to Yahwism from the Canaanite worship of Baal; and he is also different from Isaiah, for he does not inveigh against mistaken policies, against armaments and alliances.[6]

Their call gave them a unique knowledge of Yahweh and of his designs for Israel. They are deeply rooted in the religious traditions of their nation. Their whole preaching might almost be described as a unique dialogue with the tradition by means of which the latter was made to speak to their own day. They understood it and brought it to life again is the measure of their difference from all the contemporary religious heritage of their nation.[7]

These Prophets were all agreed that it was Yahweh who enlightened them and led them on from insight to another. The reason for their isolation was, therefore, this- as they listened to and obeyed a word and commission of Yahweh which came to them alone and which could not be transferred to anyone else, these men became individuals, persons.[8]

The new feature in their preaching, and the one which shocked their hearers was the message that Yahweh was summoning Israel before his judgment seat, and that he had in fact already pronounced sentence upon her: ‘The end has come upon my people Israel’ (Amos 8.2).[9]A Prophet’s message was always spoken in the name of God. A prophet never introduced his message with the words “Thus says Amos” or “Thus says Isaiah.” Rather, the message formula is always, “Thus says the LORD”(Mic 2:3; Jer 5:14). The message is thus the important thing about the prophet, not the prophet himself or herself.[10] Some of the Prophets do stand out as individuals. Isaiah parades through the streets naked. Jeremiah cries out his frustration from his prison cell and public stocks. Ezekiel performs acts out of character for a priest. But no matter how odd they act or how flamboyant they may appear, what is at stake is ensuring that the people receive the message of God. Any outrageous acts they perform are designed to attract the people’ attention to that message.[11]

II. Social and Religious Prophecy in the 8^th Century B.C.E.

I.                  Idolatry

The religious and Political sins of God’s people are closely joined in the imagery of the husband Yahweh and the wife Israel. Israel comes under the control of Assyria first as a client state, then as a bound vassal. Assyria finally destroys Israel in 721 BCE, because of its repeated revolts against Assyrian domination. In this desperate period, most of the prophets ignore the Assyrian threat and instead concentrate on what he perceives as the root causes of Israel’s problems.

Israel has come to think of Baal as the giver of the essentials of life, which were ample in the ear of Jeroboam but have since become increasingly scarce owing of famine, and civil strife and consequent plundering of fields and neglect of agriculture, and heavy tribute to Assyria and Egypt. There is a tragic causal relation between dependence upon Baal for food and clothing and loss of these goods to the foreign power. These boons, which Israel regarded as her wage for consorting with Baal, are now surrendered to Assyrian and Egypt.[12]

The Idol worship and the worship of the gods of surrounding nations caused the very heart of God to weep and sorrow. Therefore Hosea sensed something of the heinousness of the sin of unfaithfulness that caused Yahweh so much heart sorrow. He presents Israel as saying:

Let me follow my paramours who are giving me bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.  (Hosea 2:5)

Scholar John Bright highlights the religious situation of the 8^th century such that from top to bottom, young and old alike, Israel society is rotten; the worship of gods of the fertility cult has eaten away its moral fiber.[13] Even though the ruling Myanmar Military Government always announces for the national unification is the duty of all citizens”, there is radical discrimination in the whole country. In Myanmar, those who are not Buddhists cannot get safety security, economic affairs, education, health and so on. And also, even they are worthy to get high positions in the governmental and other position; they cannot get these positions but expect Buddhists. Today the situations of this country are nearly the same as the time of the prophets. This is the challenge for all believers which way they walk like prophets.

    II. Worship Practices

The entire apparatus of festivals, sacrifices, religious music, and tithing is rejected as hateful to Yahweh, a rejection repeated often in prophetic speeches (e.g., Hos. 6:6; 8:13; Isa. 1:10-17; Jer.6:20). Amos applied the same reversal of expectations to the cult, especially the great autumn festival of the ingathering, a joyful occasion, with the prospect of disaster taking the place of salvation and mourning that of joy. One of the more remarkable aspects of Amos is the presentation of worship as the expression of a radically sinful way of life. The idea of the eight century BCE Israel rejecting worship as such in favor of a purely spiritual and ethical religion is, however, quite implausible. Rather, the point seems to be that worship was a very powerful way of legitimating the current political and social status quo.[14]

Amos had a brand of religion that was truly spiritual. It had the essence of genuine heart-worship. The religion of the people of Israel was disgusting in his eyes. The people insulted God with their formal, heartless, meaningless offerings of sacrifices. Therefore he says:

I hate, I despise feast, and I take no delight in your festivals. Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down as water and righteousness as an unfailing stream. (5:21-24)

Amos wants them to understand that they may not hope to win Yahweh’s favor by a formal observance of raises and ceremonies. He does not ask for praise, sacrifices or ceremonial observances, but justice and righteousness.[15]    

The opinion of Isaiah, Baalism had its worst in the loaf of
Israelite. Superstitions, customs from the east- and the deadly worship of Moloch broke down any spiritual impressions they might have had. There was very little religious depth, the moral fiber was gone, ethical standards were low. Prophets were too busy with the strong drink to give the spiritual welfare of the people.[16] For Micah, he delineates the “demanding claim of religion” as walking humbly with God. This means a renunciation of all human arrogance and selfishness so that one’s life may be open to the invasion of God’s gracious mercy. Micah said that there is a changing element in the “demanding claim of religion”, namely, that man shall do justly, love, mercy and walk humbly with God.[17] In the today Myanmar Christian society, some of the believers come to their churches on Sunday regularly, and also they go to the houses or plas­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­es of the fortunetellers or foretellers for asking their problems, their futures and so on. Some are trying to get money or opportunities ­­­­­­­­­­­­by using evil’s ways however they know such ways are not like God. There are still false worship practices, on the other hand, the unorthodox worship practices in today our Myanmar Christians Society. Christian worship practice must be a humble-hearted and thinking minded only to God.

VI. Social Discriminations

The major challenge of today Christians is facing with justice in the time of corruption, poverty, oppression, violence which are symptoms of a society and world order. What should the ministers and the Christian society do in such a situation? How justice can be built in the society? Dr. Samuel Ngun Ling describes that a great religions injustice that was committed by the religious leaders at the times of prophets was not only turning away from the truth and justice of God but also abusing of their religion, employing it as a showcase or a tool to maintain their extended religious statuesque.[18]The nation’s civic leaders, greedy officers cooperate with co-operating with corrupt judges to exploit the people for their own benefits. Because of the cruel oppression that they have practiced, God will not save them from the fury of the emery, no matter how much they cry for his help. Religious leaders, prophets preach the word of “comfort and approval to those who give them food and money but announce judgment on those who refuse.

The prophets stressed justice and righteousness over sacrifice. Deeds of injustice negated people’s worship. For the prophets, morality and religion were inseparable. The unity between them derived from the very nature of the creator God, a God with explicit expectations. Isaiah did not hesitate to attack the rich and powerful of their evil and selfish ways. Isaiah seems the nation as estranged from the Lord, not only by its lack of faith in him but by its pre-occupation with material prosperity and its utter indifference to the gravest social evils. Like the other prophets of the period he saw injustice towards men as a flagrant offense against God and he denounced it accordingly.[19]  

Christians of today as the agents of God and must fight against all the evil and injustice elements in order to eliminate social injustice and predicaments that are threatening peace, tranquility, and stability of the society. In particular as the prophets, the ministers of today will be active in promoting and defending promoting and defending the integrity of family life against divorce, for getting gifts, in other words, envelopes, power abuse and every oppressed behavior. There are many homeless, orphans, poorly educated person and unemployed people both in the Church and the society.

In order to bring about justice in our society, love is the powerful force that can transform individuals and social conditions. The Christian revolution is the one who demands justice with a love. Love and Pain are integrally related. It is the exercise of such love-pain that Christian can be free from partisan strives and hatred. Such power of love-pain that Christian can be free from partisan strives and hatred, such power of love then seeks ways to let this power of love become in the realities of day to day struggle towards justice, freedom, and equality. In the opinion of the author of this paper, it is for sure that God alone cannot do this task. God needs and calls us to participate in His holistic ministry to build HisIHh kingdom here on earth. As justice is always a concern in human society, it is a major theme of the eight-century prophets. The prophetic understanding of justice relative to merit, equality. Need, love and freedom do not render a clear picture of exactly how justice should be accomplished in society. Thus, not only Christian leaders of today but also all believers should not ignore the prophetic mandate “Let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever following stream.”

Conclusion

  

Israel and Judah had a period of safety and prosperity, through social disintegration, as well as religious decay, was formed. Social disintegration corrupted the society and their religion was hateful to God. We can clearly see that the prophets, who tried their best to announce the word of God and to make people turn to God in their ways. The surrounding political, social and other situations had threatened to the people of Judah and Israel, and we can clearly see that the unity between them was also in the lowest point. The powers pressed over the powerless, and the richer was richest. This situation shows that power-holders and wealth-possessors abuse their powers in many differences for their purposes. Therefore, the rich become richer and the poorer so that the gap between the wealth-possessors and the poor-possessors becomes bigger and deeper nowadays. For this reason, the exploitation of “the haves” to “the have-nots” is continuing as a consequence. It is because not only the ruling leaders but also the religious leaders were weak to see the true situations of the country. 

In the same situations in our country, Myanmar is still under the military dictators for many years. There is no freedom in any circumstances, especially social and religious affairs. The believers of Myanmar are nearly the same situation with the prophets of the eighth century and should know that God is still with all in Myanmar as the time of those prophets. Ministers of today and tomorrow need to strive to promote the sound society for those who are needed and to prevent from all damages of Christian believing. No matter how hard to serve as a prophet in Myanmar, both all ministers and all believers should not give up and try to follow the calling of God as the prophets who were in the eighth century BCE.     

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[1] James M. Efird., The Old Testament Prophets Then and Now (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1982), 10.

[2] John Paterson., The Goodly Fellowship of the Prophets ( New York: Scribner’s ,1950),1.

[3] John Skinner., Prophecy and Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge university Press, 1951), 7.

[4] Robert N. S anders., Radical Voices in the Willderness ( Texas, Word Books, 1970), 21.

[5] Gerhard Von Rad., The Message of the Prophets (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1967),145.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.,146.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Victor H. Matthews., Social World of the Hebrew Prophets (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001),29.

[11] Ibid, 30.

[12] Norman K. Gottward., All the Kingdom of the Earth (New York: Happer and Row Publishers, 1964), 140.

[13] John Bright., Covenant and Promise (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), 88.

[14] Joseph Blenkinsoop., A History of Prophecy in Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 80.

[15] Kyle M. Yates., 51.

[16] Ibid., 58.

[17] Ibid., 126.

[18] Samuel Ngun Ling., Theological Themes for Our Times (Yangon: MBC Press, 2007), 167.

[19] Victor H. Matthews., Social World of Hebrew Prophets (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001),59.