Prophets: Enforcing the Covenant*

*How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Fee & Stuart


I. The Nature of Prophecy:

A. Foretelling is only one aspect of prophecy
Prophets are...
1. Less than 2% Messianic
2. Less than 5% New Covenant
3. Less than 1% still to come
4. Mostly predictions of immediate future

B. The Prophets are Spokespersons
a. They were to speak for God to the people
b. Many prophets are mentioned, but only 16 have their words written down (e. g. Elijah’s actions written down).
c. Often we don’t know the actions of these prophets.
d. Often the books are collections of spoken oracles, not always in order.

C. The Problem of History
1. We don’t know the history
2. We don’t know the culture
3. We don’t know the religious life of Israel


II. The Function of Prophecy

1. The prophets were “covenant enforcement mediators”
“Law enforcement officers”
--When the Law was given, there were blessings and curses included. See Lev. 26:1-13; Deut. 4:32-40; 28:1-14. Curses- Lev. 26:14-39, Deut. 4:15-28; 28:15-32:42

Blessings:
Life
Health
Prosperity
Agricultural abundance
Respect
Safety

Curses:
Death
Drought
Danger
Defeat
Destitution
Disease
Dearth
Destruction
Deportation
Disgrace

2. The prophets’ message was not their own, but God’s.
a. God raised them up-Isa. 6; Jer.1, Hos. 1:2…
b. “Thus says the Lord” --often first person
c. Hard things said: Jer. 27 & 28

3. The prophets’ message is unoriginal
a. Hosea 4:2
b. Messianic prophecies- Dt. 18:18


Understanding the Prophets

Five basic considerations

1. Primarily, prophets were God’s spokespersons

2. Secondarily, prophecy is about the future, and then it is usually about something to happen soon

3. The historical setting is often a problem

4. Prophets spoke judgment because the law had been broken.

5. The message is not original—just referring to the Law’s requirements.


The Exegetical Task

1. The need for outside help
Dictionaries-historical setting, outline
Commentaries-individual verses
Handbooks-combination

2. The historical context
What is the general historical setting for the prophets?

------the larger context-
The prophetical books 850-460 b.c.
These are times of turmoil:
Political, military, economic and social upheaval
Disobedience to God
Population movements, boundary changes

The North (Israel) was disobedient first
Amos & Hosea prophesied judgment
Assyria conquers them in 722 b.c.

Judah followed later
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, & Zephaniah
Babylon conquers Judah in 587 b.c.

Restoration to come (return from Exile)
Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi

------the specific context-
Example: Hosea 5:8-10
War Oracle
Alarm, attack, defeat
Date-734 b.c.
Audience- N. Israel (Ephraim)
Situation-2 Kings 16:2-9 Israel will be attacked because they attacked Judah, but Judah will also be punished for attacking Israel.

3. The isolation of individual oracles
Just as we look at the NT letters in paragraphs, we need to look at the prophets in oracles.
Haggai and Zechariah- the oracles are dated
Amos 5 (which is more normal) they are not
1-3 Lament Oracle, announcing punishment.
4-17 Oracle of invitation and warning of punishment.
18-27 Oracle warning of punishment.

4. The forms of prophetic utterance
1. The lawsuit Isa 3:13-26 (Hos. 3:3-17)
2. The woe Habakkuk 2:6-8 (Micah 2:1-5)
3. The promise Amos 9:11-15 (Hos 2:16-20)

5. The prophets as poets
---a. Synonymous Parallelism Isa 44:22
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.

---b. Antithetical Parallelism
Hosea 7:14
They do not cry out to me from their hearts
but wail upon their beds.

---c. Synthetic parallelism
Obadiah 21
Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the LORD'S.


Hermeneutical Suggestions

The prophets are telling the Israelites how they have broken the Mosaic law. How can what they said then apply to us now?

---Love God-no idolatry
What serves as our idols today?

---Love your neighbor as yourself-
How do people not show concern for their neighbor today?
How can we show love?

1. The prophet as foreteller of the future
---Sometimes the future is divided into two parts
Ezekiel 25-39 foretells the destruction of several nations, which happens within 100 years

Ezekiel 37:15-28 Blessings of the Messiah inserted

Zephaniah 3:8-9 speaks of a final judgment

2. Prophecy and 2nd meanings: Ex 17:1-7 and 1 Cor. 10:4

3. Dual emphasis on orthodoxy (correct belief) and orthopraxy (correct action)
James 1:27, 2:18, Eph. 2:8-10


Examples in Zephaniah
1. Primarily, prophets were God’s spokespersons
2. Secondarily, prophecy is about the future, and then it is usually about something to happen soon
3. The historical setting is often a problem
4. Prophets spoke judgment because the law had been broken.
5. The message is not original—just referring to the Law’s requirements.

-The need for outside help
-The historical context –specific & general
-The isolation of individual oracles
-The forms of prophetic utterance
-The prophets as poets
----Application