PROPHETS

Jewish Division of Old Testament

    1) Law

    2) Prophets

    3) Writings

Prophets divided into 2 parts:

    1) Former Prophets

    Joshua, Judges, I&II Samuel, I&II Kings

2) Latter Prophets

    Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, & "The Twelve"

Term "Prophet" sometimes applied to Moses, Aaron,

            Miriam and a few other early figures in Bible

            But were not prophets in the sense of later times

First mention of "modern prophets" – I Samuel 10:5-6

    Seems to imply group activity

    Ecstatic trances

    Probably adopted from Canaanite practices

Characteristics of early prophecy:

    1) speaks for God (often with use of I pronoun)

    2) prophecies were brief and dramatic

    3) were SPOKEN word

    4) were of immediate concern (hearers well aware of

            Context and meaning to them)

I Samuel 10:5-6 (Samuel speaking to Saul)

After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. Then the spirit of the Lord will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a different person.

I Samuel 19:23-24 (historical account)

He went there, toward Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of God came upon him. As he was going, he fell into a prophetic frenzy, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. He too stripped off his clothes, and he too fell into a frenzy before Samuel. He lay naked all that day and all that night. Therefore it is said, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

Usual process of our Prophetic "Books"

    1) Prophet issues short, specific, spoken warnings

    2) Somebody begins collecting the warnings

    3) (The warnings come true)

    4) Somebody writes down the collection

            It could be many years later

            Immediate context is often lost

            Order of prophecies often jumbled

    5) Later editor generalizes the warnings to include other

            nations and whole world

    6) Even later editor adds hope with idea of "saving the

            remnant" and eventual victory of the pious

    7) Book becomes part of Bible

Three common problems faced by Prophets:

    1) Church-State problems

            Political realities vs. religious truths

            Prophets always giving foreign policy advice

    2) Competition from other religions

            Lots of religions in area

            Attraction of religion of more powerful states

            Canaanite influences

            Threat of syncretism

    3) Ritualization of religion

            Form becomes more important than substance

            Abuses of priests

            Professionalization of prophets

Basic message of all prophets:

    Do what God says or you will regret it!

MICAH

Micah is one of 4 major Judean Prophets of 750-700

        (with Amos, Hosea, Isaiah)

        Much influenced by Amos

        Prophecies delivered in Jerusalem at same time as Isaiah

            (though no evidence that they had any contact with

            one another)

Special situation of Micah – not an insider!

1) He is a common tradesman or artisan

        As was Amos (a shepherd)

        Isaiah was an aristocrat, Hosea a prosperous farmer

2) He is from outside Jerusalem

        Mareshah was southwest of Jerusalem

            Near border of Judah and Philistine

            Was a frontier post on attack route from Egypt

            (Just 20 miles from home of Amos)

        Jerusalem was not really the "capital" of Judah

             It was a "city-state" controlling Judah

            To outsiders (like Micah) Jerusalem’s leaders

                and priests often viewed as "oppressors."

                (Jerusalem often stirred up wars and then holed

                up behind its walls while surrounding towns

                were overrun!)

3) Precarious times – Assyria had just conquered Israel and

        seemed destined to continue with Judah

        Lots of pressure on Micah to "rally around the flag"

        Not the time to criticize the government

4) Micah apparently wrong twice!

    1) 714 – first prophecy of destruction of Judah

            Assyria invaded in 711 but did not succeed

            Micah discredited and stopped prophesying

    2) 701 – another Assyrian attack (by Sennacherib)

            Micah again predicted doom

            Again it did not happen

            Again Micah discredited

But Micah also concerned with MORAL ROTTENESS

    Saw internal problems as well as external

    He and Isaiah helped spur King Hezekiah to begin a

        religious reform movement

BOOK – probably about half of it is original Micah

Chapter One is prophecy of conquest by Assyria

    1:2-4 Poem on coming of Lord is probably post-exilic

    1:5-9 The Wailing Prophet

    1:8 He says he preaches Stripped and Naked to make

            his point

Chapter 2 begins attacks on Jerusalem Elite

    2:1 Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil

            deeds on their beds!

            When the morning dawns, they perform it,

            because it is in their power.

    2:2 They covet fields, and seize them; houses, and

            take them away; they oppress householder

            and house, people and their inheritance.

    2:3 Therefore thus says the Lord:

            Now, I am devising against this family an evil

            from which you cannot remove your necks;

            and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will

            be an evil time.

    2:4-5 On that day they shall take up a taunt song

            against you, and wail with lamentation, and

            say, "We are utterly ruined; the Lord alters

            the inheritance of my people; how he

            removes it from me! Among our captors he

            parcels out our fields."

            Therefore you will have no one to cast the line by

            lot in the assembly of the Lord.

    2:6 "Do not preach" – thus they preach – "one should

            not preach of such things: disgrace will not

            overtake us."

    2:7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Is the

            Lord’s patience exhausted? Are these his

            doings? Do not my words do good to one

            who walks uprightly?

    2:8 But you rise up against my people as an enemy;

            you strip the robe from the peaceful, from

            those who pass by trustingly with no thought

            of war.

    2:9 The women of my people you drive out from

            their pleasant houses; from their young

            children you take away my glory forever.

    2:10 Arise and go; for this is no place to rest, because

            of uncleanness that destroys with a grievous

            destruction.

    2:11 If someone were to go about uttering empty

            falsehoods, saying "I will preach to you

            of wine and strong drink," such a one

            would be the preacher for this people!

    2:12-13 Is post-exilic addition

Chapter 3 is a powerful appeal to the Leaders of Judah

Image of Leaders as "butchers" of the people

    3:1-3 And I said:

            Listen, you heads of Judah and rulers of the

            house of Israel!

            Should you not know justice? – you who hate

            the good and love the evil, who tear the

            skin off my people, and the flesh off their

            bones; who eat the flesh of my people, flay

            their skin off them, break their bones in

            pieces, and chop them up like meat in a

            kettle, like flesh in a caldron.

            God does not listen to sinners

    3:4 Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not

            answer them; he will hide his face from

            them at that time, because they have acted

            wickedly.

Micah attacks prophets of time

    3:5-7 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who

            lead my people astray, who cry "Peace"

            when they have something to eat, but

            declare war against those who put nothing

            into their mouths.

            Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,

            and darkness to you, without revelation.

            The sun shall do down upon the prophets, and

            the day shall be black over them; the seers

            shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to

            shame; they shall all cover their lips, for

            there is no answer from God.

            But Micah says he speaks for GOD not man

    3:8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the

            spirit of the Lord, and with justice and

            might, to declare to Jacob his transgression

            and to Israel his sin.

Summary of faults of leaders in Jerusalem

    3:9-11 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob and

            chiefs of the house of Israel, who abhor

            justice and pervert all equity, who build

            Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wrong!

            Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests

            teach for a price, its prophets give oracles

            for money; yet they lean upon the Lord and

            say, "Surely the Lord is with us! No harm

            shall come upon us."

Punishment for this – complete destruction of Jerusalem

    3:12 Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as

            a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of

            ruins, and the mountain of the house a

            wooded height.

Probably the original end of Micah

3:12 is quoted in Jeremiah 26:17-20

Jeremiah 26:17-20 (During Trial of Jeremiah)

    And some of the elders of the land arose and said to all the assembled people,  "Micah of Moresheth, who prophesied during the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of Hosts,

Zion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,

and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’

Did King Hezekiah of Judah and all Judah actually put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and did not the Lord change his mind about the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring disaster on ourselves!"

Chapters 4 & 5 are from post-exilic editor

Much of Chapters 6 & 7 probably original to Micah

6:1-5 Image of God suing Israel in court!

    6:1-5 Hear what the Lord says:

            Rise, plead your case before the mountains,

            and let the hills hear your voice.

            Hear, you mountains the controversy of the Lord,

            and you enduring foundations of the earth;

            for the Lord has a controversy with his

            people, and he will contend with Israel.

            "O my people, what have I done to you? In what

            have I wearied you? Answer me!

            For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and

            redeemed you from the house of slavery;

            and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and

            Miriam.

            O my people, remember now what King Balak of

            Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor

            Answered him, and what happened from

            Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the

            Saving acts of the Lord."

6:6-8 is considered moral highpoint of Old Testament

Sometimes called "The Five Questions"

    6:6 "With what shall I come before the Lord, and

            bow myself before God on high?

            Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

            with calves a year old?

    6:7a Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

            with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

                    (gentle rebuke of King Hezekiah?)

                   ( II Chr 30:24 (at beginning of a Yahweh revival)

                    For King Hezekiah of Judah gave the

                    assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand

                    sheep for offerings, and the officials gave the

                    assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand

                    sheep.)

    6:7b Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

            the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"

                (Old practice of human sacrifice not unknown in Judah)

6:8 provides the answer!

    6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and

            what does the Lord require of you but to

            do justice, and to love kindness, and to

            walk humbly with your God?

We are to:

    1) Do justice in life

    2) Be kind to one’s fellows

    3) Walk humbly before God

This is prophetic definition of true religion!

6:9-16 Returns to forecasts of doom

    6:9-16 The voice of the Lord cries to the city (it is sound

            wisdom to fear your name):

            Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!

            Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the

            house of the wicked, and the scant measure

            that is accursed?

            Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of

            dishonest weights?

            Your wealthy are full of violence; your

            inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of

            deceit in their mouths.

            Therefore I have begun to strike you down,

            making you desolate because of your sins.

            You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there

            shall be a gnawing hunger within you; you

            shall put away, but not save, and what you

            save, I will hand over to the sword.

            You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread

            olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;

            you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

            For you have kept the statutes of Omri and all

            the works of the house of Ahab, and you

            have followed their counsels.

            Therefore I will make you a desolation, and

            your inhabitants an object of hissing; so

            you shall bear the scorn of my people.

7:1-6 Pessimism of Despair

    5-6 is utterly despondent (probably not Micah)

            Put no trust in a friend, have no confidence in

            a loved one; guard the doors of your mouth

            from her who lies in your embrace;

            for the son treats the father with contempt, the

            daughter rises up against her mother, the

            daughter-in-law against her mother-inn-law;

            your enemies are members of your own

            household.

But then comes a poem on Faith

7:7-20 Triumph of Faith (probably written ca. 540)

7:18-20 God will forgive Israel’s sins and restore her to

        power

ZEPHANIAH

Probably preached about 626

Just before the 621 reform of Josiah

Very different outlook from Micah

    He is probably of the royal family – descended

            from Hezekiah

    A resident of Jerusalem

    Was influenced by Amos and Isaiah

Concept that the nation will be punished one day

        soon for its sins

God is offended by sin

But follows general form of edited prophetic literature

    1) Woe to Judah

    2) Extension of judgment to other nations

    3) Idea of a general "apocalypse"

    4) Comfort to Judah in future

Zephaniah 1: Judgment on Jerusalem (very pessimistic)

1:1-3

    I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of

        the earth, says the Lord.

    I will sweep away humans and animals;

    I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of

        the sea.

    I will make the wicked stumble.

    I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth,

        says the Lord.

Hymn Dies Irae based on 1:14-17

1:14-17

    The great day of the Lord is near,

        near and hastening fast;

    The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter,

        the warrior cries aloud there.

    That day will be a day of wrath,

        a day of distress and anguish,

        a day of ruin and devastation,

        a day of darkness and gloom,

        a day of clouds and thick darkness,

        a day of trumpet blast and battle cry

            against the fortified cities

            and against the lofty battlements.

    I will bring such distress upon people

        that they shall walk like the blind;

        because they have sinned against the Lord,

        their blood shall be poured out like dust,

        and their flesh like dung.

Zephaniah 2 continues woe but adds small glimmer of hope

2:3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,

        who do his commands;

        seek righteousness, seek humility;

        perhaps you may be hidden

        on the day of the Lord’s wrath.

Zephaniah 3 returns to charges against Jerusalem

3:1-2

    Ah, soiled, defiled, oppressing city!

    It has listened to no voice;

        it has accepted no correction,

    It has not trusted in the Lord;

        it has not drawn near to its God.

3:3

    The officials within it are roaring lions;

        its judges are evening wolves that leave

        nothing until the morning.

3:4

    Its prophets are reckless, faithless persons;

        its priests have profaned what is sacred,

        they have done violence to the law.

3:5

    The Lord within it is righteous, he does no wrong

    Every morning he renders his judgment,

        each dawn without fail;

        but the unjust knows no shame.

3:6

    I have cut off nations;

        their battlements are in ruins;

    I have laid waste their streets

        so that no one walks in them;

        their cities have been made desolate,

        without people, without inhabitants.

3:7

    I said, "Surely the city will fear me,

        it will accept correction;

        it will not lose sight of all that I have brought

        upon it."

    But they were the more eager to make all their

        deeds corrupt.

Abrupt shift in emphasis to universal punishment

3:8

    Therefore wait for me, says the Lord,

        for the day when I arise as a witness.

    For my decision is to gather nations, to

        assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon

        them my indignation, all the heat of my

        anger;

    For in the fire of my passion all the earth shall

        be consumed.

Another sudden shift – to "conversion of the nations"

3:9-10

    At that time I will change the speech of the

        peoples to a pure speech, that all of them

        may call on the name of the Lord and serve

        him with one accord.

    From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my

        suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring

        my offering.

Another Shift! – to idea of the "faithful remant"

3:11-13

     On that day you shall not be put to shame

        because of all the deeds by which you

        have rebelled against me;

        for then I will remove from your midst your

        proudly exultant ones, and you shall no

        longer be haughty in my holy mountain.

    For I will leave in the midst of you a people

        humble and lowly.

    They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord –

        the remnant of Israel;

        they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall

        a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths.

    Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one

        shall make them afraid.

Last Shift – to idea of eventual glory of Judah

3:14-20

     Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout O Israel!

    Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

    O daughter Jerusalem!

    The Lord has taken away the judgments against

        you, he has turned away your enemies.

    The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

        you shall fear disaster no more.

    On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

    Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow

        weak.

    The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior

        who gives victory; he will rejoice over you

        with gladness, he will renew you in his love;

        he will exult over you with loud singing as

        on a day of festival.

    I will remove disaster from you, so that you will

        not bear reproach for it.

    I will deal with all your oppressors at that time.

    And I will save the lame and gather the outcast,

        and I will change their shame into praise and

        renown in all the earth.

    At that time I will bring you home, at the time

        when I gather you; for I will make you

renowned and praised among all the peoples

        of the earth, when I restore your fortunes

        before your eyes, says the Lord.

Evidence of Child Sacrifice

Judges 11:30-40 Story of Jephthah’s vow to God which

    resulted in him sacrificing his only daughter.

II Kings 16:3 King Ahaz "made his son pass through fire,

    according to the abominable practices of the nations

    whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel."

    (also at II Chr 28:3)

II Kings 17:17 "They made their sons and their daughters

    pass through fire…" (at time of King Ahaz)

II Kings 17:31 says people who settled Israel after 721

    used child sacrifice.

II Kings 21:6 King Manasseh "made his son pass through

    fire." (also at II Chr 33:6)

II Kings 23:10 One of reforms of Josiah was to destroy

    the area where people had been making "a son or

daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech."

Jer 7:31 refers to human sacrifice in the Valley of Hinnom

    "And they go on building the high place of Topheth,

    which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn

    their sons and their daughters in the fire –"

Ezek 16:20 "You took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to      me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured."