The Road to Redemption: the Prophets

    So who were they? So who were these men and women that we call the prophets? For many of us the names that come to mind are the big three: Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. On occasion we recall that there are the other Minor Prophets such as Daniel and Joel. The interesting thing about the Biblical story however is that is chocked full of prophets. There are groups of prophets who wandered the countryside in the time of Saul and David. There were professional prophets who worked for the king (telling him exactly what he wanted to hear) and short term prophets like Amos who took a few weeks' vacation from their vocation (shepherding) to deliver a message of truth to the powers of the time. Their stories are buried deep in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, Kings and Chronicles as well as being highlighted within books bearing their own names. Throughout the history of Israel the prophets played critical roles which assisted the people of God along the Road to Redemption.

    The first role that the prophets played was that they were to speak truth to power. One person described this task as "forth-telling." Forth-telling was the task whereby the prophets shined the light of God's law and purpose upon the actions of the people of God. There were times when the forth-telling was for a single individual. This was the case when the prophet Nathan made King David aware that David's adultery with Bathsheba and David's subsequent murder of Bathsheba's husband was known by God and a price would have to be paid. David would have to face up to his sins. There were times when a prophet would shine a light on an entire nation. This was the case with prophet Hosea. Hosea was told to go and marry a prostitute in order to demonstrate to God's people that they were playing the prostitute in their relationship with God (in other words the people of God were running after and worshipping other gods, rather than being faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). The message of Hosea was also, to offer a more positive note, that God was going to remain faithful to God's people even when they were not faithful to God. This calling was an attempt to keep the people on task; to remind the people that they were part of God's larger plan of redemption.

    The second role that the prophets played was that they were "fore-tellers." Fore-tellers are those who speak to the future. At this point I want to stop and make clear a few things about prophets and speaking to the future. First, the prophets were not soothsayers predicting the future of individuals for a fast buck. If they were predicting someone's future it was always in reference to God's plan for that individual (God was going to anoint someone King or eliminate someone because they had done great harm to God's plan and people). Second the prophets were not those who were trying to predict specific dates and times for the coming of Jesus. Over the centuries the church has tried to tie virtually every prophetic prediction to Jesus. While Jesus was ultimately the culmination of the God's redeeming work, the prophets spoke to many other events along the way (such as the people being carried into Babylon in exile as well as their eventual return). Finally the prophets were those who gave hope to the people by fore-telling about God's redemptive plan. While this fore-telling was not always specifically about Jesus, it was about the fact that God's saving action would culminate in one who would be the suffering servant, giving his life for God's people and for the world. In the end then all of the fore-telling was another way of keeping God's people on the road to redemption.

    You and I are the beneficiaries of both prophetic roles. The words of the prophets while spoken to people more than two thousand years ago can still speak to us today. First they remind us that we are to live as God's redeemed and redeeming people. We have a task before us to live out the love and grace of God in our everyday lives. The words of the prophets keep us aligned with God's plans. Second the prophet's words remind us that God is still at work redeeming the world; that even in the face of tough times we are not to give up on God, because God has not given up on the world.