The prophets of the Old Testament Essay Example

stand for Him. Nebiims were taken to be a continual reminder of the closeness and handiness of God’s direction. The Messages through the Prophetss accomplished the same intents as a personal communicating from the Creator. The presence of the Prophetss tested the people as to their attitude toward God. Nebiims assisted in the program of redemption, for God has systematically used a combination of the human and the Godhead as His most effectual agencies for making lost world. The prophets’ outstanding merchandise is their part to the Written Word. Last but non least, Nebiims prepared the manner for Christ’s first coming.

Furthermore, God announced to the Israelites how He would talk through Prophetss stating, “Hear now my words: if there is a prophesier among you, I, the Lord, do myself known to him in a vision ; I speak to him in a dream” ( Num 12:6 ) . The prophesier Jeremiah stated, “Then the Lord put forth His manus and touched my oral cavity, and the Lord said to me: ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth’” ( Jer 1:9 ) . This rule of God supplying the message and the prophesier so presenting it as God’s courier is the standard procedure throughout the Bible.

When a prophesier received a disclosure from God, he was obligated to portion the message with the intended audience, which could be for coevalss of the prophesier or for people 100s or even 1000s of old ages into the hereafter. Many of the Prophetss recorded the words they were given, and some of these Hagiographas God preserved as Holy Scripture. The Prophetss of God frequently faced resistance when they

were instructed to present messages of warning, but they were non permitted to shy away. God told the prophesier Amos to record: “Surely the Lord GOD does nil, unless He reveals His secret to His retainers the Prophetss. A king of beasts has roared! Who will non fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but vaticinate? ” ( Amos 3:7-8 ) . In add-on, In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Paul wrote, “All Bible is given byinspiration of God, and is profitable for philosophy, for rebuke, for rectification, for direction in righteousness, that the adult male of God may be complete, exhaustively equipped for every good work.”

1. Discuss Why the Prophetic Literature Is Considered To Be the Most Difficult Literature of the Bible to Study.

The prophetic literature is among the most hard parts of the Bible to construe or to read with understanding. We shouldn’t be embarrassed to acknowledge we have trouble reading the Prophetss. This is because prophetic literature has a curious manner of speaking, like people who, alternatively of continuing in an orderly mode, jog off from one thing to the following so that you can non do caputs or dress suits of them or see what they are acquiring at. The Prophetic literature aggregation contains the narrative of a large struggle and a major clang of civilizations.

For illustration, Israel was founded by Yahewh’s act of presenting his people from bondage and by representing them as his compact topics. At its nucleus Israel was a theocracy—that is, a divinely ruled entity. However, internal and external political force per unit areas led to the outgrowth of a Monarchy in Israel—that isrule by one individual,

a human sovereign. Therefore, the history of the monarchy and the paperss of prognostication are grouped together in one major aggregation called the “Prophets” ( Nevi’im, the N of Tanak ) , and it follows the Torah in consecutive order. The Prophets aggregation was further subdivided into two parts. The narrative historical books came to be called the “Former Prophets, ” and the books associated with prophetic figures were called the “Latter Prophets.”

Let’s expression at a few grounds for some of the trouble we have refering prophetic literarure. First, the primary trouble for most modern readers of the Prophetss stems from an inaccurate apprehension of the words “prophet” and “prophecy.” The word prophesier refers to one whoTells Forth( or proclaims ) , every bit good as one who foretells. However, we frequently limit the significance of prognostication to announcing the hereafter, so many Christians refer to the Prophetss merely for anticipations about Christ’s foremost coming, or his 2nd approaching, and the terminal times as though anticipation of events far distant to their ain twenty-four hours was their chief concern. Therefore, To see the Prophetss as chiefly forecasters of future events is to lose their primary map, which was, in fact, tospeakfor God to their coevalss.

Another affair that complicates our understanding the Prophetss is the job of historical distance. By the very nature of things, we will hold a harder clip understanding the words of the Prophetss than the Israelites who heard those same words in individual. We are far removed from the spiritual, historical, and cultural life of ancient Israel, and we merely have problem seting the words of the Prophetss in their proper context.

Thingss clear to them be given to be opaque to us. Furthermore, the spoken nature of their prognostications causes many of our troubles in apprehension. The literature of the Prophetss contains a assortment of types of speech production, including third-person narrations about the Prophetss ; autobiographical studies by the Prophetss themselves ; poetically framed statements of redemption, plaints, trust vocals, congratulations vocals, covenant cases.

The prophetic literature is considered to be the most hard literature of the bible to analyze because, Prophets did non run in a societal vacuity but were shaped by their sociohistorical state of affairs. Each spoke out of his peculiar background, whether urban or agricultural, priestly or put, affluent or of moderate agencies. Each tended to be shaped by his region’s theological and political traditions, whether northern or southern, Israelite or Judean. Readers of scriptural prognostication must maintain all of these factors and issues in head to understand prophetic literature decently.

Therefore, the prophetic literature require clip and survey. Peoples frequently approach these prophetic books casually, as if a surface reading through the Prophets will give a high degree of understanding. This is non done with text editions in our ordinary schooling, and it does non truly work with the Prophets either. Specifically for understanding and construing the Prophets, one must be willing to confer with outside resources, such as Bible lexicons and commentaries, which can cast visible radiation on the background information so we will be able to catch the point of what a Prophet conveys. God’s Word came through the Prophetss to people in peculiar state of affairss. Its value depends partially on our ability to appreciate those state of affairss

so we can in turn use them to our ain.