THE PROPHET’S MESSAGE(S)
|
When we think of the Hebrew prophets, we often imagine thundering pronouncements of warning and judgment, often in the scratchy voices of these roughly dressed and wild-eyed characters. But this is a view from the top, the perspective of those most threatened by changes to the status quo. To them, these were messages that threatened destruction and despair. For those who most desperately needed their lives and the world to be changed, the messages of the prophets sounded differently. In their ears, the prophets’ voices brought messages of encouragement and hope to strengthen the weak and calm their fears. When we consider the world from the perspective of those who are oppressed in a society or culture, promises of God’s “divine retribution” sound more like a message of salvation.
At the same time, these messages were an appeal to all people, wherever they might find themselves in the social structure. It was a call to repentance and an offer of hope. “Every prediction of disaster is in itself an exhortation to repentance. . . . Almost every prophet brings consolation, promise, and the hope of reconciliation along with censure and castigation. He begins with a message of doom; he concludes with a message of hope.”* While the weak are offered hope directly, the warnings and judgments against the powerful also point out an opportunity for their reconciliation and redemption.
How we hear these prophets today tells us something about our spiritual standing and where we place our trust. Nevertheless, when we listen to these prophets, they remain a voice of hope and an assurance of God’s concern for all people, proclaiming His recurring encouragement, “Do not be afraid.”
* Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets (New York: Harper Perennial, 2001), 14.
