Pipeline Week 6 – The Prophets

Big-Picture Context and Numbers

• The Christian Bible contains $1191$ chapters.
  • First $2$ chapters (Genesis 1–2): pristine creation — “Good”.
  • Last $2$ chapters (Revelation 21–22): restored creation — “Good”.
  • The $1187$ chapters in between narrate the human condition in a fallen world — the place where we currently live and to which the prophets speak.

Salvation-History Recap (Creation ➜ Kingdom Split)

• Creation
  • God crafts a good universe; humanity bears the imago Dei.
• The Fall
  • Disobedience introduces sin, alienation, death.
• Downward Spiral
  • Violence and corruption escalate (cf. Gen 4–6).
  • “Divine handing over”: God lets human choices run their tragic course.
• Patriarchal Promise — Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 12; 15; 17)
  • Blessing to Abraham ➜ blessing to “all families of the earth”.
• Exodus & Sinai — Mosaic Covenant (Ex 19–24)
  • Israel becomes a kingdom of priests; Law given as charter of holiness and justice.
• Conquest / Promised Land (Joshua)
• Desire for a Human King (1 Sam 8)
• Monarchical Zenith — Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7)
  • Promise of an eternal throne/seed.
• Solomon’s Golden Age ➜ moral compromise (idolatry, oppression).
• Kingdom Split (1 Kings 12)
  • Northern Kingdom (Israel) under Jeroboam.
  • Southern Kingdom (Judah) under Rehoboam.
  • Key geography: Mediterranean Sea, Sea of Galilee, Shechem, Jerusalem, Dead Sea.

Understanding “Prophet”

• Common Mental Images
  • Fortune-teller? Social activist? Court advisor? — In Scripture a prophet is all three and more: God’s covenant prosecutor, societal watchdog, and herald of hope.
• Core Task & Message
  • “Thus says the LORD” — call people back to covenant fidelity; announce consequences and future redemption.
• Pre-eminent Old-Testament Prophet
  • Moses (Deut 34:10) — paradigmatic mediator and archetype for later prophets, including the promised “prophet like Moses” (Deut 18:15).

Classifying the Prophets

• Literary Size
  • Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings (narratives with prophetic theology).
  • Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel (longer scrolls).
  • Minor Prophets (The Twelve): Hosea … Malachi (shorter oracles collected on a single scroll).
• Historical Setting
  • Pre-exilic: e.g., Amos, Isaiah — warning before Assyrian/Babylonian exile.
  • Exilic: Ezekiel, Daniel — voice from captivity.
  • Post-exilic: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi — rebuilding and future hope.

Prophets as “Watchdogs”

• Analogy (Cambridge Dictionary): “an individual or organization that ensures standards are kept and illegality is exposed.”
  • Prophets function as divine watchdogs guarding covenant ethics (Ex 19:7-8 — Israel’s commissioning).

The Prophetic Call Pattern

• Typical Features (see Moses' call as template):
  1. Divine encounter/vision (Ex 3:7-10 — burning bush).
  2. Identification of people’s plight.
  3. Commission and sending (“I am sending you”).
  4. Human objection/hesitation.
  5. Divine reassurance/sign.
• Key Torah Texts Referenced: Ex 19:3-8; 34:34-35; 32:7-12; Deut 29:24-28.

Five Recurrent Themes in Prophetic Oracles

1. Idolatry
   • $\text{Ezekiel 8:16}$ — sun-worship in the temple courts.
   • $\text{Zeph 1:4}$; $\text{Hos 4:7}$.
2. Injustice
   • $\text{Amos 2:6-8}$ — exploitation of poor; sexual immorality; bribery.
   • $\text{Amos 5:12}$; $\text{Mic 7:3}$.
3. Call to Repentance
   • $\text{Joel 2:12-13}$ — “rend your hearts”.
   • $\text{Mic 6:6-8}$ — “do justice, love mercy, walk humbly”.
4. Judgment
   • $\text{Hos 1:9}$ — Lo-Ammi (“not my people”).
   • $\text{Hab 3:16}$; $\text{Joel 2:1}$.
5. Redemption / Hope
   • $\text{Isa 61:1-2}$ — Spirit-anointed deliverer (cited by Jesus in Luke 4).
   • $\text{Joel 2:28-29}$ — universal outpouring of Spirit.
   • $\text{Jer 31:31}$ — New Covenant.

Ethical Implications for Today

• Welcoming the Alien — $\text{Ex 23:9}$ ➜ empathy rooted in shared history of oppression.
• Divine Throne Foundation — $\text{Ps 89:14}$: righteousness + justice + loyal love.
• Agrarian Justice — $\text{Lev 19:9-10}$: leaving gleanings for poor & foreigner; economic provision built into Torah.
• Vision of Shalom under Solomon (1 Kings 4:20-25)
  • Prosperity statistics: $30$ kors of fine flour (≈ $5{,}000\ \text{liters}$), $10$ stall-fed cattle, $100$ sheep/goats per day, etc.
  • “Every man under his vine and fig tree” = idiom for peace & economic security.
• Day of the Lord
  • Multi-layered concept: historical judgment (Assyria/Babylon), eschatological climax, and personal accountability.

Varied Dynamics of God’s Call (Prophetic Case Studies)

• Jonah — God saves whomever He wants (even Ninevites).
• Amos — God calls whenever He wants (shepherd turned prophet).
• Jeremiah — God calls whoever He wants (timid youth).
• Ezekiel — God calls wherever He wants (by the Chebar canal in exile).

Spotlight on Jeremiah

Background & Call (Jer 1:4-10)

• Age estimate: 13–25 yrs; hometown Anathoth (~3 miles NE of Jerusalem).
• Divine touch on lips ➜ empowerment to “uproot and tear down, to build and plant.”
• International scope: authority “over nations and kingdoms.”

Personal Cost (Selected Texts)

• $\text{Jer 7:27}$ — Preached to a people who would not listen.
• $\text{Jer 15:10}$ — Social rejection; cursed birth.
• $\text{Jer 20:9}$ — Interior struggle: fire in bones vs. desire to quit.
• $\text{Jer 20:10}$ — Betrayed by friends; accused of treason.
• $\text{Lam 3:2-5}$ — Dark night of the soul; mental anguish.

Core Sermon (Jer 7:1-11; 21-26) — “Temple Sermon”

• Main Themes
  • False security in religious symbols (“the temple of the LORD”).
  • Covenant ethics over ritual formalism.
  • Historical reminder of Shiloh’s destruction.
• Language Echoes
  • Exodus liberation; Deuteronomic blessings/curses; “den of robbers” (later quoted by Jesus).
• Grounds for Judgment
  • Idolatry, oppression of vulnerable, shedding innocent blood, syncretism.

National Collapse & Exile

• Northern Kingdom (Israel) falls to Assyria — $722\ \text{BC}$.
• Southern Kingdom (Judah) falls to Babylon — $586\ \text{BC}$.
• Persian Edict of Restoration (Cyrus) — $539\ \text{BC}$.
• theological stakes: breach of Abrahamic land promise, Mosaic covenant curses, Davidic kingship seemingly terminated — setting stage for messianic hope.

Biblical Accounts of Judgment

• $2\ \text{Kgs 17:7-23}$ — reasons for Israel’s exile: idolatry, secret practices, rejection of prophets.
• $2\ \text{Kgs 25:1-21}$ — siege, fall, temple razed.
• Lamentations — poetic eyewitness to devastation (acrostic laments).

Lament: Prayer of the In-Between

• Definition
  • Honest prayer from a broken creation, between Eden lost and New Creation found.
  • Speaks entire range of human emotion — not sanitized spirituality.
• Experiences Framed by Lament
  • Sorrow, grief, protest, anger, remembrance, sickness, loneliness, aging, danger.

Four-Fold Structure (Ps 13)

1. Address/Turn to God — “How long, LORD?”
2. Complaint — naming pain/confusion.
3. Petition — concrete request for intervention.
4. Trust/Praise — intentional choice to rest in God’s steadfast love.

Practical Take-Aways for Disciples Today

• Spiritual vigilance: Beware subtle idolatry (career, nation, self).
• Social righteousness: Uphold justice systems that protect poor, immigrant, orphan.
• Prophetic vocation: God may call unlikely people, at inconvenient times, to uncomfortable places — obedience > success metrics.
• Lament as spiritual discipline: legitimate avenue for mental health and communal healing.

Key Dates & Memory Aids

• $722$ — Samaria falls (Assyria).
• $586$ — Jerusalem falls (Babylon).
• $539$ — Return decree (Persia).
• “Temple ➜ City ➜ Nation” — ripple effect of covenant breach.

Next-Step Assignment (Course Logistics)

• Reflection project (written or video) due 30 June.
• Submit via Word doc to vombiblecollege@gmail.com; use provided template.