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Prophetic
Critique of Society
Dhyanchand Carr
When we hear the word prophecy, we usually think of predictions or of what will happen in future, often in distant future. It is true that prophets pointed to what God was about to do in the future. But such predictions arose more out of their assessment of their own situations. Challenging the contemporary situations, the prophets foretold God's punishment to come. Or looking upon the present conditions of the oppressed people, the prophets spoke about the future deliverance God was going to bring about.
The exact definition of a prophet is "mouthpiece of God." The prophet was to declare the word of God for the moment. This can be seen for example in the conversation between God and Moses in the wilderness. In Exodus 4:10-17, Moses said he would not be able to speak well because he had a handicap. He had a stammer. But God assured him that God would be with the mouth of Moses. The Hebrew word for mouth is NABI. Moses was hesitant even after that assurance. Then God suggested that Moses could easily use Aaron as his mouth, i.e. as his prophet. Therefore, the order is like this: Moses is God's mouth (i.e. prophet of God) and Aaron will be the mouth for Moses (i.e. prophet of Moses). It may be interesting for those of you who have some understanding of Islam to recall that Mohammed is called NABI, i.e. the Islamic world has retained this original Hebrew word, mouth, as a title for their great prophet. Therefore, the basic meaning of the word prophet is to be God's mouth bringing the most urgent and needed
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word of God to the situation.
Moses,
the First Prophet
Moses was the first prophet. His prophetic role had many sides to it. He first brought word to the Hapiru, i.e. the enslaved and oppressed people many of whom were immigrants with their historical consciousness still intact. His prophecy was that God had heard their cry for liberation and that they would be taken to a land where they could be a free people.
Then Moses, as prophet, had to lead the people in the desert. This leading meant that he had to legislate laws in keeping with YHWH's concern for justice. Although not all the laws found in the first five books could be the work of Moses, almost certainly he started the process of law making. This process involved taking into account the laws of Egypt, the code of Hammurabi of the Mesopotamian region and correcting and modifying them in the light of their knowledge of God as liberator who had a consuming passion for justice. This process continued over a long period but Moses, the prophet/judge, initiated it.
Contingencies of life made it clear to Moses that he was going to die and that someone else had to succeed him in leading the people into the Promised Land. It was originally in this context that he told the people that although he would not live long. God would raise another leader of equal abilities (Deut. 18:15-18). This did not mean that the people had to wait for someone to be called miraculously. For Moses had carefully prepared the second line leader, Joshua, to take over from him when the time came.
Moses, the first prophet, played a complex many-sided role. But because he was seen as acting directly under God's instruction, he was called the prophet above all.
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The
Period of the Prophets/Judges
The book of Joshua is of later origin than many of the traditions contained in the book of Judges. Therefore, in spite of the fact that the book speaks about the prophets/judges who came after the time of Joshua, that book gives us a clearer picture of the role of the prophets/judges.
Let us take the story of Deborah. She was a prophetess and judge. She sat under the tree of Deborah (i.e. bee) and settled disputes. Notice that she could send word and command Barak to gather an ad hoc army and fight a battle against Sisera down the mountain slope of Tabor, which led to a marshy valley. The chariots of Sisera proved useless in that marshland. So he had to flee on foot (Judg. 4:15). Could we not say that Deborah's prophetic gift included careful military strategy?
Apart from Deborah's discerning judgments and military leadership, we should see how she exercised her role as a powerful critic of her own society. The people of Israel had consciously and deliberately chosen to be a loose federation of many tribes rather than to be governed by one king. This meant that there were many tribal leaders. Though Deborah was the most recognized prophetess cum judge, there were other judges too (Judg. 5:10). These other judges chose to wear a special attire to distinguish them and seemed to have loved to ride on white donkeys to symbolize their authority and status. They also never got involved in the struggles of the people (Judg. 5:11). They sat far away from the place of battle but spent their time recounting the acts of the Lord! But Deborah sat under a tree and discharged her duties and when Barak invited her she went with him to give the needed leadership. So Deborah, in her song, upheld those leaders who stood together with the people (Judg. 5:19). Deborah also criticized the lack of solidarity among the people of Israel (e.g. the tribes of Reuben, Gilead, Asher and Dan who did not care to join in solidarity with
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Deborah, Barak and those other faithful tribes). Deborah's contribution as a prophetess was her simple lifestyle, her readiness to stand with the people and her courage in challenging leaders who preferred to be aloof and revel in luxury and those tribes which were keen to promote their own interests. There were many other judges but they were more military leaders than prophets were so we pass on to the next period.
Prophecy
During the Period of the Monarchy
Samuel, the last of the prophets/judges, marked the period of transition. For sometime, he was all in all. But as the people of Israel were oppressed more and more by well trained armies, they also felt the need for a standing army well equipped with chariots and horses. The loose tribal federation implied the freedom of certain tribes to opt out at times of battles and struggles. So came the time when they felt they should be ruled by one king who would make sure that everybody contributed equally and so they decided in favor of a dynastic rule. Although the people's desire was understandable, the decision to be ruled by the monarchical pattern had disastrous consequences. However, as the prophets were divested of their administrative and judicial functions, they took on a much more vocal role of being prophets/critics. Their methods and their emphases took many different forms.
Before we proceed further, however, we need to bear in mind two facts. First, the history of the earlier prophets is found within the books of Samuel and Kings, which are themselves written by some schools of prophecy (i.e. associations of prophets). This means that, often, the way in which a certain story is told contains within it a prophetic message. The second fact to remember is that we have separate books attributed to many prophets, some of which are themselves compilations over a period, and they contain the work of more than one prophet – e.g. the books of Isaiah and of Zechariah. Only if we remember these can we place the history
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of prophecy in its particular context and get its correct message.
How did the prophets function not fearing to challenge even kings when they went wrong?
The classic examples in this respect are the prophets Nathan and Elijah. When David killed Uriah and took over his wife Bathsheba, Nathan rebuked King David through a parable. Later during the reign of Ahab in the Northern Kingdom, the prophet Elijah fearlessly challenged Ahab when he killed Naboth and took his vineyard.
However, during the time of Solomon there does not seem to have been any powerful prophet bold enough to challenge him when he took away all the lands from the people and gave them to his officers. This was not criticized at all but was even praised by the author of I Kings who was himself a member of a prophetic school. This was so because prophecy had become institutionalized and probably even began to be supported by state funds. Thus, many of these prophets, usually referred to as Sons of the Prophets (i.e. an association of prophets), began simply to support the kings in their unjust practices (e.g. I Kings 22:10-28). Zedekiah and many others prophesied that Ahab was going to win. Micaiah was the lone voice saying that the king would lose the battle and be killed. Not only did Ahab not listen to him but he also put him in prison. This proved that gradually the prophets were being controlled by the state. We can, therefore, understand why Solomon was not challenged when he took away the lands of the people and made them do conscripted labor in labor camps. It must be because Solomon had already begun to suppress prophetic criticism.
This could be the reason why the prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam secretly and encouraged him to split the kingdom (I Kings 10:29-35). But he also counseled him to wait until Solomon died and attempt the rebellion during the time of Rehoboam. This
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showed that Ahijah could not boldly; go and challenge Satewoti, as Nathan had been able to do.
Therefore, Elijah and Elisha seemed to be exceptions to the rule that many prophets played safe and just went on supporting the kings. It is necessary to remember these things if we are to understand why the church fails to play a prophetic role. The church, as an institution, is very much like the Sons of the Prophets, i.e., the institutionalized schools of prophets. But only those who did not get governed by these rules, such as Ahijah, Micaiah, Elijah and Elisha, could exercise their ministry boldly and fearlessly.
Prophetic
Critique of Society in the 8th Century
The monarchical government centralized authority and took away land from the people. This resulted in the formation of different classes. The kings and the nobles formed the elite who reveled in luxury (Amos 4:1-3; Isa. 3:14-23). Bribery and corruption had set in. The jubilee laws of restoration of property and the sabbatical laws of annulling debts and setting the slaves free had been forgotten. Wealth accumulation through unjust and fraudulent ways had become standard practice for those in power (Isa. 5:8-10). There was, however, no lack of religion (Isa. 1:10-15 and Amos 5:21-24), religious ceremonies and festivities. So at this time God raised up prophets like Amos, Isaiah, Hosea and Micah. These prophets once again began to be bold and fearless. They challenged the kings as well as those who indulged in corruption and reveled in luxury. They were also shrewd political analysts. They even predicted the Assyrian invasion against the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Babylonian invasion against the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
More than these plain and straightforward words of warning and the prediction of impending doom, we also see a powerful critique of the monarchy. This developed in the way of a hope for the new king, the Messiah, lit by the new prophets (Isaiah
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9:1-7 and Micah 5:2-4). This new king would be a pro-poor king (Isa. 11:1-5). He would defend the defenseless and protect the rights of the widows and the orphans. By lighting the hope for a new future, these prophets showed that the kings of Israel and Judah had failed to rule, as God would have them rule.
The trend of ignoring or, where possible, crushing the prophets who were bold and independent did continue (Amos 7:10-17). The independence of Amos was possible because he did not come from any traditional school of prophecy (Amos 7:14-16). Thus, since the 8th century, courageous prophets who maintained their independence from the establishment in spite of harassment and intimidation continued.
Jeremiah,
Ezekiel and the Deuteronomic School
Just before and during the exile arose Jeremiah and Ezekiel, respectively. The so-called Deuteronomic School probably supported Jeremiah. The book of Deuteronomy, with a great deal of emphasis on justice, must have been written during the reign of the just and noble king Josiah, a rare specimen by now. The prophetess Huldah, of whom not much is written, was also probably a member of the Deuteronomic School (II Kings 22:8-20). This book inspired the king to bring about reforms. However, the reforms affected by the king were only superficial and were concerned with just the religious practices. Although King Josiah himself was a just man (Jer. 22:15-16), he did not succeed in freeing the slaves or in giving effect to the Deuteronomic laws to protect the weak from oppression. So Jeremiah, who watched the reforms effected by the king and who had a great deal of admiration for the man himself, began to reiterate the warnings of Huldah (Jer. 34:2, 8-22). He foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. This evoked opposition so that Pashur and, later, Hananiah persecuted Jeremiah. He must have gone through terrible times that he cried out, "cursed be the day I was born" (Jer. 20:14f). Probably in view of what he
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already anticipated, he refrained from marriage (Jer. 16:1-9).
Guwat (Dislocation) Courtesy: Boy Dominguez
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As we read through the prophecy of Jeremiah, we are impressed by his deep personal commitment which involved a lot of sacrifices; his fearlessness in the midst of terrible persecution and intimidation; his ability to keep separate his personal admiration for Josiah from his assessment of the shallowness of Josiah's reforms; his refusal to be satisfied by mere religious reforms without changing the evils of society; and his understanding that the role of the king was primarily to protect the rights of the weak and to maintain justice (Jer. 22:16).
When we see that the work of Jeremiah was very much strengthened by those who had produced the Book of Deuteronomy, we can be encouraged that even at times of terrible loneliness in the work for God's justice support structures do get evolved. This is how God works in subtle ways. This also shows that it is not enough simply to offer a critique. We must work to produce alternative structures and models side by side.
Similarly, Ezekiel sat where people sat during their exile and kept their hopes alive when they were far away from home. He suggested that the time had come for them to think of the reunification of Israel and Judah and reflected upon how the kings of Israel had plundered the people. But at the same time he held out the hope that God would raise up a new Prince who would not take away their lands.
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Suggested Procedures
For a detailed treatment of this Bible study, it may be conducted as a series using the different sections or sub-titles. It is hoped, however, that each part of the study series will always be made to relate to current situation, time and reality using or adopting any of the following suggested procedures.
1. In small groups of 5-8 persons, discuss the following:
(a) What comes to mind when you hear the word "prophet?"
(b) Who are some prophets you know (in old times or now) and what made them such?
2. Share your discussion summary with the large group.
3. Reflect together on the Bible study presentation here.
4. In the light of the presentation, who then are the prophets of today? What roles do they play?
5. What does it mean to make a "prophetic critique" of our own? society/country? What is the prophetic role of the church, of ' SCM, of Christians?
6. Role-play or dramatize your reflections on question 5.