A Recovery of the Prophetic

Last fall quarter I studied Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and I recently began reading Abraham Heschel’s book, The Prophets. Needless to say the prophets of the first testament have been churning in my mind. Perhaps, many folks today do not think of Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk when they think of prophecy, but that is directly where my mind goes, especially Jeremiah.

God brought the people out of captivity into a land that would be their own. They were unfaithful to God’s wishes, and thus they relinquished the honor of living in the land. They were taken into exile. The prophets are speaking before, during, and after exile. They are speaking to an unfaithful people and reminding them of God’s faithfulness and God’s expectations for them. God requires that they be characterized by love and justice, among other things. They failed. Thus, they will remain in exile for a time, and eventually they will be redeemed. God will be their God, and they will be God’s people. God will lead them back to the land, as a father leading his son.

But I must ask, how precisely were they unfaithful? A short answer may be idolatry. However, what does that mean and for what particular behaviors is their community condemned to exile? I would suggest reading all of Amos (it is short after all), but here is a taste.

Amos 4:1, 5:11-12, 14-15

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

You levy a straw tax on the poor 
and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; 
though you have planted lush vineyards, 
you will not drink their wine. 
For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. 
Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy....

These pericopes are obviously multilayered, and it would be wrong to suppose that a single reading captures everything they have to offer. Of course, there are innumerable differences between their situation and ours (one may be that religious life and political life were bound together, and today we good ole post-enlightment geniuses compartmentalize these). I will not attempt to innumerate the differences. However, we may glean from the prophets still. We may locate ourselves with those who are in the temple courts. How do our multimillion-dollar temples stand in the face of the prophets? Our structures stand to be rebuked. The words and actions of God reverberate through the words and deeds of the prophets, and if we are honest, those words and deeds are aimed at structures such as ours. Has the temple become a den of robbers? How is the temple regime in the twenty-first century dealing with the oppressed? Is today’s temple regime a witness to its God?

My Old Testament professor in the fall quarter said, “it is often difficult to speak with a prophetic voice when you are on the payroll of the church, so surround yourself with people who are not on the payroll” who will speak out with a prophetic voice. This is wisdom. Perhaps because today's temple leadership is on the payroll, today’s temple leadership often slips into lesser versions of Jesus, exclusively spiritualized ones.

God’s love is to bounce off and through the walls of people’s hearts, minds, and relationships. God’s love, however scorching or comforting, is to pervade the manifold life of the temple. But what does this mean and how is this to be? How might today’s temple regime recover its prophetic voice and action? For clues, we would do well to take a look at Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk (among others).

Woe to him who builds a city with

Bloodshed and establishes

A town by injustice!

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are

No grapes on the vine…

But I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will rejoice in God my savior.

Habakkuk 2:12, 3:17-18

You will seek me and find me

When you seek me with all

Your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13