The Prophet and His Day: Isaiah 1-39 - Free Bible Commentary

E. Prophets represent God to the people, while Priests represent the people to God. This is ageneral statement. There are exceptions like Habakkuk, who addresses questions to God.F. One reason it is difficult to understand the prophets is because we do not know how theirbooks were structured. They are not chronological. They seem to be thematic, but not alwaysthe way one would expect. Often there is no obvious historical setting, time-frame, or cleardivision between oracles. It is difficult (1) to read the books through in one sitting; (2) tooutline them by topic; and (3) to ascertain the central truth or authorial intent in each oracle.IV.CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPHECYA. In the Old Testament there seems to be a development of the concept of “prophet” and“prophecy.” In early Israel there developed a fellowship of prophets, led by a strongcharismatic leader such as Elijah or Elisha. Sometimes the phrase “the sons of the prophets”was used to designate this group (II Kgs. 2). The prophets at times were characterized byforms of ecstasy (I Sam. 10:10-13; 19:18-24).B. However, this period passed rapidly into the time of individual prophets. There were thoseprophets (both true and false) who identified with the King, and lived at the palace (Gad,Nathan). Also, there were those who were independent, sometimes totally unconnected withthe status quo of Israelite society (Amos, Micah). They are both male and female (II Kgs.22:14).C. The prophet was often a revealer of the future, conditioned on a person’s or a people’simmediate response. Often the prophet’s task was to unfold God’s universal plan for Hiscreation which is not affected by human response. This universal eschatological plan is uniqueamong the prophets of Israel in the Ancient Near East. Prediction and Covenant fidelity aretwin foci of the prophetic messages (cf. Fee and Stuart, p. 150). This implies that the prophetswere primarily corporate in focus. They usually, but not exclusively, address the nation ofIsrael.D. Most prophetic material was presented orally. It was later combined by means of theme orchronology, or other patterns of Near Eastern literature, which are lost to us. Because it wasoral, it is not as structured as written prose. This makes the books difficult to read straightthrough and difficult to understand without a specific historical setting.E. The prophets use several patterns to convey their messages1. Court scene – God takes His people to court; often it is a divorce case where YHWHrejects his wife (Israel) for her unfaithfulness (Hosea 4; Micah 6).2. Funeral dirge – the special meter of this type of message and its characteristic “woe” setsit apart as a special form (Isaiah 5; Habakkuk 2).3. Covenant blessing pronouncement – the conditional nature of the Covenant is emphasizedand the consequences, both positively and negatively, are spelled out for the future(Deuteronomy 27-29).V. BIBLICAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR VERIFICATION OF A TRUE PROPHETA. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (predictions/signs are linked to monotheistic purity)B. Deuteronomy 18:9-22 (false prophets/true prophets)381