Mission in the Prophets

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Mission in the Prophets

• Missiology A Reflection

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Prophetic witness

• To talk of prophetic witnessing, prophets and
  prophecies is to evoke memories of the Biblical
  prophets who marked the people of Israel 's
  history. It is to talk about the persons who had
  the courage and daring to listen to God's call,
  becoming his messengers to announce his
  prophecy.  They were persons who denounced
  injustice, iniquity, violence, but who also
  announced a new time of hope, justice and peace,
  thereby becoming the light of the nations
  (Isaiah 496).

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Evolution through History

• Prophecy does not rise from institutional power,
  organization or rational knowledge.  It comes up
  as a God manifest through a human being to
  communicate a message to his chosen people.
• Individuals such as singers, artists, and poets
  were often named  diviners or prophets (1 Sm
  1010 19 20-24 1 Kings 1717-18).  They were
  usually called  to resolve problems affecting the
  people in general, such as health and other
  common matters. 

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• When rulers called a prophet, they usually meant
  to have him find a solution since a prophet's
  support meant having support from the divinity
  associated with him, thereby also securing
  obedience from their subjects. 
• Prophets therefore became known as legislators as
  well, since they could be given the task to
  either enforce an existing right, or institute
  another. They were often called to resolve social
  tensions. Biblical prophets showed interest in
  raising social and political questions as a means
  to an end.

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The early prophets of Israel

• The early prophets (931 - 874 BC) were
  individuals called by God to announce his
  messages to his chosen people.  They were
  associated with God who had given them their
  mission of prophesying.  Since this often did not
  suit the king's plans, a sharp split between
  prophets and rulers took place.
• This split first happened during Elijah's
  lifetime (874 - 853 BC). It was with him that
  prophecy took on the advocacy of God's covenant
  with his chosen people, despite the tyranny of
  their rulers. 

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Developing concepts

• Threat of punishment.
• Distinction between false and true prophets of
  Yahweh.  This separation determined the need for
  people to decide which side to take (Dt 18,15-22
  Jr 14,13-14 28,9 Ez 33,30-33), something that
  was not always easy since the prophets themselves
  many times had doubts (Jr 17,15 12,1)
• Defn the one who speaks in God's name. 
  Pre-exile prophets were mainly concerned with
  proclaiming God's will while opposing social
  injustice prevailing among the Israelites and the
  Judeans.  During the exile period, however, the
  prophets sought to encourage the expatriated,
  whereas post-exile prophets were concerned with
  the rebuilding of Jerusalem

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The Prophet's Mission

• Throughout the exile period (587 - 550 BC), the
  prophet's preaching actualized itself in giving
  hope to the people of Israel  hope in God's
  powerful hand, the promise of a new heaven and a
  new earth.  The prophet announced hope and
  invited the people of Israel to participate in
  God's covenant through conversion.

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Vocation

• The Biblical prophet's actions are always marked
  by God's initiative.  No legitimate prophet can
  be self-proclaimed, rather, he hears God's call
  and freely responds by letting himself be guided
  by God.  Many times this call causes him some
  uncertainty and resistance, as happens with
  Jeremiah who is initially afraid to respond to
  God's command. After having his experience of
  God, he can no longer remain silent. Accepting
  the call, he makes himself fully available to God

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• The prophet makes his experience of God from
  being and living among the people, in the events
  of daily life, and he surrenders to God. (Is
  526 589 651).  It is in the midst of the
  people that prophecy is found and is a source of
  wealth though it can be a source of decadence,
  as happens when people frivolously cry out, so
  says the Lord! (Jr 284 8)

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The Prophet's Experience

• The prophet's experience of God is always a
  reminder of all that God has done in the past to
  give the prophet enough sight to understand its
  meaning as applicable to the present.
• In this context, the prophet becomes the people's
  memory for example, a reminder of annoying
  things they would rather forget, such as the
  exodus experience (Ex 2220).  It is also a
  reminder of the caring presence of a redeeming
  God who made a covenant with his people and led
  them to a new land. (Dt 3210-11). 

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• Defender of the covenant
• Attester to Gods holiness
• Exemplar of one who lives with God
• Not only is the prophet a special person having a
  great experience of God without any selfish
  interest, he actually turns his experience into a
  gift of his own life to the fulfillment of God's
  will.  As he proclaims God's will, the prophet
  does it from his knowledge of God's deeds through
  the living experience of his people's suffering
  from injustice.

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• Being the one who announces God's presence and
  will because of his divine incumbency, the
  prophet has authority to demand obedience out of
  ethical duty.  The prophet can also be a man or
  woman who, by his/her own example, shows the way
  of religious salvation.In this sense, the
  prophet's mission is bound to be gratuitous and
  cannot be exercised as a career.  His mission is
  to avail himself to the service of God so as to
  actualize a given mission by proclaiming his
  prophecy.

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Justice, solidarity and mysticism

• Justice The pathway of justice is taken when
  everything has already happened according to
  God's will. COVENANT and the establishment of
  the Sabbatical or Jubilee Year (Lv 25 Dt 15). 
• Solidarity The prophet at that time had the
  mission to indicate ways to achieve solidarity
  among the people.  The prophet's witnessing led
  the people to learn how to be caring of one
  another while sharing the gift of life with its
  joys and sufferings.

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Mysticism

• A fulfilled community
• A consciousness of God God present among his
  people, God
• It is within this context that social justice and
  solidarity resulted from a mystical practice of 
  incarnated faith, closely linked to the prophet's
  mission.
• Creation/ Covenant/Incarnation/
  Crucifixion/Resurrection