Prophets and Prophecy
by Ed Nelson
Ever wonder why prophets came to be in the first place? Why did Yahweh need prophets anyway? What was it that transformed their words from ordinary speech into prophecy? Did the prophets in the New Testament era have the same purpose and function as in the Old Testament (the Tanakh)? Are prophets and prophecies today cut out of the same biblical pattern, purpose and function, or are they somewhat different now?
These questions beg for answers. Our attempt will be to examine and understand the subject of prophets and prophecies from the biblical Hebrew worldview.
Yahweh’s Kingdom Offer is a Royal Priesthood
Yahweh proposed to ancient Israel, “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (cf. Exodus 19:6). Such is the intended divine and human blend of the kingdom of God on earth. Yahweh is King. His chosen people, Israel, are to be his royal priests. He needs no princes, for his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, without end. The royal priesthood is the priesthood for all the nations.
In the offer of the kingdom of priests, no mention is made of prophets—only priests. What about other forms and functions of ministry outside the priesthood?
In the Bible, when the kingdom of God is fully realized on earth, the priesthood of Israel as a holy nation is an eternal function. Other roles of formal ministry common to our age are temporal and shall come to an end.
The evidence of the Bible shows that the five-fold ministries of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors (shepherd-rulers) and teachers (cf. Ephesians 4:11-13) are for this age before the second coming of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Ministries, spiritual gifts and revelations prepare believers in Messiah now for what is to come later—his fully realized kingdom of priests. Then these will cease, including prophecy. All these are for this interlude of time until the Messiah installs his kingdom of priests who will reign with Him forever.
What caused this interlude of time was that the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai rejected Yahweh’s kingship and proposal for their royal priesthood. They chose, sadly, a false god crafted by their own hands—a golden calf. Ancient Israel’s historic penchant for idolatry evidenced at Mt. Sinai would become the nation’s downfall again and again.
The Occasion for a Marginalized Priesthood
Yahweh’s offer of a nationwide, royal priesthood was pulled back. Was it lost forever? Not at all. Would the offer be given again? Yes, for sure.
The second offer was made by Yahweh through Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) who called the people of Israel to national and personal repentance. “Repent,” He said to Israel, “for the kingdom of heaven is near” (cf. Matthew 4:17).
This second offer, too, was refused. We now await a third and final offer to Israel at an unknown time in the future.
Meanwhile, out of the original offer at Mt. Sinai throughout the Second Temple, a token, non-royal priesthood was installed—the Levitical priesthood. Since the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70, it disappeared. Rabbinic Judaism prevails today without a functioning priesthood, Levitical or other order.
The Levitical priesthood came about this way. Due to Yahweh’s love for Israel despite his rebuff, He elected to have some priests anyway. He used a very narrow selection process.
Because of the zeal for Yahweh by some of the Levites when the other eleven tribes worshiped the golden calf, the tribe of Levites was selected by Yahweh for his special services. But He narrowed the field much further in regard to priests. From within this one tribe, only one family was selected for priesthood—Aaron and his sons. The result: only a few, limited, substitutionary priests were installed as priests in all of Israel. The offer to all of Israel to become a kingdom of priests was tabled indefinitely.
Aaron and his son’s duties were to represent Yahweh to his chosen people, to teach the nation the Torah, and to mediate between Yahweh and Israel, including conducting sacrifices.
The Rise of Kings
Since the priesthood was truncated to only the house of Aaron, what about the kingdom part of the offer? What became of it? Yahweh, of course, remained king of his heavenly kingdom with his stated desire to dwell among his chosen people anyway.
I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. I will also
consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me.
I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God.
They shall know that I am Yahweh their God who brought
them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them.
I am Yahweh their God. (Exodus 29:44-46)
He withdrew his offer of the priesthood of all Israel, of course. But He did not withdraw his presence from among his chosen people. Perhaps in time Israel would receive his kingship in fullness.
Over the next generations idolatry cropped up among the people. Judges were put in place to guide the people. But many failed like Samson. Others like Gideon succumbed to idolatry (cf. Judges 8:27).
Priests during the time of the judges often served idols as well (cf. Judges 17). The Torah, their duty to uphold and teach, was neglected. In time, this little nation, in admiration of surrounding Gentile kings, sought to chose and install their own king, one they could hear and see in plain sight.
As Yahweh’s offer of priesthood for all Israel was rejected for the manufacturing and worship of a golden calf, so was his kingly rule and reign. The rejection became blatantly clear during the time of Samuel, the last of the judges and first among the prophets since Moses:
Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in
regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected
you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”
(1 Samuel 8:7)
Yahweh permitted Israel to have their own king after Samuel rebuked the people for their rebellious ways (cf. 1 Samuel 8:10-22). A human king they would have. God would see to it. Kings, however, were to be of his choosing in order to present a token semblance of his reign from his heavenly throne. Thus, they were anointed as such by a prophet of God.
With the allowance of kings to rule Israel, nevertheless, they were supposed to represent Yahweh, and not their self-interests, something history proved to be too hard for most beginning with the first king Saul to the last king Zedekiah (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:11-14).
The Place and Purpose of the Torah
So after Moses and Joshua, we have the judges. Overall they failed. Then we have a succession of kings supposedly representing Yahweh. With a few notable exceptions like King David, they failed. And, all along, we have a non-royal, Levitical priesthood to represent Yahweh and teach his Torah to the kings and people.
In this manner, kings and priests served in delicate tension between them. Kings often were jealous of the priests and sought to bring them under their control. Some kings sought to be priests, but we have no account were any priests sought to be kings. The reason: kings were feared by the people, but priests, particularly high priests, were exalted among the people. In spite of the tensions, both king and priest were accountable to Yahweh, and both were to be guardians of the Torah to instruct Israel in righteousness.
Priests kept the king accountable to Yahweh. At least this was the way of Torah. The king was to subject himself to the scrutiny of the priests regarding his devotion to Yahweh by copying the Torah. It was divine law.
“Now it shall come about when he [the king] sits on the
throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of
this Torah on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical
priests.” (Deuteronomy 17:18)
So we see this delicate picture of a king sitting in his regal power in the presence of Levitical priests hand-copying the Torah to be sure he stays on the same pages, so to speak, with the priests. But kings, often a law unto themselves, seldom obeyed Yahweh’s command. Priests hardly fared any better over the long run.
Under this divided system of politics and faith, the only thread that sustained the words of Yahweh between kings and priests was the Torah of Moses.
The Torah, God’s “instruction” for his chosen nation, was written to remind the people of their origin, to validate Yahweh’s claim to them and the holy land, and to maintain a veiled semblance of his original offer of his kingdom and royal priesthood holding out in hope for a new day.
Because the Torah is holy and perfect (cf. Psalm 19:7-8), it bore witness to the people that they had sinned against God in the beginning. It was the external, written mechanism Yahweh put in place through Moses to keep the nation accountable to Him (cf. Deuteronomy 6) and to each other (cf. Leviticus 19:18).
Kings, priests and the people of Israel faltered and failed throughout ancient Israel’s history to obey the Torah. But the Torah remained constant. It bore witness to Israel of God’s holiness and love for them. And it bore witness against them when they rebelled. Because of the Torah, they were without excuse before God for their rebellious hearts.
Like a school master, the Torah taught the people. Indeed, not only was it the school master, it was the nation’s curriculum for life and society. Within it was the message of judgment for personal and national sin. But, like Yahweh, it offered perennial hope if the people repented of their rebellion and sins. Forgiveness was offered, but more. Relief, renewal and restoration were promised to the obedient ones who lived by faith. A Messianic vision of a suffering servant and reigning king flowed out of the Torah. One day Israel would see the fullness of God’s kingdom as his priesthood.
The Torah was instructional for the nation. But as instructional as it was, it was the fundamental prophetic witness of Yahweh to the people. It carefully laid out how Israel was to live. Further, it gave Israel the true standard by which everything was held together, judged and held in account. And it held out hope for the faithful remnant within Israel.
Without Torah, the nation would collapse, disappearing among the nations. Historically, this little nation under heaven seemed to always flirt with disaster and calamity. The temptation to disconnect from Yahweh kept the nation fragile and precarious. Collapse remained a real possibility due to the hardness of heart of many of its leaders and people.
In this national story of where judges, kings and priests played brinksmanship with God, the Torah was to hold them accountable to Yahweh. The Torah lay silent too often, unread, unheeded and often lost. The sad state of affairs was that the nation more often than not did as they saw fit. As it was in the latter days of the judges when everyone did as it pleased him or her (cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25), even so this calloused approach to the Torah continued under the rule of kings.
The Rise of Prophets in Israel
Something had to be done from heaven. The people rejected the kingship of Yahweh and his offer of national priesthood. The Torah itself was virtually a closed book. Somehow, a living witness to Israel was needed. Someone needed to arise to speak for Yahweh’s kingship and his unheeded Torah.
Here lies the reason for Yahweh calling, preparing and introducing prophets to Israel. Yahweh called prophets to speak for Him—in living flesh as his oracles—to call Israel to return to Him and to his fundamentals as a people brought out of Egypt.
Their lives and message was rather simple. They were called to bear witness by voice and lifestyle to the Torah before kings, priests and the people of God. They called them all back to the Torah—to God’s “instruction” for Israel, and to the hope promised to obedient people.
In the light of the failures of judges, kings and priests, prophets arose to open the Torah to the people, not just as Torah teachers to expound the word, but as voices for Yahweh’s voice reflected in the Torah to call the nation to repent and receive Him as their rightful king.
Torah insensitive, the people’s hearts were hardened, their ears dulled, their sight darkened. Prophets prophesied among them the word of Yahweh to return to their calling as a nation, a people of God. The Torah was in their mouths to awaken a slumbering people to turn to Yahweh or suffer national disaster. The prophets were Torah-conscious in everything they said and did—
the Torah stood as God’s ultimate witness to them.
The common voice of the prophets was this: “Yahweh says, ‘If you obey the Torah, his “instructions,” you shall be blessed. If you disobey the Torah, you shall be cursed. No comfort zone in between is permitted. Yet if My people repent, I will hear them, forgive them and restore them to righteousness.”
Prophets would be imprisoned. Some persecuted to the death. But the Torah would not be abolished or replaced. God’s Word to Israel would stand the test of time. The Torah tells Israel that He will not go away in spite of their nation’s sins. He will not leave them or abandon them. As a nation, the people are stuck to Him and He cannot be dismissed. If they reject Him, his prophets and his Messiah, yet He will not go away.
The Messianic Context of Prophecy: A Restored Priesthood
In this context, we not only understand the prophets of old, but the nature of prophecy that they spoke before the first coming of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Fundamentally it was the call to return to God, to obey his Torah (“instruction”) and to prepare for his Messiah and his kingdom when all things will be restored, including the priesthood.
If it were not for two promises Yahweh made to King David, all hope would be lost for a kingdom of priests to ever occur again. The promises made to David, when taken together, is for the Messiah, the Son of David to come, to reign forever as king and high priest over a holy nation of priests.
The first promise, of course, was that King David would forever have a successor sit upon his throne, (cf. 2 Samuel 7:1-17; 1 Kings 9:5; 1 Chronicles 17:1-15; Psalm 89:3-4).
The second promise in Psalm 110:1-4 combines the first promise of an eternal king with the second promise—a lasting royal priesthood. David wrote:
Yahweh says to my Lord [referring to David’s Lord, the
Messiah to come after him]: “Sit at my right hand until I
make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Yahweh will
stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in
the midst of your enemies.”
Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power. In
holy array, from the womb of the dawn, your youth are to You
as the dew. Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
What’s this apparently new order of the priesthood? It isn’t new at all. The order of the Melchizedek priesthood was from the beginning, way before the Levitical order of priesthood was established. The Melchizedek order of the priesthood was Yahweh’s original design and intent for Israel. Because of rebellion and sin, it was withdrawn for a future time—when the Messiah appears.
The priesthood after the order of Melchizedek was for both king and priest. King and priest share a common priesthood, the king being high priest over his loyal priests. Royalty and holiness were intended to be the character of this kingdom of priests, of this holy nation.
The Timeliness of Prophets
With this historical picture, we are prepared to better understand the cry of Moses: “Would that all Yahweh’s people were prophets, that Yahweh would put his Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). Why? Israel forsook the offer of a royal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. The Levitical priesthood was not enough.
In the same way, the apostle Paul saw the pressing need for the prophetic word during his life. The Levitical priesthood was corrupt from the top down. For the most part, the people of Israel had lost their way back to God. Many rejected the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), the Son of God and King of kings. Some Judaizers tracked with Paul in his journeys, accusing him falsely in the synagogues. Paul faced tremendous obstacles and persecution.
Thanks to Paul, along with a minority number of Jews, a significant number of Gentiles were coming into the kingdom of God. They were virtually Torahless. With little or no roots in the ancient Hebraic faith, they depended on their consciences to guide them. The tendency was to do what seemed fit in their own eyes, similar to Israel during the time of the judges that gave rise to Samuel and succeeding prophets.
The Corinthian congregations, doing what seemed to come naturally out of their cultural view, abused aspects of worship, including the Lord’s Supper and the manifestation of spiritual gifts. They were not alone in their corruption. Other congregations in Greek-speaking cities had their issues too.
The classic Greek worldview of the Gentiles hinged on its rich philosophical history and mythologies. Gentile converts only new this way of life, clashing sharply with the teachings of Paul, “a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5).
Divisions and factions characterized the body of believers in Corinth. Not only did the Greek-speaking converts live out of their pagan culture, they interpreted the Scriptures from a philosophical perspective. Thus Paul encouraged Jew and Gentile to rightly divide the Word of God according to the biblical Hebraic worldview fully revealed in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).
In this culturally diverse and competitive setting, Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers:
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially
that you may prophesy … Therefore, my brethren, desire
earnestly to prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1, 37)
Nothing was needed more than to hear Messiah’s words through a prophet. If prophecy came forth, so would correction, order and lovingkindness towards each other.
Understandably, from Moses to the apostle Paul, prophets and prophecy were desirable for helping God’s people find the true way of life in a darkened world.
From this, we come to understand and appreciate that true prophecy, with its kingdom message and Messianic perspective, helps us overcome dangers inherent in our culture’s darkened worldview as well as in the vicissitudes of life.
The prophetic word comes out of the clear and certain vantage of a prophet seeing from heaven’s perspective the kingdom of God and how it should be on earth. Prophets, therefore, called to hear Yahweh see from his view. He speaks, He shows his way, and they listen. Then they speak what they have seen and heard, those things befitting and characteristic of the kingdom within his people, all according to his revealed Word.
In summary, prophecies, therefore, are for the interlude of time we live in now before and until the Messiah comes again. They are timely all the time. We are ill put to think of ancient Israel, with the notable exception of the intertestamental period to the first coming of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), without the timeliness of prophets and prophecy
When true prophets arise and prophetic words are fitly spoken, the people of God are encouraged, strengthened and comforted (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:3). They are built up in the holy faith.
|
