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An introduction to a five-week series on the Old Testament prophets, as part of the 2012 Bible School at Above Bar Church, Southampton.
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The Prophets
?How do you feel about the Old Testament prophets?
They have a queer way of talking, like people who, instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, ramble off from one thing to the next so that you cannot make heads or tails of them or see what they are getting at. Martin Luther
GOD
us
them
GOD
us
barriers to
understanding
Language Geography
HistoryCulture
Religion
Whether he is discussing the past, present or future, the prophet is seeking to make God the most genuine reality that men can know and experience.
A.B. MickelsonInterpreting the Bible, p. 287
not foretelling
forthtelling
conditional future?
Prophecy is essentially a ministry of disclosure, a stripping bare. Israel’s great prophets do not merely lift the veil of the future in order to destroy false expect-ations; at the same time, they expose the conduct of their contemporaries. . . . Prophets tear the masks away and show the true face of the people behind them.
Hans Walter Wolff, Confrontations
The Word of the LORD
Calling people back to the covenant
Covenant enforcement mediators(Fee and Stuart)
Warning of judgment
Promising restoration
Identification of Israel’s sin
Announcement of judgment
Declaration of God’s love for Israel
Announcement of blessing
The ‘prophet in scripture takes on the role of gracious mediator. He stands between God and the people to deliver the word of the Lord. . . . The person of the prophet substitutes for the presence of Almighty God himself.’
O.P. Robertson, The Christ of the Prophets, p. 10
Applying the Prophets
key themes
God is the ruler of all of history and every nation
1
Humanity’s most fundamental need isto be right with God
2
Religion, politics and society must all be on
a firm moral base
3
God offers us the choice of judgment or hope
4
The [Latter Prophets] did not call for reform, for they knew it was too late; the end of the present order was near and could not be averted.
Donald GowanReclaiming the OT p. 125–6
The future kingdom of God
5
Fulfilment
NewTestament
Promise
OldTestament
two horizons
deep focus
The glory of God
6
God’s ultimate concern
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