We continue our walk through the Bible. Volume 2 of Bible Orientation covers poetry and then the major prophets. These first five prophet books are written by larger-than-life characters: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. They were determined to bring God’s message to the people regardless of the cost.
God gave the prophets very specific and often peculiar instructions in how to communicate his message. Ezekiel mimed sneaking out to exile and lay tied up on the ground for weeks to show what God would do. Jeremiah wore an animal yoke. They used potter’s clay, hair and rotting food to teach their lessons.
Isaiah and Daniel were called to a different life; they dealt with royalty. Daniel was an immigrant who rose to the echelons of power in his new country. The government pressured Daniel to compromise his beliefs but he refused. He wasn’t subtle about it either! King Darius put Daniel on the fast track to become prime minister, but the king was played by his own administration and Daniel ended up in the lion’s den. Read about it in the book of Daniel.
The prophets were passionate and sometimes sarcastic. Isaiah taunts the king of Babylon: “In the place of the dead there is excitement over your arrival.” The Isaraelites abandoned the one true God in favor of their neighbor’s idols and Isaiah responded, “To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? Or if peope are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down!” Jeremiah was just as disgusted by “gods” who are “helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.” Reading the prophets is entertaining ⎯and terrifying!
Prophets were ostericized, jailed and tortured. They saw visions of bones, the glory of God and the future. These messengers of God call for repentance and spread hope. The prophets remind us again and again that God demands loyalty because he loves his people.
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