From Ecstatic to Written Prophets The earliest prophets

From Ecstatic to Written Prophets

The earliest prophets • The earliest prophets in the Tanakh are the seers, the “fortune tellers” who predict the future and who sell blessings and curses. Of particular interest here is Balaam the son of Beor, whom Balak, the king of Moab, hired to curse the Israelites. (Numbers 22 -24). The Lord speaks to Balaam through his donkey, warning him not to curse, but to bless Israel, which he does. Nevertheless, he continues to looks for omens which will allow him to curse Israel, to no avail.

Forbidden • It is this type of prophet that Israel is forbidden to consult. In Exodus 18: 22, Moses tells the people that a witch, a female sorceress, is not to live. This is expanded in Deuteronomy 18: 10 -11 to include anyone who practices divination, soothsayers, augurs, sorcerers, charmers, and necromancers, all of which try to foretell the future. The “witch” of Endor ( 1 Samuel 28) whom King Saul consulted before his fatal battle was a necromancer, one who speaks to the spirit of the dead.

On the other hand… • There appears to have been “prophets” whom the kings consulted to see if they had the favor of YHWH before going to war. It is this tradition that we find Samuel and Deborah. They are not only judges but prophets in this sense. As we look at these type figures in the historical books of the Tanakh, the possibility of “false prophets” also appears. This is one of the direst challenges that the prophet Jeremiah will face, “What about those who prophesy falsely in the name of the Lord? ”

The Ecstatics • Also present in these passages are wandering bands of prophets who travel throughout the countryside. Many scholars call these the ecstatics or charismatic prophets, those who speak periodically under the influence of the spirit of the Lord, apparently through traces of visionary or other spontaneous experiences. It is one group of these wandering prophets that no less a figure than King Saul identifies with in

1 Samuel 19, so much so that he “prophesied” with them, took off his clothes, and lay naked on the ground.

The Court Prophets • More “sophisticated” are the court prophets, such as Nathan, who stay at the royal court and advised the kings as to YHWH’s will. How could King David have hoped to hide his sins from one like this? • Apparently, some considered this office to be hereditary or passed on from follower to follower. When Amos identifies himself as a prophet, he is quick to acknowledge that he himself is neither a prophet or “the son of a prophet” (Amos 7: 14). He is a prophet because God called him.

Called to be a prophet • That’s the key. A prophet is one who has been called by God to deliver God’s message. The key phrase is “Thus says the Lord. ” The message is usually conditional: one can choose to obey or disobey, but both choices have consequences. In the case of Jeremiah, the result of bad choice is the destruction of the nation. Ironically, Jeremiah doesn’t want to be associated his message!

Written prophet • Stories were written about some of the prophets such as Elijah and Elisha, whose work featured many miracle stories. • Later prophets apparently founded schools of their prophecies, with those that followed them keeping their prophecies intact and passing them on. Sometimes, as in the case of Jeremiah, we know the person who was in charge of recording these messages, Baruch the scribe.

• Some scholars, following the idea we have seen in the Documentary Hypothesis and the Deuteronomic History, believe these various schools compiled their master’s teachings during the Babylonian Captivity. Some go further and believe that various members of these groups appended new messages to these writings in the name of their original master, with the school of Isaiah being the most likely candidate. More on that later.

Major and Minor Prophets • Most of our Bibles have the written prophets divided into the Major written prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and the twelve Minor prophets. What makes one a major prophet and another a minor one? One word: length. Some of the minor prophets have messages just as important as the major ones.