The Prophets.

 

When Israel left Egypt on that fateful night of the Exodus, they were ill equipped to be a world member in the family of nations.  Their centuries of slavery had left them without the basic skills to form a nation and function.

 

They needed laws and leadership.  God provided them with both.

 

While they made the transition from slavery to a warrior nation to conquer the Promised Land, they needed something to anchor them to their past, to their beliefs and their survival.  God gave them the Tabernacle as that anchor.  It was the central element that polarized them as a people.  It was the central purpose and function of their lives.

 

The Tabernacle eventually became the Temple and the Temple stood as their foundation and polarization for centuries. It was the central point and purpose of their lives.

 

After their conquest and several hundred years of judges and monarchy, they had become an urban people with need of a different anchor.  The nation had not become, or remained what God had intended!  They needed another anchor for a different environment of urban life.

 

God sent them their second anchor…the Prophets!

 

The first prophets were miracle workers.  Elijah and Elisha types.  They got the attention of the Nation at locals like Carmel when Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal.

 

When it was evident that the miracles alone would not  turn the nation back to God, God then sent them a whole new group of men.  The writing prophets!

 

About 40 years after Elisha, the first writing prophet appears on the national scene.  God introduced the second anchor for the nation!  His word!

 

From the moment the writing prophets arrived, all of history changed.

 

These prophets were diverse.

  • Some were highborn, educated and mixed with the highest echelons of society.
  • They were consults of Kings!
  • They were advisors of the highest decisions made in the world.

 

Others were simple country men.  They were ridiculed and scorned.  Their verbiage and illustrations were simple and homespun.  They preached messages, wrote poems, composed songs, and condemned Kings.

 

They are without equal or comparison in any period of history or in any culture in the world.

 

The Eastern religions for all their lasting impact have never produced the likes of the writing prophets!

 

The Prophets wrote their visions and conversations with the Almighty.  They left behind a glimpse into the mind and nature of God that became the mantle of all preachers for all time.  We would not have survived without their writings.  Simple or complicated, rich or poor, heard or rejected, to a man….

 

They were magnificent!

 

Thanks for reading today!