Characteristics Of Prophetic People

In the first instance, we see prophets performing in groups . They are characterized by their clothing (hairy cloak and leather belt, as in 2 Kings 128; cf. Mat. 3: 4), live on alms and travel around. Their performance includes music and dance, creating an ecstasy in which the prophet senses contact with God. Saul also happens when he meets prophets (1 Sam. 10, 5-7).

However, when Biblical prophecy develops from a prophet group to an individual person , the ecstatic descriptions fall away. The prophet simply reports that the Lord God has spoken to him. The how of that speaking is totally subordinate to what God has spoken. These loners, who no longer understand themselves as group prophets (see, for example, the negative answer of the prophet Amos in Am. 7,14), form classical prophecy, which also includes prophecy of scripture because they have made the step of writing their prophecies.

This writing is primarily a protest against the refusal attitude of the listeners of the prophets to accept the message that these brought on behalf of God (see, for example, Isaiah’s performance in Isa. 8,16-17). In this way the prophetic words were also preserved for the next generation. This naturally led to further literary growth of what we now know as the prophets. From this classical prophecy, Moses is looked back, after the Babylonian exile regarded as a prophet and indeed the greatest of all prophets, as in Deuteronomy 34.10.

Indeed, all of Israel’s history is interpreted as a succession of prophets: starting with the direct self-revelation of God on Mount Sinai, there have always been intermediaries, prophets, of whom Moses was the first (thus: Deut. 18,13- 18). (van Wieringen pp 75-76)

Classical prophecy only fully develops in Israel from the 8th century. In any case, it is about the prophets whose prophecies and messages have been delivered. They are called ‘scripture prophets’. In the 8th century Amos and Hosea occur in Northern Israel: Amos with its fierce criticism of social abuses; Hosea with his passionate call for loyalty to the original encounter of the Lord in the time of the desert. In the southern kingdom of Judah, Isaiah appears shortly afterwards. Together with Micha, he gives his interpretation of the war that is currently being waged by the king of Syria and Israel against Jerusalem.

Isaiah interferes in politics, like his predecessors Elijah and Elisha. He calls on Ahaz and afterwards Hezekiah not to trust in Assyria and Egypt, but only in the Lord. In 721 the North Kingdom falls and Jerusalem is besieged. Micah’s prophecies are also a sharp indictment of all corruption and abuse. His language is even rougher than that of Amos. For him too, the only guarantee for the future of Israel is faithfulness to the Lord. Otherwise everything ends in destruction. Even the temple will not be spared.

Jerusalem is indeed facing the catastrophe in the 7th century. The prophecies of Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk guide this process. But especially those of Jeremiah, who occur until the first half of the 6th century among the last kings of Judah. Again and again the warning can be heard that there is only one answer to the crisis: faithful to the Lord. In 587 the unavoidable happens: the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and the deportation of a large part of the population to Babel.

The Babylonian exile is, just like the exodus and the conclusion of the covenant, a key moment in the history of Israel. Much more than a one-off historical event, she becomes a living, bearing memory. In a tragic but not barren way, Israel gets to know his Lord and himself in a new way. The Lord is not tied to temple, city, country or people. Israel, for its part, learns to believe without claiming any privilege. Seated by the streams of Babylon, “abroad,” it will recharge and learn to trust in God alone.

Once that catastrophe of destruction and deportation is a fact, the tone of many prophets changes. Ezekiel, who is a contemporary of Jeremiah and who preaches among the exiles, will now especially encourage and call for confidence. He helps them to cope with the loss of the land and especially the temple. Also an unknown prophet, the so-called deutero-Isaiah, proclaims his message of comfort during that period: the first success of the Persian king Cyrus with his reconciling religious policy is a sign to him of the impending liberation and return to Jerusalem.

From the end of the exile, the prophets follow each other without precise chronology. Haggai and Zechariah accompany the first attempts to restore the temple. An unknown third prophet from the school of Isaiah, the trito-Isaiah, speaks to the returned exiles in Jerusalem. Then come Malachi, Obadiah, Joel.

The end of Biblical prophecy starts from the 3rd century. Israel is now without official witnesses of God’s word. Gradually people are looking forward to the return of the prophets or to the coming of the prophet (cf. Dt 18,13-18). This expectation is also present in the New Testament. Jesus is recognized as this prophet who had to come. The early Church, by the way, has seen a revival of prophecy. Although all receive the spirit as a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (cf. Acts 2,17-21), some are explicitly called “prophets.”

They are the interpreters of God’s word for the Christian congregation. Prophetism may have disappeared in its official form, fortunately, the Church has known people in all times who, in line with the Biblical prophets, have surprisingly updated God’s offer and the ability to respond to it. (CCV pp 63-66)