Lecture 1- Latter prophets 1

What do these facts describe?-Assyria was the single dominant force in the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) world in both centuries. -Located in the north part of the land called Mesopotamia – the land between the rivers - Expanded north, west, and south in efforts to dominate the area GOAL: Seeking to control and dominate the trade routes-Trade routes went northwest to Europe, east to Asia and to southwest to Africa. -Canaan - Near East ―the hinge between three continents‖ – all the trade of the ancient world passed right through that territory -Particularly the route from Babylon to Egypt -Babylon and Egypt were the two poles at either end of the world’s riches. Assyria’s goal was to cut out the ―middle man‖ to control the riches. -The only way to get to Egypt is through Israel -Assyria was a geo-political monster seeking to expand her territories

What is this describing?
-Assyria was the single dominant force in the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) world in both centuries.
-Located in the north part of the land called Mesopotamia
– the land between the rivers
- Expanded north, west, and south in efforts to dominate the area
- Assyria was a geo-political monster seeking to expand her territories.

What is this describing?
Seeking to control and dominate the trade routes.
Trade routes went northwest to Europe, east to Asia and to southwest to Africa.
-Canaan
- Near East "the hinge between three continents" all the trade of the ancient world passed right through that territory
-Particularly the route from Babylon to Egypt
-Babylon and Egypt were the two poles at either end of the world’s riches. Cut out the ―middle man to control the riches.
-The only way to get to Egypt is through Israel

What is this describing?
Any attempt to reach Egypt from Assyria had to pass along the east coast of the Mediterranean (Levant), because of the desert to the east.

- Eight small nations were in this area and stood in the way of Assyria’s goals to reach Egypt.

Syria – capital at Damascus
Israel (NOrth) – capital at Samaria
Moab – along the eastern side of the Dead Sea
Judah (South)
Tyre and Sidon – located on the Mediterranean coast, ancestors of Phoenicians
Ammon – capital city of Jordan today
Edom – extending across the bottom of the Dead Sea
Philistia

What is this an example of? Syncretism (―cover all the bases‖)
Inclusivism – ―Everything is connected, every experience goes together‖
-Paganism had thousands of gods and is built on inclusivism.
Old Testament is extensively exclusive.
The ―strange‖ God, YHWH, says, ―No! I am separate from everything. There is only one of me.‖ In a world of belief in thousands of gods, it is scary to put all your eggs in one basket. People tended to hedge their bets and worship other gods too.
-Baal vs. Yahweh
OT prophets ask people, ―Is there only one God? Is Baal (the Canaanite god) greater than YHWH?‖ The prophets say, ―There is only one God. He blesses you because he loves you. If you try to manipulate or use him, he will plug the blessing pipe.‖
People were tempted to say, ―Assyria is stronger. Therefore Baal is stronger.‖

What is this an example of?
Ritualism (the other world view)
Basically, there are only two world views:
 The other world view (paganism): ―The world explains itself. Everything in the world is interconnected.‖
 The Biblical world view: ―We must go outside the world to find an explanation. Someone beyond the world explains it to us.‖
- The Assyrians are coming; what are we going to do?
Rituals. - If you do the rituals right, the gods are pleased with you and are no longer angry with you.
 With ritual, it only matters if you do the ritual right. Morals do not matter.  The OT prophets say, ―No! God wants your right behavior.‖

What is this an example of?
The fundamental question throughout the whole Bible is, ―Who supplies my needs?‖ Under pressure, it is hard to trust God.
Satan always says, ―You can’t trust God. He doesn’t care about you. You are just a pawn on his chessboard. If you give him your life, he will make you miserable.
―The Assyrians are coming! I have to look out for myself. The gods aren’t reliable and lie half the time, just like we do. We can’t trust the gods, so we need to trust ourselves. My rights are number one. It’s too bad if I hurt other people. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.‖
-Such self-reliance led to the following sins: 1 Oppression 2 Fraud (injustice) 3 Luxury (greed and self-indulgence) 4 Failure of leadership The true prophets said,
―The false prophets tell you only what you want to hear and only say nice things about you.‖ People wanted effective ritual, not to learn and obey Torah (God’s law)Social conditions in Israel and Judah

What are these aspects of?
- Not absolutely unique.

_________ _________in surrounding cultures:
1. Spoke in the name of their gods and told people to do things
2.Professed to be able to tell the future
3. Engaged in ecstatic and symbolic behaviors (acted things out)
4. Prophecy rooted in some common human desires to:  Know what will happen so you can figure out how to live today.  Know how to get in line with the forces controlling the universe so we can be at an advantage (i.e., religion)

What are these aspects of?

 The other world view – ―There is nothing outside of this psycho-socio-physical cosmos.‖
 There are three realms in this cosmos – human, divine and nature
o These realms are all interconnected – the world view of continuity. ―If something happens in one realm, it affects the other realm. Life is an endless cycle.‖
o Omens – terribly important in this type of prophecy
 Demanded highly-skilled, thoroughly trained professionals - expensive Nothing to do with right and wrong, everything to do with success and failure

What are these aspects of?
1-There is nothing beyond this psycho-social-physical world.‖ The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason worldview claims, ―This world is all there is. There is no spiritual reality. There is nothing else. Therefore, we can control it.‖
2 ―Everything in the cosmos is continuous with everything else.‖
3 ―We can control elements of the cosmos and the spirit world through sympathetic magic (ritual).‖ Sometimes magic works because demons are behind it. Yet God and the Hebrew prophets say, ―Never dare to do magic!‖
4 ―Spirituality has as its purpose security and serenity.‖ ―Gain security by controlling your environment. Gain harmony by being in harmony with your environment.‖
5 Spirituality has no relation to ethic6 Human choices have no effect on reality

List the four parts of an Oracle of disaster (judgment)

List the three parts of an Oracle of Promise

What other form of prophetic speech is this?
This is found in The Book of Hosea and Isaiah Chapter 1.
1.Call to assemble witnesses (Isa 1:2a) – heaven and earth (the cosmos)
2. Announcement of charges (Isa 1:2b-4, 10-17, 21-23) The Lord will give testimony. A jackass knows its master, but Israel does not because it is sinful and corrupt.
3. Proclamation of judgment (Isa 1:5-9, 24-31) Therefore your land is desolate and your cities are burned.

What other form of prophetic speech is this?
(Isa 6; Ezek 1-3; Jer 1) – narrates how the prophets were called into ministry. Often the prophet says, ―I was not looking for a job. But God took and grabbed me!‖ You do not sign up to be a prophet. If you do, you are a false prophet.

What other form of prophetic speech is this?
(Amos 7-9; Isa 6; Ezek 1-2; Dan 7-12) The prophet reports something he saw. A Hebrew vision always has a verbal explanation too.

What other form of prophetic speech is this?
 Take a pot and smash it. This is what will happen to Judah.
Take a loincloth, bury it in mud for 6 months, then dig it up and put it on. That is how I feel about Judah. (Ezek 4)

What do these behaviors have in common?
Idolatry, Religious ritual,Adultery, refusal to trust God

What do these behaviors have in common?
Alliance with idolotrous pagan nations,Oppression of the poor, Opulence and self-indulgence,Lack of integrity in human dealings,Denial of historical accountability

What are these the distinguishing features of?
- Were not establishment functionaries. The Hebrew prophets worked for God and were not in the king’s stable of prophets.
- Did not exist to tell the future
-Were not mouthpieces for the gods. Pagan prophets claimed to be taken over by the gods and given strange, coded messages.

What are these the distinquishing features of?
-Did not consult omens, or seek ecstatic experiences or work themselves into a trance
5-Called their people to present moral obedience in light of the future
-Saw history as the arena of revelation-a place of dynamic interaction between the purposes of God and the choices of humans

What is this explaining?
1. Submit in trust to God alone
2.Live out devotion to God in right dealing with humans.
3.Otherwise, He will set both nature and history against you.
4.But not to destroy you.
5.Rather to refine you.
6.He will restore you to the land in a new exodus.
7.He will restore the throne of David with the true anointed king.
8. You, Israel, will judge the nations …because they also are under my moral order.
9. But, like you, I will judge the nations for their salvation …so that they can worship with you on my holy mountain.