The Story of God: Prophets
Through the leadership of David, and his son Solomon, the kingdom of Israel achieved some prominence in the region. However, things went awry and the kingdom was split in two. The people’s faithfulness to God was very touch and go during this time, and God raised up prophets to call his people back to him.
I’m on my way out of town, and there are still diapers to be changed, so I’m going to leave it to our faithful blog readers and commenters to continue this intro. For those who have some experience in the Bible, please give us your perspective and understanding on the role and message of the prophets in the divided kingdom.
February 27th, 2006 at 11:46 am
we like to forget things…prophets remind us of who we are and what we are to be doing…
the Bible is a living story…it’s not over…prophets help us to engage and (re)interpret OUR (God’s, yours, and mine) story with the present situation…”prophetic imagination” according to W. Brueggemann…it’s a sort of past awareness blended with forward thinking…
maybe…struggling with the past in order to find meaning so that we might redeem the present…oh, I do so like values…this was fun…
am I a prophet…are you…should we be…are we all…must we be…who else is there…
805 OUT
February 28th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
I like that description of the prophets, Jeff. Here’s an example: Jeremiah 2:13. Although written to ancient Israel, doesn’t it apply equally to us today?? Shouldn’t we be brought to our knees in repentence when we read it?
March 3rd, 2006 at 11:34 am
I think that they question that I keep asking as I get ready for this weekend is simply this,
“Who is allowed to speak truth into the difficult areas of my life?”
That was the role of the prophet in the life of Israel. I guess that leads to many other questions,
“What has authority in my life?”
“What does it take for something to have authority in my life?”
“What checks and balances must take place in order to trust something?”
“How does the Holy Spirit play into this?”
“How does the fact that so many Christians ‘interpret’ the Holy Spirit differently play in to this?”
I don’t have the answers, so I hope that ya’ll will provide some insight on this beautiful Friday morning. In fact, it looks rather 805 outside.
March 3rd, 2006 at 12:51 pm
this just in…the 805 and the 425 have temporarily (we hope) switched weather tendencies…oh wait nevermind the sun has just broken through…so much for that…as to the real content of John’s post…no answers here just struggle…man I love core values…I think the struggle is the beauty…the Bible only says a handful of truths that must then be interpreted and adapted to the current situation…your questions are the questions that need to be asked and struggled with…it’s the refusal to ask the questions or the thought that we already have the answers that is dangerous…getting “right” isn’t the concern, the honest pursuit of the truth/God is the concern…”One can never wrestle enough with God if one does so out of pure regard for the truth. Christ likes us to prefer truth to him because, before being Christ, he is truth. If one turns aside from him to go toward the truth, one will not go far before falling into his arms.” — Simon Weil…therefore prophets are not so much those with answers, but rather are truth-guides…who or what those prophetic things/people will be may be up to God’s imagination…just some thoughts…not really sure though…
805 OUT!