The Royal Prophets

Many of us may not know that two of the sixteen classical prophets in the Old Testament were from royal families.
By the way, classical prophets is a technical term for the prophets whose names we have books, like Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah, etc. At the same time, despite their antiquity and prominence, Elijah, Elisha, Gad, or Nathan do not fall in this category since we do not have books in their names.
The classical prophets came from a variety of backgrounds. Biographical information on most of the prophets is scanty. Still, we know Amos was a farmer and a sheep breeder, while Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests.
The two prophets with royal connections are Zephaniah and Isaiah. The Book of Zephaniah introduces the prophet as a descendant of King Hezekiah. "The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah" (Zeph 1:1). But there is nothing in the rest of the Book to confirm the prophets connection with the royal establishment in Jerusalem.
In contrast, Isaiah's connections with the royal establishment are not directly mentioned. Later Jewish traditions suggest that his father Amoz was a half-brother of King Uzziah, who ruled in the eighth century. However, ample clues in the Book of Isaiah lead us to believe that this later Jewish tradition about his royal connection is valid.
First is his easy access to the kings in Jerusalem. He could meet with King Ahaz when the king was out to check the water level in the upper pool near the royal quarters (Isa 7). He could visit the sick King Hezekiah in his bed room twice (Isa 38). King Hezekiah sought his spiritual help by asking to pray in times of crisis (Isa 19:1-7).
Secondly, he knew about the discussions in the royal cabinet, which commoners had no access to. The military threat from Aram and Northern Israel had made the king and his cabinet nervous, so they "shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind" (Isa 7:2). He knew that Hezekiah was making futile plans by sending his diplomats to Egypt to seek alliance and military supplies (Isa 30:1-7). He also knew that Hezekiah had foolishly displayed his wealth to the visiting Babylonian envoys (Isa 39:1-8).
In addition, his message shows he was well-versed in international politics.
So, Isaiah was a prince in Jerusalem who, like all other classical prophets, proclaimed judgements against the reigning monarchs when they acted against the will of the supreme ruler of the world, the Emperor, the Lord.


(Based on insights from my recent book, THE PRINCE AND THE EMPEROR. SELECTED THEMES FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, now available on Amazon globally.)

Walking with God in Love and Justice

I recall the days sharing an apartment with a few other single men.  None of us knew cooking so we had a lady sending us lunch-boxes every day. We noticed that over the weeks this kind lady has customized our lunch boxes to suit each individual’s likes and dislikes—each of us had our favorites dishes more often while the dishes that we detested have disappeared from the menu.

We were amused. How did this woman know what each of us like though she hasn’t even met most of us even once? We quizzed the man who brought the lunch for us every day. He told us the secret. She would check all the lunch boxes that we returned and made a note of what remains in them. Whatever, a person did not eat she considered it as a dislike and whatever was eaten, she considered as his favorite. Thus, over the weeks she knew what each of us like and what we detested. Now you know why we adored her!

Knowing God’s will and pleasing him by doing what he likes is even more noble. That is what we are called for.

Micah, a prophet of the eighth century BC proclaimed, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, ESV).

Prophet Micah summarizes what God likes and what God hates in Israel’s social life. He highlights three things. He expects his people to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly.

The book of Deuteronomy, all the prophetic voices in the Old Testament and Jesus constantly reminded the people that God desires righteousness, and justice. He demands that they show mercy to each other especially those who are vulnerable in their society. Another prophet of the same period cried out! “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24, ESV).”

Probably Micah stands out in the company of the prophets by specifying that living a life that God delights is to “walk humbly with your God.”

Walking humbly means to lead a modest life. In fact, one of the meanings of the word used for ‘humble’ in Hebrew is ‘modest.’ Modest life is not to live extravagantly but one that limits to what is essential. At the same time, the expression “with God” means that God determines this life-style. The standard of our life-style is decided by our close walk with God.

A life lived in comparison with the standards of others, sometimes even leading to competition to beat each other leads not only to excesses. In a similar vein, life-style that focuses on the self to the total neglect of the needs around us leads to all that is ungodly. The immodest life-style leads to corruption, exploitation and causes pain for others. The wealthy in Israel oppressed and exploited the poor to satisfy their cravings for luxury. Prophet Amos condemns those who lived in palaces decorated with ivory, and drunk to their fill and loved rave parties.

​ “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’ (Amos 4:1, ESV)

“Cows of Bashan” is a metaphor that Amos used to describe the obese wealthy women.

Amos condemned the rich further:

“Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore, they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away” (Amos 6:4-7, ESV).

Their extravagant life-style was at the expense of the poor and needy whom them conveniently ignored. They created a society where injustice and inequality prevailed over love and mercy. However, a life pleasing God is modest, is content with what one has than grabbing what others have to live haughtily as Isaiah portrayed such lives.

“The LORD said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, (Isaiah 3:16, ESV).”

The pride in what one wear, eat and spend is not the mark of a life pleasing God.

 

(Photo courtesy: Rudolf Kirchner)

The Sin of Silence

There is an Indian saying: Silence is the glory of the wise! It means the wise person keeps quite and by implication it means the fool keeps talking (certainly all nonsense!). But silence at times could be malicious, dangerous and even a grave sin. So let us say that like tumors, silence could also be of two types: the benign ones and the malign ones.

In his vision of God Isaiah confessed: "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty" (Isa 6:5).

The word "ruined" could be a mistranslation. It is equally possible to translate it as "been silent" though many modern translations still follow the KJV in this regard. The translation "silent" fits the context too. The sin of the people of Isaiah has to do with speech (unclean lips) and the cleansing that God does has to do with speech. Moreover, the commissioning that Isaiah receives is to speak! All this happens in the context of the "holy" speech of the Seraphim. So it is right in concluding that the sin Isaiah confesses is the sin of being silent!

The timing of this very clearly dated vision is also important. It is in the year that king Uzziah died. Though the phrase "in the year" does not necessarily mean after the death of the king, it is highly probable. There is only one another instance where Isaiah dates a prophecy by the death of a king (Isaiah 14:28). So this date is important for our understanding of the nature of Isaiah's sin.

The title of the book says that Isaiah was active in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1). The reign of Uzziah and that of Jotham overlaps since the former could not continue as king for health reasons and had to hand over the kingdom to Jotham who was the co-regent. We see Isaiah confronting the other two kings: Ahaz and Hezekiah. However, there is no mention of Uzziah or Jotham other than in the title (which is from the editor of the book) and in this passage (Isaiah 6) where the prophecy is dated.

The reign of Uzziah-Jotham was one of prosperity for Israel but was one of spiritual decline. It was not a reign that pleased God. However, the prophet of God was silent during this period of spiritual decline (2 Kings 15:34). He did not critique Uzziah's apostasy nor of the nation during this period. He just watched the nation slide down to apostasy, injustice and violence. So that later on Isaiah lamented on its capital city: "See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her-- but now murderers!" (Isaiah 1:21).

Isaiah woke up from his slumber during the days of Ahaz and Hezekiah who succeeded Uzziah. He challenged the kings and their religious and political decisions. Demanded that they return to God in full trust. However, he was silent during the days of Uzziah and Jotham.

That is the sin he confesses: being silent when he was supposed to speak up! That was a grave sin. His silence deprived the nation a voice that could have stopped them in their track to spiritual and social rot. His voice could have helped them to make an early U-turn, if he had the courage to speak out. Our malign silence could be equally or more damaging at times. Have we spoken out where we had to or kept strategic silence in order to protect our reputation, good standing with people. Did we hold our peace where our voice was crucial just to have more brownie points from those ungodly people and ungodly systems?

Isaiah realized his sin, he confessed and God was willing to accept his confession and commission him for a greater task. God hasn't changed and his Seraphim are waiting with burning coals in their hands. They are waiting for the words of confession from us so that the coal can touch our lips and release it to speak on behalf God.

Paulson Pulikottil Ph. D. is Professor of Old Testament at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India and Pastor of the COMMUNITY OF THE REDEEMED (CORe) a Full Gospel Church in Pune, India

Paulson Pulikottil Ph. D. is Professor of Old Testament at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India and Pastor of the COMMUNITY OF THE REDEEMED (CORe) a Full Gospel Church in Pune, India.

True Spirituality and the Vision of Peace

Terrorists who have some religious associations give religions a bad name. Recent events like the attack on Mumbai (26/11) make us think if religions promote violence only. However, the picture is far from truth.

There are narratives of conflicts, violence and bloody battle accounts in the Bible. This makes some think that Bible promotes violence. However, they miss out the many visions of peace that the bible have. One such vision is found in the prophecy of Isaiah in the second chapter. Part of this vision is inscribed on the walls of the UN building in New York: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore" (Isaiah 2:4).

This probably was a very popular vision about the future in those days since another prophet by the name Micah also has this in his book (Micah 4:3). Thus it should rather be called a shared vision of the prophets of the Bible in the eighth century BC.

This is a vision of peace but not just a vision of peace. Here is a vision of people of every nation dropping their weapons and bringing to an end war between them. This is not just temporary cease-fire but a permanent cessation of hostilities, as they will not be training their future generations for war. We would expect them to pile up all their weapons and set fire. The uniqueness of this vision is that it takes us beyond cessation of violence to peace and prosperity. The weapons of war will be transformed into tools of production as swords are beaten into plowshares and spears into hooks to prune fig and olive trees.

It was in a very difficult time in world history this vision of peace and development was given. It was eight century BC when the Assyrian empire was ravaging the world conquering nations after nations through bloody battles and displacing people. To add to the misery of the common man, smaller nations were instigated by superpowers like ancient Egypt and Assyria to fight among them. Violence had reduced the population in many of these countries considerably. The audacity of the vision is that it could see peace in the context of conflict and violence giving way to prosperity.

We live in a violent world, a world of uncertainties and a world of hatred that breed irrational violence. Recent experiences in India and the world over have made us to associate violence with religion. The reason for this association is that perpetrators of violence take on themselves label of some religion. The opening lines of this vision speaks about people from all over the world seeking after God and their spiritual search leads them to a longing for peace. True religion is thus a stimulus for peace and prosperity and not the other way round.

It is possible to imagine a world without violence. It is still possible to long for a world where violence will end and peace and prosperity will enter. However, this new world is not a world without God or spirituality but one of true spirituality. Perpetrators of violence have given religion a bad name, but true religion that promotes peace and prosperity is still the hope of our world.