Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

Lesson Helps for the Week of April 18iSabbath SchoolLessonFor April 18,1971The Role of the Hebrew ProphetsIsaiah 6:1-8; Hosea 1:1; 8:1-3; Amos 1:1;3:1,2; Micah 1:1; 3:5-8.Comments by John K. GaultThe word role means "the part playedby a participant in a certain action such asa drama, a construction, a militaryoperation." In the ancient drama the partsplayed by the performers were inscribedon a roll of parchment or paper which wasunwound as the play progressed; hence thederivation of the word role which is Frenchfor roll.The Hebrew prophets all performed adefinite role in the unfolding of thekingdom of God. It was their function tospeak for God in such a way that thepeople would learn of the will of God fromthe voice of the prophet.1: It Was the Role of the Prophets toReceive a Revelation from God.God transmitted unto them themessage which He wished the people tohear. Isaiah said in 6:1: "In the year thatking Uzziah died, I saw also the Lordsitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,and His train filled the temple. Above itstood the seraphims: each one had sixwings; with twain he covered his face, andwith twain he covered his feet and withtwain he did fly. And one cried untoanother, and said. Holy, holy, holy is theLord of hosts: the whole earth is full of Hisglory. And the posts of the door moved atthe voice of him that cried, and the housewas filled with smoke.' Isaiah, therefore,"saw the Lord." King Uzziah had recentlydied and the throne of the kingdom wasunoccupied by mortal man; but Isaiah hadthis vision in which he saw a far greaterKing, sitting upon a throne and His royalrobe filled the Temple.In Hosea 1:1 it is said, "The word of theLord that came unto Hosea, the son ofBeeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz,and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in thedays of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king ofIsrael." It was the word of the Lord whichcame to Hosea; hence, his role was totransmit the word of the Lord to the peopleof Israel. Amos, by occupation, was ashepherd but he spoke repeatedly of hismessage from God. He said in 3:1, "Hearthis word that the Lord hath spoken againstyou, O children of Israel." In chapters 7and 8 he began with the words, "Thus haththe Lord showed unto me." The prophetMicah began his discourse by saying, "Theword of the Lord that came to Micah" andin 6:1 he said, "Hear ye now what the Lordsaith." The role of the Hebrew prophetswas, therefore, to speak for God and sothey proclaimed, not their own message,but the message from God, to be deliveredto a disobedient people.2: The Hebrew Prophets Had an AcuteConsciousness of Their Own and thePeople's Sins.When Isaiah "saw also the Lord sittingupon a throne, high and lifted up" then hesaid, "Woe is me! for I am undone;because I am a man of unclean lips, and Idwell in the midst of a people of uncleanlips: for mine eyes have seen the King, theLord of hosts." It was the vision of the holyGod that brought Isaiah to the realizationof the sinful condition of the people,himself included. In this modern era,which is after Christ, God has providedpeople with the revelation of His Word,and it is this view of God that convictspeople of their sins and their need of aSavior.In order that Hosea's conception of sinmight be made exceedingly acute, Goddirected him to select a wife who had beenimmoral. God said to him, "Go, take untothee a wife of whoredoms and children ofwhoredoms: for the land hath committedgreat whoredom, departing from theLord." Hosea's wife, therefore, became anobject lesson to him, that his realization ofthe sins of the land might be quite vivid.Hosea's wife left him for other lovers andhe induced her to come back to him. Hisresolve is stated in 2:14, "Therefore,behold, I will allure her, and bring her intothe wilderness, and speak comfortablyunto her." This experience was to Hosea anobject lesson of God's merciful pleadingwith the people of Israel to return to Himafter they had gone into the depth of sinwhich is pictured in 4:2, "swearing, andlying, and killing, and stealing, andcommitting adultery, they break out andblood toucheth blood."3: Obedience to God's Call Was in theRole of the Hebrew Prophets.Isaiah said in 6:8,9, "Also I heard thevoice of the Lord, saying. Whom shall Isend, and who will go for us? Then said I,Here am I, send me. And He said, Go, andtell this people, hear ye indeed but understandnot, and see ye indeed, butperceive not." Hosea, Amos, Micah, andthe other prophets, also, obeyed the call ofthe Lord, except Jonah and he needed twocalls before he was ready to obey.4: The Hebrew Prophets Proclaimedan Unpopular Message.Isaiah said to the people of both thekingdoms of Israel in 8:5-9a, "The Lordspake also unto me again saying,Forasmuch as this people refuseth thewaters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoicein Resin and Remaliah's son; nowtherefore, behold, the Lord bringeth uponthem the waters of the river, strong andmany, even the king of Assyria, and all hisglory: and he shall come up over all hischannels, and go over all his banks: and heshall pass through Judah; he shall overflowand go over, he shall reach even to theneck; and the stretching out of his wingsshall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.Associate yourselves, O ye people,and ye shall be broken in pieces." This wasa message which the people would not liketo hear, andit would not make the propheta popular person.Then, there was Hosea who said in 8:1-4, "Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shallcome as an eagle against the house of theLord, because they have transgressed mycovenant, and trespassed against my law.Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we knowthee. Israel hath cast off the thing that isgood: the enemy shall pursue him. Theyhave set up kings, but not by me: they havemade princes, and I knew it not: of theirsiher and their gold have they made themidols, that they may be cut off."Micah said to the people of Judah in3:1-4, "Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob,and ye princes of the house of Israel; is itnot for you to know judgment? Who hatethe good, and love the evil; who pluck offtheir skin from off them, and their fleshfrom off their bones; who also eat the fleshof my people, and flay their skin from offthem; and they break their bones, andchop them in pieces, as for the pot, and asflesh within the caldron. Then shall theycry unto the Lord, but He will not hearthem: He will even hide His face fromthem at that time, as they ha\e behavedthemselves ill in their doings." The chiefmen of Judah and Israel would not like toMARCH 24. 1971 11