[Biblemat] S) ANCIENT PROPHETS IN A MODERN WORLD (2)

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  Here is the second part
of this particular study.  Use to the glory of God.

ANCIENT PROPHETS IN A MODERN WORLD (2)

CONDITIONS FACED: -- The Prophets of the Old Covenant
were confronted with similar conditions and problems faced
by the world today.  Religious infidelity and apostasy mani-
fested itself on every hand.  Social degeneracy followed spirit-
ual infidelity to God.  Political corruption flourished in the high places.  
These three -- religious, social and political cor-
ruption -- presented a dark picture of conditions to be correct-
ed.  These same three menace the world in our own time.  The hope of that day 
was in a restoration of faith and truth in
the hearts of the people, a return to God.  The hope of our time is the same. 
 Israel was doomed unless repentance to-
ward God and obedience to His principles of right could be
established.  Doom faces the world today unless men can be
brought to acknowledge Christ as Lord, and to receive into
their hearts His doctrine and principles of ethics and morals.

     The Prophets were men of God, raised up by Him to meet
these special emergencies.  Their mission was (1) to call Isra-
el back from idolatry to the true God; (2) to denounce the sins of the 
people; and (3) to warn of impending judgment if
the people did not repent and return to the Lord.  This they
sought to do by making Israel to see and understand the char-
acter of the true God, the righteousness He demanded, and
the terrible consequences of sin.  It was "Repent or Perish,"
till finally the conditions became such that it was only a terri-
ble and impending judgment; the day of mercy was past.

     It was during the period of the divided kingdom that the
Prophets began to rise to special prominence.  Here we find
them taking an active interest in all affairs of the day, contend-
ing for the true religion of God, irrespective of cost to them-
selves in popularity or personal welfare.  Of course such con-
ditions gave rise to the false prophets, as mentioned, but their presence 
only gave impetus to the zeal and fearlessness
of the true.  Under such stress they would rise to their high-
est point of eloquence and greatness.

     There were prophets before them, but the prophetic era is
usually considered to have begun with Elijah and Elisha who
appeared in the ninth century B.C.  The writing prophets of
that period were Obadiah, Joel and Jonah.  The remainder of
the writing prophets are usually grouped or divided into four
periods:  (1) The Eighth Century, or Assyrian Period, of which
there were four: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah.  The first two prophesied in 
Israel, the latter in Judah.  (2) The Seventh
Century or Chaldean Period.  There were four prophets dur-
ing this period: Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Nahum and Habakkuk.
All of these being in Judah, since Israel had disappeared with
the Assyrian captivity in 722 B.C.  (3) The prophets of the Six-
th Century, or Period of the Exile: Ezekiel and Daniel.  (4) 
Those of the Post-exile Period: Haggai, Zechariah and Mala-
chi.  Some place Joel and Obadiah in these later periods, but
the more conservative scholars locate them in the period indi-
cated.

     The eighth century before Christ was a period of great
prosperity for both Israel and Judah, which brought with it
great perils.  Two of these which specially threatened the re-
ligion of Jehovah were: first, moral and religious corruption,
due to a wrong conception of the character of God; and sec-
ond, the successes of the Assyrian, which were to the great
mass of people an evidence of the superiority of the Assyrian
deities, leading to apostasy from Jehovah.  These same per-
ils threaten to destroy both this country and the church today
Blinded by greed for gain, this country has lost sight of the
holy character of God; and deceived by the god of power, it
places the might of the military above the might of Jehovah.

     These things the four prophets of the period labored to
counteract.  They sought to meet the perils by emphasizing
the universality of the divine sway, declaring that the success-
es of the Assyrians were due, not to Jehovah's weakness, but
to the people's sins.  Sin, not the weakness of Israel's God,
was destroying Israel.  Let it be said here that sin is the root
of all of men's ills today!  Remove the cause and the effect
will disappear.  Likewise all sought to impress upon the peo-
ple a more adequate conception of the character of Jehovah,
each prophet emphasizing that phase of the divine character
which he considered best adapted to meet the need.  Amos
laid special stress upon the righteousness and justice of Jeh-
ovah.  There is little of mercy in his book.  With him it is right-
eousness for righeousness' sake, with an inevitable judgment
upon wickedness and corruption.  Hosea stressed His love
and compassion as that of a wounded and grieved husband 
for his unfaithful spouse.  Isaiah emphasized His holiness and
majesty, and Micah the divine judgments.  All revealed God,
condemned the sinful practices of the people, and pointed
them to the one way of survival: a return to Jehovah!  The
point we emphasize is that in these respects those ancient
prophets would be at home in our own modern world, crying
out against corruption and sin, and pointing to God and His
judgments.

     The terrible social, political and religious conditions are to
be understood best by the things of which the prophets wrote.  Cried Hosea, 
"Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children
of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants
of the land (i.e., a debate, or a dispute as to schemes and
opinions.  Now note why) because there is no truth, nor good-
ness, nor knowledge of God in the land" (Hos. 4:1).  These
were positive qualities which were lacking: truth, goodness 
and knowledge of God.  Hear him as he describes the prevail-
ing conditions as a consequence of such lack: "There is nou-
ght but swearing and breaking faith, and killing, and stealing,
and committing adultery; they break out and blood toucheth
blood."  How would that fit into the general headlines of our
papers today?  Or is one able to distinguish it from what he
reads these days?  Hosea would be fairly well at home in any
so-called  "civilized" land today -- lands which claim to recog-
nize God.

     Consider these words again, "swearing and breaking faith."  How good is 
the average man's word today, from the
statesmen who rule in high places to the man of the street?
Note again, "and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery
The world of our day is busily engaged in the great game of
killing.  Papers teem with the stories of murders, too many of
which go altogether unpunished.  Nations unblushingly attem-
pt to steal another nation with its resources, plunging the 
world into the sport of killing; while the general philosophy of
the day is, "get what you can, and all you can, while you can
and, as often as you can."  At the same time adultery is wink-
ed at on every hand, becoming almost the national crime.  In-
vestigate the divorce record in the country in which you may
live and compare it with the number of marriage licenses gran-
ted.  The lax attitude toward sins of sex encourages indiffer-
ence toward the law of God even in the church.

     The cause of the condition in the prophet's day is summed
up in a brief statement, "My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I also will
reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou
hast forgotten thy children"  The moral corruption followed
doctrinal apostasy.  To reject God and His knowledge is to be
rejected by Him.  The religious leaders were responsible.

     It may be argued that the prophets were sent to God's
people.  That is correct.  But as they dealt with national con-
ditions and crimes, laying down principles of God by which
such should be judged, so would they be at home today in 
this nation, one built upon the principle of religious freedom
and the Bible as an open book.  The world perishes for lack
of knowledge.  As then, so today, the religious teachers are
much and largely at fault; they must share their part of the
responsibility.  A diet of sissified sentimentalism, saturated
with error, and garnished with speculation and sectarian pre-
judices is bringing its own reward.  When men substitute a
creature of their own imagination for the God of the Bible, and falsehood for 
the truth of Jesus Christ, moral anarchy
and chaos are sure to follow.  And in the path of moral deprav-
ity and social anarchy follows the inevitable judgment of God,
terrible but holy and right.  Every planting must reap its own
harvest.  Let us restudy the prophets to learn of the failures
which brought ruin in their wake, that we may be warned by
these, and that we may imbibe their spirit, that in it we may
meet the political, religious and social conditions today in the
fearless and courageous manner in which they met such con-
ditions in their own day.   ------ Homer Hailey in The Preceptor
Vol. 1, No. 3, January 1952.   </HTML>
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