Reflection - Heads Up

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073121.cfm
Leviticus 26:1, 8-17
Matthew 14:1-12

Prophets were around for centuries in the days of the Old Testament. And, as long as we stay with the Biblical sense of the word, people like Nostradamus would never have made the cut. Supposedly, in his quatrains, Nostradamus predicted events far into mankind’s future. The Old Testament prophet, on the other hand, was concerned with what God was doing or what God wanted done in the then present day and was describing what God would be doing to accomplish his plan for mankind.

The prophets of whom we are most aware are the ones whose writings ended up in the Scriptures. However, there were also prophets whose lives were recorded in the Scriptures but who wrote nothing, or at least nothing that has been retained. Samuel, Elijah and Nathan would number among that group. It is from this entire group of men that Israel formed its image of the coming Messiah. To some extent that image was influenced by their own personal desires — thus the expectation that the Messiah would defeat their conquerors in a physical war. The other major issue in their preaching about the Messiah concerned what the new Kingdom of God would look like. That’s why, when Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes the people moved to recognize him as king. An abundance of food had long been associated with the coming of the Messiah and his Kingdom.

However, it must be noted that references to the coming Messiah and his Kingdom were not the primary focus for any of the prophets. Rather, they were constantly calling for a change of heart, the observance of the Law, and God’s expectation of faithfulness to the Covenant that had been formed at Sinai. It was with regard to the expectations of the Lord that their preaching was most commonly directed. Sometimes it was a blunt call to repentance.

“The LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.’" (Kings 17:13)

Sometimes it was a description of what the Lord would find it necessary to do in order to re-establish the Covenant relationship”

“I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 11:19)

Sometimes it was directed specifically at the king as the leader of the people as when Ahaz was directed by the prophet to ask the Lord for a sign.

Sometimes the prophet spoke forcefully to remind both king and people to trust in what the Lord had promised. Such was the situation when Sennacherib of Assyria besieged Jerusalem.

"Thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city, or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege mound against it.

By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, says the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.’" (Isaiah 37:33-35)

If the Old Testament prophets were living today we might well classify them as preachers of fire and brimstone because of their constant tirades against the evils within the nation. John fit well into both the message and style of these prophets.

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’” (Matthew 3:1-2, 7, 10)

Likewise, it was John’s faithfulness to revealed truth which was the principal cause for his imprisonment and, ultimately for his execution. That execution was not unexpected. It was probably only a matter of time; and the times were rapidly changing. We see his beheading as evil and as the action of a coward. But, as is so often the case, it’s very abruptness corresponded with the divine plan. John died because the time for the word of prophets had died. The Old was done. The New was here. John was the last and the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. It appears that his followers outnumbered those of Jesus even after his death. But, while the truth of his preaching would endure, the message that came after him was neither judgment nor condemnation, but life and the Kingdom of God.

We live decades. . . centuries . . . millennia away from a change so impacting that humanity has not been the same since. The enormity of this pivotal point is beyond any descriptive words I can direct toward myself, let alone any words I might address to you. We don’t know a before and after. We look at a troubled world, a troubled nation and troubled lives and are tempted to ask ‘What difference did it make?’ We think that the world should be different now that it has been redeemed; but evidence for that can be hard to come by. What’s harder to grasp is that the redemption of the world is bound up with the redemption of the individuals that comprise mankind. It is doubtful if the Roman Empire were worse than other nations and states of today. Yet, even Rome fell to those who worshipped the Christ.

We know only the ‘after’. We only have the words and lives of those who experienced that momentous shift in the future available to mankind . . . the words and lives of people who were suddenly, inexplicably different, people who would die rather than deny the marvels they had experienced, people who knew the Lord and his redeeming power. At that moment in time the words of Isaiah the prophet took on a new and richer meaning:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (Isaiah 43:1-3)

Until we hear those words spoken personally to us we probably shouldn’t lose our heads over our Christianity.