Five Themes of the Prophets From Robertson

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Contributors

Rev. Eric Costa (PCA)

Rev. John SamsonRev. Charles R. Biggs (OPC)

John Hendryx

Nathan Pitchford

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The Wisdom of God in our Afflictions | Main | The Necessity of the Use of Means in the Spirit's Work of Monergistic

Regeneration

Five Themes of the Prophets

The prophetic portions of our bible, while they contain some of the loftiest and most beautiful descriptions of God and

his redemptive plan to be found anywhere in the scriptures, are yet among the most difficult portions to understand

and interpret. They are gold mines that require a great deal of labor to extract and possess the vast riches hidden deep

beneath the surface. Without a little guidance and reflection, one might wander aimlessly here and there, without

making heads or tails of the bulk of what has been written. Even Martin Luther, whose exegetical abilities are beyond

question, has said of the writing prophets, "They have a queer way of talking, like people who, instead of proceeding

in an orderly manner, ramble off from one thing to the next, so that you cannot make head or tail of them or see what

they are getting at." This observation is strikingly true. So how does one begin to find a structure that would aid in

understanding writings that are so obviously structured differently from the logical, point-by-point, western way of

proceeding? I have come to the conviction that the following five themes are central to the message of every writing

prophet; and that, like so many threads, they are interwoven throughout the prophetic corpus, binding them together in

a unified whole that fills a very specific place in the unfolding of redemptive history and revelation. One might view

them as so many pegs upon which to hang the variously intermingled prophecies, and so have a basis for the

comparison and conflation of the whole. Or else as so many facets, many of which inhere in each individual prophecy,relative to the angle at which one views it. I am indebted for many of the following observations to O. Palmer

Robertson, whose book, The Christ of the Prophets, has been invaluable in helping me to think through these issues.

I. The prophets enforce and apply the Mosaic law.

The prophets did not come up with a new, strange theology or way of looking at the world. Everything in the prophets'

message is there to some degree in the foundational work of the Pentateuch and other Old Testament writings. The

prophets may become more specific in relating the meaning of God's law to the people, but there is nothing brand new

in their prophecies. When the prophets denounced the sins of the people and pronounced coming judgment, they did

so in strict accordance with the blessings and cursings of faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the covenant as recorded

especially in Leviticus 26:1-39; Deuteronomy 4:15-40; and Deuteronomy 28:1-32:42. Understanding these passages

will give us the necessary foundations for understanding the writings of the prophets. Involved in this application ofthe Mosaic law is both the cursing prophesied for unfaithfulness, and the mercy promised to all who walk according to

its precepts. Leviticus 26, in particular, emphasizes both these elements that are found so often in the prophets.

Virtually every commandment given in the Pentateuch is used by the prophets to condemn and accuse the wickedness

of Israel, and to pronounce coming judgment. Many prophecies refer to specific commandments which Israel had

broken; for example, Hosea 4:2,3, which specifically refers to the third, ninth, sixth, eighth, and seventh

commandments, and pronounces judgment on that basis. On the other hand, some passages refer to the law as a

whole, and pronounce judgment because of a wholesale violation of all the commandments (Hosea 8:12,13).

II. The prophets emphasize God's eternal covenant with his people.

The prophets do not end with a message of cursing, promised as a retribution for unfaithfulness from the time of

Moses. Their prophecies are also full of unconditional promises of hope, made on the basis of every covenant God hadestablished. Some prophecies of hope even allude to many covenants in the same context, such as Ezekiel 37:24-26.

Even though the people of Israel failed to observe the Mosaic law, the law, which came 430 years after the promise to

Abraham, could not nullify the promise of God's eternal covenant (Galatians 3:17).


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III. The prophets include every nation of the world in God's plans.

It was easy for the Israelites to assume that God was only concerned with them as a people; but the prophets clearly

showed that God was actively governing in the affairs of the entire world. God will both judge and show mercy to

nations other than Israel. The prophets contain many denunciations of Gentile nations, but these are not specifically

related to the law which was given to Israel. Instead, they are usually condemned for pride, idolatry, and violence

(Isaiah 16:6,7; Amos 2:1; Isaiah 19:1); more particularly, they are often condemned for their mistreatment of God's

people (Jeremiah 50:17,18). But beyond just condemnation, the prophets also give much hope to the Gentile nations,

on the basis of the New Covenant, which will turn the Gentiles into true Israel, the people of God's favor (Isaiah

66:19-22; Amos 9:11,12).

IV. The prophets' central message is the exile and restoration of Israel.

Central to understanding the message of the prophets is the idea of the exile (based on unfaithfulness to the law) and

the restoration (based on God's continuing covenant of grace). The judgment of the exile is extreme, even to the point

of God's casting off his people so thoroughly that they become "not my people" (Hosea 1:6-10). But the promise of

the return is also extreme, so that those who were called "not my people" shall be called "my people." This restoration

of true Israel involves God's creating a people for himself from every nation, just as Paul interprets this passage from

Hosea in Romans 9:23-27. Hence, the promise of restoration extends beyond what happened when Cyrus sent the

exiles of Israel back to Jerusalem. This was merely a type and a foretaste of the massive restoration that was yet to

come in the time of Christ.

V. The prophets clearly display the centrality of Christ in every part of their message.

Not only is Christ the consummation of the prophets (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:19-23); he is also the fulfillment of

all the prophecies. The prophets demand a curse for the breaking of the law: but they also prophesy that Christ would

vicariously bear the curses of the law (Isaiah 53). They promise covenant blessings to God's people: but they recognize

that only Christ could usher in all the covenant blessings (Isaiah 55:3-5). In fact, the presence of Christ himself among

his people is the sole substance of what those covenant blessings are (Isaiah 9:6,7; Ezekiel 34:29,30). In addition, the

central message of the prophets the exile/restoration motif is best understood when we view the work of the

coming Christ in those same terms. God would reject his people. But this rejection, extreme as it is, could never be

sufficient to placate God's wrath against sin, and usher in a restoration of mercy. However, there are prophecies of a

coming Messiah, who would likewise undergo rejection and exile. Because of his perfect righteousness, he would be a

sufficient sacrifice to placate God's wrath and purchase his mercy so that an undeserving people would know the

restoration of his grace. In other words, "The very process that the elect nation must undergo in exile and restoration

finds its personalized expression in the sufferings and exaltation of this distinctive servant of the Lord." (O. Palmer

Robertson). Not only would Christ suffer exile, being "stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted;" he would also be

"exalted and extolled, and lifted very high" (Isaiah 52:13;53:4). And not only would he win a glorious restoration for

himself, but he would likewise purchase a worldwide restoration, that would affect the remnant of Israel, and all the

nations, and even the very earth itself (Jeremiah 50:20; Joel 2:32; Isaiah 65:17-19). In light of the massive implications

of the prophesied restoration, it becomes clear that, "Reconstitution of Israel in the land that underscores Jewish

nationalism and builds walls of separation between them and the Gentile peoples cannot possibly qualify as the

restoration depicted in the writings of the prophets" (O. Palmer Robertson).

Posted by Nathan on May 4, 2006 12:53 PM

Comments

Well done, Nathan. I think the books we call "The Prophets" are too often ignored by Christians today, mostly

because people assume that the prophecies therein don't really apply to them. You tie in their importance to the

Gospel really well.

God bless,

A. Shepherd

Aspiring Theologian

A Young Theologian's Blog

Posted by: Aspiring Theologian | May 4, 2006 02:25 PM

Nathan


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We thank God for you and your clear way of expressing God's truth. We are delighted to have you a part of this blog...

ON the last point, Jesus, as the returning exile, is a remnant of one who fulfills the covenant from our side, living the

life we should have lived and then bearing the curse we should have borne.

By the way, because you are good with words, I may ask for your help in the next few weeks (when you have time) to

tweak and put together a clear statement relted to the regeneration issue I CCed you about. Let me know if you have

interest. You are better with words than I and if you have any interest I will show you more about why it may be

helpful to the church at large....

Posted by: John H | May 4, 2006 05:51 PM

Great post, Pitchford!

Ezekiel 34 represented a major paradigm shift in my understanding of the prophets, and I have yet to stabilize (still

stubbornly Historic Premil). Anyway, I've always been fascinated by the fact that the medium of the prophets is

almost always poetry. In fact, it seems like I remember reading somewhere some liberal theologian who felt that the

prophets were simply poets, kind of like bards--rather ridiculous, but perhaps a grain of truth? Maybe part of the

difficulty people experience with the prophets may be interpreting the message through the medium (no pun

intended)? Just kicking ideas around.

Posted by: Andrew K. | May 4, 2006 07:42 PM

Nathan,

I read a book not long ago which stated that, except in Eschatology, bible scholars know that the New Testament

interprets the Old Testament. In other words, we get a more focused picture of God by reading the Old Testament

through the lens of the New.

In Eschatology, the Dispensationalist does the reverse. He or she would use the book of Daniel to intrepret portions of

Revelation for instance. However, if we keep the same interpretive rules in place, ie. using the N.T. to intepret the

O.T. then Dispensationalism falls away like a house of cards.

I would like your opinion of that thesis.

Mike Ratliff

Posted by: Mike Ratliff| May 4, 2006 09:58 PM

Mike,

I think you are exactly right. If we would be more consistent in allowing the New Testament (particularly as it deals

with interpreting specific Old Testament passages) to illuminate the Old, then Dispensationalism would soon fall by the

wayside.

Thanks for the comment,

Nathan

Posted by: Pitchford | May 4, 2006 10:19 PM

Andrew,

I think you do have a point -- the poetic, descriptive, often symbolic language employed by the prophets can present

difficulties to those rather inclined to think in reasoned abstractions, in the Western tradition.

As far as your historic premil. position: I certainly have no major problems with it, it's what I considered myself for

quite some time. Ultimately, I came around to an amil. point of view, in part due to Poythress' article, 2 Thessalonians

1 Supports Amillennialism You may be interested in giving it a read -- although, as I said, whatever conclusion you

come to will cause me no major consternation.

Nathan

Posted by: Pitchford | May 6, 2006 11:46 AM


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Five Themes of the Prophets From Robertson

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