Prophets speak unwelcome truth

In today’s English language, a prophet is someone who has the power to predict the future. That is not the role of the prophets we find in the Bible. If we return to the root word and its meaning in Bible history, we get a different definition. In the Bible a prophet is “a delegated messenger.”

The Bible prophets came from all stations of society. The office of prophet was not passed down by bloodlines, nor did a popular process elect them. Usually the prophet was reluctant. It was not a task any security oriented person desired. The prophet usually came from nowhere. It was God who chose the prophet to speak an unwelcome message of truth.

Almost always the prophet came with concerns about the marginalization of Israel. His words of judgment were aimed at those in power.

Moses was the prototype. He was a fugitive. He had run away to escape the wrath of his once-Egyptian cohorts. He had run away after killing an Egyptian soldier who was abusing an Israelite slave. The Egyptian pharaoh heard of the incident and decided to kill Moses. Moses ran.

Moses developed a new life in Midian. He married and had children. He was safe and secure. God appeared to him in a burning bush. God sent Moses back to Egypt to confront pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelite slaves.

Moses is described in the Bible as a prophet and became the embodiment of the title. The prophets who followed Moses spoke harsh words of judgment to those in power. They spoke tough words to King Saul, King David, King Solomon and all the Israelite kings who followed them. They had especially harsh words for the priests and others who controlled the Jerusalem temple and the religious systems that developed. Over and over again their concern was the treatment of the poor, the widows and the orphans.

In order to understand the particulars of the messages of the Old Testament prophets, the reader must put the prophets in context. Admittedly, the issues are not simply “who wrote it?” Other vital questions are: “When did he write it?” “What was happening at the time of the writing?” “To whom did he write?” “Why did he write the material?”

One central conclusion jumps out. The prophets were intensely involved in the religious, social and civic life of their communities and of the nation. The prophet never went by invitation. He was an unwelcomed intruder with an unpopular message.

Jesus was clearly a prophet. He fits all of the qualifications to be called a prophet. He was a nobody from an insignificant, tiny village. His calling is presented as a unique act of God. His concerns were for the poor, the outcast, the sick and the abused. He was unrelenting in his criticism of Caesar, Herod and Pilot, who controlled government, and of the priests, who controlled the temple in Jerusalem. He despised the rich and condemned the way they got their wealth. His followers were hesitant to follow him and those in power came to hate him. They killed him.

In 2011, the United States is without a prophet in the Bible tradition. In my lifetime, we have had prophetic voices, but only one truly significant prophet. Martin Luther King Jr. fits the description and walked the walk. He did not seek the role that was thrust upon him. He confronted racial discrimination. He championed the poor. He challenged the evil of the war in Vietnam. He was killed and many among the rich and powerful were glad that he was gone.

Some will ask, “how about Billy Graham?” Billy Graham was certainly the most popular Christian preacher of the last half of the 20th century. His popularity is the first signal that he was not a prophet. The rich of America were his buddies, and he was a White House regular with every U.S. president during his years of popularity. He built an organization that was a financial juggernaut and is now a well-endowed institution. His passion was the salvation of individuals who were willing to repeat the correct words in exchange for a promise of a home in heaven.

When compared to the prophets Moses, Micah, Jeremiah, Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham is not only not one of them, but probably would be the object of harsh criticism by them all.

It is not just Billy Graham who has fallen short. It is the rank and file of American clergy — liberal, conservative and fundamentalist — who seemingly do not have a definition of morality that calls us to be our brother’s keeper. We are electing people to government leadership who put them selves first and their neighbor a distant second, especially if they are old, poor or sick. American clergy are largely silent.

America is in desperate need of a prophet. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. One percent of the nation’s population controls more wealth than the 95 percent at the bottom. The middle class is shrinking and poverty is growing. Building prisons is a huge growth industry. We imprison primarily poor people and racial minorities, while the rich are the great thieves of our generation, who get off completely free.

The Bible speaks of times when there was no prophet in the land. That is the current situation in America. Oh God, we need help!

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His e-mail address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

Opinions expressed on the Faith page are the author’s and are not necessarily those of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, its staff or its parent company, Wick Communications Co. To submit a column or other news for the Faith page, send e-mail to news@frontiersman.com, or call 352-2268.