Prophetic Commitment to the Word of God
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Date
1999-02-12
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
I have always been fascinated by and marvelled at the courage of Israel's classical
prophets. This admiration lies especially in their ability to articulate the situation 'as it is' and
'as it can be'. For instance, when self-satisfied leaders oppressed the poor, prophetic voices
named the brokenness of the covenanted community, and when every aspect of Israel's life
was subject to painful experience, prophetic voices imaged a new life for a people whose
spirits were broken and crushed.
Although they differ vastly from one another, Israel's classical prophets show a
strong conviction that their vocation together with their mission originates from the Holy
One of Israel. In this connection and according to the Old Testament, their messages are
often prefaced by the formula: 'Thus says the Lord' or concluded by the phrase: 'It is the
Lord who speaks'. Properly speaking, it was the word of God that moved Israel's great
prophets into an open confrontation with their audience, denouncing sin and proposing a new
future.
This essay explores the commitment of Israel's great prophets to the word of God so
as to highlight the challenges which this commitment poses to the ministry of the church in
Zambia* today. We do not intend to undertake a painstaking study on each one of the
classical prophets vis-à-vis the word of God, but to select some specific elements, especially
from the prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Deutero-
Isaiah, which can help us arrive at a better understanding of what prophetic commitment
entails.The first two chapters investigate the implications of the commitment of Israel's great
prophets: chapter one presents the call of the prophets as starting point of the prophetic
commitment, and chapter two surveys the twofold dimension of the prophetic mission. The
third chapter elaborates the challenge that the great prophets pose to the ministry of the
church in Zambia, especially in the situation where the majority of the people have
apparently no strength to think about the future because they have nothing to feed on today.
Within the vision of faith, we hold that authentic Christian praxis that leads to social
transformation through the works of justice and love emanates from a closer analysis of
human reality in the light of the word of God. With a view to shed the light of God's word
upon the human reality in Zambia today, our approach in this paper seeks and draws from the
Bible the nourishment that is capable to inspire the local church in her task of sustaining
God's people in their struggles and in their hopes for a better life. As far as possible, we shall
develop our theme in a chronological manner.
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Keywords
Prophetic, God, Ministry, Mission, Jesus, Old Testament, Charism