Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Plenty Good!
SmartChristian is wondering, "What Good Are the Prophets?" He is teaching a course on them and comments that most Christians don't read them and is wondering what to say.
I could go on about the prophets for days, but currently lack the energy. I think they are the best documents ever written to tell the church how to be the church. Think about it, they are largely written to help a disobedient Israel find it's way back to the Lord. What could be better for the Lord's current chosen, particularly when those people lose sight of the Lord even more often than the Israelites?
Everytime I read them, I hear a great message for the congregation I am in. So, why do they not get examined? Simple, they are harsh, and direct. We do not value direct communication in our society. And neither, I think, did the Isrealites. I am not sure the prophets were much appreciated by their primary audiences either. Most people do not want to hear things like
That is the theme I would explore if teaching the prophets -- a word for the church.
I could go on about the prophets for days, but currently lack the energy. I think they are the best documents ever written to tell the church how to be the church. Think about it, they are largely written to help a disobedient Israel find it's way back to the Lord. What could be better for the Lord's current chosen, particularly when those people lose sight of the Lord even more often than the Israelites?
Everytime I read them, I hear a great message for the congregation I am in. So, why do they not get examined? Simple, they are harsh, and direct. We do not value direct communication in our society. And neither, I think, did the Isrealites. I am not sure the prophets were much appreciated by their primary audiences either. Most people do not want to hear things like
"Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake the LORD your God, and the dread of me is not in you," declares the Lord GOD of hosts. (Jeremiah 2:19 - NAS)Yet, I can think of few more important messages for the church.
That is the theme I would explore if teaching the prophets -- a word for the church.
