The Prophets And The Gospel

by L.B. Horne, Hamilton, Ontario | Category: The Minor Prophets | Dec 1969

The messages of the prophets speak about single occurrences and about general trends of history, concern themselves with individuals and nations, correct specific sins and general evils. There are many direct references to coming events and statements about aspects of the gospel story, seeds of the future carried in the prophetic utterance. These are often quoted, and this final article is not designed to identify or list them because that would be a subject, sometimes a controversial subject, on its own. The concern this month is to draw from the prophets some of the things they say about God and His relationship to man that present facets of the Good News in such a way that it would be impossible to find a clearer picture anywhere.

It is as though a picture was painted, but because it stood in the semi-darkness it was not truly appreciated until, with the coming of Christ, the dawn light shone and the significance of the picture was understood. It is a mistake to ignore the contribution of the prophets. Perhaps the shallow, sentimental propaganda that sometimes passes as gospel preaching would be avoided if the whole picture was seen and appreciated.

There are, for example, no clearer and more dramatic statements about the authority and omnipotence of God than in the prophets. The word of the LORD of Hosts to Zechariah, "Thus saith the LORD which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him" (12.1) is an assurance that God has never abandoned His absolute power over the nations of this world. The message to Joel repeats over and over the warning that, although the whole world is in rebellion, and the nations appear to have thrown off the reins of authority, God is in control. Obadiah and Jonah both remind us that God is watching the conduct of the nations with a close care and that history tells the tale of His work.

It seems hard to believe that the world could be so mad as to rebel against God. It might seem reasonable that, in ignorance, a man or a nation would go against His wishes, but it is clear from the prophets that the blindness of rebellion is a deliberate choice and that, as human reason is deified, Almighty God is denied. Haggai shows us that sin is leaving God out.

In Isaiah 24, the prophet speaks of the time of the shaking of the foundations of the earth. "The earth is utterly broken, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall be moved to and fro like a hut" (19, 20). After the song of destruction, Isaiah bursts into a song of faith, "0 LORD, Thou art my God" (25.1).

There is no neutral ground in the prophets' view. The world is a battlefield where men either accept or reject the meaning of God's existence; they either give allegiance or rebel. Micah makes it very clear that God cannot be bought or moulded or changed, He must be accepted as He is. "Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams?"

Just as clearly as they portray the authority of God, the prophets describe the nature of sin. The self-centred life is sin, and brings destruction. Habakkuk is one of the writers who dealt with this. Opposition or deafness to God's word is sin. The consequences of sin are desolation and destruction without fail, because of judgement.

It is not a question of saying that sin may bring down God's judgement, it will. Hosea illustrates how judgement is the outworking of sin. The epistle to the Romans does not say that "the wages of sin may be death". There is no "may be".

Judgement is, to borrow a phrase from Campbell Morgan, "love's passionate anger". "Woe to her that is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD" (Zephaniah 3.1, 2).

Nahum illustrates how fearful a thing it is to fall under the judgement of God. He "will pursue His enemies into darkness". If we want to find the key to the meaning of the human story, whether it is a personal or a national history, it lies in the balance of mercy and judgement, and that balance is in God's hand.

All the prophets, then, have a great deal to say about the consequences of sin and disobedience to Almighty God. They dramatically portray the meaning of judgement and how incontrovertibly it follows after the men or the nations who disregard the claims of the Creator. If that was all they said, it would be a major contribution, but there is more.

Love has a passionate anger, but it also has a patient purpose. The LORD thy God is in the midst of Thee, a mighty One who will save: He will rejoice over thee with joy, He will rest in His love" (Zephaniah 3.17). Time after time the message of judgement, the promise of terrible destruction, suddenly turns into a statement that, in the end, God is a God of restoration and hope. Hosea illustrates how love continues through infidelity and suffering. Judgement brings suffering to the offender, but love brings suffering to the lover: "My well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill" Isaiah says. What could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5.1, 4).

The ultimate triumph of love is a part of the message of the prophets. "I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him" (Malachi 3.17). "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 54.10).

It is very plainly stated that, out of the chaos of destruction that accompanies sin, God is going to make a new thing. "Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth" (Isaiah 43.19). "For the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth" (Jeremiah 31.22).

There is a great surge of humanitarian feeling in our world. Many voices are crying for a new way of relating to people, for the abandonment of prejudice and hatred. The prophets say very definitely that the only basis for proper relationships between people is a proper relationship to God.

"He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6.8). To "do justly" is to maintain honest relationships; to "love mercy" is to love kindness and goodwill, and to "walk humbly" is to be content and submissive. The Good News for our time is that the kind of relationships that men are crying out to enjoy are possible, when a man is living in proper relationship to God.

While the earth wears out around us and it seems that everything is going to pieces, God remains unchanged and changeless; I AM. His judgement, His mercy and love, and His expectations of men do not change.

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2.3, 4).

After Malachi there was a silence, and then a voice began to cry in the wilderness, "Make ye ready the way of the Lord". God's purposes were going forward despite all that had happened and all that was happening. Our only security lies in a true and honest relationship with Him which is available through Jesus Christ. The prophets pointed the need in which men lived, and the goal to which they must aim. The Son of God opened up the way.

L.B. Horne, Hamilton, Ontario | Dec 1969
The Minor Prophets