Mr. Alexander
Junior Theology Honors
6 February 2014
Prophets and Prophecy; Deuteronomistic History Continued
1. The Israelites do not know a lot about the word of God, but they do know that prophets serve as God’s communication channel to the Israelites. They also know that the word of God carries the reality or presence of Yahweh, has the power to bring about what it says, reveals God’s character and will, and brings life and salvation. This is related to ancient Israelite culture because it was an oral culture, so communication about personal experience was important.
2. Prophets played a role in the daily life of some people. One of them was the king. The king often had prophets who offered God’s guidance and correction to the king. For example, King David had two prophets Nathan, and Gad.
3. The three passages are all about God’s covenant with Israel and how he sent he led the Israelites out of Egypt through Moses. All of the passages express God’s anger. He did so much for the Israelites and he saved them, yet some of them were not worshipping him. They were worshipping other gods and idols.
4. Royal theology is all about King David. The Davidic covenant is an example of royal theology. The Davidic covenant is God’s promise to David that one of his descendants will always be on the throne of Israel. Since God made this covenant with David, and Yahweh dwelled in the Temple in the City of David, people began to believe that their kingdom was invincible. And covenant theology is all about criticizing these thoughts. The Sinai covenant is an example of covenant theology. The Sinai covenant was basically when God made his covenant with Israel, making him their God, and them his people. The Israelites repeatedly relied on royal theology because they believed that since they were chosen people, and ruled by sons of David, Yahweh would never let anything bad happen to them.
5. An Example of the thought patterns of royal theology today is in England. The family that currently rules England will have a member on the throne forever, just like in the Davidic covenant. An example of the thought patterns of covenant theology today is in the Middle East. Some people in the Middle East have radical beliefs about their religion and resort to violence to try and convert people to their religion. They believe that is the right thing to do because they believe they are the chosen people.
6. The prophet’s message in this passage is that God does not like what his people are doing. They are sinning and then doing meaningless sacrifices and praying.