Prompt: What do you see as the key themes in the four prophetic books
you read this week? How might these themes be applied to your contemporary setting? Who is your audience--Youth? College Students?
Adults? Senior citizens? Veterans?
The overarching
theme I see in these four works is a continuation of the message we see in
Kings 1 and 2 and in the writings: a condemnation of power structures outside
of God. From these prophets, the message
extrapolates into criticisms of, among other things, social justice and abuse
of power and closely links these failures to insincere worship of God. Together, these two concepts further support
the earlier messaging that humans who follow their own hearts and ideas go
astray, and we should instead endeavor to trust in God.
There is evidence
for these themes in each of the books, as neatly summarized in the
textbook. Isaiah supports the claim by
arguing it was trust in God’s promises to Zion and to the Davidic line that
enabled Judah’s success.[1] Hoseah condemns Israel’s foreign policy
tendencies (the alliance with other political, human leaders rather than
trusting in God) as a constant source of their struggle.[2] Micah focuses this criticism even more
strongly, noting that it is the cities and urban areas which are the most at
fault, whereas the more rural (tribal) areas are less condemnable.[3] Since the evolution of the great cities, and
specifically Jerusalem, is a direct consequence of the kingship evolution for
the Israelites, Micah’s criticism of urban corruption is also a criticism of
Kingship and the governmental trappings associated therein. Amos, of course, remains
one of the most famous critics of social injustice.
There is also a
clear link between true worship and human action- these prophets argue it is
not enough to observe the forms of religion, but rather that worshippers must
actually believe in their actions, and live the religious tenants in their
lives, not just in ceremony.[4] When summarizing Hoseah, the text succinctly
and eloquently outlines the deep connection between intent and execution of
worship and true piety: "Rather,
he [Hoseah] gives voice to the view that ritual action which connects the human
to God does have its place - its essential place- in the divine-human equation,
but such action becomes empty if the grounding in the divine does not also
produce in the human community a desire
to make it the best it can be, the most just it can be."[5]
This ties back to the condemnation of corruption of authority and agitation for
social justice. Leaders cannot just ascribe their legitimacy from God, they
must also implement God’s will and laws in their actions. They must enforce
those actions as a matter of policy, and they must trust God- not foreign
nations- when determining how best to act.
The nature of emergency management is that
everyone is your audience. In my current role, I’m fortunate to say that my
primary audience is the Gonzaga community, which is composed primarily of
college students supported by adults who value higher education and Jesuit
values- which, diverse as it is, is a far more specific category than those
faced by my colleagues in government.
However, as is also the nature of private education in this country, the
student element of my youth are largely from the socially privileged sections
of the world.[6]
The support of those students in staff and faculty demonstrates a wider variety
of social and economic diversity, but there are still only a tiny fraction of
employees who live along the poverty line. In many ways we are the audience of the
prophets- we have some degree of political power and social or economic
advantages. Just as our leaders must act justly, so too must we endeavor to
change our own behaviors. We too should
hear the words of warning and admonishment from the prophets, who call us to do
more than attend church or temple on Sundays- who charge us to trust in God and
live our lives honestly.
At Gonzaga, we are tasked with educating our
students for their entire personhood- to care for their emotional, physical, and
intellectual needs. We are charged in our mission to instill a sense of social
justice and responsibility in our students, to send them forth into the world
not just to do good works, but to model what it is to believe in the work they
are doing. We teach them about social
justice because we endeavor to live it with them, not just preach it to them.
We send forth our graduates with the charge, ite inflammate omnia. This
is not a mere cheer or slogan: it is an obligation. We could better empower our
students if we remind ourselves that we are also called to set the world on
fire…that we should be doing so every day.
[1] Kugler, Robert A., and P. J. Hartin. An Introduction to the Bible.
Grand Rapids, MI: EM. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009, 238.
[2]
Ibid., 238.
[3]
Ibid., 296.
[4] Ibid.,
238, 276. Also see Isaiah 1:12-17.
[5]
Ibid., 295-296. Emphasis added.
[6] I
realize that Gonzaga works diligently to increase the diversity, including
socio-economic status, of the students enrolled in the program, and there is no
inherent criticism against Gonzaga in my thoughts. However, there is no denying that access to
higher education (and, likely, education at all!) is limited to largely
economically stable individuals. Our current efforts to admit and support
students from lower-middle class families is admirable, but it is still not the
same as actively enrolling students from truly destitute and poverty-stricken
areas. This commentary, however, extends far beyond the assignment, although it
supports the overarching theme of social justice.
