Sermon 75
Sermon by Margot Spencer at Wonersh on 25th March 2007.
Why
bother with the OT?, No 5: The Major Prophets
Have you packed my bag?
Yes, Poppy answers. Some new things too. Special things for you to take.
Good, Francesca says, now dress me in my white shirt – the pretty
one with the frills.
I’ve done it. Let me do the buttons up. Poppy’s small hands move down ... making the movements as if it were true.
And my new white skirt.
You’re wearing it.
Tell me where we’re going, she says. We talk softly of sand and sunshine, of sea and soft breezes.
Is it far?
Not very far. Not far at all.
Well, what do you make of that? Do you know what is going on - who these people are – where they might be going?
Did it make sense? What do you think it was about?
Having not heard beginning - or middle! – free to let imagination run. But don’t know who people were – what was happening – where they were going - their relationship to one another ...
All sorts of things you could assume – but don’t know – because haven’t heard beginning of story.
Actually comes
towards end of amazing book – “Family Life” - by Elisabeth Luard. One of most wonderful books I’ve ever
read. Also one of most moving ... true story about how she brought up her
family of four children as they all travelled across
And the bit that I read you was probably one of most heartbreaking things. Probably misled you because, quite deliberately, chose to read it in quite upbeat fashion. Actually desperately sad Not actually going on holiday at all. Francesca [early 20s] dying of AIDS. Poppy, her younger sister - & her mother [who wrote book] are preparing her for her final journey. Particularly moving because up to now Francesca has told her own story. But when she reaches the point where she is too ill to do that, her mother picks up where Fran leaves off.
So just as this mischievous illustration to demonstrate that it is very difficult to understand the end of a story – even 2nd half! - properly/accurately, if we don’t know the how the story began.
And I guess you’ll pick up on the obvious parallel with this sermon series - Why bother with the OT? Loads of reasons why we should bother with the OT, but one of most important reasons is that it is God’s story – His story. And God’s story, as it appears in the Bible, is incomplete if we just pick and choose which bits we read/take notice of. Flows from Genesis to Revelation – very important to see whole picture.
If you were here when James kicked this series off, you will remember the lady who was such a trial to him at that lunch party! The one who thought that OT ought to be axed altogether from Bible. So much so, that she won’t even use any liturgy which seems to come from the OT. Because – according to her - and she’s not alone – the OT is full of blood and guts – retribution and cruelty [not least by God!] ... and the NT – and the God she finds there - is much more comfortable – much more to her liking, maybe - more cuddly – it’s all about love & forgiveness and moral teaching ...
I’m not sure that she and I read the same Bible!
Yes, there is an emphasis on God’s justice and righteousness in OT. But also full of grace and mercy of God – for Israelites in particular – but for others as well.
Examples - Moses pleading with God to give the people one more chance ... gift of a son to Abraham & Sarah – promise associated with all of that.
Tonight we’re looking at the major prophets –
¨ Isaiah
¨ Jeremiah
¨ Ezekiel
¨ Daniel
And, sandwiched in between Jeremiah & Ezekiel we find
¨
Lamentations - also probably written by Jeremiah
– 5 poems – 5 chapters - lamenting the fall of
Called major prophets because [with exception of Lamentations] longer than minor prophets!
Talk in 2 parts.
In this 1st part - look at prophets - why are they important? Look briefly at prophesy – what it is and what it isn’t. Also - brief overview of Isaiah as a whole – then look at Psalm 53.
So – what do prophets do? Do they predict the future? Well ... yes and no! Don’t foretell future in same way as someone with a crystal ball would pretend to - much more about passing on messages from God – speaking out God’s word. They do talk about the future – but much more in terms of giving warnings about what will happen – what consequences will be – if people carry on behaving as they are doing. The prophets’ job – and this is why prophets are never popular! –was to speak in the name of God – to kings – rulers – judges – priests – people – when people were doing what was wrong in God’s sight. “This is what the Lord says ...” so that people receiving message are in no doubt as to who message comes from.
So really – not only were these prophets without honour in their own country – literally – it was only after the event – probably after some of them were dead – that people realised that they had actually been very courageous – been right! – had really been inspired by God. Because what they said was often revolutionary – and almost always uncomfortable/disturbing.
If look at
Isaiah for a moment – find out who he was - Isaiah was the son of Amoz. He was a
prophet in
The book of
Isaiah falls into 3 parts – not surprisingly ... 1st Isaiah – 2nd
Isaiah – 3rd Isaiah!
Interestingly, first 39 chapters cover time before
First part is all doom and gloom – 2nd part much more about offering hope – not only that their outward circs will change for the better – but also that God is ultimately in control. He is much more that just their God. He is the creator God who has stretched out the heavens and holds all things in his hands.
Written in latter half of 8th century BC. Much of it is very contemporary! 1st part - Isaiah has a lot to say
about the way in which the wealthy people in
Fascinating –
the more I read OT, the more I think that nothing much has changed. If we look at what all the prophets are
talking about – not just Isaiah, but all of them – and then look around us –
there is a lot which is very similar. Could find that deeply depressing. All the publicity re: slavery/slave trade at
moment – resonates with much of what
Isaiah has to say about oppression of poor and downtrodden in
But - in 2nd
part of Isaiah, message changes dramatically and Isaiah offers hope &
comfort to exiles living in captivity in
Spend a few moments looking at Isaiah 53. Really only time for a quick fly-through. Hope you will be inspired to go home and read Isaiah – prophets – OT – for yourself. Partly what this series all about – drawing you into pages of OT – not only story of God’s people - story of God!
Many of you will already know that this passage points forward to Jesus’ death on the cross. In a quite remarkable way, the writer points us fwd more than 500 yrs and prophesies the events leading up to the crucifixion.
vs 3 ff He was despised and rejected by men
... familiar with suffering. ... pierced for our
transgressions ... crushed for our iniquities; ... the LORD has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. ... oppressed and afflicted ... he did not open his mouth; ...
led like a lamb to the slaughter ... as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. By
oppression and judgment he was taken away.
So here, the prophet is speaking about the death of the Lord’s Anointed One – Messiah - and the NT is absolutely peppered with references to this passage – not just the Gospel accounts, but also in Acts, 1 Peter, Romans, Revelation ...
And do you remember the scene in Luke 4, where Jesus is invited to speak in the synagogue? He reads from the scroll he is given – words at beginning of Isaiah 61 –
The Spirit of the Lord has
anointed me -
to preach good news to the poor
to bind up the broken-hearted
proclaim freedom for the captives ...
Causes absolute furore by announcing that the words refer to him – to his ministry! He is the Anointed One of whom Isaiah had spoken 800 yrs earlier.
So, with our 21st century perspective – and the invaluable gift of hindsight!! – we get a glimpse of God’s eternal purposes – begun in Creation – continued during the wanderings in the desert ... the times of the judges and kings – the people brought back to God through his prophets – and the fulfilment of his promises/purposes in the life, death & resurrection of Jesus.
v
Part 2
In his book, The Bible from Scratch, Simon Jenkins says that, if there were a prize for the weirdest prophet in the OT, Ezekiel would win hands down! Had extraordinary visions – did some sl eccentric things – in fact ... SJ says ... just plain crackers! More to Ezekiel than that!
Ezekiel lived
in exile in
The book of
Ezekiel begins with the prophet by a river in
Like Isaiah – book of Ezekiel foreshadows some of the key events - themes - concepts of the NT -
know about the dry bones, into which the wind of the
Spirit of God breathes life – OT Pentecost!
just before that, there
is a section about God, the Good
Shepherd, which evokes very powerfully Jesus’ words in John 10 – “I AM the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” God compares himself – Good Shepherd – with
bad shepherds of
and in the passage we
have just heard, we see the water flowing
out of the
So we have this wonderful picture of the water flowing out from the temple – abundant – life-giving – refreshing – cleansing.
vs 9b - wherever the river flows, it brings life. Even Dead Sea becomesecially fresh!
And - again - there are so many images in here, which are picked up in NT – esp in John’s gospel. May want to find a Bible with good cross references and read them for yourself. Journey of discovery!
Ø Think of the waters of baptism – words we use in Baptism Service – adults or children – about cleansing & refreshing – about washing away the old life and bringing new birth. Powerful stuff!
Ø
Think of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan
woman at the well [John 4] - if you
knew who I am, you would ask & I would give you living water.
Ø Jesus’ description of himself in John 7 – if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink ... whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him.
Note - See how it has subtly changed. We are temples of the Holy Spirit – the streams of living water flow from within us.
Ø
And finally – for tonight at least – end of
Bible - bk of Revelation [ch
21] – describing the
And by the banks of the river, the trees of life referred to in
Ezekiel – the leaves for healing of nations.
Amazing – vision which God gave John on
Why bother to read the OT?
Why bother with the Major Prophets?
3 reasons, as we close.
Lots more ...
- OT is early part of God’s story – His story. Need to read it – understand it – get to know it – because puts NT in context.
2. OT was important to Jesus. The OT was, effectively, the Bible Jesus knew. There are uncomfortable bits – whacky bits – bits which are hard to understand. Possibly most important reason - prophets point to Jesus! And Jesus often quoted the Prophets. In Matthew 5:17 he says -
I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfil them.
- Remember story I told you at beginning? Could have been interpreted in a variety of ways – but it did not really make sense unless you knew how story began.
OT & NT are interlinked –
inseparable. Prophets are a huge part of
that - help us to see the big picture.
So much of what we hear prophesied in OT, we see fulfilled in the New.
Together, they make up God’s story – His story - and the wonderful thing is that God invites us to take our place within it ... to be a part of the story as it continues to unfold ... to recognise that His story is also our story.