Hungarian Church Press, 1968 (20. évfolyam, 2. szám)

1968-06-01 / 2. szám

HCP Vol XX Special Number

1968 No 2- 59 -,

(07701)

of Yahweh« Hence the whole area of spiritual and material life is his domain* Sacrifices can only "be offered to Yahweh for all'the earth and all the poeple are his possession (Cf. : Exodus 19;5; Leviticus 25523);, As the earth is Yahweh*s possession, every member of the people, including the high priest and even the king, are "strangers", yet citizens of equal right and under Yahweh,s protection« Yahweh himself cares for the welfare cf the whole people and He sees to it that the obligations cf the Covenant relationship are duly met so that all members cf the people may actually enjcy their rights under the Covenant, according to the rule of the mishpSto If their relation to one another is determined by lawfulness and equitableness, and so justice prevails, then the condition of fullness, cf peace, the shalom is established, Shalom is unthinkable for the peophets without the rule of law, righteousness, equitableness and justice» Here we note the decisive difference between the true and false prophets, Par the false prophets proclaim the shalom while they, in faot, studiously overlook the acts cf injustice perpetrated by the ruling strata of society.

The fullness of the life cf the people, the true peace can only be realized by mutual regard for the Covenant obligations and by their application in faithfulness and love.

d) Prophecy at the Intersection of History and Revelation

As the prophet proclaims the new will of God the Creator and saving Sovereign of history, £he coming victory of his kingly rule, he continually , proves, reviews, criticizes, reappraises the whole history of the chosen people and, at the same time, urges the people to be obedient to God* s timely message and perform the new tasks assigned to them by God who keeps on creating new things. In a relentless manner, Hosea sums up the history and lesson cf the period of kingship before the destruction of the northern part of the country;

"I gave thee a king in my anger, and took him away in my wrath" (l3:ll). And, after the termination of the period cf kingship, Deutero-Isaiah has this message to deliver; "Remember ye not the former things««, behold, I will do a new thing».*" (Isaiah 43:18-19)« Fran Samuel to Malachi, the prophets have concrete messages with very specific bearing on history« In their so-called "political preaching"62) they give evidence of their most thorough familiar^ity with the events of contemporary and past history« Yet they never take their message fron the events themselves, but always from the dj'-ae Word', in that it is always in the light of the Word of God that they • ~e the events cf history and inform the people about them, about their meaning and the will cf Yahweh in it. For instance, Isaiah knows perfectly well the balance of political power at the time cf the Assyrian occupation, and yet what he actually proclaims is not the knowledge of the political constellation but the salvation promised by God«