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Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Ryan Tobin -
Number of replies: 6

The wisdom books have an understanding of God and human life that stands in distinction to the prophetic books. I will compare the books of Proverbs and Hosea to highlight some of these differences.

Proverbs depicts God primarily as the guarantor of an orderly world (Collins 332). God has created a world that is knowable and predictable. Consequently, human beings can understand God’s will by examining the results of their own actions; actions that bring prosperity and blessing are considered wise, while actions that result in destruction and ruin are folly. Wisdom is understood as being intimately connected with God; reverence for God leads to wisdom, and wisdom leads to greater reverence for God (Proverbs 1:7, NOAB 5 note to Proverbs 1:7, p.907). The purpose of human life, according to the Book of Proverbs, is to live in accord with the precepts of wisdom, so that one will be able to live a righteous life, remain in the Promised Land and receive abundant material blessings (Proverbs 2:20—3:2).

The prophetic depiction of God is much more anthropopathic: God is both faithful and jealous, demanding adherence to the covenant made between God and Israel. The book of Hosea offers an extended metaphor where Hosea’s family life is used to depict God’s relationship with Israel (NOAB 5 note on Hosea 1:2-3:5, p. 1276). God’s jealousy is made plain by his characterization of Israel “a wife of whoredom” (Hosea 1:2) due to Israel’s worship of other gods. God’s initial will for Israel was made known in the Mosaic covenant, but in the prophetic books we find God speaking through prophets to signal a breach of the covenant (Hosea 4:6). In contrast to the God depicted in Proverbs, the God of the prophets is willing to intervene directly in human history to both chastise and reclaim Israel (Hosea 5:14—6:3). The prophets view the purpose of human life is to live in accord with God’s law and covenant, which will result in prosperity and remaining in the promised land (Hosea 14:4-7).

In reply to Ryan Tobin

Re: Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Jennifer Weitzel -

Ryan, I always learn something new with your posts. Thanks! I learned the word "anthropopathic." 

I agree that God is generally knowable and mostly predictable in the wisdom books, yet this generalization breaks down in the story of Job. Would you agree? In fact, God acts out of character in this story where wisdom does not lead to righteous living. Unless, however, Job is not actually behaving out of wisdom when he sacrifices on behalf of his children and caring for his family. Maybe Job is not acting wisely when he thinks his actions will save others.

I think you have articulated the attributes of God well in the prophetic books. God imposes his feelings even though he remains at a distance from the people for most of the stories. Then, God comes in like a flash of lightning and disrupts the entire story. 

In reply to Jennifer Weitzel

Re: Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Ryan Tobin -

I agree that the conclusions that Proverbs leads us to about God are different from the conclusions about God that Job would offer us. But I do think they have the same general mindset about how a person can learn about God and God's will, and it is in contrast to the prophetic books.

In the prophetic books, God makes direct revelations -- the prophet receives the word from God, and tells it to whomever. You can know God's will by listening to the right prophet.

Proverbs and Job don't believe that humans have this kind of direct access to God. Both books, instead, begin with the premise that God's will for us can be understood by observation. And for Proverbs, this works out well: the writer's experience is that wise people live better lives, and so he can make that claim in his writing. For Job, the thought process is the same but the answer is different. Job, before his afflictions, probably would have said something similar to Proverbs: God favors people like me who do the right thing. 

There's no doubt that Job did the right things (God said he did), but after his afflictions, he can no longer say that God favors people who do the right thing. Job would tell the writer of Proverbs, "I tried it your way, and it didn't work. God confirmed that I was good, and he punished me anyhow." So Job leads us to a different result, but uses the same mindset.

Personally -- and this is a bit off topic, just an opinion -- I think Job is closer to the truth than Proverbs. In times of loss, I have often prayed with his words in Job 1:21b -- "the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

In reply to Ryan Tobin

Re: Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Neil D. Reeves -

Ryan, my review was on Hosea and Proverbs also. In Hosea, I believe God was more visible in expressing his opinion. He was also vocal and angry most of the time as he watched the people of Israel sin against his will. In Proverbs, God wasn’t as angry. Proverbs was written from a freewill perspective of the individual choosing to sin or not sinning and suffering the consequences if the sin occurred.  

Also, Proverbs wasn’t really a story like Hosea. It was more of a collection of ideas of this is the way to do things to remain obedient to God. God was also more distant and indirect in Proverbs. I agree with your assessment that in both books God is jealous when sin occurs and wants His people to be faithful.


In reply to Ryan Tobin

Re: Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Calvin Collins -
It is interesting that Proverbs supports an idea of a prosperity-based God and that as you say “by examining the results of their own actions”, God will either bless them with prosperity and blessings or not have these material blessings. Proverbs focuses so much on material possessions even though in Ecclesiastes, the prosperity of the people is not central. From the knowledge of the Prophets would you say that they are focused less on money and prosperity considering that they would have been connected to the Monarch and may have been trying to forward an agenda based less on the prosperity of the people but instead the monarchy? 

In reply to Calvin Collins

Re: Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Julia O'Brien -

Calvin, can you give examples in which the prophets support the financial gain of kings?

Collins and most scholars would argue the opposite, based on the prophetic critique of kings (Isaiah vs. Ahaz, Jeremiah vs the king, etc).

In reply to Ryan Tobin

Re: Tobin - Reflective Essay #2

by Julia O'Brien -

Ryan, your post raises the interesting question of how "covenant" and "creation" relate to one another. Do the prophets suggest that God's will is only known by God's direct speech? If that is the case, then I wonder how to interpret Amos 1, in which foreign nations are accused of unethical behavior though they aren't included in the Mosaic covenant. 

How might your thesis worked if you'd chosen other books within each section?