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Bashore_Reflective Essay #2

Bashore_Reflective Essay #2

by Caroline Bashore -
Number of replies: 3

The prophetic books portray God as distant. God does not interact with everyone, only the prophets that God sends. Through the prophets, people are able to understand God’s will. God speaks to the prophets and the prophets relay His message to the people. In the prophetic books human purpose is to follow, worship and obey God. In the book of Hosea, the Lord calls Hosea to speak to His people (1:1-2). The people learn of God’s will from the messages that Hosea tells them, specifically through the metaphor of Hosea’s family and Israel. It is clear that the only purpose of humans is to follow God, Hosea tells his children to tell their mother that she must stop her sins or he “will strip her naked,” just as God will do to Israel, abandoning them (2:2-4).

 

The wisdom literature, however, seems quite different from the prophetic books in these views. God is not seen as distant but rather as a God that is found in everyday experiences. God speaks to everyone, not just prophets. The people learn of God’s will through their personal experiences with Him, through the blessings and punishments of their life that come by God. Though the people are still expected to follow, worship, and obey God, their purpose is to form a deeper relationship with God by knowing and trying to understand. In Job, he knows God personally, he is blessed with family and riches (1:1-5). Job also learns of God’s will through his personal experience when beginning in 1:13, Job suffers. Job is faithful to God, believing that his suffering is occurring because of God’s will. By the end of the book we learn of Job’s purpose, through the trail with God, Job begins to understand what he did not know before (42:1-6).  

In reply to Caroline Bashore

Re: Bashore_Reflective Essay #2

by Jennifer Weitzel -

Caroline, I could easily follow your arguments for both the wisdom and prophetic books. I agree that God is seen as more distant in the prophetic books. God often seems to make be silent, makes a command, and then expects obedience. Hosea is an ironic book because God uses an intimate relationship as a parallel for God and his people, but there is little value of genuine and mutual intimacy expressed. 

I also agree that the wisdom books are for everyone and not limited to a few people; this includes women, in particular. I found the book of Job to be a great example of experiential knowledge, which is a major theme of hte wisdom literature. You have articulated this well. 

In reply to Caroline Bashore

Re: Bashore_Reflective Essay #2

by Mary Merriman -

Hi Caroline...

I d like to suggest that I too seem to think is somehow distant. However, the issues that the prophets address would impact the lives of many people as they are under the authority of the leadership.  By calling out the practices that are either being led by or ignored by the leaders, the prophet might bring the nation back into relationship with God lest they destroy their land.  So in that way I think it's very personal.  But I also take your point that in comparison, the Wisdom books seem to live in the lives of the people.  Job is experiencing a personal crisis of faith as are his family and friends.  There doesn't seem to be a national crisis that is imposing itself on Job.  I wonder if there is a time when both occur simultaneously or consecutively.  The nation falls because it doesn't respond to the prophets call resulting in poverty, disease and hunger that tests the faith of the inhabitants. 

In reply to Caroline Bashore

Re: Bashore_Reflective Essay #2

by Julia O'Brien -

Thanks for your post, Caroline. 

Your description of the relative closeness of God in these books was interesting. It feels the opposite to me. I find the style of books like Proverbs as cold and distant; here, God isn't a character or particularly involved with people but instead God is only known through our own conclusions about how the world works. The God I find in the prophets is really passionate--loving, angry, the whole range. God cares about how people treat each other (Amos, Micah) as well as about how they worship. Cares enough to get angry. 

Your description makes Job's faith sound rock solid. How did you interpret his lawsuit against God?