As we move through the books of the Hebrew Bible, we notice a shift from a historical account of creation and God and Israel to prophetic and wisdom literature. Each section was written for a specific audience in a specif time to explain who God is, what is God’s will, and how humans are to exist with and in response to God. Each section not only employ different literary styles they also show unique differences in our understanding of how humans are to deal with their role in God’s universe.
The prophetic books tie human relationship with YHWH to political action and empower laity to seek justice. The prophets act as advisors to the king while also composing a subculture with exclusive access to the divine. God is the ultimate judge and gives humans multiple opportunities to act in accordance with God’s will. God’s will is explained in a variety of theophanies visible only to certain individuals with the ability to understand and translate said theophany. The prophetic writings paint a clear picture of what the purpose of human existence is: do what YHWH tells you to do both individually and as a nation. For Israel specifically, that means following mosaic law and living in the promised land. Taking the short book of Obediah as an example, we see that Edom is being condemned by the word of the Lord through the vision of one human individual for not coming to the aid of Judah: “for the slaughter and violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you and you shall be cut off forever” (v.10). The assumption that Edom is the brother of Judah follows the Esau/Jacob narratives and traditions of Genesis 25:7 and Deuteronomy 2:5 striking the Priestly/Deutoronomistic chord of the emerging Mosaic culture. Obediah goes on to say that because Edom behaved as it should not have God will cause their reversal of fortune on Judgement Day and Judah will again control the territory that God promised them.
Wisdom books offer advice to everyone within the nation rather than the Nation of Israel as a whole. In this section, God is still the ultimate power and judge, however, ideas of retribution and reward begin to blur. Contrary to the prophetic books, God’s will is less concrete and understandable. While understanding God’s will is possible through lived experience and wisdom from others, it is most likely that humans will not understand it in this life. At the end of the day, God will make the final call and, per Ecclesiaties, already has: “That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by” (3:15, NRSV). The ideas of justice upheld by the prophets do not apply here. The purpose of humans is still to do God’s will, however, we have no choice in the matter. It is for that reason that the book of Ecclesiastes suggests that the best piece of wisdom is simply for one to enjoy whatever God throws your way; good or bad.