This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16)
What is a prophet? Essentially, a prophet is one who speaks for God, one whose own words are God’s words. We often rightly think of the Old Testament prophets as covenant lawyers, calling the nation of Israel to repentance, that is, to return to God in renewed obedience to the law-covenant (i.e. torah) they had broken.
But the prophet was more than just a mouthpiece of divine covenantal-prosecution. Prophets were among the wisest of men. They observed God’s ways in the tapestry of history (particularly Israel’s history) and digested the patterns. Prophets were familiar with the grooves and ridges of divine activity in human affairs and called people’s attention to their misalignment with God’s ways.
In fact, when you read the Scriptures closely you realize how closely related torah and wisdom are. Consider that both torah and wisdom present us with the binary choice between life and death (Deut. 30:15-20; Prov. 9:1-6, 13-18). Moreover, both torah and wisdom promise “long life” to those who take hold of them (Deut. 32:45-47; Prov. 3:13-18). At the end of the day, all torah is wisdom, but not all wisdom is torah.
To think about this geometrically, imagine two circles: a greater circle and a lesser circle that fits within the greater one. Wisdom is the larger circle (i.e. a larger category), and torah is the smaller circle (i.e. a smaller category) subsumed by wisdom.
To put it another way: wisdom and torah are enmeshed, their fabrics interwoven. One is not so easily differentiated from another, nor are they easily pulled apart. Yet they remain distinct.
The final lines of Hosea read:
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them. (Hos. 14:9)
Here, Hosea clearly expresses the sage-like function of the prophets. For all their lawyerly preaching, there was a centralizing thread of wisdom underpinning their ministry. The books that bear their names aren’t simply historical records and/or prophetic pronouncements of past and/or future events, but they serve as a revelation into the wise heart of God, a prophetic insight into the divine ways.
Though we today may have nothing to do with the original situations the prophets spoke into or the fulfilment of their words, we can nevertheless understand these things and know the ways of the Lord. We can take up the prophetic witness, standing at our own crossroads, and consider the ancient paths, so that we too might walk in the way of the good.
That’s what I hope to do with Jeremiah’s help in the coming weeks. Will you join me?
Oden’s oracle:
This week Oden made a friend. Well, sort of. A stray cat made its temporary home underneath my apartment. Let me explain…
I live in a very old house - we’re talking like 19th century construction. The house has a stone foundation (no concrete block, rebar, cement, etc.), which is a bit ragged in a couple places (hence, the cat found its way in!). Nothing but 18 inches of cold air separates my floor from the dirt beneath.
Anyway, last Friday we started hearing a faint “meow” outside the living room window around 8pm. For three nights this happened with no sign of the cat besides its meowing. On Monday, Oden and I stepped outside around 6:30pm, and because of daylight savings it was now still bright out. That’s when we finally caught a glimpse of the new feline on the block.
Welcome to the neighborhood, cat (I refuse to give it a name…feel free to offer one in the comments though).
One more thing…
One of my former professors is retiring this year, Dr. Ed Hardesty. He gave his last chapel message as a member of the faculty at Cairn University on Monday. It was an inspiring, convicting, and heartfelt wrap-up of 30 years of service at Cairn.
Though I never got to know Dr. Hardesty that well (I only had him for one course), he made a remarkable impact on my life as a follower of Jesus in short order. He wore his love for Christ, Scripture, and his wife (he regularly came to tears when he spoke of her in class) on his sleeve.
Enjoy his message below (begins at 24:35). You won’t be disappointed!