Prophets of the Bible

According to the understanding implicit in the Hebrew Bible, what do prophets do?

Discern what God wants to tell people and deliver a message from God
Present a concept of God joining old and new themes
Expose sins and denounce fearlessly
Warn and predict
Exhort and give moral teaching
Simplify tradition
Inspire and encourage

Hannah, according to 1 Samuel 1-2, taught God as the creator of heaven and earth:

"There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you." (1Sa 2.2)
"The pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them." (1Sa 2.9)
"The Lord enriches and impoverishes. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes." (1Sa 2.8)
"The Lord is a God of knowledge, and actions are weighed by him. (1Sa 2.3)
"The Lord will judge the ends of the earth." (1Sa 2.10)

Samuel, Hannah's son, was a vigorous prophet.

"The Lord will not forsake his people." (1Sa 12.22)
“The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent, for he is not a man, that he should repent” (1Sa 15.29)
"He has made with us an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." (2Sa 23.5)
"You are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you, neither is there any God beside you."
"With the upright man he will also be upright." (2Sa 22.26)
"Let us fall now into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are great." (
"There is no restraint upon the Lord to save many or few." (1Sa 14.6)

Amos (fl. 760) taught that Judah and Israel will not escape punishment. List of outrages: profit-making traffic in human beings, oppression of the poor and afflicted; sexual misconduct; abuse of prophets.

"He who formed the mountains and created the wind, seek him who formed the seven stars and Orion, who turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark as night." (4.13)
"Though they dig into hell, thence shall I take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down." (9.2)
"And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I direct the sword of justice, and it shall slay them." (9.4)
"Surely I will never forget any of your works." (8.7)
"And I will sift the house of Israel among all nations as wheat is sifted in a sieve." (9.9)
“Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them . . . . But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever- flowing stream.” (Amos 5.22, 24)

Hosea (fl. 750-722) proclaims the tender parental—indeed maternal—affection of God for Israel expressed in chapter 11. God's readiness to forgive and bless in response to a repentant request is portrayed in chapter 14.

"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." (6.6)
"I will betroth you to me forever; yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and judgment and in loving-kindness and in mercies. I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness." (2.19-20)
"It is my desire that I chastise them." (10.10)
"I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely, for my anger is turned away." (14.4)
"They shall know no God but me, for there is no savior beside me." (13.4)

The first Isaiah (fl. 738-701) taught that rituals and animal sacrifices do not win the favor of God. "Cease to evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow" (1.16-17). The message of forgiveness and rehabilitation is renewed. Offenses catalogued: murder, stealing, dishonest and excess wealth, neglect of those in need. Promise for future: faithful judges and counselors; destruction for rebels and sinners. Isaiah's call to prophetic work is recounted in chapter 6. Chapter 9 gives a messianic promise and tells of persisting punishment for iniquiry.

"I will make justice the line and righteousness the plummet." (28.17)
"The Lord will give you rest from your sorrow and from your fear and from the hard bondage wherein man has been made to serve." (14.3)
"And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, `this is the way, walk in it.'" (30.21)
"Behold God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song." (12.2)
"`Come now and let us reason together,' says the Lord, `though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like the crimson, they shall be as wool.'" (1.18)

Isaiah the ? (chapters 56-66)

"I am the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity." (57.15)
"The heavens are my throne, and the earth is my footstool." (66.1)
"I dwell in the high and holy place, also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit." (57.15)
"And the Lord's hand is not too short to save, neither his ear to dull to hear." (57.15)
"And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul. You shall be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters fail not." (58.11)
"Arise and shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." (60.1)
"The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." (61.1)
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and has covered me with his robe of righteousness." (61.10)
"In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them." (63.8-9)

Micah (fl. 725-700) tells of a future role for Israel as the source of teaching to the nations and as the center of a future reign of peace: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not life up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more" (chapter 4). Sacrifices do not win the favor of God.

"The rulers judge for reward and the priests teach for hire and the prophets divine for money." (3.11)
"But every man shall sit under his own vine, and no one shall make him afraid, for all people will live, each one according to his understanding of God." (4.4-5)
"Shall I come before God with burnt offerings? Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown me, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (6.6-8)

Jeremiah (fl. 627-587)

"They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden."
"Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow" (31.12-13).
"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. . . . I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (31.31-34).
"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you." (31.3)
"For he does not afflict willingly the children of men." (Lamentations 3.33)
"Righteous is our Lord, great in counsel and mighty in work. His eyes are open upon all the ways of all the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings." (32.19)
"And now have I given these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant." (27.6)

The second Isaiah (fl. 587-538) encouraged the Israelites in captivity in Babylon with the promise that they would return to their home in Jerusalem, and he gave a poetic and truly monotheistic vision of a universal Creator God.

"I am the first and the last, and beside me there is no other God." (44.6)
"Behold he takes up the isles as a very little thing." (40.15)
"And as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (55.9)
"I have made the earth and put man upon it. I have created it not in vain; I formed it to be inhabited." (45.18)
"I am the first and the last; there is no God beside me." (44.6)
"The heavens may vanish and the earth wax old, but my righteousness shall endure forever and my salvation from generation to generation." (51.6-8)
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom." 40.11
"He gives power to the faint, and to those who have no might he increases strength. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (40.29-31)
"Fear you not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God." (44.10)
"There is no God beside me--a just God and a Savior."
"Thus says the Lord, `I have created you, I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you since you are precious in my sight.'" (43.1-2)
"Can a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion on her son? Yes, she may forget, yet will I not forget my children, for behold I have graven them upon the palms of my hands." (49.15-16)
"Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (55.7)
"God would not forget, would not forsake." (41.17)
"Every one who is called by my name I have created for my glory, and they shall show forth my praise." (43.7,21)
"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." (43.25)