A prophet Isaiah

It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"-- (Mark 1:2)

Mark quoted a prophet Isaiah’s writing as people give a footnote to their book or thesis today. Why did he so? I am not able to read Mark’s mind but probably he did it for the readers of Isaiah might know about a prophet Isaiah well.

There is no other community than prophets in Israel’s history. Of course a king gave the greatest influence directly to their life and a priest, to their religious life. It could say, a king and a priest took a higher position of power group priest criticized them from out of power. Of course a king, a priest and a prophet didn’t form such relationship all Israel’s history. According to case, prophets took a role of a schemer standing close to a king but in a general stream it is possible to give such classification.

The critical fact to classify them was in the way of the prophets’ activities. Prophets were living with ‘speech’. They poured out ‘speech’ to a king, a noble and Israel people. Those speeches are so called ‘the prophets’ that take the center of the Old Testament. Except Moses’ Pentateuch and poems all documents are the prophets. The preceding prophets that deal with Israel’s history and the latter prophets that contain speech of prophets are all the prophets’ speeches. Even Moses’ Pentateuch also basically should regard a work of prophets. Poems also are so. For the contents of Moses’ Pentateuch and Poems contain the prophets’ historical interpretation in it. I would like skip it for I am not able to give a decisive answer for such Biblical theology matters.

Among the prophets who were working in Israel’s history there were not only the prophets the name we could figure out but also there were many prophets who had worked namelessly and disappeared. The reason why their speech doesn’t exist in history might be varies. It might be their speech didn’t have much persuasion power or the level of their speech was too high to understand for people of those days. Or there might be absence of their disciples who would keep their speech as a document. Or it might be remained as an excellent scribe but could be burnt out by a king who was reluctant with the content of his document. However history has progressed and now we have prophets’ prophesy or sermon that is called mainly the latter prophets.

Prophets or foretellers insisted their speech and writing as a revelation of the Lord God. They themselves insisted like that but it might be mostly accepted by people of next age. Or such speech and writing might be natural in the ancient Israel. However, they spoke and wrote toward Israel with keeping an attitude to declare the word that the Lord had given them. By the way, their work was basically reading history, analyzing it and suggesting the alternative. To read history means rightly to interpret it and it required an inspiration. That inspiration of course came from God. So their speech was accepted as a revelation and a prophecy.

At this point, the speech of prophets again cannot but the object of criticism historically. The saying a prophecy that interpret history again is criticized by history means such activity is spiritual matter. A historical interpretation may be different from a mathematic proposition, “a sum of inner angle of a triangle is 180 degree.” Historical interpretation is rather similar to play Mozart music. For it have almost limitless layers of interpretation. As there are a musician to imitate Mozart music there were many prophets in Israel history who only imitate God’s revelation. Rather there were many to distort salvation history. Though it wasn’t related to God’s will at all they were focused by the majority. For those false prophets not only made good religious position in Israel but also smoothly dealt with the role of scratching the itching points of the crowd. Populism is even now the greatest temptation for the people of preaching God’s word to alert. Though they are praised extremely in their days their reality will be strictly revealed by history.
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There are many to worry about Korean Christian history. They boils with rage saying why all the churches are doing like this. When we think of Jesus who drives out the merchants in the temple it is nature for us to get anger for the church that looks likes idol worshipping. However, do not hurry. There was not a single moment of absence of false prophet in human history. It is possible to make a certain new community by the spirit of revolution but once the revolution get success the leaders of that revolution rapidly changes into a false prophet with color difference only. We open experience such case in history. It doesn’t mean status quo is our alternative. I would like to say the fact that true prophecy and false prophecy are eventually evaluated by history or do not miss such hope. As we obey such stream of history, we should participate to such revolution and change movement dynamically.

Here the more decisive matter is that our prophecy, our sermon and our historical interpretation are eventually verified historically. Till that time our prophecy cannot be a decisive one. Till that time our historical interpretation also is only tentative one. We can say it rational relatively or cannot say like this but it always identify with truth. It means the standard of truth is not inside us. So for us there is no other way but open ourselves with our best in order to identify with the spirit of truth that leads history.

Prophet Isaiah was such person. Israel’s history evaluated him as a true prophet and chose him like that. We today Christians are following their evaluation and choice.