C. The Teachino of tee Prophets.— The idea of the 'proiihet,' one who speaks from God (B. i.), leaves a very extended sphere of action to the prophet. The prophet is always a man of his own time, and it is always to the people of his own time that he speaks, not to a generation long after, nor to us. And the things of which he speaks will always be things of importance to the peoi>le of his own day, whether they be things belonging to their internal life and conduct, or tilings afiecting their external fortunes as a people among other peoples. And as he speaks ti) the mind and con- sciousness of the people before him, he speaka always with a view to influence it. On many, perhaps on all occasions, the most powerful means of exerting an influence on the mind of his time may be what he is able to reveal to it of the future, whether the future be full of mercy or of judg- ment ; but whether he speaks of the present or the future the direct and conscious object of the pro- phet is to influence the people of bis own genera- tion. For this purpose the prophet reviews, not only the forces and tendencies operating in his own nation, but all the forces, moral and national, operating in the great world outside (Jer 1'").
Influenced partly by the great apologetic use made of the prophecies in the NT, interpreters were for long accustomed to lay almost exclusive stress upon the predictive element in projihecy, so that prophecy and prediction were considered things identical. The function of the prophet was supposed to be to predict the Messiah ana the things of His kingdom ; and the use of the pro- phecies was to iirove that Jesus was the Messiah, or more generally to show the sui>ernaturalness of revelation. However legitimate such a use of the prophe<'ies may be, modern interpreters have rightly felt that it failed to take into account a very large part of their contents. The religious and moral teaching of the prophets was overlooked. Hence in modern times a dirterent view has arisen, to the efl'ect that the function of the prophet was
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to teach moral and reli|;.'ious truth. But this view is equall .■ onesijed with the other. To us now to whom tlie apolo<;etic use of prophecy has become less necessary, the moral teaching of the propliets may seem tlie most important thinj; in their pro- phecies. Hut if any prophetic book be e.\amineJ, such as Amos or Uos 4-14, or any of the complete prophetic discourses contained in a prophet's book, sucli aa Is 1. 5. 6. 2-4, it will ajipuar that the ethical and reli^'ious teaching is always secondary, and that the e.^.seutial thing in the book or dis- course is the prophet's outlook into the future. The burden of tlie teaching; of all the great canonical jirophets is: (1) that the downfall of the Slate is imminent ; (2) that it is J" who is destroying it ; and (3) that the nation w hich shall overthrow it, be it As.syria or Babylon, is the instrument of J", the rod of His anger, raised up by Him to execute His purpose. And the pro-
S net's religious teachinf: regarding the nature of ", and the duty and sin of the people, is sub- ordinate, and meant to sustain his outlook into the future and awaken the mind of the people to the truth of it (cf. above A. iii. 3). This may be said also of such a NT prophet as John the Baj>tist, and in a sense even of our Lord. The Baptist's theme was, The kingdom of heaven is at hand ; and liis ethical teaching, IJepeiit! Bring forth fruits meet for repentance ! was designed to prepare men for entering into the kingdom. And our Lord's theme was the same, the coming of the kingdom of God ; and His moral teaching, such as the Sermon on the Mount, was intended to show the nature of the kingdom and the condition of mind nece.s.-^ai-y to inherit it. Of course, the outlook of the prophets was not bounded by the downfall of the .State. Their outlook embraces also that which lies bcvond, for the great events transacting around them, being all moral interpositions of J", seem to them alwaj's to issue in the coming in of the per- fect kingdom of God ; and this final condition of the peojile is virtually their chief theme.
i. General Teaching. — In general, the prophets may be characterized as religious idealists, who appealed directly to the spirit in man ; who set the truth before men and exhorted them to follow it, not out of constraint, but in freedom of spirit, because it was good, and the will of their God. They never dreamed of legislative compulsion. The law recogni7.ed by Amos is the law of riglit- 1 eousness and humanity written on all men's hearts, whether Jew or heathen; the law of Hosea is the law of love to Him who had loved the people and called His son out of Kgypt. The propliets really occupied the Christian position ; tliey ilemanded with St. Paul that men's conduct and life should be the free expression of the sjjirit within them, a spirit to be formed and guided by the fellowship 01 God and the tliankfiil rtmembrance of His redenijition wrought for them. Later prophets perceive that man's sjiirit must be determined bj un operation of (iod, who will write His law on it (Jer 'M'"), or who will put His own spirit within hiiri as the impulsive jjrinciplc of his life (Is 32", K/k 36^"). llcnce ritual has no place in the liruphetic teaching, that which is moral alone liiis anj- meaning. No doubt the prophets assail abuses in ritual worshin as well as in social life, and men more practical than they embody their |>rinciples in legislative form, for the prophets, instead of being mere expounders of the Law, are indirectly the authors of^ the Law ; but when this legislation, even though an embodiment of pro- phetic tejiching, is elevated by authority into State or ecclesiastical law, however necessary the step D'.iglit be, it is a descent from the NT position occupied by the prophets.