A slight variation from this simple dramatic type is afforded by those prophecies in which only a single speaker is presented,God but the alternations in the Divine mind between judgment and compassion produce all the effect of dialogue. The Divine Yearning is pictured in this way by Hosea. God. When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. — 11. 1-11 As they called them, so they went from them: they Hosea sacrificed unto the Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. Yet I taught Ephraim to go; I took them on my arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat before them.— He shall not return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return. And the sword shall fall upon his cities, and shall consume his bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels. And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they call them to him that is on high, none at all will lift himself up. - How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not come in wrath. They shall walk after the LORD, who shall roar like a lion: for he shall roar, and the children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will make them to dwell in their houses, saith the LORD. Later on the introduction of another speaker extends monologue into dialogue. God. When Ephraim spake with trembling, he exalted Hosea himself in Israel: but when he offended in Baal, he died. xii-xiv And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth early away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing-floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt; and thou knowest no god but me, and beside me there is no saviour. I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted: therefore have they forgotten me. — Therefore am I unto them as a lion: as a leopard will I watch by the way: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart: and there will I devour them like a lion; the wild beast shall tear them. It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou art against me, against thy help. Where now is thy king, that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I have given thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my wrath. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is laid up in store. The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, where are thy plagues? O grave, where is thy destruction? — Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the breath of the LORD coming up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: it shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels. Samaria shall bear her guilt; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword; their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up. Repentant Israel. — O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and return unto the LORD: say unto him, "Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render as bullocks the offering of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy." God. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Leba non. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and blossom as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim. What have I to do any more with idols? God. I have answered, and will regard him. Ephraim. I am like a green fir tree God. From me is thy fruit found. We have thus seen the prophetic literature of the Bible assuming very various forms. Besides the simple record of intercourse with God or with the people, the prophet's message may be an elaborate discourse; the discourse may have a symbolic text, and so present the varieties of emblem, vision, and parable; the prophecy may clothe itself in lyric poetry, or it may be presented in a dramatic scene. There still remain to be mentioned two kinds of prophecy of such importance from the literary standpoint that they must be discussed in separate chapters. CHAPTER XVII FORMS OF PROPHETIC LITERATURE: THE DOOM SONG AMONG forms of Prophecy there is one which has a distinctiveness and prominence in the Bible, and from the literary point of view so special an interest, that it seems proper in The Doom Song this work to treat it in a chapter by itself. This is as a form of the Doom Song: a prophetic utterance directed Prophecy against some particular city, nation, or country. The kingdoms of Israel, however unique their position in the history of mankind, yet in their own age formed part of a network of states. There were neighbour peoples, like the Philistines or Syrians, kindred races, such as Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, the maritime powers of Tyre and Sidon, and others: all stretching like a chain between the two world empires of Egypt on the south and Assyria on the northeast. Deliverance from one of these empires formed the starting-point of Israel's history, and into the other she was destined to be absorbed; meanwhile the ceaseless fluctuations of power and of mutual relations between all these nations and empires imposed a continual foreign policy on the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The prophets exercised influence in this foreign policy, as well as in domestic questions. And, over and above questions of temporary policy, there was the perpetual function of Israel as a nation to uphold the worship of the true God amidst nations of idolaters; and the constant witnesses to this were the prophets. One product of such prophetic ministry was this denunciatory discourse or Doom Song. There is a remarkable passage in Jeremiah which may well serve as preface to a discussion of the whole subject. XXV. 15 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me: to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea; Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their hair polled; and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the wilderness; and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are. upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Ye shall surely drink. For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar against his fold; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, saith the LORD. |