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Minor Prophets, Part 1: Assyrian Crisis

  1. Lesson One
    Introduction to the Prophets
    21 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Prophets and Prophecy
    20 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  3. Lesson Three
    Amos
    24 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  4. Lesson Four
    Hosea
    19 Activities
    |
    5 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Jonah
    18 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

Following the Wisdom books, the prophets may be something of a shock to your system. The relatively passive guidance of the sages and the calm confidence of enduring truths will be replaced by outrage and sometimes piercing moral proclamations. Abraham Heschel has called the prophets “some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived.” They could be combative iconoclasts who antagonized both leaders and the general population.

The prophets were deeply engaged people who were intolerant of idolatry, injustice, immorality and hollow religious ritual. They were obsessed with God’s holy demands, incapable of just accepting “the way things are.” Their outrage was driven by their commitment to the Torah. They sought to impose its teaching in contexts where it was forgotten or actively resisted. In this sense, we might think of the Prophets as guardians of the Law, and the keepers of God’s conscience among the people. The next exercise will show just how much they were concerned with the Law.

Source: Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets, 1962, p. vii.