bible 105 #4
The Old Testament ends with the prophets. These teachers provided insight on many issues facing Jews who were desperate to know God. Idolatry, social injustice and religious ritualism are three areas that are emphasized in their teachings and instilled in the minds and hearts of believers today. The prophets were great teachers who had much to say about God and the way man lived, social issues they faced, religious rituals they took part in, and their teachings are just as important today as they were in the past.
Idolatry was a prominent issue among the Jews. God confronted this problem early in the Bible in Exodus 20:4-6. It is clear that following God requires complete and total attention on Him. The prophets considered this very an important issue. Consider Hosea who was commanded to marry an unfaithful wife to represent Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness towards God. During this time, Israel was unwilling to worship God and sought to find their own idols to worship and bestow glory upon. Hosea taught through his marriage the extent of unfaithfulness the Jews had in their relationship with God. Hosea compared Israel to spoiled grapes, a wild vine, a trained heifer, and a rebellious son and led into God to lay ruin to a large portion of His people causing the remnants to seek repentance before Him. Hosea, through using a marriage metaphor, showed the Jews how deep God’s love for them truly was and still is. Hosea’s example has modern implications. Because man can see how deeply God cares for them, there should be no reason to place importance of other things before their worship of Him. Yet, they do. If society could focus more on God today, the issues the world faces would cease to exist. Because this is not the case, man continues to destroy themselves as their eyes and minds stray from God and their own idols. The prophet Jonah put the truth about idolatry bluntly in his prayer to God: “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast
Idolatry was a prominent issue among the Jews. God confronted this problem early in the Bible in Exodus 20:4-6. It is clear that following God requires complete and total attention on Him. The prophets considered this very an important issue. Consider Hosea who was commanded to marry an unfaithful wife to represent Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness towards God. During this time, Israel was unwilling to worship God and sought to find their own idols to worship and bestow glory upon. Hosea taught through his marriage the extent of unfaithfulness the Jews had in their relationship with God. Hosea compared Israel to spoiled grapes, a wild vine, a trained heifer, and a rebellious son and led into God to lay ruin to a large portion of His people causing the remnants to seek repentance before Him. Hosea, through using a marriage metaphor, showed the Jews how deep God’s love for them truly was and still is. Hosea’s example has modern implications. Because man can see how deeply God cares for them, there should be no reason to place importance of other things before their worship of Him. Yet, they do. If society could focus more on God today, the issues the world faces would cease to exist. Because this is not the case, man continues to destroy themselves as their eyes and minds stray from God and their own idols. The prophet Jonah put the truth about idolatry bluntly in his prayer to God: “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast