REVIEW of THE PROPHETS by ABRAHAM J HESCHEL

Pieter Uys

Heschel examines the minds of the Israelite prophets, mainly

those of the 7th and 8th centuries BCE, by considering the
totality of thoughts, impressions and emotions of the prophet's
soul. He thus investigates the interface of theology and of
psychology which is restricted to consciously revealed motives.
Besides identifying the decisive features of the prophet's consciousness,
Heschel highlights their uniqueness in history and attempts to illuminate the
essentials of prophetic religion. Between the introductory chapter and the
concluding chapters on history, punishment and justice, the individual prophets
and their particular circumstances are covered in turn.

This brings history to the fore as political and social conditions in the Northern
Kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah and the surrounding nations such as Ammon,
Edom and Moab are at issue. After the reign of King Solomon, the Israelite
kingdoms and their neighbors were always caught between the powers of
Mesopotamia and the Nile.

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Assyria became a world power in the 8th century BCE. Around 760 a weak and
divided Egypt was united by and experienced a 100 year revival under the
Napatan 25th dynasty. After the fall of Nineveh in 612 followed the rule of
Babylonia. The area between Sinai and the Euphrates became the battleground
of clashing superpowers.

Amos, in his concern for Israel's neighbors, made it clear that God cares for all
people. Hosea proclaimed that Israel is The Lord's consort, warned against
political promiscuity, and affirmed divine tenderness and mercy. The sorrow in
God's anger is revealed by the first Isaiah who warned against foreign alliances
while denouncing obstinacy and pride. Micah distilled the essence of true
worship: do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with the Divine.

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Gentle by nature, Jeremiah had to convey messages of wrath and suffering that
caused him overwhelming anguish. The first Isaiah and Habakkuk spoke of
ultimate redemption through an outpouring of the Spirit whilst the second
Isaiah proclaimed God's eternal love for Israel, His concern for all mankind and
the idea of Israel as a light to the nations.

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Heschel identifies the major trait of the prophets as a profound sensitivity and
revulsion to evil. Their loathing of violence and their sympathy for the weak
may appear extreme as the soul of the prophet strongly resonated with the cry
of the afflicted. Driven by compassion, they were fiercely intolerant of
injustice and indifference as their harsh words reveal.

The prophets knew that religion could distort that which the Lord requires.
A coalition of indifference and established authority was their adversary. They
repudiated mankind's subservience to might, holding up the moral law in the
place of force. The theme that might is not right is central to their message.
Unlike the lofty philosophers they focused on the mundane, the way people
treat one another. The prophets also emphasized linear as opposed to cyclical
time, promising ultimate salvation.

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The author shows that the prophets were torn between compassion for
mankind and empathy with God, acting as advocate for the one to the other.
They constantly intervened, imploring mercy for the people whilst denouncing
the abusive practices of the mighty in explosive language and admonishing the
whole nation for its lack of compassion. "The opposite of freedom is not
determinism, but hardness of heart," they implied.

In the chapter on history, it is observed that people worship power and are
easily impressed by force. Opposed to that, the moral law is inconspicuous.
History may thus be considered the sphere where God is defied and justice
defeated. Oppression of the human being is an affront to the Creator, while
concern for justice is an act of love.

The waning religion of the West is being replaced by a hydra-headed

ideological monstrosity that goes by the names of Postmodernism &
Multiculturalism. It is the offspring of the counter-enlightenment philosophies
of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche,
Heidegger en Wittgenstein. It denies the existence of truth, gives primacy to
power and promotes indifference to suffering. Its doctrine of moral relativism

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leads to an inversion of right and wrong. Its slogan of “diversity” has
penetrated deeply into the culture whilst its dictatorial nature manifests
through Political Correctness – a form of mind control. It is amoral and
nihilistic.

What sets the prophetic act apart from artistic, intellectual and mystical
experiences is its moral aspect. The prophetic warning against calling good evil
and evil good, reveals a penetrating insight into the human psyche. The
prophets knew of mankind’s proclivity for the irrational and their words
resonate down the centuries, warning us of the inversion of right and wrong,
of good and evil.

A psychological factor that has contributed to undermining the values of the

West is the deeply entrenched belief that God is a cruel tyrant that has
predestined some human beings for eternal torment. Such tragic ignorance of
the nature of God has brought about unimaginable suffering.

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This sadistic view runs like poison ivy from the works of church fathers like
Augustine through reformers like Calvin and is still being used to terrify people.
Fear-based religion often results in splitting the psyche (all those televangelists
caught with their pants down) or spiritual morbidity (of which one result is the
frenzied urge to convert others and another is the torture and murder of
“heretics” as one sees mainly in Islam today) or hedonism or fanatical atheism.

But that is not what the prophets proclaimed.

This is the essence:

“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” MICAH 6:6-8.

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EXCERPTS FROM
THE POET OF IGNORANCE by ANNE SEXTON

“There is an animal inside me,

clutching fast to my heart,
a huge crab.
The doctors of Boston
have thrown up their hands.

They have tried scalpels

needles, poison gases and the like.
[…]
I have tried prayer
but as I pray the crab grips harder
and the pain enlarges.

I had a dream once,

perhaps it was a dream,
that the crab was my ignorance of God.
But who am I to believe in dreams?”

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While justice is a strict standard associated with the divine name Elohim, the
ineffable Tetragrammaton represents the quality of mercy. Mercy overrules the
concept of an absolute moral law. In the Ark of the Covenant, the position of
the Mercy Seat is above the scrolls of the law.

It emerges that judgment is never final, always conditional and that the door
of repentance remains open. In history justice suffers defeat but the prophets
predicted future peace and salvation. Over and over they emphasized that
kindness took precedence over wisdom, wealth and might. More than strict
justice only, righteousness encompasses loving concern. Above all, the
prophets proclaimed the divine pathos, revealing the Creator not as a stern
judge but first and foremost as Father.

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A compelling and unique work, The Prophets succeeds in solving many riddles
and clearing the cobwebs of confusion on both the mental and emotional level.
Written in graceful prose, Heschel's concepts are easy to grasp and his words
speak to the heart.

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