"Go to the ant, sloth, look at his actions, and be wise. He has no ruler, no steward, no master, but at the same time he prepares his bread, gathers his food at harvest time. Go to the bee and find out what hardworking it is and what an honorable work it does."

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THE PROPHETIC BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Overview

LECTURE 30

The books of the prophets make up about a quarter of the entire text in the Old Testament, but in terms of content they occupy a central place in the Old Testament Bible.

First of all, the prophets biblically spoke about the presence of God in the history of man. The prophets did not act in their own name, but were chosen by God.

"Of your sons I have chosen to be prophets..."

(Amos 2:11) In the fate of the prophets, different realities were intertwined: this is the will of God, the ability of man to heed this will, and this is the formation of a new history under the influence of the will of God and man, expressed in prophecy. Understanding that human words cannot contain the transcendence of God, but at the same time realizing that God is omnipresent, we must see in the prophet a testimony of God's presence in human life and see in him a messenger of God.

A few words about terminology. In popular parlance, the term "prophet" is usually used to refer to a person who is able to transmit and predict the future by virtue of some unusual supernatural knowledge. There are such passages in the Bible as well.

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For example, (Jeremiah 28:8-7), (Deuteronomy 18:21-22), (Romans 9:29), and a number of others. Russian word

"The Prophet"

corresponds to the Greek term