Social Injustice In The Prophets

The time of the prophets was indeed a spiritual one. God raised up individuals to speak His word, and predict the very future of the nation of Israel as well as the rest of the world. These men of God stoop up in times of adversity, and spoke the message of the Lord to His people and the surrounding nations. They stood up when nobody else would, and while they may have been afraid at times, they knew they had the Lord Himself with them at all time. Given that they prophesied and preached about many issues, this essay will focus on three things; idolatry, social injustice, and religious ritualism. These three topics focus on the core of human behavior at the time, and, while extremely relevant to that time period, is still relevant to this

Without the assistance of technology, I’m sure people could have gotten away with much more in those times. So the prophets were sent with a strong message against idolatry. In Amos, he said “Let Justice roll down like waters”. But what was he talking about? He was talking to those who take their own cut from the the hard work of poor people (2). The prophets spoke against those of affluence, or even in the middle class, who took advantage of the hard work of those who were not as well off. The Bible Odyssey says this about social injustice: “So this is injustice: the powerful treat poor people—who are most of their fellow citizens—as sources of wealth and unpaid labor, using coercion, bribery, dishonesty, legal technicalities, and even violence.” (2). Micah, in chapter 3, states that Jerusalem will be plowed like a field because of this same social injustice of wicked rulers who were unjust (both spiritually and physically) to the people of Judah. We see the same idea regarding idolatry trickling into Gods feelings about social injustice, that judgment would follow swiftly and with ample

It’s the idea that if we go through the motions, go to church to check off a list, lift our hands up because the person next to us is, sacrificing a lamb because that’s what we’re told. The prophets had a strong message about religious ritualism; God hates it. Amos spoke this message from God: “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Yes, though you offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts” (Amos 5:21,22). Christian courier notes that “Insincere worship - worship divorced from justice and righteousness - is vain” (3). and you can see this in Amos5:24. Religion without relationship is dead, that is why Christ came to die. According to Hindson and Yates, Jeremiah had this to say about religious ritualism, ““Jeremiah courageously announced that the Lord was prepared to destroy Jerusalem and His temple because the people substituted empty ritual for true obedience” (4). This is why the prophets spoke so boldly back in those times, because people were just going through the motions. These messages from afar have a huge impact on today