According to one strand of tradition found in the books of the prophets, the Jewish prophets of Israel were relentless critics of the religious orthodoxy of their day The Hebrew prophets of Israel were also the poets of Israel, their prophecy being more than mere fortune telling or predicting the future, and the knowledge of this fact is something that can be easily lost in translation. The prophets of Israel articulated their experiences with God, their hopes for the future, their fears for the present, often in poems that critics have called 'vague and open to innumerable interpretations.' This is certainly true of some of the poetry found in Isaiah, and it is not something I consider problematic in a poet (it would only be a problem if we think narrowly of the function of a Jewish prophet as a fortune teller of sorts). Consider the following example, a poem from the book of Isaiah that I have always considered lovely (for some reason it is one of my favorites).

"Alas, oh land of whirring wings Which lies beyond the rivers of Cush, Which sends envoys by the sea, Even in papyrus vessels on the surface of the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, To a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation Whose land the rivers divide. All you inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth, As soon as a standard is raised on the mountains, you will see it, And as soon as the trumpet is blown, you will hear it.

For thus YAHWEH has told me, "I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms And the flower becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives And remove and cut away the spreading branches. They will be left together for mountain birds of prey, And for the beasts of the earth; And the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, And all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.

At that time a gift of homage will be brought to YAHWEH of hosts From a people tall and smooth, Even from a people feared far and wide, A powerful and oppressive nation, Whose land the rivers divide—To the place of the name of YAHWEH of hosts, even Mount Zion." (Isaiah Chapter 18 verse 1)

      The book of Isaiah contains some of the most beautiful poetry in the Bible, and this poem is one of my favorites in the book. As a ‘fortune telling prophecy' it falls short, being thin on specifics and vague enough to be interpreted in just about anyway. But as a poetic description of the prophet's vision and faith I find it very moving.

      The ancient Jewish nation had many different ideas about the nature of the office of the prophet, and the one that seems to predominate today is that a prophet functioned as a sort of ‘fortune teller' whose job was to dazzle everyone by predicting the future. That this view of a prophet predominates probably has a lot to do with the gospel of Matthew and the way the author attempted to tie Joshua to Jewish history and Jewish prophecy by insisting that various events were ‘fulfillment of prophecies' with stunning accuracy. These Matthew ‘prophecies' prove to be non prophecies when examined, but the Matthew technique became the main technique used by the churches in the centuries that followed and even today there is this notion that a Jewish prophet was a fortune teller.

      Actually the function of a Jewish prophet was more complex. The prophets critiqued conventional religious practices and dogma, attacked the conventional religious interpretation of certain events as described in the bible, critiqued Biblical manuscripts, and were also critics of the Torah law. Bound up within these functions were statements of faith which involved a belief in the future justice and rectification of the unjust situation by God, and these ‘prophecies' of the future did not need to be specific in nature. They were statements of faith, plain and simple. A good example of this prophetic function, combined with a generalized ‘prophecy of the future' can be found when we consider another poem in the book of Isaiah. In the following poem the prophet is critical of the rulers of Israel (Ephraim was the ruling tribe of Israel) and of the power of the priesthood. He mocks their form of religion (rule upon rule, line quoted after line), comparing it to drunkenness, and then follows a prophecy of the judgments of God against the powers of Israel. A rock foundation stone would be laid in Zion and those who trusted in faith would stand firm, but the leadership would be swept away. There are similarities here to Paul's teaching (itself taken from Habakkuk) that ‘the righteous would live by faith'. Once again the ‘prophecy of the future' is poetic, and an expression of general faith in the justice of God prevailing, rather than any sort of specific ‘fortune telling'.

"Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine! Behold, YAHWEH has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he will cast down to the earth with violence. The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden under foot; and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer: when a man sees it, he eats it up as soon as it is in his hand. In that day YAHWEH of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people; and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. For all tables are full of vomit, no place is without filthiness.

Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. Nay, but by men of strange lips and with an alien tongue YAHWEH will speak to this people, to whom he has said, "This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose"; yet they would not hear. Therefore the word of YAHWEH will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Therefore hear the word of YAHWEH, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; therefore thus says YAHWEH GOD, Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘He who believes will not waver.'

And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it. As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it. For YAHWEH will rise up as on Mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work!" (Isaiah Chapter 28 verse 1)

      This poetic critique of religious practices of the day continues in the following chapter. The people have put themselves into a stupor, and have become drunk ‘but not from wine'. They are unable to understand the message of the prophets, because their religious practice consists of nothing more than the rote memorization of human commandments, while their hearts remain far from God. Poetic prophecy follows, in that God will do marvelous things, that will shock the people, and their wise men will come to nothing. When God acts the book will finally be understood, and those who did not understand will finally understand. Those who try to accuse another with empty arguments will come to nothing (the prophet is here speaking of those who attacked the prophets as heretics). These ‘prophecies' are once again couched in poetic language and are more a statement of faith in God than specific ‘fortune telling'.

"Stupefy yourselves and be in a stupor, blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! For YAHWEH has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, the prophets, and covered your heads, the seers. And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read." And YAHWEH said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their reverence of me is a commandment of men learned by rote; therefore, behold, I will again do marvelous things with this people, wonderful and marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid."

Woe to those who hide deep from YAHWEH their counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay; that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in YAHWEH, and the poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nought and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty argument turn aside him who is in the right.

"And now, go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness for ever. For they are a rebellious people, lying sons, sons who will not hear the instruction of YAHWEH; who say to the seers, "See not"; and to the prophets, "Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel."

Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on them; therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel which is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." (Isaiah Chapter 29 verse 9, Isaiah Chapter 30 verse 8)

      The notion of a prophet as an uncanny fortune teller was one of the popular beliefs in ancient Israel. For example, in the 9th chapter of 1 Samuel, Saul loses a donkey. After searching fruitlessly for the lost animal, his servant suggests that they go and consult a prophet (who, as the writer explains was called a ‘seer' in those days, a seer apparently being someone who, for a ‘fourth part of a shekel of silver' could mysteriously ‘see' where the missing donkey was located, thus saving Saul the trouble of searching over hill and dale).

"And his servant said unto Saul: ‘Behold now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is a man that is held in honour; all that he saith cometh surely to pass; now let us go thither; peradventure he can tell us concerning our journey where we should go.' Then said Saul to his servant: ‘But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God; what have we?' And the servant answered Saul again, and said: ‘Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver, that will I give to the man of God, to tell us where to search.'— Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said: ‘Come and let us go to the seer'; for he that is now called a prophet was beforetime called a seer.— Then said Saul to his servant: ‘Well said; come, let us go.' So they went unto the city where the man of God was." (1 Samuel Chapter 9 verse 6)

      It should come as no surprise that the seer told Saul not to worry about the donkey, and it was found. In this popular tradition, then, prophets were certainly not critics of religion, but rather were someone you consult, say, if you lost your wallet (or a donkey). If such prophets were around today, no doubt for five dollars a minute, they could be consulted by phone by dialing a '900' number and could help the luckless locate lost keys and donkeys galore.

      In other popular traditions, prophets were considered not only fortune tellers but also miracle workers. For example someone lost an ax head in the lake. Fortunately a prophet was consulted on the matter and was able to use miracle working powers to float the ax head to the surface of the water. (2 Kings Chapter 6 verse 6) This popular tradition is a variation on the ‘find the donkey' story. In this case, go and consult a prophet if, say, your keys got flushed down the toilet by accident, a true example of when one would need to consult a miracle working prophet.

      While the prophets were popular and legendary figures in the popular lore of earlier times, the prophets whose books of oracles are collected in the Bible were unpopular figures, and their lives were frequently threatened when, rather than restricting themselves to locating lost donkeys or performing magic stunts for those in need of a helpful miracle, they launched into critiques of the popular religious practices of the day and even attacked the Torah system and critiqued the manuscripts of the Bible. While the ‘prophet as fortune teller' has always been the most popular conception of the office of prophet, and remains so today, this portrait of the prophet actually demeans their work, and leaves them open to attacks on the grounds that they were ‘vague fortune tellers' when actually they were poets, articulating in poetic imagery their faith in God, their hopes for the future, and their vision of the inevitable triumph of justice. That such imagery could be attacked as ‘poor fortune telling' is evidence only for the continuing hold the prophet as fortune teller has on the popular imagination and does not do justice to the prophets as the poets of Israel, whose messages and means of communicating was more sophisticated than simple ‘fortune telling'.