In | Workbook: On the Prophetic Institution

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

You may wonder why Moses is the prototype for Israelite prophets. Why not Abraham, for example? If we look at the prophetic roles, we can see that Moses is the true prophet of Israel. He’s the first to receive these prophetic roles by God for His people. 

Prior to that, Israel is an extended family—literally, the “sons of Israel [Jacob].” But by the time of Moses, Israel is a people—twelve fully-developed tribes in a confederacy that becomes a holy kingdom at Mt. Sinai. God gives them a prophet, not a king, because (as we have seen many times in this course) YHWH intended to be their only King. The prophet was the spokesperson of their Divine King to the whole people. But Israel wanted human kings. As these kings begin to decline and fall into evil practices, we will see the prophets come back to prominence. 

7. How might the re-emergence of the prophets be a sign of hope for Israel?