In the Jewish State of Israel, politics and prophecy generally work together. Israel was founded when there was a covenant between God and Abraham. In this covenant, God entered into a relationship of mutual obligation with the Israelites instead of him solely imposing his will. This covenant was not only related to religion but was binding in politics and law. God himself is the King, but He exercises his kingship on earth through his chosen proxies. In the case of Israel, there exist three religious institutions which were led by people who had been divinely endorsed namely the Prophet, the King, and the high priest (Grottanelli, 1999). In them all, they are expressed through the human person. While the prophet and the high priest have religious roles, the king is mostly earthly. To see the glory of God, human beings view his proxies in the form of the prophets and kings when they participate in the divine work of God. This essay is an examination of the significance of the offices the prophet and the king in the history of Israel during the period when the Israel monarchy was divided and when the Israelites were in exile. As such, the essay aims at pointing out the role of prophets in Israel as a messenger of God’s critique of the monarchy while the king is a human proxy of God’s political authority over the monarchy.
There is always a close connection that exists between prophets and kings as depicted by the life Samuel. Samuel played both the prophetic roles as well as the political leader. In his work as a prophet he warned of the tribes of Israel against asking for a human King and also confronted King Saul when he broke the covenant laws. In his political role he was the judge over Israel before a substantive holder of the office was appointed. In the period before Saul was appointed King over Israel, these two offices were held by one person. This changed when Israel demanded for a human king agent like their neighbors and thus the offices of prophets and king was substantially differentiated.
After the death of King Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel was divided into regions each headed by a king. And in each of the kingdoms were prophets who immersed themselves in political and public discourse. They were not monks but participated in the running of the affairs of the Monarch in addition to carrying prominent religious roles in the kingdom. Some of the prophets supported the royal administration of the hereditary kingship in Israel while others challenged and were critical of political institutions and policies that had been proposed by kings.
Prophet Ahijah played a critical role in the division of the united monarch of Israel; he encouraged Jeroboam to lead the ten tribes of Israel to break away from Judah and the leadership of the house of David. Jeroboam was organizing a protest against the abusive leadership perpetuated by the house of David; Ahijah recognized him as the ring leader and supported his efforts to establish another kingdom among the Northern tribes with headquarters in Schemem 1 Kings 12-16. The primary reasons for the cession of the Northern tribes was because, the political leadership in the north imposed huge burdens of taxation and forced labour. They saw a political leader in the personhood of Jeroboam and they appointed him to lead them. The Northern tribes viewed Jeroboam as a political leader to give them independence for the oppressive family of David.
Prophets Elijah and Elisha condemned the dynasties of Ahab and Jezebel. Other prophets like Amos, Hosea and Jeremiah appeared just before the divided monarchy was taken into captivity or during the period the kingdom was in exile. They appeared to challenge the kings and people of Israel to return and adhere to the venerable conditions of the covenant which was part of their history and traditions. The role of the prophets during the divided monarchy and during the time Israelites were in exile was to invite people back to the true worship of Yahweh the God of Israel and adherence to the Law of Moses. They did not bring any other new law. Their message was constant, “thus says the Lord, Repent your Sins.
It is also true that the prophets undertook their duties of anointing new leaders who should be part of the new government in Israel. Any political leader who came into office was anointed by the Prophets. They relayed the message of God on who should occupy the offices of the King in Israel. They correctly predicted the people who would be next kings such as the case of Ahaziah in 2 Kings 1. The prophets were also important persons in relaying the message of hope and restoration to the people of Israel from oppression from evil kings.
They also pronounced judgment among the evil kings who defied the word of God both in Israel and the kings that took the people of Israel to captive. The prophets confronted the political alliances that had been made in Israel by evil kings when they married daughters of evil kings. This is depicted when Elijah despised the marriage of Ahab to Jezebel the daughter of the king of Egypt in 1 king 18. The kings had used trickery means to acquire power and authority and to a large extent were secular advancing the secular view of life and worship. The kings were evil agents who represented God. They ultimately lead to the punishment of the kingdom and eventual carrying of the people to Israel. The kings lived under luxuries and pleasures that tempted them to engage in evil practices. But the kings cannot always be seen as inherently evil but also took part in restoring the true worship of Yahweh with some undertaking to repair the temple (Grottanelli, 1999).
In conclusion, it has been shown clearly that the offices of the king and the prophet in Israel monarchy were intertwined. They were related sometime overlapped. However, the substantive office of the prophets carried the duties of relaying the message of God to the people and the King while the office of the king acted as the human proxy in exercising the authority and power of God.
References
Grottanelli, C. (1999). Kings and Prophets. Oxford University Press on Demand.
