VanGemeren, Willem A. Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990. 545 pp. $27.99.
Introduction
In his book, Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament, Willem VanGemeren introduces the reader to the great prophetic literature of the Old Testament. As a prolific author and professor of Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, VanGemeren has distinguished himself as a trusted and viable source for an Old Testament study of the prophets. VanGemeren uses historical context, literary form, and structure to analyze and evaluate Old Testament prophetic literature. VanGemeren’s preamble to prophetic literature provides great insight and understanding of the writings of the prophets.
Summary
VanGemeren separates Interpreting the Prophetic Word into four parts. In the first part, VanGemeren provides an introduction and overview of prophetic phenomenon and its relation to Israel. The second and third part of the book address in detail the message of the minor and major prophets. The final part of VanGemeren’s book addresses what it means to live the prophetic word in today’s society.
As this first section begins, VanGemeren introduces the idea of prophetism. God used select individuals from various lifestyles and in various times to communicate the message that He has prepared for humanity. God’s word, as communicated by the prophets, was relevant to those to whom the prophets were speaking. It was a word from God for that people, for that moment, and for that place, and yet God’s word lives well beyond that specific time and place. Recorded for all generations, God’s revelation to the prophets continues to change the lives of those who receive it.
As a foundation to the later chapters, VanGemeren then addresses the critical issue of religion verses revelation. He does so on the premise that “the distinction between revelation and religion is fundamental in understanding the nature of the prophetic role and in interpreting the prophetic message” (19).
VanGemeren notifies the reader that, “religion is a system of belief and morality that gives human beings a sense of meaning, but as a system, it is defined and developed by human beings” (20). Because religion is designed by humans and for humans, it tends to be manipulative and self-serving. VanGemeren points out the obvious, when it comes to satisfying ones self-interest, “humans are very religious” (20). VanGemeren suggests that humanity is, foolishly conflicting with God’s sovereignty, primarily concerned with the question, “how can I control my destiny” (20). Rather than trusting God’s revelation, many Old Testament persons foolishly turned to divination and magic to attempt to control their own destiny.
In contrast to humanity’s religion, revelation is God’s word. It reveals both who God is and how one should respond to Him. VanGemeren clearly points out that the prophetic ministry continues directly from the revelation God gave Moses. VanGemeren calls Moses the “fountainhead of Old Testament revelation” (38). It is back to the Mosaic covenant that the subsequent prophets called Israel.
Because all true prophecy stems from God’s revelation to Moses, it must also be consistent with it. All prophecy must be verified against earlier Mosaic revelation. In some cases, prophecy simply applied or clarified Mosaic revelation. In other cases, VanGemeren tells us, the prophets “further developed the essential elements of the Mosaic revelation: the judgments and blessings, the call for covenantal loyalty, and the hope in the grand future prepared for the people of God” (38).
VanGemeren credits Samuel as the “role model” (38) for the remaining Old Testament prophets. Samuel spoke God’s word to the people and the kings, as well as interceded on behalf of them both. In addition to prayer and proclamation, God’s prophets were also His instruments to apply blessings and curses as applicable to the Mosaic covenant.
While Samuel saw some success, the subsequent prophets saw very little. Israel and Judah increasingly turned away from the Mosaic covenant. This resulted in the prophets turning their message more and more to the people rather than the kings who governed them. The messages from the classical prophets typically contained a clarification of God’s right to judge His people, a declaration of coming judgment, a call for repentance, and a declaration of deliverance. The prophetic messages also clearly communicate that Yahweh is faithful to His covenant, His kingdom, and His promises.
In the second chapter, VanGemeren communicates that the prophetic tradition was developed in and around Israel’s preexilic, exilic, and postexilic periods. During the preexilic era, prophets were increasingly isolated from social, political, and religious involvement due to their strong adherence to the covenant of God. VanGemeren clarifies that the true prophets called the increasingly-rebellious people to be faithful to God’s covenant in light of new revelation. As the prophecies began to be fulfilled, the prophets continued to apply “God’s message to the issues at hand” (68). Few prophets experienced any significant response to their message.
VanGemeren reveals that the prophets exhibited both “variety and unity” (68). Variety exists in the prophets’ individual personalities and circumstances. God called and gifted specific prophets for specific situations. The unity of the prophets, however, is the more essential of the two. Even over centuries, the essential message remained true. Each prophet called the people back to covenantal faithfulness and away from coming judgment. VanGemeren provides a summary: “The prophets announced God’s judgment and salvation. They declared that Israel and Judah would have to experience the Exile, through which process God would gather a remnant and constitute a purification in preparation for the Day of Judgment” (68).
Concerning the postexilic events, VanGemeren says they “foreshadow the coming kingdom of God and of his Messiah” (68). He aligns the prophets’ message with that of the New Testament disciples. They preached the certainty of the judgment Day of the Lord, made an offer of grace and salvation, directed people to a life of discipleship, and advanced Yahweh, His covenant and His kingdom.
Chapter 3 begins to provide the reader with the tools of interpretation. VanGemeren provides what he calls the “ingredients” for interpretation. These include cultural context, literary perspective, canonical function, and the historical perspective. (73) Once equipped with an understanding of these tools, VanGemeren takes his readers through a bountiful tour of the Major and the Minor Prophets and their messages. This tour comprises all of the second and third sections of the book.
The final section of the book is somewhat surprising. In this section, VanGemeren offers insight into the culmination and meaning of the prophets messages. VanGemeren attempts to resolve what is now to be done with the writings of the prophets as they apply to one’s own life. VanGemeren gives an emphasis on the work of the Spirit, Tota Scriptura, and the progress of redemption. All three are critical to the success of the Christian faith.
Critical Evaluation
In Interpreting the Prophetic Word, VanGemeren gives the reader much about which to think. Out of commitment to the prophetic voice, VanGemeren refuses to align his book to one eschatological system. This unbiased approach, VanGemeren suggests, allows him to stay true to the prophets and their message.
VanGemeren rightly takes ample time introducing and explaining the prophetic phenomena and its place in history. As discussed in the summary, VanGemeren clarifies the difference between religion and revelation. Sadly, many Christians, even today, would not draw such a distinct line between the two. This fact necessitates VanGemeren’s coverage of the two in detail. Much like the politically correct religious world we live in today, the syncretistic religion of the Old Testament “is open to every available means (political, economic, social), to bring harmony among people, within society, and within nature, but it is closed to revelation” (24). In contrast to this empty religion, “the Lord had established a relation with the people of Israel, better known as the covenant” (24). It is this covenant relation to God that the prophet’s message centered on.
VanGemeren introduces the reader to two terms that are critically essential to our world today: Realpolitik and Vox Populi. Realpolitik can be defined as “power politics” (26). VanGemeren says that Realpolitik is a “pragmatic application of any technique which an individual or a group can maintain or enhance life” (26). The idea here is that Realpolitik is manipulative, self-serving, and challenges God’s revelation. One can easily see this type of attitude virtually everywhere today, even in the church itself.
Adding depth to the idea of Realpolitik, VanGemeren introduces vox populi or “the voice of the people” (26). VanGemeren gives a greater explanation:
“In search of freedom, prosperity, and happiness, humans in any society establish a sacred alliance of relative values that form the basis of laws, social interaction, politics, economics, cultic expressions, and traditions. Vox populi rewards all who support the common ideals but punishes anyone who challenges them. Vox populi shuns the absolute demands of revelation by softening the radical nature of faith in favor of popular expectations” (26).
If one spends much time in today’s church, this idea should sound familiar. Today’s church struggles with the truth of God’s revelation while readily adopting compromise for the sake of social and political acceptance. VanGemeren clearly shows that there is truly nothing new under the sun and that the church should still listen to the voice of the Old Testament prophets today. Communicating the idea of vox populi alone gives credence to VanGemeren’s focus on the truths from the prophetic literature and justifies the writing of this book, but he does not stop there.
While “false prophets depended on the vox populi for credibility and vindication” (62), VanGemeren tells us that true prophets, like Jeremiah, “trusted the Lord” (62) to vindicate their message. True prophets could not hope for popularity among the people because God’s message was always countercultural. At no time was the message of the prophets complacent with the actions and attitudes of the church must less the overall society. The voice of the prophets called the people back to the covenant relationship with their creator and away from a compromised relationship with the world.
VanGemeren explains that both the preexilic community and the postexilic community suffer from the same problem. Both communities tried to limit “God’s word by interpretation and traditions” (59). Limiting God is such ways compromised the people’s faith in God when He did not act as they were expecting. VanGemeren adds, “They, too, became complacent, when their expectations of fulfillment were frustrated by subsequent happenings. The gradual shift from revelation to vox populi also explains the rejection of our Lord by the leadership of the Jews.” (59). VanGemeren does not allow Christians to go unscathed for the same offense. “Further, it accounts for what has happened over and over again in the history of Christianity. Christians, too, restricted the revelation of God with myopic vision and tradition. Christians, too, reduced the eternal into temporal and spatial categories. Christians, too, walked in the way of Realpolitik and vox populi, instead of keeping in step with the Spirit. Christians, too, failed in keeping alive the hope in Christ’s coming and in the salvation-to-come” (59). What VanGemeren communicates concerning the state of the church today could be amplified. It should be clear to the reader that the church exhibits the exact behavior as Israel did during this time. Moreover, much like Israel, we cannot expect God to leave our complacency unchallenged. God will not allow his people to disregard the covenant relationship in favor of a self-made and self-satisfying religion.
While God’s prophets spoke clearly of the Lord’s coming judgments, they also proclaimed His promises. The prophets spoke boldly concerning the judgment day of the Lord, not so that the people would feel condemned, but that they would see the need for repentance. VanGemeren quotes Joel 2:13. The author tells us that the Lord is “Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (122). The message of grace was just as clear as the message of judgment. Not only is there a day of judgment found in prophetic literature, but there is a day of salvation as well. Sadly, this point is often missed in discussions of prophetic literature.
VanGemeren clearly identifies God’s grace and mercy in the prophetic literature. Concerning the book of Hosea, VanGemeren says, “The tender love and mercy…of Yahweh in forbearing with his covenant people is woven throughout the book” (114). A similar claim is made concerning the rest of the prophetic literature. One might find VanGemeren’s comments of God’s holiness surprising. Often people perceive holiness as going hand in hand with God’s judgment. VanGemeren corrects this thinking, “Love truly flows out of God’s holiness, a holiness that loves and binds, rather than repels and separates….The Lord’s wrath is only for a moment compared to the depth of his love for Israel” (116).
In chapter three, Perspectives on Prophecy, VanGemeren reveals that the prophetic message has suffered at the hands of many of its interpreters. “Regrettably, the interpretation of the prophetic legacy has been affected by division, fragmentation, expressions of distrust, and misunderstanding. Disagreements arising from exegetical, theological, or philosophical differences have often been expressed with rigidity and lack of love, and certain approaches to interpretation have too often exalted eschatology as the test of orthodoxy” (71). Without giving much more information or explanation concerning specifics, VanGemeren seems to be rightly concerned with misinterpretation of the prophets. The text seems woefully lacking clarity, in light of such distinct charges as to what VanGemeren calls a “lack of love” and “certain approaches” (71). Such strong statements beg support from specific references.
Another statement that may need greater clarity by VanGemeren is his statement concerning the “sorting” of biblical information. Referencing the ideas of Joel Green, VanGemeren says, “One of the greatest obstacles to prophetic interpretation lies within our unwillingness to read the prophetic word as God’s word given in time and space. He concludes that throughout the history of Christianity we have been preoccupied with sorting things out, but that this effort to systematize is an ‘extrabiblical pursuit’” (71). VanGemeren explains, “The prophetic word is God’s Word, addressed to his people in a culturally and historically conditioned context” (95). VanGemeren suggests that his concern with systematic approaches is amplified when interpreters approach “the prophets as having a relevant message” (72) for their time as well as ours. While it is right to be concerned with forced meanings, a holistic approach to scripture, such as that found in systematic theological studies, should provide benefit to understanding the prophets. In fact, there is some systematic effort to VanGemeren’s approach as well. This can easily be reflected in his many charts and graphs. To compile such, means that some systematic categorization exists. Clearly, VanGemeren intends to suggest that some level of systemization provides certain benefits without compromising the intended message of the prophets or of the God they serve.
Chapter three provides a sound approach to looking at the prophetic literature; however, VanGemeren is clear, one must still rely on the working of the Holy Spirit. VanGemeren reminds us, “The Holy Spirit still bears witness that [the prophet’s] words are truly the Word of God and are profitable for instruction, reproof, and comfort, as the Spirit empowers his Word and applies it to our lives” (50). The church, of today and yesterday, walks a fine and dangerous line of ignoring the work of the Holy Spirit or indulging in what they wrongly believe to be his works. While we must rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to illumine us and to regenerate us, we must also measure this by the whole counsel of God’s word. The Holy Spirit will not work in contrast to the Word of God. VanGemeren argues that the “future of the Christian faith” lies in “the power of the Spirit in working out God’s purposes” (355). VanGemeren can rightly argue this point because he couples the work of the Spirit with “Tota Scriptura, and the progress of redemption” (355). These three elements together are what VanGemeren calls “true discipleship” (355).
One may be concerned with VanGemeren’s seeming emphasis on the work of the Spirit over the remaining Godhead. He does, however add clarity to his position from time to time. One such instance is found in the conclusion of his discussion concerning prophetic ethics. Here he rightly communicates the indissolubility of the Godhead. “The prophetic ethics cannot be divorced from the perfections of God, from his plan of salvation, from the Father’s revelation in Jesus Christ, and from the work of the Holy Spirit” (367). Here VanGemeren is making it clear that his emphasis on the works of the Holy Spirit are not intended to exclude the presence and the work of the remaining Trinity. The emphasis exists only to note the specific contributions made by the Holy Spirit for the given need. As a people facing exile, in exile, and recovering from exile, Israel profited much from the work of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of God’s presence in suffering, of communion with God, and of the promised restoration” (123).
VanGemeren touched another nerve with the idea of our role in the “progress of redemption” (355). Much like Old Testament Israel, many in the church today fail to understand that they are called, in much the same way the prophets were, to advance the Kingdom of God. The progress of redemption is where every believer is obedient to the covenant to the point that he or she is leading others to a covenant relationship with God.
VanGemeren proves the value of his reading and research in a quote from Gurdon C. Oxtoby. Giving credit where credit is due, Oxtoby writes, “The essential Christian position is one of fulfillment rather than prediction….The marvel is not that any prophet foretold. The marvel is that Jesus fulfills” (93). Oxtoby goes on to say, “To glorify prediction rather than fulfillment is to misunderstand the nature of the forecast, and to miss the significance of the Christian gospel” (93). One should understand the prophets as being only spokespersons for God. It was God and God alone, in the person of Jesus Christ who fulfilled the words of God completely; and, in doing so, satisfied the so-called predictions of the prophets and humanity’s need for substitutionary atonement.
VanGemeren quotes additional wisdom from the writings of John Bright. In clarifying that there is a balance between the enjoyment of and the responsibilities in the covenant, VanGemeren quotes, “So, like Israel of old, we have to live in tension. It is the tension between grace and obligation: the unconditional grace of Christ which is proffered to us, his unconditional promises in which we are invited to trust, and the obligation to obey him as the church’s sovereign Lord” (94). VanGemeren clearly and rightly holds to the idea that believers are to both benefit from and contribute to the covenant relationship with God. One cannot benefit from the covenant without rightly contributing to it. To clarify, the only thing one can contribute to the covenant is obedience to its terms of total surrender and complete obedience.
Conclusion
It should not be too bold to consider VanGemeren’s book to be a little prophetic itself. If it was the prophet’s job to call God’s people back to a covenant keeping relationship with God, then Interpreting the Prophetic Word may indeed be considered prophetic. It serves a clear message to contemporary Christians in much the same way as the original prophets. VanGemeren makes it clear, “The prophets, our Lord, and the apostles warned the community of faith to never assume privilege” (355). For emphasis, he quotes from Hebrews 12:28-19: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” VanGemeren continues, “The Spirit, however, being God, is free, and in his freedom he works through the word of revelation (tota Scriptura) and he involves individuals and institutions in the progress of redemption…. He may also abandon them if they do not live by the Word, if they develop their own structures apart from the Spirit, or if they are secure in their own system of belief” (355). What does VanGemeren mean by “structures apart from the spirit” and “their own systems of belief?” If one becomes closed to new revelation or illumination, one can miss the entirety of what God is doing. This indeed, is what the Jewish religious leaders did during the incarnation of Jesus Christ. VanGemeren tells us, “The prophets continuously call the people of God to be open to new acts of God and to evaluate the old acts in light of the new” (95).
VanGemeren reminds us, “God can never be bound, whether by a confessional understanding, a theological definition, or religious practices” (149). Yes, our God is a consuming fire. Should this fact not awaken professing believers from their spiritual slumber? God is free to abandon those who fail to apply his truth to their lives. This truth exists in the entirety of Scripture. As individuals and institutions of God’s revelation, we should seek to be obedient to the conditions of the covenant.
There is no end to the personal and corporate application possible for the church today through the study of the prophetic literature. While direct application for oneself may not be the approach to take when studying the prophets, one would be foolish to read the prophetic literature without an open and pliable heart. Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament holds much more treasure than a single careful read will reveal. It is a book worth reading repeatedly, studying in depth, and referencing often.
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