Patriarchs and Prophets

Prophets

The prophets are people whom God chooses, so that they can transmit to the people the message received, inherent to the situation that the people are experiencing at that moment. The prophet expresses in God's name what God wants him to say. And he is the one who tells others what he has received.

God sends the prophets, to help his people, they are people who speak in his name and through whom God manifests his will. Their main task is to support the faith of Israel by calling the people, who have departed from it, to obedience and love for God.

The prophet cannot resist the call from God, even if God communicates to him the difficulties he will encounter on his journey; in spite of the humiliations, the mistreatments and the incredulity that he faces, the absolute certainty that the mission undertaken is based on the Word of God sustains him and makes him sure about the truths he announces.

The importance of the prophets in the development of the Jewish religion is extraordinary: in their preaching all the fundamental themes that constitute the essence of Judaism are treated, such as the idea of the existence of one God, the only Lord of all universe, the Saint par excellence, infinitely distant from man and, at the same time, lovingly and tenderly close to those who love him; the idea of the sense of sin and forgiveness, of the punishment that will strike individual men and the community as a consequence of turning away from God, until man returns to God and submits himself to him in fidelity and humility.

The prophets speak to the future, threaten or promise that bad or good things will happen, but their perspective is different: the future is seen and interpreted in the light of what God reveals and wants. If the people do not remain faithful to the covenant, terrible calamities will occur; if the people are faithful, times of peace and prosperity will be the setting for their life because only on faith in God can an age of true peace and serenity be built.

The events of history thus take on a symbolic meaning, therefore the victories of Israel over the various enemies, which are described, are the emblem of God's definitive triumph over evil, which will lead to the realization of the Kingdom of God.

The prophetic proclamation is an essential element both for the understanding of the history of salvation, and for the knowledge that helps the believer in the formulation of the reality of God and of the biblical faith and of the great biblical themes of the covenant, of the promise, of belonging to the people of GOD.

Patriarchs

The first Patriarch was Abraham the most famous because all the Israelites descend from him. God, in fact, made a covenant with him by promising that he would be the Father of many nations. Abraham's faith in God is exalted throughout the Bible.

The second Patriarch was Isaac, son of Abraham, who freely accepted his destiny as a sacrifice to God.

The third Patriarch was Jacob son of Isaac, who formed the nation of Israel.

A special invitation

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