We have finished the Minor Prophets and we are gearing up for the reformers Ezra and Nehemiah before we tackle the Major Prophet Ezekiel. But before we switch modes entirely, we are doing a mini lecture series, a Prophets 101 class. Last week we discussed the Institution of the Prophetic Office. Today I want to explore the Jewish understanding for why prophecy ceased after Malachi.
In Jewish understanding, the cessation of prophecy is a spiritual tragedy, a major loss for the community that will only return in the messianic age. On that, all sources agree. As to why prophecy stopped, rabbis, both ancient and modern, have offered many well-contemplated and biblically based theories but there is no one accepted answer.
According to the prophet Amos, prophecy ceased because of the prevalence of sin and lack of faith. In his own day, idolatry and injustice were rampant, but Amos looked to a future when God would no longer bother to send his prophets to offer course correction. Amos predicted, “the days are coming when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11-12).
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