There’s a story I’ve often heard told about Old Testament prophets. I don’t think it’s true, but here’s how it goes.
God apparently gave Israel a sacrificial system. He asked for obedience. He asked for victims. And he asked for bloodshed. But in time, and as Israel’s knowledge of God matured, certain groups came to realize that God didn’t actually want this. A religious system that depends on scapegoats, victims, and bloodshed stands in opposition to the divine way of justice and love.
Who made this discovery? It was the radicals … the prophets. It took prophetic insight to imagine a religious world beyond sacrifice. The religious establishment was bent on its own preservation, and lacked the imagination to see otherwise.
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Dr. Matthew Lynch is Dean of Studies and Head of the OT Dept at Westminster Theological Centre (Cheltenham).
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