Why and when did the prophetic voices vanish from the official leadership stage of the Jewish people?
Zechariah, followed by Malachi, are the last two prophets, and even though spiritual leadership will continue with new titles and approaches - their closing chapters define a definitive departure from centuries of communication with the divine voice.
What were the social conditions that led to this shift?
In The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann writes that
“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.”
Somehow, with time, as Judah began to build itself again in Jerusalem in the 6th century BCE - the power structures shifted, which may have had to do with that. But the other factors were global -- the overall approach to religious leadership changed as slowly the move from divination and sorcery took over the ancient world - looking for god in the mind.
Zechariah is on brand when he describes the transition from the old prophetic days towards what’s yet to come. He describes a violent climate, McCarthy Era style, in which the prophets will not be allowed to practice their old ways anymore, and family members will turn on each other to denounce the previous paths into the sacred. Familiar with so much revolutions over history, this too will require people to renounce their truths, hide their beliefs and even their uniform or religious attire. Zechariah is most likely addressing ‘the false prophets’ -- just as others had done before him. He is, after all, a prophet himself - a real one, for the real god, not fake news. But the sweeping vision may just include his own ranks as well:
וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יֵבֹ֧שׁוּ הַנְּבִיאִ֛ים אִ֥ישׁ מֵחֶזְיֹנ֖וֹ בְּהִנָּֽבְאֹת֑וֹ וְלֹ֧א יִלְבְּשׁ֛וּ אַדֶּ֥רֶת שֵׂעָ֖ר לְמַ֥עַן כַּחֵֽשׁ׃
“On that day, every one of the prophets will be ashamed of the visions they had when they prophesied. In order to deceive, he will not wear a hairy mantle anymore.
Zechariah 13:3-4
So ss Zechariah describing the end of his own career and vocation? The choice to talk about the ‘hairy mantle’ may hint at what he meant, and whose prophetic voices he intended to silence.
The ‘hairy mantle’ worn by prophets - some sort of shamanic garb likely made of fur and skins - was worn by several Hebrew prophets. The most famous among them is Elijah. His hairy mantle is mentioned five times - three times as his, and twice as belonging to his successor, Elisha. Most scholars claim that what this outfit represents is not just the animal-world divination and a more primal sort of prophetic role but also the simple cloths of farmers, and folklore heroes not identified with city and rank, but with nature and farm folk. What Zechariah is talking about is a new status, and a new way to imagine who is a person representing religious authority, who and how gets to communicate God’s will, and the shift from country to city -- folk religious ways to more formal structures and forms. While he warns of false prophets, as so many others have before, he pages the way to the new prophetic-sage-like model - one that he may represent.
Josh Blechner comments:
“As we know, Zechariah is the penultimate prophet. Following the building of the second Temple, prophecy as a tool of God's word to the people ceases, and the populace shifts more toward a priestly and then rabbinical model. In fact, if nowadays someone was walking around claiming to be a prophet, he would probably be sent to a mental institution. Zechariah's decision not to add the word "false" by the word "prophet" also prepares the people for a day when they will no longer be relying on prophets.”
What will happen to the prophetic power? The divine ability to transcend the here and now and channel what’s happening beyond? The future leaders of religious life, including Judaism, would try to curb this practice and insist on more authoritative agents that the center can control. Hundreds of years after Zecharia, and after the second temple of Jerusalem was also destroyed, Rabbi Yohanan, a Talmudic sage stated:
‘From the day on which the temple was destroyed, prophecy is only given to babies and fools.”
In other words, said the rabbi -- if you want to know what God wants - come to me. And so it’s been ever since. At least officially.
The fur-wearing seers of yore may not be at the helm since the last days of prophecy, but the divine truth emanates through many, often grassroots sources. The artist and the so-called mad, the childlike and the fool who is the court jester continue to channel deep truths, social critique, sacred secrets and visions, at times violent, for who we are and what we want to be. What Zechariah leaves us with is the charting of transition, the ambivalent telling of a paradigm shift that will be with us for centuries -- and is possibly up for another major spin.
Are you ready for the poets?
Image: John Singer Sargent, Frieze of Prophets, East Wall (Haggai, Malachi, Zechariah), 1890s, Boston Public Library
From Prophets to Poets - Ready for the Pslams?!
Dear Below the Bible Belt Readers,
We’ve been following the words of prophets for many, many months, giving us both consolation and tough truths that echo in this troubled time — but now we come to a threshold of transition - prophecy replaced by poetry, and later on by rabbinic tradition. This historical shift is reflected in the Hebrew Bible’s choice of book sequence, as we part with all the prophets and begin to read the Psalms.
What does this mean to us today and why do I call them THE PSLAMS?
Join me on 4/4/24 for our monthly Zoom conversation Below the Bible Belt - as we wrap up the journey with the prophets, and prepare for the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible.
April 4, 2024, 5pm ET
Here’s the link to the next Below the Bible Belt Zoom Live Conversation:
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We pray for healing and peace, prophetic wisdom and activism, along with poetry to help us through these days.
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