In the last post, we began to discuss the theology of the Hebrew Bible as it pertains to the centralization of liturgical worship. While Biblical critics identify this as a key in sifting alleged “strands” in Israelite religion which contradict each other, this theory fails to explain the genuine structure of the Biblical text. A case study exists in the offering of Elijah on Mt. Carmel: Kings is supposed to be a part of the e“Deuteronomistic history” whose central purpose is to exalt the reforms of Josiah and explain the exile by the failure to centralize Israel’s sacrificial liturgy. So what in the world is a major sacrifice on Mt. Carmel doing at the heart of the book’s narrative? A major theme of the Book of Kings is the failure of the kings to obey the words of God as communicated through the prophets. The prophetic ministry in the life of Israel manifests the preeminence of divine action in the nation. The prophets are called to a charismatic ministry whose authorization comes from the divine call. Not being from a specific family or deriving their legitimacy from their line of descent, the work of the prophets cannot be controlled or stamped out by the kings of Israel and Judah. No matter how hard they try, those rulers who seek to dethrone the Lord of Hosts from the kingship of Israel and Judah are unable to do so on account of the intrinsically unpredictable institution of prophecy. The literary core of Kings is in the extended narratives describing the ministries of the Prophets Elijah and Elisha.
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