“ADVOCATING FOR MONOTHEISM IS ALSO A ROLE OF ISRAELITE PROPHETS.

” HOW
VALID IS THE ASSERTION?

Key words :

Advocating - speaking in support of something

Monotheism - the belief in the existence of a single deity

Role - an assigned responsibility or duty

The question demands us to prove how advocating for monotheism in Israel was also
a role of Israelite prophets. On the other side it demands us to show how some
lsraelite prophets were not heard of being monotheistic. A conclusion to be made
should answer whether it can be said that advocating for monotheism was a role of
lsraelite prophets or not.

Monotheism is the belief in the existence of only one God, all powerful, who created the
world and intervenes in it. This was a major role Israelite prophets upheld.

In Israel, Yahweh is strictly monotheistic, an absolute one, indivisible and

incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. The Babylonian Talmud
references other “foreign gods” as non-existent entities to whom humans ascribe
reality and power which explains why prophet Elijah mocked Baal’s prophets on 1
Kings 18:27 saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone
aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” This
shows that other gods beside Yahweh had no power therefore Yahweh’s prophets had
a duty to make sure that only Yahweh is to be served by the Israelites.

Monotheism in Israel started at Mount Sinai during the Mosaic covenant in the
Decalogue whereby Yahweh instructed His people that, “You shall have no other gods
before me,” (Exodus 20:3). This text identifies God as a jealousy God portraying other
gods as of low or no power.One scholar David Plotz views the Decalogue as God’s
constitution to the people Israel which the prophets were to monitor that people abide
by it. Prophets were then to direct people in the ways of Yahweh and refrain them from
following the ways of other gods. Moses advocated for monotheism in a practical way
when he destroyed the golden calf which Aaron had made for the Israelites to worship
as a god on Exodus 32:20 “And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with
fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon water, and made the people of
Israel drink it.” This practicality in advocating for monotheism is what Yahweh
expected from His prophets.

Just like Moses, Elijah was also a monotheistic Israelite prophet. Despite him being the
only prophet of God left, he stood against Baal’s four hundred and fifty prophets in a
contest just to show how powerful Yahweh is amongst all gods (1 Kings 18:20-30). His
triumph over Baal’s prophets proves that Yahweh is the only God to be worshiped thus
the religion being monotheistic in nature and prophets as advocates of monotheism.

It was upon the canonical prophets to write to the people the monotheistic nature of
Yahweh for next generations to refer and follow. Such is what Moses did on
Deuteronomy 10: 17 “ For the LORD your God is God of gods and LORD of lords, the
great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.” The
strong belief in this statement is given further emphasis by Merriam Webster who
believes that the first verse ofShema (the greatest prayer of Judaism) encapsulates the
monotheistic essence of Judaism which is alternatively translated as “The LORD is our
God, the LORD alone.”(Deuteronomy 6:4)

When the Israelites followed other gods, it was upon the prophets to go around
advocating for monotheism warning the people of the consequences of their actions.
Prophets like Jeremiah and Hosea lamented the apostasy of the people of Israel,
threatening them with the wrath of God if they do not give up their polytheistic cults. In
form of a parable of the destruction of the potters vessel, Jeremiah delivers to the
people the message of Yahweh’s anger on Jeremiah 19:4-15 were verse 8 reads, “And I
will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at; everyone who passes by it will be
horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters.” However, these messages of
destruction come after a warning such as how Samuel advocated for change on
1Samuel 7:3 “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the
foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your heart to the LORD,
and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” All this
proved how advocating for monotheism was also a role of Israelite prophets. This is
also supported by Michael S Heiser's comment in the book"Understanding Israelite
Monotheism" when he said, "There is only one Yahweh. He is not among equals; He is
species unique. That was what the orthodox Israelites believed about Yahweh and it is
the meaning of biblical monotheism."
However, some Israelite prophets are never recorded as advocates of monotheism. It
is never told of prophets like Nathan and Elisha advocating for monotheism. They
uphold other roles of being Yahweh’s spokespersons, anointing and denouncing kings
and maintaining social justice such as what Nathan did when he rebuked King David’s
actions of taking the wife of Uriah on II Samuel 12:7ff. Prophet Elisha was well known
for how he praid to God to make the army of the Syrians blind (II Kings 6:18) and how
his dead bones resurrected a man from the dead on 2 Kings 13:21 "And as a man was
being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of
Eli'sha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Eli'sha, He revived, and stood on
his feet."It therefore becomes debatable that, " Is advocating for monotheism also a
role of the prophets or maybe it is just something they did without it being a role of
every Israelite prophet to do? "

To conclude, every Israelite prophet was well known for doing something great in
his/her life time. The above listed such as Moses being part of covenant making, Elijah
slaying Baal's prophets, Elisha's bones resurrecting a dead man and Nathan rebuking
King David are all part and parcel of their ministries amongst others. Despite some
prophets being never heard of them being advocates of monotheism, it does not stop
them from being ones. The fact that all Israelite prophets were upholders of Yahweh's
covenants automatically made them advocates of monotheism since that is what the
Mosaic covenant and the Shema stipulates.

Done by Janet Gondo