Identity, a word never distant from our lives. The English word identity is derived from the Latin word identitatem and the French word identité, meaning "sameness or oneness". Often, we ask ourselves questions that are integral to the word identity:
"Who am I?", "What am I?", "Where am I?", "Why am I here?", "How am I recognised?"
As discussed in the previous blog post, identity is both individual and collective and it is a gift from God. The reason why we talk about identity today is because of the impact of identity crisis in different realms- physical, psychological, social, economic, political, religious, cultural and also spiritual.
The word prophetic is to participate in the mission of God towards visioning, envisioning and re-envisioning new humanity. Prophecy is not just foretelling or forth-telling, but it is also creative, transformative and liberating. To be prophetic is to discern the signs of the times and to be ambassadors of the ‘Basilea of God’ in a broken and identity dysphoric world.
In this article, let us venture into some of the prophetic echoes from the bible for today.
a. Prophetic Creator: In the book Genesis, we see the prophetic Creator, who prophetically creates and gives identity to creation. The phrases like 'let there be', 'let the waters/ earth', "let us make" are so prophetic (Gen 1:3, 9, 11, 26). The prophetic Creator who created man and woman in His image and likeness, gives them an identity, an undistorted identity. But, sadly with the disobedience and fall of humankind in Genesis chapter 3, their identity becomes distorted. Not only theirs but also of the entire created order. Thus, sin is the root cause of identity distortion/crisis. Yet, even in their distorted identity, the prophetic, compassionate and gracious, Creator God has not given up on them. He clothes them (Gen 3:21), which signifies the reassurance that even in their distorted identity, they are still His children and it also shows the redemptive plan of the prophetic Creator towards universal restoration.
b. Prophetic Ancestors: The prophetic Creator sought out people to partake in his mission towards restoration. This participatory act and intervention in the lives of people are so important to their identity. The Creator’s covenant with Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and their families is so integral to the formation of their identity. The covenant which signifies the relationship and participation also signifies the fidelity on the part of the recipients of that covenant (ancestors) and it is so integral to their identity in God, even in their distorted identity. The ancestors are prophetic in their relationship with the Creator and also in their participation in the mission of the Creator.
c. Prophetic Exodus: In the Book of Exodus, we see the oppression of the descendants of the prophetic ancestors in Egypt. The call of Moses in chapter 3 has many beautiful themes. The revealed name of the prophetic creator "I AM, YHWH", the Tetragrammaton, the identity of God is integral to the identity of the people. The personal assertive of YHWH is prophetic and proleptic -"I have seen", "I have heard", "I know", "I have come down to deliver". The appointment of Moses as the prophet of the prophetic creator, against the oppressive and unjust structures, is a paradigm for the prophetic even today. The assertive statement "let my people go", spoken by Moses on behalf of YHWH to the king of Egypt echoes even today. The ten plagues, the Passover, the exodus, the Sinai covenant, the tabernacle, the festivals, the sacrifices and many other symbols are so integral to the liberation and formation of the identity of the people of God. Sociological and biblical studies show that it was not only the descendants of the ancestors that were part of this identity but there were other people as well who received this identity through the Sinai covenant. Once again here, the faithfulness to the covenant is so essential to keep their identity, "the people of God".
d. Prophetic Prophets: Biblical studies have divided the age of prophets into "pre-exilic", "exilic" and "post-exilic" prophets.
· Pre-Exilic: The very oppressed people, who were liberated by the prophetic creator and who received a new identity, now became oppressors. The symbols of their identity became mere rituals as in the true essence they were unfaithful to the covenant established. Thus, the so-called people of God became oppressors and indulgers of evil, injustice and unrighteousness. In such a context, the prophetic creator sends prophets to address their infidelity and prophetically calls them to return to their identity in God. Through these prophets God powerfully confronted the oppressive and greedy systems of the society warning them to respond to His call, otherwise, they would lose their identity as people of God.
· Exilic: The people deny those calls and as a consequence are sent into exile, where they once again have a crisis in their identity. The people are dispersed in different places and some have even assimilated into other identities to survive. E.g.: the Hellenist Jews. Amid their exile, the prophetic vision of hope towards restoration is given to them by God’s appointed prophets. God, out of His grace and compassion, promised to give them a new identity if they continue to be loyal to His covenant. Moreover, even amidst their sufferings, God assigned them a prophetic role to act as His Servant among the nations.
· Post-Exilic: In this period, we see some return back to their land. The land was and is so integral to the people's identity. Many prophetic leaders emerged during this time contributing to the rebuilding of the walls, the temple, exhorting and admonishing the people, contributing to the restoration of their identity. The prophets of this time played a vital role in purifying the defiled identity of the returned exiles.
e. Prophetic Revelations: In the New testament, Jesus' person and work are prophetic towards a new identity- "identity in Christ", representing the kingdom values which is a counter-narrative to that of today's world. This identity is so unique from all other identities as it has its profoundness for today and tomorrow. It opposes sinful and exploitative identities that lead to further dysphoric identities. Finally, in the book of Revelation, we see the prophetic role of the writer using symbols and indices which have past, present and future relevance to the identity of the people against the temporal values of injustice, oppression, discrimination, consumerism, capitalism and so on defined by the imperial power structures.
These prophetic echoes serve as a paradigm for today and tomorrow. They call us to take sin more seriously and how it distorts our identity towards creating more dysphoric identities. The prophetic echoes reassert our mission today in understanding our identity in Christ/ God through our covenantal relationship towards the liberation and transformation of people in a context of identity crisis and catalysts.
BE PROPHETIC !!!
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