Opus 2025-537: Similarities

I have been reading in the prophets lately.  I read in reverse order the minor profits and now I’m starting with Isaiah moving forward through the major profits.  They definitely have different styles and deliveries.  I’ve often wondered why I don’t like to spend a lot of time with them.  This morning I noticed a similarity that might explain it at least to me.

Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel are like your roaming evangelist.  They may dress it up with slightly different language, they may add different points here and there, but their major thrust is you need to get right with God.  That is an important thrust.  It is a necessary thrust.  The problem is after a while it gets a bit repetitious and puts me to sleep.

It’s hard to find someone who is willing to put in the study, contemplation and risk presuming original preaching.  The difference between Isaiah and Malachi is very wide.  It occurred to me that Isaiah is probably a series of sermons he preached around Judah.  There was one major theme.  You have sinned.  God is mad.  God is gonna get you.  He’s willing to extend forgiveness if you repent.  Malachi on the other hand progressively goes through God conversing specifically on weak spots in the life of a priest.  There is an intelligent dialogue.  In a sense it still has the same points of Isaiah, but it shows a little bit more touch with the reality of life.

It also explains why I find it so easy to go to sleep during a sermon.

homo unius libri