Why were the prophets listened to so rarely and so unwillingly? What does it mean, in general, to hear a prophet? The prophets did not say anything entirely new. They often rethought traditional ideas about Judgment, about the Kingdom, about communion with God, and were the first to speak of the coming Messiah...
Why were the prophets listened to so rarely and so unwillingly? What does it mean, in general, to hear a prophet? The prophets did not say anything entirely new. They often rethought traditional ideas about Judgment, about the Kingdom, about communion with God, and were the first to speak of the coming Messiah. Most of what the prophets said was already known to their listeners in one way or another: most often they reminded them of the Torah, of the need to keep the commandments, and of the fact that no sacrifices can replace living communion with God, without which they simply lose their meaning. Many people probably thought that they had heard nothing interesting or new, that the prophets were saying banalities, and that there was no reason to listen to them.
Fallen human nature tends to seek variety more than depth. The prophets tried to direct their listeners into the depths, having in view above all their spiritual life. The newness of the prophetic call in the life of a specific person could appear only if that person truly tried to keep the commandments, and not occasionally, from time to time, but constantly, every day and every hour. Then such a person would very soon see clearly that, by and large, he was no righteous man at all, and that he was still infinitely far from the ideal proposed by the Torah. A person would suddenly understand that keeping the commandments is hardest precisely in the everyday flow that makes up the life of every ordinary person. Any reminders of the commandments would seem quite appropriate to him, just as every sound that can keep him from falling asleep seems appropriate to a sentry afraid to sleep at his post.
There have been few people in every age who desired such a life. Occasional religiosity is not enough here; what is needed are constant spiritual efforts, which become fitting when God becomes for a person the unquestionable and genuine reality of his own life. The same reality He was for the prophets. Then the path of righteousness, leading into the Kingdom of God, takes on meaning as well. Otherwise, alas, all calls to keep the Torah seem to those who listen either banalities or altogether empty words. Although the emptiness they see is not in the words of the prophets, but in their own heart.
