The Prophetic Schools in Ancient Israel

 By St. Justin Popovich

The "sons of the prophets" (2 King 2:15) is what the disciples of the prophets were called among the Israelites. They formed communities that were educated under the direct influence of the prophet. The prophetic disciples engaged in prayer, instructive conversations, devotional singing and music, and sometimes received divine inspiration. "Prophesy" according to Holy Scripture does not always mean "foretelling the future" according to the revelation of God; it sometimes means: under the influence of the Spirit of God, to give inspired sermons, to speak instructive sermons, to interpret the word of God (cf. 1 Cor. 14:3-6), to compose prayers and songs to God, to recite them and sing them to the sounds of music. - All this was the goal and task of prophetic communities, prophetic schools. There were such schools in Ramah, Bethel, Jericho, Galgal and other places.

From Lives of the Saints for July (July 20th).

 

 

Homily One on the Feast of the Reception of the Lord (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered on February 2/15, 1952)

"Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until everything is fulfilled" (Matthew 5:17-18).

These words of our Lord Jesus Christ are probably perplexing to many of you.

How does the Lord say that not a single iota, not a single tittle will pass away in the law, until everything will be fulfilled?

Isn't much abolished by the Lord Jesus Himself in the Old Testament law given through Moses?

Have the customs, the fulfillment of those precepts of the law, which were effective in ancient times, been preserved even among the Jews?

This great feast of the Reception of the Lord gives me a reason to explain these words of Christ and remove your confusion and bewilderment.

Interpreting Old Testament Passages That Depict God as "Vengeful"

 

 By Archimandrite Iakovos Kanakis,
Chancelor of the Metropolis of Gortyna and Megalopolis

The study of the Old Testament for someone who does not have significant introductory knowledge of the holy books requires discernment. In other words, you can read the Book of Leviticus and be surprised by the expressions you will read. You are likely to misunderstand what you are going to read precisely because you need a substantial immersive, documented and subtle interpretive approach. So why does it use expressions that present a vengeful God? Or why are expressions used to indicate violence?

In Memory of Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortynos (1941-2021)

Metr. Hierotheos, Metr. Jeremiah and Fr. Arsenios Kombougias at the enthronement of Metropolitan Jeremiah.

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The repose of the late Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortynos and Megalopolis caused me great sorrow, because we lack his earthly presence among us, but also joy, because he left the Church on earth and went to the Church in heaven, which he longed for and for which he lived and conducted himself.

In the last few years, his health was considered failing, but he, being noble, tried not to reveal it.

We have known each other for many years, I have known him since he was a deacon and preacher and from time to time we communicated, at first somewhat sparingly and then more often, especially since I came as Metropolitan to his birthplace, Nafpaktos.

I will write some of my first impressions of the late Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortynos.

Abishag the Shunamite as an Image of the Wisdom of King David in his Old Age

 

Paris Psalter, David holding open Psalter flanked by Wisdom and Prophecy, c. 950.

 

By St. Jerome

Excerpt from Letter LII: to Nepotian

Once David had been a man of war, but at seventy age had chilled him so that nothing would make him warm. A girl is accordingly sought from the coasts of Israel — Abishag the Shunamite — to sleep with the king and warm his aged frame. Does it not seem to you — if you keep to the letter that killeth — like some farcical story or some broad jest from an Atellan play? A chilly old man is wrapped up in blankets, and only grows warm in a girl's embrace. Bathsheba was still living, Abigail was still left, and the remainder of those wives and concubines whose names the Scripture mentions. Yet they are all rejected as cold, and only in the one young girl's embrace does the old man become warm. Abraham was far older than David; still, so long as Sarah lived he sought no other wife. Isaac counted twice the years of David, yet never felt cold with Rebekah, old though she was. I say nothing of the antediluvians, who, although after nine hundred years their limbs must have been not old merely, but decayed with age, had no recourse to girls' embraces. Moses, the leader of the Israelites, counted one hundred and twenty years, yet sought no change from Zipporah.

A Summary of the Old Testament (St. Jerome)

By St. Jerome

 

(Excerpt from Letter 53 to Paulinus of Nola)

Genesis, we shall be told, needs no explanation; its topics are too simple — the birth of the world, the origin of the human race, the division of the earth, the confusion of tongues, and the descent of the Hebrews into Egypt!

Exodus, no doubt, is equally plain, containing as it does merely an account of the ten plagues, the decalogue, and sundry mysterious and divine precepts!

Prophet Obadiah Resource Page

Holy Prophet Obadiah (Feast Day - November 19)

Verses

Once Obadiah made known the future,

Swiftly bringing shame.

On the nineteenth the life of Obadiah passed beyond.

  

Holy Prophet Obadiah 

 

Holy Prophet Obadiah as a Model for our Lives 

 

A Church and Village in Crete Dedicated to the Prophet Obadiah 

 

On the Prophet Obadiah (St. Augustine of Hippo) 

 

Preface to the Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Obadiah (St. Jerome) 

 

Preface to the Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Obadiah (St. Cyril of Alexandria) 

 

Preface to the Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Obadiah (Theodore of Mopsuestia)

 

The Prophet Obadiah and the Day of the Lord

On the Controversial Statements of Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou

I learned lately about the issue created around the sacred personality of His Eminence the Holy Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou concerning one of his pastoral messages and the uproar of many regarding this issue.

Because the pastoral issues of Bishops have universal power, I as a humble Bishop would also like to submit some thoughts, which I think are useful for this entire issue. What I will write will be done with simplicity, as a catechism for the people, by whom it will be read.

Prophet Isaiah Resource Page

Holy Prophet Isaiah (Feast Day - May 9)

Verses

As begotten without impregnation he saw the Son of the Mother,
He who was sawn asunder saw as without beginning the Son of the Father.
On the ninth Isaiah for his visions of the future was handed to the saw.

Synaxarion of the Holy Prophet Isaiah

The Prophet Isaiah as an Evangelist of the Gospel (St. Isidore of Seville)

The Authorship of the Book of Isaiah

Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (St. Basil the Great) 

Prologue to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (St. Jerome)

Prologue to the Homilies on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (St. John Chrysostom)

Homily 1 on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (St. John Chrysostom)

31 Homilies on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)

The "Coal" of the Prophet Isaiah

Old Testament Prefigurations of the Resurrection in the Paschal Canon of St. John of Damascus

By Michael Tritos

No other hymnological text expresses the redemptive, existential and metaphysical dimension of the Resurrection with such completeness and power as does the incomparable canon by Saint John the Damascan.

It’s a masterpiece of Byzantine poetry and one of the most beautiful texts in world literature. Full of sublime spirituality, lyrical expressions and messages of salvation, the Damascene’s canon announces to people of every era ‘the glad tidings of the Resurrection’, the abolition of death, the fullness of life and the triumph of the last days. Above all, however, it stresses the quality and quantity of the joy of the Resurrection. It shows us the way and tells us what we need in order to see the Resurrection. It strengthens us in our efforts to overcome physical and moral evil with the vision and certainty of participation ‘in the unfading day in the kingdom’ of the Lord.

The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

One of the basic phrases associated with St Andrew the First-Called Apostle is his statement to his brother Simon, the Apostle Peter: “We have found the Messiah (which is translated, the Christ)" (John 1:41).

This raises the question of how St Andrew understood the word ‘Messiah’ and what exactly he meant. Is he referring to a messianic expectation that existed in his time among the Jews, and to the appearance of a political leader to liberate them from Roman domination? Or is this a matter of empirical faith, which is connected with Christ as the true God Who took flesh?

Before he said these words, the Apostle Andrew, together with St John the Theologian, had been in the company of St John the Forerunner. He had heard him say of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36), and he had followed Him. At some point “Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, ‘What do you seek?’” They asked Him where He was staying. Christ replied, “Come and see.” And “they came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day” (John 1:38-40).

Elijah and the Mercy of God's Judgments

By Caesarius of Arles

Wretched men are apt to censure the writings of the Old Testament saying: "How was it just for blessed Elijah to burn two captains with their soldiers by means of fire brought down from heaven?" How justly and mercifully this was done, dearly beloved, we want to indicate briefly to your hearts.

In the days of the Old Testament, any crimes or offenses committed among the people were ordered to be physically punished. Thus it is written: "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth." Indeed, some were punished in order that the rest might fear bodily punishment and refrain from sins and offenses. Now, in the time of the prophet, all the Jewish people had abandoned God and were sacrificing to idols, not only refusing to honor God's prophets but even very frequently trying to kill them. For this reason blessed Elijah was aroused with zeal for God and caused some to be punished physically, so that those who had neglected the salvation of their souls might be healed in heart by fearing bodily death. We should consider that not so much blessed Elijah as the Holy Spirit did this.

Old Testament Types of the Holy Apostles (St. Gregory Palamas)

By St. Gregory Palamas

(From Homily 44)

As Jacob produced twelve patriarchs according to the flesh, from whom the twelve tribes of Israel came into being (Gen. 35:22-26), so spiritually Jesus gave us the twelve initiates into His mystery (Matt. 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13). When one of them wretchedly fell away (Matt. 27:5, Acts 1:16-20), the great St. Paul, upon whom Christ had looked down from heaven (cf. Acts 9:3), made up the number.* If we do not see the same number of tribes originating from the apostles, that is nothing at all strange, for spiritual things are divided without losing their unity. In the same way, our body apparently has five senses, but our soul’s perception is single, divided yet united.

On the Old Testament Command of Hatred and the New Testament Command of Love

By St. John Chrysostom

(From Homily 33 on 1 Corinthians)

1 Corinthians 13:8

"Love never fails."

What means, "never fails?" It is not severed, is not dissolved by endurance. For it puts up with everything, since whatever happens will happen, he that loves never can hate. This then is the greatest of its excellencies.

Such a person was Paul. Wherefore also he said, "If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh" (Romans 11:14); and he continued hoping. And to Timothy he gave a charge, saying, "And the Lord's servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all ... in meekness correcting those that oppose themselves, if God perhaps may give them the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

Old Testament Prototypes of the Cross of the Lord

The whole earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ was prefigured with greater or lesser degrees of clarity in many persons, events, and institutions of the Old Testament --- which was a preparatory stage of the Christian revelation. The suffering on the Cross and the death of the Saviour, which were the most expressive manifestation of His boundless love for men and His highest labour for our salvation, are prefigured especially often and in many ways in Old Testament shadows and allusions. This amazing image of our salvation through the Saviour’s sufferings on the Cross and the material instrument itself --- the tree of the Cross --- were sometimes openly indicated beforehand to certain of the Old Testament elect, and, as it were, shone forth from the depths of the ages in many prototypical events and individuals. The divinely-wise Fathers and teachers of Christ’s Church, who, incidentally, expressed their understanding in the very beautiful hymns composed to glorify the Passion and death on the Cross of Jesus Christ, tried in every way to understand the various prototypes of the Lord’s Cross. The aim of our short sketch is to indicate the most significant prototypes of Christ’s Cross in the Old Testament under the guidance of the mind of the Holy Fathers and in accordance with the Church services.

What Saint Paisios the Athonite Said About the Prophet Elijah

- Elder, I am jealous of a fellow sister nun.

- I know which sister you are jealous of, but I learned that she also is jealous of you! I pray both of you become jealous of the zealous Elijah, and that he will cast jealousy away from both of you, and give you his own divine zeal. Amen.

Violence in the Old Testament: A Patristic Perspective

By John Sanidopoulos

When we encounter troublesome violence in the Old Testament that unsettles us, we may take some solace in the possibility that these texts reflect theological and ideological concerns as encountered by the communities that first read these books. Similarly, the Church Fathers tended to not read these stories and interpret them literally, but they transcended the literal reading. They knew that God is not a genocidal maniac who seeks the destruction of human beings, therefore they understood that these passages only truly make sense spiritually and theologically, as they are intended.

Prefigurations of Baptism in the Old Testament

Blessed Jerome says that “the Spirit of God above moved ... over the face of the waters [Gen. 1:2], and produced from them the infant world, a type of the Christian child that is drawn from the laver of Baptism.”1 He also observes, “When the world falls into sin, nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah [Gen. 8:8,11 ], as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan [Mt. 3:16], carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, and bringing tidings of peace to the whole world.”2

Prophets and Prophecy in the Church

The following homily was delivered on October 19, 2014 for the feast of the Prophet Joel in the Cathedral of the Holy Protection in Edessa, at the request of Metropolitan Joel of Edessa.

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

On this occasion [the feast of the Prophet Joel] he [Metropolitan Joel of Edessa] asked me to say a few constructive and supplicatory words, therefore in obedience I wanted to speak on the Prophet Joel and prophecy in the Orthodox Church and in our Orthodox tradition. Essentially I will speak about the theology of prophecy and generally the great value had by the Prophets in both the Old and New Testaments.

The first point is that when one reads, my beloved brethren, the Old Testament, especially the lives of the Prophets, one will find that the Prophets were not just some thinkers, they were not just some theologians, as we now call them, nor were they philosophers. Because there is a huge difference between a Prophet and a philosopher. Philosophers think and attempt to discover God, while Prophets had an experience of God and God revealed Himself to them. Prophets, and this is very important, have encountered the living God, the pre-incarnate Word of the Old Testament, namely the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Yahweh before the incarnation. They saw Him and they communicated with Him. They acquired a participation in the pre-incarnate Word and through Him with God the Holy Trinity. If we read the books of the Prophets, especially the first chapter of each to see how they begin, we will see this reality.

A Spiritual Interpretation of Jacob's Well by St. Maximus the Confessor

By St. Maximus the Confessor

Jacob's well is Scripture.

The water is the spiritual knowledge found in Scripture.

The depth of the well is the meaning, only to be attained with great difficulty, of the obscure sayings in Scripture.