Introduction to the Bible
Class Six – The Prophets
1) Opening Prayer – (Advent Two) – BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
2) Questions and review from last time.
The Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
3) “Who Spake by the Prophets”…Nicene Creed
a) Christians have affirmed from the earliest days that even before the Incarnation God spoke to His people.
b) The prophets were recognized as divinely inspired messengers of God, not only about the future but also about their contemporaries.
c) Their utterances were directed towards commentary on past behavior of
i) Ie., Zedekiah foretells the overthrow of the Syrians by equipping himself with horns of iron (Read - 1 Kings ) – it was understood by the early Christians that this action did not merely foretell but influenced the future (Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church).
ii) Many prophets did more then simply ‘preach’
(1) Isaiah went about naked ‘for a sign’ (Is 20)
(2) Jeremiah wore a yoke on his shoulders (Jer 27)
(3) Ezekiel performed a number of symbolic actions (Read Ezekiel 12)
4) Who are the prophets?
a. Four “Majors”
i. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel
b. 12 “Minors” (Minor Prophets are “minor” in size only – the term says nothing about their importance or value).
(a) Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi
5) Four general categories of the Prophets
a) 8th Century
i) Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah
b) Immediately pre-exilic (late 7th to early 6th centuries)
i) Nahum, Zephaniah, Habbakkuk, Jeremiah
c) Exilic prophets
i) Ezekiel, Daniel
d) Post Exilic
i) Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Obadiah, Joel, Jonah
6) Facts about the Prophets (from our earlier class – The Old Testament Prophets)
a) More individual books of the Bible come under the heading “Prophets” than any other heading.
b) Written between 760 and 460 BC.
c) There are many other Prophets in the bible who do not have books in our list – ie., Elijah, Elisha, Nathan, Samuel, even Moses.
i) The difference between those who “got books” and those who didn’t is the nature or form of their message:
(1) Prophet’s primary function was to speak for God to their contemporaries – they were chosen to speak Oracles (Messages from God).
(2) Other prophets fulfilled very important roles; however we know more about those prophets than we do about their actual words – their books or lives are more historical or even biographical (Jonah, and, to a lesser extent, Daniel).
A key distinction – in the “Narrative books” we hear about Prophets and very little from prophets. In the prophetic books we hear from God via the prophets and very little about the prophets themselves.
7) What is Prophecy? Who is a Prophet?
a) It is NOT “fortune telling, fore telling or predicting the future”
i) Less than 2% of the Prophets deal with Messianic prophecy
ii) Less than 5% deals with the “New Covenant”
iii) Less than 1% concerns “future telling”.
b) The prophets did on many occasions mention the future – but it was generally the immediate future of Israel, Judah or other nations (as opposed to our future) and was generally in the context of God’s redemptive plan – ie., when God’s people fell away they received God’s curses with promises of future infliction of punishment. When God’s people repented, or when the enemies of
8) Problems with understanding the Prophets
a) Our own bias – ie., meaning of prophecy
b) Lack of detailed contextual or historical information
i) Things crystal clear to a prophet’s audience are, at best, opaque to us.
ii) Without proper context it is hard for us to properly apply their message.
c) It is unlikely the prophecies were intended to be written – most communication of the day was oral
i) What we have is a collection of spoken oracles that were then consolidated into written works.
(1) Order may not be chronological
(2) Not always easy to know when one oracle stops and another begins.
d) Oracles were typically poetic, complicating translation and interpretation for us.
9) The Function of Prophecy
a) “Covenant Enforcement Mediators”
i) God’s covenant with His people sets expectations for both parties – right behavior (ie., following the rules) by
God does not merely give His law – He also enforces it!
(1) Noetic Covenant – Genesis 9
(2) Abramic Covenant – Genesis 17
ii) Most of the announcements by the prophets will be God’s curses because the writings come primarily from a time – ie., 700-500 BC – when
iii) The period of the 16 prophets was a period characterized by three things:
(1) Unprecedented political, military, economic and social upheaval;
(2) An enormous level of religious unfaithfulness and disregard for original Mosaic covenant
(3) Great shifts in populations and national boundaries.
(4) The north (Amos & Hosea) -
(5) The south (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk & Zephaniah) –
(6) Restoration (Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah & Malachi).
Deuteronomy 4:25-31 – Mosaic pattern for future events
The prophets are speaking to these events – it is necessary to understand therefore the historical context to rightly interpret the message.
b) The prophets message is Gods; NOT their own
i) “Thus saith the Lord”.
(1) Generally the pronouncements are in first person; ie., it is God talking to His people.
ii) A prophet presuming to take office on his own authority would be a false prophet.
c) The prophets’ message is usually unoriginal – in other words – they do not bring new doctrine but, rather, reminders of the Law as already established through Moses.
10)Prophecy was well known in other cultures
i) However, over time Hebrew prophets tended to differ from those of other cultures
(1) Ecstatic utterances or ‘frenzied states’ were known in Israel, however the emphasis tended to increasing point towards the Glory and Righteousness of God and to the expectations God placed upon His people – especially moral and ethical as well as emphasis against false worship.
Scriptural References
1 Kings -15
10 And the king of
11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.
13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
14 And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.
15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
Ezekiel 12
The Exile Symbolized
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.
3 "Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. 4 During the daytime, while they watch, bring out your belongings packed for exile. Then in the evening, while they are watching, go out like those who go into exile. 5 While they watch, dig through the wall and take your belongings out through it. 6 Put them on your shoulder as they are watching and carry them out at dusk. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have made you a sign to the house of
7 So I did as I was commanded. During the day I brought out my things packed for exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulders while they watched.
8 In the morning the word of the LORD came to me: 9 "Son of man, did not that rebellious house of
10 "Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This oracle concerns the prince in
"As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.
12 "The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. 13 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to
15 "They will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
17 The word of the LORD came to me: 18 "Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water. 19 Say to the people of the land: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: They will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there. 20 The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
21 The word of the LORD came to me: 22 "Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the
26 The word of the LORD came to me: 27 "Son of man, the house of
28 "Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
