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Minor Prophets Have Shorter Books The Prophets Messengers of God’s Love What Is a Prophet? • Have a special connection with God and understand his desire; crafted and proclaimed their exhortations to their community Image in public domain public in Image • Not necessarily someone who could tell the future The Prophets: A Radical Redemption • Time and again we see that God’s people lost sight of their covenant relationship with God. • They needed someone to call them back to God. © Cody /Wheeler Shutterstock.com Cody © God creates or enters into a Covenant and it is good. Humanity falls into Peace and God’s healing return to the people. idolatry, resulting in disease, war, and grief. Image in public domain public in Image God sends teachers, The people return to kings, prophets, or following the Covenant. others who lead the people to repentance. Prophets and God’s Covenant • At the heart of the message of the biblical prophets is a return to following God’s Covenant. – The message included a continued honoring of the principles of the Covenant, which were laws that fostered communal identity and domain public in Image practices that brought about God’s desire for peace; justice; human dignity; respect for creation; love of God, neighbor, and self; liberation from sin and bondage; and much more. – This was to be done in “new” ways based on the ways the community had grown and matured over time. What do Prophets have in Common? • They understood that God wanted his People to come back to him with their whole selves. • They lived good, moral lives themselves. • They obeyed God. domain public in Image • They knew that God wanted his People to treat ALL people with justice. The Marks & Roles of the Prophets • Call Narrative: – Mysterious setting • Keep the people and the – God initiates king faithful to the – Resistance to the call covenant – God reassures – Spiritual Warrior: make – Mission is given & sure the king and accepted people were obeying • Popularity the Law of Moses – Most of the prophets were not popular with – Messenger of God: the officials of the state Spoke the words of or the people because God they told the truth – Social Revolutionary: about their sinful Spoke out against actions social injustices • Ex, Jeremiah Diversity among the prophets • God used a variety of people of different backgrounds to convey His message which was coming at different times in history and to a variety of different people How Are the Prophets Different From One Another? 18 books of the Old Testament that contain the sermons, dreams and visions of the prophets of God. Prophets were messengers of God that worked to keep the people (king) faithful to the covenant. • Each has a book of the Bible named after them. • Major Prophets have longer books. • Minor Prophets have shorter books. Minor Prophets • Nahum Major Prophets • Micah • Habakkuk • Isaiah • Hosea • Zephaniah • Jeremiah • Amos • Haggai • Ezekiel • Joel • Zechariah • Obadiah • Malachi • Jonah How Are the Prophets Different From One Another? • They do not have books of the Bible named after them. • They are major characters in the stories in the two Books of Samuel and the two Books of Kings (no written record of these prophets outside of these books). Samuel . Elisha . Nathan . Gad . Elijah • Other people who lived prior to the monarchy are considered prophets because they also spoke for God. These include Moses, Miriam, and Joshua. Message of the Prophets • Form: – An Oracle • A message given in the words of God; Prefaced with “Thus says the Lord”, Uses the pronoun “I” – Paraphrase by the prophet • Expression: – Prophecy of Doom This message was a warningHow? of the disaster that would follow if the King and the people did not change their evil ways – Prophecy of Encouragement This message offered hope for the future if the King and the people changed their evil ways. Message of the Prophets •Unfaithfulness to God’s Covenant – Idolatry • Worshipping false gods • Putting faith in others rather than Yahweh – Social Injustice • Oppressing the poor Why? • Adultery • Lying • Cheating • Stealing • Murder • Any practice that took away the human rights of another Delivery of the message • Mostly oral messages • Sometimes the message was acted out – Ex. Is Ezekiel Time Periods Early Prophets from Israel Early Prophets from Judah Late Pre-Exilic Prophets Exilic Prophets Post-Exilic Prophets LIST OF THE PROPHETS . Former prophets include Samuel, Elijah & Elisha • Latter or Writing Prophets are divided into major and minor prophets, and these distinctions refer to the length of the writings of the latter prophets, not the importance of the prophet or his message. • Major prophets: The major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah ,Ezekiel and Daniel The book of the prophet Isaiah is the longest prophetic book and was probably written by three different writers, Isaiah, Deutero-Isaiah and third Isaiah. The book of Lamentations is included in this section. • Minor prophets: Include Micah, Amos, Hosea, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zechariah, Jonah, Obadiah, Malachi, Zephaniah, Joel & Nahum • Baruch and Lamentations are prophet related writings CHART OF OLD TESTAMENT KINGS & PROPHETS Early Prophets from Israel Jonah • The Book of Jonah is unique in that is not full of visions, but records a small portion of the life of Jonah who is known as the reluctant missionary. We learn from 2 Kings14:25 that Jonah preached during the time of Jeroboam II around 749 B.C. – 790 B.C. • proclaims a coming judgment upon Nineveh's people. But they repented and judgment was spared. Early Prophets from Israel Amos • The Book of Amos tells of how Amos, who was shepherd, preached about how Judah would not escape punishment for her sins, and he preached many other prophecies about other nations. • He was preaching around the same time as Joel and Hosea around 786 B.C. – 726 B.C • He warned Israel of its coming judgment. Israel rejects God's warning. Early Prophets from Israel Hosea • The Book of Hosea is about the prophet Hosea. He preached his message to Israel from about 786 B.C. to 726 B.C. • Story of Hosea and his unfaithful wife, Gomer. Represents God's love and faithfulness and Israel's spiritual adultery. Israel will be judged and restored. Early Prophets from Judah Isaiah • The Book of Isaiah is one of the longest and most important books in the Old Testament. • Isaiah began prophesying around 759 B.C. • Looks at the sin of Judah and proclaims God's judgment. Hezekiah. Coming restoration and blessing. Early Prophets from Judah Micah • The Book of Micah is about the prophet Micah who preached around the time of Isaiah and Hosea around 740 B.C. – 700 B.C. • Description of the complete moral decay in all levels of Israel. God will judge but will forgive and restore. Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Late Pre-Exilic Prophets Nahum • He was preaching around 630 B.C. around the same time as Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. • The Book of Nahum is about the prophet Nahum and his message to Judah (Nahum 1:15). Nahum’s announcement was a “comfort” and a “consolation” to the inhabitants of Judah, as it predicted the downfall of Assyria, a savage and cruel enemy of Israel and Judah. • While the book of Jonah records Nineveh’s reprieve, Nahum predicts its destruction. Nineveh has gone into apostasy (approx. 125 years after Jonah) and will be destroyed. Late Pre-Exilic Prophets Zephaniah • The Book of Zephaniah is about the prophet Zephaniah who was a descendant of King Hezekiah. He prophesied during the reign of Josiah in Judah around 630 B.C. • The theme is developed of the Day of the Lord and His judgment with a coming blessing. Judah will not repent, except for a remnant, which will be restored. Late Pre-Exilic Prophets Habakkuk • The Book of Habakkuk is about the prophet Habakkuk who preached to Judah around 628 B.C. to 608 B.C. He had a complaint against God. He wanted to know why their nation should be destroyed by a more wicked nation. • Near the end of the kingdom of Judah, Habakkuk asks God why He is not dealing with Judah's sins. God says He will use the Babylonians. Habakkuk asks how God can use a nation that is even worse than Judah. • Habakkuk 2:4 … But the just shall live by his faith. (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). Late Pre-Exilic Prophets Joel • The Book of Joel is about the prophet Joel. • It proclaims a terrifying future using the imagery of locusts. Judgment will come but blessing will follow. • The book focuses its prophetic judgment on the southern kingdom of Judah with frequent references to Zion and the temple worship (Joel 1:13– 14; 2:23, 32; 3:16, 21). Joel’s familiarity with this area and the worship in the temple suggests that he lived in Judah, possibly even in the city of Jerusalem itself. Late Pre-Exilic Prophets Joel Dating the writing of the book of Joel remains one of the most difficult tasks for Old Testament scholars because unlike most prophetic writers, Joel gave no explicit indication of his time period. In particular, Joel refrained from mentioning the current ruling kings. One of the most compelling arguments for dating the writing of the book of Joel explains this omission by suggesting the prophecy occurred in the aftermath of Judah’s only ruling queen, Athaliah (d. 835 BC). Upon her death, she left only her young son, Joash, to rule. But because Joash was too young to rule, the priest Jehoida ruled in his place until he came of age.
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