Introduction to the Prophets, Part 1 (Read Jer. 23:16-29)

(Some of this material comes from the teaching of Dr. Curtis Mitchell of Biola University when I was a student in the late 1960’s.)

Here is a lineup of Old Testament prophets who penned Scripture.

Prophet	Date (BC)	Subject
Pre-Exile
Obadiah	840	Doom of Edom (some think 585 BC)
Joel	830	Day of Lord, judgment of nations
Jonah	814-750	Nineveh called to repentance
Amos	765	Divine punishment for persistent sin
Hosea	755	God’s love for Israel (760-710)
Isaiah	740-690	Coming Savior, Israel’s King
Micah	735-690	Bethlehem’s King & Kingdom
Nahum	650-615	Doom of Nineveh & Assyria
Habakkuk	626	Lord’s Kingdom & people will triumph
Zephaniah	625	Remnant reserved for blessing
Jeremiah   *Lamentations	627-585   586-585	Jerusalem’s judgment & glory Crying over devastation of Jerusalem
Exile
Daniel	606-534	Times of Gentiles, Israel’s Kingdom
Ezekiel	597-570	Future restoration of Israel & land
Post-Exile
Haggai	536-518	Restoration of temple, kingdom foretold
Zechariah	520-480	Messiah, the Branch
Malachi	430-400	Final judgment & warning to the Nation

Definition of Prophecy:

·        The word prophet combines two terms: phemi which means to speak and pro in the place of.  A prophet speaks in the place of God; he is God’s spokesman.  This is evident in all the above lineup of prophets.  Jeremiah has God’s word in his mouth (Jer. 1:9; 15:16). Isaiah answers the call of God, Whom shall I send and who will go for Us (Isa. 6:8).  Ezekiel eats the scroll with God’s words and then tells Israel those words (Ezek. 3:1-4).  Hosea became a prophet when the LORD began to speak by Hosea (Hos. 1:2).

·        There are two key phrases in the prophetic writings.  First, the word of the LORD (e.g. Hos. 4:1) which you will see countless times; this is their message.  Then, thus says the Lord (e.g. Ezek. 2:3-4).  The prophet receives his message from God and then declares it.  These men are never to be understood as declaring the platform of a political party in Israel but as declaring God’s word to the nation, including and especially the leadership.  All of this leads us to understand that the writings of the prophets are the result of the inspiration of God.  This is Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  These men were moved (lit. borne along) by the Holy Spirit as they spoke and wrote (2 Peter 1:20-21).  Thus we must conclude that God is continuing to speak through them today as we read and study their writings.

(We will conclude this introduction next Saturday, Lord willing.)