OT Survey II

Overview of the Prophets

Early Prophesies of Latter Times

4) Moses: Deuteronomy 30:1-10

3) Jacob: Genesis 49:1

2) Job: Job 19:25-27

1) Enoch: Jude 1:14-15

The Difficulty of the Prophets (e.g., Isaiah)

Difficult Vocabulary Almost 2,200 total words. That’s ~

33/chapter. 238 words used nowhere else

Difficult Imagery “Was it not Thou who cut Rahab in pieces,

Who pierced the dragon?” (Isa 51:9c) “He will eat curds and honey…” (Isa 7:15)

Difficult Geography Isa 10:28-34: A convergence on Jerusalem Isa 11:11: “From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros,

Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea”

The Difficulty of the Prophets (e.g., Isaiah, continued…)

Difficult Hermeneutics Isaiah 7:14 – “Fulfilled” in Matt 1:22-23 Isaiah 61:1-2 – Read (partially?) by Jesus in

Luke 4:18-19 Difficult Structure!

Structure

“What makes these books [i.e., Jeremiah and some other prophetic books] particularly, and one might say

needlessly, difficult is the very manner of their arrangement—or to be more accurate, their apparent lack of

arrangement. The reader who meets them for the first time is likely to be quite at a

loss. All seems confusion. There is no narrative for him to follow, nor can he trace any logical progression running through them and binding their parts

together into a

Structure

coherent whole. No sooner has he grasped a line of thought, and prided himself that

he is following it tolerably well, than it breaks off and something quite different is being discussed. The impression he gains is one of extreme disarray; and one can

scarcely blame him for concluding that he is reading a hopeless hodgepodge thrown together without any discernable principle

of arrangement at all.”John Bright, Jeremiah, Anchor Bible, lvi.

(quoted in Dorsey, Literary Structure of the Old Testament, 236).

Bible Divisions

1) Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy)

2) Former Prophets (Joshua – Kings)

3) Latter Prophets (Isaiah – The Twelve)

4) Writings (Psalms, Proverbs, etc…)

5) Gospels and Acts

6) Epistles

7) Revelation

The Prophets in the English Canon

1) Pentateuch: Genesis through Deuteronomy

2) Historical Books: Joshua through Esther

3) Poetry/Wisdom Literature: Job through Song of Songs

4) Major & Minor Prophets: Isaiah through Malachi

Books in the Prophetic Section of the English Bible

IsaiahJeremiah

LamentationsEzekielDaniel

Major Prophets

Minor Prophets

HoseaJoel

AmosObadiah

JonahMicah

NahumHabakkukZephania

hHaggai

ZechariahMalachi

IsaiahJeremiah

Ezekiel

The Prophets in the English Canon

IsaiahJeremiah

LamentationsEzekielDaniel

Major Prophets

Minor Prophets

HoseaJoel

AmosObadiah

JonahMicah

NahumHabakkukZephania

hHaggai

ZechariahMalachi

IsaiahJeremiahEzekiel

The Twelve

IsaiahJeremiah

Ezekiel

Latter Prophets

Former ProphetsJoshuaJudgesSamuelKings

Books in the Prophetic Section of the Hebrew Bible

The Prophets in the Hebrew Canon

The Minor Prophets Twelve

THE LATTER PROPHETS BY SIZEBOOKS CHAPTERS VERSES WORDSJeremiahEzekielIsaiah

The Twelve

52486667

1,3641,2731,2921,050

42,65939,40737,04430,305

4 233 4,979 149,415Adapted from J. E. Smith, The Minor Prophets

***The Twelve also cover centuries, not decades!

The Prophets in the Hebrew Canon

1) Pentateuch: Birth of the nation, Mosaic Covenant

2) Former Prophets: Fall of the nation, Davidic Covenant

3) Latter Prophets: Hope of the nation, New Covenant

4) Writings: Waiting of the nation, How long?

Time Period

Cyrus allowsexiles to return

539 BC(Ezra 1:1-4)

Judah exiledby Babylon

586 BC (also 605, 597)

(2 Kgs 25)

Israel exiledby Assryia

722 BC(2 Kgs 17)

Solomon beginsbuilding the temple

966 BC(1 Kgs 6:1)

The Exodusfrom Egypt

1446 BC(1 Kgs 6:1)

Israel entersEgypt

1876 BC(Ex 12:40-41)

Abraham’s birth

2166 BC(Gen 12:4; 21:5;

25:26; 47:9)

Torah(Gen-Deut)

Former Prophets(Joshua-Kings)

Latter Prophets

(Isaiah-Malachi)

Time Period (cont…)

Nehemiah inJerusalem~ 420 BC

Cyrus’sdecree539 BC

Babylonianexile

586 BC

Assyrianexile

722 BC

Jeroboam II (Israel)Uzziah (Judah)

770 BC

Jonah,Hosea

,Amos

Isaiah,Micah

AssyrianDefeat701 BC

Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk

Ezekiel,Daniel

Haggai,Zechariah

Malachi

Joel?Obadiah?

Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel

“I will no longer show compassion to the

house of Israel, that I should forgive them;

but, I will show compassion to the house of Judah and

will save them by the LORD their God, not

by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen”

(Hos 1:6b-7)

722Fall ofIsrael

701Jerusalem

Spared

605First

Deportation

597Second

Deportation

586Fall ofJudah

Hosea

“I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.”

(Isa 38:6)

“The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have

stored up until this day, will be carried off to

Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.”

(Isa 39:6)

Isaiah

Map taken from Ezekiel, NICOT, p. xxi

Jeremiah

BEFORE 586"Behold, I set before

you the way of life and the way of death. He who dwells in this city will die by the sword

and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. For I have set My face

against this city for harm and not for good," declares the LORD. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.” (Jer

21:8-10)

AFTER 586“If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you

down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I shall relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,” declares the LORD, “for I am with

you to save you and deliver you from his

hand. I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to

your own soil. But if you…

AFTER 586 (cont…)…are going to say, ‘We

will not stay in this land,’ so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your

God, saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of

Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the

sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there’; then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O

remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you really set your mind to

enter Egypt, and go in to reside there, then it will…

AFTER 586 (cont…)…come about that the sword, which you are afraid of will overtake

you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine,

about which you are anxious, will follow

closely after you there in Egypt; and you will die

there. So all the men who set their mind to go to

Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by

famine, and by pestilence; and they will

have no survivors or refugees from the

calamity that I am going to bring on them.’ For thus says the LORD of

hosts, the God of Israel, ‘As My…

AFTER 586 (cont…)…anger and wrath have been poured out on the

inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be

poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an

object of horror, an imprecation, and a

reproach; and you will see this place no more.’ The LORD has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go into Egypt!’

You should clearly understand that today I have testified against you.” (Jer 42:10-19)

“As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the

inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Ezek 15:6)“Although I have cast

them far off among the Gentiles, and although I

have scattered them among the countries, yet

I shall be a little sanctuary for them in

the countries where they have gone…I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the

countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” (Ezek

11:16-17)

Ezekiel

Purpose of OT Survey “This class is designed to survey the

Hebrew Scriptures so as to give the student a good framework for understanding God’s plan and character as He deals with the nation of Israel. The Old Testament will be studied according to the division of the English canon: Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the broad sweep of this portion of divine revelation, and particularly on how later revelation builds on earlier revelation.”

Purpose of OT Survey “This class is designed to survey the

Hebrew Scriptures so as to give the student a good framework for understanding God’s plan and character as He deals with the nation of Israel. The Old Testament will be studied according to the division of the English canon: Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the broad sweep of this portion of divine revelation, and particularly on how later revelation builds on earlier revelation.”

Exodus 20

1) … no other gods before Me (v. 3)

2) … not make for yourself an idol (v. 4)3) … not take the name of the LORD your God in vain (v. 7)

4) Remember the sabbath day (v. 8)5) Honor your father and mother (v. 12)6) You shall not murder (v. 13)

8) You shall not steal (v. 15)

7) You shall not commit adultery (v. 14)

10) You shall not covet … (v. 17)

9) You shall not bear false witness (v. 16)

Torah Latter Prophets

Hosea 4:1-2

Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the

inhabitants of the land, because there is no

faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land.

There isswearing,deception,

murder,stealing,

and adultery.

They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed

Jeremiah 7:9-10: “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ -- that you may do all these abominations?”

Torah Latter Prophets

Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Former Prophets Latter Prophets

Daniel 9:1-3: In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans--in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Latter Prophets Writings

Next Week

Song of Solomon