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Prophets

Greek prophetes - one who proclaims

and interprets divine revelationHebrew nabi - which is probably

descriptive of "one called" to speak for

GodHebrew hroeh, English "seer") -

which was what prophets used to be

called in Israel before Samuel (1 Sam.

9:9) because they saw vision

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT of the PROPHETS

The time of the divided Kingdom (Israel and Judah) called especially forcovenantenforcement mediation, which was the task of the prophets.

Those years were characterized by three things:

1. unprecedented political, military, economic, and social upheaval

2. an enormous level of religious unfaithfulness and disregard for the original Mosaic

covenant

3. dramatic shifts in populations and national boundaries

In these circumstances, Gods Word was needed anew. God raised up prophets and

announced His Word accordingly.

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The northern kingdoms disobedience to the covenant had far outstripped anything

yet known in Judah, and Israel was slated for destruction by God because of its sin.

Amos, beginning around 760, and Hosea, beginning around 755, announced theimpending destruction.

In 722 BC, Assyria sacked the capital city of Samaria and thus conquered Israel.

The people of Judah witnessed the destruction of the northern kingdom, as did

Isaiah and Micah, who warned that they were not immune to Gods wrath and

were, in fact, on the same road to destruction.

The mounting sinfulness of Judah and the rise of another superpower, Babylon,

became the subject of the prophets Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, as well

as Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Judah, too, was destroyed for its disobedience and carried off into exile.

When we think of the exile, however, we need to know that there were actually

three deportations.

1. in 605 BC when Daniel was taken to Babylon

2. in 597 BC when Nebuchadnezzar returned to quell a resistance movement;

this is when Ezekiel was taken to Babylon (during all this, Jeremiah remained in

Jerusalem).3. in 586 BC when Jerusalem was finally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar

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After the exile, when the people were allowed to return to

Jerusalem, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi announced Gods

will for the rebuilding of the temple, the rebuilding of the

nation, and the reinstitution of orthodoxy.

God spoke through His prophets to people in a given time

and place, and under given circumstances.

A knowledge of the date, audience, and situation, therefore,when they are known, contributes a great deal to a readers

ability to comprehend the prophets messages.

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ISAIAH

The messenger of the message of salvation is the prophet Isaiah, whose name

means salvation of Yahweh, or Yah saves.

He was the son of Amoz; he may also have been related to the royal family,

perhaps King Manasseh, by whom he was believed to have been sawn asunder

(see the Apocryphal literature; Heb. 11:37).

He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, and also

may have lived past Hezekiah into the reign of Manasseh.

Assuming that he was a young man at the death of Uzziah in 742 B.C.when

his official ministry began, he might have been 70 or 80 at the time of his death(ca. 680 B.C.).

The prophet would have ministered for at least 60 years in an effort to bring

the nation back to God.

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What would become of the promises of God?

How could the chosen people survive, let alone be a theocracy again?

Must the remnant of the righteous also suffer with the nation that for all purposes

was pagan?

There would be a purging of the nation because God is holy. Before the nation could

inherit the promises made to the fathers, it would have to be made holy. So God

would use the pagan nations to chasten Israel for its sins and cleanse it from iniquity.

Though the judgment of the captivity would punish sin and destroy the wicked

unbelievers, the removal of iniquity would ultimately be the work of the Servant of

the LORD, the promised Messiah.

On the basis of such cleansing and purification, God would then establish the

golden age, a time of peace and prosperity that the world has never known

When the holy God would make the remnant holy, then He would use them to rule

over the nations rather than allow the nations again to discipline them.

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JEREMIAH

The author was "Jeremiah son of Hilkiah

Jeremiah began his ministry at about age twenty in the thirteenth year of Josiah (626

B.C.)

He was of a priestly family (living in Anathoth 25 about three miles NE of Jerusalem)

and came to Jerusalem for the annual feasts.

He may have been well off financially since he bought the estate of his bankrupt

kinsman without difficulty

Josiah offered protection to Jeremiah and good relations

After Josiah's death, Jeremiah was persecuted by the rise of an idolatrous faction in

Judah

Jeremiah was still protected some by god-fearing elders and princes after his

messages against the nation (Chapters 710)

When Jeremiah was forbidden to enter the temple precinct, he sent Baruch as his

spokesman to proclaim prophecies which he dictated to him

http://bible.org/article/introduction-book-jeremiahhttp://bible.org/article/introduction-book-jeremiah

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King Jehoiakim destroyed Jeremiah's dictated prophecies

King Zedekiah allowed the nobles to arrest Jeremiah as a traitor urging the nation to

submit to Babylon

King Zedekiah was also fearful of Jeremiah because of the fulfillment of his past

prediction concerning the Chaldean invasion of 598 so he rescued him and kept him

safely hidden until the fall of Jerusalem

Although Jeremiah was offered a place of honor by the Babylonians for urging theJews to submit to them, he chose to stay with his people in Palestine and minister to

those who remained after the deportation

After the murder of Gedaliah he was taken off to Egypt by fugitive, remnant Jews

who refused to experience Nebuchadnezzar's reprisal

Jeremiah lived a few years in Egypt and then died there

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A. To warn of impending judgment for Judah

B. To exhort people (and specifically Judah) to repentance and

the obedience of YHWH's word

C. To precipitate judgment by confronting Judah's response to

her final warnings and pleas for repentance

D. To predict, warn, and historically record the fall and hope ofJerusalem, as well as, its surrounding nations due to their

disobedience to Yahweh's word

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HOSEA

The author identifies himself as Hosea, son of Beeri (1:1). A Jewish tradition

suggested that Beeri is to be equated with a Reubenite leader who was taken captive

by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III.

Another Jewish tradition held that Beeri was a prophet.

From the various agricultural allusions in the book it could be maintained with equalseriousness that Hosea was a farmer.

Other than these hints all that we know of Hosea comes from his prophecy. There

we learn that he was married to a woman named Gomer and had three children (ch.

1).

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The Book of Hosea portrays the dangers of the observance of

religious ceremony without genuine devotion and commitment

to the Lord. When this is true it all too easily leads tocompromise, selfish ambition, and lack of integrity in ones

personal activities and dealings. If this becomes characteristic of

society at large, dishonesty and corruption become endemic.

When these characterize an entire nation, that nation is inimminent danger of Gods judgment.

Such was the situation in which Gods prophet Hosea

ministered. Nevertheless, Hoseas message was more than

solemn warnings. It contained a note of hope: with sincererepentance and asking Gods forgiveness, accompanied by

renewed commitment to the Lord, Gods people may find

forgiveness and restoration to Gods favor and blessings

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SYNTHESIS

A truly prophetic voice is one who has the courage, perhaps even in some sense the

calling of God, to look around at the community of faith in its status quo and say, "Not

everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven." A prophetic voice is

one who calls God's people to return to their calling as His people. A prophetic voice is

one that will not settle for the status quo, not for the sake of stability, or security, or

comfort, or even for the sake of conserving the tradition. A truly prophetic voice is a

radical voice, a liberal voice that calls for change, even if that change is a return to a

vital tradition long obscured by false piety and self-righteousness.

A prophetic voice will not gloss over injustice or oppression, will not be silent in the

face of bigotry or prejudice or false pride, and will not compromise faithfulness for

practical ends no matter how noble those ends may be in themselves. A truly prophetic

voice is one that will sweep away all the trappings of religion and simply ask, "Whatdoes God require?", and answer simply, "do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with

God." Or simply "love God, love others." A prophetic voice is one that will settle for

nothing less than holiness of heart and life as the result of faithful obedience to the

voice of God. In a real sense, a prophetic voice even today is the voice of God.

- Dennis Bratcher, Prophets Today?