LECTURE FIVE

DGE101T
 Prophecy in the OT:
• THE PROPHETIC ERA (MAJOR AND MINOR PROPHETS)
• Introduction:
• The biblical description of a prophet is someone called by God to
receive God’s message and to deliver it in accordance with God’s
instruction. The Hebrew title for prophet is “Nabi”, other titles
given to a prophet in the Bible includes, “man of God”, “A Seer”, “A
servant of Jehovah”, all suggesting a prophet’s intimate
relationship with God and his total loyalty to him. The prophets
came as spokesmen from God with a message for their generation.
 Prophecy in the OT:
• There are two types of prophets in the Bible
namely:
• 1. Oral prophets
• These are prophets who made prophecies but did
not write any books. These include prophets like;
Ahijah, Iddo, Jehu, Elijah, Elisha, Obed, Shamaiah,
Azriah, Hanani, Jahaziel, Huldah, Micaiah, Nathan
and Eliezer.
 Prophecy in the OT:
• 2. The writing prophets
• These were prophets who prophesied as well as
writing prophetic books. These include the major
and minor prophets. They wrote a total of 17
books. These prophets prophesied during specific
periods of Israel’s history.
• Classification of the oral prophets (Major and
Minor)
 Prophecy in the OT:
• One would think, if you look at the length of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel that "major" prophets had more to say since the minor
prophets' books are very short. Some people think that the "minor"
prophets weren't the heavy hitters when it came to prophesy. If you
have been following the Bible Overview and discussion of each of the
books, you will notice that these individuals aren't "minor" meaning
lesser or not as important. Simply put, if your text required more than
one scroll, you were a "major" prophet. If it was limited to one scroll,
you were a "minor" prophet. The usage of "major" and "minor" had
nothing to do with the quality of thoughts or actions of the prophets.
(biblewise.com)
 Prophecy in the OT:

•• Major prophets-Daniel, Jeremiah,

Ezekiel, Isaiah, Lamentations.
•• Minor Prophets, Micah, Nahum,
Obadiah, Hosea, Malachi, Joel, Amos,
Jonah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Zechariah,
Haggai
 Prophecy in the OT:
• The recipients of the prophetic messages:
• Both the major and minor prophets directed their
prophetic messages to:
• i) The Israelites (The Northern Kingdom)
• ii) The people of Judah (Southern Kingdom)
• iii) Both the Northern (Israel) and the Southern
Kingdom (Judah)
• iv) A few prophesied against foreign nations.
 Prophecy in the OT:
• The Role of the Prophets in the Old Testament
• Forthtelling- They spoke for God against the evils of society, calling
for repentance. A prophet was God’s mouthpiece bringing the
world into divine focus. They brought God’s message to the people.
• Foretelling- Prophets also predicted the future; giving out
knowledge of the future to enable people understand that God
controls events, time, and all things. Most of the prophetic
messages were fulfilled; other were eschatological (referring to the
end times).
 Prophecy in the OT:
• The eras or periods of the prophetic ministry/messages
•- Pre-exilic, they prophesied before the Jews were
taken to exile
•- Exilic -they prophesied when the Jews were in
exile
•- Postexilic-they prophesied after the Jews returned
from exile
 Prophecy in the OT:
• A. THE PRE-EXILIC PERIOD
• This was the period before the Israelites and the
people of Judah went to Assyrian and Babylonian
captivity respectively. God because of gracious
love raised two prophets to prophesy during this
period. These ones include; Isaiah, Jeremiah
(Major Prophets), Hosea, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk and Zephaniah (Minor Prophets).
THE PRE-EXILIC PROPHETS (11 PROPHETS)
DATE (B.C) PROPHET MESSAGE RECIPIENTS REIGN OF:
740-680 Isaiah The salvation of Jews in Judea Uzziah, Jotham,
Yahweh for his (Southern Kingdom) Ahaz, Hezekiah
(major prophet)
people through the
redemption of the
messiah. The
Hebrews are required
to abide by the
covenant and be
optimistic of Gods
comfort and
deliverance.
627-585 Jeremiah Warning of God’s Jews in Judea and Josiah, Jehoahaz,
impending judgment Babylonian captivity Jehoiakim,
(major prophet)
because of the (Southern Kingdom) Jehoiachin, Zedekiah.
rampant sins among
the Hebrew people
without repentance
God will subject
them to captivity in
Babylon. God
however will restore
them back to himself
under a new
covenant.
586 or 585 Jeremiah Laments and
(Lamentations) mourning over
what befell Judah
in 586 BC. The
Babylonians
destroyed the holy
city of Jerusalem
and the temple of
God. Many of the
Jews were then
taken to Babylon
as exiles.
755-715 Hosea The steadfast Israel (Northern Uzziah, Jothan,
unfailing love of Kingdom) Ahaz, Hezekiah.
God for Israel
inspite of her
continued rebellion
against him. They
have adulterated
their faith and
defiled themselves
with idolatry
835-796 Joel Warning against Judah (Southern Not certain
Judah for the Kingdom)
coming judgment
in the day of the
Lord. He calls on
Judah to repent for
God to restore his
relationship with
them and bless
them.
765-750 Amos God’s impeding Israel (Northern Uzziah, Jeroboam
judgment against Kingdom) II
Judah for her
socio-political,
economic, and
religious evils. He
also has a message
of hope to the
faithful remnants.
840 Obadiah Pronounced the Judah (Southern Rehoboam,
judgment of Kingdom) Jehoram,
Edom because Jehoash,
of her pride and Amaziah
rejoicing over
the misfortunes
that befell
Jerusalem.
850-780 Jonah God’s Ninevites Jeroboam II of
impending (Assyrians) Israel
judgment over ministered after
Nineveh; and the time of
God’s Elisha before
willingness to Amos and
forgive them if Hosea.
they repent of
their
wickedness.
740-690 Micah Shows how the Mainly to Judah and Jotham, Ahaz and
people failed to partly to the Hezekiah
abide by the Northern Kingdom
stipulation of the
covenant. Obedience
meant blessing and
disobedience would
lead to curses which
will lead them being
cast from the
promised land.
630-612 Nahum The prediction of The Ninevites Josiah. He was a
the fall of Nineveh (Assyrians) contemporary of
as God’s Zephaniah and
retribution against Jeremiah.
the wicked
Assyrians of
Nineveh. They
were proud, cruel
and planning evil
against God’s
people.
606-604 Habakkuk Conveys Habakkuk’s Josiah
perplexity about God’s
delay to punish Judah
as well as his
astonishment that God
could use a wicked
nation like Babylon to
punish his people.
However he is revealed
with appropriate
answers to his
perplexing questions.
625 Zephaniah Zephaniah speaks to
the people of Judah
whose moral and
spiritual life had
been dulled by the
evil influence of the
reigns of Manasseh
and Amon. He warns
them of God’s
impending judgment
on the day of the
Lord due to their
disobedience.
 • THE MESSAGE OF THE PRE-EXILIC
PROPHETS
• The pre-exilic prophets delivered
messages touching on various socio-
political, economic and religious evils
committed by the Israelites, the people
of Judah, and even the surrounding
nations. The following is a summary of
their messages:
• 1. Judgment
• A number of pre-exilic prophets warned the Hebrew
people of God’s impending judgment if they were not
going to repent and turn away from their evils. Both the
Major and Minor prophets were entrusted by God to
deliver this message to the Hebrews. God also raised
some prophets to direct their judgment messages to
some of the surrounding nations. These prophets
included; Jonah, Nahum and Obadiah. Their prophetic
messages revolved around God’s wrath against them
because of their general wickedness and their
mistreatment of the Hebrew people.
• 2. Warning against Political Abuses
• The prophets took cognizance of the rampant political abuses
that were exemplified during the reigns of some of the ungodly
kings that ruled both in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
Isaiah and Micah prophesied against the social injustices
witnessed in both Israel and Judah. The less fortunate in the
society like the widows, orphans and aliens were oppressed and
treated unjustly. Amos and Micah on this same vein addressed
both Israel and Judah warning them of God’s impending
judgment due to their oppression of the poor, corruption of the
judicial system, extravagance of the ruling class and the
exploitation of the business community who went to the extent
of using deceptive scales in their business. Discuss: How are
political leaders abusing their powers today?
• 3. Moral Decadence
• The pre-exilic prophets spoke strongly against moral decadence
among the Hebrews. This behavior did not only have a bearing in
social disorder but also spiritually. The widespread immorality
which ranged from fornication, adultery, incest, bestiality and
homosexuality were enhanced due to the Hebrew indiscriminative
mingling with the pagan nations. Prophet Jeremiah and Hosea
warned the Hebrews against their high level of immorality which
signified their drastic fall from the stipulation of the covenant.
Hosea in particular conveys how God detested the Israelites
spiritual prostitution. Amos highlights how immorality was so
rampant among the Hebrews to the extent that a son and his father
could even share the same woman (incest). Discuss: How is our
present day society characterized by moral decay?
4. Rebellion against the Covenant
Many of the pre-exilic prophets
prophesied against the Hebrews
deliberate rebellion form the
stipulations of the covenant and asked
them to repent and abide by it. Isaiah
on the other hand appealed to the
Hebrews of both the Northern and
Southern kingdom to restore their
relationship with God and abide by the
5. Warning against False Prophets
During the pre-exilic era when wickedness was so
rampant among the Hebrew people, they were
convinced that God’s wrath was about to be
revealed and dreaded. However, this dread was
wished away by emerging false prophets who
gave soothing messages to the people assuring
them of prosperity and abundant blessings to
come and not touching on the people’s sins. God
raised prophets like Jeremiah to condemn these
prophets and warn the people against relying on
their deceptive messages lest they would face
6. The day of the Lord
Some of the pre-exilic prophets were
given messages of judgment which did
not only focus on imminent judgment
but also futuristic. Prophets like Joel
and Zephaniah prophesied God’s
judgment and restoration which will be
fully manifested during the end time or
on ‘the day of the Lord’ (Second coming
of the Messiah).
7. Idolatry
Most of the pre-exilic prophets warned the
Hebrews against turning to idolatry.
Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos and Micah
prophesied against the Hebrews turning
away from worshipping their only God as
stipulated in the covenant and turned to idol
gods and goddesses. These prophets warned
that such practice would lead to God’s
wrathful judgment.
Discuss- State some idols that are being
8. Description of the suffering they
will go through
Some of the prophets like Jeremiah
vividly described the nature of
suffering the Hebrews would
undergo during the exile. This kind
of prophecy earned Jeremiah the
nickname “The prophet of doom.”
9. Syncretism
This was one of the most common sins
committed by the Israelites. This is the
mixture of religious beliefs. The
Hebrews tried their level best to
maintain their covenant relationship
with God but at the same time practice
pagan religious beliefs. This act was
detestable to God and most of the
prophets highlighted on this.
10. The Messianic Promise/Restoration
A midst the tough prophetic messages they delivered, a
good number of the pre-exilic prophets had a message of
hope and restoration. Isaiah who has been nicknamed the
“Messianic” prophet is known for his comprehensive
message of restoration of the Hebrew people through the
messiah. He prophesied of the birth, and the mission of
the messiah which included: his presence with his people
(Immanuel), he will heal his people from their diseases,
free them from iniquity suffer to save his people from sin,
establish an eternal peaceful kingdom and bring down
and destroy the power of the evil one. Jeremiah on the
other hand prophesied of the new covenant inaugurated
by the Messiah which will be written not on stone tablets
 Prophecy in the OT:

• Discussion Question:
• What are some of the socio-political,
economic and religious evils the pre-
exilic prophets could address if they
were prophesying in our contemporary
society?
END