The people might approach God personally and through the ministry of a mediating priesthood, their representatives before Him; He would direct the nation through the ministry of prophets, His appointed representatives to them. It was Gods design that the whole earth be prepared for the first advent of Christ, even as to-day the way is preparing for His second coming. Nothing is known concerning the prophet Habakkuk beyond his name. Predictions of national disgrace, rejection, and woe that were to result from apostasy would never have been realized. Ezekiel God entered into solemn covenant relationship with him (Genesis 15:18; 17:2-7), and his posterity, Israel, inherited the sacred trust of being Gods chosen representatives on earth (Hebrews 11:9) for the salvation of the entire human race. Holiness of character (Levites 19:2; see on Matthew 5:48). Jeremiah has a slightly more commonplace experience, he just hears Gods voice directly tell him that before he was even formed in the womb he was appointed to be a prophet to the nations, no big deal. This period spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Salvation was to be of the Jews, in that the Messiah would be a Jew (John 4:22), and by the Jews, as messengers of salvation to all men (Genesis 12:2, 3; 22:18; Isaiah 42:1, 6; 43:10; Galatians 3:8, 16, 18). If Jeremiah had been writing a novel, he would have been the hero of his own story. It is important to note that all the Old Testament promises looking forward to a time of restoration for the Jews were given in anticipation of their return from captivity (see Isaiah 10:24-34; 14:1-7; 27:12, 13; 40:2; 61:4-10; Jeremiah 16:14-16; 23:3-8; 25:11; 29:10-13; 30:3-12; 32:7-27, 37-44; Ezekiel 34:11-15; 37; Amos 9:10-15; Micah 2:12, 13; etc.). However, 2 Kings 14:25 states that Jonah also pronounced a prophecy concerning the expansion of Israel that was fulfilled by Jeroboam II. What archaeological evidence implies Isaiah was a unified book? When Manasseh came to the throne as sole ruler upon his fathers death, approximately in 686, he lost little time in removing the faithful seer. When Messiah came, His own people, the Jews, received him not (John 1:11). Hearing of all the advantages with which the God of Israel had blessed His people and all the prosperity He had procured for them (Jeremiah 33:9), the pagan nations would admit that their own fathers had inherited lies (chapter 16:19). He had told them that He would progressively diminish their strength and honor as a nation until they should all be carried away into captivity (Deuteronomy 28:15-68; 2 Chronicles 36:16, 17). Acts 1:6), to appear as a liberator and conqueror, and to exalt Israel to dominion over all nations (see on Luke 4:19). 3. 4. Skill in agriculture and animal husbandry. If these rules are consistently followed the resulting interpretation can be accepted with confidence. question. 6566). Jeremiah's Seventy Years Micah was a prophet from Moresheth-gath (chapter 1:1, 14), probably Tell ejJudeideh in southwestern Judah. They would send messengers to Israel with the declaration, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you (Zechariah 8:23). Their own characters were to be progressively ennobled and elevated, and to reflect more and more perfectly the attributes of the perfect character of God (Deuteronomy 4:9; 28:1, 13, 14; 30:9, 10). Continuing faithfully under the following three kings, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (chapter 1:1), he seems to have been fiercely hated by Manasseh, Hezekiahs wicked son. They rejected the Light of the world, and henceforth their lives were surrounded with darkness as the darkness of midnight. God placed His people in Palestine, the crossroads of the ancient world, and provided them with every facility for becoming the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Its messages show that it was written after the time of the kingdom of Judah, when a governor ruled over the country (chapter 1:8), a fact that points to the Persian period. The promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional. Daniel 2:35). Most of them left chronological data by which the duration of their ministry can be determined, at least approximately. 1-39 40-55 56-66. During the reign of Zedekiah, Judahs last king, Jeremiah was thrown into prison, being considered a traitor to his country (chapter 37:11-16) because he advised his people to surrender to the Babylonians. It is possible that Hebrews 11:37 refers to this event. Thus. For illustrations of the reversal of threatened judgment, see Jonah 3:3-10; cf. However, there is no valid reason why Malachi should not be considered a proper name. Nevertheless, Isaiah believed that Judah was Gods chosen nation and they would be vindicated by God. answer. (chapter 5:14), after which he was recalled to Persia. COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PROPHETS ISAIAH, DANIEL, AND ZECHARIAH WebThe major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the other twelve (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) are minor. Theoretically, the word minor signifies not lesser moral or religious or literary stature but only lesser length. Nations that had known nothing of the true God would run to Jerusalem because of the manifest evidence of divine blessing that attended Israel (chapter 55:5). It was probably at this time, when Daniel was nearly 90 years of age, that he was commanded to conclude his book and seal it up (chapter 12:4, 13). A less-well-defined school of interpretation bases its approach to the prophetic portions of the Old Testament on the theory that the prophet, while bearing messages to the people of his day, also took occasional excursions into the distant future, with the result that many of his forecasts did not apply to literal Israel at all, but were intended exclusively for Israel after the spirit, that is, for the church today. Instead of becoming light bearers to the world they absorbed its darkness and reflected that darkness instead. Acts 13:22). The futurist school ignores both the conditional element pervading predictive prophecy, clearly and emphatically proclaimed by the prophets themselves, and the specific statements of the New Testament that affirm that the privileges and responsibilities of ancient Israel have, in Christ, been transferred to the church. Although the Hebrew term naar, youth, or child, by which the prophet designates himself verse (6), does not give an indication of Jeremiahs exact age at the time of his call, the context of the passage in which this word appears seems to favor the interpretation that he was still very young, perhaps less than twenty. WebIsaiah's time, Babylonian exile, and return to exile 21 Q Where did Jeremiah live when he was called to be a prophet? God designed that Israels experience should prove to be a warning to Judah (see Hosea 1:7; 4:15-17; 11:12; Jeremiah 3:3-12; etc.). Another reason to trust God is there is nothing too complicated for Him. Paul states the same truth in Romans 9:30, 31, where he makes it plain that the Christian church has replaced the Hebrew nation in the divine plan. ), through the reigns of Jotham and Ahaz, to the end of King Hezekiah's rule in 686 (Isa. WebJeremiah is allowed to remain in Jerusalem. Obadiahs prophecy, directed against Edom, presupposes that a looting of Jerusalem and a carrying away of many Jews into captivity had recently taken place. Furthermore, Old Testament prophecy must first be examined in terms of its historical application to literal Israel before the validity of a derived application to spiritual Israel may be undertaken. If the nation had been faithful to its trust and had appreciated the high destiny reserved for it by God, the whole earth would have awaited the coming of the Messiah with eager expectancy. Joel 1:15; 2:1, 32) can hardly serve as evidence for either a late or an early date. WebIsaiah's time, Babylonian exile, and return to exile 21 Q Where did Jeremiah live when he was called to be a prophet? 1 Peter 2:9, 10). Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Lips (no Zechariah probably belonged to a priestly family (chapter 1:1; cf. By divine appointment the sacred writings were preserved, century after century, and Israel became their custodian (Amos 3:7; Romans 3:1, 2). Jeremiah 31 Post Exile c. 530 BC First view (and traditional one) is that Daniel was written immediately after the Babylonian exile ended and many Jews returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Isaiah was the great forerunner of the writers. Prophetic Ministry in Jeremiah and Ezekiel 2. The life story of Jeremiah is better known than that of any other prophet. They forgot that God abhors a multiplication of the forms of religion (Isaiah 1:11-18; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:7; Malachi 2:13), and asks of man nothing but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with his God (Micah 6:8; cf. When the catastrophe came, he lamented the terrible fate of his people in the Book of Eichah (Lamentations) which we read on Tisha B'Av. Those nations that rejected the worship and service of the true God, were to be dispossessed, and Israel would inherit the Gentiles chapter (54:3). WebIsaiah was a prophet of the southern kingdom, living in a critical period of his nation. But they are to be saved as Christians and not as Jews. He has a controversy with them because they have rebelled against His authority (Jeremiah 25:31-33), and He will judge (Joel 3:9-17) and destroy them there (Isaiah 34:1-8; 63:1-6; 66:15-18). The prophet Zephaniah traces his genealogy back to an important personage by the name of Hizkiah, probably King Hezekiah (the names are the same in Hebrew) of Judah. Paul emphasizes the fact that the rejection of literal Israel as Gods chosen instrument for the salvation of the world does not mean that individual Jews can no longer be saved (chapters 9:6; 11:1, 2, 11, 15), for he is a Jew himself (chapters 9:3; 10:1; 11:1, 2). All rights reserved. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the L ORD , for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the L ORD. Those in Israel who put forth their best efforts to cooperate with the revealed will of God realized, personally, a measure of the benefits He had promised. This page and its content is copyright 2012. The various abuses rebuked by Malachi are mostly the same as those Nehemiah found when he returned to Jerusalem for his second term of governorship (Malachi 3:8, 9; cf. This article surveys the fundamental problem of the interpretation of the prophetic portions of the Old Testament in terms of their message to Israel of old and to the church today. As individuals and as a nation God proposed to furnish the people of Israel with every facility for becoming the greatest nation on the earth (see Deuteronomy 4:6-8; 7:6, 14; 28:1; Jeremiah 33:9; Malachi 3:12). Did Isaiah Hence, Jonah was probably the earliest of the prophets under discussion. They were to become a nation of intellectual geniuses, and feebleness of mind would eventually have been unknown among them. 4:3 with Amos 8:8; Hosea 4:15 with Amos 5:5; and Hosea 8:14 with Amos 2:5). WebBut the words of Isaiah live with the Jewish people to this day as fresh and as relevant as ever. They interpreted prophecy in accordance with their selfish desires, because their ambitious hopes were fixed on worldly greatness. All men would recognize that Israel stood in a special relationship to the God of heaven (Deuteronomy 7:6-14; 28:10; Jeremiah 16:20, 21). With the crucifixion of Christ they forever forfeited their special position as Gods chosen people. National greatness. RLST 145 - Lecture 19 - Open Yale Courses 740-700 B.C. Because I find it hard to think about BC dates, I've also included the number of years since the end of Solomon's, so that we have a scale of increasing year numbers. Ezekiel 38:16, 18-23; 39:1-7). The importance of their books cannot be overestimated, as many of these prophecies are yet to be fulfilled.