Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: New to the Bible – Bible Structure
Post Topic: OT Books of Prophecy
Post in Thread: #5
Previous: OT Books of Poetry
Next: New Testament Structure
Scripture: Isaiah through Daniel (Major Prophets);
Hosea through Malachi (Minor Prophets);
Key Verse:
Malachi 3:7
“Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
Note on this post
This post fits within a continuing series meant for readers who are less familiar with Scripture. Unlike most Burning Bush blogs, this series is designed to explore the organizational structure of the Bible more than a particular topic. The same introductory overview is included in each post in case someone jumps into the middle of the series.
Books of the Bible – Overview
Imagine two bookshelves – one with 39 books, and one with 27 books. The shelves have dividers between groups of books. Each group belongs to its own genre. There’s a group of historical fiction, a group of thrillers, a group of how-to books, biographies, etc.
Now imagine that the top shelf is the Old Testament and the bottom shelf is the New Testament. The genres, or categories, of each testament, is what we’re going to discuss. This post will deal with the Old Testament.
Major Prophets and Minor Prophets
The major prophets, Isaiah through Daniel, are so named because the books are longer and we know more about them. The minor prophets, Hosea through Malachi, are just as important, but their writings are much shorter. Because of the similarities, both categories will be covered together in this post.
When studying a particular prophet, it’s important to know what time period in which they lived and who they were speaking to. After King Solomon, the nation split into two kingdoms: Israel in the north, and Judah (including Jerusalem) in the south. Prophets lived and prophesied to both kingdoms, and in later years, prophesied to the exiles in Babylon. There were even some prophets who preached to Gentile nations.
Reference material is provided at the bottom of this post about these OT prophets-when and where they lived, and who they spoke to. Do not feel the need to memorize this list, but do take a glance at it.
Observations
- The major and minor prophets are men who lived some time after the kingdom split into two – the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
- Many prophets overlapped. Some prophesied to Israel and some to Judah. They warned of impending doom and the fall of the nations if they did not repent.
- Despite the warnings, no less than 20 successive kings of the northern 10 tribes turned their back on God, often worshipping pagan gods and performing pagan rituals. In 722, they fell to the Assyrians.
- Judah had the occasional righteous king, and therefore did not fall as soon, but in 586 Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took back exiles, including a young Daniel.
- Following the destruction of Israel and Judah, the prophets were not silenced. They spoke to the Jews in exile, and were instrumental in a portion of the Hebrews returning to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
- Prophets did not live easy lives. Usually rejected, they were sometimes persecuted and/or killed for their outspokenness.
Interpretation
Setting and Authors
- Authors spanned hundreds of years in settings from Jerusalem to Samaria, Damascus, Nineveh, and Babylon.
Genre – Mostly prophetic, but some narrative included (in Daniel, for example).
Takeaways
- Prophets were primarily concerned with restoring the relationship between God and the people.
- Prophets constantly called for repentance and warned of impending judgment.
- Prophets offered a message of hope and restoration.
- Their messages pointed toward the coming Messiah, Jesus.
Correlation
- James 4:8 – Come near to God, and he will come near to you.
- Acts 7:51-54 – The first martyr Stephen, before he was stoned, gave a speech that further inflamed his accusers. Starting in verse 52 he says: “Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him—you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
- Stephen speaks to the persecution suffered by God’s messengers.
- He also speaks to the foretelling of the coming of Christ by the prophets.
Application
Generic Applications
- God is slow to anger, but eventually disobedience will have consequences. Even if we’ve faced those consequences, however, God seeks restoration.
Personalize it
- Has God placed someone in my life with a prophetic voice that He wants me to listen to? It might be as simple as a man/woman of wisdom to learn from.
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
Reference Information – A Visual History of the Split Kingdom
The books of history and prophecy in the Old Testament are not always arranged in chronological order. Further complicating matters, some stories and prophets are associated with the northern kingdom of Israel, while others are associated with the southern kingdom of Judah. The authors usually don’t differentiate, making it confusing when you start a new book or study.
The chart below is intended to provide a visual of the history of the kingdom, so when you see a random king’s name you’ll be better equipped to comprehend the context (dates are approximations):
Kings of Israel
The United Kingdom
Saul
David
Solomon
The Divided Kingdom (c930 BC)
Kings of Israel (North)
Jeroboam I
Nadab
Baasha
Elah
Zimri
Omri
Ahab
Ahaziah
Joram/Jehoram
Jehu
Jehoahaz
Joash/Jehoash
Jeroboam II
Zechariah
Shallum
Menahem
Pekahiah
Pekah
Hoshea
Northern Kingdom Falls to Assyria (722BC)
Kings of Judah (South)
Rehoboam
Abijah/Abijam
Asa
Jehoshaphat
Jehoram/Joram
Ahaziah/Jehoahaz
Athaliah (queen)
Joash/Jehoash
Amaziah
Uzziah
Jotham
Ahaz
Northern Kingdom Falls to Assyria (722BC)
Hezekiah
Manasseh
Amon
Josiah
Jehoahaz
Jehoiakim
Jehoiachin/Jeconiah
Zedekiah
Southern Kingdom Falls to Babylon (586 BC)
Old Testament Prophets
| Prophet | Aprox Dates | Prophesied to: | Contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah | 875 – 825 BC | Israel (North) | King Ahab and Queen Jezebel; Ahaziah; Jehu; his protégé Elisha |
| Elisha | 850 – 800 | Israel; Damascus/Aram | King Jehu most prominently; King Hazael of Aram; His mentor Elijah |
| Joel | 835 – 800? | Judah (South) | Uncertain |
| Jonah | 790 – 750 | Ninevah (Assyrian capital) | Jeroboam II (Although Jonah prophesied to Gentiles) |
| Amos | 760 – 740 | Israel | Jeroboam II; Uzziah; the prophet Hosea |
| Hosea | 750 – 710 | Israel | Jeroboam II; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah; Amos; Isaiah; The final kings of Israel before exile |
| Isaiah | 740 – 690 | Judah | King Uzziah (Isiah’s vision the year Uzziah died), Hezekiah, and others; Prophets Micah in Judah and Amos/Hosea in Israel |
| Micah | 735 – 700 | Judah | Kings Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah; Prophets Isaiah, Hosea |
| Zephaniah | 640 – 620 | Judah | King Josiah; Jeremiah, Nahum |
| Nahum | Before 612 | Judah | King Josiah; Zephaniah |
| Jeremiah | 626 – 586 | Judah, especially Jerusalem | Last five kings of Judah – Josiah through Zedekiah Pharaoh Necho; Nebuchadnezzar |
| Habakkuk | c605 | Judah | Jehoiakim; Nebuchadnezzar; Jeremiah |
| Obadiah | unknown | Judah | Some place Obadiah during the time of Elisha; others place him during the exile and Jeremiah |
| Daniel | 605 – 536 | Exiles in Babylon | Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzer of Babylonia; Cyrus of Persia; Darius the Mede |
| Ezekiel | 593 – 571 | Exiles in Babylon | Nebuchadnezzar; Jeremiah; Daniel |
| Haggai | 520 | Exiles; Temple re-builders | Darius of Persia; Zechariah |
| Zechariah | 520 – 480 | Temple Re-builders | Darius of Persia; Haggai |
| Malachi | 445 – 425 | Jews who’d returned to Judah | Artaxerxes I, king of Persia; Nehemiah; Ezra |