Psalms 68:31. There are 12 minor prophets: the last 12 books in the Old Testament. and Jeremiah To their own question, What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them? the Gentiles would answer, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people (Deuteronomy 4:7, 6). They were to be far in advance of other nations in wisdom and understanding. Ambassadors from one foreign country after another would come to discover, if they might, the great secret of Israels success as a nation, and its leaders would have the opportunity of directing the minds of their visitors to the Source of all good things. It is true, he says, that national Israel stumbled at the stumblingstone, Jesus Christ (Romans 9:32, 33; 11:11; cf. They blindly overlooked those scriptures that point to the humiliation of Christs first advent, and misapplied those that speak of the glory of His second coming. Consideration is given to the role of literal Israel as Gods chosen people, to the way His plan for them was to have been accomplished, to the way in which it actually did work out, and to the eventual transfer of the privileges and responsibilities of literal Israel to spiritual Israel, that is, to the Christian church. WebThere are four major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. This page and its content is copyright 2012. Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, God warned them not to forget that the blessings they were to enjoy there if they cooperated with Him would come as divine gifts (see Deuteronomy 8:7-14), not primarily as the result of their own wisdom and skill (verses 17-19). 6566). The formal rejection of Jesus by the Jews, as a nation, marked the close of their last opportunity as the special agents of God for the salvation of the world. Though, on the whole, literal Israel failed to realize her exalted destiny, the chosen race did make a worth-while, though imperfect, contribution to the preparation of the world for the first advent of the Messiah (see on Matthew 2:1). Eventually, all the nations would call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord and be gathered unto it, not to walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart (Jeremiah 3:17). 4. This would make Isaiah first cousin to King Uzziah and grandson to 2 Kings 20:1-5; and of promised blessing, see Exodus 6:2-8; cf. In the endeavor to account for this seeming enigma, Bible expositors have set forth various explanations: 1. God did not forsake His people, even during the Captivity. 1-39, 40-55, 55-66. 3. There, he spent an unknown number of years before his return to Judea and his discovery of the abuses described in chapter 13. God provided Israel with every facility for becoming the greatest nation on the earth. See on Zechariah 1:8. EZEKIEL is born Josiah tries to purify the land 612 Ninevah destroyed according to Nahum's prophecy in the Book of Nahum 1:1-3:19 as prophecied in 663-654BC. Even during the Captivity, and later under foreign tutelage, Israel remained a theocracy in theory if not fully in practice. answer. Webcation of Jeremiah as a true prophet. Godlinessgodlikenessis the goal to be reached. With the call of Abraham, God set in operation a definite plan for bringing the Messiah into the world and for presenting the gospel invitation to all men (Genesis 12:1-3). Web1 God calls Jeremiah to be prophet in Judah. WebWhat are the common divisions of Isaiah made by contemporary scholars? It is possible that he was a Temple singer, since his third chapter is dedicated to the chief singer on my stringed instruments (chapter 3:19). However, when we read his This prophecy must have been pronounced either before Jeroboam came to the throne (approximately 793 B.C.) Chronologically, Isaiah lived during a time just after the northern 10 tribes of Israel were destroyed by the Assyrians. Isaiah 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). Though the prophet looked at events about him, he also could see far beyond his own day. 2. Observe the conditional aspects of the prediction and ascertain whether or not, or to what extent, the conditions were met. answer. The work of no other prophet can be dated so definitely as that of Haggai. Then came a pause in his activity of almost two years, at the end of which Zechariah received another divine message, on December 6, 518 (chapter 7:1), recorded in chapters 7 and 8. WebIsaiah's time, Babylonian exile, and return to exile 21 Q Where did Jeremiah live when he was called to be a prophet? His word endureth for ever (1 Peter 1:25). Under Nebuchadnezzars successors Daniels service seems not to have been desired. Having begun his ministry in the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam II, king of Israel (chapter 1:1), Hosea continued until the time of Hezekiah, king of Judah (chapter 1:1). WebIsaiah 65:12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight." Yet, since Gods purposes are immutable (Psalms 33:11; Prov. Even to the time of the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiahs message remained the same: submit to the yoke of Babylonia. These are followed by chapters 7, 8, 9, 10. 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. In the inspired utterances of the prophets of old the sincere seeker for truth will thus find messages of inspiration, comfort, and guidance for today. Who was Isaiah in the Bible 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). In his early prophecies, he spoke of an unidentified peril which was to come upon Jerusalem and This concept of the role of Israel is reiterated again and again throughout the Old Testament. 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. 3. To pray by faith for God to fulfill His promises, we must be obedient to Gods difficult commands. What archaeological evidence implies Isaiah was a unified book? Hence, 640 B.C., about midway between the two limits, marked by the destruction of Thebes and the fall of Nineveh, would seem to be a reasonable conjectural date for Nahums prophetic ministry. Holiness of character (Levites 19:2; see on Matthew 5:48). Hence, the year 603 can be considered as the beginning of Daniels ministry as a prophet. Yet the book contains no clear indication of the time in which the prophet lived. Who Wrote the BibleGod, Men, or Both? It is impossible to date the devastating plague of locusts that the prophet so vividly describes and compares with the terrors of the coming day of judgment. It ran from the last year Judah's King Uzziah ruled (740 B.C. Thus. A comparison between some of his prophecies and those of Amos indicates that Hosea was a younger contemporary of Amos (cf. He was sawed in half, Menessah killed him. In contrast to Isaiah and others, Jeremiah provided more detail about himself in his book than any of the other prophets. There was nothing God could have done for them that He did not do, yet they failed. Henceforth, he says, there is no difference between Jew and Greek (chapter 10:12, 13). The prophet Jonah was a Galilean from Gath-hepher. Hosea. 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). This fact is recognized by the various New Testament writers, who quoted Isaiah more than 90 times. See Deuteronomy 7:13; 28:2-8; Malachi 3:8-11. The prophets vivid description of the catastrophe that had befallen Thebes leaves the impression that the event was still fresh in the memory of the people, whereas Assyrias power, although waning, was not yet near its end. Isaiah and Jeremiahs preaching against false idols and false prophets, mutual oppressions between nations, and against general injustice remains timely. 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. Feebleness and disease were to disappear entirely from Israel as the result of strict adherence to healthful principles (see Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 7:13, 15; etc.). Now it is spiritual Israel, in the past not a people but now the people of God, that are to shew forth the praises of the One who has called them out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9, 10). Foskey, however, is far from a lock to be selected with one of the 31 first-round selections. Jer 2 - 6 2, 3 God sends Jeremiah to Jerusalem to give a series of messages to the people of Judah. Enigmatic is his statement that this 5th year of captivity was also the thirtieth year. It is believed that the prophet refers either to his own age or to that year as the 30th year reckoned from the reform which took place during the 18th year of Josiah. In view of the light they had received from God, they were even worse than the heathen, to whom they felt so much superior. Remember that the record of Gods dealings with His people in ages past has been recorded for the benefit of all later generations to the end of time. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following: You may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal use only. Jeremiah WebThe great prophet Jeremiah lived during one of the most critical periods in Jewish history. 4:14; Colossians 2:2-4, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; Revelation 22:18). Desiring the same blessings for themselves, they would make inquiry as to how they too might acquire these obvious material advantages. Accordingly, what He purposed to do for the world through Israel of old He will finally accomplish through His church on earth today, and many of the promises originally made to literal Israel will be fulfilled to His remnant people at the close of time. The glorious promises originally made to literal Israel are meeting their fulfillment today in the proclamation of the gospel to all men (Revelation 14:6, 7). Thus, for more than 1,500 years, a great experiment designed to test the relative merits of good and evil was conducted before the world. This form literally means that the stretching of the heavens was completed or finished some time ago. Eventually Gods purposes will prevail and the plan of salvation will succeed, irrespective of the failure of any person or group. WebJer 31:34. Several of the prophets messages are dated exactly, and the last of these dated prophetic messages was received in the 27th year of Ezekiels captivity (chapter 29:17), 571/70. The blessings thus assured to Israel are, on the same conditions and in the same degree, assured to every nation and to every individual under the broad heavens. After the great final call to the world to acknowledge the true God, those who persisted in refusing allegiance to Him would unite together with the evil thought of laying siege to the city of Jerusalem and taking it by force of arms, in order to appropriate to themselves the material advantages with which God had blessed His people (Ezekiel 38:8-12; Jeremiah 25:32; Joel 3:1, 12; Zechariah 12:2-9; 14:2; cf. 4. The sixteen prophetsIsaiah to Malachiwhose writings have come down to us lived during four centuries, from about 800 to 400 B.C. This period spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. The success of Israel was to be based on and to include: 1. He belonged to a family of priests whose home town was Anathoth. Shortly after this event he once more rose to a high position of honor and responsibility in the newly formed Persian Empire (chapter 6). Send them from My presence, and let them go. Encouraging Hezekiah and the people through his own trust in God, he was instrumental in saving Jerusalem. For these reasons Daniels extended prophetic ministry can be dated approximately from 603 to 535 B.C. By Which king? That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, He will finally accomplish through His church on earth to-day. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other (Deuteronomy 28:63, 64). But to go beyond that which is clearly set forth by Inspirationin the immediate context of the passage concerned, in the New Testament, or in the Spirit of prophecyis to substitute personal opinion for a plain Thus saith the Lord. Where Inspiration has not thus clearly spoken it is our privilege to compare scripture with scripture in an endeavor to understand more perfectly the mind of the Spirit. Cooperation with the natural laws of body and mind would result in ever-increasing mental strength, and the people of Israel would be blessed with vigor of intellect, keen discrimination, and sound judgment. To this can be added the mention of Greeks (chapter 3:6), who hardly played a role in Near Eastern history earlier than the 7th century. For a graphic picture of how one nation would have responded to the irresistible appeal radiating from an Israel faithful to God, see Isaiah 19:18-22; cf. Daniel 5:25-28; Matthew 21:40-43; 22:3-10; Luke 14:24). 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. We shall be protected against the grossly literal explanation of some expositors concerning the return of literal Israel to literal Palestine to rule the world for a thousand years prior to the close of human probation, and also against other equally unscriptural interpretations that propose to apply allegorically to the church all the details of the promises originally made to literal Israel. They forfeited Gods blessing because of failure to fulfill His purpose in making them His chosen people, and thus brought ruin upon themselves. In the 5th year of Jehoiachins captivity, 593/92, Ezekiel had his first vision by the river Chebar, a canal near the famous city of Nippur in lower Babylonia (chapter 1:1-3). Promises not already fulfilled to literal Israel either would never be fulfilled at all or would be fulfilled to the Christian church as spiritual Israel. Answer Jeremiah was one of the major prophets of ancient Israel and a key figure in the Old Testament. The prophets did not always clearly understand messages they themselves had borne pointing forward to the distant future, to the coming of the Messiah (1 Peter 1:10, 11). WebBefore we begin our review of the parts of Jeremiahs early ministry, let us first set out the usual and customary picture of it. He is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). 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. Hence, he seems to have labored at a time before Assyria played a role in Palestinian affairs. One needs to keep these in mind to better understand the heart of Isaiah's message. Jeremiah The voice of God through the prophets distinctly speaks to us today. Nothing is known concerning the prophet Habakkuk beyond his name. The present-day return of the Jews to Palestine and the establishment of the modern state of Israel do not imply reinstatement as Gods people, present or future. A Anathoth 51 Q Who became king of Babylon about the same time as Jeremiah was called by God? In an age when every wind of doctrine is blowing it is well to make certain that our understanding of Bible prophecy rests upon a positive Thus saith the Lord (see Deuteronomy 29:29; Isaiah 50:11; Jeremiah 2:13; Matthew 7:24-28; 1 Corinthians 2:4, 5, 12, 13; Eph. Nevertheless, Isaiah believed that Judah was Gods chosen nation and they would be vindicated by God. The covenant with literal Israel proved faulty, not because God failed to carry out His part of the covenant, but rather because Israels fair promises proved evanescent as the morning dew (Hosea 6:4; 13:3; Hebrews 8:6, 7). In which century B.C. In Isaiah In Gods Economy toward His Chosen People 1. The material advantages that Israel enjoyed were designed to arrest the attention and catch the interest of the heathen, for whom the less obvious spiritual advantages had no natural attraction. 2. Jeremiah lived afterwards during a time leading up to the carrying away of the southern two tribes of Judah into bondage in Babylon. Prophets: Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel the ideal selection is option C. Learn more about the Book of Micah here: Since Jothams sole reign began after the death of his father Uzziah in 740/39, the initial date for Micahs prophetic ministry should probably be placed after that date. It is possible that Hebrews 11:37 refers to this event. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.. WebThis tables shows the reigns of each of the Kings of Judah and Israel, together with the dates and lengths of the reigns, and the prophets who were active at that time. In the prophetic picture God is represented as gathering the nations to Jerusalem (Joel 3:1, 2; Zephaniah 3:6-8; cf. logos.com His book contains no direct to establish the time of his mission to Nineveh. Ninevehs destruction, which came in 612, is referred to as a future event, indicating that Zephaniahs work preceded this date. Thus it was also with Samuel, Elijah, John the Baptist (see on Matthew 3:4), John the Beloved (see on Mark 3:17), and many others. They were doing no positive good; therefore they were doing incalculable harm, and their influence became a savor of death. However, all his messages were addressed to the northern nation. One royal visitor to Jerusalem exclaimed, The half was not told me! (1 Kings 10:1-9). Accordingly, Abraham became in a special sense the Friend of God (James 2:23) and the father of all them that believe (Romans 4:11). (This rule does not apply to those portions of the book of Daniel that the prophet was bidden to shut up and seal, or to other passages whose application Inspiration may have limited exclusively to our own time.). olt final The following brief summaries contain the evidence on which the various prophets have been entered in the chronological positions in which they are found in the chart. The futurist school of interpretation contends that the many promises of restoration and world leadership made to ancient Israel are yet to be fulfilled in connection with the establishment of the modern state of Israel in Palestine. However, he is again found playing a role on the night of Babylons fall, as interpreter of the mysterious handwriting on the wall (chapter 5). The accompanying chart enables the reader to study these prophets in their historical setting. When the siege of Jerusalem was temporarily lifted at the approach of an Egyptian force, Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of the tribe of Benjamin. All the visions of Daniel recorded in chapters 7-12 were received during the last years of his life, the first one (chapter 7) in Belshazzars 1st year (552 or possibly later), and the last one (chapters 10-12) in the 3rd year of Cyrus, 536/35 B.C. But it is only against the background of the original historical context of the message that its meaning and value for us can be established with certainty. A study of the Old Testament prophets that consists primarily of lifting selected passages here and there out of their historical context and arbitrarily applying them to our dayas if the prophet spoke exclusively for our benefitis fraught with grave danger. Tools. Unparalleled prosperity, both temporal and spiritual, was promised them as the reward for putting into practice the righteous and wise principles of heaven (Deuteronomy 4:6-9; 7:12-15; 28:1-14).