Introduction to the Books of the Prophets

The biblical prophets are not “ordinary” fortune-tellers, shamans, medicine men, or seers, such as those found in every tribe and culture since the dawn of our species and in isolated regions of our world right up to the present day.

Their practices include, among many other things, interpreting weather, clouds, dreams, and other signs, as well as divining the future from the entrails of sacrificial animals and casting symbols made of bone, wood, or stone.
As civilizations emerged, this subsequently gave rise everywhere and independently of one another to “organized” priestly castes or “clergy,” who viewed their activities more as “work for a living” than as a calling.

A profession that was learned and led to a “spiritual-social status” that could ultimately be passed down through generations.

The books of the prophets that we can read here, on the other hand, come from people from the most diverse social classes and professional groups.
The crucial thing about these “prophets of the Scriptures” in the Bible was that they all had a message from God to deliver in a specific situation!

These revelations could have been directed at a single person, the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, or the whole of Israel—and Jonah was even sent on an “international” mission 🙂 from God to Nineveh (near modern-day Mosul in northern Iraq), the last and most powerful capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire!

First and foremost, these prophets hold up a mirror to their contemporaries—they expose hypocrisy and godlessness and call for repentance. The issues they address concern all areas of life—political, social, and religious.

The first of these prophets appeared when Israel was still a powerful and prosperous nation; they had much to preach about the coming judgment.
Judgment for the behavior that was common among the people and often among the rulers as well.

It was only after all power had vanished from all the tribes of Israel (following the Babylonian Exile) that the prophets began to comfort the people and give them hope.

In the prophecies of the Bible, all hope is always accompanied by the recognition of one’s own powerlessness and by trust in, and turning toward, God.

Alongside this relentless criticism, the warnings, and the calls to turn back—“to repentance” – and the announcements of the coming “judgments” for individuals, nations, and all of humanity – all these prophetic books also consistently speak of the promise of a Messiah –
God’s promise of an “Anointed One,” a Savior for Israel and ultimately for all people who accept the call of the God of the Bible, everywhere in the world.

Often, a distinction is made among the prophetic books between the so-called “major prophets”:
Isaiah, Jeremiah and his Lamentations, the prophet Ezekiel, and Daniel —
and the twelve “minor prophets”: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi — the so-called “Book of the Twelve Prophets.”

Personally, I find a classification based on the location of their ministry—which simultaneously provides us with a rough chronological overview of these “prophets of the Scriptures”—to be more meaningful.
Here is a brief overview—but God has infinitely more to say through the prophets themselves. 🙂

Primarily in the Northern Kingdom, before the fall of Israel in 722 B.C.

Amos: His warning that persistent sin must be followed by divine judgment

Hosea: Speaks primarily of God’s love for Israel

Jonah: His message to the ruling Assyrian Empire: Repent! Jonah himself wanted exactly the opposite 🙂 – Here we see God’s love for the Gentiles already evident in the Old Testament.

In Judah, the Southern Kingdom, during the long years of decline

Joel: Speaks of the “Day of the Lord”—the second coming of Jesus Christ after the “time of grace” in which we still live—and of the judgment upon the nations

Obadiah: Prophecies the judgment upon Edom (in the southern highlands of present-day Jordan)

Isaiah: Has much to say to us; he speaks extensively of the coming Savior of the world, the Messiah—the Christ and, at the same time, the coming King of Israel

Micah: He, too, has news for us about the coming King of Bethlehem and his kingdom.

In Judah during the final years before the exiles to Babylon, from about 634 to 606 B.C.

Jeremiah: Proclaims judgment upon Jerusalem, but he also speaks of its coming glory

Nahum: Proclaims God’s final judgment upon the Assyrian Empire and its capital, and its coming end

Habakkuk: Speaks of God’s kingdom and of how His people will triumph

Zephaniah: Prophecies that a remnant will be saved and blessed by God

The Prophets of the Scriptures during the Babylonian Exile through the Persian Rule, from about 606 to 538 BC

Daniel: Foretells the coming world empires and speaks at length about “the times of the Gentiles” as well as the coming messianic kingdom for Israel. Daniel’s vision, spanning his long life, extends to the end of this “world age.”

Ezekiel: Also prophesies far beyond the coming restoration of Israel, as a land and as a nation

During the time of the restoration of Jerusalem and Israel, through the returnees from the Babylonian exile, in the years from around 538 to the 4th century B.C.

Haggai: Foretells the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem and that of the kingdom for Israel

Zechariah: Speaks at length again about the coming Savior as the Messiah, the “Branch,” and the King-Priest

Malachi: As the last prophet of the Scriptures, Malachi laments the cold heart of the people of Israel.
He also issues the final warnings to the people regarding the coming judgment for their apostasy from the living God.
But even the last prophet to speak “directly” in God’s Word announces the coming of the Messiah—and even of his forerunner, John the Baptist!

In closing, a few thoughts that do not strictly pertain to the prophetic books themselves, but which I believe are nonetheless important to the topic of God’s prophets.

The Bible tells us about many other prophets. Some of them, such as Samuel or the kings David and Solomon (who also foreshadow the “royal priesthood” to which all of God’s children in Jesus Christ are entitled), left behind several books—although their writings have found a very different place in the Bible.

But many other prophets of God are mentioned only in passing in the Bible.
Their messages were perhaps just as important as those we can read—but these messages from God were not intended for all of us!

The regulations and criteria that apply to a prophet of God are listed in Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verses 9 through 22, the so-called “Law of the Prophets.”

Incidentally, there are just as many women among the prophets as there are men—and not just in the New Testament!
Miriam—Moses’s older sister—is already mentioned as the “first prophetess” ever.
Moses, her younger brother 🙂, is then also listed as the “first prophet”…
Or Deborah, who is not only referred to as a prophetess, as a “nebi’a”—a called one—but who also simultaneously held the office of “judge,” the spiritual and secular leader of the people of Israel in those times.
We can read about Deborah in the Book of Judges starting in chapter 4…

The prophets of the Old Testament were all filled with God’s Spirit, the “Ruach ha Kodesh,” who gave them their messages and missions—divine prophecy is one of the gifts of God’s Spirit!
This special anointing, the “filling with the Holy Spirit,” became available to all followers of Jesus on Pentecost in the year 32 A.D.—but that by no means means that everyone immediately becomes a prophet as a result. 🙂