OT Survey II Overview of the Prophets
Dec 22, 2015
OT Survey II
Overview of the Prophets
Early Prophesies of Latter Times
4) Moses: Deuteronomy 30:1-10
3) Jacob: Genesis 49:1
2) Job: Job 19:25-27
1) Enoch: Jude 1:14-15
The Difficulty of the Prophets (e.g., Isaiah)
Difficult Vocabulary Almost 2,200 total words. That’s ~
33/chapter. 238 words used nowhere else
Difficult Imagery “Was it not Thou who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?” (Isa 51:9c) “He will eat curds and honey…” (Isa 7:15)
Difficult Geography Isa 10:28-34: A convergence on Jerusalem Isa 11:11: “From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros,
Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea”
The Difficulty of the Prophets (e.g., Isaiah, continued…)
Difficult Hermeneutics Isaiah 7:14 – “Fulfilled” in Matt 1:22-23 Isaiah 61:1-2 – Read (partially?) by Jesus in
Luke 4:18-19 Difficult Structure!
Structure
“What makes these books [i.e., Jeremiah and some other prophetic books] particularly, and one might say
needlessly, difficult is the very manner of their arrangement—or to be more accurate, their apparent lack of
arrangement. The reader who meets them for the first time is likely to be quite at a
loss. All seems confusion. There is no narrative for him to follow, nor can he trace any logical progression running through them and binding their parts
together into a
Structure
coherent whole. No sooner has he grasped a line of thought, and prided himself that
he is following it tolerably well, than it breaks off and something quite different is being discussed. The impression he gains is one of extreme disarray; and one can
scarcely blame him for concluding that he is reading a hopeless hodgepodge thrown together without any discernable principle
of arrangement at all.”John Bright, Jeremiah, Anchor Bible, lvi.
(quoted in Dorsey, Literary Structure of the Old Testament, 236).
Bible Divisions
1) Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy)
2) Former Prophets (Joshua – Kings)
3) Latter Prophets (Isaiah – The Twelve)
4) Writings (Psalms, Proverbs, etc…)
5) Gospels and Acts
6) Epistles
7) Revelation
The Prophets in the English Canon
1) Pentateuch: Genesis through Deuteronomy
2) Historical Books: Joshua through Esther
3) Poetry/Wisdom Literature: Job through Song of Songs
4) Major & Minor Prophets: Isaiah through Malachi
Books in the Prophetic Section of the English Bible
IsaiahJeremiah
LamentationsEzekielDaniel
Major Prophets
Minor Prophets
HoseaJoel
AmosObadiah
JonahMicah
NahumHabakkukZephania
hHaggai
ZechariahMalachi
IsaiahJeremiah
Ezekiel
The Prophets in the English Canon
IsaiahJeremiah
LamentationsEzekielDaniel
Major Prophets
Minor Prophets
HoseaJoel
AmosObadiah
JonahMicah
NahumHabakkukZephania
hHaggai
ZechariahMalachi
IsaiahJeremiahEzekiel
The Twelve
IsaiahJeremiah
Ezekiel
Latter Prophets
Former ProphetsJoshuaJudgesSamuelKings
Books in the Prophetic Section of the Hebrew Bible
The Prophets in the Hebrew Canon
The Minor Prophets Twelve
THE LATTER PROPHETS BY SIZEBOOKS CHAPTERS VERSES WORDSJeremiahEzekielIsaiah
The Twelve
52486667
1,3641,2731,2921,050
42,65939,40737,04430,305
4 233 4,979 149,415Adapted from J. E. Smith, The Minor Prophets
***The Twelve also cover centuries, not decades!
The Prophets in the Hebrew Canon
1) Pentateuch: Birth of the nation, Mosaic Covenant
2) Former Prophets: Fall of the nation, Davidic Covenant
3) Latter Prophets: Hope of the nation, New Covenant
4) Writings: Waiting of the nation, How long?
Time Period
Cyrus allowsexiles to return
539 BC(Ezra 1:1-4)
Judah exiledby Babylon
586 BC (also 605, 597)
(2 Kgs 25)
Israel exiledby Assryia
722 BC(2 Kgs 17)
Solomon beginsbuilding the temple
966 BC(1 Kgs 6:1)
The Exodusfrom Egypt
1446 BC(1 Kgs 6:1)
Israel entersEgypt
1876 BC(Ex 12:40-41)
Abraham’s birth
2166 BC(Gen 12:4; 21:5;
25:26; 47:9)
Torah(Gen-Deut)
Former Prophets(Joshua-Kings)
Latter Prophets
(Isaiah-Malachi)
Time Period (cont…)
Nehemiah inJerusalem~ 420 BC
Cyrus’sdecree539 BC
Babylonianexile
586 BC
Assyrianexile
722 BC
Jeroboam II (Israel)Uzziah (Judah)
770 BC
Jonah,Hosea
,Amos
Isaiah,Micah
AssyrianDefeat701 BC
Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk
Ezekiel,Daniel
Haggai,Zechariah
Malachi
Joel?Obadiah?
Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
“I will no longer show compassion to the
house of Israel, that I should forgive them;
but, I will show compassion to the house of Judah and
will save them by the LORD their God, not
by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen”
(Hos 1:6b-7)
722Fall ofIsrael
701Jerusalem
Spared
605First
Deportation
597Second
Deportation
586Fall ofJudah
Hosea
“I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.”
(Isa 38:6)
“The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have
stored up until this day, will be carried off to
Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.”
(Isa 39:6)
Isaiah
Map taken from Ezekiel, NICOT, p. xxi
Jeremiah
BEFORE 586"Behold, I set before
you the way of life and the way of death. He who dwells in this city will die by the sword
and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. For I have set My face
against this city for harm and not for good," declares the LORD. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.” (Jer
21:8-10)
AFTER 586“If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you
down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I shall relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,” declares the LORD, “for I am with
you to save you and deliver you from his
hand. I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to
your own soil. But if you…
AFTER 586 (cont…)…are going to say, ‘We
will not stay in this land,’ so as not to listen to the voice of the LORD your
God, saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of
Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the
sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there’; then in that case listen to the word of the LORD, O
remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you really set your mind to
enter Egypt, and go in to reside there, then it will…
AFTER 586 (cont…)…come about that the sword, which you are afraid of will overtake
you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine,
about which you are anxious, will follow
closely after you there in Egypt; and you will die
there. So all the men who set their mind to go to
Egypt to reside there will die by the sword, by
famine, and by pestilence; and they will
have no survivors or refugees from the
calamity that I am going to bring on them.’ For thus says the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel, ‘As My…
AFTER 586 (cont…)…anger and wrath have been poured out on the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be
poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an
object of horror, an imprecation, and a
reproach; and you will see this place no more.’ The LORD has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go into Egypt!’
You should clearly understand that today I have testified against you.” (Jer 42:10-19)
“As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the
inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Ezek 15:6)“Although I have cast
them far off among the Gentiles, and although I
have scattered them among the countries, yet
I shall be a little sanctuary for them in
the countries where they have gone…I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the
countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” (Ezek
11:16-17)
Ezekiel
Purpose of OT Survey “This class is designed to survey the
Hebrew Scriptures so as to give the student a good framework for understanding God’s plan and character as He deals with the nation of Israel. The Old Testament will be studied according to the division of the English canon: Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the broad sweep of this portion of divine revelation, and particularly on how later revelation builds on earlier revelation.”
Purpose of OT Survey “This class is designed to survey the
Hebrew Scriptures so as to give the student a good framework for understanding God’s plan and character as He deals with the nation of Israel. The Old Testament will be studied according to the division of the English canon: Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom literature, and prophets. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the broad sweep of this portion of divine revelation, and particularly on how later revelation builds on earlier revelation.”
Exodus 20
1) … no other gods before Me (v. 3)
2) … not make for yourself an idol (v. 4)3) … not take the name of the LORD your God in vain (v. 7)
4) Remember the sabbath day (v. 8)5) Honor your father and mother (v. 12)6) You shall not murder (v. 13)
8) You shall not steal (v. 15)
7) You shall not commit adultery (v. 14)
10) You shall not covet … (v. 17)
9) You shall not bear false witness (v. 16)
Torah Latter Prophets
Hosea 4:1-2
Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the
inhabitants of the land, because there is no
faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land.
There isswearing,deception,
murder,stealing,
and adultery.
They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed
Jeremiah 7:9-10: “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ -- that you may do all these abominations?”
Torah Latter Prophets
Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Former Prophets Latter Prophets
Daniel 9:1-3: In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans--in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Latter Prophets Writings
Next Week
Song of Solomon