ReveNation Mag

The Major Prophets

The Prophets of Israel Viewed as a Whole

Their Designation

The first division of the Old Testament was known as the Law with the second being called the Former Prophets, but these included four books which have already been outlined—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Though these books deal with the history of Israel, they were composed from a prophetic viewpoint and possibly even the authors themselves may have been prophets by profession.

The seventeen books considered in this section were classified in the Hebrew Bible as the Latter Prophets. The term ‘latter’ speaks primarily of their place in the canon rather than of their chronological position. These prophets are sometimes called the writing prophets because their authors wrote or recorded their utterances. There were other oral prophets like Nathan, Ahijah, Iddo, Jehu, Elijah, Elisha, Oded, Shemaiah, Azariah, Hanani, Jahaziel, and Huldah who left no records of their utterances. Mostly because of their size, the Latter Prophets are subdivided into the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel), and the twelve Minor Prophets, whose writings could all be included in one large scroll which came to be known in Greek as the Do„decaprophe„ton, “the Twelve-Prophet Book”).⁵⁰ Daniel, usually viewed as one of the Major Prophets in the English Bible, actually appears in the third division of the Hebrew Canon called “the Writings.”

Lamentations will also be dealt with here because of its place in the English Bible, though in the Hebrew Bible it is among the five rolls or megilloth, the shorter books, which were brief enough to be read publicly on anniversaries.

Their Description

The authors of these books were described or referred to by a number of terms due to the nature of their ministry and calling. They were called prophets, seers, watchmen, men of God, messengers, and servants of the Lord. Unger writes:

According to I Samuel 9:9 the prophet was in earlier Israel commonly called a ro’eh, that is one who perceives that which does not lie I the realm of natural sight or hearing. Another early designation of similar etymology was a hozeh “one who sees supernaturally” (II Samuel 24:11). Later the Hebrew seer was more commonly called a nabhi’ (I Samuel 9:9). This popular name is to be related the Accadian nabu, “to call or announce,” either passively, as Albright (From the Stone Age to Christianity, 1940, pp. 231 ff.), “one who is called” (by God), or actively with Koenig (Hebraeisches and Aramaeisches Woerterbuch zum Alten Testament, 1936, p. 260), “an announcer” (for), or preferably with Guillaume (Prophecy and Divination, 1938, pp. 112f), who construes the term to mean that the prophet is the passive recipient of a message manifest in his condition as well as in his speech, and is “one who is in the state of announcing a message which has been given to him” (by God).⁵¹

As can be seen from Unger’s comments, a certain amount of uncertainty exists regarding the exact meaning of the word “prophet.” The word prophet is from the Hebrew ayb]n* (nabi). The deviration of this word is a matter of controversy, but the essential idea in the word is that of an authorized spokesman. This is clear, not from the etymology of this word which has been lost in antiquity, but from its use in three Old Testament passages: (1) Exodus 6:28-7:2. When Moses objected to being the spokesman for God to Pharaoh, God appointed Aaron to be Moses prophet, i.e., his authorized spokesman. The issue here is one person speaking for another. (2) Numbers 12:1-8. Aaron and Miriam, perhaps out of jealousy, sought to supplant Moses as mediator of God’s revelation with themselves (cf. Vs. 2), but God dramatically intervened to show He would speak directly with Moses alone and that He would also speak through those called prophets by dreams and visions. But the implication as to the meaning of “prophet” is clear. A true prophet is one who speaks for God to man. (3) Deuteronomy 18:9 -22. Just before the death of Moses, we have the formal announcement of the office of the nabi, the prophet, on a continuing basis.⁵² These verses make it clear that the prophet is one who speaks forth the message which God has revealed to him.

Their Directive or Message

As a mouthpiece or spokesman for God, the prophet’s primary duty was to speak forth God’s message to God’s people in the historical context of what was happening among God’s people. The broadest meaning is that of forthtelling; the narrower meaning is that of foretelling. In the process of proclaiming God’s message, the prophet would sometimes reveal that which pertained to the future, but, contrary to popular opinion, this was only a small part of the prophets message. Forthtelling involved insight into the will of God; it was exhortative, challenging men to obey. On the other hand, foretelling entailed foresight into the plan of God; it was predictive, either encouraging the righteous in view of God’s promises or warning in view of coming judgment. So the prophet was the divinely chosen spokesman who, having received God’s message, proclaimed it in oral, visual, or written form to the people. For this reason, a common formula used by the prophets was, “Thus says the Lord.”

As God’s spokesman, their message can be seen in a three-fold function they had among the people of God in the Old Testament:

First, they functioned as preachers who expounded and interpreted the Mosaic law to the nation. It was their duty to admonish, reprove, denounce sin, threaten with the terrors of judgment, call to repentance, and bring consolation and pardon. Their activity of rebuking sin and calling for repentance consumed far more of the prophets’ time than any other feature of their work. The rebuke was driven home with predictions about the punishment that God intended to send on those failing to heed the prophet’s warning (cf. Jonah 3:4).

Second, they functioned as predictors who announced coming judgment, deliverance, and events relating to the Messiah and His kingdom. Predicting the future was never intended merely to satisfy man’s curiosity, but was designed to demonstrate that God knows and controls the future, and to give purposeful revelation. The prediction given by a true prophet would be visibly fulfilled. The failure of the prediction to be fulfilled would indicate that the prophet had not spoken the word of Yahweh (cf. Deut. 18:20-22). In 1 Samuel 3:19 it is said of Samuel that the Lord was with him and let none of his prophetic words fail (lit., “fall to the ground”).

Finally, they functioned as watchmen over the people of Israel (Ezek. 3:17). Ezekiel stood as a watchman on the walls of Zion ready to trumpet a warning against religious apostasy. He warned the people against political and military alliances with foreign powers, the temptation to become involved in idolatry and Canaanite cultic worship, and the danger of placing excessive confidence in religious formalism and sacrificial ritual.

While the prophets functioned in various ways as they communicated God’s message, they occupied one major role in Israel’s religious system. The prophets in Israel occupied the role of a royal diplomat or prosecuting attorney, indicting the nation for violations of the Mosaic covenant.⁵³