Who
were the Biblical prophets? The answer depends upon how one defines
prophet.
The
prophets were individuals with whom God communicated directly or
through dreams or angelic visitations, and with Moses, face to face.
Usually they received information concerning the themselves or the
people of Israel and of God's will regarding them.
God
had a purpose in working with the Jews continuing through history
from the protoevangelium.
The prophets were signs and sheperd-signs to the people of Israel.
The people of Israel were intended to be a priesthood of believers
leading the world to God . The Jews often failed at the task, humanity
tends to fail after the fall. Maybe that is a lesson in itself-none
are good, no not one. The last Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel,
provided a word from the Lord about Jerusalem.
Ezekiel
16:1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,
3
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and
thy
nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and
thy
mother an Hittite.
4
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not
cut,
neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not
salted
at all, nor swaddled at all.
5
None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have
compassion
upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the
lothing
of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.
6
¶ And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own
blood,
I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said
unto
thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live!"
The
list of Biblical prophets below notably excludes Adam and Eve, yet to
them was given the protoevangelium-perhaps the first and one of the
most synoptic prophecies of all. The Apostle John, likely the author
John of Patmos was probably the last prophet of the Bible, and
nothing has been added since.
A
Wikipedia list of Biblical prophets...
- Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:20)
The
classification of Biblical prophets often divides then into major
and minor prophets as well as writing and non-writing prophets. Yet
an even greater division is that of prophets following Samuel with
those of Biblical Patriarchs before. Traditional definitions of the
prophets may reduce the scope to just those following Samuel in the
11th century B.C.- those prophets that admonished Israel and her
kings to return to the right relationship with God when the Jews were
falling away into apostasy and wantoness.
In
1 Samuel 10:5 there is described bands of prophets. Elijah
appeared in 886 to admonish Ahab-he was married to Jezebel who
followed Baal. Elijah challenged Ahab to return to God from the
rampant Baal worship.
1
Kings 19:11
Elisha
followed Elijah.
After
Elijah in 792 B.C. prophets began to write of their experiences and
encounters with God with or without a personal scribe (e.g. Baruch
for Jeremiah)
There were sixteen writing prophets. In 792 B.C. Amos
appeared to admonish a need for social justice and lifting of the
people from oppression. Prophecies of God's Judgments against Kings
that oppress the people and concentrate wealth were made. Amos
prophesied the downfall of the Northern Kingdom.
742
B.C. Isaiah 6:1-Isaiah's mouth was purified by an angel
Isaiah
1: 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,
we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto
Gomorrah. 10 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give
ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.11 To what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD:
I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts;
and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he
goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at
your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations;
incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the
calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the
solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul
hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And
when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea,
when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of
blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek
judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the
widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye
refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth
of the LORD hath spoken it. 21 ¶ How is the faithful city become an
harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now
murderers. 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one
loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the
fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 24
Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of
Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine
enemies: 25 ¶ And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge
away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: 26 And I will restore thy
judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning:
afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the
faithful city. 27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her
converts with righteousness"
'swords
into ploughshares'- Isaiah 2:4
Amos
7:17 end of northern kingdom to Assyria
Isaiah
20:2-King of Assyria will lead Northern Kingdom Jews away as captives
Isaiah
predicted that Jerusalem would be spared-Isaiah 37:33
200,000
enemy Assyrian soldiers died overnight before invading Jerusalem and
quit the attack
Isaiah
7:14 Messianic prophecy - Matthew used the prophecy of Immanuel 1:23
Jeremiah
was called to prophecy before birth
Jeremiah
26:4 a warning to Jewish leaders to change or be thrashed (by
Babylon), 34:2
Jeremiah
is treated as a traitor for prophesing doom of Jerusalem, arrested
and taken to Egypt.
Political
prophesy ends with Jeremiah
Prophets
did not have easy lives. Ezekiel had to lie on one side for a year,
and serve as an example to model to the people of Israel/Jews. God at
least knew that one man was explicitly following his directions even
if so many others did not.
Ezekiel
12: 3 Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing,
and
remove
by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to
another
place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they
be
a rebellious house.
4
Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff
for
removing:
and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go
forth
into captivity.
5
Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
6
In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it
forth
in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the
ground:
for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.
7
And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day,
as
stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with
mine
hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my
shoulder in their sight.
8
¶ And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
9
Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house,
said
unto thee, What doest thou?
10
Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden
concerneth
the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that
are
among them.
11
Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto
them:
they shall remove and go into captivity."
Ezekiel's
commission-2:3
Ezekiel's
prophecy in 593 B.C. is 'the last of the great prophets'. He
prophesies from captivity in Babylon with the Jewish people in
captivity.
Did
eating the scroll at the start of his office indicate that Ezekiel
would be the last 'writing prophet' unto the Jews of Israel? Not
until Christian prophets appeared would an age of prophecy resume
(and end with John of Patmos).
Ezekiel
eats a scroll.
Ezekiel
Chapter 2: "7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether
they will hear,
or
whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8
But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou
rebellious
like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I
give
thee.
9
And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a
roll
of a book was therein;
10
And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without:
and
there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.
Chapter
3:1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat
this
roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2
So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
3
And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill
thy
bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was
in
my
mouth as honey for sweetness.
4
¶ And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of
Israel,
and speak with my words unto them.
5
For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an
hard
language, but to the house of Israel;
6
Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language,
whose
words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to
them,
they would have hearkened unto thee.
7
But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not
hearken
unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and
hardhearted."
Unto
Ezekiel the God of Israel appeared in the diaspora-He can be
worshipped anywhere
Ezekiel
Chapter 11: "15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the
men of thy
kindred,
and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the
inhabitants
of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto
us
is this land given in possession.
16
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast
them
far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them
among
the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the
countries
where they shall come.
17
Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you
from
the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have
been
scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18
And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the
detestable
things thereof and all the abominations thereof from
thence.
19
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within
you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will
give them
an
heart of flesh:
20
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do
them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
21
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their
detestable
things and their abominations, I will recompense their way
upon
their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
22
¶ Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels
beside
them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
23
And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and
stood
upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
24
¶ Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by
the
Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision
that
I had seen went up from me.
25
Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the
LORD
had shewed me."
Old
Testament prophecy seems to have disappeared from the Jews after
Ezekiel
Ezekiel
12:
17 "Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18
Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with
trembling
and with carefulness;
19
And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of
the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat
their
bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment,
that
her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the
violence
of all them that dwell therein.
20
And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land
shall
be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
21
¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
22
Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of
Israel,
saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
23
Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this
proverb
to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel;
but
say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every
vision.
24
For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination
within
the house of Israel.
25
For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak
shall
come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O
rebellious
house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord
GOD.
26
¶ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
27
Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision
that
he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the
times
that are far off.
28
Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall
none
of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have
spoken
shall be done, saith the Lord GOD."
Minor
prophets with a canonized book...
From
the wikipedia article on Minor prophets...
"Book
of Hosea, Book
of Joel, Book
of Amos, Book
of Obadiah, Book
of Jonah, Book
of Micah, Book
of Nahum, Book
of Habakkuk,Book
of Zephaniah, Book
of Haggai, Book
of Zechariah and Book
of Malachi
Many,
though not all, modern scholars agree that the editing process which
produced the Book of the Twelve reached its final form in Jerusalem
during the Achaemenid period (538–332
BCE), although there is disagreement over whether this was early or
late.[4] Scholars
usually assume that there exists an original core of prophetic
tradition behind each book which can be attributed to the figure
after whom it is named.[5] The
noteworthy exception is the Book
of Jonah,
an anonymous work containing no prophetic oracles, probably composed
in the Hellenistic period
(332–167 BCE).[6]
In
general, each book includes three types of material:
- Autobiographical material in the first person, some of which may go back to the prophet in question;
- Biographical materials about the prophet in the third person – which incidentally demonstrate that the collection and editing of the books was completed by persons other than the prophets themselves;
- Oracles or speeches by the prophets, usually in poetic form, and drawing on a wide variety of genres, including covenant lawsuit, oracles against the nations, judgment oracles, messenger speeches, songs, hymns, narrative, lament, law, proverb, symbolic gesture, prayer, wisdom saying, and vision.[7]
The
comparison of different ancient manuscripts indicates that the order
of the individual books was originally fluid. The arrangement found
in current Bibles is roughly chronological. First come those prophets
dated to the early Assyrian period: Hosea, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and
Micah; Joel is undated, but it was possibly placed before Amos
because parts of a verse near the end of Joel (3.16 [4.16
in Hebrew])
and one near the beginning of Amos (1.2) are identical. Also we can
find in both Amos (4.9 and 7.1–3) and Joel a description of a
plague of locusts. These are followed by prophets that are set in the
later Assyrian period: Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Last come
those set in the Persian period: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
However it is important to note that chronology was not the only
consideration, as "It seems that an emphatic focus on Jerusalem
and Judah was [also] a main concern.[1] For
example, Obadiah is generally understood as reflecting the
destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.[8] and
would therefore fit later in a purely chronological sequence."
False
prophets also existed. Their prophecies were not 100% true or
accurate. God killed 400 false prophets of Baal for Elija.
Ezekiel
13: 1"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy,
and
say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye
the
word of the LORD;
3
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that
follow
their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4
O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5
Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for
the
house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6
They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD
saith:
and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others
to
hope that they would confirm the word.
7
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying
divination,
whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not
spoken?
8
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken
vanity,
and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord
GOD.
9
And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and
that
divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither
shall
they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall
they
enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord
GOD.
10
Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying,
Peace;
and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo,
others
daubed it with untempered morter:
11
Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall
fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great
hailstones,
shall
fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
12
Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is
the
daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a
stormy
wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine
anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14
So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with
untempered
morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the
foundation
thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be
consumed
in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
15
Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them
that
have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you,
The
wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
16
To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning
Jerusalem,
and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no
peace,
saith the Lord GOD."
There
were also people that encountered God or a vision from God or that
had a visitation from an Angel just once or on few occasions. Such
people as Mary and Elizabeth are examples, as was Lot.
