JOEL

Little is known about the author or the date of his work, but the many references to Jerusalem and Judah cause critics to associate him with the southern tribes. The book is divided into two sections—the first deals with a terrible plague of locusts and drought while the second speaks of the coming Day of the Lord in apocalyptic language. No one knows if the plague was real; if not, it could be a symbol for coming political destruction or moral decay. Acts 2:16-21 is a sermon by Peter; it refers to Joel chapter 2 as part of his message. There are signs that some of the prophets knew each other’s works. See Isaiah 2:4/Joel 4:10 and Joel 3:16-18/Amos 1:2, 9:13. Joel speaks of the Day of the Lord. Other books in the Bible refer to this day as well.

AMOS

A lowly shepherd, Amos was a prophet to the northern tribes when they were wealthy; they didn’t realize within thirty years Assyria would descend upon them. Amos is known as a social critic who lashed out at various behaviors (1:6, 8:5-7, 1:9, 4:1-3, 6:1, 3:12-15, 6:4-6, 2:6-7, 5:7-15). Chapters 1 and 2 deliver oracles against seven nearby nations, chapters 3-6 contain denunciations against social and religious sins of the kingdom, and chapters 7-9  reveal visions granted to Amos by God. Amos surprises the reader repeatedly. See 2:13-15, 3:12, 4:4, 5:18-20, 5:21-22. These are  reversals of what might have been expected by the Jews. A lot of sarcasm here.

Daniel

Daniel was one of many Jews who were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon after Judah fell. He lived long enough to see the Babylonians fall to the Persians. This is an unusual book that has puzzled people for centuries. The first half is a plain history that sounds similar to many other Old Testament stories; the second half, however, is strange, surrealistic apocalyptic prophecy. A debate rages as to the dating of Daniel because his prophecies are remarkable accurate for Alexander and the leaders who came after him. If Daniel is an old book, it contains miraculous prophecies. Unlike other prophets, Daniel focuses much more on the Gentile nations than the Jewish state. The book is also odd for the way it switches from Hebrew(1:1-2:3) to Aramaic(2:4-7:28) and back to Hebrew(8:1-end). No one knows why although many theories abound.

HOSEA

This book starts a section of the Hebrew Bible called the Minor Prophets, not because the twelve books are less important but because they are shorter in length than the three Major Prophets (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah). They are laid out in chronological order, starting with the ones who served before the Assyrians invaded and ending with the ones who ministered after all twelve tribes had been taken captive. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom, which he called Ephraim, because it and part of Manasseh were all that were left after Assyria had carried off the other northern tribes in 733 B.C. For the next ten years these two tribes were alone until they too went into captivity in 722 B.C.  Hosea is the only prophet from the northern ten tribes whose words have survived in the Hebrew Bible. He shares a great deal with Amos—they were contemporaries, they preached to the same people, they both used poetry effectively. When we look at Amos, we  will see one major difference in their approach. Like other prophets we have reviewed, Hosea used a startling visual aid to illustrate his message.

LAMENTATIONS

Attributed to Jeremiah, this book is made up of five funeral songs that mourn the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. Other books of the Bible contain laments, but Lamentations is the only one made up solely of these mournful poems. The book is so powerful that Jews read it annually to remember the tragedy of the loss of their city and place of worship.

The writer set up the poems as acrostics in which each chapter except 3 is twenty-two verses long, a verse for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter 3 there are sixty-six verses with every third verse starting a new letter. So the author has attempted the tough task of  combining emotional events with a tight structure.

EZEKIEL

A contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel, the prophet Ezekiel ministered to the Jewish people in Babylon, where he had been taken along with other captives about 590 B.C. Like Isaiah and Jeremiah, his book has oracles against Israel and other nations as well as consolation for the Jews regarding their future. Again, much like other prophets, Ezekiel became a living symbol of God’s message by carrying out strange actions. Take a look at chapter 4 to see some of the things God told him to do as a warning to his people.

Several things make Ezekiel unique. He stressed God’s sovereignty so effectively through his descriptive visions that he does give us a glimpse of the spiritual realm. His strange, grotesque, puzzling images go beyond other prophets; in medieval times Jews under the age of 30 were not allowed to read the book for fear of unsettling them. Ezekiel is a mystic whose work connects with Revelation in the New Testament—both are considered apocalyptic works.

This book covers the last years of the kingdom of Judah long after the northern ten tribes had been taken into captivity by Assyria. A long work, Jeremiah is considered another major prophet along with Isaiah and Ezekiel. It’s a collection of prophecies, narratives, monologues about himself, lamentations, oracles from God, declarations of impending disaster, and hints of future hope.

The organization is not clear, but generally chapters 1-20 tell of the author’s pleading for Judah to do right and sorrow at the people’s rejection of his message, 21-45 tell the story of his ministry, 46-51 include prophecies against other nations (especially Babylon), and 52 gives the sad description of the fall of Jerusalem.

Like other prophets, Jeremiah carried out physical demonstrations for the people—he wore a yoke to tell the people they would become slaves, he wore a ruined and useless belt, he broke a bottle in the presence of a ruler, and he bought a field and buried the deed there. He spoke of God’s judgment, God’s ultimate power, and God’s concern for people. He spent most of his time attacking religious apostasy rather than the  social sins other prophets warned of.

What makes him unique is his autobiographical material—he recorded a great deal of his innermost experiences. His life was in constant danger from political and religious leaders since he preached acceptance of Babylon’s intrusion; he felt this heathen nation was God’s tool to punish Judah. When the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, they offered to take Jeremiah with other prominent Jews to Babylon, but he refused. Instead, he stayed behind with other poor Jews in the ruined city of Jerusalem.

Isaiah is the first of what are called the major prophets, distinguished by the length of their work, not the quality. Literary critics love Isaiah for its poetry, its vocabulary (largest in the Old Testament), and its uplifting vision of a better future.Christians sometimes call it the “Fifth Gospel” because it’s referenced often by New testament writers.

There is an ongoing controversy over whether the book was written by one or more authors, but at least we can say Isaiah is associated with the period from 740-700 B.C. when Assyria was on the move across the lands of the Middle East. His warnings to Judah of impending disaster occupy the first half (chapter 1-39) while words of comfort take up the balance of the book.

One interesting note is that the prophets were often called to act out some aspect of God’s message. In Isaiah’s case he dressed as a slave for three years as a symbol of the fate of Egypt as it attempted to stand up to Assyria. He also gave his son a long name that tied in to the Assyrian invasion. You will see this real-life drama in the lives of other prophets who used this tool to visually demonstrate God’s messages to his people.

The prophets are such a big part of the Old Testament that I wanted to give one more overview of them before tackling individual prophets.

A hundred years later Assyria’s power waned, and Babylon rose to threaten the southern two tribes. Prophets spoke out to these people for the next fifty years as the threat increased. Zephaniah in 640 B.C. cried out against religious pluralism in Judah, Nahum exulted in the destruction of Assyria by Babylon, Jeremiah preached repentance, Habakkuk pondered why God used a heathen nation (Babylon) to invade Judah, and Obadiah in 590 B.C. condemned Edom for helping Babylon. After many people were removed and exiled to Babylon, Ezekiel became a prophet who spoke to them.

After the Persians replaced the Babylonians as the dominant power, they allowed many groups of people to return to their lands. Some Jews took advantage of this to go back to their promised land where Haggai and Zechariah encouraged them. Later Malachi and Joel judged the religious life of the Jews. As you read these prophets, keep the historical background in mind and notice the powerful use of poetry to deliver their messages to an erring, forgetful, and backsliding people.

Let’s look at key times and key prophets in the story of Israel. Moses was the first of many prophets throughout the history of the Jewish people. Later there was Samuel, followed by Elijah and Elisha. These individuals spoke God’s message as well as carried out God’s plans; they were actors in the history of the nation of Israel.

The last group of prophets that we find in the Old Testament came on the scene in the period from 750-450 B.C. when major upheavals occurred in the land. First, the rise of Assyria threatened the northern ten tribes. Those were terrifying people who swarmed across the Ancient Near East. Amos, who was a prophet to these ten tribes about 750 B.C., warned judgment was coming. Hosea followed shortly, preaching to the same people. The creation of the book of Jonah is hard to pin down historically, but his message deals with the Assyrians at about this time. By the way, read what happens in this book when Jonah shows up at Nineveh. It’s funny if you slow down and read it carefully. At the same time, Isaiah and Micah delivered God’s warnings to Judah in the south. The warnings were too late for Israel in the north; the Assyrians carried them off to captivity.

SONG OF SOLOMON

In the original Hebrew this book was titled “Solomon’s Song of Songs,” which means it could be by him, for him, or about him. No one knows for sure.

It’s another example of wisdom literature with a big difference from the others—it appears to be erotic poetry. Those uncomfortable with that idea have tried to approach the book as an allegory of Christ’s love for the church or God’s love for Israel. But it’s difficult to explain it as anything else besides love poems between two people. It revels in physical sensuality.

The Prophets

We have surveyed books dealing with two of the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible—Torah (the Law) and the Writings. The third section, the Prophets, needs a brief introduction for better understanding of what’s ahead.

The Hebrew word for prophet means “one who calls” or “is called.” These two terms explain the function of a prophet—he is someone who is called by God to proclaim His message. He was an Old Testament preacher, telling what God was going to do and exhorting people to respond with a holy lifestyle. The prophet railed against false religious practices and against social and political corruption.

The typical prophetic book had an announcement of judgment against others and/or the Jewish people, description of end-of-the-world judgment and a final Jewish kingdom, an argument as to how Israel broke its covenant with God, exhortations, and satire. We picture prophets as interested in predicting the future, but that wasn’t the case because the future depended on the present and how the people reacted to the message. They also were not caught up in strange, visionary dreams; they focused on the real world, emphasizing that God was an active worker in history.

PROVERBS

Like Psalms, this book is a collection, this time with many of its works attributed to Solomon rather than his father David. It is an example of wisdom literature as are Job and Ecclesiastes. What makes this section of the Bible so different from the portions that came before it, wisdom literature focuses on the practical and philosophic side of life rather than the religious aspect so prominent in past stories. The sayings here are based on observation and experimentation, not divine revelation.

All societies have proverbs, which are short, memorable truths about life and human behavior. What makes them memorable is the use of figurative language (for example, wisdom is described as a woman) and parallelism (one part of a sentence echoes the same structure as a second part of the sentence). It may be difficult to read through all the chapters at one sitting due to the lack of a plot and the need for meditation on the ideas presented, but since there are 31 chapters, many people enjoy reading one chapter a day for a month.

Keep in mind these proverbs are not a promise of how your life will go. They are generalizations that describe how life tends to go.

Take a look at chapter 31 in particular. Here the author describes the ideal wife. Note how modern this description appears–she can do so many things beyond raising children. Also note that this is an acrostic in which each verse starts with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. The result is that the author is saying the woman can do all from A to Z.

However you read this book, be prepared to think about the truths contained in it.