exilic prophets in the bible

801-422-6975. Some parts of prophetic books provide exceptions. For now, he warned Davids heir, Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do not wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. (3) We see through the prophets that God is serious about His covenant with Israel. Is there a need for a message of repentance today? The writing prophets may be divided into four groups: Prophets of Israel Jonah, Amos, and Hosea, Prophets of Judah Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk, Exilic Prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, Post-exilic Prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. al., Old Testament Survey (Eerdmans, 2nd ed, 1996), p. 222. Following the defeat of the Egyptians, Nebuchadnezzar headed south into Judah and entered Jerusalem as conqueror. [8] Amihai Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000586 B.C. . 5. Even as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot three years as a sign against Egypt and Cush, so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush (Isaiah 20:2-4). First, the policy of deportation carried out by the Babylonians meant that the Jews in Babylon were the top of Judahs intellectual, political, and ecclesiastical leadership. Jeremiah, an eyewitness to the destruction, wrote Lamentations afterward. Perhaps this is where an example of the importance of historical context can be best illustrated. The exilic prophets wrote to assure the people that God would restore them to the land. The story really plays upon the latter point. I have swept your offenses like a cloud, Then I shall turn your festivals into mourning. Poetry must be read, understood, and interpreted as poetry. The fall of Jerusalem did not immediately shatter those beliefs. And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [27] See, for example, Ezekiel 18:2, 25; Lamentations 5:7. 27. At any rate, the Jews in Babylon were able to collect and begin to duplicate a large number of scriptures, further evidence of their growing trust in Gods word through His prophets. Pre-exilic Prophets and Kings 609- 608 B.C. One-third of his hair he burned with fire, another he hacked with the sword, and the last he scattered to the wind. Isaiah went about barefoot and naked as a sign for the Lord. Just as the Bible as a whole is composed of many different kinds of literature and literary forms, so also the prophets employed a variety of literary forms in their divinely inspired messages. [28] The Jews cried to their God for mercy but seemingly without hope. Jerusalem was completely pillaged and much was destroyed, but little of it, including the temple mount, was actually leveled. Ezekiel clearly preached against the idea that the temple alone would save the people. 271 Walter C. Kaiser, Toward an Exegetical Theology (Baker Books, 1981), p. 195. He was to say, I am a sign to you. Antithetical parallelism, on the other hand, is where the second or subsequent line contrasts the thought of the first, as in Hosea 7:14: They do not cry out to me from their hearts. On the positive side, the captivity did deal a mortal blow to the dogma propagated by such false prophets as Hananiah and others. As I have done, so it will be done to them (in Jerusalem). [10] Peter R. Ackroyd, Exile and Restoration: A Study of Hebrew Thought of the Sixth Century B.C. and concluding after Zedekiahs fall in 586 B.C. You will recognize this form whenever you see these elements: reference to the future, mention of radical change, and mention of blessing. Many whined that their lot was unfounded and unfair. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), s.v. The Lawsuit Oracle Lets turn to Isaiah 3:13-26, which constitutes an allegorical literary form called a covenant lawsuit. In this and scores of other lawsuit allegories in the Prophets (e.g., Hosea 3:3-17, 4:1-19, etc. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not. The goals of these Bible studies are, first, to help you understand the cultural background and the literary structure of the biblical stories and, thus, the purpose and message behind those stories. The terms imply nothing about their relative importance.251 It would perhaps be more appropriate to refer to them as the longer and shorter prophets. In accomplishing this primary purpose, they confronted Israels sin and demanded repentance. Under their auspices, she was able to keep her integrity in Babylon and prepare for the realization of the blessings of her restoration. J. D. Douglas [Grand Rapids , Mich.: Eerdmans, 1962], s.v. The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. As you see, the writing prophets come on the scene immediately after Elijah and Elisha and continue where their ministries left off. Judah, too, was destroyed for its disobedience and carried off into exile. Both Transjordan and Syria received an influx of Jewish refugees. What Judah desperately needed was another Moses to lead her out of the way not of physical harm but of spiritual harm. Isaiah foresaw the fall of her captor Babylon and the coming of her Median liberator, Cyrus. Therefore, Judahs challenge was to make sure that she did not become integrated into the culture of this foreign land or she might forget her true home and temple. But what was it the prophets actually sought? In all, the Jews in Babylon produced the capital and manpower necessary to do the work essential for the return. Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the two Isaiahs made the most profound impressions on the religious development of the Israelite people. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service has ended, that her guilt is expiated, That. For a discussion of the whole issue, see David Noel Freedman, Son of Man, Can These Bones Live? Interpretation, 29 (1975): 17186. Parallelism is the verse form in which virtually all biblical poetry is written.266 Hopefully, you have some knowledge of poetic parallelism in the Bible, but Ill touch on it just a bit anyway since it is so prevalent in the prophets. [21] See Ezekiel 8:1; 14:1; 33:30, for examples. 253 Thomas R. Rodgers, The Panorama of the Old Testament (Trinity Press, 1997): chronology of the early prophets, p. 310, and chronology of the later prophets, p. 321. The reason for this is given in verse 3. All three of these have are the subject of fair arguments for much later dates.255 I have shown them here at their earliest suggested dates for convenience. Judah could neither ignore nor forget what had happened. As one of our elders related to me last week, When you read the book of Micah, its almost as if he was writing to the church today.. The prophetic books require time and study. Timeline of the Prophets | Theology of Work The Jews used this term to designate the almighty and true God. I think most of us would agree at the outset that these prophetic books are among the most difficult parts of the Bible to interpret or to read with understanding. A. These curses are often metaphorical, though they can certainly be literal as well. The people of Judah witnessed the destruction of the northern kingdom, as did Isaiah and Micah, who warned that they were not immune to Gods wrath and were, in fact, on the same road to destruction. One must always bear in mind that the prophets did not invent the blessings and curses they announced. It is to these Jews, those who were actually taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, that one must give the largest credit for the survival of the people. The final deportation occurred in 586 BC when Jerusalem was finally destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Because Jeremiah continued to prophesy for some time after 600 B.C., someone was collecting and recording his prophecies while they were being given. [38] See the biblical instruction in Deuteronomy 17:6 and in Matthew 18:16. The Prophets of the Exile | Religious Studies Center And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword (Jeremiah 5:1517; see also 2:16; 4:58, 1117; 6:2226). The king, according to the revelation, would go mad for seven years, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Daniel 4:25). If you know the historical context, it is easier to understand why they said what they did. By the very nature of things, we will have a harder time understanding the words of the prophets than the Israelites who heard those same words in person. . [25] The writings of the prophets show that the people felt justified in doing this and were sure they should receive Jehovahs blessings (see, for example, Hosea 9:910; Jeremiah 11:1213). Ezekiel's early oracles (from c. 592) in Jerusalem were pronouncements of violence and destruction; his later statements addressed the hopes of the Israelites exiled in Babylon. That explains in part why he became one of Nebuchadnezzars many hostages, the Babylonians concentrating on children of the gentry, clergy, and aristocracy. I have only scratched the surface and talked of some of the features they have in common. Ezekiel and Daniel are the prophets of the exile, while the last three minor prophets were during the post-exilic era. He stated in no uncertain terms that he had full authority to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Haggai 2 | Bible.org Richard D. Draper is associate dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University. God raised up prophets and announced His Word accordingly. As a result of this sin, she had lost her place as the covenant people as well as her homeland. [33] Because the apocalyptic portion has been sealed (see Daniel 12:4, 9) and no prophet of the Restoration has opened it, much that is there remains a mystery. Chapters 40-55 in the Book of Isaiah are believed to be the work of a prophet who lived with the Hebrew exiles during the Babylonian captivity. They confronted Israels sin and called them back to the Law. 267 Jesus used parallelism on numerous occasions. 254 The prophets are shown at single points-in-time along the bar to keep the graphic from getting too complicated; however, this does not do justice to the fact that some had long ministries. The brass plates, taken by Nephi from Laban, contained prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah; and also many of the prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah (1 Nephi 5:12). Though Judah was not yet scattered the world over, the process was beginning in earnest. Study . Isaiah and Work. David himself exulted that Jehovah hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire (2 Samuel 23:5). Again his voice was not alone. The people hated Jeremiah, not only for this message of coming judgment, but for his call to submit and surrender. Post-exilic prophets. When they emerged from the fire, not only unharmed but not even smelling of smoke, the king exclaimed, There is no other God that can deliver after this sort (Daniel 3:29). The prophets spoke for God to His people. Does that in itself not suggest that there is a message in the prophets for us today? If we will take the trouble to learn those chapters from the Pentateuch, we will be rewarded with a much better understanding of why the prophets say the things they do. One thing is sure: he reckoned Jehovah as the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase (Daniel 4:37). That is, the words they spoke at various times and places over the years of their ministry have been collected and written down together, without divisions to indicate where one oracle ends and another begins. There we see that by the time the writing prophets come on the scene, Israel was a nation permanently divided by a long ongoing civil war. [17] Bright, History of Israel, 347. What was the general message of the prophets before the Babylonian The prophets did not underplay the tragedy that had occurred. Each prophetic oracle was delivered in a specific historical setting. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, they spoke mainly of judgment. . See, for example, Psalms 2; 18; 20; 21; 45; 72; 89; 101; 110; and 132. The full lawsuit form contains a summons, a charge, evidence, and a verdict, though these elements may sometimes be implied rather than being explicit. The prophecies of the Book of Joel are divided into two parts, comprising respectively (1) ch. Yet it still took them some time before they accepted it and were finally healed by it. [22] Facilitating that favorable internment would have been the Jewish administrators, such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were moving up in the ranks of Babylonian government. Nebuchadnezzars dream emphasized the last point. Further, it promised the Jews that even in Babylon, Jehovah could and did sustain and protect those who remained true to the faith. She was but a stranger in a strange land, a sojourner in a foreign country from which she would eventually be released. Ezekiels prophecies in chapters 1-32 were given in Babylon before the fall of Jerusalem. Statistically speaking, a majority of the prophets announce curse because in the time of their prophecies (generally 800 - 587 BC), the Israelites (north and south) were heading for punishment. It further allowed Judah to reject Jehovahs laws and His true prophets and foolishly believe that the scion of Davids linethe Messiahwould soon come and establish His world-embracing kingdom over which the Jews would triumphantly rule. The prophet Habakkuks willingness to question Gods justness in using Babylon as His tool to chastise Judah underscores how pervasive the feeling was (see Habakkuk 1:117). Jeremiah 29 NIV - A Letter to the Exiles - This is the - Bible Gateway When proper circumstances arose, she had the will and determination to appeal to her captors for her freedom. 268 See William S. LaSor, David A. Hubbard & Frederic W. Bush, Old Testament Survey (Eerdmans, 2nd edition, 1996), pp. The same is true of those Jews living in lands outside of Palestine. At best, it smoldered well beneath the surface, unable to produce the energy necessary to renew and rebuild what was lost. (2) 3:2 implies that Israel has already been exiled. Some things, however, did come to an end. Though the state and the religion of Judah emphasized the worship of Jehovah alone, insisting that all other gods were no gods, Judah was never more than a step away from polytheism. Who is Habakkuk in the Bible? The message of the prophets was a call for repentance. The prophets love, mirroring that of Jehovah for Judah, testified that God would gladly welcome back the penitent with full forgiveness. In the prophetic books, however, we hear from the prophets and very little about the prophets themselves. The Post-Exilic Prophets: Obadiah, Joel, Haggai, And Malachi - bible.org The promises of the scriptures and the hope that they generated moved Judah to place high value upon them. It is interesting to look for these pedagogys in biography in the narrative sections of the prophetic books. Examples of Pedagogy in Biography in the life of Ezekiel A striking example is found in Ezekiel 4:1-13. The Prophets by Alec Motyer - Ligonier Ministries The malady struck that very hour. It is designed to stir the emotions and create vivid mental pictures, not feed the intellect. Daniel, however, was able to tell the king the dream because his God, who possessed both wisdom and might, also giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: he revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him (Daniel 2:2122). 252 The Old Testament is made up of a number of types of literature (or literary genre). The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary. As a matter of fact, poetry is the second most common literary feature and comprises almost one-third of the Bible.265 Therefore, we must have some understanding of biblical poetry in order to better understand Scripture. 231-242. We shall speak of them in this order. Judahs job was to turn to her God with full purpose of heart and the reward would come. Their own hymn mourned the extent of that loss, saying that God forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemys hand. Verse Section Hosea 1:2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea . Still, that was not far enough. It also effectively resulted in a new mixed race of people who became known as Samaritans. The presentation of ideas in poetic forms such as this need not be confusing, as long as we read carefully and are aware of the unique features. We see in this admission the king allowing Jehovah a place among the pantheon of Babylonian gods and even according Him the special place as revealer. [18] That is not very many Jews, certainly far fewer than those living in either Palestine, Syria, or Egypt. Until 1925, scholars did not realize the extent of the catastrophe. They knew that Jerusalems gates are sunk into the ground; he [God] hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision [of hope] from the Lord (Lamentations 2:9). Never again would the old social and religious pattern be constructed in exactly the same way. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused, he ordered them burned (see Daniel 3:1322). They hoped that they would have the opportunity to create a distinctly Jewish society in the land of Palestine. Let us first take a look at the chart in Figure 1 on page 2, which will help us see how the writing prophets fit chronologically in the history of Israel and Judah.253 The bar represents the nation of Israel becoming a divided kingdom after the rule of Solomon. Sections. In fact, it may be helpful to turn to the Table of Contents in your Bible to see them all listed. The prophets often used what may be called poetic prose, a special, formal style employing the same characteristics as poetry, though less consistently. Jewish villages grew up here and there on the eastern end of the Mediterranean area,[15] but no pressure for restoration came from these Jews, either. To see the prophets as primarily predictors of future events is to miss their primary function, which was, in fact, to speak for God to their contemporaries. Disaster is predicted in verses 7-8, when all those Babylon has oppressed will one day rise up against it. As Latter-day Saints we understand that the passage referred to the Book of Mormon and the Bible. [1] John Bright, A History of Israel, 3rd ed. These two combined lessons will give an introduction to these Writing Prophets. 21. View Full Article. Synthetic parallelism, perhaps a little harder to discern, is where the second or subsequent line adds to the first line in any manner which provides further information, as in Obadiah 21: It should be noted that the literature discusses other more extensive and sophisticated forms of parallelism found in biblical poetry. For some that will mean judgment and for some . [45] Martin North, uml-berlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien I (Halle, Germany: M. Niemeyer, 1943), argues that material had been written down from at least the tenth century and that more than one collection existed between 622 and 587. The addition shows that the Jews were actively working on their records during the captivity. )traditional symbolic elements of a theophany (manifestation of a god) in ancient Near Eastern religions . After the destruction, they begin to talk more of restoration. (1) it must be related to a threatened invasion of Judah in the metaphor of a locust plague. Its value depends partly on our ability to appreciate those situations so we can in turn apply them to our own. The Post-Exilic Prophets: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology by Keith Mathison The exile was a major turning point in the history of Israel. Solomons inspired prayer had seen them repent, and make supplication unto thee [Jehovah] in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness (1 Kings 8:47). Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. The difference of opinion, however, could not be resolved while the Jews were in Babylon, but it does illustrate their growing faith in the prophecies. It would certainly be worthwhile to become more familiar with this poetic structure.268 As with oracle forms, a general familiarity with Hebrew parallelism can be quite rewarding as we read the prophets. Though the disruption of their life was extreme, it was by no means complete. See William W. Klein, et. We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name (Isaiah 63:1719). But to many of the Jews living at the time, it was anything but clear. Simply stated, the prophets were covenant enforcement mediators.261 There was a covenant relationship between God and His people. There is an overarching theme in the prophets which should serve as the primary thrust of application. Beard.. with a group of Jewish exiles deported about a decade before Jerusalem was destroyed. Under the guidance of her leaders, she returned home and began to rebuild her national identity. Yes, that may properly be understood as the ultimate goal. Finally, the structure of poetry is parallelism. What had been prophesied repeatedly by the prophets, repeating what Moses had stated in chapters 27 and 28 of Deuteronomy, became a reality. It came in a vision of four heavenly cherubim, who appeared in a wind from the north, a cloud, and flashing fire (lightning? They Spoke in Oracles When we come to the actual study of the prophetic books, the first thing we must learn to do is to think oracles (just as we must learn to think paragraphs in the epistles or narrative sections of the Bible).263 This is not always an easy task, but to know the difficulty and the need to do this is the beginning of some exciting discovery. 262 As an aside, the Assyrians not only plundered the cities of the northern kingdom, but they removed the wealthy and influential people of Israel to other conquered areas and took people from other nations and moved them into the land (2 Kings 17:24). (Jeremiah 11:611). 251 Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Zondervan, 1993), p. 165. A third group, those who believed in the words of the prophets, feared that Judah had committed a mortal sin for which she could never be forgiven. The Minor Prophets - Introduction | Bible.org Indeed, Judah, with all her seeming splendor, would fall.[31]. [26] To some it might have appeared that Jehovah was a petty god unable to protect even His petty state. His message was both clear and simple: It was not the temple but righteousness that would be Judahs only shield. . We see the progression in four events. Introduction to Obadiah | Bible.org Moreover, even when one can assume by a major change of subject that a new oracle has probably begun, the lack of explanation still leaves one asking, Was this said on the same day to the same audience, or was it said years later -- or earlier -- to a different group under different circumstances? The answer can make a big difference as to ones understanding. (New York: Doubleday, 1990), 54850. The most common types of parallelism are Synonymous, Antithetical, and Synthetic parallelism as illustrated below: Synonymous parallelism is where the second or subsequent line repeats or reinforces the sense of the first line, as in Isaiah 44:22:267. Nonetheless, they offered hope in Jehovahs redemptive purpose. [9] See Ezekiel 33:2429 in light of Isaiah 57:313; 65:1, 11, for example. He recounted a vision in which he saw the Lords Spirit lift from the sanctuary, hover over the temple for a moment, and then depart to the east (see Ezekiel 9:8; 10:18; 11:23). It took a lot of soul-searching and a profound readjustment in her theological understanding to get things moving. Generally, these may be categorized as life, health, prosperity, agricultural abundance, respect, and safety. as forty-six hundred (see Jeremiah 52:2830). Things clear to them tend to be opaque to us. In referring to the prophets, Martin Luther once said the following: They have a queer way of talking, like people who, instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, ramble off from one thing to the next so that you cannot make heads or tails of them or see what they are getting at.256. The dating of the prophets Jonah, Joel, and Obadiah are more questionable than the other prophets. Through them, God announced His intention to enforce the covenant and always in accordance with the categories of blessing and curse already contained in the Law. 27 And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where the Lord shall drive you. John W. Welch [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988], 910). [28] Isaiah 63:19 reflects the idea that the covenant could be lost, and Ezekiel 33:10; 37:11 shows that some of the Jews were really concerned about it. The Post-Exilic Prophets - CliffsNotes Once Judah began to look, the scriptural evidence of her restoration must have been very reassuring. Why is there such a concentrated writing down of prophetic word during the time between Amos and Malachi? Men in both the Babylonian and the Jewish cultures wore beards, and the Jews viewed them as a sign of adult male vitality and glory. All the prophetic books contain a substantial amount of poetry, and several are exclusively poetic. And some of the prophecies in other books, notably Jeremiah and Ezekiel, are likewise dated and placed in a setting by the inspired author. God preserved a faithful remnant in Israel. [45] Many of these records may have been taken to Babylon by various hostages, especially those of priestly and royal rank, and finally, by the last deportees. Blessings or curses do not guarantee prosperity or dearth to any specific individual. In thinking about application of the prophets to us today, we can make some observations: (1) The ungodly society in Israel and Judah in the days of the prophets is certainly similar to the ungodly society of our day; i.e., we see the similar self-indulgence, materialism, sexual promiscuity and perversion, pluralism, humanism, rampant ungodliness, etc. This was to illustrate Gods prophecy that Judah was to soon come under the yoke of Babylon. Haggai. Ezekiels famous vision of the dry bones testified to not only the eventual resurrection of Israel but also the more immediate restoration of Judah: Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
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