What is a Prophet?

A prophet is one who brings a message from God to people. The best-known prophets are those of the Old Testament. Common themes include worship of God, condemnations of selfish and immoral living, and the coming of the Messiah (the one who would restore Israel); they often met with bitter resistance when they spoke against the idol worship and immorality of their people. Pprophets of the Old Testament include Daniel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, and Moses.

Prophets also appear in the New Testament. Jesus called John the Baptist a prophet; Christians, in fact, consider John the Baptist a bridge between the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and those of the New Testament.

A prophet can be defined as either (1) one brings the word of the Lord for a new sitation or (2) one who foretells future events.

The responsibility of the biblical prophet was:

not to foretell: predict events far in the future such as the 21st century.

but to prophesy: speak the will of God as it was related to the people of that day.

The word for prophet most frequently found in the Old Testament (nabi) is probably derived from the Akkadian verb Nabu which means "to summons, announce, call." The prophet was one who announced to leaders and the nation of Israel the word of the Lord.

The prophet would assses the state of how they were living, warn them of imminent judgment, and urge repentance. Beginning with the prophets Hosea and Isaiah, God began to disclose his new Word to preserve a small group, what we call a remnant, in order to carry out His promise to His people.

Authorship of Isaiah

The fact that the contents of Isaiah speak to three periods of time, two of which extended beyond the physical life of the prophet Isaiah, makes it likely that the original Isaiah did not write all of the book. Chapters 1 to 39 parallel the time when Isaiah proclaimed his message between 740 and 687 B.C. Yet chapters 40 to 66 speak to the period of the Babylonian exile (approx. 539 B.C.) and the time of the return after the Exile (between 530 and 510 B.C.).

Those who hold to a single author believe that the prophetic role allowed Isaiah to clearly predict events which would occur long after his death (even mentioning Cyrus, King of Persia, by name). Others believe that one or more of Isaiah's disciples contributed to the chapters which record events occurring beyond the prophet's lifetime.

Questions 1-4

0. Does Isaiah have a single author? Does it matter? 1. What does "Isaiah" mean? Hint: your Teen Bible has the answer. 2. You hear on the radio a radio preacher saying that Isaiah prophesied World War II. Why is such a claim contrary to what Old Testament prophecy was about? 3. Challenge: What is the language in the image at right? 4. In the first couple of verses of Isaiah 1 (Teen Bible, p. 873), how does this message fit with the description of prophecy above?

Words That Describe Prophets

1. Seer --The prophet had spiritual insight which allowed the interpretation of present events and what God would do in light of those events.

2. Servant of God -- The prophet, like any faithful representative was following orders and demonstrating obedience.

3. Watchman --Like a lookout, the prophet was responsible for sounding the alarm and calling attention to the impending crisis (Ez. 33:6­9, p. 1114 Teen Bible).

Distinctive Characteristics of the Prophets

1. Sense of a Call from God -- sometimes the prophets only reluctantly brought the Word of the Lord to a situation.

2. Individualism -- The prophets came from all kinds of different backgrounds.

a. Jeremiah and Ezekiel had been priests; b. Isaiah, Daniel, and Zephaniah were associated with the king; c. Amos was a shepherd; d. Hosea's call came in relationship to his marriage.

Questions 5-8

5. Did prophets have much in common in terms of their backgrounds? 6. Two point Bonus question: The call of Isaiah in chapter 6 (p. 881, Teen Bible) is like what part of our liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer? 7. What does it mean to say that God is holy (p. 879)? 8. In the "Song of the Vineyard" (ch. 5, p. 878) the prophet compares the vineyard to what? Given this, what do prophets do?

 

 

 

 

 

Expressions Common to the Prophets

1. The Word of the Lord--The revelation of God to the people he called into service, the people of Israel.

2. Election--This relates to choosing, calling, separating of Israel from other peoples.

3. Covenant--An agreement between two parties; however, when God is involved, the parties are never equals. This agreement is initiated by the senior party (God) as an act of election of the junior partner, the people of Israel.

4. Rebellion--The behavior of Israel and Judah is seen as infidelity to their primary relationship and violation of the sacred covenant.

5. Baal--This fertility god of Canaan (you have seen him before) was depicted as a helmeted deity striding into action with a thunderbolt as his spear.

6. Ashtaroth--the goddess of fertility of the nations around Israel and Judah.

7. Judgment--The subject of judgment is Yahweh; the object of judgment is Israel. God accuses, renders the verdict and proceeds to carry out His just verdict, often using other nations and leaders as the instruments of His judgment.

Questions 9-11

9. When the prophet brings "the word of the Lord" to Israel, it is because the people have broken what (which term above)? 10. What deity was the chief challenge to the worship of Yahweh, the Lord of Israel? 11. Isaiah 9 is one of the most famous chapters in the Bible? Christians take this passage to refer to whom?

Background of Isaiah and the Judgment of God

The political world of Isaiah's day was dominated by the threat of Assyria, a brutal military power that conquered and suppressed many people in the ancient Middle East. The rise of Tiglath Pileser (sometimes referred to in the Bible as Pul) in 740 B.C. provided Assyria with a vicious leader for this dark cloud to the North that threatened many nations.

In 722 B.C., the Northern Kingdom (Israel) fell to the Assyrian forces led by Sargon II, leaving Judah in the south as a weak unimportant vassal state. In fact, in the modern world, Sadam Hussein styled himself a modern Assyrian leader.

In 701 B.C., the Assyrian king Sennacherib invaded Judah (roughly a small area around Jerusalem). After destroying several fortified cities along the border, his army laid siege to the central city of Jerusalem. The Bible attributes the surprising retreat of Sennacherib to God's providential intervention (2 Kings 19:1­37).

Isaiah prophesied to Judah and Jerusalem during this critical period, as an advisor to the kings. At first, he brought a harsh message, given all the injustice and the faithlessness of the people, then a very gentle message after the judment had befallen the nation.

Questions 12-15

12. Isaiah 24 (p. 903) talks about the destruction of the earth by whom? Is that surprising? What does it say about prophecy? 13. 24:17-23 is a very prophetic message. How does it correspond to the image at right? 14. After all the talk of destruction above, suddenly chapter 40 (p. 926) sounds a very different note. What is it? 15. Chapter 43 (p. 933) sounds a very warm and tender note, particularly in verse 4. What is that note and how has prophecy changed in its message?