Introduction To The Old Testament Prophets

To what extent the books of the prophets were written by the prophets themselves or by their disciples based on the prophets’ oral and written messages we do not know. But 2 Peter 1:21 (“no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”) affirms the inspiration of the original individual prophetic messages, and 2 Timothy 3:16 teaches that the completed books are nothing but God’s very words to us (“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness”).

Finally, what may we say about Luther’s charge that the prophets, “instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, ramble off from one thing to the next”? That is, are these books simply collections of messages with minimal coherence, or is there an overall plan and purpose? Although the structure of the prophetic books is not always immediately apparent, and scholars often disagree on the extent to which an intentional structure may be discerned, in recent decades scholars have produced many studies demonstrating that these books possess a coherent structure. As Gordon McConville declares, for example, “The prophetic books are not just raw collections of disjointed sayings, but carefully constructed pieces of literature.”

The power of the prophetic word to inspire is illustrated by a bronze statue by Evgeniy Vuchetich titled Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares. It was inspired, of course, by Micah 4:3 and Isaiah 2:4: “He will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away. They will beat their swords into plows, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.” This statue stands in the garden of the United Nations headquarters in New York City and was a gift from the Soviet Union in 1959.

The prophet Jeremiah described his own experience with the prophetic word in Jeremiah 20:9—“I say, ‘I won’t mention him or speak any longer in his name.’ But his message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.” May God’s word through his prophets and the God of his word so overpower our hearts and lives and become a fire in our bones that burns ever brighter until the Lord returns and the earth is filled with the knowledge of his glory (Hab 2:14).

THE HEBREW PROPHETS IN HISTORY

(9TH-5TH CENTURIES BC)

God’s call for justice and

righteousness

Moresheth Gath/

Jerusalem

Anathoth/

Jerusalem

Huldah (the

prophetess)