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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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August 12, 1990
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Contents:
1) The Prophets of God (Tom Edwards)
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-1-
The Prophets of God
by Tom Edwards
A study of the minor prophets can be beneficial for every Bible
student; but, sadly, this type of study is often neglected. Though some
will often begin, they soon become discouraged and give up, due to a
lack of background information. And there are also those who are not
concerned at all about the background information; instead they are
trying to find other things, such as allusions toward "cars, planes,
current world leaders, and a list of other modern day happenings" in
the holy ancient text. (Just glance through some of today's
premillennial writings and you'll see this is so.)
Having an understanding as to the political, social, and spiritual
conditions of the time in which the prophet lived will help us in
better interpreting his writing. We must keep in mind that the prophet
was addressing those in his day and see the relevancy of his message in
view of their circumstances.
All of the minor prophets are quoted or alluded to in the New Testament
with the exception of Obadiah and Nahum.
It has been said that it was Augustine who coined the phrase "minor
prophets." Though many have probably misunderstood this expression, a
minor prophet was not inferior to a "major prophet"; his writings were
simply shorter. Each of the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (all
major prophets) is longer than the combined writings of all twelve of
the minor prophets.
Etymologists are not certain as to the origin of the Hebrew word
translated "prophet" ("nabhi"), but there is a general agreement that
it is derived from a term that means "to boil up or boil forth like
some hot spring or fountain." It was Jeremiah who declared, "...But His
word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was
weary of holding it back, and I could not" (Jer. 20:9). This simile
depicts the fervent nature of Jeremiah in proclaiming God's word. Just
as water that is heated to 100 degrees Celsius must boil, Jeremiah was
prompted by his love for the truth to proclaim the word of the Lord
that had been brought to his heart. He could not merely keep it to
himself.
There are other designations used in the Bible to refer to the prophet:
"Seer" is apparently the earliest of them; 1 Samuel 9:9 states that
"Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he spoke thus:
`Come, let us go to the seer'; for he who is now called a prophet
was formerly called a seer." Other terms sometimes employed are "man of
God" (1 Kings 13:1), "man of the spirit" (Hos. 9:7), and "watchman";
but the most common is simply "prophet." It is used more than 400 times
as a noun in the Old Testament; and, as a verb from the same root, 110
times.
Perhaps by observing Aaron's relationship to Moses it will serve to
illustrate what a prophet is. Exodus 7:1 reads, "Then the Lord said to
Moses, `See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall
be your prophet." Exodus 4:16 further exclaims: "Moreover, he shall
speak for you to the people; and it shall come about that he shall be
as a MOUTH for you, and you shall be as God to him." ("he shall be thy
SPOKESMAN unto the people" [King James Version]). Since Aaron, as
a prophet to Moses, was to be a "spokesman" or a "mouth," this then is
also what God's prophet was to be to Him. 2 Chronicles 36:21
speaks of "the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah." Hebrews 1:1
states: "God...spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets...." These
men of God were "moved by the Holy Spirit" to proclaim the message that
the Lord was imparting to them (2 Pet. 1:20,21).
The prophets of old can be categorized as either an "oral" or a
"literal" prophet. The "oral" prophet simply being the one whom, though
he prophesied, we have no books by him. Elijah and Elisha would be two
examples of this order. In the Old Testament we have the writings of 16
"literal" prophets.
Many of the Bible characters were prophets of God: Abraham (Gen. 20:7)
and Moses (Deut. 18:15-18; 34:10; Hos. 12:13) are both referred to as
such; yet especially in Moses' writings, he dealt primarily with
current laws and regulations rather than the foretelling of future
events. As one old preacher used to show, the prophet was not just a
foreteller, but even more so a forth-teller, proclaiming the message
God wanted His people to know.
Though Abraham, Moses, and many other prophets lived years prior to the
days of Samuel, it appears that the "prophetic era" really did not
begin until the time of this venerable Bible character; who served not
only as prophet, but also as priest and judge between the time of Eli
the high priest of Shiloh and Saul the first king of Israel. As
Peter was urging the people to repent and turn unto God, he informed
them that "all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many
as have spoken, have also foretold these days" (Acts 3:24). When
Paul related to his fellow Jews in the synagogue of some of Israel's
history, he spoke of that time when God "gave them judges for about
four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet" (Acts
13:20). The Hebrew writer also alludes to this prophetic era in
Hebrew 11:32; here he states: "And what more shall I say? I do not have
time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and
the prophets."
Commenting on this Robert Harkrider states: "The origin of the
prophetic order in Israel dates back to Samuel...Samuel...was the one
who originated the `schools' of the prophets and thus, also, the
prophetic `order.' In this sense, he is `the first of the prophets' --
a distinction which the New Testament clearly recognizes in Acts 3:24;
13:20; Heb. 11:32."
It's interesting to note that the prophets also served not only as
"foretellers" and "forth-tellers," but also as the HISTORIANS OF
ISRAEL, or to clarify this more, THE INTERPRETERS OF ISRAELITE HISTORY.
This function, however, is often overlooked.
A number of times in the books of Samuel and Kings, a small note is
given at the end of the information of each king that says something to
the effect that the rest of the acts of this particular king are
recorded in the "book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah" (and/or
"Israel"). Many have erroneously assumed that this has reference to the
books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, but that could not be so because they were
probably not even written until about a hundred to a hundred and fifty
years after the books of Samuel and Kings. Also, these references that
are indicated as being in the "books of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah" (and/or "Israel") are often not in the books of 1 and 2
Chronicles. Apparently, these referrals in the books of Samuel and
Kings had reference to official archives or records. Interestingly, in
the parallel passages of 1 and 2 Chronicles, the notes at the end of
the reigns of those kings also direct the reader to what in all
probability are the same official records. But in Chronicles it does
not refer the reader to "the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah (and/or "Israel"), but rather to the BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS:
Samuel, Nathan, and Gad (1 Chron. 29:29); Iddo and Ahijah (2
Chron. 9:29); Shemaiah and Iddo (2 Chron. 12:15); Jehu (2 Chron.
20:34); and even Isaiah (2 Chron. 26:22) and other prophets.
Consider the following example concerning the end of the reign of
Rehoboam: 1 Kings 14:29, "Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all
that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah?" Now hear the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 12:15:
"The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book
of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning
genealogies?...."
It appears that these historical records were being kept and written by
the prophets themselves. Phil Roberts remarks that these records "were
probably stored in the temple, and while that might suggest a job for a
priest, we should remember that many of the prophets were in fact
priests."
The Jews themselves have preserved yet another indicator of the
prophetic role in the writing of Israelite history. Though we speak of
the main divisions of the Old Testament as Law, History, Poetry, and
the Prophets; the Jews divided these same books into just three
divisions: Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Their historical books
were at least in part under the category of the prophets.
This three-part division of the Old Testament is rather ancient. Jesus
Himself spoke of the things which were written of Him in "the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms" (Luke 24:44).
Another distinction between how we categorize the prophets and the way
in which the Jews did is seen in the following: We normally speak of
the "Major" and the "Minor" prophets, but the Jews referred to both
these categories as the "Latter" prophets; and they also referred to
some as the "Former" prophets, that pertain to the historical books of
Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. They had viewed
these writings as essentially the works of the prophets of Israel.
The prophets we read of in the Bible are probably just a segment of all
the prophets whom God has used. However, their writings can be
very profitable for us today, as we see the world entangled within so
many of the same snares which God's people became entrapped long ago;
and their message of God's righteousness, man's sin, and man's need to
repent and turn to the Lord is still highly relevant and needful for
our time as well.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel,
for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the
deity of Christ (John 8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins
(Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ
(Rom. 10:9,10; Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water
for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith;
for,
if
not,
salvation
can
be
lost
(Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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First published for the Tri-state church of Christ in Ashland,
Kentucky, at 713 13th Street.
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards
tedwards1109@gmail.com
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