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Bible History - Old Testament Prophets

  1. PROPHETS OF ISRAEL
    1. Jonah
      1. 4 chapters, 48 verses
      2. Jonah means dove
      3. During the reign of Jeroboam II (2 Kings14:25); book written around 770BC
      4. From Gath-hepher, about 3 miles northeast of Nazareth
      5. Ministry to Israel; book deals with special ministry to Ninevah
      6. Outline
        1. In a Boat for Tarshish (Jonah 1)
        2. In the Belly of the Whale (Jonah 2)
        3. In the Battle for the Lord (Jonah 3)
        4. Under the Booth in a Mood (Jonah 4)
    2. Amos
      1. 9 chapters, 146 verses
      2. Amos means burden-bearer
      3. Written around 760BC toward the end of the reign of Jeroboam II
      4. From Tekoa, a village 6 miles south of Bethlehem overlooking the Dead Sea
      5. Call while tending his flock (Amos 7:14-15)
      6. Ministered to Israel (Amos 1:1)
      7. Outline
        1. Judgments Against the Nations (Amos 1-2)
        2. Judgments Against Israel (Amos 3-6)
        3. Five Visions of Judgment (Amos 7-8)
        4. The Promised Messiah (Amos 9)
    3. Hosea
      1. 14 chapters, 197 verses
      2. Hosea means salvation
      3. Written around 725BC shortly before the Assyrian Captivity
      4. Ministry spans 7 kings of Israel and 4 kings of Judah
      5. Mostly ministered to Israel (Hosea 4:1,15; Hosea 5:1; Hosea 7:1; Hosea 9:1-3; Hosea 10:1; Hosea 11:1-5)
      6. Outline
        1. The Unfaithful Wife (Hosea 1-3)
        2. The Unfaithful Nation (Hosea 4-14)
  2. PROPHETS OF JUDAH
    1. Obadiah
      1. 1 chapter, 21 verses
      2. Obadiah means servant of the Lord
      3. Time of writing unsure; one guess is between 840 and 825BC
      4. Lived in Judah; prophesied against Edom
    2. Joel
      1. 3 chapters, 73 verses
      2. Joel means Jehovah is God
      3. Probably written around 820BC
      4. Ministered to Judah
      5. Deals much with “the day of the LORD”  (Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1,11,31; Joel 3:14)
    3. Isaiah
      1. 66 chapters
      2. Isaiah means Jehovah saves
      3. Ministered during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1)
      4. Contemporary with the prophets Hosea and Micah
      5. Family
        1. Father – Amoz (Isaiah 1:1)
        2. Wife – a prophetess (Isaiah 8:3)
        3. His sons
          1. Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:3) –means speedy is the prey
          2. Shear-jashub (Isaiah 7:3) –means a remnant shall return
      6. Songs in Isaiah
        1. Song of the Vineyard (Isaiah 5)
        2. Song of the Redeemed (Isaiah 12)
        3. Song of the Blossoming Desert (Isaiah 35)
        4. Song of the Restored Wife (Isaiah 54)
      7. Outline
        1. Judgment of God (Isaiah 1-39)
        2. Comfort of God (Isaiah 40-66)
      8. Gospel According to Isaiah
        1. Birth (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6)
        2. Family (Isaiah 11:1)
        3. Anointing (Isaiah 11:2)
        4. Character (Isaiah 11:3-4)
        5. Simplicity of Life (Isaiah 7:15)
        6. Gentleness (Isaiah 42:1-4)
        7. Death (Isaiah 53)
        8. Resurrection (Isaiah 25:8)
        9. Glorious reign (Isaiah 11:3-16; 32)
      9. Four messages to Judah (repeated throughout the book)
        1. Rebellion (Isaiah 1:2-4,10-15,21-23)
        2. Retribution (Isaiah 1:5-8,15,20,28)
        3. Repentance (Isaiah 1:16-19,27)
        4. Restoration (Isaiah 1:9,18,24-31)
      10. Key phrase – “Holy One of Israel” (25 times)
    4. Micah
      1. 7 chapters, 105 verses
      2. Micah means Who is like unto Jehovah?
      3. Probably written between 734 and 722BC
      4. From Moresheth-gath (Micah 1:1,14) about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem
      5. Ministered mainly to Judah
      6. Six prophecies already fulfilled
        1. Fall of Samaria (Micah 1:6-7; 722BC)
        2. Invasion of Judah by Sennacherib (Micah 1:9-16; 702BC)
        3. Fall of Jerusalem (Micah 3:12; Micah 7:13; 586BC)
        4. Exile in Babylon (Micah 4:10; 586BC)
        5. Return From Captivity (Micah 4:1-8,13; Micah 7:11,14-17; 520BC)
        6. Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
      7. Quoted three times in the Bible
        1. Micah 3:12 in Jeremiah 29:18
        2. Micah 5:2 in Matthew 2:5-6
        3. Micah 7:6 in Matthew 10:35-36
    5. Nahum
      1. 3 chapters, 47 verses
      2. Nahum means consolation or comforter
      3. Written between 663 and 612BC
      4. From Elkosh (Nahum 1:1) –location uncertain
      5. Book is a message of judgment to Ninevah; can be considered a sequel to the book of Jonah
    6. Zephaniah
      1. 3 chapters, 53 verses
      2. Zephaniah means hidden, or protected, by Jehovah
      3. Written about 627BC during the reign of Josiah
    7. Habakkuk
      1. 3 chapters, 56 verses
      2. Habakkuk means embracer (as in encourager)
      3. Probably written between 612 and 605BC
      4. Two-thirds of book written as a conversation between Habakkuk and God
  3. PROPHETS OF THE CAPTIVITY
    1. Jeremiah
      1. 52 chapters plus the 5 chapters of Lamentations
      2. Jeremiah means Jehovah exalts , or establishes
      3. Written before and after the time of the Babylonian conquest of Judah (586BC)
      4. Known as the “weeping prophet” (Jeremiah 15:10; Jeremiah 10:14-18)
      5. From Anathoth just a few miles north of Jerusalem
      6. His father, Hilkiah, was a priest.  Jeremiah was called from the priesthood to be a prophet (Jeremiah 1:1-10)
      7. Suffered much (Jeremiah 16:1-4; Jeremiah 26:7-16; Jeremiah 38:1-13)
      8. Object lessons in Jeremiah
        1. The almond rod (Jeremiah 1)
        2. The boiling caldron (Jeremiah 1)
        3. The marred girdle (Jeremiah 13)
        4. The full bottle (Jeremiah 13)
        5. The drought (Jeremiah 14)
        6. The potter’s vessel (Jeremiah 18)
        7. The broken bottle (Jeremiah 19)
        8. Two baskets of figs (Jeremiah 24)
        9. Bonds and bars (Jeremiah 27)
        10. Buying a field (Jeremiah 32)
        11. The hidden stones (Jeremiah 43)
        12. Book sunk in the Euphrates (Jeremiah 51)
      9. Christ Pictured in Jeremiah
        1. The Fountain of Living Waters (Jeremiah 2:13)
        2. The Great Physician (Jeremiah 8:22)
        3. The Good Shepherd (Jeremiah 31:10; Jeremiah 23:4)
        4. The Righteous Branch (Jeremiah 23:5)
        5. The Redeemer (Jeremiah 50:34)
        6. The LORD our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6)
      10. Key word – return (47 times)
    2. Ezekiel
      1. 48 chapters
      2. Ezekiel means God strengthens
      3. Written after 592BC; Ezekiel was in exile in Babylon
      4. Born of a priestly heritage (Ezekiel 1:3)
      5. God revealed to Ezekiel on the same day the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24:2) and the death of his wife (Ezekiel 24:15-18)
      6. Lived at Tel-abib (Ezekiel 3:15) a city for exiles near Babylon near the river Chebar(Ezekiel 1:1), the Grand Canal, which flowed from the Euphrates above Babylon and back into the Euphrates near Erech
      7. Met at his house with the elders of Judah (Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 14:1; Ezekiel 20:1)
      8. Visions of Ezekiel
        1. Vision of the Cherubim (Ezekiel 1)
        2. Vision of the Roll (Ezekiel 2-3)
        3. Vision of the Plain (Ezekiel 3)
        4. Visions of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8-11)
        5. Vision of the Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37)
        6. Visions of the New Temple (Ezekiel 40-48)
      9. Symbolic Actions of Ezekiel
        1. Sign of the brick (Ezekiel 4:1-3)
        2. Sign of the prophet’s posture (Ezekiel 4:4-8)
        3. Sign of famine (Ezekiel 4:9-17)
        4. Sign of the knife and razor (Ezekiel 5:1-17)
        5. Sign of the house moving (Ezekiel 12:1-7,17-20)
        6. Sign of the sharpened sword (Ezekiel 21:1-17)
        7. Sign of Nebuchadnezzar’s sword (Ezekiel 21:18-23)
        8. Sign of the smelting furnace (Ezekiel 22:17-31)
        9. Sign of Ezekiel’s wife’s death (Ezekiel 24:15-27)
        10. Sign of the two sticks (Ezekiel 37:15-17)
      10. Allegories in Ezekiel
        1. The Vine (Ezekiel 15:1-8)
        2. The Faithless Wife (Ezekiel 16:1-63)
        3. The Two Eagles (Ezekiel 17:1-21)
        4. The Cedar (Ezekiel 17:22-24)
        5. The Two Women (Ezekiel 23:1-49)
        6. The Boiling Caldron (Ezekiel 24:1-14)
      11. Key words
        1. Son of man – over 90 times
        2. The word of the LORD came unto me – 49 times
      12. Outline
        1. Judgment (Ezekiel 1-32)
        2. Restoration (Ezekiel 33-48)
    3. Daniel
      1. 12 chapters, 357 verses
      2. Daniel means God is Judge
      3. Written between 605 and 536BC, the time of Daniel’s ministry
      4. Greatest prophecies in the Bible on the times of the Gentiles
  4. PROPHETS OF THE RETURN
    1. Haggai
      1. 2 chapters, 38 verses
      2. Haggai means festive , or celebration
      3. Written in 520BC
      4. Worked with Zechariah (Ezra 5:1; Ezra 6:14)
      5. Preached the importance of completing the temple (Haggai 1:1-4)
    2. Zechariah
      1. 14 chapters, 211 verses
      2. Zechariah means The Lord remembers
      3. Written between 520-516BC
      4. Born into a priestly line (Zechariah 1:1)
      5. Preached the importance of completing the temple (Zechariah 4:6-10)
      6. Prophecies of Christ in Zechariah
        1. Servant (Zechariah 3:8)
        2. Branch (Zechariah 3:8; Zechariah 6:12)
        3. King/Priest (Zechariah 6:13)
        4. Lowly King (Zechariah 9:9-10)
        5. Betrayed (Zechariah 11:12-13)
        6. Hands Pierced (Zechariah 12:10)
        7. Cleansing Fountain (Zechariah 13:1)
        8. Humanity and Deity (Zechariah 13:7; Zechariah 6:12)
        9. Smitten Shepherd (Zechariah 13:7-9)
        10. Second Coming (Zechariah 14:5,9)
      7. Visions in Zechariah
        1. The Horseman (Zechariah 1:7-17)
        2. The Horns and the Carpenters (Zechariah 1:18-21)
        3. The Measuring Line (Zechariah 2)
        4. Joshua, the high Priest (Zechariah 3)
        5. The Golden Candlesticks (Zechariah 4)
        6. The Flying Roll (Zechariah 5:1-4)
        7. The Ephah (Zechariah 5:5-11)
        8. The Four Chariots (Zechariah 6:1-8)
    3. Malachi
      1. 4 chapters, 55 verses
      2. Malachi means messenger of Jehovah
      3. Probably written around 433BC
      4. Prophet to the Jews in the land after the return from captivity
      5. Ends the Old Testament with the word curse
David Reagan

Daily Proverb

Proverbs 23:5

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.