Jewish Prophets Minsitry Overview

Notes: Overview of the Prophets of Judah and Israel
prepared by Skylar Hamilton Burris

Isaiah

Calling:

Isaiah had already ministered to kings. He told Hezekiah that the Babylonian captivity would not occur until after his death. But in the year that Hezekiah dies, Isaiah receives a vision of the Lord:
6:1-7: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

Messianic Prophecies:

7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
9:6-7: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever."
11:1-10: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord [. . .] and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his moth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked [. . . ] The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lied down with the kid [. . .] and a little child shall lead them [. . .] And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people: to it shall the Gentiles seek."
53:3-9: "He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him: and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgement: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit found in his mouth."

Jeremiah

Ministry Events & Facts:

Ministered about 100 years after Isaiah
Delivered "The Temple Sermon" (chapter 7): "Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord."
Imprisoned in a cistern
Had a secretary, Baruch
Also wrote Lamentations, a dirge for Jerusalem, when Judah was taken into Babylonian captivity

Messianic Prophecies:

23:5-8: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. "
31:15: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted, because they were not." (Matthew saw this as fulfilled in the Herod's slaughter.)
31:29-34: "In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity [. . . ] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah [. . .] this shall be the covenant [. . . ] I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor [. . . ] saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me [ . . .] for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
33:15: "In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgement and righteousness in the land."

Ezekiel

Ministry Facts:

Nebuchadnezeer made Zedekiah ruler and deported many Jews to Babylon. This group, including the priest Ezekiel, were settled in Tel Aviv.
Ezekiel prophesied to Judah, which had false hopes for an early downfall of Nebuchadnezzar.
Like Jeremiah, he emphasized personal responsibility.
He saw many visions and defined the watchman's responsibility.
He used many physical signs, such as lying on his side. His wife also died as a sign.
He tells an allegory of two sisters, Aholah (Israel) and Aholibah (Judah) who commit adultery.

Endtime Prophecies:

Chapter 28 contains a prophecy against the Prince of Tyre which is taken to be about the downfall of Satan
Chapter 38 describes an apocalyptic battle involving Gog
Chapter 40 prophecies a new temple and a new Holy Land

Daniel

Facts about Daniel and his Ministry:

Daniel is taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar's army about 605 B.C. By interpreting the king's dreams, he rises to power. Refusing to eat food sacrificed to idols, Daniel and his friends eat only vegetables, and yet they are healthier than the other men. Nebuchadnezzar sets up an image and demands that all bow to it. Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego refuse, and are thrown into a fiery furnace. But God delivers them unscathed.
Daniel serves under Belshazzar; during a feast, a hand writes on the wall, and Daniel is called to decipher the characters.
Daniel serves under Darius; jealous of Daniel's prominence, the various rulers of the kingdom persuade the king to establish a decree that anyone who prays to any God other than Darius be cast into the lion's den. Daniel continues to pray to God and so the king must cast him in the lion's den. God delivers him by sending an angel, and the king is pleased. He has the conspirators and their families thrown in the lion's den.
Daniel has many visions, including one of four beasts.

Endtimes Prophecies:

AntiChrist (11:36-45): "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done [ . . . ] And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind [. . . ]; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over [ . . . ] And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."
Tribulation and Resurrection (12:1-3): "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

Hosea

Ministry Facts:

Hosea prophesied the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom.
He was commanded to marry Gomer, a prostitute, and to take her back even after she left him and returned to prostitution--all this is a symbol of Israel's idolatry and God's forgiveness of her.

Messianic Prophecy:

Hosea 11:1: ". . . then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." (Quoted by Matthew as referring to Christ)

Joel

Ministry Facts:

Prophecies the coming locust plague.
Called "the prophet of Pentecost" because of Joel 2:28

Endtimes Prophecy:

2:28-32: "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions [. . . ] And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered."
3:10-21: "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen [ . . . ] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shinning. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice form Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people [ . . .] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and al the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord [ . . . ] But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed."

Amos

Ministry Facts:

Amos said, "I was not a prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel" (7:14-15).
He prophecies coming judgement upon Judah and Israel as well as the surrounding nations.
He issues five symbolic visions of judgement: locusts, fire, plumb line, summer fruit, and the Lord standing by the altar.
He prophecies the return of the Jews from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof: and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" (9:11).

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Obadiah

Ministry Facts

Obadiah provides no personal information, so where I placed him is something of a guess
He prophecies the fall of Edom, which could apply to Edom's destruction by the Chaldeans, the Maccabees, Rome, or by Christ in the endtimes.

Jonah

Ministry Facts

Little is known about Jonah, but we know he prophesied before Jeroboam II because of II Kings 14:25
He was sent by God to prophecy to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Because Assyria was Israel's enemy, and because Jonah knew that if they repented God would spare them, he did not wish to prophecy and fled.
While Jonah was fleeing at sea, God caused a storm. Jonah admitted to the sailors that he was the reason for the storm, and they agreed to toss him overboard. He was swallowed by a great fish, and after three days spit back on earth.
He prophesied to Nineveh; they repented, and so God spared them.
Jonah was angry because Israel's enemies were not destroyed. God gave him a symbolic lesson involving a gourd which shaded Jonah and later withered. "Thou hast had pity on the gourd," God told Jonah, "for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow [ . . . ] And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left?" (4:10-11)

Messianic Applications:

Christ repeatedly refers to the "sign of Jonah," indicating that He will be dead for three days and then rise again, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and then spit upon earth.

Micha

Ministry Facts

Prophecies the destruction of Israel and Judah.
Prophecies the restoration of a remnant.
Condemns false prophets and the forms of religion without the substance. "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, o man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (6:7-8).

Messianic and Endtimes Prophecies:

4:3: "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
4:2: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
7:6: "For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against the mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house."
7:19: "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

Nahum

Ministry Information:

His mission was to comfort Judah after the Assyrian exile of Israel. He announced God's impending judgement on Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. (After Jonah's mission over one hundred years earlier, Nineveh had repented and been spared. But now the city had returned to its sinful ways.)
No mention is made of the sin or judgement of either Judah or Israel.

Habakkuk

Ministry Information:

Scholars are not sure when Habakkuk prophesied. Estimates range form the reign of Josiah, to Jehoiakim, to the exile.
He prophecies that after the judgement to come (after Judah goes into exile in Babylon), Babylon will be judged by God.
In the book, Habakkuk intercedes with God on behalf of his people, pleading, "O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!" (1:3).

Zepheniah

Ministry Information:

He prophesied to Judah during the Babylonian crisis, describing the coming judgement of the Lord--the Day of the Lord. He paints a dark picture of judgement complemented by a bright picture of restoration.

The Day of the Lord and Restoration:

3:8-9: "... for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For them will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name o the Lord, to serve him with one consent."
3:13: "The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."

Haggai

Ministry Information:

He prophecied to the Jews about the low spiritual condition of the times (the Jews had ceased rebuilding the Temple).
The Jews responded by starting to rebuild the Temple again, and Haggai continued to encourage them after they began rebuilding.

Messianic Prophecy:

2:22-23: "And I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen [ . . . ] In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant [ . . . ] and I will make thee as a signet." (Jesus was a descendant of Zerubbabel and He fulfilled this prophecy.)

Zechariah

Ministry Information:

He was probably born in captivity in Babylon.
He encouraged the rebuilding of the Temple.

Messianic Prophecies:

Zechariah has the most Messianic prophecies of any minor prophet.
3:8-9: "for behold, I will bring froth my servant the BRANCH. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua . . . "
6:12-13: "Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of this place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord [ . . .] and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."
9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation: lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
11:12-13: "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord."
12:10: "And I shall pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
13:1: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."
13:6-7: "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hand? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. . . "
14:3-3: "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives." (Mount of Olives: site of Christ's ascension into heaven.)

Malachi

Ministry Information:

He attacked the corrupt priesthood
Malachi 3:10: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Messianic Prophecies:

1:11: "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles: and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts."
3:1: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in."
4:5: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."

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