OT: the prophets

The prophetic books that we know were all written after about 750 BC (i.e. in the second half of the monarchy period and on through the Exile) down to about 400BC (roughly the time of Ezra and Nehemiah). They are not in chronological order!
There is great variety in the prophetic books. Some of them contain a fair amount of biography, others little or none. We therefore know quite a lot about Jeremiah and Daniel, but next to nothing about (for example) Joel and Malachi.

Hosea and Amos were the two prophets who preached to the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea was commanded by God to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him, so that he would understand how God felt when the Israelites were unfaithful to him.
Isaiah is perhaps the most famous of the prophets. He foretold many things about Jesus, such as his virgin birth, his death for our sins, and his ministry to the outcasts. (Luke 4:16-21)
Jeremiah lived during the dark times leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. He seems to have had a particularly hard time: he was once beaten and put in the stocks, once arrested and put on trial, later arrested again on a charge of treason and thrown into a cistern. He often had great struggles with his faith.
Habakkuk is another prophet who wrestles with God in prayer, first wanting to understand how a righteous God can ignore the sins of his people and then how God can use an even more wicked nation to punish his people by invading them. But by the end, Habakkuk is content to trust in God.
Ezekiel and Daniel were both exiles in Babylon, but in very different circumstances. Ezekiel lived amongst the exiles and preached to them, trying to bring home to them (often in very graphic ways) that they were suffering because of their sins. But at the end of the book there are some amazing visions of what God will do in the future: the valley of dry bones brought back to life, the Temple rebuilt, and the River of Life flowing from it. Daniel was employed by the emperor as an administrator and was able to witness to him by interpreting two dreams. In the first half of the book are the well-known stories of the fiery furnace, the writing on the wall, and the lions’ den. The second half is a series of visions concerning the future and the final triumph of God’s people (Daniel 7:13,14).
Haggai and Zechariah are mentioned in the book of Ezra (Ezra 4:24 – 5:2). The rebuilding of the Temple after the Exile had ground to a halt, and God used them to encourage the people to restart the project. Zechariah 4:6-9
Joel may be from around this time as well. His prophecy relates to a devastating plague of locusts. He calls the people to prayer and fasting, but also promises them good times to come: Joel 2:25-29
Malachi is probably the last OT book to be written, around about the time of Nehemiah. The faith of many people seems to have been nominal, and he challenges them to take God seriously.
Jonah is a prophet who teaches us more through his somewhat stormy relationship with God than through what he actually preaches (just one sentence of his preaching is recorded: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown!”). God commands him to go and preach to the people of Nineveh (who were at the time Israel’s worst enemies), but he tries to run away from God – unsuccessfully, of course! And when he does eventually obey God and deliver his message, he is upset when the people of Nineveh repent! Despite his disobedience, his life is prophetic (Matthew 12:38-41).

The prophets were men called by God to deliver messages to His people. These were usually warnings of judgement, but they could also be messages of hope and encouragement. Sometimes the people listened (Jeremiah 26:17-19), but more often they took no notice (Ezekiel 33:30-32).
The Israelites tended to pride themselves on being God's `chosen people' - to the extent that they thought it did not matter how they behaved. We can still fall into the same trap today.
The prophets continually warned them that God would not tolerate the three 'I's:
· Idolatry (e.g. Jeremiah 10:1-5) The Israelites were continually tempted to copy the religious customs of their pagan neighbours – at first, the fertility cults of the Canaanites, later the religions of the superpowers, and always superstitions, astrology and other occult practices.
· Injustice (e.g. Amos 8:4-7) This is still a big issue!
· Inconsistency (e.g. Micah 6:6-8) They were much better at attending worship than at living holy lives.

He will judge not only His own people, but all the other nations as well. For this reason, most of the prophetic books contain passages addressed to other peoples such as the Egyptians, the Philistines, and so on. Obadiah is addressed entirely to the Edomites, while Nahum is concerned only with the Assyrians. These judgements are worked out in history, but also look forward to the great `Day of the LORD’ (Zephaniah 1:14-18).

But the prophets also kept reminding the people of Gods love and faithfulness. He would discipline them, but He would also keep His covenant promises (e.g. Jeremiah 30:10,11). At the darkest moments in their history, they would look forward to the time when God’s ‘Chosen One’ would be King and everything would be made right (e.g. Isaiah 65:17-19). And God also promised to deal with the problem of sin, once and for all (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:24-28).