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` The Word of the LORD that came . . . . . . . '
A Look at the Prophets
As is well known amongst Bible scholars `the Prophets' in the Hebrew Canon of Scripture are divided into two parts - the Former and the Latter Prophets. This `natural' break can be seen Scripturally by the words of one of the Latter Prophets, Zechariah, when he was entreating the people who had returned from the Babylonian captivity with strong words in chapters 1-4: (v 3-4 JKV)
" Therefore say thou unto them . . . . . .
`Be ye not as your fathers, unto who, the
former prophets have cried, saying . . . .'. "
These `Former Prophets' commenced with:
Joshua - the people of Israel under Government through Priests
Judges - a breakdown of the Priestly Government
Samuel - the people wanting a king to rule over them
Kings - the Decline and Fall of Monarchical Government
The period covering the Former Prophets is chronological and sequential and it can be read as an historical record of the LORD's Governmental Order being rejected and subjected to Israel's governmental order - with disastrous results, and yet with the promise, through God's Righteousness, of a Restoration of David's Throne which will last for ever. The whole period of the Former Prophets can be said to be governed under the Law Principle, and so we turn to our main subject, the time of the Latter Prophets, a period which can be described as government under `the Faith Principle' - which the LORD's Faithfulness would bring about and secure His purposes and Israel's blessings.
These two Principles can be seen throughout Scripture: Where there is no Law there is lawlessness, and where there is no Faith there is only despair. But first we have to define Faith, for there is a clear understanding of Law. In modern times Faith is a much-misused word, and this is true in most Christian circles: `Stand on your faith' . . `Reach out in your faith' . . `Claim it in faith' . . . all such expressions leave many in guilt and despair, and in some extreme cases questioning even their salvation! The root meaning of the word `Faith' is `to be persuaded' of something. In Christian terms, therefore, we are persuaded by the Holy Spirit that `Jesus is our salvation' . . . we are persuaded by the Holy Spirit that `the Word of God is true' . . . we are persuaded by the Holy Spirit that . . . . This is Scriptural faith. It is not etheral, ascetic nor abstract but grounded in reason as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit. In the Former Prophets' sense Israel was chosen by God and was given the Land. In this we hear the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 9 (NIV);
" Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the Divine Glory, the Covenants, the receiving of the Law, the Temple worship.and the promises. Theirs are the Patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, for ever praised. Amen. "
The Latter Prophets called the people `to be persuaded', to trust in the faithfulness of God, to turn from their ways, from a ritual performance of the outward details of the Law to an inner trust in God's faithfulness. Later in the Gospel of Matthew we read of the Pharisees attempting to trick Jesus on a point of Law: (Matthew 22:36=37)
" `Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law'? Jesus replied, `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments'. "
Jesus was condensing into two groups the Ten Words of the Law (which we call the Ten Commandments) This is a summary of the whole Law (the first five towards God and the second 5 towards people). The Law, yes, but lived through the heart and soul and mind - the Law and the Prophets. We find this Law and Faith principle at work again in Paul's Letter to the Romans: (Romans 7: v7 and v24)
The Law: " What shall we say, then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! Indeed
I would not have known what sin was except through the Law . . . .
Faith: Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God -
through Jesus Christ our Lord! "
One of the greater Latter Prophets, Jeremiah, spoke of this (it was also spoken of by another of the Latter Prophets, Ezekiel). We call this `the New Covenant' but often fail to see this Scriptural principle of Law and Faith at work through the Righteousness of God throughout the Bible. Jeremiah 31:33 (KJV)
" But this shall be the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel: After those days, saith the LORD, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. "
Law and Faith, spoken of by the Latter Prophets - the Law, now written on new hearts and outworked by faith as we are persuaded by the Holy Spirit that the Word of God is true. This is not a new Law but the Law of God written on hearts of flesh! The New Covenant is with `the house of Israel and with the house of Judah' who are `the Olive Tree' from which (says Paul in Romans) many branches have been broken off and many grafted in. If we are truly `ingrafted branches' then we have written on our hearts the Law, not something new but now lived out with `flesh hearts' as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit.
Could this explain much of the lawlessness and despair in Church life? Jesus said `I came not to abolish the Law but to fulfil it'. Once again we need to understand to root meaning of the word `fulfil', which is `to accomplish all its objectives'. His finished work `brought in' that New Covenant promise; `My Law in your inward parts and written on your hearts'. Law and Faith for those `natural branches and unnatural branches together' regrafted and grafted into the Olive Tree, living `Law and Faith' in their lives until He comes again. This, then, is the message of the Latter Prophets: You have the Law, now trust the Lord in Faith that He will enable you to outwork it - a long but necessary introduction to the relationship between the Prophets!
The chronological order of the Latter Prophets can be found in any reasonable Bible commentary, but for convenience there is an Appendix at the end of these Notes which sets out the historical linkage between the Latter Prophets and the kings of Judah and Israel. You will find this covers a very short period of time and includes the long years during which there was `no Word from the LORD'. From Jonah, the earliest of the Latter Prophets in 690 BC, through to Malachi, the last of the Latter Prophets in 374 BC there was an historical period covering just 316 years - which now turns us to look at the canonical structure of these Prophets for their Scriptural inter-relationship with Judah, Israel and their kings.
It will be noted that Daniel has been included in these Latter Prophets, for although it is not included in the `Prophets' section of the Hebrew Canon of Scripture the Book of Daniel is highly prophetic, for as we said in our study on Ezekiel, Daniel's `vision' is on a universal scale, or as we would say today, a global scale, and not limited to Israel alone. Of these four greater Prophets (greater in the sense of length of ministry and scale) Isaiah stands alone with some 70 years separating him from Jeremiah and his contemporaries. Isaiah's opening words give us the period of his ministry: `In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah', a total of 61 years (649-588 BC). Three of the Minor Prophets are Isaiah's comtemporaries, Hosea, Micah and Nahum, when the Words of the LORD were mainly for the northern tribes of Israel and the Fall of Nineveh. Isaiah's work was completed and 70 years of silence would follow when `God did not speak by the Prophets', but once again they began to speak `in the thirteenth year of King Josiah', as the opening words of Jeremiah proclaim.
Jeremiah, the second of the greater Prophets, spoke the Word of the LORD over a period of 40 years, and as with the `silence' of 70 years between Isaiah and Jeremiah Scriptural numerology gives us spiritual understanding; the number `70' meaning `fulness of completion' - of the LORD's warnings - and the number `40' meaning `a probation period' which ended in captivity! There is no chronological order in Jeremiah: It is said by the Rabbis that "just as King Jehoiakim cut up Jeremiah's `Words of the LORD', so God `cut up' the Book of Jeremiah as a warning" - as recorded in Jeremiah 36:23. Jeremiah's contemporaries in the land of Israel were Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Joel and Obadiah, together with Daniel and Ezekiel outside the land in Babylon. All these Minor Prophets (minor in the sense of brevity) who were contemporaries of Jeremiah, were concerned and appalled at what they saw in the coming destruction of their people and the Temple in Jerusalem! But although Obadiah saw the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar his words end with a total faith in the LORD and His Covenanted Promise: (Verse 21)
" And saviours (deliverers) shall come up on Mount Zion to judge
the mountains of Esau and the kingdom shall be the LORD's. "
Daniel was carried into captivity whilst a young boy at the first deportation of the people of Judah `in the third year of King Jehoiakim' in 497 BC, as recorded in the opening verses of Daniel, and his contemporary Ezekiel spoke these `Words of the LORD' outside the land of Israel.
Ezekiel, the last of the greater Latter Prophets, was carried into captivity at a later date, eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple: Ezekiel 33:21 KJV)
" And it came to pass in the twelth year of our captivity in the tenth month ,
in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem
came unto me, saying, `The city is smitten'. "
With that background we can now turn our attention to the inter-relationship of these Prophets.
First we look for the principal message of these three greater Prophets:
Isaiah spoke of the Restoration of the Throne of David over the whole House of Israel through the priestly work of the coming Messiah. He spoke of a Restoration long before there was a destruction
Jeremiah spoke of a total disruption of kingly governance and of the final Restoration of the two kingdoms by a New Covenant.
Ezekiel spoke of a total disruption of priestly governance and a Restoration under the governance of a Priest-King - the Messiah.
Daniel, as we have seen, stands alone, unacknowledged as a prophet by Hebrew scholars. His visions and understanding of dreams extend way beyond the land of Israel to a universal Kingdom, which `became a great mountain and filled the whole earth'.
Second we look at the chronological order of the Latter Prophets. If we include Daniel (as we must) we find that they are broken into three distinct groups. The first group, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah and Nahum (6 Prophets) covers an historical period of 102 years (the Appendix Chart will confirm this). There follows a gap of 70 years during which time the Word of the LORD was not heard. The second group, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Daniel, Joel, Ezekiel and Obadiah (7 Prophets) covers an historical period of 94 years. There then follows a gap of 14 years. The third group, Haggai and Zechariah (2 Prophets) covers an historical period of 7 years. There follows a gap of 29 years - a total in all of 316 years. Finally we have the Seal of the Prophets, Malachi, which takes us to 374 BC. It is here that we can see the accuracy of Scripture and `are persuaded by the Holy Spirit' that all Scripture is, as Paul said in his Second Letter to Timothy, `given by inspiration of God' (KJV).
Malachi's ministry was in the year 374 BC. Thirty years earlier in 404 BC we can read in Ezra and Nehemiah of the Dedication of the Temple, the Great Passover and the separation of the people following their return from captivity. (In just 30 years from those great events the people were once again becoming indifferent to the LORD.) 400 years from the Dedication of the Temple takes us to 4 BC and the birth of the Messiah Jesus. 400 years from Malachi and his `burden of the Word of the LORD' in 374 BC takes us to the commencement of the ministry of the Messiah Jesus, 30 years after His birth. And then, as in the `Time of Malachi', we find the same indifference to the LORD with only a remnant waiting in expectancy for the Messiah!
Matthew records that: `In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea . . . . then came Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptised of him'. Thus are the words spoken by Malachi outworked: (Malachi 3:1)
" Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before
Me, and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to His Temple. "
As these words are a living prophetic Word, we will see this principle outworking once again, as Malachi records: (Malachi 4:5)
" Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great
and dreadful Day of the LORD. "
In that year of 374 BC began the Great Probation of 400 years, the testing of the national character of Israel, which ended with the commencement of the Messiah's ministry to Israel. This may all be considered to be a `fixation with numbers! However an understanding of Scriptural numerology will reveal that the inter-relationship of the Latter Prophets (and we must include Daniel here) is a complete whole and to `pick and mix' them is to lose much of the spiritual revelation shown in these Books of the Prophets.
One final point before we close: One of our often-used expressions is a desire to tear out of our Bibles the man-inserted page entitled `The New Testament', for then we could look at the 66 Books of the Bible as one complete Revelation of God's purposes outworked in His people through the principle of Law and Faith. With this done we can see that the `gap' of 29 years after `the Word of the LORD came to Zechariah' closed the Prophetic Word to Israel (leaving Malachi, the Seal of the Prophets with the one final year) and thus commenced the Great Probation Period of 400 years which ended with the coming of `My messenger', John the Baptist, followed by the coming of `The Messenger of the Covenant', the Messiah of Israel and the Christ of the Gentiles.
Malachi seals the Law . . . Matthew reveals the Faith, and begins with the words, `The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham'. How close are we to that final coming of an `Elijah'? It is for each disciple to be like Anna and Simeon, who waited in the Temple `knowing that the time was near!
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