As noted in our first article, the word “prophesy” means to “bubble up like a fountain,” therefore the prophet spoke a message directed by God. “Prophesying” may be either “foretelling” or “forthtelling.” “Foretelling” meant that the message spoke of events in the future, sometimes near and sometimes far removed from the time it was uttered. “Forthtelling” meant the speaker spoke as the Spirit gave him utterance which message centered on God’s word (cp. Acts 2:4). Peter, in his Pentecost sermon, was moved by the Holy Spirit in the words he spoke. His message consisted very little of future events; primarily the apostle spoke, revealing the events of Jesus’ life and His will. Peter did add one element to his sermon: he interpreted past prophecies and told the people what they meant or that they were being fulfilled. He explained that the tongue speaking was the fulfillment of a prophecy by Joel (Acts 2:16; cp. Joel 2:28). He explained Psalm 16:8-10 by showing that the passage was a prediction of the resurrection of Christ. He explained that Psalm 110:1 had likewise been fulfilled by Christ sitting down at the Father’s right hand.
There are seventeen books of prophecy in the Old Testament written by sixteen prophets. These were not the only prophets of the Old Testament. The greatest of them all, Moses, wrote no books of prophecy, although there are prophecies recorded in his five books of law. Sometimes a speaker or writer refers to “oral” or “written” prophets. “Oral prophets” mean that their words were not written by them (although historians may have recorded some of their works and prophecies). “Written prophets” refers to those whose works were recorded by them, which works we have. The seventeen books of prophecy are the last books of the Old Testament.
The books of the prophets are arranged and divided into two groups: the “major” and “minor” prophets. The words “major” or “minor” does not refer to their importance; it takes into account the length of the books. The five books called “major prophets” are the work of four men: Isaiah, Jeremiah (two books were written by Jeremiah, the book called Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations), Ezekiel, and Daniel. These four men lived in closer proximity to each other than the twelve called the “minor prophets.” Isaiah was the earliest of the four, and while the date of his death is not exactly known, he prophesied in the reigns of Hezekiah and Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son. Jeremiah was likely born before Ezekiel and Daniel, and prophesied in the reign of Josiah (a grandson of Manasseh) through the duration of Judah’s pre-exile condition. He saw three different groups of exiles taken to Babylon (among whom were Daniel and Ezekiel). He also witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which first had been predicted by Isaiah (39:6-7) and then later by Jeremiah and other of the prophets, including some of the “minor” prophets who prophesied during the same time he lived. Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon as Daniel was, but Daniel’s prophecies continued past the overthrow of Babylon by the Medes and Persians. So the full time the “major prophets” were active was 150-200 years. Among the “minor prophets,” the earliest is believed to have been Obadiah and his prophecy is placed about 845 B.C., a little earlier than the beginning of Isaiah’s work. The last written prophet was Malachi and his work is dated about 440 B.C. This means that the time of the minor prophets were about 400 years.
The prophets did not confine their prophecies solely to Israel and Judah. These two kingdoms were not isolated and as they had frequent interaction with nations around, both “major” and “minor” prophets included “oracles” which concerned those nations. Isaiah prophesied of Babylon’s role in exiling the southern kingdom and decreed that, as she had risen, she would also fall (Isa. 13-14). Amos’ work includes prophecies against Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Elam, Ammon, and Moab, as well as messages directed against both Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom). Besides Babylon, Isaiah had prophecies regarding Egypt and Assyria (who dispersed the northern kingdom), but who was also a real threat to Judah. The prophet Daniel spoke of the four major empires: Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greek, and Roman. Other nations, such as Ethiopia (Isaiah 18:1-7), further removed from Judah, were also the subject of the prophets’ message.
There are references to prophets in the New Testament, although there is only one book identified as “prophetic” (Revelation). However, many books not characterized as prophetic had important prophecies within them. There were prophets in Antioch (Acts 13:1), in Corinth (1 Corinthians 12, 14), and a well-known prophet named Agabus from Jerusalem (Acts 11, 21). Some of the New Testament prophets are well-known and others are obscure, but whoever they were, when they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, their words came to pass. The reason why is the message they spoke came from God and God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2).
Jim McDonald
