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OVERVIEW OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS

MODULE 3

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

  • Can we summarize the history of Israel in 2 minutes?

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

1. CREATION: God Created Adam and Eve

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

2. FLOOD: The Ark of Noah

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

3. THE PATRIARCHS: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

4. JOSEPH & SLAVERY IN EGYPT

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

5. EXODUS: God delivers the Israelites out of Egypt through Moses

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

6. JOSHUA: Arrival at the Promised Land

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

7. JUDGES: Deborah, Gideon, Samson… Last Judge: Samuel

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8. KINGS of the UNITED KINGDOM: Saul, David, Solomon

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL- CONT’D

  • 9. THE SPLIT: Rehoboam Split the Kingdom in two
    • Israel in the North (10 Tribes, with Samaria as the Capital)
    • Judah in the south (2 tribes, with Jerusalem as the Capital)

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HISTORY OF ISRAEL

  • Both Judah and Israel sinned before the Lord
    • Israel had 19 Kings (All were bad)
    • Judah had 20 Kings (some were ,most notably Hezekiah & Josiah (8/20 good))
  • Because of the multitudes of their sins and their failure to listen to their prophets God exiled both Israel and Judah.
  • Israel was captured by the Assyrians ~720 BCE
  • Judah was captured by the Babylonians in ~586 BCE

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WHAT IS A PROPHET?

  • A prophet is someone who has a special connection with God and they usually have a message from God.
  • A Prophet could be someone who foretells the future but it is not a necessity.
  • The heart of the message of a prophet is to restore the people to their God.
  • The prophet’s also helped in pointing out prophecies about the Messiah. These are known as Messianic prophecies.

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WHAT DO PROPHETS HAVE IN COMMON?

  • They understood what God wanted which is restoration.
  • They were directed by God with a message.
  • They lived good, moral lives.
  • They obeyed God (even if sometimes they fell astray)

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HOW ARE THE PROPHETS DIVIDED?

  • The prophets are divided based on the LENGTH of their prophecy or their writing.
  • Two categories: Major Prophets and Minor Prophets
  • Major prophets do not have prominence over the Minor ones!!

5 Major Prophets 12 Minor Prophets

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MAJOR PROPHETS

  • These are the prophecies that had their own scroll because of their length
    • Isaiah (Book of Isaiah)
    • Jeremiah (Book of Jeremiah and Lamentations)
    • Ezekiel (Book of Ezekiel)
    • Daniel (Book of Daniel)
    • Baruch (Book of Baruch – deuterocanonical )

Remember: J. I. D. E. B.

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12 MINOR PROPHETS

  • These prophets had a shorter but just as important prophecy and they were usually all written on one scroll

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SO ARE THESE ALL THE PROPHETS?

  • No! There are more prophets in the Old Testament- Examples?
  • But these 5 + 12 are the ones whose prophecies are written in the scripture.
  • In fact, there are some prophets who are not even named in the Bible (ex. man of God).

  • Now how do these map to the History of Israel that we discussed earlier?

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PROPHETS DURING THE UNITED KINGDOM

  • During the reign of Saul & David:
    • SAMUEL
  • During the reign of David & Samuel:
    • NATHAN

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PROPHETS DURING DIVIDED KINGDOM

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PROPHETS DURING DIVIDED KINGDOM – CONT’D

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PROPHETS AFTER RETURN FROM BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

  • Baruch (after captivity, before return)
  • Haggai
  • Zechariah
  • Malachi (last prophet before 400 years of silence)

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SUMMARY

  • Takeaway points
  • Any questions?