Slides for my talk introducing the Old Testament prophetic literature at Highfield Church, Southampton, February 2011. http://www.reasonablefaith.org.uk/

1. The
Prophets

2. They have a queer way
of talking, like people
who, instead of pro-
ceeding in an orderly
manner, ramble off
from one thing to the
next so that you cannot
make heads or tails of
them or see what they
are getting at. Martin Luther

3. [The] ministry Jesus has received is as
superior to theirs as the covenant of
which he is mediator is superior to the old
one, since the new covenant is established
on better promises.
Hebrews 8:6 NIV

4. why bother with the prophets?

5. to know God

6. Why do we can knowBible?
So that we have the God

7. GOD
them
us us

8. prophets = nabi
called (by God) to call out (for God)

9. Prophets are called by God
. . . to speak from God
. . . about God

10. The Word of
the LORD

11. Whether he is discussing the past, present
or future, the prophet is seeking to make
God the most genuine reality that men
can know and experience.
A.B. Mickelson
Interpreting the Bible, p. 287

12. [The prophets] entered into God’s heart,
sharing his anger and his grief, his sense of
rejection, and his continuing passionate
love for his people. Through the prophets
we get a glimpse of the complexity and
depth of God’s person that is not
duplicated anywhere else in the Bible.
NLT Study Bible

13. not foretelling

14. forthtelling

15. Prophecy is essentially a ministry of
disclosure, a stripping bare. Israel’s great
prophets do not merely lift the veil of the
future in order to destroy false
expectations; at the same time, they
expose the conduct of their
contemporaries. . . . Prophets tear the
masks away and show the true face of the
people behind them.
Hans Walter Wolff, Confrontations

16. Calling people
Covenant
enforcement
back to the
mediators
covenant
(Fee and Stuart)

17. Warning of
judgment

18. Promising
restoration

19. Restoration

20. Basic pattern

21. Identification of Declaration of
Israel’s sin God’s love for Israel
Announcement of Announcement of
judgment blessing

22. Old New
Testament Testament
Promise Fulfilment

23. deep focus

25. two horizons

27. covenant

28. Adam

29. Noah

30. Abraham

31. I will make you into a great nation. I will
bless you and make you famous, and you
will be a blessing to others. I will bless
those who bless you and curse those
who treat you with contempt. All the
families on earth will be blessed through
you.
Genesis 12:1–3, NLT

32. Moses

33. Now if you will obey me and keep my
covenant, you will be my own special
treasure from among all the peoples on
the earth; for the earth belongs to me. . . .
Exodus 19:1

34. life
abundance prosperity
covenant blessings
health respect
security

35. disease drought
defeat
death deportation
covenant curses
destruction disgrace
danger
dearth destitution

36. David

37. Don’t you realise that the Lord, the God
of Israel, made a lasting covenant with
David, giving him and his descendants the
throne of Israel forever?
2 Chronicles 13:5

38. 922
931 BC
909
880
ISRAEL
Baasha Tirzah
Omri Samaria
Jeroboam Shechem
Jerusalem
Rehoboam
JUDAH

39. 800 780 760 740 720 700
Amos Hosea
Jonah
Isaiah
Micah
800 780 760 740 720 700

40. the message of
the prophets

41. Prosperity Peace
(Hosea 8:14;
Isaiah 9:10)
Confidence
(Amos 3:15;
5:11) Exploitation
(Hosea 12:7;
Amos 8:5-8)
Idolatry
Poverty (Hosea 13:2)
41

42. 2
Humanity’s most
fundamental need is
to be right with God

43. 3
Religion, politics and
society must all be on
a firm moral base

44. 4
God offers us the choice
of judgment or hope

45. Assyria
45

47. 47

48. 700 680 660 640 620 600
Zephaniah
Habakkuk
Nahum
Jeremiah
700 680 660 640 620 600

49. Babylon
49

50. The [Latter Prophets] did not call for
reform, for they knew it was too late; the
end of the present order was near and
could not be averted.
Donald Gowan
Reclaiming the OT p. 125–6

51. 600 580 560 540 520 500
Ezekiel
Haggai
Daniel
Habakkuk
Obadiah
?
Zechariah
Joel ?
Malac hi (440)
Jeremiah
600 580 560 540 520 500

52. 5
The future kingdom of God

53. These distant future events . . . are
announced to serve as beacons for God’s
people – beacons which will help them
get their bearings and set their course in
life, beacons which will give direction,
hope, and encouragement, even in the
darkest hour.
Sidney Greidanus,
The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text, p. 235

54. a universal kingdom

55. coming and continuing

56. a coming King

57. 6
The glory of God

58. God’s glory in the prophets

59. God’s glory revealed as he
gathers a people and redeems
them
Jeremiah 31:10–11

60. God’s glory revealed in a new
Zion
Isaiah 2

61. God’s glory revealed in new
Davidic king
Jeremiah 23:5–6

62. God’s glory revealed in a new
temple
Ezekiel 47:1

63. God’s glory revealed in new
creation
Isaiah 65:17

64. God’s glory revealed in new
covenant
Jeremiah 31:31–33

65. God will be shepherd
Ezekiel 34:11–13, 26–31

66. God’s righteousness revealed in
salvation of nations
Isaiah 42:6b–7; 49:6b

67. The Lord’s anointed will do this
Isaiah 11:1–4; 42:1; 49:1–3; 50:4; 59:21; 61:1

68. Death

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