Prophets were men whom God raised
up during the dark days of Israel’s history.
“The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets’ and seers: Turn
from the evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the
entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you
through the servants the prophets” - 2
Kings 17:13.
These prophets spoke fearlessly
to Kings and people alike of their sins and failures. The captivities of Israel
(Northern kingdom) and of Judah (Southern kingdom) are largely the theme of the
Old Testament prophets. The record of these is found in 2 Kings 17:1-23; 24:11-25; 21. These are called the Assyrian and
Babylonian captivities. Some of the prophets served before the exile, some during
and some afterwards. These are called pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic
prophets.
The prophets during exile (captivity
in Babylon) were Ezekiel and Daniel. They prophesied to all the Israelites.
Jeremiah’s lifetime also extended into this period. Those who prophesied after
the exile were Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
The prophet’s chief duty was to
deal with the moral and religious life of his own people during his day. He not
only spoke of judgement that would come to pass to the people because of their
sin, but he was also a foreteller of future events.
Some of the writings of the
prophets which are prophetic:
·
The dispersion and captivity of God’s chosen
people; everywhere the prophet tells that the Jews are to be scattered among the
nations of the world.
·
The coming of Messiah: Religious Jews were and
are still looking for their Messiah.
·
The restoration of the chosen people to their
own land under the coming Messiah: Jewish people are returning from the four
corners of the earth to dwell in their own Promised Land. Almost all Jewish
people have a longing in their hearts to be a part of Israel as a nation.
·
The reign of the Messiah over the whole earth:
Even though we see the collapse of God’s people in the Old Testament – first Israel,
then Judah being led into captivity – nevertheless, God revealed that the
ending of his nation did not end his plans for his people. There is yet to be
glorious future when the prince of peace shall reign over his people.
When you read the Gospels, you
constantly find phrases such as, “so was
fulfilled what the Lord has said” and “to
fulfil what was spoken through the prophet.” We find in these passages that
God fulfils prophecy literally. The prophets exposed the cold formalism of
their religion. They constantly reminded the people that Jehovah was the only
true God.
The prophecies concerning Christ
in Isaiah 53 is so definite that it
gives great assurance to us that the Bible is the word of God. But as the
leaders of the church now – the preachers and the Pastors need to take the
responsibility of what the Prophets have done in the Old Testament. They need
to tell the truth when it is needed, without seeing the face of people, because
they are chosen by God not only to lead the people, but also to lead them
towards holiness through the word of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment