the prophets

306 Pages·2012·2.26 MB·English

THE PROPHETS

EB505 English Bible

Homer Heater, Jr.

Capital Bible Seminary

Revised 2012
The Old Testament Prophets —Heater—Page 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and Historical Background of the Eighth Century ........................................................................ 3

Amos .................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Hosea .................................................................................................................................................................19

Jonah ..................................................................................................................................................................33

Micah .................................................................................................................................................................47

Isaiah ..................................................................................................................................................................55

Historical Background of Seventh/Sixth Centuries ....................................................................................... 114

Jeremiah .......................................................................................................................................................... 117

Lamentations .................................................................................................................................................. 158

Obadiah ........................................................................................................................................................... 166

Habakkuk ........................................................................................................................................................ 169

Zephaniah ....................................................................................................................................................... 173

Joel .................................................................................................................................................................. 177

Nahum ............................................................................................................................................................. 185

Ezekiel ............................................................................................................................................................. 188

Daniel .............................................................................................................................................................. 231

Haggai ............................................................................................................................................................. 262

Zechariah ........................................................................................................................................................ 267

Malachi ........................................................................................................................................................... 279

Selected Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 284

Works Cited in Notes ..................................................................................................................................... 302
The Old Testament Prophets—Heater—Page 3

Interpreting Prophecy

There are a number of difficulties in interpreting OT prophecy. The reasons for this are several. The first is
the question of the type of literature. Much of the prophetic literature is in poetic form, and one is always strug-
gling to sort out what is to be taken literally (normal, expected meaning) and what is figurative. We will try to stay
as literal as possible in the interpretative process. Even where symbols, metaphors, and parables are employed,
there is not too much difficulty understanding the literal meaning behind the figure.

An even larger difficulty is ascertaining when the prophecy will be fulfilled. As a rule of thumb, we should
look back into history to see if an event has happened. If so it may well be that was the fulfillment. If the language
of the prophecy is such that it has never been fulfilled, we should look to the eschatological future for its
fulfillment. (Cf. Chapter 20 of Isaiah which is a prophecy concerning Egypt. The first part was no doubt fulfilled in
the attack and conquering of Assyria. The language of the second part is stereotypical and eschatological. A
similar pattern is found in Luke 10 (see also Matt. 10). There Jesus sends out the seventy. The first part of the
chapter pertains to that time, but the second part is eschatological.)

Historical Background of the Eighth Century

Five writing prophets ministered during this important century: Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah.
This century was dominated politically by the Assyrians, but the far-reaching spiritual impact came from little
known men from fairly obscure kingdoms called Israel and Judah.

Historical background is essential for a proper understanding of the setting and message of these prophets.
There are times when that background cannot be ascertained, but to the extent that it can be known, the
understanding of the prophet’s message is enhanced. Amos is the first writing prophet who directs his message to
Israel. Hosea follows on his heels; then the great statesman-prophet Isaiah and his contemporary, Micah.

The upper Euphrates valley has a very complex history. Many different peoples over many centuries
intruded, settled, mixed and fought with whoever preceded them. These people came to have a very important
influence on God’s covenant people. To better understand the events affecting the OT people and the prophets who
spoke to them for God, two major groups will be discussed: the Arameans and the Assyrians.

The period of the transition from judges to kings in the history of Israel (c. 1100 B.C.) was a significant
period in the entire Mediterranean area. Smith says of this period:

“The last two centuries of the second millennium B.C. [1200-1000] had witnessed in western Asia and the
Levant ubiquitous disturbances which caused a new distribution of political power. The Egyptian empire had
declined, the Hittite had collapsed. Troy had fallen, the days of Cnossus and of Mycenae were over. When things
have settled down and the scene-shifting is complete, we find Assyria (which had relapsed into obscurity after a
brief emergence) occupying the centre of the stage. Phrygia, and Lydia, and Greek Ionia become the important
powers in western Asia Minor. In European Greece the Achaeans have ceased to be the principal power; they have
been replaced by the Dorians. In Syria and Palestine we meet with a number of minor peoples and states—-
Phoenicia, Damascus, Israel, Judah, Moab, Edom, and others.”1

1CAH, 3:1.
The Old Testament Prophets —Heater—Page 4

The new Assyrian power that came to “occupy center stage” arose again about 1000 BC. This new
kingdom period of Assyrian history (900-600) dramatically affected the eighth century Israel/Judah and the
message of the prophets.

Before going on with Assyrian history, it is necessary to examine a group that began to show up in the
North West about this same period of time. These people were called Arameans by Semites but the Greeks referred
to them as Syrians (perhaps from the Semitic word for Tyre, Tsur, hence Tsuria). (Likewise the languages will be
referred to as Aramaic and Syriac.)

The presence of Aramaic names for rivers and mountains argues for their presence north of Syria from early
times. Sometime at the beginning of the first millennium, they began to move in large numbers into the NW area of the
Euphrates and even made their way down to the Persian gulf. This was not a cohesive movement, but a drifting of
nomadic tribes with a similar dialect and religion. They posed a large threat to the Assyrians and probably should be
credited with bringing the Middle Assyrian period to a close. They settled around the Khabur river, as far south as the
border of Babylonia, and the Chaldean tribes (Bit Yakin), who are also Aramean, settled in the marsh lands north of
the Persian Gulf (see map, p.67
). These Chaldeans eventually infiltrated the Babylonian peoples and founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 625 B.C.

One group of Arameans consolidated their power and made Damascus their capital. These are the
ever-present Syrians in the Bible. David conquered the Aramean coalition that came against him, placed garrisons
in Damascus, and probably thereby unwittingly contributed to the ability of Assyria to rise again. The Aramaic
language became the lingua franca (trade language) from about the eighth century because the people were so
widely spread throughout the area (Cf. Isa. 36:11). Even during the Indo-European Persian period, Aramaic was
the official language of the empire (hence, sections of Daniel and Ezra are Aramaic, and the script used for the
Hebrew Bible is Aramaic).

As the Aramaic groups settled down and formed solid political entities, the Assyrians began to reassert
their control of the west. During the ninth century, they conducted almost yearly campaigns over a period of sixty
years and established dominance around the Khabur and Balikh rivers.

Biblical contact with the Assyrians came in the ninth century when a coalition of kings (Arameans and
others) which Ahab joined fought Assyria. This coalition was an effort to assert independence in the west from the
Assyrian overlordship. The account of this battle is found in Shalmaneser III’s annals and is dated at 853 B.C. The
Assyrians claimed victory, but they did not return for some time and it took several battles before they were com-
pletely triumphant. This happened in 841 B.C. and Jehu, king of Israel, and other kings were forced to come to
2
Nahr el-Kelb to pay tribute. This event was recorded on Shalmaneser’s black obelisk.

Assyria declined somewhat at the end of the ninth century, but Adad Nirari III (810-783 B.C.) marched
3
west in his fifth year and defeated Damascus. This removed for a time the pressure of Syria on Israel. Later, the

2CAH, 3:13-14.

3ANET, 281-282: “In the fifth year (of my official rule) I sat down solemnly on my royal throne and called up the country
(for war). I ordered the numerous army of Assyria to march against Palestine. I crossed the Euphrates at its flood. As to the
numerous hostile kings who had rebelled in the time of my father Shamshi-Adad (V) and had wi[th held] their regular
(tributes). . . . I received all the tributes [. . .] which they brought to Assyria. I (then) ordered [to march] against the country
Damascus. I invested Mari’ in Damascus [and he surrendered]. One hundred talents of gold (corresponding to) one thousand
talents of [silver], 60 talents . . . [I received as his tribute].”
The Old Testament Prophets—Heater—Page 5

Assyrians were too occupied to keep up the pressure, but Damascus and Hamath were battling for control of their
area allowing Israel and Judah a respite for new growth.4

The mighty Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727) brought his country back to great heights. He campaigned in the
west from 743-738. There he encountered a certain Azariah in Syria, defeated him and destroyed much of his
territory.5 Some scholars have a problem accepting Azariah as the biblical one, but Bright says that it would be
exceptional to have two kings and two territories with the same name in the same period of time.6 The devastation
spoken of in Isaiah 1 is therefore possibly the result of this attack from Assyria, and so, early on, Judah came under
the shadow of this eastern scourge.7

Tiglath-Pileser III put pressure on the northern kingdom of Israel as well. Of King Menahem, the Bible
8
says, “There came against the land Pul [Tiglath-Pileser, Pul was his Babylonian name], the King of Assyria, and
Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand” (2
Kings 15:19). Tiglath-Pileser III’s annals say, “[As for Menahem, I ov]erwhelmed him [like a snowstorm] and he .

4See Hans Wolff, “Joel and Amos” in Hermeneia, a Critical and Histyorical Commentary on the Bible,
Philidelphia: Fortress Press, 1977, p. 89.

5ANET, 282: Tiglath-Pileser says “[In] the (subsequent) course of my campaign [I received] the tribute of the kin[gs . .
. A]zriau from Iuda in . . . countless, (reaching) sky high . . . eyes, like from heaven . . . by means of an attack with foot soldiers.
. . . He heard [about the approach of the] massed [armies of] Ashur and was afraid. . . . I tore down, destroyed and burnt [down .
. . for Azr]iau they had annexed, they (thus) had reinforced him . . . like vine/trunks . . . was very difficult . . . was barred and
high . . . was situated and its exit . . . I made deep . . . I surrounded his garrisons [with earthwork], against. . . . I made them carry
[the corvee-basket] and . . . his great . . . like a pot [I did crush . . .] (lacuna of three lines) . . . Azriau . . . a royal palace of my
own [I built in his city . . .] tribute like that [for Assyrian citizens I imposed upon them . . .] the city Kul[lani . . .] his ally . . . the
cities . . . . . . 19 districts belonging to Hamath and the cities in their vicinity which are (situated) at the coast of the Western Sea
and which they had (unlawfully) taken away for Azariau, I restored to the territory of Assyria. An officer of mine I installed as
governor over them. [I deported] 30,300 inhabitants from their cities and settled them in the province of the town Ku[. . .];
1,223 inhabitants I settled in the province of the Ullaba country.”

6Bright, History of Israel, 252.

7For a defense of the idea that Azariah of Judah headed up an anti-Assyrian coalition, see Tadmor, “Azarijau of
Yaudi” Scripta Hierosolymitana 8 (1961): 232-271. However, Israelite and Judaean History, Old Testament Library. Edited
by John H. Hayes and J. Maxwell Miller. London: SCM Press, 1977 says, “Recently, Na‘aman [Nadav Na‘aman.
“Sennacherib’s ‘Letter to God’ on His Campaign to Judah,” BASOR CCXIV (1974) 25-39] has shown conclusively that the
fragment presumably mentioning Azriau king of Yaudi actually belongs to the time of Sennacherib and refers not to Azariah
but to Hezekiah. In Tiglath-Pileser’s annals there are two references to an Azariah (in line 123 as Az-ri-a-[u] and in line 131
as Az-r-ja-a-í) but neither of these make any reference to his country. Thus the Azriau of Tiglath-pileser’s annals and
Azariah of the Bible should be regarded as two different individuals. Azriau’s country cannot, at the present, be
determined.” Na‘aman separates the country (Yaudi) from the name Azriau (p. 36). Also p. 28 on line 5 where the original
transcription was “[I]zri-ja-u mat Ja-u-di” he reads “ina birit misrija u mat Jaudi” However, Kitchen, On the Reliability of
the Old Testament (OROT), p. 18, is less dogmatic. He says “Hence we cannot certainly assert that this Azriau (without a named
territory!) is Azariah of Judah; the matter remains open and undecided for the present and probably unlikely.” See Also CAH,
3:35-36.

8See J. A. Brinkman, “Merodach-Baladan II” in Studies Presented in Honor of Leo Oppenheim, Chicago: Oriental
Institute of the Univ. of Chicago, 1964, p. 12.
The Old Testament Prophets —Heater—Page 6

. . fled like a bird, alone, [and bowed to my feet(?)]. I returned him to his place [and imposed tribute upon him, to
9
wit:] gold, silver, etc. Israel [Omri land], all its inhabitants (and) their possessions I led to Assyria.” When Pekah
allied himself with Rezin, King of Syria, against Ahaz of Judah, Ahaz sent to Tiglath-Pileser for help (2 Kings
16:5-8). Another deportation of Israel is mentioned in 1 Chron. 5:5,6. Apparently a number of incursions were
made against Samaria and people were carried off each time.

10
Tiglath-Pileser had put Hoshea on the throne, but Shalmaneser V (726-722 B.C.) “found conspiracy in
Hoshea; for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and offered no present to the king of Assyria, as he had
done year by year” (2 Kings 17:3-4). “And it came to pass . . . that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against
Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it . . . and the king of Assyria carried Israel away
unto Assyria, and put them in Halah . . . and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 18:9-11).

Sargon II (722-705 B.C.), in his inscriptions at Khorsabad, claims to have captured Samaria and led off the
captives of Israel. “I besieged and conquered Samaria, led away as booty 27,290 inhabitants of it. I formed from
among them a contingent of 50 chariots and made remaining [inhabitants] assume their [social] positions. I
installed over them an officer of mine and imposed upon them the tribute of the former king.”11 This does not agree
either with the biblical data or Shalmaneser V’s annals quoted above. As Finegan suggests, Sargon may have come
to the throne on the heels of the defeat of Samaria and carried out the deportation begun by Shalmaneser.12

Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) came west and conquered the fortified cities of Judah and besieged Jerusalem
(2 Kings 18). Hezekiah paid him tribute. It was in preparation for this kind of attack that Hezekiah had the tunnel
dug which bears the famous Siloam inscription (2 Chron. 32:1-8). “As to Hezekiah, the Jew, he did not submit to
my yoke, I laid siege to 46 of his strong cities, walled forts and to the countless small villages in their vicinity, and
conquered [them] by means of well-stamped [earth]-ramps, and battering-rams . . . Himself I made a prisoner in
Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthwork in order to molest those who
were leaving his city’s gate. His towns which I had plundered, I took away from his country and gave them [over]
13
to Mitinti, king of Ashdod.” This is part of an extended account found on a prism inscription. Sennacherib fails
to note that he did not conquer Jerusalem. Hezekiah entertained ambassadors from the newly arising
neo-Babylonian empire as part of an anti-Assyrian conspiracy.

The decline of Assyria was swift and decisive. The Babylonians, under Nabopolassar, joined with the
Medes and Scythians. After a series of victories, they invested Nineveh, the great capital, and it fell in 612 B.C.
The Assyrians fled to Haran in the west where the Egyptians joined them in an effort to prop them up against the
Babylonians. The Babylonians won this battle under Nebuchadnezzar in 609 and began to take over the southern
half of the Assyrian empire.

9ANET, 283, 84.

10ANET, 284.

11ANET, 285.

12Jack Finegan, Light from the Ancient Past, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946, 1959, p. 210.

13ANET, 288.
The Old Testament Prophets—Heater—Page 7

Historical Summary

Adad-Nirari III (805 B.C.) defeated Damascus.

Jeroboam II; Uzziah (Azariah)

Tiglath-Pileser III (732) defeated Damascus (Isaiah 7; Ahaz).

Shalmaneser V (722 B.C.) defeated and began to deport Samaria.

Sargon II (722 B.C.) completed the deportation of Samaria.
(711 B.C.) fought Ashdod (Isaiah 20).

Sennacherib (701 B.C.) defeated Lachish and threatened Jerusalem (Isaiah 36-37; Hezekiah).
(689 B.C.) defeated and destroyed Babylon.

DAMASCUS
BIT YAKIN

ASSYRIAN EMPIRE AND
ARAMEAN GROUPINGS

Map from Bible Works
The Old Testament Prophets —Heater—Page 8

EIGHTH CENTURY PROPHETS AND THEIR WORLD

DECADE PROPHETS JUDAH ISRAEL ASSYRIA

800 Adad-Nirari III
810-783

790 Uzziah Jero. II
A J 792-40 793-753
M O
O N Shalmaneser IV
S A 783-772
H
780 H
O

S

E
Ashur-Dan III
A
770 772-754

760 I
S Ashur-nirari V
A Zech. 753 754-746
I Shallum 752
750 A Jotham Menahem
H 751-32 752-742
Pekah Pekahiah
752-31 742-740 Tiglath-pileser III
740 745-727
Ahaz Hoshea
735-15 731-722
M
730 I Shalmaneser V
C Hezekiah 727-722
A 728-687
H Sargon II
720 722-705

710
Sennacherib
705-681

700
The Old Testament Prophets—Heater—Page 9

Notes on the Book of Amos

The Prophet:

Little is known about Amos. He has a rural background and comes from Judah (hence is viewed as an interloper by
the priests of Bethel). He was not a member of the “prophetic guild” but was a prophet nevertheless.

The Time:

The general time frame is given in 1:1 as the reigns of Jeroboam II (793-753) in the north and Uzziah in the south
(792-740), hence a period of some 50 years. However, Amos’ message was probably preached over a fairly short
time (perhaps one year?). Consequently, it is difficult to place him in the longer period.

The Kings:

Israel—Jeroboam II (793-753)
Judah—Uzziah (792-740)
Assyria—Adad Nirari III (810-783)
Syria—Hazael

Events:

Adad Nirari sacked Damascus in 805. This took the previously relentless pressure of the Syrians off the Israelites.
Consequently, there is a time of unprecedented prosperity in the north as the boundaries (both north and south) are
restored to that which David and Solomon held (2 Kings 14:21-29).

Synthesis

Amos’ primary message is to the covenant people of God. When he preaches to Damascus, Philistia, Tyre,
Edom, Ammon and Moab, he deals primarily in horizontal sins: unjust actions against others. But when he turns to
Judah and Israel, the indictment is that they have rejected the Torah of Yahweh (2:4).

The keeping of this law is indeed worked out in social justice, but the basis for the action is the holiness of
God. Israel has apostatized from the living and true God (4:4-5), their ritual is empty (5:21-27), they have become
dissolute in their daily conduct (6:1-7), and they oppress the needy (8:4-6). Because of this a holy God must
discipline them (4:11-13). In spite of a series of messages full of doom, however, God’s covenant with His people
cannot be broken. The last section of the book (9:7-15) is a message of hope. The “booth of David” is in the
process of falling (participle). It is not yet down (that will happen in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem falls). God will raise
up the “booth” when He restores Israel and Judah.
The Old Testament Prophets —Heater—Page 10

Structure

Rhetorical indictment of eight nations (1-2).

Oracle #1 (Hear) seven questions—judgment (3:1-11).
Oracle #2 (Hear) cows of Bashan—judgment (4:1-13).
Oracle #3 (Hear) call to repentance in midst of sin (5:1-17).

Woe #1 to those longing for the Day of Yahweh (5:18-27).
Woe #2 to those who are at ease in Zion (6:1-14).

Vision #1 Locust swarm (7:1-3).
Vision #2 Fire (7:4-6).
Vision #3 Plumb line (7:7-9).

[Historical interlude—Amaziah the priest confronts Amos and orders him to return to the south (7:10-17)]

Vision #4 Summer fruit (kaytz/ketz) (8:1-3).

Oracle #4 (Hear) you who trample the needy (8:4-14).

Vision #5 the Lord by the Altar (9:1-6).

Concluding section of hope (9:7-15).

I. Historical Background.

Amos ministered for a period of time (perhaps a short period) during the reigns of two powerful and
14 15
long-lived monarchs. Jeroboam II ruled in Israel from 793 to 753 B.C. or forty-one years. Uzziah
16
(Azariah) ruled in Judah from 792 to 740 B.C.

The Assyrian King, Adad Nirari III (810-783 B.C.) marched west in his fifth year (805 B.C.) and defeated
17 18
Damascus. This removed for a time the pressure of Syria on Israel. Later, the Assyrians were too

14.See Simon Cohen, “The Political Background of the Words of Amos,” HUCA 36 (1965): 153-160. “Two years before the
earthquake (1:1).” K. Kitchen, OROT, p. 53, says Hazor was destroyed by an earthquake in the 8th century.

15Fourteen of these years must have been as co-regent, otherwise the synchronism does not work (see Thiele, Mysterious
Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, 106-7).

16Again there must have been a co-regency of twenty-five years—Thiele, MNHK, 111.

17ANET, 281-282.

182 Kings 13:7 indicates the desperate straits in which Israel found herself because of Syrian pressure.