Synthetic Bible Studies by James Gray

• Title Page
• Pentateuch
• History
• Poetry
• Prophets
  • Lesson 23: Introduction to the Prophetic Scriptures
  • Lesson 24: Joel
  • Lesson 25: Jonah
  • Lesson 26: Amos
  • Lesson 27: Hosea
  • Lesson 28: Micah
  • Lesson 29: Isaiah
  • Lesson 30: Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Obadiah
  • Lesson 31: Jeremiah
  • Lesson 32: Ezekiel
• Post Captivity Prophets
• Gospels, Acts
• Pauline Epistles
• General Epistles

Messiah have been to the nation at large an object of true spiritual desire or hope, for the reason that the moral conditions were wanting. The promises respecting Him appealed to faith, and it was “only as the people were faithfully fulfilling their duties to Jehovah as the theocratic king that they could understand the nature of the higher blessings of the future kingdom and truly desire them.” In other words, the prophets could not speak of future spiritual blessings to those who had no ear to hear. It was their immediate duty, therefore, to convince the people of their sins and seek to bring them to repentance; see for example the character of the utterances of Elijah and Elisha in the northern kingdom. As the sin had been national, so the repentance must be national, which was never the case. The Psalms, many of which were written at this period, bear witness to the fact that there were individuals who appreciated the Messianic hope, and longed for its fulfillment, but this was not the case of the nation at large.

Why Written Prophecy?

Written prophecy, which does not become a factor in revelation until about the eighth or ninth century B.C., was not really in accord with the true idea of the theocracy, as our author states, and its first appearance at about the date indicated marks an epoch in God’s dealings with His people. “His presence among them theretofore, assured them of the continued communications of His will as there might be need (Exodus 25:22),” and one way in which those communications were conveyed was through the words spoken by the prophets (Deuteronomy 18:18-22), whose utterances were for their own day and generation, and hence were not necessary to be written down. When their utterances, however, came to be written down, and the transient word took on a permanent form, the change was very significant and ominous. It spoke of a future withdrawal of Jehovah’s presence, a consequent cessation of prophetic utterances, and hence a delay or postponement respecting the setting up of the Messianic kingdom. Compare Amos 8:11-12, and Lamentations 2:9. The prophet’s words now were preserved for future generations, for it had become evident that both kingdoms, Judah and Israel, “though with unequal steps” would go steadily downward. The kingdom of Israel was overthrown and carried into captivity by the Assyrians about 722 B.C., not to return again as yet to their former land in any national capacity. The crisis in the kingdom of Judah approached less rapidly, but 140 years later she too was carried away by the Babylonians. It is true that members of the tribes of Judah did after