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Chapter XV.

Isaiah.

Prophet.  In the study of the messages of the prophets we should understand that the meaning of the term prophets may be:  (1) A person employed in the public utterance of religious discourse, very much as the preacher of today.  This was the most common function of the prophet.  Some were reformers while others were evangelists or revivalists. (2) One who performed the function of the scribes and wrote the history and biography and annals of their nations.  In this capacity they compiled or wrote large portions of the books of the Old Testament. (3) One who was able to discern the future and foretell events which would transpire afterward.

The Prophetical Books.  All take their name from the Prophets whose messages they bear.  They are written largely in the poetic style and are usually divided into two divisions. (1) The major prophets which include Isaiah.  Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel. (2) The minor prophets, including the other twelve.  This division is based on the bulk of material in the books and is unscientific and misleading, since it suggests that some are more important than others.  They are more appropriately divided according to their place in the prophetic order or the period of Israel’s history when they prophesied, somewhat as follows:  1. The Pre-exilic prophets, or those who prophesied before the exile.  These are, (1) Jonah, Amos and Hosea, prophets of Israel. (2) Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah, prophets of Judah. 2. The exilic prophets, Ezekiel and Daniel. 3. The Post-exilic prophets, prophets who prophesied after the captivity.  All are of Judah and are Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Jeremiah’s ministry perhaps extended into the period of the captivity.  There is great uncertainty about the chronology of Obadiah, Joel and Jonah.  There is differences of opinion as to whether certain of the prophets belong to Judah or Israel.  Micah is an example.  The teacher will be able to give reasons for this difference.

The Study of the Prophets.  The student should hold in mind that the prophet deals primarily with the moral and religious conditions of his own people at the time of his ministry.  His denunciations, warnings and exhortations are, therefore, not abstract principles, but are local and for Israel.  The prophet was then first of all a Jewish patriot and revivalist filled with the Holy Ghost and with zeal for Israel.

The predictive elements of the prophetic books must be interpreted in the light, (1) of a nearby or local fulfillment, such as of the dispersion and restoration, and (2) of a far off and greater fulfillment of which the first is only a forerunner, such as the advent of the Messiah and his glorious reign over the whole earth.  The interpretation of prophecy should generally be in the literal, natural and unforced meaning of the words.  The following passages will show how prophecy, already fulfilled, has been fulfilled literally and not allegorically.  Gen. 15:13-16; 16:11-12; Dt. 28:62-67; Ps. 22:1, 7, 8, 15-18; Is. 7:14; 53:2-9; Hos. 3:4; Joel 2:28-29:  Mic. 5:2; Acts 2:16- 18; Matt. 21:4-5; Lu. 1:20, 31; Acts 1:5; Matt. 2:4-6; Lu. 21:16.17, 24; Acts 21:10-11.