The Times of the Prophets

MEMORY VERSE: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” —Amos 3:7

II KINGS 14:23-25; AMOS 8:4-11

PROPHECY has played an important role in God’s dealings with his people throughout all ages, although the expression “the times of the prophets” has to do particularly with that period in the divine plan which is usually referred to as “the Jewish Age.” This was a period from the death of Jacob to the first advent of Jesus. During that time, and particularly beginning with the Exodus, prophets were used considerably by God in his dealings with the Jewish nation.

Moses was the first of the prophets in this period. The ministry of Moses was to uphold the divine standard of righteousness to the people of the nation, and to warn them of the results of disobedience to God’s Law. This was true of all the prophets to follow. They were also used by the Lord to forecast events with which the people of their day would be immediately concerned, and also larger events related to the outworking of the divine plan in future ages.

In this latter respect the prophets foretold in many and various ways the coming of Jesus at his first advent; his suffering and death as the Redeemer and Savior of the world; and also his resurrection and his exaltation to glory. (Luke 24:24-27) The prophets also foretold the second coming of Christ, and its principal purpose. Peter speaks of this in one of his sermons, saying, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.”—Acts 3:19-23

Just before preaching this sermon Peter had been instrumental in healing a man who had been lame from birth, and he gives assurance in his sermon that following Christ’s return there would be a time of general restoration, and that this had been foretold by God’s prophets. Isaiah was one of God’s holy prophets, and he wrote, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped” And in a promise of the resurrection he wrote, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”—Isa. 35:5,10

II Kings 14:23-25 tells briefly of the wicked reign of one of Israel’s kings. The word “Israel” was then used to describe the ten-tribe kingdom which rebelled against the two tribes and set up their own separate government. All the kings of this kingdom were wicked, following the example of the original one, Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.

The Prophet Amos (8:4-7) called attention to Israel’s sin of greed, and foretold the coming of punishment from the Lord. The situation described by Amos indicates that the people were impatient in their waiting for the religious observances to be over so that they could resume their swindling. The role of the Prophet Amos in calling attention to this, and reminding the people that they would be punished for their sins, illustrates one of the important functions of all God’s holy prophets.

Amos also foretold a coming famine for the hearing of the Word of the Lord. One of these famine periods occurred from the time of Malachi to the appearance of John the Baptist, which was several hundred years. During this long period no prophets were sent to Israel by God, and we can well imagine that among the devout of the nation there was a searching for the Word of the Lord. During the present age there has also been a long famine period. This was during the Dark Ages, when the Word of the Lord was hidden under a covering of dead languages.

Our memory verse is reassuring in that it reminds us that the Lord reveals to his people, through his servants, all that they need to know in connection with the outworking of his plan of salvation. Through his ancient prophets he revealed coming events as they would be related to Israel, and in his long-range plan the events which would betoken his people’s position on the stream of time.

QUESTIONS

Name two of the important themes of the Old Testament prophets.

What events did these prophets foretell that are taking place in our day?

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