METODOLOGÍAS ACTIVAS

Pratt (2008) is of the opinion that the misunderstanding of the prophetic books stems largely from the inability to organize the books into an orderly

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whole. To be able to combat this he proposed a five-stage period of the prophets which would also be adopted here:

The Early Monarchy

The first period of the prophets is the period of the early monarchy. Unlike Pratt (2008) that picked the early monarchy from David, I would say that the period began from Saul because though Samuel was a judge, he was also a sort of prophet and actually laid the background for the coming prophets. In fact, what could have been termed as the first school of prophets started under the leadership of Samuel. It was however during the time of David and Solomon that the golden age of prophecy was reached.

It is however unfortunate that we have no directly written records of the activities of the prophets of the monarchy because they were not writing prophets. The prophets that we have records of what they have done were those mentioned in passing during the history of the house of Israel. These include Samuel, Nathan and Gad. This notwithstanding, these prophets laid the foundation for the prophetic ministry in Israel. In all these periods however, you need to note that the prophets were concerned about the house of Israel and the ideal state of Israel whether in monarchy or theocracy. They served as guides and counsellors to the kings and the people.

The Period of Assyrian Domination

The second period of prophetic ministry was the period of the Assyrian judgement. At this time, God decided to use the nation of Assyria to punish Israel because of her sins. This was the period of the ministry of Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Nahum and Isaiah. It is very evident that the Assyrian concern was the focus of the ministry of these prophets as the oracles that were recorded for them clearly points to the Assyrian nation.

The important events of this period that formed the theme of the prophecies were the Syro-Israelite coalition. This was the alliance formed by the Israelites (the Northern Kingdom) with Syria with the bid of rebelling against the Assyrians. Though they tried to force Judah to join the alliance, Judah refused. This alliance was interpreted by the prophets as a loss of faith in Yahweh on the part of Israel. Later in 722 BC, the Assyrians destroyed Samaria. The second theme was the attack of Assyria on Judah in the days of Hezekiah. Hezekiah looked up for help from the Lord and though the Assyrians came to the gates of Jerusalem, the Assyrians departed without firing a single shot because the Lord confounded them.

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The third theme was that of hope. The prophets spoke of the eventual fall of Jerusalem but also of the restoration that would follow.

The Period of Babylonian Domination

The next stage in Israelites prophecy was that of Babylonian judgement. In this period, prophecy mostly was centred on Babylonian attack on Jerusalem. The prophets that prophesied about the Babylonian attack include: Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Joel, Obadiah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel and Daniel. The Babylonian attack came in three phases: the first phase was in 605 BC when they took only a bunch of people (the nobles) away; the second phase was in 597 BC when they took another set of people and the third and final phase was in 586 BC when the city was utterly destroyed. As with the first phase Assyrian phase of prophecy there was also the theme of restoration in the prophecies.

Most of the prophets, especially, Jeremiah, spent a larger part of his oracles convincing the people that they would stay for a very long time in Babylon and urged them to prepare themselves for it instead of holding on to the popular belief that Jerusalem is invincible and they would return very soon.

The Period of Restoration

The period of restoration from exile formed the next stage for prophecy in Israel. This period covered the years from 539 BC to 400 BC. After some years, the Persian Empire rose up and sacked the Babylonian empire. It was through the edict of Dairus that the exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem and even given the permission to rebuild not only the walls but also the Temple.

The first set of Jews returned under the leadership of Zerubbabel. The excitement greeting the return died down pretty soon and this led to the prophetic ministry of Haggai who encouraged the people to return to the building of the Temple. By hundred years of their return, a new problem set in: they had started intermarrying with foreign women and also were beginning to participate in other religions. This led to the ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah. Other prophets of this era were Zechariah and Malachi. By this time however, the Messianic prophecies were already making rounds since it was the Messiah that can reform the people absolutely.

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The Intertestamental Period

The period between the Old and the New Testament is commonly referred to as the Intertestamental period. This was a period of darkness also called the silent years (400 years) when there seemed to be no message from God.

This period however marked the religious development among the Jews. It was the period when the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots also cut a clout for themselves. It was at this period that solitary prophets like John the Baptist rose with the messianic expectation and the scene became pregnant with expectation for the Messiah.

Self-Assessment Exercise

In one sentence describe what characterizes prophecy in each stage of its development.