The Book Of Amos Is The Earliest Preserved Example Of Classic Prophetic Writings

Even in the days of Jeroboam I, the man who founded the Kingdom of Israel, God already knew that Israel would be troublesome. It was forewarned that, “…the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their forefathers and scatter them beyond the River, because they provoked the LORD to anger by making Asherah poles.” The Israelites’ reason of doubt for God was that they were unsure that they could take over their promised land. God told them that they could remove the current inhabitants, but they were convinced that they could not. Not believing in the word of the Lord led to their exile for forty years of “wilderness wandering.” They had forgotten all of the great things that He had done for them, such as delivering them from Egyptian enslavement. Hope was given up on Him

   In the Bible, God commands Moses to go up Mount Sinai to receive divine instruction.    When he comes back, his people, the Israelites, have gone crazy.  They have forgotten Moses, and forgotten their God.  They form their own god, a golden calf, and build an altar.  They even had a festival for the golden calf.  "Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and sat down to indulge in revelry" (Exodus 32:6).  Moses then went down the mountain and got so angry that he smashed the tablets with the Ten Commandments on them.   The Israelites lost faith because they could not see the God they were worshipping, so they forgot him and began worshipping a false idol.  The Israelites are not very

Introduction to the Hebrew Bible has provided me with a critical analysis of the Hebrew Bible and introduced a wide variety of interpretive strategies, including African American, anthropological, feminist, historical-critical, Jewish, and literary perspectives. These approaches were presented by our author’s, L. Juliana M. Claassens, Peter Enns, Walter Brueggemann, and John L. Collins. Each author provides a unique interpretation to help us comprehend how the text is an expression of one’s interpretive understanding. Having said that, the biggest influence has been how I will seek to present Old Testament scriptures more effectively while remembering the context and the audience in which I am presenting. For example, I believe the greatest lessons that I have been reminded of are, the Old Testaments Scriptures from my childhood, which have become a big part of my relationship with God and are based on a childlike faith, which must now grow in the richness of the different interpretations, it is this message that I can apply to life.

The Exegetical Task: Some parts of the Bible call for time and patient revision to understand. Some people find help in Bible dictionaries, commentaries and Bible handbooks (Fee/Stuart p189). Fee and Stuart feels that everyone needs to understand both the prophets’ era and the context of a single oracle (Fee/Stuart p190). The words spoken by the prophets at a variety of times and places are written down without any indication as to where one oracle ends and another begins (Fee/Stuart p193). The prophets employed an assortment of literary forms. 3 of the most common are: “The lawsuit”, God is portrayed as the plaintiff, prosecuting attorney and judge against the defendant, Israel (Fee/Stuart p194). The Woe, Woe oracles implicitly or explicitly contain an announcement of distress, the reason for distress and a prediction of doom. “The promise”, This contains an allusion to the future, a mention of radical change and blessing (Fee/Stuart p195). Hermeneutical Suggestions: What is God’s word to us through these inspired oracles, spoken in another time to God’s people? Once we understand what God said to them then, we will hear it again in our own surroundings (Fee/Stuart p199). The prophets’ messages were concentrated on the near rather than the distant future (Fee/Stuart p200). Sometimes the New Testament makes reference to Old Testament passages that don’t seem to refer to what the New Testament says they do

This paper will research and seek to determine the prophetic meaning by analyzing the material found within the passage Daniel 9:24-27 point by point, verse by verse. Daniel 9:24-27 holds the title of the utmost important prophecy to be found in scripture. In a nutshell, this passage chronologically foretells the future of the nation of Israel over a seventy-week timeframe. This vision given to Daniel is historically and biblically fulfilled further declaring its importance to the Bible.

captivity. They were rebuilding Jerusalem. But Nehemiah was burdened by the fact that the city

Harris, R. L. (1999). 68 אָחַר. (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press.

Genre Report 4 (Prophecy) Name: Directions:Read chapter 21 of Grasping God’s Word. The purpose of this Genre Report is to get you familiarized with the basic elements of prophetic literature. The prophets are God’s attorneys, letting the kings and the people know that they have been unfaithful to their side of the covenant. Usually (though not always) the prophetic message contains three main points: You have broken the covenant.

Looking back, we can see glimpses of the lives of those who lived in the Ancient Near East, known as the ANE, through their stories and myths that have survived over centuries of time. Many of these stories contain unique elements that make each one personal to the civilization that they belong to, but there are common themes and ideas that are virtually shared between the traditional stories stemming from this region of the world. In fact, these parallels even extend into Old Testament literature; laced within the stories that we’ve come to know and love. It is not surprising that the Old Testament contains similarities found within ANE tradition, seeing that

Dennis Bratcher provides insight on the ethics of the prophets in his article entitled Social Ethics in the Prophets. In this article Bratcher gives the reader some general information regarding the prophets before discussing in greater detail the theological foundation of the prophets and social ethics as it pertains to the prophets. Today, we understand that the torah and the prophetic traditions existed side by side in Israel’s religious life. They were both expressions of what the people had come to understand about God and how they should respond to God.

Isaiah came during a pivotal time in history. The world was changing rapidly and life was on the edge of prosperity and ruin, as it is today. In this uncertain time Isaiah was called by God to deliver a message of warning, comfort, and deliverance. Christians view the prophecies of Isaiah as a projection of the coming of Jesus Christ. Isaiah spoke of divine judgment and the promises of God through the Prince of Peace. Isaiah’s message of the future King was very meticulous. He describes how Christ will come, Christ’s character and Christ’s purpose. In this paper I will dissect Isaiah’s prophecies in the Old Testament and reference them to the events of Christ in the New Testament.

There are several challenges with the historical background and political setting of Isaiah 40-66 concerning author, date, time and situation of life for the Jews. LaSor notes that traditional views that Isaiah authored the entire book are held by very few scholars. More and more critics are accepting a two book theory with chapters 1-39 as book one and chapters 40-66 as book two. Moreover, there are further refinements resulting in three books, dividing chapters 40-66 into 40-55 (Deutero-Isaiah) and 56-66 (Trito-Isaiah). (LaSor, William 1996., 281)

To speak of the Hebrew Scripture is to speak of story, a story stretching from the very beginning of time to only a few centuries before the beginning of the Common Era. It is to speak of richness of content, of purpose and of reality and to engross oneself in an overarching narrative that, depending on your personal convictions, continues to the present day. Within this richness is found a wide variety of different events and experience, told through a series of genre ranging from foundational myth to apocalypse, law giving to poetry, genealogy to wisdom and many more. Within this diversity however, three broad sections can be discerned that speak to a shared purpose and content, these are the sections of Law, Prophecy and Writings. It

The Old Testament ends with the Minor Prophets. These prophets provided insight on many issues the Jews were facing. All of the prophets had the same ideas of a warning of impending judgment because of the nations’ sinfulness, the coming judgment, a call for repentance, and a promise of future deliverance of God’s grace. Idolatry, social injustice and religious ritualism are three issues that the prophets emphasized on in their teachings and can be inspired in the minds and hearts of believers today. The prophets’ teachings are just as important today as they were in the past. The teachings about God, the way man lived, social issues, and religious rituals are all relevant in the today’s society.

It all began when King Ahab, and his deceitful wife Jezebel demanded for their kingdom to worship the false God of Baal. As a result, they ordered all the prophets of the Lord to be put to death. Elijah was the only one to survive this horrible purge and went to confront King Ahab. He told the King that a three-year drought would be brought upon Israel. This was to challenge the people’s false prophet, Baal and eventually teach them a very valuable lesson in whose God was real.