What is a prophet?¹

There are six Old Testament terms used to refer to prophets:

• The first term nabi´ refers to the word prophet, meaning an “authoritative spokesman, one who proclaims divine revelation.” It is used the most of the six terms (approximately 300 times in the OT). God directly gave them his messages, often in tandem with authenticating signs that we refer to as miracles.
• “The next two terms are translated seer: ro´eh and hozeh. Both literally refer to one who “sees,” the recipient of divine revelation.”
• Man of God (ish elohim) describes “one who knew God and who was sent by God on mission.”
• Servant of the LORD (ebed Yahweh) highlights “the relationship between God and his faithful messengers.”
• Messenger of the LORD (mal´ak Yahweh) “focuses more on the mission and message” rather than the messenger.

How did people recognize a prophet?

God gave Israel specific tests for true prophets, knowing that others would claim to speak for him. He wanted them to be able to discern the true prophet from the false.

1. Their predictions happened (Deut. 18:20-22). God made it clear that the words of the true prophet would always be fulfilled—after all, they are God’s words. If the prophet’s predictions did not come true, the prophet was false.
2. A true prophet’s messages also drew people to the true God, not away from him (Deut. 13:1-5). Even if the prophet performed miracles, that wasn’t enough. The test was that the message he gave pointed to the true God.

By the end of the Old Testament era, the prophetic books that we have in our Old Testament were those tested by the Jews through time and determined to be written by genuine prophets.

Understanding the Messages of the Prophets

The prophets are often difficult to understand. They wrote so long ago in a foreign culture; they often used figurative language dealing with countries, people, and situations we know nothing about; and some of them had visions that are strange, very strange.

• First, don’t obsess over what you may not understand. Accept the fact that you won’t grasp everything because of the nature of prophecy. Feel free to read the footnotes in your Bibles to help clarify places, people, and situations.
• Second, realize that prophecy is not always chronological. One prophecy can even have multiple fulfillments. The same prophecy may speak of both Jesus’s first and second comings. Isaiah includes a prophecy referring to both the birth of Isaiah’s son as well and Jesus’s virgin birth.
• Third, focus on what you learn about God’s character and on the character that God desires for you as you note the actions and attitudes he values. God’s Spirit wants you to consider how your heart, attitudes, and actions align with his.

I will give you some explanations with each lesson as well as cross-references, particularly in your starred optional study.

Applying the Prophets’ Messages

The messages of the prophetic books were primarily aimed at the Jews as a group. Sometimes the prophet spoke to a specific sub-group, usually leaders: the governmental leaders/kings, the priests, or even other prophets. At times they gave warnings to other nations as well.

So how do we apply their messages to our day and culture?

1. Corporately to the church

God’s people, the Jews, are the primary audience for the prophets, and the church is the clearest parallel for application. Although the church is comprised of individuals, the most basic application is to the local or universal church as a group of people accountable as a whole.

Our individualistic American thinking makes it difficult for us to grasp that God holds groups of people responsible, including individuals who weren’t involved in the problem. (Examples: Ezekiel and Daniel were exiled and Jeremiah was tortured because the Jews worshipped idols and lived in ways that dishonored God, who judged the group.) We are part of the whole, for both good and bad. That’s why we are wise to speak out in a godly way when we see the church go off course on a major issue (not petty things like style of worship or paint color).

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus tells the apostle John to write his message to seven churches in Asia. His message is very similar to the prophetic messages of the Old Testament: identifying their sins and warning them to either repent or face consequences of his judgment on the church. Judgment begins with the family of God (1 Peter 4:17). Today the church is the embodiment of Christ, and he expects us to act like it. So we read the Prophets to find out what acting like God’s people looks like.

2. To individual believers

As members of a local and universal church, we are part of the solution. The prophets show us a lot about the attitudes and actions that he wants from his people who are purposed to image him to the world. They show us that God refuses to be replaced by idols in the hearts of his people. So as we read these books, we must consider where we have strayed from complete loyalty and love of God in a personal way. Yes, God will forgive us individually, but we need to repent of our sins. If not, he may discipline us for them, especially when we have been warned (Hebrews 12:5-13).

3. To church leaders

God has always held leaders to a higher accountability for the acts of his people. Why? Because their influence affects everyone else. As the Jewish kings went, so did the people (1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles). The kings who faithfully followed God led the people to do so, but those who worshipped idols drew the people into idolatry. The priests who failed to faithfully teach God’s Word led the people astray. The prophets who weren’t speaking God’s words gave approval to what God disapproved, giving the people license to sin.

The greater your influence and voice in the church, the more you are held accountable and the greater your need to heed the prophets and apply what is said to leaders (for example, James 3:1).

4. To nations

Finally, the prophets address warnings of judgment to nations other than Israel. When they do, we need to consider how their message parallels our own nations.

Elements of prophetic literature

Parallelism

“The Hebrews used parallelism in poetry and prophecy as a literary technique to emphasize a particular thought.”² These provide comparisons and contrasts that make a point.

Poetic imagery

“Unlike prose, which addresses historical realities more directly, poetry draws its readers and listeners into spiritual realities with the use of evocative language.”

Oracles

The IVP Bible Background Commentary provides four categories:

• “Indictment oracles notified the people of what they had done wrong.
• Judgment oracles described God’s intended response to their offenses.
• Instruction oracles (which are relatively rare until the postexilic period) told the people what they needed to do and how they needed to act and think.
• Aftermath oracles informed the people about God’s plans after the judgment had come.”³

Satire

The ESV Study Bible describes this as “the exposure of human vice or folly” and its elements as 1. an object of attack, 2. a satiric vehicle, 3. a satiric norm, and 4. a satiric tone.⁴

When did the Prophets write?

The books of prophecy were written by those sometimes called the Classical Prophets. Other prophets like Elijah, Elisha, and Nathan, along with others less well-known, are mentioned in the historical books, but no written collection of their messages exists.

Although we often think of the prophets as common figures in the Old Testament, there were specific periods of time during the classical period when their messages were clustered as outlined in the IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament:⁵

1. the Assyrian crisis that brought the fall of the northern kingdom and the siege of Jerusalem (760-700: Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah)

2. the Babylonian crisis that brought the fall of Assyria and the fall of Judah and Jerusalem (650-580: Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Nahum, Jeremiah, Ezekiel)

3. the postexilic period with its Persian rule and identity crisis (530-480: Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Obadiah, Malachi; Daniel could be counted among these, although he served during the exile)

FYI: Jonah is a precursor to the Assyrian Crisis, so our study considers it first.

The chart on the following page will help you keep the prophets’ messages in context.

Putting the Prophets’ Messages into Historical Context⁶

1. Listen to God

It seems simple, but it can be oh, so difficult, to listen to God as you lead a group. Our fears tell us not to sit in silence. Our hearts suggest that we should give solutions or even verses to fix problems or questions. The clock indicates that we should cut others off as quickly as possible. And I have been there and done them all!

If we as leaders come to the group time doing what feels comfortable, we may miss the fullness of what God wants to do. So pray well before you go. Pray as you lead the group time. Don’t speak in response to the comments of others until you are sensitive to the movement of the Spirit as to what to say, if anything.

And what may be even more difficult is to encourage the same kinds of listening skills with the others in the group. Listening to God before answering someone’s comments or intervening in what God may want to say to her about her problems is very difficult. I feel that way and likely you do too:) Many in the group will struggle, but we can all improve if you remind yourself and the group each week to pause and listen to God before speaking.

Watch our BOW videos on listening as a small group leader at https://vimeo.com/album/4065298 for additional help.

2. Keep Discipleship Goals in Mind

Goal #1: encourage the group in personal study

If you want the group to be in the Word for themselves, start the discussion by letting them share what excited them. Stay away from your own thoughts and listen to them. To involve them, ask very general open questions, such as those in the lesson. Choose questions from the lesson, use some from the list given in tip #3 Ask Open Questions, or write your own questions.

Because the group will journal as they study, see which way the discussion goes before inserting your own direction to the lesson. That said, don’t let it linger on speculation about things the Bible doesn’t reveal. It’s okay for a few minutes, but refocus the conversation to what God has made clear, not what he chose not to tell us.

Goal #2: SET discipleship goals FOR EACH LESSON

What do you want to accomplish in your discussion? If you randomly ask questions, you may enjoy a good discussion, but it may not move the group closer to Jesus. Your goal should not be simply getting people to talk but to encourage spiritual growth in the group.

See yourself as the leader, not a teacher or a facilitator. What is your goal? What do you want the group to leave with that will help them grow as believers? It could be a deeper faith through a better understanding of who God is and how he works. It could be a principle that helps them live out genuine faith in a culture that is looking for what is real.

For most lessons, consider these questions as you review the lesson:

• What do those in your group need to know about God from this lesson?
• What does the lesson reveal about real faith?
• Ho does the story and/or verses fit with the big story gospel of Paradise, Ruin, Reconciliation, and Consummation?
• What principles from the lesson need to be obeyed? What application do you want them to prayerfully consider—a way of believing about God that intersects with real life or types of actions to take?

Wait to discuss these areas by providing opportunity for the group to bring up the topic before you simply move toward your goals. Make sure you listen first. Many of the questions you want to ask will come up more naturally from within the group. If no one brings it up, then do so with a question to the group.

You don’t necessarily have to write your own questions. Use those within the lesson to launch into an area you want to cover. The lesson questions are open-ended and broad. You can have a great discussion using them. If you listen well, you can follow up with a question that clarifies or expands on their comments to move them further toward your goals.

If you want to write a few questions to summarize the material covered rather than going through those in the lesson, write open questions from the material they studied and read. Or use some of the questions in the next section.

3. Ask Open Questions

You may be used to reading a set of questions to the group and having them read back their answers. I have written many Bible studies that have that type of structure. It’s easy for the leader to follow and makes it simple for the group to provide answers.

Instead, this study is based on journaling, which isn’t comprised of answers to a number of very specific questions but rather uses open questions, meaning not yes/no or narrow answers. (See BOW’s free downloadable resource at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Asking-Open-Questions.pdf.)

When the lesson is comprised of one long story or section, it will likely work best to let the group know that they can talk about any part of the lesson instead of a specific section of the story. Your questions should allow a response on anything they want to discuss from the lesson. It’s alright if no one brings up a certain section of the story at all.

Allow the Holy Spirit to use the discussion to take the group where he wants it to go, but also keep in mind your goals and move them into those topics if they don’t go there themselves.

Here are examples of open questions that you might use:

• What verses were most significant to you and why?
• How did God surprise you through these verses?
• How did you relate to the prophet and why?
• What feelings did you have about the prophet’s message and why?
• How did God reveal himself to you through your reading?
• How do you see the prophet’s message intersect with God’s big gospel story of Paradise, Ruin, Reconciliation, & Consummation?
• What excites you about this book?
• Was there anything in this book that seemed new to you?
• What confused you about this prophet’s message?
• What did God say to you this week about yourself?
• What is God asking you to do in response to this week’s study?

These questions are all very general and open. As you work toward your goals, your questions may be more specific. What often happens, however, is that some of the questions you have prepared will be answered before you ask them. So be aware enough to skip as needed.

A quiet group or a group that is new to one another may not talk quite as readily. Allow them a time of silence to consider their answers before rewording it or sharing your own answer. The Holy Spirit will lead you.

We love your questions or feedback. Contact me at [email protected].

For additional help go to beyondordinarywomen.org at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/leading-small-groups/ and watch our free short 5 - 10 minute training videos for small group leaders.

I know how it feels to be a leader with little experience and no training. I learned by trial and error—mostly error. That is why I have spent so much time preparing training for leaders. BOW wants to help you with your role as a small group leader if you feel inadequate or just want more training. I never quit learning as a leader.

Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries Resources

(beyondordinarywomen.org)

Free training videos & articles

At BOW we plan to continually add to our articles and video training library. So rather than provide a specific list, I encourage you to look over our resources for leading small groups at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/leading-small-groups/ and watch some of our free video training for your area of need. You can also browse our blog at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/blog-standard/ by topic to find posts of interest.

If you will have a live teacher who wants help with preparing and teaching, go to our videos for teachers at https://beyondordinarywomen.org/bible-teaching/.

Monthly newsletters

Our monthly newsletter will connect you to our latest articles and provide an encouraging message for you as a leader. Just sign up at the bottom of our home page at beyondordinarywomen.org or email me at [email protected].

Personal contact

We are always happy to answer your questions, so contact me at [email protected] to set up a time to talk.

Words to Anchor your Soul

You are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.

Jonah, speaking of God in Jonah 4:2b (NET)

How familiar are you with anchors? I grew up near the Texas Gulf coast and spent many hours there with my friends riding the waves in inner tubes or on floats. We generally paddled out past the breakers and floated back until we got caught in them; then, we pushed back out and started over. Eventually we found ourselves far from “home,” the area of beach where we began and where all our stuff was. I remember one scary day when a strong storm blew in, pushing us far out and way down the beach very quickly and violently.

The only way to prevent items from floating away with the current is to be attached to the ocean floor by an anchor.

Picture your soul anchored well so that you don’t drift away from God—either slowly by simply letting culture carry you away or quickly because of a brewing storm. Although God’s prophets wrote their messages thousands of years ago, they still speak to us today, warning us when we have drifted from God and calling us back home. Often we are unaware of how far from home we’ve gone.

I’ve personally floated away from God by drifting slowly as well as quickly in a violent personal storm. If God had not hung onto me by his Spirit and the truth of his Word, I would still be adrift today. Even now danger looms if I let go of the anchor and listen to other voices.

As you study the Old Testament, keep in mind that God is the same God he has always been. Although the original audience had a different culture, we can apply the message to today.

Part One Study: Background and Context

To understand the Bible, context is crucial. This section provides background to help you understand what you’ll be reading and journaling about. (If you aren’t familiar with journaling or if that sounds hard, read “Journaling 101” in the Appendix.)

ONE STORY

Let’s start by putting the prophetic books into the context of the entire Bible.

The Bible is one big story that connects many shorter stories and other writings. (If you have never studied God’s big story, you may want to download our journaling study The ONE Story at https://beyondordinarywomen.org/the-one-story/ which puts the whole Bible in context—a must to understand it.)

I grew up in a Christian home and a Bible-teaching church. I knew all the major Bible stories and understood that Jesus died for me and loves me. But somehow I never grasped the ONE story behind them that brings all the stories together. So to help those of you who have never really studied the big picture of the Bible, here is a quick summary of the parts of the One Story.

Before people rebelled against the God who made and loved them, creation was perfect. It was a time we call Paradise. The first people lived in harmony and unity without sin, disease, or death in perfect relationships with God and one another. But Paradise didn’t last because they rebelled against the God who made and loved them, marring all their descendants and even all creation. Ruin ensued and is characterized by the hatred, disease, and broken relationships we all experience because we align ourselves with other “gods” instead of the Creator, just as our ancestors did. Although creation has been marred, glimpses of what used to be remains because we are all still made in God’s image although it is now distorted.

Since the Ruin, God has been at work to heal broken lives and relationships by realigning people with himself and his great purposes. Although he constantly seeks the best for people, we go our own way instead of loving God—the core issue in the dysfunction of sin.

The meta-narrative (big story) of the Bible tells us that some time after the Ruin occurred, God reached out to Abraham and his descendants, known as the children of Israel and later called Jews. He designated them as his representatives to the world and the people through whom he would send his ultimate agent of restoration. God blessed the Jews with special revelation so that they could know and worship him and experience right relationships with one another. Despite this honor, God’s chosen people rebelled against him over and over, unwilling to worship him alone. But God’s love is persistent, and he continued reaching out to them through the Old Testament prophets. These people who spoke for God provided encouragement to persevere, warning of God’s judgment, and promises of the future King or Messiah.

Eventually the Promised One came to earth as the man Jesus, one with God the Father and the Spirit, and brought Reconciliation between God and mankind by his own death and resurrection. He heals those who follow him from their brokenness with God and gives them power to restore their relationships with one another. His death made the way for all people who align their lives with him to be restored to God’s original purpose. When Jesus left earth and returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to empower and lead the church, which is comprised of all who believe.

Although Reconciliation between humans and God has been made possible, the effects of the Ruin linger. Those who believe in who Jesus is and what he has done for us are now to exhibit a taste of what his kingdom is like to the world around us. This period of time is often called the Already but Not Yet because we enjoy many of the blessings of God’s kingdom, but not its fulness. His kingdom is our real home, and we are aliens in this world. Our loyalty to God alone brings unity among his people.

Thankfully, the story gets even better. Someday Jesus will return and institute a new and perfect world according to all the promises the prophets have spoken. God will fix all that is ruined by sin and recreate paradise. We call this Restoration.

The Minor Prophets

This study’s focus is the books called the Minor Prophets.¹ They record the messages of people who spoke for God, known as prophets, as they preached to a world in Ruin in the centuries before Jesus came. Their writing brought God’s people hope of Messiah and a coming Restoration.

All of these prophets lived in the centuries after the Jewish nation was divided into two parts and before Jesus’s birth: Israel in the north (ten tribes) and Judah in the south (two tribes).

Although their messages were initially for a particular people at a specific time long ago, the underlying principles apply to the present time between Reconciliation and the final Restoration, the time of the Already but Not Yet.

We will move somewhat chronologically through the Minor Prophets. The dating comes from clues within the books or educated guesses by scholars. (See the chart “History of Old Testament Israel” in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets.”) After studying Jonah, we will work our way through three periods of prophetic messages: the time preceding the Assyrian Exile of the ten tribes called Israel, the period of Babylonian power and exile of the southern two tribes, and the era after the Jews returned from their Babylonian captivity.

With each book of prophecy, I’ve added an icon/image representing its message.

The Story of Jonah

Although its date isn’t precise. Jonah’s book is likely the earliest of those that we’ll study. He prophesied in the 8th Century B.C. during the reign of King Jeroboam II, who ruled from 793-753 B.C.² Jonah is very different from the other Minor Prophets. Instead of recording Jonah’s message, it provides a biographical story of the prophet himself. It won’t take you long to figure out why I’ve chosen an image of a backpack for Jonah.

There has been much controversy about the book’s historicity. Many scholars insist that these events are impossible and interpret it as a parable or allegory. Others insist upon a literal meaning, partly in response to those who criticize it on the basis of human reason. Jonah’s literature is similar to the narratives about Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings which are called “prophetic narrative.”

Dr. Robert B. Chisholm, Jr. of Dallas Seminary comments:

Unlike the exodus and the resurrection of Jesus, the historicity of the Book of Jonah is not foundational to redemptive history and the biblical faith. Unfortunately, the debate over the book’s historicity has often distracted interpreters from focusing on its theological message, which is not affected by how one understands the book’s literary genre. Whether the book is labeled historical narrative, legend, parable, or something akin to a historical novella, its themes seem apparent.³

In other words, don’t let your perspective of its historicity prevent you from believing its message. Jesus used stories to teach, and perhaps that is what Jonah did, but God is perfectly capable of bringing these events to pass literally.

Read more background in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets”.

*** Search in your Bible for introductory material to the prophets, or use commentaries or resources to discover more about the prophetic books or Jonah specifically.

Journal about this section’s reading, recording your questions or thoughts.

Part Two Study

Now that we have a sense of the historical context for the Minor Prophets and Jonah in particular, let’s dive in. Because it’s Jonah’s story rather than a message from God, it’s a lot easier to understand, and yet, it contains deep truths and timeless principles.

One more background detail that may help you with the story: Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the nation that would eventually conquer Israel, the northern kingdom. At this time the Assyrians were still gaining power and were not yet a direct threat to God’s people.

Read Jonah 1-2, or since it’s a short story, you may want to read it all at once.

*** Read Hebrews 12:5-13 and journal about its relationship to Jonah’s story.

Journal your responses to these questions:

• In what way do you identify with Jonah’s response to God’s instructing him to go to Nineveh?
• How do you see God’s sovereignty (his rule) over all things in Jonah’s story so far?
• What do you learn about God’s worldview that Jonah didn’t embrace?
• What is God saying to you from this story?

Part Three Study

Begin by asking God to speak. Then review what you’ve already read of Jonah’s story.

Read Jonah 3-4.

*** Tim Keller says that Jonah’s story parallels that of the Prodigal Son in that Jonah is the prodigal in chapters 1 and 2 and the elder brother in 3 and 4.⁴ Journal your insights.

Journal your thoughts on these topics:

• The Ninevites’ response to Jonah’s message.
• Compare Jonah’s sources of anger and happiness in Chapter 4 and what they reveal about you.
• Ask God to reveal if you have hardened your heart against showing mercy in any way—personally, nationally, or judicially to any people groups. (A few ideas: wealthy, poor, immigrant, uneducated, highly educated, intelligent, unintelligent, Democrat, Republican, Black, White, Asian, etc.) Confess that sin before God and your group.

Jan’s Story

Years ago while I was living in New York, my pastor called me into his office, along with his assistant pastor. He said that the Bible teacher at the Presbyterian Old People’s Home on Long Island was moving away and they needed someone to take her place. Both of them had prayed and God told them I was to be the new teacher. I said that was impossible because I was just learning the Bible, I didn’t have the gift of teaching, and I’d never been around old people as all of my grandparents had died while I was a baby. They told me to go home and pray about it for a week before giving them my answer. I went home and once again fell to my knees sobbing to God about this impossible situation and as I was praying, God changed my heart and gave me a desire to teach this class.

Our four children were all in grammar school, so I drove out there for my first class and told them that I felt like Moses when God told him to lead His people out of Egypt. I told them that I was just learning myself and would have to use the Living Bible. One of the women raised her hand and said that was fine with them. She said that I had a loud, clear voice and that’s what was most important to them. Every Friday, God kept my children healthy for the next three years while I taught. Then my husband was transferred to Houston and on my final day, they gave me a farewell party. Once again I cried all the way home because I would miss all of these grandparents whom God had given to me.