BOOKS OF MAJOR AND

MINOR PROPHETS
MESSAGE OF EACH PROPHET, EXPRESSED IN ONE LINE
• Isaiah: God has a Remnant, and for it a Glorious Future.
• Social Message of the prophets
• Their denunciation of the political corruption, oppression and moral rottenness of the
nation. However, the thing that bothered the prophets most was the IDOLATRY of the
Nation.
• Predictive Element
• The most persistent thought in the entire Old Testament is this: Jehovah, the God of
the Hebrew nation, eventually is going to become the God of All Nations. The whole
Story of Christ and the Spread of Christianity over the earth is pictured beforehand, in
outline and in detail, in language that cannot refer to anything else in history.
• IT SEEMS THAT GOD WOULD RATHER HAVE AN INSTITUTION THAT STANDS
FOR THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE WORLD, EVEN THOUGH, EVEN THOUGH
THAT INSTITUTION BE SHOT THROUGH AND THROUGH WITH WICKEDNESS
AND CORRUPTION, THAN NOT TO HAVE ANY INSTITUTION AT ALL…
• FAILING TO SAVE THE UNHOLY HOLY CITY, THE PROPHETS LITERALLY GLOW
WITH DIVINE EXPLANATIONS AND ASSURANCES THAT THE COLLAPSE OF
GOD’S NATION DOES NOT MEAN THE END OF GOD’S PLANS; THAT, AFTER A
PERIOD OF PUNISHMENT, THERE WOULD BE A RESTORATION, AND FOR
GOD’S PEOPLE A GLORIOUS FUTURE.
 PROPHETS AND PLACE
• Isaiah South (Judah)

•Jeremiah South (Judah)

•Hosea North (Israel)

• Amos North (Israel)

• Micah South (Judah)

• Zephaniah South (Judah)

• Jonah Nineveh (Assyria)

• Obadiah Edom

•Nahum Nineveh (Assyria)

•Joel South (Judah)

•Habakkuk South (Judah)

•Lamentations South (Judah)

 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NATION WAS
ACCOMPLISHED IN TWO PERIODS.
a) The Northern Kingdom fell, 734-721 BC
• Preceding, and during, this period were: Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah

a) The Southern Kingdom fell 606-586 BC

• In this period were: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah

a) The Restoration of the Nation occurred 536-444 BC Connected with this were
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
•  
• Classified as to Message: addressed mainly as follows:
• To Israel: Amos, Hosea
• To Nineveh: Jonah, Nahum
• To Babylon: Daniel
• To Captives in Babylon: Ezekiel
• To Edom: Obadiah
• To Judah: Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
• After return from Babylon Captivity: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
• Prophets were not hereditary class. Each one got his call directly from
different vocations. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were priests; and perhaps also
Zechariah.
• Isaiah, Daniel and Zephaniah, were of royal blood;
• Amos was a shepherd.
• What the rest were is not known.
 MISSION AND MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS
1. To try to save the nation from its Idolatry and Wickedness.
2. Failing in this, to announce the nation will be destroyed.
3. But not completely destroyed. A Remnant will be saved.
4. Out of this remnant will come a Person who will bring All Nations to God.
5. That Person will be a Great Man who will one day arise in the family of David. The
Prophets called him “THE BRANCH.” The family tree of David, one the most powerful
family in the world, cut down, in the days of the Prophets, to rule a kingdom that was
disappearing, the family would have a comeback. Out of the family stock would come
a Branch who will become King of Kings.
THE WHOLE PERIOD OF THE PROPHETS ROUGHLY
COVERED ABOUT 400 YEARS (800-400 BC)
•  
• The five Major Prophets are called “major” not because of their message
or quality, but rather because of the length of the books. The prophets
brought God’s word which included warning of judgement, warnings and
hope for the immediate future (as well as warnings and hope for the
distant future and hope in the coming Messiah.
•  
 ISAIAH
• From a human point of view, he had a head start, having been born in a palace and
brought up in court. He was the grandson of King Joash and was therefore a cousin of
King Uzziah’s death. Isaiah had wealth, rank and education. This gave him some
advantages, but it also made it hard to be a prophet. His wife was a prophetess. He had
two sons. One of them was named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, which means ‘haste the
booty, speed the spoil”. Jerusalem itself would be looted by an enemy and all the
treasures would be taken. The other son was called Shear-Jashub, which means ‘a
remnant shall return’. So, the two sons’ names sum up the two focal messages of Isaiah.
• Isaiah’s prophetic ministry, spanning the reigns of four kings of Judah, covers at least
40yrs more 60 years (740-680 BC) 1:1. He began his ministry near the end of Uzziah’s
reign (790-739 BC) and continued through the reigns of Jotham (739-731 BC), Ahaz (731-
715 BC), and Hezekiah (715-686 BC).
HIS CALL
• The call of Isaiah gives us an unexpected reference to the Trinity. Isaiah was asked by God, ‘Whom
shall I send? And who will go for us?’ The plural ‘us’ indicates that the whole Godhead would be
sending him. ‘How long do I have to go on preaching and hardening them with no response?’ The
Lord’s reply came: ‘Until the land is utterly forsaken.’ But in his lifetime, he was failure. Nobody
listened’-they just got harder and harder for 40 years.
• Trinity in 6th Chapter
• Holy One of Israel occurs 50 times
• The Spirit of God
• The servant of God
• Who: Isaiah Yesha’yahu and its shortened form yeshaiah mean “Yahweh Is
Salvation”. This name is an excellent summary of the contents of the book.
The Greek form in the Septuagint is Hesaias, and the Latin form is Esaias
or Isaias.
THE CHRIST OF ISAIAH: ITS PRESENT FIVE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE
SAVING WORK OF CHRIST.

1) 52:13-15 – His wholehearted sacrifice (burnt offering);

2) 53:1-3 – His perfect character (meal offering)
3) 53:4-6 – He brought atonement that issues in peace with God (peace
offering);
4) 53:7-9 – He paid for the transgression of the people (sin offering);
5) 53:10-12 – He died for the effects of sin (trespass offering).
KEY VERSES: ISAIAH 9:6, 7 AND 53:6
• What: Prophecy and Judgement

• Where: Judah

• When: c. 701BC -681 BC

• Why: To convince the people that salvation was possible through repentance and hope in the
coming Messiah
• Outline (Chapter)
 Condemnation (1-39)
 Comfort in Exile (40-55)
 Future Hope (56-66)
• Key Verse: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
• Isaiah is like a miniature Bible. The first thirty-nine chapters (like the thirty-nine
books of the Old Testament) are filled with judgement upon immoral and
idolatrous men. Judah has sinned; the surrounding nations have sinned; the
whole earth has sinned. Judgment must come, for God cannot allow such blatant
sin to go unpunished forever. But the final Twenty-seven chapters (like the
twenty-seven books of the New Testament) declare a message of hope. The
Messiah is coming as a Savior and a Sovereign to bear a cross and to wear a crown.

• Talmudic tradition says his persecutors sawed him in two during the reign of
Manasseh (cf. Heb. 11:37)
NIV STUDY BIBLE
 PART I THE BOOK OF JUDGEMENT (CHS. 1-39)
1. Messages of Rebuke and Promise (chs.1-6)
2. Prophecies Occasioned by the Aramean and Israelite Threat against Judah (chs 7-
12)
3. Judgment against the Nations (chs.13-23) Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Aram and Israel,
Cush, Egypt and Cush, Babylon, Dumah (Edom), Arabia, the Valley of Vision
(Jerusalem), Tyre.
4. Judgment and Promise (the Lord’s Kingdom) (chs. 24-27)
5. Six Woes: Five on the Unfaithful in Israel and One on Assyria (chs.28-33)
6. More Prophecies of Judgment and Promise (chs.34-35)
7. A Historical Transition from the Assyrian Threat to the Babylonian Exile (chs.36-39)
PART II THE BOOK OF COMFORT (CHS.40-66)

1. The Deliverance and Restoration of Israel (chs. 40-48)

2. The Servant’s Ministry and Israel’s Restoration (chs.49-57)
3. Everlasting Deliverance and Everlasting Judgment (chs.58-66)
 LESSON:
1. Like Judah God has chosen us. He kept his temple in Jerusalem. The
same way God has put his temple in us. When people sinned God got
angry. The same way when we commit sin it displeases God. He warns
us through His word, through the people who minister unto him. He
expects us to repent and return. When we fail he chastens us. When we
humble ourselves and accept God's correction, we start to experience the
life of eternity from here onwards. There are many things, glorious things
waiting for us in eternal future. Let us have the hope and move as Isaiah
prophesied.
 LESSON:

• Isaiah didn't have the right to name his two sons. Even his desires to
name them was denied. The same way when we serve God, even the
legitimate rights may be denied by God. We have to sacrifice as
Isaiah, he named his sons after his ministry. The same way not only
the name of our children but our whole life will be used by God for
His ministry, for that we have to surrender completely ourselves in
His hands. Are we ready to be used freely by God