This document provides an overview of the major prophets in the Old Testament, including Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah. It summarizes their key messages and stories. For example, it describes how Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest to prove whose god can produce rain, and how fire from heaven consumes Elijah's sacrifice. It also summarizes Isaiah's powerful vision in the temple that calls him to be a prophet, and his prophecies about a future ideal king who will usher in an era of peace.

1. The Prophets By: Sara McMenamin, Tracy McGuire, Sam Marino, NicoArechabala, Jason Bruce, and Stephen Wildemann

2. Two Kingdoms: Israel and Judah Following the death of Solomon, the people of the south accept his son, Rehobam, as their king. All of Israel is divided into two kingdoms- Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Jeroboam is declared king in the north.

3. The Wicked Kings of the North A string of violent deaths follows the reign of Jeroboam. The sixth king, Omri, builds the city of Samaria King Omri is succeeded by his son Ahab. Ahab marries the Phoenician princess, Jezebel, they become the villains in the stories about the prophets Elijah and Elisha.

4. A Strategic Marriage Such marriages between royalty of two nations were common ways of building protective alliances against hostile empires. Ahab’s marriage gained for Israel the military strength of Phoenicia.

5. Elijah and Elisha The purpose of the stories in the books of kings about Elijah and Elisha was to show that when God spoke through the prophets, he expected Israel to listen. They prophesied from the reigns of the kings of Israel from Aham to Joash- about 874 to 796 B.C.

6. Elijah nourished by a starving widow God sends Elijah to tell King Ahab that he will be punished by a terrible drought. Elijah is then sent to hide by a stream, where ravens will feed him. When the stream goes dry he is sent to the village of Zarephath in Sidon where a widow will care for him. Elijah sees the woman and asks her for water and a crust of bread. He promises her God will provide for her if she shares with him. She does and her jug of flour and jug of oil are never empty.

8. The prophet goes on a dangerous errand, entrusts his survival to ravens, and asks a starving woman for her last bit of bread.

9. The woman hears the word of God and obeys.

10. Jesus told his own people in Nazareth that the pagan widow of Zarephath had more faith and heard the prophets more clearly than they did; they confirmed this by trying to push Jesus off a cliff.

12. When Ahab blames Elijah for the drought, Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest to see whose god can produce rain. The prophets call to Baal in vain.

13. Elijah taunts them to call louder - perhaps Baal is meditating, napping, or on a journey. The prophets slash themselves in an ecstatic frenzy, but no rain.

15. The unfaithful people fall to the ground and worship the God of Israel. Then Elijah has the prophets of Baal killed.

17. He takes shelter in a cave and God asks why he has come. Elijah tells Him that there is no point in going on because all of Israel but he has abandoned God.

18. God bids Elijah to stand outside the cave and experience his presence and first he hears a powerful wind, then he feels an earthquake, then he sees a fire, but God is not in them.

21. When Ahab sulks to Jezebel about his refusal, she arranges for Naboth to be killed by getting false witnesses to testify against him.

22. Naboth is killed, and Ahab gets the vineyard.

23. God sends Elijah to curse Ahab. Elijah tells the king that as dogs licked the blood of Naboth, they will lick Ahab’s blood and devour Jezebel. Elijah also predicts that Ahab’s line will disappear.

25. Suddenly, a flaming chariot with fiery horses comes between the two, and Elijah disappears in a whirlwind; for three days a community of prophets search for Elijah but fail to find him.

27. Elisha purifies Jericho’s water supply, which has been causing death and miscarriages and he helps a widow avoid selling her children to pay her debts.

28. He blesses a childless couple, and they beget a son. Later he raises this child form the dead. He purifies poisoned stew and multiplies loaves of bread to make enough for a hundred people.

30. He condemns the people’s unjust, exploitative actions toward the poor and weak, and tells them God will punish them for this.

32. Way of Worship In Amos’s prophesy, God condemns not formal worship, but empty worship, in which rituals of praise and sacrifice are not backed up with just actions toward others. False worship is a problem in modern times. Before civil rights laws, discrimination existed in many Christian Churches in the United States. (African Americans were not welcomed.) This discrimination still exists in some churches today.

34. He had a vision of locust eating crops, Israel is so helpless. He sees fire ravage the land during a drought, Israel is being destroyed by people’s sins. He sees the Israel is about to collapse.

35. God won’t help because Israel has chosen evil.

37. During the periods, Hosea appears> he is involved in a terrible marriage. His wife Gomer has deserted him for other lovers.

38. When Hosea speaks of himself and Gomer, he’s telling Israel a parable of its own betrayal of God.

39. He first three chapters of Hosea deliver his messages.

40. The other eleven chapters are fragments of oracles condemning Israel's sins.

41. The book start where God commands Hosea to take an unfaithful wife. Hosea and Gomer have three kids> God tells him to give them strange names.

43. Hosea started fantasizing about Gomer after they broke up.

44. God and Israel reunited. God promises to make up for every deprivation Israel had suffered. Every good gift will be restored.

46. To God, “Infidelity” in Israel's behavior means betrayal of justice, compassion, integrity or true worship.

47. Gomer could have been sentenced to death for her infidelity. Instead Hosea wanted to punish her for a while.

49. Palace revolutions, assassinations of kings, and worship of Baal continue to weaken the nation. Israel turns more and more to making deals with foreign powers for security in a hostile world rather than trusting in God.

50. But the overwhelming might of Assyrians- the fiercest, most brutal empire of the ancient Near East- makes it impossible for Israel to be secure.

53. The Jews disliked them because they ere descendents of the Israelites, who remains in the north after Samaria's collapse.

55. Book of Isaiah: A Work of Three Eras Isaiah is only mentioned in thirty-nine of the sixty-six chapters in his book, and only twelve of them were written by him. The Book of Isaiah is the longest and most influential prophetic book, covering between 200 to 250 years, and written by a number of authors. It is about infidelity, suffering, repentance, condemnation, consolation, threats, promises, and comfort. It is told in oracles and poetry. There were three main Isaiahs that wrote the book of Isaiah.

56. The Three Isaiahs First Isaiah (Isaiah of Jerusalem): Pleaded with Judah’s Kings and People before the Babylonian Exile (chapters 1-39) Second Isaiah: Spoke during and at the end of the exile (chapters 40-45) Third Isaiah: Was with the people when they returned form the exile (chapters 56-66) The entire collection was named after Isaiah of Jerusalem because he was the first and most important contributor; the other Isaiahs were disciples who shared his vision and passion.

57. First Isaiah: Isaiah of Jerusalem He was probably young when the prophet Amos was preaching in Israel, and lived during the reigns of the four kings of Judah. He was married and had at least two sons. His Hebrew, the best in the prophetic writings, suggests a high-placed, well-educated family background. The Book of Isaiah does not go in chronological order; the first five chapters get right to the message of Isaiah: a savage condemnation of Judah and Jerusalem for infidelity and corruption.

58. God’s Majesty and Goodness Characteristic of Isaiah’s message is his insistence on the majesty and glory of God. He calls God the one to whom all nations and creatures owe existence, and therefore, obedience and honor. Seeing Judah and Jerusalem ignore God’s majesty and goodness is the cause of his rage.

59. A Punishment of Judah’s Own Making Isaiah describes the coming fall of Judah and Jerusalem and the people’s deportation to foreign lands. Hero, warrior, judge, prophet, elder, captain, nobleman, counselor - all will be taken. Only the poor and weak will be left in the land. Judah and Jerusalem have brought evil on themselves (Isaiah 3:9). Wresting loot form the poor, grinding down the helpless; their punishment is their own doing.

60. Isaiah’s Vision and Response: “Here Am I; Send Me!” In the Temple, Isaiah has a shattering experience of the Allholy One. He sees God enthroned, surrounded by chanting angels, with the divine presence filling the Temple. Overwhelmed by his own sinfulness, Isaiah fears that he will die because he has seen God. An Angel descends and with tongs picks up a live coal from the altar. The angel purifies him of sinfulness.

61. Isaiah’s Vision and Response (continued) A voice cries out, “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah replies, “Here am I; send me!” God tells Isaiah to make the hearts of the people sluggish – dull their ears and close their eyes to the message of God. Isaiah asks how long it will continue and is told that it will be until exile.

62. A Child Will Be Born: “God Is With Us” God tells Isaiah to find Judah’s young king Ahaz outside of Jerusalem, where he is preparing for a siege by Syria and Israel. Isaiah tells Ahaz that faith in God, not elaborate preparations, will overcome these enemies, and bids him to ask God for a sign. The young king refuses to ask because he has already abandoned God. Isaiah becomes angry and replies that Ahaz will get a sign: a virgin that will bear a son named Immanuel.

63. A Child Will Be Born (continued) Another of Isaiah’s prophecies tells of a child that will come with the titles that belong only to the greatest of all kings, one who will rule forever. Isaiah also says that from the stump of Jesse will come a child that will lead the people to a time of peace never before experienced, symbolized by the contented friendship of traditional enemies of the animal kingdom, such as the wolf and the lamb or the calf and the lion.

64. The Future King Isaiah’s oracle about the birth of Immanuel has been interpreted as a passage of the coming messiah. However the belief in a messiah seemed to refer to the future birth of a Davidic Prince who would rule Judah in an age of peace. Christians have always believed that Isaiah’s longing for the ideal king was accomplished in Jesus Christ

65. Jerusalem is Saved from Assyria Assyria comes at Ahaz’s invitation and seizes Israel and Syria, Judah’s enemies Ahaz now must become a vassal to the Assyrian King in return for protection. Fortunately Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, is faithful to God. As king of Judah he destroys pagan shrines and insists that sacrifices only be made in the Jerusalem Temple. Hezekiah plans to revolt against Assyria, but Isaiah advises him not to because it would be foolish to attack such a monstrous empire!

66. Jerusalem is Saved from Assyria A few years later, the Assyrians have captured some of Judah’s northern towns and are camped outside Jerusalem. Hezekiah turns to Isaiah in this dark moment and prays to God for help. Isaiah then insures the king that the town WILL be saved. That night the Angel of the Lord strikes the soldiers in their camps and thousands of Assyrians are found dead the next morning.

68. Micah in the South (continued) Micah for sees that a descendant of David will rise up and lead Israel into a reign of peace and Justice “He shall be great to ends of earth and shall be the one of peace” Also predicted that Messiah will be born in Bethlehem and is of the line of King David Micah says god requires a sincerity of human heart, shown in Justice, kindness, and humility

69. Is Anybody Listening?? Prophets warnings were not heeded by rulers Prophets ideas passed on by exiled Many of religious movements are inspired by prophets ideas