Handout # 2 Part 1 (Sept. 17 & 19, 2018) - Salvation History by: Fr. Bernard D.

Pascual, EHM

THE PROPHETS
In the Old Testament, the Prophets were men who received a special
calling from God to deliver His message to His people.

In the Hebrew concept, the prohets were the “Nabi” whicg means, “one
who has been to be a spokesperson” on behalf of God. In short, a prophet is
one who speaks on behalf of God. He is conscious and mindful that the
message he is going to deliver to the people is not his own, but God do and
inspired by Him. The prophet affirms this when he begins his prophesy with this
phrase. “Thus says the Lord.....” or “... Hear for the Lord speaks...” (Isaiah 1:2) or
“... the Lord came to me thus ...” (Jeremiah 1:4)

God make use of the prophets’ background and style to express His own
message. He respects the individuality of the person.

Roles of the Prophets

Since they received a special gift and calling from God, the prophets
could prohesy the past, present and future events concerning the life of God’s
people. they generally appeared in Israel’s history when they turned away from
their God. These were some of the roles they had based on the Old Testament
prophetical books”

a. They were the interpreters and spokespersons of God to His people.

b. They were the conscience of God’s people.
c. They called the people to repent and encourage them to obey God’s
command.

Message of the Prophets

The prophets announced God’s word at all points of the people’s lives;
their relationships with God, as well as their social and political conditions.
Concerning their religous situation, the prophets concentrated on reorienting
the people to the basic “truths” about God which the people had forgotten or
had disregard because of others influence or because of their wickedness and
sins.
Kinds of Prophets

In general, prophets had the same roles except in performing their

respective tasks. There were two kinds of prophets. The first were the oral
prophets like Samuel, Nathan, Elijah and Elisha. They brought the message from
God to His people through word of mouth. Their message usually was given on a
specific crisis or situation in their life as a community.

The second type of prophets were the writing prophets. Their writings were
considered guided by the spirit of Yahweh. They were preserved in written form
and compiled in books under their names. These documents are now the books
of prophesy. There were sixteen writing prophets. Four of them are called “Major
prophets” and twelve of them are called “Minor prophets” the writings of the
Major Prophets have more recorded details than those of the Minor Prophets.

Distinctions/Classifications of the “Major & Minor” Prophets.

The ff. are their basic distinctions

Prophets: (Volumes of Work) (Function as Prophet)

WORK
MAJOR - their book has plenty of
chapters and long verses
- their book is thicker since they
have plenty of chapters and long
verses.
MINISTRY
-considered as “Full time prophet”
-they performed their ministries as
prophets from the time they were
called up to the end of their
ministry/life.

MINOR – their book has lesser chapters -considered as “Part-time prophet”

– their book is thinner since they
have lesser chapters and short verses.
-they performed their ministries as
prophets only and during the time they
were needed. After the task had been
performed, they returned to their usual
lives.
 T H E P R O P H E T S

EARLY PROPHETS LATER PROPHETS

1. Joshua 1. Major Prophets

2. Judges 2. Minor Prophets
3. 1 and 2 Samuel NON-WRITING PROPHETS/ORAL
4. 1 and 2 Kings 1. Samuel 3. Elijah
2. Nathan 4. Elisha

MAJOR PROPHETS MINOR PROPHETS

1. Isaiah 1. Hosea 7. Micah

2. Ezekiel 2. Joel 8. Nahum
3. Daniel 3. Amos 9. Habakkuk
4. Jeremiah 4. Obadiah 10. Zephaniah
- Lamentations 5. Jonah 11. Haggai
- Baruch 6. Malachi 12. Zechariah

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