Congratulations! This is our final week in the OLD TESTAMENT. We are still in act 2, scene 9, which is set in the period after the Israelites returned from exile in Babylon. This week watch for at least four key themes:

1. God honoring leadership

2. Return to covenant faithfulness

3. Religious identity

4. God's sovereign care for His people

New Scene! Scene 9: In this scene the world’s superpowers shift again. The Persians rise and grant the Israelite captives permission to return home. Ezra and Nehemiah become great leaders. No Davidic king reigns, but the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi speak for God. The second temple is built. Jerusalem gets new walls. God’s people (now called Jews) resolve to live by His laws. Esther acts bravely, keeping the Jews from extinction. World history will unfold as Daniel prophesied: Persia will fall to the Greeks; the Greeks will give way to Rome. Act 2 ends with us longing for the curtain to rise on the next scene.

Daniel: Prophet Profile

· 605 B.C. – 535 B.C, Daniel’s life and ministry bridge most of the 70-year period of Babylonian captivity.

· Daniel was a young man is born into a noble Judean family and then is carried off in exile at age 16 to serve the Babylonian Empire in their program of assimilating the best and brightest of their vassal states. Daniel serves the remainder of his life in exile.

· Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel who mentioned him three times (9:23, 10:11,19) as an example of righteousness. While Ezekiel emphasizes the nation’s religious restoration, Daniel concentrates on its political restoration.

· Daniel’s name means “God is my judge.”

· He is one of the few well-known biblical characters about whom nothing negative is recorded. His life was characterized by faith, prayer, courage, consistency, and lack of compromise. Jesus calls Daniel a prophet (Matt. 24:15).

Ezekiel: Prophet Profile

· Prophets are given by God the ability to see through things: such as time, space, and…pretense. These words are certainly true for Zeke.

· The name Ezekiel (Yehezke’l) means “STRENGTHENED by God.”

· Like Jeremiah, Ezekiel was a priest who became a prophet during some of Judah’s darkest days. He was privileged to receive visions of the power and plan of God and he was careful and artistic in his written presentation. His wife died as a sign to Judah when the final siege on Jerusalem began (24:16-24).

· Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in the second deportation from Jerusalem in 597 B.C. He received his first vision five years later. Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry spanned about 25 years, from approximately 592-570 B.C. He died in 560 B.C.

· Ezekiel preached and wrote to the exiles in Babylon, compared with Jeremiah who remained in Jerusalem. Ezekiel’s Babylonian home was Tel Abib, the colony/refugee settlement of the Jewish people in Babylon along the Chebar River, also known as the “Grand Canal.”

· Like most of the prophets, Ezekiel’s two-fold message was condemnation (ch. 1-32) and consolation (ch. 33-48), horror and hope. Ezekiel reveals the sins which were the cause of God’s judgment and exposed the foolishness of false hopes. Ezekiel places a strong emphasis on the sovereignty, glory and faithfulness of God.

EZEKIEL

· Ezekiel is primarily prophecy combined with elements of poetry and apocalyptic writing.

· “Ezekiel is a book of methodical style, careful dating, and diligent organization. But this exciting framework houses an unsurpassed depth of mystery and richness and vibrant imagery, symbolism, parables, allegories, and apocalyptic visions.” - Wilkinson and Boa

· God has a message for the exiles in Babylon: Israel deserved judgment because God is just. But God does not abandon his people so there is hope for the future, because God is loving. The key vision of Ezekiel is found in the “Valley of Dry Bones” story in ch. 37 and the key verse is found in 6:10: “They shall know that I am the LORD.”

Jeremiah: Prophet Profile

· The son of Hilkiah the priest from a village about 2 miles north of Jerusalem (Anathoth)

· His name means “Yahweh throws” in the sense of laying a foundation. It can also mean “Yahweh establishes, appoints, or sends.”

· His ministry started around 627 under King Josiah and stretched to about 580 B.C.

· Three Stages to His Ministry:

o 627-605 B.C. – He prophesied while Judah was threatened by Assyria and Egypt

o 605-586 B.C. – He proclaimed God’s judgment while Judah was threatened and besieged by Babylon

o 586-580 B.C. – He ministered in Jerusalem and Egypt after Judah’s downfall

· He was a contemporary of Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel and Ezekiel.

· His nickname is the “weeping prophet” (9:1) because he often bathed his harsh prophecies in tears of compassion. Jeremiah’s life was difficult: he wasn’t allowed to marry, he faced opposition from his hometown, beatings, punishment in stocks, isolation and imprisonment. He preached forty years without a single “convert.”

· He had a secretary, Baruch, who did most of the writing of Jeremiah’s words. When King burned his scroll, he wrote it out all over again as God instructed.

· “His broken heart caused him to write a broken book, which is difficult to arrange chronologically or topically. But through his sermons and signs he faithfully declares that surrender to God’s will is the only way to escape calamity.” – Wilkinson and Boa, 198

· God’s People are now divided, and the Northern Kingdom (usually called “Israel” has been conquered by the Assyrians. The Southern Kingdom “Judah” (also Jerusalem) is struggling with faithfulness as the Assyrians fade and Babylonians rise in power.

· God raises up prophets to indict and convict the people for breaking both the covenant as well as His commands. The Ten Commandments are organized into two “tables.” The first table deals with right relationship with God. Sadly, the Israelites often falter here and worship many idols. The second table emphasizes right relationships with others, because justice, integrity, and truth matter to God. The people typically fail at these too. God appoints prophets to challenge the religious and political leaders. This makes them unpopular figures in their own day and age.

· These prophets are usually categorized into “major” and “minor.” This does not have to do with their importance or reliability, but rather their length.

· The prophets are some of the of the most misunderstood and overlooked books of the Bible. The prophets aren’t just epic rants from angry old men; they are urgent messages from a broken-hearted God to His people calling them to return home.

· As the world struggles to emerge from a global pandemic in confusion and fear about the future, we need to remember that responding to God’s Word leads to revival and renewal among God’s people, both then and now. God is speaking. Are we listening?

Introduction: “Descendants of David continue to reign in Jerusalem. Judah struggles to retain independence amid the swirling change of political superpowers. Two kings stand tall for the Lord: Hezekiah and Josiah. Many others fall into idolatry. Mighty Assyria crumples before resurgent Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar enters the world stage and attacks Judah. During this scene God’s prophets continue the dire warnings of their predecessors. Isaiah and Jeremiah are the best known. They also foretell events both near and remote. Isaiah’s word about the Suffering Servant and Jeremiah’s prophecy of a new covenant wait to be fulfilled in the first coming of the messianic King, recounted early in Act 3.“

- Guthrie, George H.. Reading God's Story

Introduction:

· God’s People are now divided: The Northern Kingdom is usually called “Israel” (also Samaria or Ephraim) and the Southern Kingdom “Judah” (also Jerusalem). Israel has no “good” kings. Judah has only a few.

· God raises up prophets to indict and convict the people for breaking both the covenant as well as His commands. The Ten Commandments are organized into two “tables.” The first table deals with right relationship with God. Sadly, the Israelites often falter here and worship many idols. The second table emphasizes right relationships with others, because justice, integrity, and truth matter to God. The people typically fail at these too. God appoints prophets to challenge the religious and political leaders. This makes them unpopular figures in their own day and age.

· These prophets are usually categorized into “major” and “minor.” This does not have to do with their importance or reliability, but rather their length.

· The prophets are some of the of the most misunderstood and overlooked books of the Bible. The prophets aren’t just epic rants from angry old men; they are urgent messages from a broken-hearted God to His people calling them to return home.

As the world struggles to emerge from a global pandemic in confusion and fear about the future, we need to remember that responding to God’s Word leads to revival and renewal among God’s people, both then and now. God is speaking. Are we listening?

The Ten Commandments are organized into two “tables.” The first table deals with right relationship with God. Sadly, the Israelites often falter here and worship many idols. The second table emphasizes right relationships with others, because justice, integrity, and truth matter to God. The people typically fail at these too. In this extended scene, God responds. He divides Israel, diminishing the power of the remaining kingdoms. Then He sends Assyria to destroy the northern kingdom. Furthermore, He appoints prophets to challenge the religious and political leaders. Read Amos, Hosea and Micah with an ear for how they address God’s concerns for both tables of the Law.

Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes