Jensens survey of the old testament adam 187

Seventeen books of prophecy are in our
English Bible. These were written by sixteen
di erent prophets, if Jeremiah wrote
Lamentations as well as the book bearing his
name. The books are classi ed as either
“major” or “minor,” the classi cation
assigned primarily for their relative length.
The prophecies were written over a period
of more than four centuries, from about 840
B.C. (Obadiah) to 420 B.C. (Malachi). Below
are the names of the writers, listed in the
order of their books appearing in the Old
Testament canon.

Why the seventeen prophetic books were
placed at the end of the Old Testament
Scriptures is not known. George Adam Smith


says that perhaps “it was held tting that
prophecy should occupy the last outposts of
the Old Testament towards the New.”1
1. George Adam Smith, The book of the twelve,
1:3.


20
Isaiah: The Glorious Throne of
Jehovah the Holy One

Of all the writing prophets, Isaiah is justly

accounted the greatest. His prophecy is one
of the longest, is quoted more frequently
than any other in the New Testament, and
he more often than any other prophet tells
of the coming Messiah. Isaiah prophesied for
about fty years (see Chart 80) during very
critical times of both kingdoms, Israel and
Judah. He was greatly responsible for the
sweeping reforms introduced by Hezekiah,
who was one of Judah’s righteous kings.
Merrill Unger says this of Isaiah: “Isaiah …
is the great messianic prophet and prince of
OT seers. For splendor of diction, brilliance
of imagery, versatility and beauty of style,


profundity and breadth of prophetic vision,
he is without peer.”2
I. THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS
Without question the ministry of the
prophet, along with that of priest, judge,
and king, was crucial in the life of the Jews
in Old Testament times. The word
“prophet,” in its various forms, appears over
six hundred sixty times in the Bible, twothirds of which are in the Old Testament.
One cannot spend too much time studying
the prophetic books.
Since this is the opening chapter of the
section on the prophets, attention should
rst be xed on the general subject of Old

Testament prophecy.
A. THE AUDIENCE OF THE PROPHETS

Most messages of the Old Testament
prophetic books were addressed to the