Link back to index.html

     How Best to Read or Listen to The Prophets

A) The Split in the Jewish Nation

     The split in the Jewish Nation began after the reign of King Solomon. Solomon broke his relationship with the Lord when he worshipped other gods. The Nation was split into 2 parts. One in the North, known as Israel, consisted of 10 tribes. While the other in the South, known as Judah, consisted of 2 tribes.

     The history of the Jewish Nation can be divided into 3 Parts namely the Pre-Exile stage, the Exile stage, and the Post-Exile stage.

1)              First stage of the Jewish Nation---The Pre-Exile (Disruption, Dispersion and Deportation)

• All 20 kings of Israel were wicked and they run away and departed from the Lord. They served other gods and turned to idolatry.
• 14 kings of Judah were wicked and worshipped other gods, while 5 kings were good and they worshipped the Lord.
• There were 57 years of civil wars with the North, Israel attacking the South, Judah. (Recorded in Kings 1&2 and Chronicles 1&2)
• Then, there were 3 invasions (Assyria, Babylon, Cyrus of Persia)

2) Second stage of the Jewish Nation---The Exile (Captivity)

·         Israel was invaded by Assyria around 740 B.C.

·         Judah was invaded by Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

·         The whole Jewish Nation was sent into exile in Babylon for 70 years

·         After that, Persia conquered Babylon around 539 B.C and the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great  passed a decree that the Jews can return to Jerusalem.

·         Over 3,000,000 Jews chose to remain in exile, with only some 50,000 Jews, mainly priests returned to Jerusalem to build the Temple in the first migration back.

3) Third stage of the Jewish Nation---The Post-Exile (The Remnants)

• Zerubbabel led the 50,000 Jews back to Jerusalem to build the Temple. After the foundation of the Temple was built in 535 B.C, they had to wait for another 15 years before they start to build the superstructure, which was completed in 516 B.C.
• The second return of the Jews was led by Ezra in 460 B.C. Some 2,000 Jews back to Jerusalem. Ezra went back to be their priest.
• The third return of the Jews was led by Nehemiah. A few thousands went back to Jerusalem to build the walls for the city around 440 B.C.

B) The Prophets

The books of the prophets in the Bible can best be read in 3 parts:

I) First Part---Pre-Exilic Prophets

1) Hosea      Minor Prophet

2) Joel       Minor Prophet

3) Amos       Minor Prophet

4) Jonah      Minor Prophet

5) Micah      Minor Prophet

6) Nahum      Minor Prophet

7) Habakkuk   Minor Prophet

8) Zephaniah  Minor Prophet

9) Isaiah     Major Prophet

10) Jeremiah  Major Prophet

     All the above prophets kept telling the Jews to repent and return to worship the Lord. Unless they take heed of the prophets warning they will be exiled.

II)         Second Part---Exilic Prophets

1)     Ezekiel     Major Prophet

2)     Daniel      Major Prophet

3)     Obadiah     Minor Prophet

  III) Third Part---Post-Exilic Prophets

1)     Haggai      Minor Prophet

2)     Zechariah   Minor Prophet

3)     Malachi     Minor Prophet (The last book in the Old Testament, around 440 B.C.)

 Plus 3 Post-Exilic Historical Books

1)     Ezra

2)     Nehemiah

3)     Esther

The books of Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezra and Nehemiah were written for the Remnants of the some 60,000 Jews that retuned to Jerusalem, after their exile in Babylon.

While the book of Esther was written about the 3,000,000 Jews that chose to remain in exile in Babylon.

C) Timeline of Jewish History during the Biblical Period

     According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, the timeline of Jewish History during the Biblical period are:

King Saul                        1047 B.C to 1007 B.C

King David                       1037 B.C to 970 B.C

King Solomon                     1001 B.C to 931 B.C

Kingdom of Jeroboam               930 B.C to 910 B.C

Split between Israel and Judah    920 B.C

Prophesy of Isaiah               740 B.C to 700 B.C

Kingdom of Israel falls to Assyria 740 B.C to 722 B.C

King Hezekiah of Judah            715 B.C to 687 B.C

Jerusalem falls to Nebuchadnezzar,

the Babylonian King               586 B.C

Jews return to Jerusalem,

by permission of Cyrus of Persia  539 B.C

Ezra comes to Jerusalem           460 B.C

(For general information, as the Persian Empire gradually declined, Alexander the Great came into power and led the Greek armies against Persia and conquered it around 331 B.C. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C, the Greek Empire broke up and was replaced by Roman rule around 230 B.C. The Romans were in control during the time of Jesus Christ.)

D) Pastor Ed Miller's Sermons on The Prophets

You can download the MP3 Audio Sermons of Ed Miller in his website www.biblestudyministriesinc.net into your computer and listen or burn them into CD for later easier listening by clicking on the download links below.

Link back to index.html