Old Testament Survey Week Five: The Prophets

Survey of the Old Testament
with Jim Leffel

Week Five: The Prophets - part two

Types of prophetic oracle

Key: God will both enforce the Mosaic Covenant (see Lev. 26) and keep his promises to Abraham and David (see Gen. 12; 2 Sam. 7)

Denunciation

"woe"

God’s "case"

Judgment

Death, destruction, disease, deportation, disgrace

Blessing

God "remembers His covenants"

Adversaries judged and nation redeemed, regathered

Restoration of divine blessing in the land

Promise

Extending divine blessing to the end of history

How will God bring salvation history to an end?

What will be accomplished?

"Eschatology": Culmination of God’s Plan

Biblical view of "linear" history

A beginning, followed by a meaningful sequence of events, and a resolution

Promise oracles double exposure: fusion of short- and long-term prediction

Universal: blessings of God to Israel extended to the nations

Permanent: God rules forever

Fulfilling the Davidic Covenant

An eternal and universal kingdom

David’s kingdom is everlasting (see 2 Sam. 23:5; Ps. 89:28, 29…)

God’s kingdom and David’s kingdom are one (see 1 Chron. 28:5)

In "royal psalms"

Ps. 2:6-8

Ps. 89:26, 27

Jerusalem is both the "city of David" (2 Sam. 5:7,9) and the God’s dwelling (1 Kings 11:13; 14:21) and the place from which God rules (Micah 4:1—5)

In historical narrative Jerusalem is both David’s and God’s (2 Kings 19:34; 20:6)

A Davidic ruler

Preserving the kingly line

In the Kings/Chronicles narratives

Principle: Individual kings can forfeit the kingdom, but God will be faithful to David

David and the messianic "motif"

Messiah is anointed one

David as the expected messianic ruler

Ezekiel 37:24—27

Jeremiah 23:3—6

Promise fulfilled: from "seed" to "Branch"

Seed promise and the drama of historical narrative

Person of promise from Genesis—Davidic line

Succeeds by God’s grace

Related metaphors: "branch", "sprig", "root", "stem", "shoot"…

In the prophets, the "seed" "sprouts"!

The Branch (used 8 times as a messianic term)

Isaiah 11:1

Jeremiah 23:5

Jeremiah33:15

The divine king

Micah 5:2

Isaiah 9:6—8

The priest-king

Ps. 110

Zechariah 6:12, 13

Messianic qualifications: who could meet the criteria?

"Day of the Lord"

Day of the Lord as a technical prophetic term

Prophetic book	Usage of term
Joel 1:15 2:1 2:2 2:11 2:31 3:14 3:18	Near: destruction from the Almighty Near: cause to tremble Unparalleled time of gloom Dreadful coming of the Lord’s army—who can endure? Great and dreadful, cosmic imagery A day of the Lord’s decision (judgments) A day of renewal and abundance
Obadiah 1:8 1:11 1:12 1:13 1:14 1:15	Edom destroyed (Esau) Denunciation of Edom for assault on Jerusalem Day of Judah’s destruction Day of Jerusalem’s destruction Denunciation of Edom Near: for all nations
Zephaniah 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:10 1:14 1:15 1:16 1:18 2:2 2:3 3:8 3:11 3:16	Near: sacrifice prepared for those invited Judgment on the nations Judgment on the nations Cries from Jerusalem Near: the Lord comes as a warrior Day of wrath Day of battle Far: end of world history Day of the Lord’s wrath, appointed by God Seek the Lord in that day, and repent Day of judgment for the nations Israel to be vindicated Jerusalem to be vindicated

Summary:

Near and Far

Cosmic imagery

Not literal (see Acts 2)—apocalyptic imagery

Carries the picture of God’s greatness and power

Judgment and salvation

Particular and universal

Israel and the nations

The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31ff)

Relationship to the day of the Lord

God’s covenant "in that day" (Is. 42:6; 49:8; 59:21; Hos. 2:18—20)

Blessing of God’s presence among his people

Broader use of related concepts

"Everlasting covenant" (Is. 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Jer. 32:40; 50:5; Ezek. 37:26)

Internal obedience

"New heart", "new spirit" (Jer. 32:39; Ezek. 11:19; 18:31; 36:26)

Planned obsolescence of the "old covenant" (Jeremiah 3:16, 17)

In the Old covenant the tabernacle is a "model" of the heavenly, but in the New, the substance is present—the symbol no longer needed

God’s presence associated with the ark (2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15)

Moses’ ark is a "model" (Exod. 25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8)

God will be present with his people directly (Ezek. 37:26, 27)

Anticipates "fulfillment" (Hebrews 9:11—15, 24)

Strange case of the anonymous servant

The work of the Servant (Is. 52:13—53:12)

52:13—15 A dramatic pronouncement

God narrates

Israel is the audience, not the servant

vs. 14 "just as you… so he"

Broader context: 52:5,6; 53:8

Work of the servant summarized

vs. 13 Servant "prospers" or "gets the job done"

vs. 14 Servant is humiliated

vs. 15 Servant "sprinkles" the nations

Key issue: "sprinkle" or "startle", yazah

"Startle" based on context (vs. 14a) and 19^th cent. Work of Gesenius

yazah is "hiphil imperfect" form of nazah (indicating future causative action) which is always translated "to sprinkle" see Koelher and Baumgardner, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, v.2, 683

Only other identical use of yazah is Leviticus 16:14

Conclusion: The Servant is performing the priestly function

53:1—12 Career of the Servant

Narrator shifts to those giving a report (vs. 1—9)

Condition of the people

Guilty and lost

The Servant provides atonement "for the many" (v. 11)

Servant is both the administrator of the sacrifice (52:15) and the sacrifice itself (53:12)—see Hebrews 9:11, 12

The triumph of God’s kingdom: Daniel

A history of the nations in God’s plan

Daniel’s visions concerning the nations (Chs. 2, 7, 11)

Dan. 2:31—45 the statue made of varying materials

31—35 the dream

36—43 the kingdoms of the earth

44, 45 the greatness of the kingdom of God

A timeline for the history of salvation

Daniel’s vision for the completion of all history (Ch. 9)

Context: vs. 1, 2 (cf. Jer. 29:10; 2 Chron. 36:20, 21)

Daniel’s intercession: vs. 3—19

God responds by sending Gabriel to deliver a vision: vs. 20—23

Summary of the prophecy: vs. 24

70 "weeks" (Sabbaths, sevens) are given (see Lev. 25:1—6; 26:23—35)

Prophecy spans the whole of human history and completion of God’s work

A timeline given: vs. 25—27

FROM decree TO messiah: 7 7’s and 62 7’s
483 years

Messiah "cut off" after the 69^th 7

Beginning point: the decree (Neh. 2:1—8)

444 B.C.

Calculating the time of messiah:

Historical dating uses "solar" years; biblical world used "lunar" years

483 years x 360 days per lunar year = 173,880 days (actual number of days of the prophecy)

Total days x 365 (days in solar year) = 476

Difference between - 444 (B.C.) and 476 = +32

Add 1 for the "0" existing on the number line, but not on calendar = 33 A.D.

Luke 19:43, 44

Josephus, Against Apion

Assignment:

Read Proverbs 1—16

characterize and contrast wisdom and foolishness

how can I cultivate godly wisdom?

The fool…	The wise…