“Historical Background”

The prophets in the Old Testament were without question some of the most radical men for God.

Much of the OT is comprised of the writings of these men who we call prophets. The writings that are longer we call major prophets and writings that are shorter we call minor prophets.

The definition of a ‘prophet’ according to the Hebrew term :

• Roeh – used 11 times, meaning ‘to see’ also called seer
• Chozeh – used 22 times, man with a vision from God
• Nabi – used over 300 times, meaning to announce or one who speaks for God.

A prophet was a person who spoke (and / or wrote) the words of God to the people. They were called men of God. They spoke mostly to the needs of their own people, strongly renouncing sin.

Sometimes their messages carried predictive elements like the coming of the Messiah.

Sometimes their messages were conveyed through symbolic language.

By the time that the minor prophets wrote, the history of the Israelite had brought them through some very great times, but also some very bad times.

After the Israelites had come to the promised land, the land was divided among various tribes. Then they went through about 400 years of being ruled by judges.

Following this period, Saul, David and Solomon ruled as Kings for a period of 120 years (40 years each).

Immediately after the death of Solomon, the Kingdom divided into two rival kingdoms. It was during this period that the minor prophets wrote, which was around 900BC – 400BC.

During this period Israel (Northern) and Judah (Southern) regions went through political instability and national disgrace. Each minor prophet wrote concerning that time and the issues of that country.