Foreword

The words and actions of the prophets form an important legacy in the life of
the Jewish people even to this day. Of particular importance to Christians are
the prophecies referring to the Messiah and also the End Times.
The book of the prophets were not finalized until a couple of centuries before
the Christian era. The Hebrew Canon itself was not formally drawn together
until the 2nd Century A.D. Today it is commonly known as the Palestinian
Canon.
The prophets were people especially chosen by God to bring his words to a
rebellious and unfaithful chosen people. Their lives were far from easy and
often involved hardship and the threat of physical harm.
In this essay, an attempt has been made to list them in a rough chronological
order. Some are easier to identify historically than others. Even the clearest
of them in terms of a Time frame are dated approximately.
Without some acquaintance with these servants of Yahweh, our
understanding of our Judeo-Christian heritage is lacking. The Law and the
prophets formed the basis of the liturgy in the synagogues during the time
of Christ and in the revised readings for Mass, extracts from the prophets
are often proclaimed before the Gospel.
The importance of their words is without question.
All biblical texts are taken from the Christian Community Bible B.Huralt,
Claretian Publications, 2010.

Table of Contents
What is Prophecy?
The Former Prophets
Moses
Samuel
Nathan
Two Other Prophets
Elijah
Elisha

The Major Prophets

Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel

The Minor Prophets

Amos
Hosea
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Zephaniah
Habakkuk
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Joel
Obadiah

The Book of Daniel

Bibliography

Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Claretian

publications, 1997.
The New Jerome biblical Commentary.
Theological Publications in India, 1999.
Here after referred to by the acronym N.J.B.C.
The following articles: Barre, Michael L., S.S.

Boadt, Lawrence, C.S.P

Amos.
Ezekiel.

Ceresko, Anthony R, O.S.F.S

Jonah.

Cody, Aelred, O.S.B.

Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

Couturier, Guy P., C.S.C

Hartman, Louis F., C.S.S.R

Jeremiah.
Daniel

Di Liela, Alexander, O.F.M

Jensen, Joseph, O.S.B.

Isaiah 1-39

Irwin, William H., C.S.B.

Laberge, Leo, O.M.I
Mallon, Elias D.,
McCarthy, Dennis J., S.J.

Micah.
Joel, Obadiah.
Hosea.

Murphy, Roland E., O.Carm.

Stuhlmueller, Carrol, C.P.

Deutero-Isaiah, Trito-Isaiah.

Wahl, Thomas P., O.S.B.

Habakkuk.

Zephaniah, Nahum,

Nowell, Anthony R., O.S.F.S

Wright, Addison G., S.S.

A History of Israel.

Murphy, Roland E., O.Carm.

Fitzmyer, Joseph A, S.J.
Valtorta, Maria, The End Times Trans. P.T.Y. Atworth. Editiones Paulines,
Canada, 1994.

The Prophets
-

1250 Moses

1200

Israel
Saul-Samuel
David-Nathan

Elijah-Elisha
Amos
Hosea

933
900

800

1000

Judah

(The Kingdom Divided)

870

786-746
750

Micah 740-687
Jonah ?

(Samaria Falls)
-

740-700
Isaiah
660
Nahum
640-609 Zephaniah
620-586 Jeremiah
600
Habakkuk
- 593-573 Ezekiel
- 520
Haggai
515-500 Malachi,Trito-Isaiah
520-495 Zechariah

500

400

300

Jerusalem Falls(Exile)
587

Joel ?

Deutero-Zechariah ?
The Collection of Minor Prophets Complete
(Maccabean Revolt)

200

165

Daniel
-

100

The Prophets

Book of

What was Prophecy?

Prophecy was part of the Ancient world. The Greeks and Romans had their
Sybils and oracles. These were normally female and resided in holy
places. They would relate to men, messages from the Gods.
In the Jewish setting, most messages coming from God were transmitted to
men through males. However there were exceptions, such as Deborah
(Judges 4,5). Even in St. Pauls time there was a serious event in Philippi
when Paul silenced a young slave girl who had a spirit of divination. (Acts
16:16-24)
In general, what were the characteristics of prophets?

They received a unique and special call. e.g. Isaiah(Isa.6:6-8)

Jeremiah(Jer.1:4-10) and Ezekiel(Ezek. 3:1-3)
There was an irresistible driving force in their lives.
The prophet was aware that he was a mouthpiece for God. His words
were not his own.
As a rule, his prophecy was addressed to a nation but on occasions
they spoke directly to kings.
Many led lives of hardship.
They were often persecuted and rejected. e.g. Jezebel wanted to kill
Elijah.
Sometimes they lived in communities. (1 Sam.10:9-10) (2 Kings 6:1-7)
However, most of them lived alone.
They were holy men.
Some were married. (2 Kings 4:1-7)

The Former Prophets

These were: - Moses, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha.

Moses He is considered the Father of Jewish Prophets. His call was

spectacular. (Ex.3:1-15) He it was who conveyed all the articles of the law
to the chosen people and ratified the covenant between Yahweh and the
Israelites. (Ex. 24:3-11) (Heb.9:19-22)
His sister Miriam was a prophetess.
The former Prophets such as Samuel, Nathan, Elijah and Elisha left no
writings but their deeds are recorded in the books of Samuel 1 and 2 and
Kings books 1 and 2.

Samuel

(c.1020 BC)

His mother, Hannah had been childless. She prayed to Yahweh near the tent
at Shiloh for a son to take away her shame. Yahweh answered her prayer and
Samuel was born. After he was weaned, Hannah brought Samuel to the
priest, Eli, and he grew up in the service of Yahweh.
When Samuel grew old he made his sons Joel and Abijah judges over Israel.
However they took bribes and perverted justice. The people demanded a
king. (1 Sam 8:5) Samuel tried to dissuade them but the people insisted. He
consulted Yahweh who gave permission for a king to rule over the Israelites
and indicated the man to be chosen. (1 Sam.9:17) Samuel did as the Lord
commanded and anointed Saul, son of Kish. (1 Sam.10:1)
This was a dramatic shift in the organization of the Israelite tribes. Samuel
called the tribes together at Gilgal and the people officially proclaimed the
Kingdom of Israel. (1 Sam.11:15)
But Saul fell from favour in the eyes of Yahweh. At Michmash Saul gathered
his people to fight. The Philistines. The army was to wait for the prophet
Samuel to offer sacrifice before the battle. Samuel did not come quickly. Saul
performed the burnt offering. This was his first mistake. A second followed
when he allowed the Amalekite king Agag to live instead of applying the
ban. (no prisoners and no goods, no livestock to be left.)
Yahweh ordered Samuel to anoint David son of Jesse to replace Saul. (1
Sam.16:13) However only the people of Judah accepted David as king. It was
not until much later that the elders at the other tribes accepted his kingship.
(2 Sam. 5:3-5) After anointing David, Samuel returned to Ramah his
hometown, died and was buried there. (1 Sam.25:1)

Nathan (c. 1000-962 BC)

Nathan lived in Judah at the time of Davids rise to power. David had
conquered the city of the Jebusites, (Jerusalem) and made it his capital. With
great excitement and celebration he brought the Ark of the Covenant from
the house of Obededon the Gittite into Jerusalem. David was concerned that
he lived in a palace made of Cedar but the Ark of Yahweh was housed in a
tent. (2 Sam. 7:2)

Yahweh sent David a message through Nathan the prophet that it would be
one of Davids sons who would build a suitable edifice for the Ark. Nathan
was also to prophesy that the throne of David would last forever. (2
Sam.7:16) It is clear that the prophesy did not refer to the physical throne of
David, because with the fall of Jerusalem to the Army of Nebuchadnezzar in
587 BC, the throne would be unoccupied until the reign of the Hasmonean
rulers (134-63 BC).
From 63 BC onwards, Palestine became part
of the Roman Province of Syria but some power was given to the members of
the Herodian family the most infamous being King Herod the great, who
reigned over Judea from 37 BC to 4 BC.
The kingdom prophesied by Nathan was not to be temporal one but the
spiritual one established by Christ the Son of David.
David himself became a great warrior and a highly esteemed ruler. However
his entanglement with the wife of a Hittite Captain Uriah, led to his downfall
in the eyes of God. Not only did he become an adulterer but a murderer as
well.
Yahweh sent the prophet Nathan to condemn David for his actions. (2
Sam.12:1-15). The greatness of David was shown by his acknowledgement of
his sin before God and his heartfelt repentance. Never the less, his
household would rebel against him and the kingdom he had established
would be divided with the death of Solomon, Davids second son by
Beersheba, the former wife of the Hittite.
Two stories of other prophets
The book of kings has two strange incidents mentioned in chapters 13 and
14. Both of them concern little known prophets. The prophet in Chapter 13 is
called the man of Judah. He confronts Jeroboam, king of the Northern
kingdom of Israel, as the king prepared to burn incense on the altar he had
erected at Bethel. (c.920 BC) the prophet prophesies that the line of David
shall produce a king called Josiah who will destroy the altar at Bethel. But
when the king attempted to arrest the prophet his hand dried up and he
could not draw it back. The altar itself crumbled. Josiah did in fact reign in
Judah (c.640-609 BC) and he destroyed the altars in the high places and
cleansed the temple of the house of effeminate men. (2 Kings 23:7) He is
also reputed to have destroyed the altar of Jeroboam at Bethel. Had it been
rebuilt? The story is confusing. One thing is clear. At the reign of Josiah, Israel
(the Northern Kingdom) had already been destroyed so the area at Bethel

was strictly not part of Josiahs jurisdiction. He was king of Judah. (the
Southern kingdom)
The prophet from Judah is befriended by an old prophet from Bethel. But
this is his downfall. In essence he disobeys Yahweh; is killed by a lion and is
buried by the old prophet from Bethel. The old prophet from Bethel
commands his sons to bury him on his death next to the bones of the man of
God from Judah. The point of the story is the necessity of obeying Yahweh.
The second story about a prophet is much more straight forward. It concerns
a prophet named Ahijah residing at Shiloh. The wife of king Jeroboam comes
disguised to Ahijah seeking a prediction on her such son Abijhahs future. The
prophet sees through the disguise and predicts not only the death of the
kings son but the destruction of his line and his kingdom. So it comes to
pass. The cause of this disfavor with Yahweh was the Kings constructions of
strange gods and images, and especially the altar at Bethel.

Elijah

(c.870 BC)

We are told Elijah was a prophet from Tishbe in Gilead. The first mention of
him is the prophecy concerning a drought. (1 Kings 17:1-6) He is commanded
to go to Zarephath near Sidon. There he is befriended by a n unnamed
widow who offers him the last of her food. For this act of charity, Elijah
performs the miracle of the meal and oil. (1 Kings 17:13-16) followed by the
miracle of restoring the life of the widows son. (1Kings 17:17-24)
Yahweh sends Elijah to confront Ahab the king of Israel. Ahab was the son of
Omri. He was a poor image of his father. Omri reigned from 876-869 BC but
his dynasty lasted 40 years. He was so admired by the Assyrians that Israel
was called the House of Omri (NJBC Art 92 P.1234)
It was Omri who established Samaria as the capital of Israel.
the site was strategically placed, easily defended, and had no tribal ties.
(NHJBC Art 28.P.171)
Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal of Tyre. She was a major
influence on Ahabs establishing the worship of Baal. He built a Temple to
Baal in Samaria and set up an Asherah, a post that symbolized the goddess
consort of Baal. (1 Kings 16:32). Making Baal the official god of Israel was a
serious affront to Yahweh.
Jezebel began a persecution of the prophets of Yahweh and had many of
them killed.

Drama on Mt Carmel
When Elijah confronted Ahab he told him to give an order for the people to
gather on Mount Carmel. There would be a contest between Elijah and the
prophets of Baal. The people had been unable to see the difference between
Yahweh and Baal. They were both considered as equally useful powers. The
dramatic events that occurred on Mt. Carmel showed otherwise.
(1
Kings 18:17-40) In the end, Elijah had 450 prophets of Baal executed near
the brook Kidron. When the people shouted Yahweh is God!, they had
learned their lesson. Now the severe drought could end. Strong rain fell and
covered the parched land.
Journey to Mt.Horeb
Jezebel was furious. She was determined to kill Elijah in revenge for the
death of her prophets. So Elijah fled into the desert. There he was fed with
food and drink brought by an angel. In the strength of this food and drink,
Elijah journeyed for 40 days and 40 nights to Mt.Horeb.(Sinai) Here God
revealed himself to Elijah, not in the storm, the earthquake, or the fire, but in
the gentle breeze.(1 Kings 19:11-16) it was here also on this holy mountain
that God had revealed himself to Moses in the Burning Bush. The journey of
Elijah to Horeb reminds all Who seek God, that ultimately we must journey by
ourselves in the quest of union with God.
Passing the Mantle
Yahweh commands Elijah to return through the desert to Damascus. There he
is to anoint Hazael as king of Syria, Jehu as king of Israel and Elisha Son of
Shaphat as his replacement. (1Kings 19:15-16)l
Elijah finds Elisha plowing a field. Then he does a strange thing. Elijah casts
his cloak over Elisha. This is highly significant.
Cloths are an extension of the person. Elisha is thus assuming Elijahs
identity here.
(N.J.B.C. Art 43 P.175)
Elisha slaughters his yoke of oxen and distributes the pieces to his people.
He was burning his bridges. There would be no turning back. He was now the
associate of Elijah. When they came to the Jordan river, Elijah rolled up his
mantle and struck the water. It parted immediately and the two prophets
crossed on a dry river bed. Knowing that God was about to take Elijah from
the earth, Elisha asked Elijah to grant him the best of his spirit.

As they walked along the way, a chariot of fire took Elijah up to heaven in a
whirlwind.
What a dramatic incident. It is hard to visualize. Elijah did not suffer death.
Therefore he will come again in the last days. As a solace to Elisha, the
mantle of Elijah fell to the ground. He knew he now had to wear the mantle
of prophecy and he demonstrated that God was with him by parting the
waters of the Jordan just as Elijah had done. (2 Kings 2:8-4)

Elisha
Elisha was a great prophet. Yahweh was with him. He performed many
miracles. When the men from Jericho told him that their city was good but
the water supply was contaminated, at Yahwehs command he sweetened
and refreshed the water by casting salt into the fountain.
(2
Kings 2:19-22)
Elisha saved the two sons of a prophets widow from becoming slaves to a
creditor. He performed the miracle of the oil jars. (2 Kings 4:1-7)
Later he resurrected the dead son of a Shunammite woman. The woman had
faith in the holy man of God. She rode to find him and on the way was met
by Gehazi the servant of Elisha. To the questions posed by Gehazi, she
simply answered, All is Well! This was an extraordinary statement
considering that her only son had just died. Elisha returned to the womans
house and performing a dramatic ritual, brought the dead boy back to life. (2
Kings 4:17-37)
Gehezi was ordered to prepare food for Elishas fellow prophets at Gilgal. By
mistake he includes some poisonous herbs. The prophets could not drink the
broth that Gehezi had made. Elisha called for some flour and put it into the
soup. Immediately the poison was neutralized.
(2 Kings 4:40-41)
Then follows an event which prefigures the multiplication of the loaves and
fishes in Marks gospel. A man from Baal-shalishad brings twenty loaves of
barley and wheat to Elisha as first fruits of his harvest. Elisha knows that
the gift is too small to feed a hundred prophets. At Yahwehs command the
loaves are distributed Everybody is satisfied and there are leftovers.
(2 Kings 17:42-44)
The longest account of any miracle worked by Elisha deals with the healing
from leprosy of Naaman the commander of the army of the king of Aram.
Elisha does not meet Naaman, which is an insult, but simply tells him

through a messenger to go and wash seven times in the Jordan. Naaman is

justifiably outraged. At first he refused to do so but his servants calm him
down and he obeys. The leprosy was cleansed from his body. Naaman has
learned that there is no other God but the God of Israel. He gathers soil from
the ground to use to build an altar to Yahweh.
(2 Kings 5:1-19)
Naaman articulates the common conception that linked and limited a deity
to some particular territory. - - - If Naaman is to worship Yahweh in Damascus
then he must take back some of Yahwehs domain with him. (N.J.B.C. Art
46,P.176)
There is a side issue to the story. There is the perfidity and greed of Gehazi
for which he is aptly rewarded with leprosy and banishment, not only for
himself but his descendents as well.
(2 Kings 5:19-27)
Elisha continues his exploits. He recovers the axehead of a fellow prophet, (2
Kings 6:1-7) Captures a band of armed Arameans whom he treats with
kindness; (2 Kings 6:8-23) liberates Samaria; sees the demise of Jezebel the
wife of King Ahab and the end of Ahabs dynasty at the hands of Jehu, then
dies during the reign of Joash King of Israel. (c.801-786)
Even in death, Elisha retains the power to work miracles. When the body of a
man was cast into a grave and touched the bones of Elisha, the man came
back to life. (2 Kings 13:20-21)
The Major Prophets.
Isaiah 8th Century B.C Preached in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 7th Century B.C Preached in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6th Century B.C. Preached in Babylon during the Exile.

Isaiah
We know very little of his personal life. He was married to a woman
designated as a prophetess (Isa. 8:3) and had two sons with symbolic names.
One was A remnant shall return (Isa.7:3) the second was, Quick to
plunder booty is close. (Isa.8:3)
Isaiah was called in the year King Uzziah died. (Isa.6:1) in 742 B.C. - - The period of Isaiahs prophetic ministry was overshadowed by the
irresistible power of Assyria and its plans for world empire. (N.J.B.C. Art 2,
P.229)

The book of Isaiah and that of his disciples (Chp.40-66) is the most important
of the prophetic books. Parts are quoted in the Gospels.
Isaiah preached in Jerusalem between 740 B.C and 700 B.C. He was a great
poet and an astute politician but above all he was a prophet. He exerted
considerable influence on his time. Two centuries later, some disciples,
inspired by him, laid claims to his name, and their work was added to his. So
we have to distinguish between the book of Isaiah (which has 66 chapters)
and the other prophets;
Isaiah 1-39 is partly the work of Isaiah.
Isaiah 40-55 comes from a prophet living in the time of the Exile, and
Isaiah 56-66 is from a disciple after the Exile.
(How to Read the Old Testament, E. Charpentier, P.42)
History of the Region
Isaiah lived in a time of great upheaval. Both the Northern kingdom of Israel
and the Southern kingdom of Judah had experienced political success and
prosperity. This was to come to an end with the rise to power of a line of
Assyrian rulers, starting with Tiglath-pileser III (745-727 BC). He mounted a
campaign against Israel and Syria, destroyed Damascus in 733-732 BC, and
took over the lands of Galilee and Transjordan.
In 734 BC kings of Damascus and Samaria tried to force Jerusalem to join a
coalition against Assyria: This Syro-Ephramite war was the occasion for the
main oracles of Isaiah
(E.Charpentier,
op.cit. P.42)
This had been the lead up to the occupation of much of the Northern
kingdom. Ephraim was a term used for Israel. It was the biggest tribe there
at the time of Isaiah. Hoshea became king of what remained of the Northern
kingdom and with the death of Tiglath-pileser, he defected to the side of
Egypt. This was a disaster. The new Assyrian king, Shalmaneser V. moved
quickly to besiege the Capital Samaria and it fell in 721 BC. As was the
custom in those days, the captive peoples were driven out to the far reaches
of Assyria and replaced by peoples from other areas. (2 Kings 17:6 & 2 Kings
17:24). This was the beginning of the mixed race called Samaritans. They
were despised by the Jews of the Southern kingdom of Judah. Israel became
a province of Assyria with an Assyrian governor.

The kingdom of Judah survived for over another century but as a vassel of
Assyria until the rise of Babylon. The religious significance of this subjection
to Assyria is spelled out by the adoption by king Ahaz of Judah (735-715 BC)
of an Assyrian style altar for the Jerusalem temple.
(2 Kings
16:10-16)
When Ahaz died, his son Hezekiah began to reign in Judah. He carried out
religious reforms, demolishing the sanctuaries in the high places and even
destroying the bronze serpent fashioned by Moses. Some people were
offering sacrifices to it. (2 Kings 18:4) We are told that
Yahweh was with him; he succeeded in all his undertakings. (2 Kings
18:7)However, he rebelled against the king of Assyria. This was a big
mistake. In the 14th year of his reign, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib,
invaded Judah, seized 46 fortified cities and besieged Jerusalem. The
commander of the Assyrian army taunted Hezekiah and his God Yahweh.
Do you think that Yahweh will deliver Jerusalem from my hand? (2 Kings
18:35)
But Yahweh did intervene through the Words of Isaiah. The Assyrian army
was devastated.
(2 Kings 19:35) When Hezekiah died, his son
Manasseh began to reign. (687-642 BC). During his long reign he undid all
the good work of his father Hezekiah.
The centralization of cult inaugurated by Hezekiah was undone, and the
fertility cults associated with the high places were once more in vogue. Even
in the Temple, there were altars in honour of the astral gods venerated by
Assyria and also sacred prostitution.
(N.J.B.C. Art 109, P.1236)
In 612 BC, Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, fell to the rising power of
Babylon. Judah was caught in a power play between Egypt and Babylon.
Neco II (609-593) led an army through Palestine to help Assyria reconquer
Haran which had fallen to the Babylonians in 610 BC. Unfortunately, the
young king of Judah at that time, Josiah, marched out to resist Neco II and
was slain in battle at Megiddo in 609 BC. Jehoiakim became king of Judah
and revolted against Babylon. Retaliation was swift. Nebuchadnezzar
besieged Jerusalem and it fell in 597 BC. A puppet king was installed, named
Mattaniah but whose name Nebuchadnezzar changed to Zedekiah.
Nebuchadnezzar sent into exile 8,000 of the leaders and prominent men of

Jerusalem as well as the young king Jehoiakim. This was the first wave of
deportees to Babylon.
(2 Kings 24:13-17)
After eleven years, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon. Justice was swift.
Nebuchadnezzar came again with a huge army, besieged and took
Jerusalem; then demolished the walls of the city and burnt the city to the
ground. The temple was looted and destroyed and most of the residents of
this great city were deported to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:8-13)
Jerusalem was doomed. The walls were breached and the city fell in 587 BC.
Zedekiah was apprehended in flight and brought to Riblah, where he was
blinded after having been forced to watch the execution of his own sons. By
order of Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem was destroyed and large scale
deportations ensued. (N.J.B.C. Art. 113, P.1236)
What then of Isaiah?
On the day that Isaiah was called by God, he was in the Temple. His call was
dramatic. He had a vision of God sitting on his throne. One of the Seraphs in
attendance on the Lord flew and touched Isaiahs mouth with a live coal. (Isa.
6:1-7)
Isaiah was the first prophet to mention the Messiah.
The Messiah was portrayed as a king , one who would reign on Davids
throne. His kingdom was described as the greatest of Mountains to which the
nations would stream. This king would rule over the nations and settle
disputes between peoples. (Isa.2:1-4) This would occur in the Last Days.
One of the most important prophecies dealt with the Incarnation. The
Messiah would be born of a virgin in a miraculous way.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. The Virgin is with child and
bears a son and calls his name Immanuel. (Isa.7:14)
The apostle Matthew refers to this prophecy and explains that the name
Immanuel means
God is with us. (Matt.1:23)
In the last chapter of Isaiah there is a reference to the birth of the New
Jerusalem. Yet this could easily describe the birth of the Saviour. We know
that the church teaches the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God. The
child born of her, by divine design, passes miraculously through the wall of
His mothers womb while she is in ecstasy and causes no pain and keeps her
virginity intact.

Long before being in labour she has given birth, before having birth pangs,
she had been delivered of a son, Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Has
anyone seen the like of it?
(Isa.66:7-8)
What about this unique child?

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us

The royal ornament is laid upon his shoulder, and his name is proclaimed:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. To the
increase of his powerful rule in peace, there will be no end. Vast will be his
dominion, he will reign on Davids throne, and over all his kingdom, to
establish justice and righteousness from this time onward and forever. (Isa.
9:5-6)
Isaiah refers to the land of Zebulon and Naphtali which is populated with
many foreigners at the time of Christ and therefore despised by the Jews. It
is this very region where Christ chooses the settlement of Capernaum as the
hub of his apostolic ministry. It is a crossroads. From Capernaum roads lead
north to Syria and Phonecia. To the South, roads from Capernaum lead over
the mountains to follow the coast of the Great Sea (Mediterranean) and
inland from the Lake of Tiberius to Jerusalem.
St. Matthew relates how the people in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali
have seen a great light. That light being Christ in their midst. (Matt.4:1316) and (Isa.8:24-9:1)
This king who will sit on the throne of David,
He will administer justice swiftly and judge the people righteously.
(Isa.16:5)
Isaiah reiterates this reign of justice by the Messiah in the image of a
granite stone.
See I lay in Zion a granite stone a precious stone, a sure foundation, he who
relies on it shall not be put to shame. I will make justice the measure and
righteousness the plumb-line. (Isa.28:16-17)

This king who sits on the throne of an everlasting kingdom is from the line of
David. The tree of Israels kings has been chopped down literally by the Exile,
but from the stump of the three comes the new growth and the new king.
From the stump of Jesse a shoot will come forth; from his roots a branch will
grow and bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, a spirit of
wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of
knowledge and fear of the Lord. (Isa.11:1-2)
Jesse was the father of David and his brothers. Jesus is from the stump of
Jesse i.e. the Royal line.
Yahwehs spirit was a divine force given to individuals that enabled them to
fulfil a mission. The spirits attributes mentioned here are the traditional
attributes recognized by the church as the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Eliakim the minister
There is a strange prophecy that relates the downfall of a palace steward
called Shebna and the elevation of Eliakim in his place. This position brings
with it considerable authority. It is a unique insight into the form of
government in the kingdom of Judah.
Upon his shoulder I will place the key of the House of David: when he opens
no one shall shut; what he shuts, no one shall open. I will fasten him like a
peg in a sure spot, and he will be a seat of honour in the house of his father.
(Isa.22:22-23)
In a Western democracy, he would hold a position akin to that of Prime
Minister. The peg referred to was the most important one for a Bedouins
tent. It had to be in a sure spot that was firm and would be the peg on
which the whole structure would be built around.
The Oracles against the Nations
These were a significant portion of the book of Isaiah. Most of lands in the
region of the Middle East came in for a torrent of damnation. Babylon, the
land of the Philistines, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Edom, Arabia and
even the prosperous trading center of Tyre.
The oracle against Babylon was uncompromising.

Babylon, the Jewel of Kingdoms, pride and glory of the Chadeans, will be like
Sodom and Gomorrah when overthrown by God. Shall never be inhabited nor
dwelt in from age to age.
(Isa.13:19-20)
Yet in the time of Cyrus, The Great City was surrendered without a fight.
Nevertheless, today the ruins of Babylon lie South of the present day
Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Today it is a tourist and archaeological site with
no permanent township.
The other mighty powers in the time of Isaiah, Namely Egypt, Assyria, Edom,
the Land of the Philistines etc. all succumbed to invaders.
Tyre is an interesting case. Isaiah penned an oracle fortelling its destruction.
Nebuchadnezzar besieged it for thirteen years. (585-573 BC) but did not
succeed in destroying it. However approximately 240 years later its fate was
sealed. Alexander the great overran the part of the city on the mainland, but
the inhabitants of the island section of the city, taunted Alexander that they
would never be beaten by the Young Greek King. His engineers took the
stones and wood from the mainland city and built a mole 200ft wide out to
the island. The Tyrians defended fiercely.
Using borrowed ships, Alexander blockaded the island.
The siege ended after seven months. 7,000 defenders had died. Of the
survivors Alexander crucified 2000 young men of military age and sold
30,000 other survivors into slavery. The island city was completely
demolished. Over the centuries the island subsided into the sea. The present
day city of Tyre in Lebanon is small in comparison to the ancient one and
built on a site away from the old mainland city. (Padfield com/Tyre)
Isaiahs oracle came true in the sense that after the siege by
Nebuchadnezzar Tyre lost its importance as a port for the ships of Tarshish
for a long time, but it did revive, (Isa.23:13-17) until Alexander came.
The Last Days
There is an oracle that illuminates the terror for the world in a time to come.
It is quite detailed and explicit. There is to be a devastating earthquake and a
reference to the world being knocked of its axis.
For the floodgates of heaven are opened and the earth shakes to its
foundation. The earth is broken into fragments, the earth is in convulsion.
The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the storm, weighed

down by its transgression, and it falls ,never to rise again.

(Isa.24:18-20)
The Highway
In chapter 35, Isaiah talks about the return of the Jewish people from exile
and the joy that will follow. But there is an intriguing reference to something
even more important. The prophet/poet writes of a Way of Holiness.
There will be a highway, which will be called The Way of Holiness., No one
unclean will pass over it, Nor any wicked fool stray there, No lion will e found
there, Nor any beast of prey, Only the redeemed will walk there. (Isa.35:8-9)
No one has given a clear explanation of what this reference means. However
there is a conjecture that it is a reference to the founding of the Christian
church. After Pentecost the name given to the followers of Christ is The Holy
Way. (Acts 19:9) It was only in Antioch that the term Christians was
applied to the new church. (Acts 11:26)
Isaiah ends his writings with two accounts of Yahwehs intervention to the
prayers of Hezekiah. Both incidents are miracles. In the first miracle
Jerusalem is surrounded by the massive army of the Assyrian Sennacherib. In
one night the army is devastated by a mysterious disease. (Isa.37:33-35) In
the second miracle the Kings life is spared. Fifteen years are added to his
reign. Isaiah was the conduit between Yahweh and king Hezekiah. (Isa.38:78)

Deutero Isaiah Chps. 40-55

The Second Isaiah or the Book of Consolation.
These chapters appear to have been written after the fall of Jerusalem. They
are addressed to the exiles in Babylon. The author is a prophet who has
remained anonymous. He was writing perhaps 150 years after Isaiah. The
former prophecies about the fall of Damascus, Samaria and Jerusalem have
been carried out. The tone of the poems has changed from condemnation to
consolation.
Isaiah wrote of a Jerusalem whose people were relatively prosperous. Here on
the other hand in Deutero-Isaiah we have a shocked and beaten people in
exile. They have already been punished for their iniquities and need their
faith to be renewed and sustained.

The opening poems are words of comfort and a recognition that Israels exile
is about to end. There will be a new Exodus.
Be comforted my people, be strengthened says your God. Speak to the
heart of Jerusalem proclaim to her that her time of bondage is at an end, - - a voice cries, in the wilderness prepare the way for Yahweh. Make straight in
the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be raised up. Every
mountain and hill will be laid low. (Isa.40:1-3)
Matthew quotes this part of Isaiah in reference to John the Baptist preparing
the way for Christ. (Matt.3:3)
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem refers to a people. It was almost the entire
population of Jerusalem that was driven into exile.
Later in the same chapter, the author dares the people to question the
cosmic greatness of Yahweh compared to whom the inhabitants of the earth
are like grass hoppers. (40:22)
Yahweh does not grow weary nor will they who place their trust in Him.
Youth may grow tired and faint, Young men will stumble and fall, But those
who hope in Yahweh will renew their strength. They will soar as with eagles
wings they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and never tire.
(Isa.40:30-31)
In the past, pagan kings were sent by God to punish the Israelites. Now in
chapter 41, God chooses a pagan king who will free the Israelites.
From the North I have called him and he comes; from the East I have called
him by his name. (Isa.41:25)
The pagan king referred to is Cyrus
Cyrus was a Persian of Indo-European stock, descended from a people who
settled in the high plateau area S.E. of Babylon. In 559 BC, he became king
in Anshan, a vassal within the larger domain of the Medes, but in 10 years he
had already captured Ecbatana, the Median capital. In the winter of 546, he
led his army over the frozen mountains of Lydia (in central Turkey) for a
surprise attack on the golden capital of Croesus, and in 539 BC he was to
become Master of Babylon. (N.J.B.C. Art. 13, P.333-34)
I call on Cyrus My Shepherd! and he goes to fulfill my will. (Isa.44:28)

I have called you by your name and given you your mission. Although you
do not know me. (Isa.45:4)
I have raised Cyrus for the sake of Justice. I will direct his ways and make
him rebuild my city. He will send my exiles home without ransomed or
indemnity. (Isa.45:13)
The Servant
There is another one who will uphold justice. Unlike Cyrus it will not be by
military power. In contrast,
He does not shout or raise his voice, proclamations are not heard in the
streets. A broken reed he will not crush, nor will he snuff out the light of the
wavering wick. (Isa.42:2-3)
The Servant of God in this case is the people of Israel who will bring peace
and justice.
I will make you as a covenant to the people and as a light to the nations.
(Isa.42:6)
However there are overtones of a reference to Jesus.
Who will
Open eyes that do not see, to free captives, from prison, to bring out to light
those who sit in darkness. (Isa.42:7)
So the passage (42:1-7) has several interpretations. Neither should be
discounted.
No other gods
Chapter 44 reminds the Israelites (Jacob my Servant) that Yahweh is Israels
king and Redeemer.
Iam the first and the Last, there is no other God besides me. (Isa.44:6)
Those who make and worship idols are Good for nothing and useless are
the works they prize so much. The blacksmith, the wood carver and any
other idol makers are deluded. Things of wood, iron or cast metal cannot
save a people and redeem them.

They are but fools they who follow idols of wood and pray to gods that
cannot move- - - Turn to me and be saved, all you from the ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is no other. (Isa.45:20-22)
Never Forgotten
The Israelites, The House of Jacob (48:1) have not been a faithful people.
They have over many centuries chosen to worship the idols of Canaan.
Yahweh himself says of them,
Because I know you are stubborn your head as hard as iron. (Isa.48:4)
He continues,
For I knew how treacherous you were, you who from birth have been called
a rebel. (Isa.48:8)
The same could be said of every man and woman who has walked this earth
except Jesus and his mother. We have been tainted by the fall off our first
parents and hence have an inclination towards evil.
Yet despite the rebellious nature of the Israelite people and mankind in
general, Yahweh does not forget anyone even if a mother forgets her child.
Which would be outrageous.
Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the
child of her womb? Yet though she forget, I will never forget you. (Isa.48:15)
Later the prophet adds,
The mountains may depart and the hills be moved, but never will my love
depart from you nor my covenant of peace be removed, says Yahweh whose
compassion is for you. (Isa.54:10)
The Suffering Servant
There are four servant songs. (Isa.42:1-7), (Isa.49:1-7), (Isa.50:4-9) and
(Isa.52:13-53:12)
They are unique poems about suffering. Who is the suffering servant?
In the first poem (42:1-7) he appears to represent the people of Israel who
will be a light to the nations and bring justice to all.

The second poem (49-1-7) confirms the role of Israel as Yahwehs servant,
commissioned anew to carry the good news of salvation to the ends of the
earth.
The third poem (50:4-9) presents a new figure for the suffering servant.
Christians move past the concept of Israel to the passion of Christ. There are
explicit details that relate directly to injuries inflicted upon Jesus when he
was taken captive in the garden of Gethsemane. Others may argue that it
still refers to the people of Israel but here it seems to pertain to a single
individual.
The fourth poem (52:13-53:12). It is in the fourth suffering servant song that
the doctrine of expiatory suffering finds its highest expression. The
humiliation suffered by the people of God. The people deported from
Jerusalem suffered for the good of all Israel.
Yet the imagery does not portray only the people of God. The evangelists
were struck with the similarities between the words of the author of DeuteroIsaiah and the trial and death of Jesus. Even today readers of this passage
can identify it with the sufferings of Christ.
Through his punishment we are made whole; by his wounds we are healed.
(Isa.53:5)
Jesus accepted his passion and death with equanimity. He did not struggle or
cry out like one harshly treated and falsely accused would do.
but unresisting and silent, he humbly submitted. Like a lamb led to the
slaughter or a sheep before the shearer he did not open his mouth.
(Isa.53:7)
At the Last Supper Christ said,
This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, poured out for many.
(Mk.14:24)
This had to be the healing and justifying that the Father required of the Son.
He freely endured the frightful sufferings of the crucifixion, because
Yahweh laid upon him all our guilt. (Isa.53:6)
He suffered for the many and bore their sorrows. In fact, he was the Man of
Sorrows.

There is a third interpretation of the final Servant Song. Some scholars

have suggested that it portrays the author of Deutero-Isaiah in the final
stages of his career.
The new Exodus
The conclusion of the Book of Comfort is a call to seek Yahweh at no cost.
Come here all of you who are thirsty, come to the water all who have no
money come! Yes without money and at no cost, buy and drink wine and
milk. (Isa.55:1)
Yahweh will provide what is needed. Do not e surprised for my ways are not
your ways. (Isa.55:8) and Yahweh adds through the words of the prophet,
Yes, in joy you will depart, in peace you will be led forth; mountains and hills
will break into song before you, trees of the countryside will clap their
hands. (Isa.55:12)

Trito Isaiah-Chp. 56:1-66:24

The third part of the book of Isaiah is set in Palestine after the return from
exile. The Jews come home to a devastated Jerusalem. They brought with
them the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had confiscated in 587 BC.
Cyrus reversed the policy of conquerors, leaving the statues in their own
temples and returning those that the Babylonians had stolen. (N.J.B.C. Art
28, P.338)
The 538 BC decree by Cyrus granting the Jews the right to return to their
homeland was an act of benevolence. Ezra 1:9-11, lists the items returned. It
is significant that the Ark of the Covenant is not mentioned. Not everyone
came back. Many chose to stay in Babylon. The first wave of returnees was
led by Zerrubabel, a descendent of Joachim the last king. He took the
initiative to rebuild the temple. There was opposition between the returnees
and those from the countryside who had not been deported.
The enthusiasm of those repatriated declined. Morality stooped to the level
of the people in the countryside. This situation existed for almost 80 years.
In 445 B.C. Nehemiah came to Jerusalem from Babylon. He ordered the
rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem; forbade mixed marriages; demanded
that the Sabbath be observed and that the people observe religious
fidelity.

Ezra, a priest, arrived 20 years later and was the central figure in the
compilation of the books of the Law. He gathered the people and had the
Law of Moses read in the Assembly during the revived Feast of the
Tabernacles. (Ezra Chp.8)
There is a new emphasis in Trito-Isaiah on the Temple, worship, the Sabbath,
fasting and the Law (N.J.B.C. Art 50, Pg.344)
The people of Judah fasted so that God would hear their petitions. However,
the prophet explains that the fast God wants is as follows:See the fast that pleases me: breaking the fetters of injustice and
unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free. Fast by
sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe
the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin. (Isa.58:6-7)
Then follows a Penitential psalm in chp.59. It starts with an indictment for
abusing Yahwehs justice.
Their feet rush to do evil; they are quick to shed innocent blood. (Isa.59:7)
But the community confesses its guilt and that it has strayed far from
Yahweh. Yet God sees the heart of the people and their repentance,
he will come as redeemer, and to those of Jacob who turn from sin.
(Isa.59:20)
This leads to the glory of the New Zion. Israel will be restored. Its people
gathered from afar. Nations will be drawn to Israel and it will prosper.
the wealth of the nations will come to you. (Isa.60:5)
The prophet has seen the pitiful state of Jerusalem (c 515 BC) in a vision but
he now is enraptured with riches, with its people delighting in the fullness
everything they ever longed for.
The Anointing
This is an anointing not with oil but with the spirit. The prophet recalls the
mission he received from God.
The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up broken hearts to
proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to those languishing in prison.
(Isa.61:1)

When Jesus returned to Nazareth he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath

and was handed the scroll of Isaiah to read. He chose this very prophecy
from Trito-Isaiah to proclaim his mission. When he proclaimed
today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen. (Luke 4:21)
The people were lost in wonder. But as he continued to address his own
towns people and refer to Elijahs mission to a foreign widow in Sidon, and
Elishas help of the foreigner Naaman, leaving the Jews excluded, the towns
peoples mood changed from admiration to rage. They tried to throw Christ
down from a cliff. Undeterred, he reminded the Apostles No prophet is
honoured in his own country. (Luke 4:24)

Final Prophecies
Trito Isaiah deals with several other themes.

The Glory of the New Zion. (61:4-62:9) emerging from the rubble of
destruction.
A new priesthood. No longer are the priests drawn from the tribe of
Levi or the line of Zadok. Trito-Isaiah announces a new universal
priesthood. (Isa.61:6)
There is a relaxing of attitudes towards foreigners and eunuchs.

Foreigners living within Palestine were granted limited rights and protection.
(Ex.22:20, Deut.10:19) but Trito-Isaiah extends full privileges even to the
Nekar, those living outside the boundaries of the promised land. - - Eunuchs: such were refused admission into the assembly of the Lord
(Lev.22:24, Deut 23:2) because it seemed improper for a person deprived of
the power of transmitting life to associate with the God of life. (N.J.B.C. Art
51, P.344)
In wisdom 3:14 such people will be rewarded with a special place in the
Lords heavenly sanctuary.
Yahweh will conquer Edom. He will do it alone. Edom represents all
the enemies of Israel. Alone I have trod the grapes not one of my
people was with me. (Isa.63:3)
He will create a new heavens and a new earth.

I now create new heavens and a new earth, and former things will not
be remembered, nor will they come to mind again. - - -I will rejoice over
Jerusalem and take delight in my people. (Isa.65:17-19)
Trito- Isaiah ends with apocalyptic statements of a new cosmos and the
coming of the Lord. He will come in fire. (Isa.66:15) to judge the
peoples. Those slain by the Lord shall be many. (Isa.66:16) but
everyone shall witness His glory.
Iam coming to gather all the nations and tongues; and they shall
come and see my glory. (Isa.66:18)

Jeremiah
We know little of the early background of Jeremiah. There is a village 3.5
miles North East of Jerusalem that appears to revere his name to this day,
the village of Anata. We know he died in exile in Egypt (in 586 BC) during the
Babylonian Exile shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. The
Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar made Judah a province of Babylon with its
administrative center at Mizpah. Gedaliah was appointed governor. Jeremiah
accompanied Gedaliah to Mizpah. Gedaliah was assassinated two months
later in a plot organized by the king of Ammonites. It was then that Jeremiah
fled to Egypt.
His call to the mission of prophet was not unlike the call of Isaiah, (Isa.6:6-7)
whose tongue was touched with a burning coal. In Jeremiahs case it was
Yahweh himself who touched Jeremiahs mouth. (Jer.1:9-1) Yahweh had
predestined Jeremiah to be a prophet even from his Mothers womb.
Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even before you
were born. I had set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations.
(Jer.1:4)

Jeremiah seemed to have carried out his mission from the 13th year of Josiah
until the 11th year of Zedekiah when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian
onslaught. (approx. 40 years). (Jer.1:1-3)
Of all the inspired men, no one reached the stature of Jeremiah in his great
sensitivity to Yahwehs love for his people and his profound understanding of
this very peoples duty toward Yahweh through the covenant ties. (N.J.B.C.
Art 4, P.266)
He was called c. 627-626 BC, and witnessed the Josiah reform. During the
reign of Josiahs father Manasseh, Judah was subject to the kings of Assyria.
Manasseh himself reigned for 40 years (687-642 BC) and is considered one of
the worst of Judahs kings for encouraging idolatry. He restored the cults in
the high places and defamed the temple with idols of Assyrian Gods. There is
a belief (unsubstantiated) that he had the prophet Isaiah assassinated and
that the priests secretly removed the Ark of the Covenant from the Holy of
Holies and took it to Egypt. Over the course of several centuries it arrived at
Lake Tana in the Ethiopian highlands. It is reputed to remain there to this day.
The Book of Jeremiah
The book of Jeremiah is a composite of his own writings, the redaction work
of Baruch his secretary, and finally a biography of Jeremiah. More specifically
the contents of the book are as follows: Chapters 1-25

oracles under Josiah and Zedekiah (1-17)

(Jeremiahs writings)
symbolic actions (18-20)
Booklets on kings and prophets (21-23)
Chapters 26-35

The Restoration of Israel. (26-31)

(Baruchs Redaction) The Restoration of Judah. (32-33)

Conditions for salvation. (34-35)
Chapters 36-45

the Martyrdom of Jeremiah

(Baruchs Biography of Jeremiah)

Chapters 46-52

Oracles against the nations.

(Dictated to Baruch in 605 BC)

These divisions are derived from the N.J.B.C. Pgs. 268-269

The Reign of Josiah
Under Manasseh the people neglected Yahweh and worshipped foreign Gods.
Jeremiah warned the people of Jerusalem about their crimes and an
impending danger from the North.
It is Yahweh who speaks. ` See a people comes from the North, a powerful
nation from the ends of the earth. Armed with bow and spear they are cruel
and merciless. Their voice roars like the roaring sea. Mounted on horses in
battle formation. They come as a fire, against you, daughter of Zion.
(Jer.6:22-23)
The people will get what they deserved. They have truly turned their backs
on Yahweh.
They have placed their idols in the sanctuary that houses my Name and
defiled it. They have built the temple of Topheth in the valley of Hinnom
where they burn their sons and daughters, something I never commanded or
even thought of. (Jer. 7:30-31)
With the death of Manasseh things changed. His son Josiah attempted to
reform the people. The temple was being cleaned and repaired when a
gratuitous event occurred. Hilkiah the high priest at that time discovered the
Book of the Law. The king gathered the people and had it read in the
assembly. He ordered the removal of the idols to Baal and Astarte from the
temple and tore down the shines to idols in the high places. The temple of
Topheth in the valley of Hinnom was destroyed. He also destroyed the altar
at Bethel and
Slaughtered upon the altars all the priests of the sanctuaries on the hills
who were found there and burned human bones on the altars. (2 Kings
23:20)
The burning of human bones defiled the sanctuaries. Jeremiah supported all
these reforms. Yet it seems that the people did not really get the message.
The untimely death of Josiah at the battle of Megiddo in 609 BC. meant that
Josiahs reforms faltered. The people reverted to idolatry.
Jeremiah spoke out against the social injustices and idolatry that he
observed. For this he found out that his life was threatened.

Yahweh made it known to me - - - take care even your kinsfolk and your
family are false with you and behind your back they freely criticize you.
(Jer.11:18)
The people of his own town Anathoth threatened to kill him.
Do not prophesy any more in the name of Yahweh and we will spare your
life. (Jer.11:21)
Symbolic Actions
When words would not change the minds and hearts of the people, God
instructed Jeremiah to perform symbolic deeds. The first deed revolved
around hiding a linen belt in a hole. When it was retrieved the belt was
ruined. God said to Jeremiah,
In this way I will destroy the pride and great glory of Judah. (Jer. 13:9)
The linen belt represented the people of God in Judah. The second symbolic
action was the breaking of wine jars. Normally the pitchers would be filled
with wine. The pitchers represented people.
I will dash them one against another, parents and children. (Jer. 13:14)
Then follows a vision of exile.
All Judah is deported, completely carried off. (Jer.13:19)
Yahweh knows the people will not listen to Jeremiah. The prophet echoes the
recalcitrance of the people by two rhetorical questions.
Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard his spots? (Jer.13:23)
For their sins Yahweh imposes a great drought
The rich sent the poor for water but they found none at the cisterns.
(Jer.14:3)
Palestine is a dry land. In the time of Elijah there was also a great drought.
Even today the state of Israel struggles to provide water for its people.
Droughts occurred frequently and that is why the building of cisterns and
wells was so important. The cisterns were used to capture the winter rains
when they came.
Jeremiahs Celibacy

Yahweh forbade Jeremiah to marry.

Do not take a wife nor have sons and daughters in this place. (Jer.16:2)
This was because when the invader came, all the existing families would
disappear. The presence of the solitary unmarried prophet was to be a sign
that God had withdrawn the Covenantal blessings of peace love and piety.
(N.J.B.C. Art 51. P280)
These blessings were the ideal virtues of married life.
At the Potters House
Jeremiah is instructed to visit a Potters House. The potter at that time was
reworking a defective vase or pot. He reworked it all over again until he was
satisfied. This visit by Jeremiah was to remind the people that Yahweh is like
a potter. He is the absolute master and directs the lives of all including
nations, according to his will. The people are clay in his hand to be moulded
as he sees fit.
As clay in the potters hands so are you in my hands. (Jer.18:6)
The Broken Jar
Jeremiah is commanded by Yahweh to perform another symbolic action. He
has to buy a jar from a potter and call some elders, senior priests and people
to accompany him to the valley of Ben-Hinnom (Gehenna). There, in front of
them he had to smash the jar into pieces. Just as the jar was broken so would
the lives of the people and the city of Jerusalem be shattered.
I, Yahweh the God of hosts, will smash the people of this city like the
shattered jar of the potter, which is beyond repair. (Jer.19:11)
One of the priests was so angry with Jeremiah prophesying like this,
He ordered his people to beat Jeremiah and put him in chains at the Gate of
Benjamin. (Jer.20:2)
When Jeremiah was released the next day, he told Pashur the priest that his
friends would be slain in his sight and
You and your entire family will be taken as captives to Babylon where you
will die and be buried. (Jer.20:6)

Jeremiah had no supporters or backers. He was always alone in his struggles

to prophesy.
The power of Gods word.
This power was irresistible. It was more difficult to resist Gods word than to
face human opposition.
His word in my heart becomes like a fire burning deep within my bones. I try
hard to hold it in, but I cannot do it. (Jer.20:9)
When St. Paul was writing his first letter to the Corinthians, he echoed the
same deep overwhelming force to preach the revelation he had been
given.Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel. (1 Cor.9:16)
Message to the Kings
After king Josiah, his sons came to the throne. Jehoahaz, who was made a
prisoner of the king of Egypt after three months; Jehiakim who reigned
eleven years (609-598 BC) and displeased Yahweh. Jehoiachim a third son
(609- 597 BC), reigned only a few months until being deported to Babylon;
Jeremiah warned them of their obligations.
Practice justice and do good. Free the oppressed from their oppressor. Harm
not the foreigners, the orphans and the widows. (Jer.22:3)
These last three groups, the foreigners, orphans and widows were especially
beloved of God and the care of them was an essential element in serving
Yahweh and still is.
The Restoration
Despite foretelling the immanent doom of captivity for the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, Jeremiah was aware of the love of Yahweh for the people he had
chosen as his own. He would bring back to Jerusalem a remnant because of
the covenant he had sworn to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai in the desert.
I will gather the remnant of my sheep from every land to which I have
driven them and I will bring them back to the grasslands. (Jer.23:3)
Not only will a remnant return but the kingship of David will be restored.

The day is coming when I will raise up a king who is Davids righteous
successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness.
(Jer.23:5)
After the fall of Jerusalem, Yahweh showed Jeremiah two baskets of figs. One
basket contained good figs representing the leaders and princes of the first
deportation. (8,000 in 597 BC) The other basket contained rotten figs. These
represented the royal line, the officials and all those remaining in Judah
including Jerusalem. They had considered themselves more important than
the deportees. Yahweh would look kindly upon the first deportees, the basket
of good fruit.
I will dispose their heart to know me. They will be my people and I will be
their God for they will come back to me with all their heart. (Jer.24:7)
As for the land of Judah,
All the land will be a ruin and desolation and for seventy years these nations
will serve the king of Babylon. (Jer.24:11)
Yahweh commanded Jeremiah to send this letter to the first wave of
deportees. The text read,
Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat what they produce,
marry and have children. - - -Pull yourselves together for the welfare of the
land to which I have sent you and intercede on its behalf as you pray to
Yahweh, for its welfare will be your welfare. (Jer.29:5-7)
When the time comes for the liberation of the remnant, they will come
back shouting for joy.
Yahweh will
Turn their mourning into gladness. (Jer.31:13)
However for the period of the exile, there will be sorrow.
In Ramah, a voice of mourning and great weeping is heard, Rachel wailing
for her children and refusing to be consoled, for her children are no more.
(Jer.31:15)
Rachel was the most beloved of the wives of Jacob. She bore two sons,
Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Of these
two half tribes Manasseh received the lands across the Jordan (the Eastern

bank and to the North) and Ephraim was given the land to the North of
Jerusalem, west of the Jordan. When Rachel died she was buried at
Bethlehem (Gen.35:19) With the coming of the Messiah, the mourning of
Rachel took on a new meaning. Matthew in his gospel quotes Jeremiah 31:15
as the cry of Rachel for the children slaughtered by Herod the Great around
Bethlehem. (Matt.2:17)

The New Covenant

The most important prophecy contained in Jeremiah is the reference to a
New Covenant. While Yahweh had always fulfilled his part of the covenant
forged at Mt.Sinai, the Israelites had defiled their part by reverting to
idolatry. Yahweh never stopped loving the Israelites, the chosen people. With
the first covenant shattered by the behaviour of the chosen people, Yahweh
prepares the rebellious Israelites for a new covenant that would last for all
peoples, for all times, namely the covenant proclaimed by the blood of Jesus
on the cross.
Jeremiah proclaimed this new covenant 600 years before Christ.
The time is coming it is Yahweh who speaks when I will forge a new
covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It will not be like
the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led
them out of Egypt. (Jer.31:31)
We know that Christ instituted this New Covenant when he gathered the
Apostles for the extraordinary banquet referred to as the Last Supper.
Jesus also took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to
them saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance
of me, and after the supper, he did the same with the cup, saying,
This cup is the New Covenant, sealed in my blood, which is poured out for
you.
(Luke 22:19-20)
Jeremiah buys a field
When the Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem for a second time, the
King Zedekiah imprisoned Jeremiah for saying that the city would be
conquered.

While Jeremiah was in prison, his uncles son, Hanamel, visited him with the
proposition that Jeremiah purchase a field in his hometown, Anathoth. This
request conformed to the law requiring that the patrimony of the familys
land be kept as a legacy for the family rather than have it sold to an outsider.
Jeremiah bought the land for 17 shekels of silver.
Then I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed and the silver weighed
on the scales. (Jer.32:9-10)
The significance of this contract went far deeper than the mere purchase of
land. It was symbolic. It was a prophecy from Yahweh that the land of Judah
would be restored.
Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land. (Jer.32:15)
The Promise of a Davidic Line
David will never be without a descendant seated on the throne of Israel, nor
will the priests and Levites be without descendants to stand before me ,and
to present burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices. (Jer.33:17)
This solemn affirmation of a Davidic line seems to be the work and insertion
of a redactor. Taken on face value, the prophecy did not come to pass. The
Israelites had no kings for several centuries after the exile until the
Hasmoneans. (c.160 BC). The Hasmonean rulers became both king and high
priest. The Levitical priesthood resumed. It was an aristocratic and priestly
class that claimed they descended from the Zodokite clan. Zadok had been
high priest under King David. This priestly cast that grew up under the
Hasmonean kings became the Sadducces. Their emergence seems to have
coincided with the reign of John Hyrcanus I. (134-104 BC)
We know that with the institution of the New Covenant, Christ also
instituted a new priesthood open to men of any tribe.
So the promise of an unbroken Davidic line and a Levitical priesthood had a
hollow ring about it and fueled the disillusionment that pervaded Jewism
after the Exile.
The saving factor in the prophecy was the coming of Christ, truly a Son of
David and a king whose kingdom would last forever.
The Scroll

The book of Jeremiah backtracks here to the reign of king Jehoiakim (609-598
BC) before the imprisonment of Jeremiah under king Zedekiah (597-587 BC)
This serves as evidence that the book of Jeremiah is a composite and the
work of an editor.
The scroll in question contained all the oracles against Jerusalem which
Jeremiah had dictated to Baruch, son of Neriah his secretary. Jeremiah
commanded Baruch to go the Temple on a day of fasting and read the
contents of the scroll to the people. Jeremiah at that time was in prison.
Officials took the scroll from Baruch. It was taken to the king and read in his
presence by Jehudi. It was winter and a fire was burning in front of the king.
Whenever Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would cut
them off into pieces with the secretarys knife and cast them into the fire
until the whole scroll was burned. (Jer.36:23)
Yahweh ordered Jeremiah to dictate a second scroll to Baruch, containing all
the oracles that had been destroyed.
Jehoiakim the king perhaps thought he would neutralize the dynamism of
these prophecies by destroying them. (N.J.B.C. Art 99, Pg.292)
Yahweh sent a message to the king
Not one of his descendents will sit on the throne of David. His dead body
will be exposed to the heat of the day and the chill of night. (Jer.36:30)
Jeremiah in the Well
During the siege of Jerusalem, officials of the city called for the death of
Jeremiah, because his prophecies were
Weakening the will of the fighting men and people left in the city. (Jer.38:4)
The officials of the city took Jeremiah and threw him into an empty cistern
that had only mud in the bottom. Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian official pleaded
before Zedekiah on behalf of Jeremiah. The king granted permission for
Jeremiah to be hauled up out of the cistern and placed in the Guards court.
When Jerusalem capitulated to the Chaldean army, Jeremiah was released
from prison and handed over to Gedaliah the newly appointed Govenor of
Judah. Gedaliah set up his seat of government in Mizpah. Jeremiah stayed
with him.

A few months later Gedaliah was assassinated by Ishamael son of Nethaniah

who then fled with eight men to the Ammonites. Army officers sent to find
Ishmael decided to take the people left in Gedaliahs care and journey to
Egypt despite Jeremiah warning them not to go to Egypt. Jeremiah was
forced to join the group. Tradition has it that he died in Egypt in 597 BC.
The Oracles against the Foreign Nations
These form the last section of the book of Jeremiah. None of the countries
surrounding Judah were spared by the invaders from Babylon. They all fell
under the dominion of the Chaldeans.
Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Edom, the Syrian Cities, Elam, and the
Bedouin Arabs were overrun. But as Jeremiah prophesied, Babylon itself fell to Cyrus
the Persian. The conqueror was conquered.

A people from the North marches against her, to turn her into a wasteland
abandoned by both people and beast. (Jer.50:3)
It should be noted that Cyrus took Babylon without a fight in 538 BC. Why
then did it become a site of ruins? In 482 BC, the people rose up in revolt
against their Persian conquerors. The King Xerxes I leveled the city in
response to the uprising.

Ezekiel
Ezekiel was a priest. He served in Jerusalem until it fell to the army of
Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. Many of the elite were led away captive to
Babylon (8,000). Included in this first wave of deportees was Ezekiel.
For 10 years in Babylon he censored the people of God for their conduct. He
was called to his prophetic role in 593 BC. in quite dramatic fashion
I was with the exiles by the river Kebar, the heavens opened and I had
visions from Yahweh (Ezek.1:1)
He describes a windstorm coming from the North.
The North is also the mythical home of Yahweh. (N.J.B.C. Art 19, P.310)
The first vision he sees is that of four Creatures surrounding the throne of
God. His description is amazing. The detail is impossible to imagine. All four
creatures had four faces and four wings. They had human hands under the
wings. The four creatures had straight legs superimposed on crossed wheels

that moved in any direction and were covered with eyes. Ezek 1:4-24 would
stretch anyones imagination.
The wheels indicate a war chariot - - - - The eyes on the rims are well known
from Assyrian statues of the gods, which were depicted with eyes on their
crowns. They reveal the all seeing divine presence. (N.J.B.C. Art 20, P.310)
In the New Testament, the writers of the four gospels are associated with the
same symbols as the four creatures. Matthews gospel is symbolized by the
man. Marks by the lion. Lukes by the bull and Johns by the eagle.
The Calling of Ezekiel
Yahweh addressed the prophet directly, calling him the Son of Man and
commanding him to eat a scroll on both side of which were
written lamentations, groanings and Woes. (Ezek.2:10)
He was to fill his stomach with the message and make it his lifes work.
I ate it and it tasted as sweet as honey. (Ezek.3:3)
Seven days later Yahweh confirmed his mission.
Son of Man, I have made you as a watchman for the House of Israel.
(Ezek.3:17) This designates Ezekiel as a protector of Yahwehs people. We do
not know how old he was when he was called to the mission of prophecy.
The book of Ezekiel.
It is well organized. Ezekiel begins with doom but ends with consolation.
(N.J.B.C. Art3,P.305) He develops certain traditional themes.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Yahwehs lordship over all nations and events.

His holiness (Transcendence).
Insistence on both moral and cultic integrity.
The responsibility of each generation for its own acts.
The conviction that God intends to restore Israel out of a totally free
gift of grace.
(N.J.B.C. Art12, P.308.)

The mission begins

It begins with Yahweh striking Ezekiel dumb.
Your tongue shall stick to your palate and you will remain dumb.
(Ezek.4:26)

This was because the Israelites were such a rebellious people that they
would not heed any words of prophecy coming from Ezekiel. Instead he was
perform symbolic acts.
The first symbolic act is one that represents the siege of Jerusalem. On a clay
tablet he draws a city to represent Jerusalem. He takes an iron pan and
places it between himself and the clay tablet as though it was a wall.
For 190 days he was to bear the sin of Israel by lying on his left side facing
the clay tablet. Then Yahweh commands him to lie on his right side for 40
days to bear the sin of Judah. Each day represented a year. He was to
prepare barley cakes cooked over human dung, water for food and drink.
Both were to be strictly rationed to symbolize the Israelites who
will eat unclean bread among the nations where I will send them. (Ezek.
4:13)
The food in the besieged city of Jerusalem, when the time comes, will be
strictly rationed so much so that many of the inhabitants will starve to death.

The second symbolic act represents the slaughter and death that will occur
in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel is commanded to take a sharp sword and remove the hair on his
head and shave his beard. One third of the hair is to be burned; one third is
to be struck with the sword and dispersed; one third is to be scattered in the
wind and pursued by the sword. (Ezek.5:1-4)
When he carries these acts out, his tongue is loosened and he can berate the
people of Jerusalem because of the way they defiled the Temple. The
punishment for this offence will be,
A third of your people will die of the plague or starve within your walls, a
third will fall by the sword outside the city, a third I will scatter to the winds
and pursue with sword unsheathed. (Ezek.5:12)

Ezekiel made this prediction while exiled in Babylon. Much of what he said
came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem a second time in
587 BC.
The Vision of the Temple in Jerusalem
Ezekiel is sitting in his house with the elders sitting in front of him when a
heavenly being of fire and light grasped him and lifted him up taking him to
Jerusalem in a vision without making him physically present there. The first
thing he sees is
The idol which provokes Yahwehs jealousy (Ezek.8:3)
We are not told what this idol. Is nevertheless it was an abomination in the
sight of God, violating the first commandment. (Exod.20:4)
Ezekiel is led by Yahweh to the door of the court to the Temple and ordered
to break a hole in the wall. He goes inside and sees all the
Kinds of reptiles, repulsive beasts and all the filthy idols portrayed on the
wall all around. Before them stood seventy men, the elders of Israel, and
among them was Jaazaniah the son of Shapan. Each held a censor in his
hand and perfume rose from a cloud of incense.
(Ezek.8:1-11)
At Mt Sinai seventy elders represented the people at the Tent of Meeting with
Moses and Yahweh. (Num.11:16-17)
Here, the seventy elders represent all Israel guilty of idolatry. (N.J.B.C. Art
11, P.313)
Then Ezekiel was led to the inner court of the Temple.
At the door to Yahwehs sanctuary, between the porch and the altar, were
about twenty five men, their backs to the temple, facing East and
worshipping the sun. - - - see they are waving the branch before their nose.
(Ezek.8:16-17)
The waving of a branch before the nose was a significant gesture of a
subservient people.
This gesture, was a sign of humility before a God. (N.J.B.C. Art 32, P.314)
Worship of the sun God was practiced in Israel

At least in the time of Manasseh, (687-642 BC) Since Josiah had to destroy
the horses and chariot of the sun found at the Temple entrance itself. (2
Kings 23:11) (N.J.B.C. Art 32, P.314)
The Angels of Judgement
Because of the abominable idolatry of the leaders of Jerusalem, the Glory of
God rose from the mercy seat of the Ark and Ezekiel witnessed the coming of
a great punishment on the people of Jerusalem.
six men came from the direction of the upper gate- - - with them was a man
clothed in linen with writing material at his side. (Ezek.9:2)
Yahweh commands the man dressed in linen to pass through Jerusalem and
trace a cross on the forehead of those people who are appalled at the
perversions found in the Temple. When his task is completed Yahweh
commands the six men,
Now you may pass through the city and strike. Your eyes shall not look with
pity; show no mercy! Do away with them all old men, young men, virgins,
children and women but do not touch anyone marked with a cross. (Ezek.
9:5-6)
They were ordered to begin with the 70 elders in front of the temple.
Let the courts be filled with the slain and the temple be defiled with their
blood; go out! (Ezek.9:7)
The dead bodies would desecrate the Temple. It would become unfit for
divine worship.

The symbolic act of going into Exile.

Ezekiel is commanded by Yahweh to prepare an exile baggage. Something
with the bare necessities. Then in the sight of his fellow exiles,

While they look on, dig a hole in the wall and leave from there. As they look
on, shoulder you baggage and leave in the dark. Veil your face and do not
look at the land for I have made you a sign for Israel. (Ezek.12:4-6)
Ezekiel is to speak in the morning to enlighten his fellow exiles as to the sign
he has acted out. He is to tell them that Jerusalem will fall and the survivors
deported as they were. This is a blow to the exiles. The arrival of a large
number of people in the second wave of deportees would fill the first exiles
with disillusionment. They thought Jerusalem was safe.
The Riddle of the Two Great Eagles.
Both of these eagles were great. They both had powerful wings and
abundant plumage. This allegory is a reference to the future of the coming
juggernaut of Nebuchadnezzar and his army.
The first great `eagle is Nebuchadnezzar, a king of Babylon (v.3) `Lebanon
is an image for Israel and more particularly, Jerusalem. (Jer.22:6,Zech.11:1-3,
Isa.10:34) The `topmost twig (V.4) is Jehoiachin, taken into exile in 598. (2
Kings 24:8-15)
The `land of traders is Babylon and the `seed of the land (v.5) Zedekiah,
Jehoiachins uncle who was named king in his place. (2 Kings 24:17-18) It
became a `vine like a `willow (v.5-6) in that it grew extremely quickly and
luxuriantly.
The second `great eagle (v.7) is Psammachus II of Egypt, with whom
Zedikiah had made a treaty to help lift the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem in
588 B.C. (Jer.37:4-11). Finally, the `east wind is the desert Sirocco that blows
during certain times of the year, withering up all with its searing heat and
providing a metaphor for Gods anger. (Exod.10:13 , 14:21, Ps.78:26)
The instrument of this wrath will be Nebuchadnezzar. (N.J.B.C. Art. 48,
P.317)
Zedekiah will be the cause of the destruction of Jerusalem.
Then he (Nebuchadnezzar) took a member of the royal family and made an
alliance with him, binding him by oath. (Ezek.17:13)
But the king (Zedekiah) rebelled against him and sent messengers to Egypt
to ask for horses and a powerful army. (Ezek.17:15)

This king has despised the oath and broken the treaty. Because he did all
these things after giving his hand, he shall not escape! (Ezek.17:18)
Individual Responsibility
It had been thought and taught that the sins of the parent are punished not
only on the parent but also the son and grandson. For the Jew, sin had a
collective component. This was to become evident with the wholesale
deportation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. To be sure the population of
Judah were by and large idolatrous and deserving of a blanket punishment. In
the time of Joshua, Achan, son of Carmi retained some booty from the sack of
Jericho. For this Achan and his whole family were stoned and burned. (Joshua
7:25-26)
However, this was not the teaching of the Torah.
Parents shall not be put to death for the sin of their children, nor the
children for the sin of their parents. Everyone must pay for his own sin.
(Deut.24:16)
Ezekiel reiterates the law of the Torah.
The person who sins is the one who will die. The son will not be held
responsible for the sin of his father and the father will not e responsible for
the sin of his son. The righteous deeds of the righteous will be to his credit
and the sin of the wicked will be charged against him.
(Ezek.
18:20)
The Allegory of the Two Sisters Oholah and Oholibah (Ezek.23:1-35)
Oholah is Samaria
Yahweh accuses her of playing the harlot with Assyria and Egypt. Eventually
the city of Samaria was overrun by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. God allowed
this because of the idolatry practiced by her people.
What offends God is that not only Samaria the capital but the people of the
whole Northern kingdom have given themselves over to worshipping foreign
gods.
Oholiah is Jerusalem

She is worse than Oholah because her lovers were three. Assyria, Babylon
and Egypt. Jerusalem also fell to foreign invaders because of her neglect of
Yahweh and not only Jerusalem but the whole of Judah.

The death of Ezekiels wife

Yahweh demands a lot from his chosen prophets. Elijah was hounded by
Jezebel, Jeremiah was not allowed to marry and died in exile in Egypt; now
Ezekiel is told that God will suddenly bring about the death of the delight of
your eyes, his wife.
This death is to be a sign to the people of Jerusalem. Not the manner of his
wifes death but the aftermath. Ezekiel is ordered not to carry out the normal
cultural rituals of mourning. This is to be the real sign to the people.
Son of Man, I am about to suddenly take from you the delight of your eyes,
but you are not to lament or weep or let your tears flow. Groan in silence and
do not mourn for the dead; wear your turban, put on your sandals, do not
cover your beard or eat the customary food of mourners. (Ezek.24:16-17)
It is a very strong prophetic warning to the people. They are not to mourn
for the loss of Jerusalem because it deserved the punishment it received.
(N.J.B.C. Art 64,P.321)
The Oracles against the Nations
The prophets often contain oracles directed against foreign powers. These
oracles are never sent to the foreign countries themselves but remain as
warnings to the Israelites that Yahweh is the God of all nations. Everyone is
accountable to him just as he punishes Israel so too will he punish the
nations that have offended him.
In chapters 25 to 32 Ezekiel prophesies against the nations surrounding
Israel and Judah. There is gradation of enemies from the nearest to the more
powerful further away.
The four nations mentioned in chapter 27, Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia
took advantage of Judahs defeat by Nebuchadnezzar and attacked the
already devastated territory of Gods people. They all suffered defeat at the
hands of the Babylonians. Ammon itself was almost wiped off the map. The

Edomites were Semitic, being descendents of Esau the brother of Jacob.

There had been a long standing hostility between the Edomites and the
Israelites. In the time of Moses the Edomites refused the Israelites safe
passage through their territory.
After the fall of Jerusalem in 586, Edom seized much of the Negev desert
area of Judah.
(N.J.B.C. Art. 66 P.321)
The Philistines never ceased to be enemies of the Jews from the time of
Samson and the other judges. Even after their defeat by the Babylonians
they continued to bear a ceaseless hatred for the people of Judah and vice
versa.
For Tyre there was a dire prediction. This city had been the trading hub of the
Mediterranean coast. Its wealth was immense. It was even called Eden, the
garden of God. (28:13) Yet it fell first to Nebuchadnezzars troops after a
thirteen year siege in 572 BC. but recovered only to be obliterated by
Alexander the Great in 332 BC.
A funeral song is heard: who was like Tyre, now silent in the midst of the
ocean? How many nations you provided with goods unloaded from distance
shores. (Ezek.27:32-33)
It was the sin of pride that led to Tyres downfall, not conquest of the Jews or
even hostility.
Egypt comes in for special condemnations. The boast of Pharoah Hophra that
The Nile and its canals are mine; I made them (Ezek.29:3)
Is particularly offensive to God the creator of all. Its meddling in the affairs of
Jerusalem against Babylon only made Egypts condemnation worse.
Yahweh says,
I will reduce Egypt to a lonely ruin from Migdal to Aswan and to the border
of Cush. Neither foot of man or hoof of animal will tread its paths. Egypt will
be uninhabited for forty years. (Ezek.29:10-11)
The places mentioned are the boundaries of Egypt. The forty years
represents a generation. All the people will suffer. Some will be scattered
among the nations (30-26) and the soldiers

I will send to the land of the shadows with those who go down to the pit. - - Come down and make your bed with the uncircumcised, with those fallen by
the sword. (Ezek. 32:19:21)
A Mesopotamian view of the underworld,
Allowed different quality graves for each individual, depending on how
honourable that persons life and death were. (ANET 98-99) The lowest
quality was for the unburied. A warrior fallen in combat but given full burial
honours merited a special place in Sheol.
(N.J.B.C.
Art 80, P.324)
For the Egyptians there was the lowest place in Sheol. They were to reside
with the uncircumcised.
The Turning Point
Jerusalem has fallen. The prophet turns his attention now to the hope of
restoration of the Jewish people. He receives a new commission from
Yahweh.
I have set you as a watchman for Israel (Ezek.33:7)
He castigates the leaders of Israel denouncing the rulers as bad shepherds.
You have not gone after the sheep that strayed or searched for the one that
was lost. Instead you ruled them harshly and were their oppressors.
(Ezek.34:4)
Yahweh will call these rulers to account and take care of the people himself.
I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them. - - - I will bring them
out from the nations and gather them from other countries. (Ezek 34:11-13)
He goes even further. He announces the coming of a new shepherd to watch
over his flock.
Over them I will put one shepherd, my servant David who will tend them
and be a true shepherd for them. (Ezek. 34:23)
This theme of the Good Shepherd is reflected in John 10:1-18. Christ is the
shepherd who will come to give his life for his flock.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down freely. It is mine to lay down and
to take it up again: this mission I received from my Father. (John. 10:18)

A New Heart
The name of God is sacred. Because of the past sins of the people, Gods
holy name has been profaned, made a laughing stock among the Nations.
This desecration must end. When the people of God are gathered from
distant lands, other Nations will stand in awe of Yahweh.
I will make known the holiness of my great Name. (Ezek 36:23)
Yahwehs grace will be freely poured out on his restored people.
Then I shall pour pure water over you and you shall be made clean - - - I
shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall remove
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I shall put my spirit within
you and move you to follow my decrees and keep my laws.
(Ezek.36:25-27)
The Vision of the Dry Bones
This is a dramatic vision. The valley is full of the dry bones of the people of
Israel. This is the end product of their centuries of idolatry. They are lifeless
and bereft of spirit.
This will all change. These bones will rise again. Yahweh commands it to
happen.
And then there was a noise and commotion; the bones joined together. I
looked and saw that they had sinews, that flesh was growing on them and
that he was covering them with skin. But there was no spirit in them.
(Ezek.37:7-8)
The renewed bodies are still lifeless. The people of Israel have yet to be
restored completely.
Yahweh commands Ezekiel to call on the spirit.
Spirit come from the four winds. Breathe into these dead bones and let
them live! (Ezek 37:9)
The effect is astonishing.
I prophesied as he had commanded me and breath entered them: they
came alive, standing on their feet a great immense army. (Ezek.37:10)
Israel had been restored.

The Two sticks joined as one.

Ezekiel is commanded now to perform a symbolic act. He is to take two sticks
and write on them the following names. The first stick will be called Judah
and the Israelites loyal to him. On the second stick he is to write,
Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and the Israelites loyal to him.
He is told to join them together to make one single piece of wood. When
people ask him what does this mean he will reply these words of Yahweh.
I shall make them into one people on the mountains of Israel and one king is
to be king of them all. They will no longer form two nations or be two
separate kingdoms. (Ezek. 37:22)
So Israel and Judah will not only be restored, but they will be restored as one
kingdom. The division into two kingdoms occurred at the death of Solomon in
932 BC. The Northern kingdom was ruled by Jeroboam and the Southern
kingdom by Rehaboam. The division was a direct result of Solomons idolatry.
God and Magog]
God is the chief prince of Magog, a land to the North of Israel. He will be the
leader in the future of a great army that will come against Israel. God will be
assisted by Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer and Bethtogarmah.
Little is known of Gomer and Bethtogarmah, but Put and Cush refer to Libya
and Ethiopia respectively. All of these lands will send their armies to
converge at Armageddon
(Mount Megiddo). Israel will be
surrounded and in dire straits. The scene is apocalyptic and will occur at the
end of the world before the final coming of Christ.
This prophecy represents the final struggle between the forces of Satan and
God. God himself will intervene on behalf of the beleaguered Israel.
I come against you Gog, Chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. - - -You will fall
on the mountains of Israel, your battalions and the nations with you. And I
shall give you over to all the birds of prey and wild beasts when you have
fallen in the open countryside. (Ezek.39:1-5)
The number of dead among the enemy will be so great that,
It will take seven months to bury the dead and cleanse the country.
(Ezek.39:12)

The same final battle is mentioned in the book of Revelation. The cause of
the death of Israels enemies is spelt out in simple detail,
Fire came down from heaven and devoured them. (Rev.20:9)
The Future Temple
In the 25th year of his exile, Ezekiel received a vision of the New Temple. He
is given a guided tour of the new temple by
A man who seemed to be made of bronze. He had a flax cord and a
measuring rod in his hand and was standing in the gateway. (Ezek. 40:3)
The angel sent by God measures exactly for Ezekiel the dimensions of the
New Temple of God. The measuring and detailed description provided by
Gods messenger takes up chapters 40 to 42. It is a tiring and exhausting
process just to read it. What does it indicate? The Temple is holy. It will be the
resting place of Yahweh. Nothing is left to chance. There is a perfection there
befitting the Glory of God.
In the very next chapter Yahweh assumes in all his glory his rightful throne in
the Temple and stipulates the dimensions of the altar of holocaust and the
sacrifices to be carried out by the priests,
In this way the altar will be atoned for and will be purified and inaugurated.
(Ezek.43:26)
The religious cult is highly regulated. The priests are to pursue holiness and
observe all the laws of dress and behavior mentioned in chapter 44. They
bear a great similarity to the laws stipulated for priests in the books of
Leviticus and Numbers. The aim of all these priestly regulations is to
separate the sacred from the profane.
The Divisions of the Land
As in the time of Joshua the land of Canaan was divided into portions, one for
each Israelite tribe, so it is to be distributed to the exiles returning from
Babylon. In this way then will the restoration of Israel be complete. They
must not sell or exchange any part of it, and their part can never be
alienated, since it is consecrated to Yahweh. (Ezek.48:14)
You are also to measure a section 25,000 by 10,000 cubits, in which there
shall stand the sanctuary; this is very holy land. This shall be the sacred

portion of the country; it shall belong to the priests who officiate in the
sanctuary and approach Yahweh to serve him. (Ezek.45:3-4)
The prince who rules the people is to have his domain close to the land
stipulated holy. All princes who lead Israel of the Restoration are to
Give up your violence and plundering, practice justice and integrity, crush
my people no more with taxation it is Yahweh who speaks. Have scales that
are fair - - - (Ezek.45:9-10)
When the prince comes to worship, he is to do what the ordinary people do,
he is to come with the ordinary people,
Coming in like them and going out like them. (Ezek.46:10)
Everyone comes in by one gate to the temple and leaves by another gate
When the people of the country come into the presence of Yahweh at the
solemn festivals to prostate themselves, those who have come in by the
North gate are to go out by the South gate, and those who have come in by
the South gate are to go out by the North gate - - -
(Ezek.46:9)
This is possibly because No one is to turn his or her back on Yahweh.
The Stream flowing from the Temple
This is a vision of river that makes the land fruitful. It flows from the South
side of the altar through the South side of the temple down to the Dead Sea.
The waters of the dead sea are so salty so that nothing can grow along its
banks. Yet this new stream brings life.
Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in it, fish will be
plentiful and sea water will become fresh. Wherever it flows life will abound.
(Ezek. 47:9)

The river is a useful image of the life giving power of the Holy Spirit.
The river is so blessed that,
Near the river on both banks, there will be all kinds of fruit trees with foliage
that will not wither and fruit that will never fail; each month they shall bear a

fresh crop because the water comes from the Temple. The fruit will be good
to eat and the leaves will be used for healing. (Ezek.47:12)
Six hundred years later St. John will use a similar imagery in the book of
Revelation. (Rev.22:2
Ezekiels final entry refers to the city of Jerusalem. He defines its perimeter
and it has 12 gates.
The gates of the city are to be named after the tribes of Israel.
(Ezek.48:34)
St. John has a similar vision of the New Jerusalem coming down from
heaven. Its gates will also be named after the 12 tribes of Israel. (Rev.21:12)
However it will require no Temple, for God himself will be present and unlike
Ezekiels Jerusalem the whole city will be holy and all its inhabitants.

The Minor Prophets

Amos

Towards the middle of the eight century before Christ, the Northern kingdom
of Israel was rich and prosperous. Wealth was in the hands of a few rich
people. The poor were indebted to the rich. Many lost their land. The luxury
of the rich was a scandal.
Yahweh calls Amos from his village of Tekoa nine kilometers South of
Bethlehem and sends him to the Northern kingdom to accuse the leaders
and the rich of trampling on the rights of the poor.
He tells us he was a sheep breeder (1:1) and also a tender of mulberry figs.
(7:14) It is not clear the exact time of his call and prophetic mission. We do
know that he was the first of the 8th century prophets. (c.800-750 BC) He
prophesied at Bethel, the center of a c0ult established by king Jeroboam.
(922-907 BC)
His writings are the first to come down to us in the form of a coherent book
from among the prophets.
His first oracles are against the pagan nations, Damascus, Capital of Syria,
Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab.
All have offended Yahweh,
Not once but three times and even more. (1:3,1:6,1:9,1:11,1:13 & 2:1)
Yahweh still send fire to destroy them all. Even Judah shall suffer the same
fate. (2:5)
Then the prophet turns his attention to Israel. This is the climax of his vitriolic
outbursts. Israel is the real target of his mission. Of the Israelite leaders and
the rich he has this to say,
They sell the just for money and the needy for a pair of sandals; they tread
on the head of the poor and trample them upon the dust of the earth, while
they silence the right of the afflicted. (Amos.2:6-7)
Being sold into slavery to pay debts was not uncommon in the ancient near
East. (2 Kings 4:1) Impoverished Israelites fell deeper and deeper into debt
to wealthy landowners and finally had to sell their land and even
themselves. (N.J.B.C. Art 10, P.212)
Amos calls on Assyria and Egypt to come and invade Israel so as to level the
society and clear away the huge disparity between the rich and the poor.
(3:9)

The rich women of Samaria, the capital of Israel, are called You cows of
Bashan. (4:1)
Because of their part in the oppression of the weak and needy; for living a
luxurious lifestyle of continuous feasting. Amos says of them,
You will be dragged away with hooks. (Amos 4:2)
With the fall of Samaria in 721 BC. they will indeed be deported far from their
palaces and rich houses.
Amos calls the people to repentance. Yahweh proclaims,
Seek me, that you may live. (Amos 5:4)
Yahweh reminds the Israelites that nothing is hidden from him.
For I have the number of your crimes and how grievous are your sins,
persecuting the just, taking bribes, turning away the needy at the gates.
(Amos.5:12)
If the people change their ways shunning evil and doing good then Yahweh
promises them that they will live, (5:14) and he will be with them.
If they do not, then they will suffer the darkness of the Day of the Lord.
To the Israelites.
The Day of the Lord is anticipated, as a day of triumph when their enemies
would be crushed but through the mouth of Amos Yahweh warns the
Israelites that the Day of the Lord is one of accountability. If they through
they could escape judgement, then they are wrong. They will be like.
A man who fled from a lion only to run into a bear, or as if he entered his
home, rested his hand against a wall, only to be bitten by a viper. (Amos
5:19)
Yahweh rejects their burnt offerings, their chanting, their strumming on
harps (5:23) while they neglect justice and turn it into wormwood (6:12) a
bitter pill for the poor to swallow.
He presents to Amos five visions of calamities that he will send upon the
people. A swarm of locusts to devour the crops; burning heat to sear the
land; the laying waste of the high places and the sanctuaries; heaps of

corpses and loud wailings and finally the destruction of the altar and the
main sanctuary. (Probably at Bethel)
Amos is shocked and pleads for the people.
Yahweh, forgive! How shall Jacob (Israel) survive, small as he is. (Amos 7:2)
Yahweh relents of sending the locusts and searing heat but for the rest of the
calamities the die is cast. The deceit of the grain sellers who wait for the
passing of the new moon then they will
lower the measure and raise the price; let us cheat and tamper with the
scales and even sell the refuse with the whole grain. (Amos. 8:5-6) this is
too much for Yahweh to bear. He sees it all and will follow through with the
destruction of Israel. No one shall escape.
Though they dig down to the Netherworld. (9:2)
Or hide on the top of Carmel, I will search them out and take them, though
they hide from me in the depths of the sea, I will bid the sea serpent
(Mythological Leviathan) to bite them.(9:3)
Yahweh threatens to destroy Israel from the face of the earth. (9:8). But
they, with the people of Judah are his chosen people. Because they are his
elect, he will allow a remnant to survive.
I shall bring back the exiles of my people Israel; they will rebuild the
desolate cities and dwell in them. (Amos 9:14)
The verse 11 to 14 of Chapter 9 appear to be an addition by an unknown
editor to form a conclusion to the book. They are very positive and are a
complete shift from the message of doom conveyed by the words of Amos.
Amos has come from Judah and preached to a people not his own. He has
been a preacher of the need for a social conscience and high moral
standards. He raised the ire of Amaziah, the priest of the Bethel Sanctuary.
He is ordered to leave Israel and return to Judah and prophesy to his own
people. But he remains unfazed by such threats and bravely fulfils the
mission given to him by Yahweh.

Hosea

Little is known concerning the background of Hosea. He was called as Gods

spokesperson during the end of the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II, in the
Northern kingdom of Israel c.746 B.C.
With the death of Jeroboam II in 746 BC, the kingdom went into decline. At
the same time the city of Asshur rose to power (Assyrians). These Aram
speaking people began to flex their muscles under the leadership of Tiglathpileser (745-727 BC.) In 733-732 BC he destroyed Damascus and claimed a
large portion of the Northern kingdom. The remaining portion of Israel under
King Hosea was attacked by the successor of Tiglath-pileser, Shalmanaser V,
because Hosea had sent envoys to Egypt to help him rebel against the
Assyrians. Sargon replaced Shalmaneser and took Hoseas capital Samaria in
721 BC. Then he deported most of the population. (27,290 inhabitants)
Prior to the fall of Damascus and Samaria, the prophet Hosea preached to
the people accusing the people in no uncertain terms,
There is neither truth or goodness nor knowledge of God in the country.
(Hos.4:1)
He assailed them for their idolatrous practices, One such practice was the
consultation of the As herah, a pagan symbol in the form of a carved pillar
(4:12) honouring the Canaanite Goddess Astarte. Allied to that was the
scandal of sacred prostitution and the many sanctuaries to Baal, the
consort of Astate.
At the same time in this period of history in Israel there was the constant
intrigues in the monarchy. There was a lot of royal bloodshed and the
constant luxurious living of the leaders.
For these sins against Yahweh, Hosea predicts a just punishment. Yahweh
says.
I will pour out my anger on them like a flood. (Hos.5:10)
I will be like a leopard for Ephraim (Israel) and a lion for Judah. I will tear
them to pieces and leave them. When I carry them off, no one will rescue
them. (Hos.5:14)
This was a dire warning to the people.
To me Samaria, your calf is loathsome and my anger blazes against you.
How long will you remain defiled? The calf is yours Israel, a craftsman has

made it; it is not God and will be broken into pieces. As they sow the wind,
they will reap the whirlwind. (Hos.8:5-7)
Yahweh will come like the whirlwind that destroys the ripening crop.
Originally the golden calf was set up by Jeroboam I at both Bethel and Dan
to be a Mercy Seat for Yahweh because the people of the Northern
kingdom could no longer worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. With the loss of
the sanctuary at Dan to the Assyrians, a new shrine was established at
Samaria and the calf worshipped as the divinity Baal.
Even though in general the people of the Northern kingdom acknowledged
Yahweh as an important entity yet when it came to the fertility of the earth
and the livestock, they relied on Baals. They considered that Yahweh had
no power in these matters. Yet Yahweh did not wish to be another Baal
among many.
In the midst of his prophetic mission Hosea is asked by God to do a strange
thing. He is commanded to marry a woman involved in sacred prostitution.
(1:2) so he married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. In quick succession,
Gomer produces two sons and a daughter. Yahweh names the children
himself. The first boy is to be named Jezreel, the daughter, unloved and
the third son ,not-my-people. All these names are symbols of the
punishment to be inflicted upon Israel.
Then Gomer returns to her wicked ways. Hoseas marriage to Gomer has
ended in failure. Despite the pain and heartbreak, Hosea is told
welcome once more this woman who makes love to others. Love her just as
Yahweh loves his people who turn to other gods and offer raisin cakes to
them. (Hos.3:1)
Here is the fundamental message of the book of Hosea. Here is the key. It is
a symbol. Just as Hoseas wife Gomer is fickle and unfaithful she is a symbol
of Israel. Just as Hosea welcomes back his way ward wife so will Yahweh
welcome back the unfaithful Israel.
I will show my love to Unlove I will say to not my people, you are my
people, and they will answer You are my God. (Hos. 2:25)
Yet the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, that cannot be
measured or counted. In the place where it was said of them `You are not my
people they be called `children of the living God. The people of Judah and

the people of Israel will be reunited, they will appoint one leader to rule over
them, and they will come up out of the land. (Hos. 2:1-2)
Israel has been like a spoiled child. At the beginning God brought the people
of Israel out of Egypt.
I loved Israel when he was a child; out of Egypt I called my son. (Hos.11:1)
Yet even since then despite Israels depraved ways and the punishment
Israel has justly deserved, Yahweh continues to draw Israel to himself. He is a
god of love.
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, it is knowledge of God, not burnt
offerings. (Hos.6:6)
If Israel returns to Yahweh,
practise love and justice and trust in your God. (Hos.12:7)
Then he will restore his chosen people.
I will heal their wavering and love them with all my heart, for my anger has
turned from them. (Hos.14:5)
In essence the book of Hosea confirms that even it Israel is unfaithful God is
never unfaithful. His covenant remains forever.

Jonah
A Jonah ben Amittai is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25 during the reign of
Jeroboam II in Israel. (786-746 BC) (N.J.B.C. Art 2 P.580)
There is no certainty that this is the Jonah of the book of Jonah. What is clear
is that the city of Nineveh fell to the Babylonians in 612 BC. The book of
Jonah indicates a large city of Nineveh that is the goal of his mission. It would
appear that the Assyrian Empire was in decline at the time of the prophet. So
even though the date of his preaching is not clear, a rough estimate can put
it at the middle of the 7th Century BC.
The Assyrians were hated for their cruelty. This is reflected in Jonahs
unwillingness to go there.
Jonah decided to flee from Yahweh and go to Tharshish. (Jon.1:3)

Tharshish is believed to be a place on Coastal Spain as far away from

Nineveh as could be. Nineveh was due North East, while Tharshish was far to
the West in the opposite direction.
Jonah boards a ship at Joppa (1:3) crewed by pagan sailors of varied
nationalities. When Yahweh sent a sea tempest (1:4) that threatened to
destroy the ship,
The sailors took fright and each cried out to his own God. (Jon 1:5)
Then the list of improbables began. The sailors threw dice to determine who
was the cause of their distress. The lot fell on Jonah. Jonah accepted his fate
because he knew his actions had offended Yahweh.
Pick me up and throw me into the sea. (Jon.1:12)
Which the sailors did after a valiant effort to row back to shore. They pleaded
with the God of Jonah not to hold this homicide against them.
Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. (Jon.1:14)
Then we realize that the book of Jonah is really a story made up to illustrate
Gods mercy for all people.
Yahweh provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the
belly of the fish for three days and three nights. (Jon.2:1)
We know that by the laws of nature this is a comical exaggeration.
Jonah intones a prayer in the form of a psalm (Jon.2:2-10) while in the
absolute darkness in the belly of the fish. He begins to sing songs of praise
and promise to offer sacrifices to Yahweh if he is delivered from his plight.
Yahweh listens to his prayer.
Then Yahweh gave his command to the fish and it belched out Jonah onto
dry land. (Jon.2:11)
Not only was he ejected onto dry land, but also at a place a single days
journey from Nineveh.
Yahweh commands Jonah a second time to preach against the wickedness of
the people of Nineveh, calling them to repentance or God will punish them.
Jonah does not for one moment believe this hateful people will repent and
mentally delights in the thought of the cities impending destruction.

So Jonah preaches in Nineveh.

Forty days more and Nineveh will be destroyed. (Jon.3:4)
The book relates that it took three days for Jonah to walk through the city.
Even at the moderate pace of four kilometers an hour and an eight hour day,
the three day journey would equate to about 100 kilometers of city. So we
can take this statement
with a grain of salt. It is just another improbable we find in the story.
Jonah preached with vigour and delight. But the reaction of the people
shocked him.
The people in the city believed God. They declared a fast and all of them
from the greatest to the least, put on sack cloth. (Jon.3:5)
The king issued a decree and even the beasts were covered in sack cloth
(3:8) Hard to imagine but indicative of Ninevehs total and sincere
repentance.
Jonah was greatly displeased at this and he was indignant. (4:1)
He asks God to take his life because he is so upset. Yahweh refuses to do so
and chides Jonah for being angry. Disgusted ,Jonah leaves the city, finds a
place to observe the city and builds himself a shelter. God provides a rapidly
growing castor oil plant to give Jonah shade.
But the next day God allows the plant to be destroyed by a worm. (4:7)
Again Jonahs anger flares up at what he considers an injustice.
God questions Jonah about his anger over the loss of a mere Castor-oil plant
and points out to Jonah how insignificant this loss is in comparison to the loss
of the entire population of Nineveh, 120,000 people. (4:11)
What does this story tell us?
It is highlights the right of all peoples to salvation.
For many centuries Christians held the belief that
Outside the church there is no salvation.

Now Christians have opened their minds and accept that God is a God not
only of Christians but of all those of other religions who make up the mosaic
of the human race.
Not only is it the mercy of God which the author highlights in this parable
story; it is a particular quality of that mercy. That mercy is free and
unmerited. (N.J.B.C. Art.4 P.581)

Micah
Micah is the last of the four prophets of the 8th Century (Amos, Hosea, Isaiah
and Micah). He was from the village of Maresheth in South Western Judah
between Hebron and Ashdod.
Micahs activity was probably during the last years of Ahaz and later
(ca.725-700)
(NJBC Art 9 P.250)
He was therefore a contemporary of Isaiah. Both men were markedly
different in terms of background. Isaiah was highly educated and a
consummate poet. By contrast, Micah was a man of the country.
God called Micah and commissioned him to speak out against the crimes of
Samaria and Jerusalem.
He starts by denouncing the exploiters in Samaria. These are the rich.
Woe to those who plot wickedness and plan evil even on their beds! When
morning comes they do it as soon as it is within their reach. If they covet
fields they seize them. Do they like houses? They take them. They seize the
owner and his household, both the man and his property. (Micah 2:1-2)
Yahwehs punishment will be swift and inevitable.
I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, a place for planting
vineyards. I will scatter her stones down into the valley and lay her
foundations bare. (Micah 1:6)
Samaria was a well fortified city on a hilltop but it fell to the Assyrians in 721.
Its walls were destroyed and its people carried off.
Then Micah turns his attention to Jerusalem. The leaders and religious
authorities are condemned for their behavior.

Hear this, leaders of the nation of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel, you
who despise justice and pervert what is right, you who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with crime. Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests prophesy
for money, and yet they rely on Yahweh and say, `Is not Yahweh in our
midst. (Micah 3:9-11)
Jerusalem cannot escape punishment. For the first time in Micah we find this
great city of the Lord built around the hill of Zion referred to as the daughter
of Zion.
Writhe and howl, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labour, for now you
must leave the city and camp in the open country. To Babylon you must go; - - (Micah 4:10)
The punishment is well deserved. Just as Amos pleaded for social justice so
does Micah. Both make reference to false measures. Here Yahweh says
is there still within you unjust wealth and accursed short measure? Shall I
approve your false scales and your bags of false weights? (Micah 6:10-11)
What then is required of the people of Jerusalem. Its leaders religious
authorities, traders and vendors?
What Yahweh requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy and to walk
humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Chapter 4 has a remarkable prophecy concerning the last days. Yahwehs
kingdom is defined as a mountain. There is a similar image in Isaiah. This
chapter is in stark contrast to Micahs just accusations hurled against
Samaria and Jerusalem.
In the last days, the mountain of Yahwehs house shall be set over the
highest mountains and will tower over the hills. All nations will stream to it,
saying, `Come let us go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God
of Jacob, so he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths. (Micah
4:1-2)
He predicts a time of peace and harmony. A time when there will be no more
war and conflict. It is a beautiful passage.
He will rule over the nations and settle disputes for many peoples. They will
beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not raise sword against nation; neither will they train for war
anymore. (Micah. 4:3)

Another remarkable prophecy concerns the coming of the Messiah. It seems

totally out of place set against the oracles of doom. It is a breath of fresh air.
Bethlehem is singled out as the birth place of the Messiah and is quoted and
confirmed in the infancy narrative of Matthews gospel. (Matt.2:6)
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, so small that you are hardly named among
the clans of Judah, from you shall I raise the one who is to rule over Israel.
For he comes forth from of old, from the Ancient times. (Micah 5:1)
The Book of Micah finishes on a positive note. The people will come back
from exile and Jerusalem will be restored.
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; though I have fallen, I will rise again.
(Micah. 7:8)
There is an assurance from Yahweh.
The day is coming when your walls will be rebuilt and your boundaries
extended. (Micah 7:11
Micah speaks on behalf of the people.
Once again you will show us your loving kindness and trample on our
wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)
Let us conclude the study of Micah with an extract of comfort. These verses
seem to be the work of a later editor. Nonetheless their words reflect the
desire for restoration of a united kingdom.
I shall assemble you, nation of Jacob, and gather the remnant of Israel. I will
bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture. They have
a leader in their midst. See their king goes before them, Yahweh is heading
them. (Micah 2:12)

Nahum
He was a native of Elkosh but little is known of his personal background.
Even his hometown has not been identified. His short book (1:1) is the
work of a poet of great skill. Its message is clear. There is one message :
God will execute vengeance against Nineveh.
(N.J.B.C.
Art29,P.258)
Where was Nineveh?

It was located near Mosul in present day Iraq, and situated on the Tigris and
Khoser rivers. Today it is an archeological site.
When the Assyrians rose to power in the 8th Century they were a people that
showed no mercy to their enemies. All the people they conquered were
treated with great cruelty.
The extreme cruelty of Assyria to conquered nations is epic. Not only
violence but deceitful diplomacy was part of Ninevehs stock-in-trade.
(N.J.B.C. Art 37, P.260)
Nahum prophesied during the decline of the Assyrian empire in the latter
part of the 7th Century c. 620 BC. He is delighted that the nemesis of nations
will itself be torn apart.
To the people of Nineveh here is Yahwehs decree. No descendants shall
bear your name. (Nahum 1:14)
Woe to the bloody city, city of lies and booty - - - the heaps of wounded, the
dead and dying - - we trip over corpses. (Nahum 3:1, 3)
Nineveh was besieged for two years. Cyaxares began the siege in 614 BC.
Then in 612 BC the city was overwhelmed by the combined forces of
Babylonians, Medes and Scythians.
The fall of Nineveh, although once used as an instrument of Gods wrath
against the covenant people, is an act of divine justice. (N.J.B.C. Art.29,
P.258)

Zephaniah
He is possibly a descendent of king Hezekiah (1:1). There has been a period
after the prophet Isaiah, who completed his mission c 690 BC when the
faithful of Judah suffered under King Manasseh. Zephaniahs voice breaks the
silence around 630 BC.
He predicts a coming Day of Yahweh. It will not be one of rejoicing as the
people were expecting. It will be a day of wrath for Judah and Jerusalem.
I will raise my hand to punish Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will bring out of that place all the remnants of Baal with their priests.
(Zeph.1:4)
The reason for Yahwehs anger is the persistent idolatry of the people.

I will also drive away those who kneel on the roofs to worship the stars,
those who invoke at the same time Yahweh and Milcom, those who have
deserted Yahweh and no longer look toward him or consult him. (Zeph. 1:56)
Judah and Jerusalem are not the only places to feel Yahwehs wrath.
Zephaniah proclaims an oracle of destruction against the surrounding
nations.
Philistia (W) Moab and Ammon (E), Cush (S), and Assyria (N) represent the
four corners of the earth. (N.J.B.C. Art 14, P.256)
Gaza shall be a desert, Ashkelon completely destroyed to its very
foundation - - - (Zeph.2:4)
And so it is today. Even in the time of Christ it was sparsely inhabited.
Therefore I swear that as I live, Moab shall become like Sodom, and Ammon
like Gomorrah, as desert indeed. (Zeph. 2:9)
Nor will the Assyrians escape. Their destruction is assured.
Yahweh will raise his hand against the North and reduce Assyria to ruins. He
will leave Nineveh in utter desolation, barren as the desert. Herds of all kinds
of animals shall find shelter in her, and even the pelican and the heron shall
dwell in her ruins - - - (Zeph. 2:14)
Yet there is a reprieve. Yahweh promises that the day of Wrath will have
the possibility of nations bowing to this will.
At that time I will give truthful lips to the pagan nations that all of them may
call on the name of Yahweh and serve him with the same zeal. (Zeph.3:9)
(Some scholars see this passage as a later addition by an editor.)
It is true however, that a remnant of Gods people will practice justice and
truth on the holy mount where the great temple of Solomon once stood. They
will be the poor of Yahweh, the Anawim.
I will leave within you a poor and meek people who seek refuge in God.
(Zeph.3:12)
These poor will not be so much economically poor, but poor in spirit. They
will have the attitude of depending not on themselves but on God.

Then the prophet bursts in to a canticle of praise and joy, something almost
foreign to most of the book of Zephaniah. He reflects some of the writings of
the prophet Hosea by referring to Jerusalem as the daughter of Zion.
Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; rejoice, O people of Israel! Sing joyfully
with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. (Zeph. 3:14)
We need now to consider two passages that reinforce the view that another
author or editor has inserted into Zephaniah his own ideas, in language that
is apocalyptic and indicative of the End Times. The first passage is as
follows: I will wipe out everything from the face of the earth. I will put an end to
humans and animals, to the birds of heaven and the fish of the sea. I will
wipe humankind from the face of the earth. (Zeph.1:2-3)
This threat of total annihilation seems to be inconsistent with the other
passages in the book that present a God of Mercy as well as a God of justice.
The second passage is almost as violent.
Therefore, wait for me, says Yahweh, for the day when I come to accuse,
when I have the nations gathered and the kingdoms assembled to vent my
wrath on you with all the fury of my anger. Then the fire of my jealous wrath
will burn the whole land. (Zeph.3:8)
We must conclude by reminding ourselves that for Zephaniah this day of
wrath, this day of Yahweh is aimed primarily at the people of Judah, and
Jerusalem.

Habakkuk
He wrote his oracles from 605-600 BC when the Chaldean king
Nebuchadnezzar became powerful and laid waste to much of Palestine.
Habakkuk has seen the demise of the cruel Assyrians but their replacement
by the fierce Chaldeans has shocked him. One tyrannical reign has been
replaced by one just as bad.
There is no end to pain and suffering for the people of God. Habakkuk cries
out to God for an explanation. He is the first prophet who questions the
actions of God. Or more significantly his apparent inaction in the face of so
much injustice by the Assyrians.

Yahweh, how long will I cry for help while you pay no attention to me? I
denounce the oppression and you do not save. Why do you make me see
injustice? Are you pleased to look on tyranny? All I see is outrage, violence
and quarrels. (Hab.1:2-3)
When Yahweh replies to the prophet his words are far from reassuring.
I am going to call the Chaldeans, that terrifying and violent people who raid
to the ends of the earth, to seize the lands of others. (Hab.1:6)
Why? The answer is simple. This double whammy is to punish the Chosen
people for their persistent idolatry and unjust behavior.
Habakkuk is quick to condemn the behavior of the conquering armies from
Assyria but he seems almost to be oblivious to the wickedness of his own
people. Yet at the same time he recognized the right of Yahweh to chastise
them and admits,
the law has been put aside and just decrees are no longer issued. The
wicked overrule the upright and they get crooked sentences. (Hab.1:4)
Still, Habakkuk complains a second time.
Why then do you look on treacherous people and watch in silence while the
evildoer swallows up one better than himself. (Hab.1:13)
Yahweh brushes aside this second complaint, pointing out to Habakkuk and
the chosen people that they are to demonstrate faithfulness to him, even in
the midst of great suffering.
I dont look with favour on the one who gives way; the upright, on the other
hand, will live by faithfulness. (Hab.2:4)
The Chaldeans have replaced the Assyrians. Now Habakkuk expresses great
joy over what will befall the Babylonians. He preaches five woes against the
new invaders.
The first woe concerns goods taken by force.
Woe to him who amasses what is not his and fills himself with extorted
pledges. Your creditors will come suddenly - - - (Hab.2:6-7)
The second woe concerns the presumption that the house or dynasty of
the Babylonians is secure.

Woe to him who raises his house on unjust profits and fixes his nest so
high he thinks he can escape misfortune. (Hab.2:9)
The third woe concerns building a city (empire) on violence.
Woe to him who builds a city on blood foundations and sets up a town by
evil. (Hab. 2:12)
The fourth woe concerns degrading the conquered people by exposing them
shamelessly.
Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbours and drugs them to make
them drunk so that everyone looks at their nakedness. (Hab.2:15)

The final woe concerns idolatry.

Woe to the one who says to a piece of wood wake up, and to a dumb
stone, get up. Can it give an answer? For even though it is plated with gold
and silver, there is not a single breath of life in it. (Hab.2:19)
Habakkuk finishes his prophesying with a canticle that honours the greatness
of Yahweh. Despite the dangers and misfortunes he enumerates, Habakkuk
knows that Yahweh is his strength and Habakkuk presses forward exultingly.
Pestilence goes before him, plague follows close behind. He stands and the
earth sways; he looks and the nations tremble. (Hab.3:5-6)
But He concludes his reflective prayer with these words.
Yet in Yahweh will I rejoice, in God my savior will I exult. My Lord Yahweh is
my stronghold; he makes my feet as fleeting as the hinds; he steadies my
steps upon the heights. (Hab.3:18-19)

Haggai
Haggai is the first of the postexilic prophets. It must be remembered that
in 538 BC, Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon issued his decree allowing the
Jews to return to their homeland. The returnees seemed to be more
concerned with their own welfare than rebuilding the Temple and the city
walls.

The first wave of returning exiles seemed to be small.

There is a fairly good consensus that not many Judeans returned from exile
during Cyruss reign and that the first large groups returned after Cambyses
had finished his conquest of Egypt in 525 BC. (N.J.B.C. Art 3, P.349)
When Haggai arrived about 520 BC.
In the second year of the reign of Darius. (1:1)
Yahweh made this announcement through Haggai,
This people claim that the time to rebuild the house of Yahweh has not yet
come. Well now, hear what I have to say through the prophet Haggai: is this
the time for you to live in your well built houses while this House is a heap of
ruins? (Hag.1:2-4)
Because they put themselves first Yahweh tells the returnees,
You have sown much but harvested little. (Hag.1:6)
Yahweh continues,
Because my house lies in ruins while each of you goes running home.
Therefore the heavens have withheld rain, and the earth has not produced
anything. I send drought upon the wheat and the vines, the oil and whatever
the soil produces, upon people and animals, and upon any work of your
hands. (Hag. 1:9-11)
We are told that,
Work on the temple began only three weeks after the initial oracle of rebuke
and call. (N.J.B.C. Art 10, P.350)
Because
Yahweh moved the heart of Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the people, and they
began rebuilding the House of Yahweh of hosts, their God. (Hag.1:14)
Then follows a strange use of rhetoric. It is a question and answer format
that seems to have been a common form of priestly attempts to educate the
people or discuss among themselves.
Because the behavior of the people has been impure, then their agricultural
offerings and even the altar in the ruins are tainted with impurity. Now that

work has begun on the temple, Yahweh will turn the uncleanness and
misfortune of the people into purity and prosperity.
From now on since the first stone of the sanctuary of Yahweh was laid. See if
the wheat, the vine, the fig tree and the pomegranate go on yielding little!
From this day on I will bless your olive trees. (Hag.2:18-19)

Zechariah
The book of Zechariah seems to be a composite book. Chapters 1-8 reflect
the work of Zechariah while chapters 9-14 are significantly different in style
and content. Scholars believe that this section was written by a prophet
living about two centuries later than Zechariah. For that reason it is called
Deutero-Zechariah.
Zachariah seems to have carried out his prophetic mission from 520-495 BC.
he is said to be the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. (1:1) Other than that
we know very little about him. He appears to have been a person with some
authority in the post exilic Judean community.
Zechariah receives eight visions at night that relate to the community of
returned Judeans.

The first vision: Zechariah sees four men on coloured mounted horses. The scene is a
peaceful one. These men are messengers who have patrolled the earth and
report back to another angel that,
We have patrolled the whole earth and found it peaceful and tranquil. (1:11
The angel standing among the myrle trees (1:8)
Tells Zachariah to proclaim to the people that Yahweh is concerned for Judah
despite her problems.
My towns will once more overflow with prosperity; Yahweh will again
comfort Zion and make Jerusalem his favourite. (Zech.1:17)
The second vision : -

Zechariah raises his eyes and sees four horns confronted by four
blacksmiths. (some translations say Carvers another interpretation is
plowmen.)
The four horns represent nearby nations that have oppressed the chosen
people. The four blacksmiths or carvers or plow men are already in
place to
strike down the power of the nations that scattered the people of Judah.
(Zech.2:4)
The third vision : A man with a measuring line in his hand. (2:5) is about to measure
Jerusalem but Yahweh sends an angel to stop him and tell him
Jerusalem will remain unwalled. (Zech.2:7)
This is a strange command. We know that many years later, about 80 years,
Nehemiah arrived from Babylon (c.445 BC) and organized the building of the
walls.
In the context of the period of Zechariahs prophecy the reason given for not
building the walls is that Yahweh says,
I myself will be around her like a wall of fire, and also within her in glory.
(Zech.2:9)
The vision is followed by an oracle concerning the future of Jerusalem as
Gods city.
`Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for I am about to come, I shall dwell
among you, says Yahweh, `On that day, many nations will join Yahweh and
be my people, but my dwelling is among you, (Zech.2:15)
The fourth vision : Joshua, the high priest of the first wave of returnees is on trial for some
failure in his duties. The scene presented is like a court room. The accuser is
Satan. Joshua is dressed in filthy garments. (3:4) However an Angel of God
orders him to be clothed in rich garments and a turban placed on his head.
Then the angel proclaims
See I have taken away your guilt. (Zech.3:4)

He is told to walk in the ways of God. If he does this, then he will retain his
office. Then he is given an insight into the future of the governance of Judah.
In symbolic language, Joshua is told,
I am going to bring my servant the Branch. See I am setting (before Joshua)
a stone with seven eyes.
The branch is a reference to a future representative of the Davidic line. The
stone with seven eyes has never been discerned by scholars as to its
significance, nor the inscription to be engraved upon it. (3:9)
The fifth vision : Zechariah beholds a lamp stand of gold surmounted by a bowl. From the
stand come seven lamps and pipes to feed them (4:2) This sight is difficult to
imagine and its meaning is obscure. As part of the vision Zechariah
recognizes two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and one on the left.
The prophet asks for an explanation of the components of the vision. The
angel accompanying him says
These seven (lamps) are the eyes of Yahweh (Zech.4:10)
The two olive trees are
two anointed with fresh oil who served the Lord of the whole earth.
(Zech.4:14)
Because of the broken numbering and strange content of the vision, scholars
believe that the vision has been tampered with. That having been said,
The two olive trees are mentioned in Rev.11:3 two witnesses who will
proclaim the Lords word in the last days. These are the two mouth pieces of
the twin hearts of Mary and Jesus, namely, the words of the True Life in
God dictations to Vassula Ryden and the locutions to Fr. Stefano Gobbi found
in the blue book To the Priests Our Ladys Beloved Sons.
There follows an oracle concerning the rebuilding of the temple. This project
is to be organized and completed by Zerubbabel.
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house: his hands
shall also finish it. (Zech.4:9)
The sixth vision : -

When the angel asks Zechariah what does he see, the prophet replies,
a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. (Zech.5:2)
The scroll is written on both sides. It concerns the wrong doing that is
present in the Judean community. Swearing falsely and thieving. These are
offences against God (false oath) and against ones neighbor (theft). The
punishment is the curse that comes with these offences.
The curse is written on the scroll, as curses attached to violation of the
stipulations of a treaty were written into Near Eastern Treaties. (N.J.B.C. Art
30, P.355)
The scroll will traverse the earth and ferret out the offenders particularly
those in the Judaean community.
The seventh vision : The visionary sees a grain container. When the cover is removed, the figure
of a woman is seen sitting within the container. The prophet is told that this
is a vision of the guilt of the people of Judah and the woman personifies evil.
The woman tries to get out but is thrust back inside the bushel container
and the lid returned. Then the prophet sees two winged women who lift the
container and carry it to Babylon.
to build a temple for it and set it down on a plinth. (Zech.5:11)
The reference of identifying the woman with wickedness is not to
presume all evil comes from women nor that all women are evil. It is a
reference that pertains to the goddess Ishtar of the Babylonians. The prophet
and his people would have seen this goddess among the partheon of gods
and goddesses during their exile.
The whole vision has as its message the removal of the guilt of behavior that
is offensive to God.

The eight vision : Is one of four chariots pulled by horses whose colours differ from the colours
of the horses in the first vision. The colours are not significant. What is clear
is that the chariots are messengers of God sent to patrol the earth.

these are the four winds of heaven. (6:9)

The vision is over and the prophet receives a command to go to newly
arrived returnees, Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah and take offerings from them
of silver and gold so that crowns can be made one for the high priest Joshua
and one for the The man whose name is Branch (Zech.6:12)
It is not clear who Branch is. He seems to be a future king.
He will sit and rule upon his throne. (Zech.6:13)
However, the crowns are to be kept in the temple as a memorial to the
generosity of the three returnees mentioned already. One in particular seems
to be reserved for the coming Messiah. In fact, one probable implication is
that the two crowns represent the priesthood and kingship of the coming
Messiah.
After the eight vision there follows a number of oracles. There is a question
proposed by the people of Bethel concerning fasting. It is in the form of a
Tora i.e. a law to be given by the priests in response to a question on
custom or ritual.
Must we mourn and fast in the filth month as we have done in past years?
(Zech.7:3)
The prophet renders a reply on behalf of Yahweh. This is the fasting Yahweh
desires: Render true judgement, be kind and merciful to each other. Do not oppress
the widow or the orphan, the alien or the poor, do not plot evil in your heart
against one another. (Zech.7:8-10)
The real answer to the question comes in the form of this command,
From now on the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will be
days of joy, happy feast days. Only be peacemakers and sincere people.
(Zech.8:19)
The book of Zechariah ends with an oracle on the future of Jerusalem. It will
draw people from many nations.
In those days ten men of different languages spoken in various lands will
take hold of a Jew by the hem of his garment and say: we too want to go with
you for we have heard that God is with you. (Zech.8:23)

Deutero Zechariah
This book consists of two sets of oracles. In the first collection we learn that
God is a warrior who takes the side of Judah against her enemies. The
enemies are Damascus, Tyre and Sidon and the cities of the Philistines.
I shall camp as a guard near my House to protect it from all who come and
go. No longer shall an oppressor crush them now for I am aware of their
affliction. (Zech.9:8)
There follows an oracle on the future king, the Messiah.
He will come as a king of peace. He will not be mounted on a war horse
leading an army but will come riding the colt of a donkey.
Rejoice greatly daughter of Zion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! For
your king is coming, just and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey on a
colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zech. 9:9)
Matthew reminds us of this prophecy. (Matt.21:5)
In a following oracle, the prophet plays the part of Yahweh. At first the people
praise Yahweh but then they turn away to be led by other shepherds. So
Yahweh delivers them to evil shepherds who will take advantage of them.
I lost patience with them, and they for their part were disgusted with me.
(Zech.1:8)
To this end in losing patience, Yahweh, through the prophet breaks one of the
two staffs he acquired as a shepherd. The prophet breaks the staff
designated favour. This is a symbolic action designating an end to the
covenant between Yahweh and the people of Judah.
The prophet then asks for his wages since he will no longer guard the flock of
Judah.
So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver and Yahweh said to
me, `Throw it into the treasury, this splendid sum at which they valued me!
So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury in
Yahwehs House. (Zech.11:12-13)
This parable became fact when Judas betrayed Jesus. (Matt.27:3-5)

Then the prophet breaks his second staff called Bonds. This action was
symbolic and showed the separation of Judah and Israel.
The second collection of Oracles begins with Yahweh promising Jerusalem
victory over her enemies in a final battle.
On that day I will make the leaders of the clans of Judah like a fire in a wood
land and a flaming torch among the sheaves. They will devour right and left
all the nations around them, while Jerusalem will continue to hold its site.
(Zech.12:6)
Then follows what many Christians believe is a veiled reference to the death
of Christ. (Scholars are reluctant to share this view.)
They will look at the one who was pierced and mourn for him as for an only
child, weeping bitterly as for a firstborn. (Zech.12:10)
This mourning is to be as great as the ritual mourning observed each year to
Haddaadrimmon the Phoenician Gods death on the plain of Megiddo.
In the cleaning of Jerusalem that follows, false prophets will be evicted.
I will also remove the prophets and their unclean spirits and expel them
from the land. (Zech.13:3)
As there are no more genuine prophets, those that are left are false. There
words are lies. If one does prophesy,
His own father and mother will stab him when he prophesies. (Zech.13:3)
The final oracles are apocalyptic. They refer to the end times.
and in all the land, two thirds will be destroyed and one third left.
(Zech.13:8)
the one third that survive will be cleansed by fire and will come to
acknowledge and adore the true God.
A similar event is predicted in the words of Our Lady to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa
at Akita in Japan on Oct 13, 1973.
Fire will fall from heaven and will wipe out a great part of humanity. the
good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. (Journal of Sr.
Agnes, Akita.)
The Final Battle

I will let all the nations come against Jerusalem to attack it. (Zech.14:2)
Yahweh will defend Israel. The day of the great battle will have unique
phenomena.
On that day there will be no cold or frost. It will be a unique day known to
Yahweh, without day or night and when evening comes there will be light.
(Zech.14:6-7)
All the land will be turned into a plain and Jerusalem Shall be outstanding on
its heights (14:10)
As for Israels enemies,
Each ones flesh will rot even as he stands, and their eyes rot in their
sockets, their tongues in their mouth. (Zech.14:12)
Isaiah has a different perspective on this day of Yahweh.
Look, Yahweh will come in fire, His chariots like the whirlwind, to release his
anger with fury and his threats with flames of fire. For by fire will Yahweh
execute Judgement. (Isa.66:15)
Those among the foreign nations who survive will come to Jerusalem to
worship Yahweh in the city. Not just the temple but the whole city will be
glorified by Yahwehs presence. Everything will be holy.
All who come shall rejoice in the Feast of Tabernacles. (14:16) Just as the
Israelites celebrated their liberation from Egypt in the desert so will all the
new people of God celebrate their final liberation from enmity.
No longer shall the Temple be profaned by vendors and merchants plying
their trade
From that day, there will no longer be merchants in the House of Yahweh,
God of hosts. (Zech.14:21)
Christ himself cleansed the temple. (Matt.21:12-13) It would appear that
even in Zechariahs time, (Deutero-Zechariah) that same profanity existed.

Malachi
To date this prophet we take our clue from references to the sacrifices
offered and the teachings of the priests. These presuppose that the Temple
has been completed. We know this occurred in 515 BC. So we can assume

that Malachi preached in the late 6th Cent or early 5th Century. He was a post
exilic prophet.
We know nothing of his origin or personal life but we can glean from his
words his concern for the behavior of the Levitical priesthood and the need
to support the expenses of the temple.
His work or mission is to correct some abuses that have crept into the
religious and social life of the Judean returnees.
The first abuse is the presenting of blemished sacrifices on the Temple altar.
You will ask, how have we despised your name? you present defiled foods
on my altar. (Mal.1:6-7)
By contrast all the nations offer pure oblations.
See from the rising of the sun to its setting, all the nations revere my Name
and everywhere incense is offered to my Name as well as a pure offering.
(Mal.1:11)
Some scholars consider this quotation as a reference to the sacrifices offered
by the Jews of the Diaspora. Christians like to consider it as a veiled
reference to the Holy Sacrifice of the mass where a pure victim is offered
every few seconds around the world on the altars of Catholic churches.
The second abuse concerns the priests.
Malachi confronts them with their mediocre service and their erroneous
teachings.
Yahweh says,
I will curse you for none of you takes his ministry seriously. (Mal.2:3)
What is more, the prophet speaks on behalf of Yahweh,
But you says Yahweh of hosts, have strayed from my way, and moreover,
caused many to stumble because of your teaching. (Mal.2:8)
The third abuse concerns illicit marriages and the abuse of women and the
marriage covenant.
The people of Judah have defiled the sacred inheritance of Yahweh by loving
and marrying the daughters of a foreign god. (Mal.2:11)

This is a break with the laws handed down by Ezra after the exile. (Ezra.10:24,10-12)
In addition the men of Judah have become complacent and place little value
on the marriage covenant by thinking nothing of divorcing their wives.
It is because Yahweh has seen how you have dealt with your first wife, the
wife of your youth.
You betrayed her although she was your companion with whom you made a
covenant. (Mal.2:14)
To Yahweh, this covenant of marriage was sacred.
I hate divorce, says Yahweh, the God of Israel. (Mal.2:16)
Nothing could be clearer.
Then the prophet gives a warning to those who are evildoers in the
community. He lists adulterers, sorcerers, oppressors of the ordinary people,
the widows and orphans as well as the foreigners.
Yahweh will come suddenly and judge these evildoers. They will be
consumed by fire and lye.
who can bear the day of his coming and remain standing when he appears?
For he will be like fire in the foundry and like lye used for bleaching.
(Mal.3:2)
What has prompted the need for justice has been the apparent success and
wealth of evildoers. For those in the community puzzled by this perceived
injustice, their grievances have been allayed by the prophets warning.
Now the prophet reminds the community of financial obligations they have
towards the upkeep of the Temple and its religious services. They are called
upon to renew their commitment to Yahweh by the practical contribution of
one tenth of their income.
Turn over into the temple treasury the tenth part of all, that there may be
food in my House. (Mal.3:10)
The last entry in the prophets disclosure to the Judean community is a
reference to the future return of Elijah. The people were aware of his
miraculous entry to heaven without dying.

His return will preface The Day of the Yahweh.

I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the day of Yahweh comes,
for it will be a great and terrible day. (Mal.3:23)
What is puzzling is the reference to his
reconciling parents with their children and children with their parents.
(Mal.3:24)
We know that Christ portrayed John the Baptist as the returning Elijah.
(Matt.11:10)(Mk.9:13)
But there is nothing in his preaching of repentance that referred to
reconciliation within families. So this task supposedly given to Elijahs
return is an enigma. It never happened.

Joel
Like many of the Minor prophets, we know almost nothing of his personal
background. Dating the work is also not an easy matter. There are some
clues in his reference to priests and the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Hence we
can describe his work as post exilic. Perhaps also it is later than the
writings of Malachi, sometime in the late 5th Century or early 4th Century. We
know Tyre fell to Alexander the Greek c. 330 BC. When Joel writes, Tyre was a
prosperous city. Other than that the date of Joels writing is pure conjecture.
Joel speaks when the land is invaded by locusts. He describes the biological
stages of the invasion.
When the cutting locusts left, the swarming locusts ate. When the swarming
locusts left, the hopping locusts ate. What the hopping locusts left, the
destroying locusts ate. (Joel. 1:4)
The land is totally devastated. The vines and trees have been stripped bare.
So much so that
Grain and drink offerings are not found in the House of Yahweh. (Joel.1:9)
Joel calls upon the elders to proclaim a fast. Even the beasts in the field are
languishing.
How the cattle groan! The herds wander and moan for they have no
pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer. (Joel 1:18)

The devastation wrought by the locusts is compounded by a drought. The

streams have dried up. (Joel.1:20)
Yet the swarm of locusts comes on unabated, they are like an army.
They look like horses, they gallop along like chargers. With the clattering of
chariots, they leap over the mountains; with crackling like burning stubble,
they charge - a mighty army arrayed for battle. (Joel.2:4-5)
Not only is the land affected but the horde of locusts invade the city as well.
The prophet describes the whole event of the sun and moon growing dark
(2:10) as the Day of Yahweh.
When the situation is literally darkest, Yahweh calls the people to
repentance. They are to fast with weeping and mourning. (N.J.B.C. Art.16,
P.402)
- - return to me with your whole heart, with fasting weeping and mourning,
rend your heart, not your garments. Return to Yahweh your God gracious and
compassionate. (Joel 2:12-13)
The situation is critical. The eminent threat of starvation is very real. All the
people are called to the assembly, the elders, the children, infants at the
breasts and even newly wedded couples.
It is an invitation to community penance. The people obey and Yahweh
relents.
I will drive far from you the enemy from the North - - (Joel.2:20)
Yahweh will relieve their suffering. He will send grain, new wine and oil.
(2:19)
Rain falls and the drought is ended.
- for he has sent you the blessing of Autumn rains and showers (Joel
2:23)
What has been the purpose of these calamities?
With the sudden reversal in fortune, Yahweh has proved to his people that he
is in their midst.
Then there is a strange prophecy that refers to the last days. An even
greater wonder will come upon all believers.

In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on every mortal,

Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions. (Joel 3:1)
The church uses this text as part of the liturgy for Pentecost Sunday. It
highlights the miraculous conversion of many Jewish and pagan, visitors to
Jerusalem at that time. But commentators miss the import of the first line
when it refers to the spirit being poured out on every mortal. Coupled with
that, the reference to blood and fire on earth, the sun being darkened,
the moon turning to blood, were not phenomena observed on Pentecost
Sunday.
We are dealing here with an event prophesied by Our Lady to four young
girls in Northern Spain during 1961-65. In her visitation to the village of
Garabandal she spoke of the Great Illumination or Second Pentecost
whereby every person on the earth would be confronted with the true state
of his or her soul and be called to repentance.
More apocalyptic messages followed the announcement concerning the last
days. There will be a universal day of reckoning in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
Judah and Jerusalem shall be exonerated and the enemies of the people of
God brought to shame.
Tyre in particular will be called to account because of its slave trading.
You sold to the Greeks the people of Judah and Jerusalem, removing them
far away from their own land. (Joel 4:6)
It is ironic that Tyre was obliterated by the Greeks in 332 BC. and the
survivors themselves taken as slaves. Joel predicted the rebirth of Judah and
Jerusalem.
Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
(Joel.4:20)
This is his final statement ending with the presence of Yahweh in Zion. What
is confusing is Joel saying that the final battle of the nations will take place in
the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Revelation 16:16 states unequivocally that this
battle will take place at Armageddon on the plains of Megiddo.
Why the difference?

Obadiah

Is the last of the Minor prophets. He wrote after the fall of Jerusalem and
before Edom was destroyed in 312 BC. the best estimates put him in the 4th
Century. His small work is a fierce diatribe against Edom. Jacob was the
progenitor of the Israelites while Esau his brother was the ancestor of the
Edomites. They were in essence kindred peoples. However even in the time
of Moses their was enmity between the two peoples. The Edomites refused
the migrating Israelites passage through their territory. (Num.20:14-21)
The bitterness between Judah and Edom intensified after the fall of Jerusalem
and the Judean countryside. The Edomites took advantage of the destruction
of Judah and plundered the land and its surviving settlements. The Judeans
returning from exile never forgot this. In Obadiahs vision he sees and
predicts a doomed Edom. His oracle against Edom
is very similar in some places identical to that found in Jeremiah 49. - - - It is
probably that both Obadiah and Jeremiah used and adapted an already
existing oracle. (N.J.B.C. Art.29, P.404)
For the violence done to Jacob your brother, you will be disgraced and
destroyed forever. You stood aloft in waiting when strangers carried off his
wealth; when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem. You
were as guilty as the rest of them. (Obad.1:10011)
Historically, Edom was driven out of its lands by Bedouin tribes invading
from the Eastern desert, until it finally disappeared from the stage of
history. (N.J.B.C. Art.30, P.404)
People from the Negev will occupy Esaus Mountains (Obad.1:19)
The punishment metered out to Edom is expanded to encompass other
nearby nations. Again the day of Yahweh is invoked as an imminent threat
to them.
For the day of Yahweh is near for every nation - - - whatever you have done
will come back upon your head. (Obad.1:15)
As for Judah, Obadiah proclaims to her enemies that Judah will prevail.
But there will be survivors on Mount Zion a holy remnant. The house of
Jacob will take possession of its own inheritance. (Obad.1:17)

Daniel

Daniel is not the author of this book. He is the main character found in
Chapters 1-6 of the book. The book is a composite representing several
authors and a final redactor. The authors are unknown. The book of Daniel is
the last book of prophecy that has come down to us. Its final compilation can
be set at 165 BC. This makes it not only a fitting text to complete Old
Testament prophecy, but presents also an important stage in Apocalyptic
literature.
Throughout the book there is a thread that binds the various segments
together. This is
The conflict between the religion of the Jews and the paganism of their
foreign rulers. (N.J.B.C. Art3, P.407)
The stories concerning Daniel depict him as a young man in the court of the
Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar and an older man in the court of Darius the
Mede. We cannot assume that Daniel was an actual historical figure, despite
the entertaining narratives. We just have no proof.
The first account of Daniel is the refusal of Daniel to eat food from the kings
table. To the consternation of the chief enuch, Ashpenaz Daniel proposed a
food test.
Give us only vegetables to eat and water to drink, and see how we look in
comparison with the young men who eat food from the kings table.
(Dan.1:13)
At the end of the ten days the four Judean young men, Daniel, Haniniah,
Mishael and Azariah were in better condition than their counterparts.
Because of their adherence to Jewish beliefs, God granted to them
Wisdom and proficiency in literature and to Daniel the gift of interpreting
visions and dreams. (Dan.1:17)
So impressed was the king with their wisdom and discernment that on the
completion of their term of training, three years (1:5), the four young men
were employed in the kings court.
The king had a series of troubling dreams.
To interpret the dreams he summoned the magicians, sorcerers and diviners
of the land. Even with the threat of death imposed upon them and their
families they conceded that the task was beyond them. The king was so

furious that he ordered their immediate execution and that also of Daniel and
his companions.
In a night vision God revealed to Daniel the meaning of the kings dream. He
interpreted the dream for the king. The king had dreamt of a giant statue,
(Dan.2:31-35) whose body parts were made of various metals. Each metal in
the statute represented a kingdom. These kingdoms would follow the
kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. The golden head represented the Babylonian
empire; the silver chest and arms, the Medes; the bronze belly and thighs,
The Persians; and finally the feet of iron and clay, the Greeks. (N.J.B.C.
Art.16, P.411)
What is significant for Christians is that the statue was shattered by a
rock cut from a mountain but not by human hands struck the statue on its
feet of iron and clay, smashing them. - - - The rock that struck the statue
became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. (Dan.2:34-35)
It was a prophecy concerning the church to be established by Christ. The
Jews of that time (2nd Century BC.) could not comprehend its meaning.
The king was so impressed with Daniels interpretation that he acknowledged
the God of Daniel to be the God of gods, the Lord of Kings and the revealer
of mysteries. (Dan.2:47)
He showered gifts on Daniel and made him the governor of Babylon.
The Golden Statue
King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue
Sixty cubits high and six cubits wide erected on the plain of Dura in the
province of Babylon. (Dan.3:1)
The statue was approximately 100 ft x 10 ft. Rather an odd and difficult
statue to make. Certainly it would have been a landmark visible to all. At the
sound of musical instruments everyone was to fall down and worship the
statue.
To the Jews this would be repugnant. The companions of Daniel refused to
worship the statue. Their actions were reported to the king. He flew into a
rage and summoned the three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
(These were the names given to them by the chief Eunuch (1:7) they
forthrightly proclaimed

We are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have
set up. (Dan.3:18)
This infuriated Nebuchadnezzar, who ordered a furnace to be heated seven
times hotter than usual. How this would be achieved no one has explained.
Suffice to say the temperature would have been extreme.
The three young men were bound and thrown into the furnace. Then a
miracle happened. Their bonds seared off; the solders hurling the young men
into the furnace were consumed by the fire; the three young men walked
unharmed in the midst of the flames; an angel appeared and cooled the fire
around the young men.
Azariah uttered a prayer praising God. Then the young men sang a song of
nature calling on all the aspects of creation to glorify God. It was a long but
beautiful hymn. Scholars point out that the Prayer of Azariah and the song of
the three young men was written in Hebrew or Aramaic that was a higher
quality than that of the narrative. This is a clear indication that the book of
Daniel had several authors.
The king was shocked by what he saw and heard. He approached the furnace
and ordered the young men to come out of the fire.
The king drew near to examine them. The fire had no effect on their bodies;
their hair was not singed, their trousers were not burned, and they did not
even have the smell of smoke. (Dan.3:94)
Nebuchadnezzar praised the God of the three young men and ordered that
anyone who blasphemes their God
Shall be cut into pieces and his house shall be destroyed. (Dan.3:96)
The outstanding faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and their
dedication to their religion became an example for the Jews suffering under
the persecution of Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, to emulate. They were to rely
solely on God.
The purpose of the story,
is to show that the God of Israel protects his people from harm so long as
they remain faithful to him. (N.J.B.C. Art.17, P.412)
The Great Tree

Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of a tree at the center of the world.

It became big and reached up to heaven and its branches could be seen
from the ends of the earth. (Dan.4:8)
Then as he was visualizing the great tree, he perceived in an interior vision a
holy one coming down from heaven and ordering the tree to be cut down,
cutting off its branches and scattering its fruits.
Then the central figure in the dream changes from a tree to a man. A curse is
laid upon the man.
Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, let him share the grass of the
earth with the animals. Let his heart cease from being human, and let a
beasts heart be given him and pass over him seven times. (Dan.4:12-13)
The seven times meant seven years. The king called for Belteshazzar
(Daniel) to interpret the dream.
This tree is you, O king. (Dan.4:19)
You shall be driven out from human society and live with the beasts of the
field. You shall eat grass like the oxen and be drenched by the dew of
Heaven. - - - until you acknowledge that the Most High is higher than any
human authority - - (Dan.4:22)
Daniel advises the king to
wipe out your sins with works of Justice and your iniquities by showing
mercy to the poor. (Dan.4:24)
There is evidence to suggest that Nebuchadnezzar was a cruel king. He
devastated Judah and almost obliterated Jerusalem. Nearby nations suffered
greatly under his cruel armies.
While walking on the roof of the royal palace the king surveyed his city and
boasted to himself of his great power.
Then just as he was contemplating his prowess, the words of Belteshazzar
came true instantly. He became insane and was driven out of the city. After
seven years his sanity was restored and he exalted and glorified the king of
heaven. (4:34)
There is no historical evidence that this famous king of Babylon was ever
affected with any form of insanity. However, it seems probable that there

were folk tales about the last king of Babylon, Nabu-naid, (better known as
Nabonidus) being crazy. - - -he acted strangely by staying for long periods in
his desert retreat at Tema in Arabia. (N.J.B.C. Art.20, P.413)
The form of insanity wherein a person imagines himself changed into an
animal is known to medical science. It is called Zoantropy.
The essence of this story is to remind the Jewish people that God humbles
the proud.
The Banquet of Belshazzar
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his nobles. One thousand of them
attended together with the kings wives and concubines. When quite
inebriated, Belshazzar ordered that the sacred vessels taken from the
Jerusalem temple were to be brought in. these vessels were filled with wine
and those gathered at the banquet drank from them.
Suddenly, a mans fingers appeared opposite the lampstand and wrote on
the plastered wall of the kings palace. (Dan.5:5)
At the suggestion of the queen, Daniel (not Belteshazzar this time) was
called in to interpret the writing on the wall. He did so.
You praised idols made of silver, gold - - -, but you never glorified God who
has power over your life and all your fortunes. So he sent the hand that
wrote the inscription which read
Mene, Tekel, Parsin.
And these words mean:
Mene, God has numbered the days of your reign and put an end to it,
Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting;
Parsin, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the
Persians.
(Dan.5:23-28)
We are told,
That very night however, the Chaldean king Belshazzar was slain.
(Dan.5:30)
This was stretching history a bit.

According to history, Belshazzar was not slain in Babylon, but fell on the
field of battle, North of the City while resisting the Persian army. (N.J.B.C. Art
23, P.415)
Belshazzar is called the son of Nabonidus the last king of Babylon. In the
absence of Nabonidus, Belshazzar, the crown prince, held the new years
festival or banquet.
What is the moral of the story?
Belshazzar defiled the sacred vessels from the temple. This was a warning to
anyone who did the same. In particular the Jewish people could take comfort
in the fact that Antiochus IV Epiphanes would receive the same fate for
desecrating the temple in Jerusalem. Sacrilege would be punished. And it
was.

Daniel in the Lions Den

Daniel was by now an older man. Darius was king of Babylon. Daniels
excellence in the service of the king gave the king reason to
give him authority over the entire kingdom. (Dan.6:3)
But this angered the other officials. So they planned their revenge. Going to
the king they made this suggestion.
The King should issue a decree that anyone who prays and makes petition
to any god or man within the next thirty days, except you, O king shall be
thrown into the lions den. (Dan.6:7)
King Darius put the decree in writing and signed it with his seal.
The evil doers knew Daniel would never worship any God but Yahweh. They
spied on him and when he knelt to pray to God, they reported this action that
was contrary to the decree to the king.
Daniel was thrown into the lions den though this grieved the king greatly, for
he had unbounded respect for Daniel.
The king returned to his palace and spent a sleepless night, refusing food
and entertainment. (Dan.6:18)

The next morning the king rushed to the lions den and found to his great
relief that Daniel was unharmed. Daniel shouted to the king,
Live forever, O king. My God sent his angel who closed the lions mouths so
they did not hurt me. (Dan.6:22)
The king ordered Daniels release and the perpetrators of the ruse to be
thrown into the lions den where they were immediately torn to pieces. He
then issued another decree in every language.
I decree that throughout my kingdom people should reverence and fear the
God of Daniel. (Dan.6:26)
The message in the story is this
God protects those who are faithful and willing to suffer martyrdom for their
religion.
The death of the villains also involved the death of their wives and children.
(6:24) such was the custom of the day. To us incomprehensible. Why were
lions kept in dens? It was not unusual for monarchs in ancient times to keep
exotic animals. However these lions
were kept in captivity to be released for a hunting party. (N.J.B.C. Art.18,
P415)
The king Darius I was a Mede. Below are the kings of Babylon who succeeded
Nebuchadnezzar. (N.J.B.C. P.407)
Nebuchadnezzar (605=562)
Evil-Merodach (562-560)
Nergrilissar (560-556)
Labashi-marduk (556)
Nabonidus (556-539)
Kings of the Persian Empire
Cyrus (550-530)

Darius II (423-404)

Cambyses (530-522)

Artraxerxes II (404-358)

*Darius I (522-486)

Artraxerxes III (458-338)

Xerxes I (486-465)

Arses

(338-336)

Artraxerxes I (465-424 Darius III (335-331)

Xerxes II (423)
*Supposedly the king associated with the story of Daniel in the lions den.
Apocalyptic Vision
This second part of the book of Daniel begins the Apocalyptic trend that
became embedded in the Jewish mind and for that matter a great point of
discussion among Christians today.
All the visions were written between 168 and 164 BC. but all were not
necessarily written at the same time or even by the same author. (N.J.B.C.
Art. 26, P.415)

The Four Beasts

We are told that in the first year of the reign of King Belshazzar, Daniel had a
dream and visions. Yet this story is presented after the story concerning
Belshazzars death from desecrating the sacred vessels. Proof only that
another author is at work.
The narrative relates: The four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea and four great beasts,
each one different from the other, came out of the sea. (Dan.7:2-3)
One was like a man; the second like a bear; the third like a leopard with four
wings and four heads; the fourth a beast without a likeness but fearful and
strong with great iron teeth ten horns and a smaller horn. It had eyes like
human eyes and a mouth that spewed out blasphemies.
Traditionally, biblical scholars equate the four beasts with the four kingdoms
associated with the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzars dream. (Dan.2:31-35)
The new Babylonians, the Medes, the Persians, the Greeks. This seems
plausible enough.

However on Jan.25 1944 Christ appeared to a bed ridden Italian mystic called
Maria Valtorta. He dictated to her the true meaning of the four beasts in
Dan.7
The first three are forerunners of the antichrist and the fourth, the
antichrist.
The four beasts are the four errors that will come before the end, the four
errors that will be four horrors for mankind and will beget the final horror.
(The End Times M.Valtorta, Paulines, Centro Editoriale, Valtortiano SRL,
Canada.1994,P.116)
They are indeed kingdoms that spread these errors. The first beast like a
man is Atheism spread by communist countries.
People who by embracing atheism had changed from eagles and lions into
mere human beings, by infernal witchcraft bred themselves into bears, wild
devourers of their fellow creatures. (ibid.P.116)
The second beast like a bear, refers to humankind turned into a diabolical
maniac.
You are the ones who diabolically hungry, devour parts of yourselves,
slashing each others veins, maiming one another. (ibid P.117)
The third beast is power which destroys goodness and faith.
Deliberate extremist power enforced all the way to crime. (ibid.P.117)
It means a loss of respect among peoples, honesty, morality, religion,
freedom and goodness.
It promotes revolutions.
The fourth is the Anti Christ, the son of Satan.
The Anti Christ will be perfection of Perfection. With his countless weapons
symbolized by his ten horns - - - he will torment beyond measure all those
who, small faithful flock, remain my followers. (ibid P.118)
Christians are in for a hard time. The ten horns are ten kingdoms. Three will
be torn off. The eleventh horn will be the seat of the real antichrist. For
three and a half years he will rule over the world, then God will kill him and
he will be thrown into the shaft of the abyss.

Christians believe the antichrist will be a convert to Catholicism who will

become a cleric and rise to the See of Peter. He will relax many laws and
those who do not follow his teachings will be persecuted.
The Son of Man.
As Daniels vision continues he sees the One of Great Age. (7:9) enthroned.
Thousands upon thousands served him and a countless multitude stood
before him. (Dan.7:10)
One like the Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One
of Great Age and was brought into his presence. Dominion, honour and
kingship were given him, and all the peoples and nations of every language
served him. (Dan.7:13)
The term Son of Man was a term Christ frequently used. He used it to
identify with humanity. He will come on the clouds of heaven to set up his
eternal kingdom.
Daniel seeks an explanation for the vision he has seen of the four beasts. He
is told they represent kingdoms. We know now that they are errors that will
affect mankind. The last error is the Antichrist. He will be a powerful
individual who will,
insult the most High and persecute the holy ones of the most high. He shall
try to change the feasts and the laws. The holy ones shall be handed over to
his power for a time, two times and half a time. (Dan.7:25)
The term, time, two times and half a time represents three and a half
years. Seven is a perfect number. Half of that, 3 , is complete imperfection.
Some scholars relate the time of persecution of the holy ones (7:25) to the
persecution of the Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes who in fact as the
little horn defeated three kings in the period 169-166 BC. (N.J.B.C
Art.27,P.416) and proceeded to desecrate the temple and forbid circumcision
amongst the Jews.
However, the prophecies of Daniel also reach into the future, and refer in
Chapter 7 to our time in the 20th and 21st century A.D. as well as the time of
the Maccabean revolt. In fact, they are more relevant to us today that the
Jews 164 years before the birth of Christ.
The Ram and the He-Goat

This story or vision seems to have been written by another author. It depicts
events prior to the rise of Antiochus IV. Epiphanes. Daniel is speaking from
Susa a fortified city beside the river Ulai.
I raised my eyes and saw a ram standing before the river. It had two long
horns, but one was longer than the other. - - - As I was thinking a he-goat
came from the west, as if flying above the entire earth without touching the
ground. It had a great horn between its eyes - - - it charged the ram and
broke its two horns and the ram was unable to resist. It cast it down to the
ground and crushed it. (Dan.8:5-7)
The ram with the two horns was symbolic of the Mede and Persian kingdom.
The he-goat represented Greece. (Dan 8:20-21) Alexander of Greece began
his period of conquest in 333 BC. He rapidly defeated the Persians at
Granicus River and occupied Asia Minor. He moved down through Syria and
conquered Northern Egypt where he established the city of Alexandria (331
BC) Then he went back up North inflicting a final defeat on the Persians at
Arbela on the other side of the Tigris. He crossed the Indus river then
returned to Babylon where he died in 323 BC. (N.J.B.C. Art.126, P.1239)
The he-goat became very great, but when it was powerful, the great horn
snapped and in its place sprang four great horns facing the four winds of
heaven. (Dan.8:8)
The snapping of the great horn (8:8) represents the death of Alexander. At
this point the lands he had conquered were divided among his generals.
Western Macedonia under Cassander; Northern Thrace and Asia Minor under
Lysimachus; The East, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia under Seleucus; The
South, Egypt under Ptolemy.
(N.J.B.C. Art 29, P.417)
From one of the four horns (8:8) came a small one. At first this horn was
weak but later it became strong. The reference here is to Antiochus IV
Epiphanes.
Some background.
In 200 BC. The Seleucid king Antiochus III defeated the troops of Ptolemy V
at Paneas near the sources of the Jordan, and Palestine passed from the
Ptolemaic to the Seleucid aegis.
(N.J.B.C. Art 131, P.1240)
Antiochus III was apparently gracious towards Jerusalem, ordering repairs
and even providing some finance for the temple expenses. However his

interference in affairs of the rising Roman Empire was his undoing. He was
forced to pay a heavy tribute to Rome and withdraw from Asia Minor. His son
Seleucus IV succeeded him but until the tribute was paid in full, the younger
son of Antiochus III called Antiochus IV was held hostage in Rome.
Antiochus IV was released and returned to Palestine. He added the title
Epiphanes to his name believing that the Greek god Zeus was manifested
in him. Epiphanes means manifest. He proceeded to build up his power
and unify the whole of Syria and Palestine.
He made two campaigns into Egypt. The second in 168 BC. This did not go
well and Rome, indignant at his actions ordered him out of Egypt. On his way
back to Syria he plundered the temple in Jerusalem. The Jews became
hostile. He began an official persecution of the Jews, desecrating the temple
with pig sacrifices, setting up a statue of Zeus in the temple precincts and
banning the practice of circumcision. This led to the Jewish revolt in 167 BC.
under Judas Maccabeus.
The angel Gabriel was called by someone like a man. (8:15) to explain all
this to Daniel.
A king will arise, insolent and wise in cunning. His strength will increase so
that he shall plot things unheard of before. (Dan.8:23-24)
History tells us that Antiochus IV had to confront the Parthians in the North
East of his kingdom and it was there in Persia where he succumbed to an
illness.
but he will be destroyed without the intervention of any human hand.
(Dan.8:25)
The chapter ends with a reference to a future event.
it will be fulfilled only in the remote future. (Dan.8:26)
The reference is to the perpetual offering and the abomination of the
devastator mentioned in Dan.8:13. The perpetual offering will be
forbidden,
until two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings have gone by,
then the Temple shall be restored. (Dan.8:14)

Catholics read into this, the stopping of the Mass, (the Perpetual Sacrifice) by
the Antichrist and his occupying St.Peters. (The Sanctuary handed over.) God
will intervene and restore both the mass and the See of Peter.
The Prayer of Daniel
Daniel was well aware of the sinfulness of the Jewish people.
we have sinned, we have not been just, we have been rebels, and have
turned away from your commandments and laws. (Dan.9:5)
He turned to Yahweh and pleaded on behalf of the people that the promise of
restoration would be fulfilled. He was aware of the seventy years of exile
prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer.25:11) but since the end of the exile, Jerusalem
was still in ruins (9:18) and the Jewish nation a laughing stock among its
neighbours (9:16). Daniel was puzzled. The seventy years had passed long
ago.
while Daniel was praying, confessing his sin and the sin of the people Israel,
the angel Gabriel came to interpret the seventy years.
understand this then: from the time the order to rebuild Jerusalem was
given until an anointed leader comes, there shall be seven weeks. Then in
sixty two weeks, squares and walls will be rebuilt, but in a difficult time. After
sixty two weeks an anointed one will be cut off; the city and the Temple shall
be destroyed by the people of a king who will come. Dan.9:25-26)
So each week became a year. The years fell into three distinct phases. 7-62-1
ie. 7x7-62x7-1x7 or more clearly, 49 years 434 years and 7 years.
All this added up to 490 years. This increase from the seventy years of
Jeremiah to the 7 fold increase of Daniel was merited by the behavior of the
Jews. It was justified punishment.
Many have tried to explain the three stages of Gabriels words but have
failed. The only clear points are
an anointed one will be cut off (Dan.9:26) was a reference to the death of
the High Priest Onias III in 171. He was murdered with the complicity of
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, at Antioch in Syria. The last seven year period
would most probably refer to the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes from 170163 BC.

By mid week he will put a stop to the sacrifices and offerings. The
devastator shall place the abominable idol in the Temple until the ruin
decreed by God comes upon the devastator. (Dan.9:27) All of this came to
pass. Many have tried to put a time scale to the 490 years but have never
quite succeeded.
The Hellenistic Wars
Chapters 10 and 11 of Daniel relate matters dealing with the history of the
Persian Empire and Alexander the Great followed by a very long history of
the Seleucid dynasty.
The authors style is considerably different from the style of the other
apocalypses in Daniel, which would seem to indicate a distinct author for this
section. The Hebrew of this apocalypse is quite poor, - - (N.J.B.C. Art.32,
P.418)
Many of the events recorded in chapters 10 and 11 are related also in the
second book of Maccabees.
The first mention of the Resurrection
For most of its long history, the Jewish people thought that after death, one
lived in the shadowy confines of Sheol. Now in the last book of the Prophets
there is the staggering revelation that this is not so.
Many of those who sleep in the Region of the Dust will awake, some to
everlasting life but others to eternal horror and shame. Those who acquired
knowledge will shine like the brilliance of the firmament; those who taught
people to be just will shine like stars for all eternity. (Dan.12:2-3)
Why the term many is used instead of all, no one has been able to
explain. We can only speculate also on the knowledge that will grant those
who acquired it, a prominent place in the afterlife. Any knowledge to be
pertinent would have to be spiritual and related to God. Those who in their
lifetime by their words and actions led others to righteousness will inherit a
glory like the stars.
One detail that is important, is the concept of permanence. This is clear in
the reference to everlasting life and eternity. This concept was
something very new to the Jews and it gave great impetus to a hope in
something better.

The chapter ends with a reference to the reality facing the Jews under
Antiochus IV Epiphanes. They are reminded that the persecution they are
suffering will last one thousand two hundred and ninety days. (12:12) The
author is writing during the persecution itself and increases the time of trial
to one thousand, three hundred and thirty five days. But the 1,290 days is a
prophecy also for the End Times.
We can gain further insights into chapter 12 of Daniel by listening to the
words of Christ to Maria Valtorta on Jan. 23, 1944 regarding the End Times.
The last time of three years and six months will be more awful than what
mankind ever experienced. Satan shall be inflamed with utmost spite,
because even the split between the two branches of Gods people will be
over, and with it the cause of so many material, moral and spiritual evils.
(op.cit M.Valtorta P.114)
The two branches of Gods people are the Jews and the church Christ
founded. They will be Untied before the period of peace promised after the
time of the Antichrist and Satan.
The time of the antichrist and Satan will crush the church beyond
recognition.
the church is no longer free to celebrate the perpetual sacrifice and the
abomination of desolation shall be lifted up on the Holy Place and on the holy
places. (ibid.P.115)
This has been decreed and so it will come to pass. The extra days added to
the 1,290 days are days of respite for Christians. The 45 days bringing the
total to 1,335 days are explained by Christ.
a short time will be laid aside in the end for the faithful to gather to listen to
the last words, resounding in their spirits as an invitation to heaven, while
Michael with his angels crushes Satan and his demons. Blessed is he who
waits and comes into 1335 days means Blessed is he that shall persevere
unto the end because he shall be saved. (ibid.P.115)
The stories found in chapters 13 and 14 of Daniel are folk tales written in
Greek that were added to the book of Daniel by an editor. Originally these
stories were either in Aramaic or Hebrew.
The Rescue of Susanna

The primary purpose of the story is to show that virtue (here in the form of
conjugal chastity) triumphs with Gods help over vice (here in the form of lust
and deceit.) (N.J.B.C. Art.36,P.419)
The story is as follows:Joakim was a man living in Babylon. He had a beautiful wife called Susanna.
Two elders of the people were appointed judges.
These men frequented Joakims house, and all who had legal disputes used
to come to them. (Dan.13:6)
Both of these men lusted after Susanna and one day when she was bathing
they tried to force themselves upon her. Susanna screamed. The household
servants rushed in. the judges covered up their intentions by informing the
servants that they saw a young man who had been hiding in the garden
came and lay with Susanna. He was strong and fought his way past the two
judges and fled. The next day a meeting was held at Joakims house.
she came with her parents, children and all her relatives. (Dan.13:20)
The judges brought their false accusation before the people.
The assembly took their word since they were elders and judges of the
people. Susanna was condemned to death. (Dan.13:41)
As Susanna was being led to her execution, the Holy Spirit inspired Daniel to
intervene and call for another hearing of the case.
Separate these two from one another and I will examine each of them.
(Dan.13:51)
Daniel asked the two men a simple question.
Now if you really witnessed the crime under which tree did you see them do
it? (Dan.13:54)
One answered a Mastic tree, the other an oak tree. Their deception was
uncovered. The assembly sentenced the two elders to death. Susanna was
exonerated.
Daniel and the Priests of Bel
The Babylonians had an idol called Bel. In essence it was an idol to the god
Marduk. Each day the priests offered to the idol,

twelve bushels of fine flour, forty sheep and six measure of wine.
(Dan.14:3)
Even the king took part in this ritual every day. He believed Bel was a living
god because by each morning all the food was gone. Daniel laughed at this
idea and the king threatened to kill him unless he could prove otherwise.
Again the king set the food before the idol. Daniel
ordered his servants to scatter ashes all over the temple floor. (Dan.14:14)
Then they left the chamber and sealed it with the kings ring.
The next morning when the chamber was opened all the offerings on the
table were gone. But Daniel drew the kings attention to all the footprints in
the ash. At night the priests and their families would use a secret entrance,
come into the room, eat the offerings and drink the wine. The king was
enraged by this subterfuge. The priest with their wives and children were
seized and put to death on the orders of the king. The idol and its temple
were handed over to Daniel and he destroyed them both. The story is a
Jewish satire on pagan idolatry, highlighting the foolishness of making
offerings to inanimate objects.
Daniel and the Dragon
This story is the last one in the book of Daniel. It is apocraphyl like the
previous two in chapters 13 and 14. It is a variant of the story Daniel in the
lions den in chapter 6.
The basic details are as follows: In Babylon there was a big dragon which was also worshipped. (Dan.14:23)
Daniel asked permission of the king to kill the dragon. He vowed,
I will slay this dragon without sword or club. (Dan.14:25)
He then proceeded to feed the dragon with cakes made of pitch, fat and hair.
The dragon burst after eating them.
This enraged the people who then threatened to kill the king and his family
unless Daniel was handed over to the people. The king acquiesced to their
demands. Daniel was thrown into the lions den. The food of the seven lions
which was two human bodies and two sheep. (14.32) daily was withheld
from them.

Then the story shifts to Judea thousands of kilometers away. There, a prophet
named Habakkuk was about to take some food to reapers in a field. An
angel appeared and taking him by the hair deposited him near the lions den.
He gave the food to Daniel and the angel returned him to Judea.
When the king came to the lions den on the seventh day to mourn the death
of Daniel he was surprised to see Daniel sitting in the lions den unharmed
and cried aloud,
How great you are, O Lord God of Daniel. (Dan.14:41)
He took Daniel out of the lions den and threw in those who wanted to
destroy Daniel. They were devoured immediately.
A dragon? Did such beasts exist in ancient times?
In the 4th Century, St. George is alleged to have slain one at Sylene in Libya.
The Chinese have myths and legends of such animals. The fact is, we have
no archeological proof that they ever existed. We should not waste time on
conjecture.
The storys message is again the futility of worshiping false gods and
secondly the great faith of Daniel.