"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
Amos 3:7 · King James Bible
What a prophet was
A prophet was a person raised up by God to speak to his people at a particular hour — sometimes to comfort, more often to correct. Prophets appear all through Scripture from Abraham on. The classical era of the writing prophets runs from about 850 BC to 400 BC — five hundred years — and left seventeen books of the Old Testament.The great pre-writing prophets (before ~800 BC)
Samuel — anointed Saul and David.Nathan — David's court prophet.
Elijah — the fire on Mount Carmel; carried up in a whirlwind.
Elisha — Elijah's successor, over fifty years of ministry.
These four left no books but shaped the whole prophetic tradition.
The writing prophets · northern kingdom era (~800–722 BC)
Jonah — sent to Nineveh, in the reign of Jeroboam II.Amos — a shepherd of Tekoa sent north to preach against Israel's rich.
Hosea — married an unfaithful wife as a living parable of Israel.
All three preached before Assyria destroyed the north in 722 BC.
The writing prophets · southern kingdom before the exile (~750–586 BC)
Isaiah — great vision of the throne (chapter 6); the servant songs; comfort chapters 40–66. Reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah.Micah — contemporary of Isaiah. 'Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly.'
Nahum — the fall of Nineveh.
Zephaniah — in the reign of Josiah.
Habakkuk — 'the just shall live by his faith.'
Jeremiah — the weeping prophet through the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Joel — the day of the Lord, the pouring out of the Spirit.
The writing prophets · in exile (~605–539 BC)
Daniel — in the court of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar in Babylon; four kingdoms; a stone cut without hands; Son of man coming in the clouds.Ezekiel — with the exiles in Babylon; the vision of the throne, the valley of dry bones, the new temple.
Obadiah — a short prophecy against Edom.
Lamentations — Jeremiah's book of mourning for Jerusalem, written after the fall.
The writing prophets · after the return (~539–400 BC)
Haggai — rebuild the temple.Zechariah — visions of the coming king riding on an ass.
Malachi — the last of the Old Testament prophets. 'Behold, I will send my messenger.'
Then four hundred years of silence before John the Baptist.