Prophets of the Old Testament before 800 B.C.
If you ask someone today what biblical prophets did, they will likely tell you that they divinely foretold of future events. While this was often the case, most prophets in the Bible focused as much on “forthtelling” God’s messages as they did on “foretelling” the future. That is, their primary role was to simply “forthtell” divinely acquired messages to leaders and groups of people, and at times that included foretelling of coming judgment, blessing, rescue, etc. Also, though plenty of prophets (sometimes called “seers” in Scripture) often spoke in confrontational or eccentric language that put them at odds with kings and religious leaders, the biblical writers also applied the term prophet to people who communicated God’s messages in ways that many readers today might not think of as prophecy, such as worship leaders appointed by David to “prophesy with lyres, harps, and cymbals” (1 Chronicles 25:1). Similarly, the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings are typically categorized as history by Christians, but in the Hebrew canon they belong to the category of Former Prophets. The Lord raised up prophets throughout all of biblical history, from the giving of the law under Moses to the revelation of the last days by the apostle John, and the kings of Israel and Judah often recognized and supported specific people as official prophets of the royal court and consulted them to find out God’s perspective about official matters. Following is a list of nearly everyone designated as prophet or seer in the Old Testament and the primary area of their ministry.
• Deborah (1216 B.C.) [Judges 4:4] => Baal-tamar?
• Samuel (1070 B.C.) [1 Samuel 3:20; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 35:18] => Ramah
• Gad (1018 B.C.) [2 Samuel 24:11; 1 Chronicles 21:9; 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25] => Masada?
• Nathan (1000 B.C.) [2 Samuel 12:1; 1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 29:25] => Jerusalem
• Asaph (1000 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 29:30] => Jerusalem
• Ahijah (935 B.C.) [1 Kings 11:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29] => Jerusalem
• Shemaiah (930 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 12:2-15] => Jerusalem
• Iddo (913 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; 13:22] => Jerusalem
• Jehu son of Hanani (890 B.C.) [1 Kings 16:1-7; 2 Chronicles 19:2] => Samaria?
• Azariah (890 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 15:1-8] => Jerusalem
• Elijah (860 B.C.) [1 Kings 18:36] => Samaria
• Micaiah (853 B.C.) [1 Kings 22:8-23; 2 Chronicles 18:7-22] => Samaria
• Jahaziel (853 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 20:14] => Jerusalem
• Eliezer (853 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 20:37] => Mareshah
• Elisha (850 B.C.) [1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 2:15] => Samaria
• Joel (835 B.C.) [Joel 1:1] => Jerusalem
Solomon’s Enemies
1 Kings 11
Solomon ruled over a powerful kingdom that brought him great wealth, but he allowed his many wives to lead his heart astray to worship the gods of other nations. Many of these wives were likely given to him by foreign rulers to seal political alliances (e.g., 1 Kings 3:1). Because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness to the God of Israel, the Lord declared that he would tear away much of the kingdom from Solomon and give it to one of his servants. The Bible then recounts the origins of a few adversaries of Solomon who must have caused trouble during his reign. It was actually events during David’s reign that precipitated the rise of two of these adversaries, though apparently it wasn’t until Solomon’s reign that these men became significant agents of opposition. The first adversary mentioned is Hadad the Edomite, who belonged to the royal court of Edom. Sometime during the time when David was in Edom (see 2 Samuel 8:13-14) his commander Joab tried to kill every male in Edom, but Hadad fled with some of his father’s servants. Apparently he fled first to Midian (see 1 Kings 11:18) and then made his way to Paran, where others joined him, and then they crossed the wilderness to Egypt. There Hadad was very favorably received by Pharaoh and given land, food, and even a wife from Pharaoh’s royal household. After David died, Hadad chose to return to Edom. The second adversary mentioned is Rezon, who had fled from King Hadadezer of Zobah and became the leader of a gang of rebels. After David defeated Hadadezer (2 Samuel 8-10; 1 Chronicles 18-19), Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where they made him king over Aram. He continued to cause trouble for Solomon throughout his reign. The last adversary mentioned is Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials, who had been put in charge of rebuilding a portion of Jerusalem. One day as Jeroboam was leaving the city, a prophet named Ahijah met him and told him that the Lord was going to tear away ten of the tribes of Israel and give them to him. Solomon must have heard about Ahijah’s prophecy, because he tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to King Shishak of Egypt. Later Jeroboam would return to Israel, and the ten northern tribes appointed him king after rejecting the rule of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon (1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10).