Prophets of the Old Testament after 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.
• Zechariah (796 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 24:20] => Jerusalem
• Jonah (780 B.C.) [2 Kings 14:25; Jonah 1:1] => Gath-hepher, Nineveh
• Hosea (770 B.C.) [Hosea 1:1] => Samaria?
• Amos (760 B.C.) [Amos 1:1] => Bethel
• Isaiah (730 B.C.) [2 Kings 19:2; 20:1; 2 Chronicles 26:22; 32:20, 32; Isaiah 1:1] => Jerusalem
• Micah (730 B.C.) [Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 1:1] => Moresheth
• Nahum (650 B.C.) [Nahum 1:1] => Elkosh (Capernaum?)
• Zephaniah (630 B.C.) [Zephaniah 1:1] => Jerusalem?
• Huldah (630 B.C.) [2 Kings 22:14] => Jerusalem
• Habakkuk (600 B.C.) [Habakkuk 1:1; 3:1] => Jerusalem?
• Ezekiel (592 B.C.) [Ezekiel 1:3] => Babylonia/Chebar River
• Uriah (600 B.C.) [Jeremiah 26:20] => Kiriath-jearim
• Jeremiah (587 B.C.) [2 Chronicles 36:12; Jeremiah 1:1; 19:14] => Jerusalem
• Obadiah (586 B.C.) [Obadiah 1:1] => Jerusalem
• Daniel (560 B.C.) [Daniel 7:1; Matthew 24:15] => Babylon
• Haggai (520 B.C.) [Ezra 5:1; Haggai 1:1] => Jerusalem
• Zechariah (520 B.C.) [Ezra 5:1; Zechariah 1:1] => Jerusalem
• Malachi (432 B.C.) [Malachi 1:1] => Jerusalem?