He Gave Us Prophets: A Prophet’s JobSample

Prophets During Exilic and Post-Exilic Period: 2 Kings 17:7-23

What happened to prophecy during the exile? Well, in 722 BC, northern Israel’s capital of Samaria fell to the Assyrians. And in 586 BC Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. Vast numbers of God’s people were taken from their land and exiled to other nations. During this time, two features characterized the prophets’ ministries. First, there was a numerical decrease of prophets. There were not many prophets who were prominent enough to have their prophecies recorded in the Bible. Daniel and Ezekiel, for example, are the best known of the very few prophets during this time. 

Of course, along with the exile was the demise of Israel’s kingship, and for this reason prophets’ service to God became much more diverse and informal again. For the most part, true prophets of God spent their time explaining the exile and instructing God’s people about the possibility of return to the land. So we can see that during the exile there were fewer prophets, and they concerned themselves much less with the kings of Israel. 

After the period of exile, we come to those few generations who saw prophetic activity in the post-exilic period. The early post-exilic leader, Zerubbabel, began to revive the nation. The potential for a re-instituted monarchy arose. As a result, two things happened to prophecy. The numbers of prophets remained relatively few, but there was some very important activity that took place among the prophets. Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi are the important prophets that we know from this period.

Prophets began to move slightly back toward a more formal role again. Zerubbabel became the governor of Judah, and hopes were put in him as the upcoming monarch. As a result, Haggai and Zechariah encouraged the officials of Israel to rebuild the temple. Malachi rebuked the officials and the people of the restored community for continuing to rebel against God. During the entire post-exilic period the prophets kept watch on the leaders and the general population as well to encourage them to be faithful to God.

So it was that prophecy became more or less prominent and more or less formal as the institution of monarchy rose and fell. As we explore the words of particular prophets, we must always be mindful of whether we are in the pre-monarchical, the monarchical, exilic, or post-exilic periods. These transitions in the prophets’ job will help provide us with an orientation toward understanding their words.