He Gave Us Prophets: Historical Analysis of ProphecySample

Prophetic Ministries during the Early Monarchy: 2 Samuel 12:1-25

There are sixteen different prophets whose ministries are summarized in the major and minor prophetic books of the Old Testament. The books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles make it clear that the period of the early monarchy was full of prophetic activity, but none of these books of prophecy come from that period. We may only speak of the early monarchy as providing a background to the prophets that we’re studying. Now we can see this background in at least two ways. 

On the one hand, later-writing prophets looked back to the days of the united monarchy as establishing important royal covenant ideals. They based all of their hopes for the people of God on the covenant God made with David and confirmed with Solomon. They longed for the day when Israel would be reunited with Judah as in the days of David and Solomon. They looked forward to the days when the throne of David would be secure again and the borders of the land would be extended once again. So in this sense, the united monarchy provides a background for the writing prophets of the Old Testament. 

On the other hand, the division of the kingdom also provided a background to the fact that the writing prophets served two different nations. These nations had relatively separate histories. Some prophets served Yahweh in the northern kingdom, threatening covenant judgment and assuring the people of a day of great healing and blessing. Their focus was on Samaria, the capital of the northern tribes. Other prophets served Yahweh in Judah and they warned of judgments and offered blessings to the people of God in the south, but they focused on Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah. 

Although no writing prophets came from the early monarchical period, we discover that this period formed an essential background to the ministries of all prophets. The period of the early monarchy established the ideals of the covenant and it also established the reality of a northern and southern kingdom.