He Gave Us Prophets: Historical Analysis of ProphecySample

Prophetic Ministry During the Assyrian Judgment: Jonah 3-4

The Assyrian judgment had great influence on the ministries of prophets. Of the sixteen books that we have in the Old Testament, six of them report the ministries of Yahweh's emissaries during this period: Jonah, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Nahum and Isaiah. All of these prophets ministered during the time of the Assyrian judgment.

First, we should mention the prophet Jonah. According to 2 Kings 14:25, God called Jonah to prophesy during the reign of Jeroboam II who was king in northern Israel from around 793-753 B.C. And the place of Jonah’s ministry was unique among the prophets because God called him to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. He went to this capital city of the Assyrians and preached the word of Yahweh, and his central message was simple, as we read in Jonah 3:4:

Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.

Much to Jonah’s regret, the city of Nineveh repented when they heard this word from Yahweh, and God did not bring the disaster he threatened against the city. Jonah’s ministry marks the mercy of God extended even to an empire as evil as the Assyrian empire.

A second prophet who ministered during the Assyrian judgment was Hosea. Hosea 1:1 tells us that Hosea served in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Uzziah’s last year to reign was around 740 B.C., and Hezekiah’s first year to reign was around 716 B.C. This range establishes a long period for the ministry of the prophet Hosea. He ministered primarily in northern Israel from around 750 B.C., at least until the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. At that time Hosea probably migrated to the South. And so we can see that Hosea prophesied in the days of prosperity before the Syrian-Israelite coalition, and he also prophesied through to the time of the fall of Samaria.

The focus of Hosea’s prophecies reveals that he ministered in northern Israel. Most of his prophecies consist of warning against corruption and evil in the North. Hosea’s central message was this: the northern kingdom was so corrupted by sin that God was going to judge them by bringing the Assyrians to destroy Israel and Samaria. This prediction, of course, was fulfilled with the fall of Samaria. Hosea did offer hope, however. He said that one day the covenant blessing of restoration would come, even after the exile.