THE MAJOR PROPHETS

Sermon Summary 10/1/17) “The Major Prophets  (Isaiah 61:1; Acts 8:32-33) 

We’re in a series on the Old Testament.  Our motivation was the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus on Easter afternoon opening himself to the disciples “and beginning with Moses he interpreted the things about himself in all of scripture.”  The Old Testament is the Bible that Jesus knew.  Today, the Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (Daniel is a special case, join us on Thurs nights for Bible Study!).  Isaiah is quoted more in the New Testament than any other book, 46 times in the Gospels, 30 times by Paul, 30 times in Revelation.  It points to Jesus.

Jesus began his ministry is Luke by reading from the Prophet Isaiah, (61:1) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed…”  This was Jesus’ ministry and it is ours as followers of Jesus.  The Major Prophets spoke to their times, they spoke to Jesus, and they speak to us.

To understand the Prophets we need to know the time and the historical events that they spoke to.  Isaiah 1 (first 39 books) spoke to the southern kingdom at a time that the northern kingdom was being overrun and conquered by Assyria.  Isaiah was warning the southern kingdom of the consequences for not following God. 

Jeremiah and Ezekiel spoke 150 years later to the remnant in Jerusalem (Jeremiah) and Babylon (Ezekiel).  Although parts of Jeremiah was dark as were the times, he had a message of hope.  He bought a parcel of land, a symbol of hope, at the most trying of times.  He wrote a letter to Babylon and told them to marry and have families, build house and live in them, all with a future in mind.  Ezekiel too, had a hopeful message.  The exiled people had lost hope away from the Temple (How can we sing songs of Zion in a foreign land? (Ps 137)).  He told them that God was everywhere, with them in Babylon.  Through his visions he gave them hope of return (“Them bones, them bone, them dry bones”), the vision of the valley of the dry bones.  God would put sinew on them, put flesh on them, breath into them the breath of life and they would return. (Ez 37)

The Major Prophets furnished Jesus with his mission, as the Shepherd (Ez 34), as the Suffering Servant (Is 53).  The latter we know from a wonderful story in the book of Acts with Philip joining the Ethiopian Eunuch on the way to Gaza.  “Do you know what you are reading?” It happened to be Is 53 which we remember from every Holy Week, “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases...he was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”  Jesus was the personification of the Suffering Servant.  Amen.