A Kingdom Divided
Prophets of Israel and Judah
Here is a helpful tool to see the different kings of each kingdom. It will say how good or bad the king was. Often the prophets directly affected the kingdom with messages from God.
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What is a Prophet?
According to I Samuel 9:9 the prophet was in earlier Israel commonly called a SEER, that is one who perceives that which does not lie I the realm of natural sight or hearing. “one who sees supernaturally” (II Samuel 24:11).
Later the Hebrew seer was more commonly called a nabhi’ (I Samuel 9:9). This popular name is to be “to call or announce,” either passively.
“one who is called” (by God), or actively with “an announcer” The term to mean that the prophet is the passive recipient of a message manifest in his condition as well as in his speech, and is “one who is in the state of announcing a message which has been given to him” (by God).
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Now there actually were TONS of prophets. Some did it even as a profession! But the ones we will be covering were ones called specifically by God.
The Kingdom divides and evil kings take over! Sending the Hebrews into deep trouble!!! The people began to look for any sign of God's will and the prophets began to speak out.
Prophets of Israel:
Read Amos 1:1; 5:21–24; and 8:1–8. Amos is one of the prophets God sent to speak to Israel. Israel was in a period of prosperity, but while some enjoyed the prosperity, the poor suffered. This was counter to what God expected of his people. God's people were to take care of the poor and disadvantaged, and the leaders of God's people were to be judged on how well they kept God's commandments and how well they treated the people. As God's messenger, what did Amos tell the people? What did Amos say the people did wrong? What would happen to them?
Hosea was another prophet God sent to call the people to justice. Prophets often used not just words to make their points, but also symbolic actions. For Hosea, such symbolism took an unusual direction (Hosea 1:2–9). Hosea married a woman who would have been considered an outcast at that time and gave his children unusual names. These verses will no doubt engender a number of questions and comments. Spend some time with them.
Read Hosea 1:1–9. What is your first impression as you read this story of Hosea and his family? What questions come to mind?
Read Hosea 4:1–3. Hosea, like most prophets, also made his point with words. To what did Hosea compare Israel? Why did God promise to punish Israel? How does the people's unfaithfulness affect even the land?
If you have time, read Jeremiah 11:18–23 and 15:15–21. Explore how difficult the call to be a prophet of God could be. The prophet Jeremiah often articulated the burden that came with speaking God's word.
Prophets of Judah:
After King Solomon's death, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and Israel (the Northern Kingdom). During this time Judah was often fighting against the attacks of the Northern Kingdom and those of other warring nations. In its history, Judah had several kings, most of whom failed to be faithful to God. At the same time, Judah's people did not remain faithful either. Isaiah was a prophet of God who tried to help the kings, priests, and other people see the evil of their ways.
Read Isaiah 5:1–7. Isaiah uses the traditional image of a vineyard to tell a story and bring the bad news of God's punishment for their persistent sins. God had done much for the people, but because they had forgotten him and as a nation had not produced good fruit, the nation was going to be destroyed.
• Even though the friend did so much for the vineyard (verses 1–2), what happened?
• When the vineyard did not respond to all the care it received, what did the people agree should be done?
• Isaiah's song about the vineyard was really about Judah. The people finally saw what Isaiah was saying. Who is represented by the friend? Who is the vineyard? What do the grapes represent?
The times looked bad for Judah; an Assyrian invasion was pending, sure to bring destruction. Besides the bad news, Isaiah brought some good news. Read Isaiah 9:2–7 to discover the good news. Who would be the "Prince of Peace"?
Read Isaiah 10:1–2 and 1:16–20 to get an idea of how the people of Judah were no longer living as a community of faith. Despite all that God had done for the people, the courts were cheating widows. The poor were forgotten. Nobody cared about the orphans. The rich were only interested in helping themselves. Connect those ancient words of the prophet Isaiah to situations today.
• What injustices do you see today?
• How do we respond to messages containing a call to justice?
Isaiah was committed to preserving a faithful community of God's people. The New Testament description of such a community is found in Matthew 25:34–40. Assign parts to be read from this passage. Let one person be the narrator, one person read the parts of the king, and everyone else read the parts of the righteous people. Talk about how your church is a faithful community in its care for others.
Read Jeremiah 31:31–34. Ask students to underline verses 31 and 34 in their Bibles. The prophet Jeremiah spent the largest part of his career reminding the people that they had sinned. They had relied too much on the king and the temple to save them, and not on the God who had established an everlasting covenant with them. We too are sinners, often relying on human institutions to save us. God offers us forgiveness and the opportunity to have the love of God written on our hearts to share with others, from the least to the greatest.
Jeremiah 7. This chapter highlights the sin of the people of Judah (see Deep Prep for background) and God's judgment on the people. Read aloud verses 1–15 and 23–26. They broke the Ten Commandments and then expected to find refuge in the temple. What did God ask of all the generations of Israelites? (See verse 23.) Point out to the students the ways in which human beings often put their trust in things other than God.
• In what do we put our trust—ourselves, other people, government, popularity, money?
• How can we be more trusting of God and God's commandments?
Hebrews 8 and read the chapter. The writer of Hebrews uses the same words of Jeremiah 31:31–34 to talk about how Jesus establishes a new covenant. This is a good passage to use as background for a discussion about the Ten Commandments and their value in today's society.
• Is the "old covenant" really obsolete?
• How does Jesus make a "new covenant" with us?