The prophets were people who lived in Israel before the birth of Jesus. They didn’t really see the future like a fortune teller, but they would predict the likely outcome of behaviour. For example, if they saw the rulers enjoying a rich life and not bothering about the poor people, then the prophet would predict that disaster would follow. They also predicted that if people gave up following the one God and worshiped statues and false gods, then there would be trouble.
In the Bible there are 18 books which are known as books of Prophets:
| Amos | Baruch | Daniel | Ezekiel | Habakkuk |
| Haggai | Hosea | Isaiah | Jeremiah | Joel |
| Jonah | Lamentations | Malachi | Micah | Nahum |
| Obadiah | Zacharia | Zephania |
When Christians looked back over what these prophets said, some of them seemed to be talking of the suffering and death of Jesus.
The Prophet Isaiah talks of a ‘servant’ of God and says: (Isaiah 52-53)
“Many people were shocked at him – he was so badly disfigured that he no longer looked like a man….
Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying,…
like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth.”
This was taken to be a prediction of Christ carrying his cross up to mount Calvary.
Matthew in his gospel says that the prophet predicts that a leader would be born in Bethlehem:
“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the towns of Judah,
for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.” Matthew 2: 6
During Advent, the first reading at daily Mass is very often from one of the prophets, particularly Isaiah.
Working it Out
1. Read the story of the Prophet Jonah. Its a strange story. (You can miss out the poem from 2:3-10). God wants Jonah to go and tell the people in a city called Nineveh to stop doing wicked things. Does the book say what those wicked things are?
2. Jonah decides this job is too dangerous and takes a ship going as far away from Nineveh as possible!
What happens then?
3. The book is not history – what would make you doubt that such events actually happened? The story was made up to tell of how God loves all people and only wants them to be good and they will be saved from all harm.
4. Today many people prophesy that if we continue to use the world’s resources in the way we are doing there will be natural disasters. Look up ‘global warming ecology’ or ‘sustainable development’ on Google. What ‘prophecies’ do you find?
