Persian Prophets

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Name: Help

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Ezra

Front 2

A continuation of Chronicles

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Ezra

Front 3

“We are left this day as a remnant.”

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Ezra

Front 4

“Yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this.”

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Ezra

Front 5

“Separate yourselves from the peoples around and from your foreign wives.”

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Ezra

Front 6

apt to teach (מָהִיר , prompt, ready, skilled; NIV "well versed")

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Ezra

Front 7

practice of the law

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Ezra

Front 8

knowledge of the law

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Ezra

Front 9

priestly descent

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Ezra

Front 10

returns to build the spiritual strength of the nation, about 458 BC (58 years after the completion of the second temple)

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Ezra

Front 11

During his time the events of the Book of Esther take place.

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Ezra

Front 12

An Aramaic portion of Scripture

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Ezra

Front 13

Time period of the Prophecy of Haggai and Malachi

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Ezra

Front 14

The Temple rebuilt after a long delay.

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Ezra

Front 15

Return led by Zerubbabel the prince and Joshua the priest

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Ezra

Front 16

Return authorized by Cyrus

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Ezra

Front 17

Was the Chronicler the author of Ezra?

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Ezra

Front 18

Were Ezra and the Chronicler the same person?

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Ezra

Front 19

Based on the research and memoirs of Ezra

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Ezra

Front 20

Name: Star

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Esther

Front 21

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place…”

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Esther

Front 22

Purim

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Esther

Front 23

Powerful sign of divine providence

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Esther

Front 24

“Who knows but that you have been brought to royal position for such a time as this?”

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Esther

Front 25

Vashti
Mordecai
Haman

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Esther

Front 26

Apparent purpose: to supply more religious element to the story.

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Esther

Front 27

There are several additions to the Hebrew text in the Greek text

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Esther

Front 28

It is invariably the fifth of the rolls, appointed for reading annually for the Feast of Purim.

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Esther

Front 29

Grouped with the five Megilloth among the Writings.

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Esther

Front 30

Not quoted in NT or in DSS

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Esther

Front 31

Vengeance by the Jews

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Esther

Front 32

Establishment of a non-Mosaic feast

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Esther

Front 33

The divine name is not used

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Esther

Front 34

Canonicity debated

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Esther

Front 35

Author unknown.

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Esther

Front 36

It tells how the Jews were saved so that the restoration of Jerusalem could be completed.

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Esther

Front 37

Comes in the interlude between the two halves of Ezra.

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Esther

Front 38

“myrtle.”

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Esther

Front 39

“Remember me for this also, O my God, and show mercy to me according to your great love.”

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Nehemiah

Front 40

“I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.”

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Nehemiah

Front 41

“For the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Neh 9—One Great Prayer in the Bible—You might want to reread this.

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Nehemiah

Front 42

“Making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.”

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Nehemiah

Front 43

“Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
Ezra reads the Book of the Law of Moses.

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Nehemiah

Front 44

“We have acted very wickedly toward you [God].”

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Nehemiah

Front 45

“I was cupbearer to the king.”

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Nehemiah

Front 46

“We will not neglect the house of our God.”

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Nehemiah

Front 47

Confession of sins for the present time

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Nehemiah

Front 48

God’s goodness in the Promised Land (during the Conquest and beyond)

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Nehemiah

Front 49

God’s goodness in early history (Creation, Abraham’s call, the Exodus, the Wilderness years, pattern of Rebellion & Mercy)

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Nehemiah

Front 50

Ezra reappears to lead a second revival (1st 458 BC; 2nd 445 BC)

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Nehemiah

Front 51

The wall seems to have been completed in 444 BC shortly after Nehemiah’s return. Nehemiah 5:14 refers to a term ending in 433 BC, but this seems to summarize his whole administration.

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Nehemiah

Front 52

Completion of the Wall

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Nehemiah

Front 53

How long until the wall was finished? (140 years after 586 BC; over 90 years after Edict of Cyrus)

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Nehemiah

Front 54

Imprecatory prayer

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Nehemiah

Front 55

financial support as well as manual labor

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Nehemiah

Front 56

all efforts are valued

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Nehemiah

Front 57

importance of team work

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Nehemiah

Front 58

careful, orderly plans

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Nehemiah

Front 59

Sanballat (Horonite) and Tobiah (Ammonite) and Geshem (Arab)—opposition

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Nehemiah

Front 60

The people restored

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Nehemiah

Front 61

Name: “The Lord Comforts,” or “The Comfort of the Lord”

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Nehemiah

Front 62

Zerubbabel is the “signet ring” affirming the Davidic promise & Messianic hope.

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Haggai

Front 63

“The glory of the second temple will surpass that of the first”

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Haggai

Front 64

“I will shake the heavens and earth”

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Haggai

Front 65

“The desired of all nations will come”

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Haggai

Front 66

Call to repent and rebuild the temple

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Haggai

Front 67

“Give careful thought to your ways.”

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Haggai

Front 68

4 messages in 4 months, all dated

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Haggai

Front 69

“The repetition of the messenger formula (“thus says the Lord” and its variations) twenty-nine times in two short chapters underscored the gravity of the message and the urgency of the hour for the people of God” (Hill and Walton, p. 530).

Back 69

Haggai

Front 70

The use of chiasms (1:4,9,10), wordplays (1:9, 1:11), and repetitions (e.g., 1:5, 7; 2:15, 18) also characterize the book.

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Haggai

Front 71

In a style that Malachi would later employ, he makes good use of penetrating rhetorical questions (1:4, 2:3, 19).

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Haggai

Front 72

He rebukes selfish materialism and calls the people to “give careful thought to [their] ways” but at the same time points them to the patient and faithful ways of the Lord who maintains the Davidic dynasty for the sake of The Promise.

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Haggai

Front 73

The Messianic emphases of 2:7 and 2:23 are prominent in the comfort and encouragement.

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Haggai

Front 74

His messages, centered in the reconstruction of the temple, was to awaken the people of God to their responsibilities, obligations, & privileges as they awaited the coming Messiah.

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Haggai

Front 75

The completion of the temple was ultimately celebrated in 516 BC.

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Haggai

Front 76

The temple project had stalled. The work had languished for some 15 years.
Ezra focused primarily on the outside opposition to the project while He and Zechariah deal more with internal factors – the indifference and disobedience of the Jewish people.

Back 76

Haggai

Front 77

The focal point was the building of the second temple. From our study of Ezra (esp. ch 5 & 6) we know the historical setting for the work of Haggai and Zechariah.

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Haggai

Front 78

In the OT only Obadiah’s book is shorter.

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Haggai

Front 79

The biblical voice and story of him end abruptly upon the completion of his divine commission. We lose sight of him.

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Haggai

Front 80

Less than two months after he began to deliver his oracles Zechariah began his work as companion prophet to the same people in Jerusalem.

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Haggai

Front 81

He delivered his messages on behalf of the Lord during a four-month period, from the start of the sixth month to near the end of the ninth month of 520 BC (see 1:1, 2:10, 2:20).

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Haggai

Front 82

Member of the “Great Synagogue”

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Haggai, Malachi, Zechariah

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We know nothing about him other than what is revealed in this book.

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Haggai

Front 84

Theme: Give Careful Thoughts to Your Ways and Build the Lord’s Temple

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Haggai

Front 85

Name: Festival or Festival Service

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Haggai

Front 86

“I am very jealous (קנא) for Jerusalem and Zion. . . I will return to Jerusalem with mercy . . . "

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Zechariah

Front 87

The Messiah King will come (on a donkey) and will establish peace and an expansive kingdom

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Zechariah

Front 88

“30 pieces of silver” – price of slave

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Zechariah

Front 89

They will look on me whom they have pierced and . . . mourn for him…

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Zechariah

Front 90

“Holy to the Lord” inscribed on all things

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Zechariah

Front 91

Name: “The Lord has remembered”

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Zechariah

Front 92

NT era and End Time emphasis

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Zechariah

Front 93

Two “complicated” oracles that are clearly Messianic and often challenging

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Zechariah

Front 94

Middle messages on fasting & feasting

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Zechariah

Front 95

“Not by might nor by power ... but by my Spirit ...”

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Zechariah

Front 96

Clothes for high priest (ch 3) and crown for high priest (ch 6) are pivotal Messianic messages

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Zechariah

Front 97

Series of night visions

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Zechariah

Front 98

Their hope was not misplaced. The Messiah was coming.

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Zechariah

Front 99

Another significant point he made has to do with his repeated references to “the earlier prophets” (1:4, 7:7, 7:12). This not only served to authenticate his own ministry, but also assured the people that they had not misunderstood the Lord’s earlier revelations.

Back 99

Zechariah

Front 100

Unlike most apocalyptic literature, He expresses a high degree of explicit concern for social justice in the present.

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Zechariah

Front 101

This rule of the Lord of hosts will endure to the end and will be realized in the work of the Messiah.

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Zechariah

Front 102

The series of eight night visions (1:7-6:8) reminds Israel that God still loved his people and would govern the destinies of nations for the benefit of Zion. So God’s sovereign control over all nations and peoples is also a noteworthy emphasis of his.

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Zechariah

Front 103

No less than thirty other OT characters bore the popular name.

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Zechariah

Front 104

Main Message: “The Lord has remembered” his people and his promises. This truth is best seen in the ultimate humiliation and exaltation of the Messiah.

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Zechariah

Front 105

One may say Haggai was more focused on the building while he was concentrating more on the spiritual renewal of the people who would then worship and serve there.

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Zechariah

Front 106

With Haggai, he rebukes and encourages the people to finish the temple.

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Zechariah

Front 107

It has been suggested by many that the main theme of the book is the message of 1:3, “Return to me, and I will return to you.”

Back 107

Zechariah

Front 108

Two years of prophecy.

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Zechariah

Front 109

He gave his first prophecy in 520 BC, two months after Haggai had done the same (Hag 1:1, Zech 1:1).

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Zechariah

Front 110

This prophet lived and labored as a contemporary of Haggai and the historical setting for both is the same.

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Zechariah

Front 111

“I have loved Jacob; Esau I have hated.

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Malachi

Front 112

"So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith."

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Malachi

Front 113

“The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”

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Malachi

Front 114

Day of the Lord (promise + threat)

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Malachi

Front 115

Name: My angel, my messenger

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Malachi

Front 116

Promises of Messiah (“messenger of covenant”, “sun of righteousness”)

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Malachi

Front 117

Promises of the forerunner (“my messenger” & “Elijah”)

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Malachi

Front 118

Rebukes of defiled sacrifices, offensive teaching, marital unfaithfulness, and impatient pessimism

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Malachi

Front 119

Many rhetorical, disputational questions

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Malachi

Front 120

Rebukes and Promises clustered around “covenant unfaithfulness & faithfulness”

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Malachi

Front 121

Might he have been Ezra? (Targum Jonathan)

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Malachi

Front 122

Sarcasm and vivid terminology abound as well.

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Malachi

Front 123

Very direct and forceful speech: In 47 of the 55 verses God uses first person pronouns!

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Malachi

Front 124

The presentation of additional supporting evidence

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Malachi

Front 125

A distinctive feature: the use of penetrating and rhetorical questions, sometimes termed “disputational exchanges”

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Malachi

Front 126

We find “lofty prose with an almost poetic elegance” – sometimes referred to as “prophetic prose” or “oracular prose”

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Malachi

Front 127

We also observe a return to the “Day of the Lord” emphasis – and its “bad news/good news” double implication.

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Malachi

Front 128

The Centrality of the Messianic Promise (without this there would be no ability to cultivate real covenant faithfulness).

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Malachi

Front 129

Covenant faithfulness, in attitude as well as action (note the various uses of “covenant” vocabulary)

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Malachi

Front 130

He is usually considered last of the OT prophets

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Malachi

Front 131

About him we know nothing else with certainty (there are no other Bible references to him and no genealogical information is provided).

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Malachi

Front 132

Some prefer to think he served closer to 460 BC (Ezra’s arrival) and others prefer a 430 BC time

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Malachi

Front 133

The social conditions and spiritual maladies point to those Ezra and Nehemiah contended with.

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Malachi

Front 134

The second temple was apparently finished and incense & offerings are being brought there.

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Malachi