The timeline of the prophets in the Bible is a sequence of events arranged according to the years in which they occurred. It’s a fact that prophets have preached God’s word and amnesia to us, through their writings and messages during their lifetimes. They have also predicted future events in times beyond their mortal lives.
The timeline of the prophets in the Bible is a fascinating journey through history. We hope you enjoy it!
The timeline begins with Adam and Eve, who were the first people created by God. They had two sons: Cain, who killed his brother Abel; and Seth, who was born after Abel’s death. In total, there were seven generations of Seth’s descendants before Noah was born.
Noah was the first prophet to be called by God. He built an ark to survive a great flood that destroyed everything on earth except for those animals that were taken aboard his boat. Afterward, Noah and his family repopulated the earth with their descendants: Japheth; Ham; Shem; and one of Noah’s grandsons named Peleg (meaning “divided”). The descendants of Peleg eventually became known as Hebrews.
Abraham was called by God when he was 75 years old, and he lived to be 175 years old (Genesis 25:7). He had two sons: Isaac and Ishmael, who both became prophets themselves at different points in history (Genesis 22:1-18). Isaac had two sons—Jacob (who later changed his name to Israel) and Esau.
Churchgists will provide you with all the relevant information you are looking for on major and minor prophets in chronological order, old testament prophets and their message, and so much more.
timeline of the prophets in the bible
Introduction. The purpose of this survey is to examine a somewhat “dustier” part of the Bible’s library of books. While religious people in general are somewhat familiar with the historical books in the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, etc.), many people have limited or no familiarity with some of the prophetic works in the OT.
The Books. This survey will cover what is commonly known as the Major and Minor Prophets of Isaiah through Malachi. The first five books (Isaiah through Daniel) are commonly described as “major” simply due to their length relative to twelve, shorter prophetic books (Hosea through Malachi). The following dates are approximate.
Old Testament Order
740-690 B.C. Isaiah
627-585 B.C. Jeremiah
585 B.C. Lamentations
592-570 B.C. Ezekiel
606-536 B.C. Daniel
760-710 B.C. Hosea
830 B.C. Joel
760-750 B.C. Amos
845 B.C.? Obadiah
780-750 B.C. Jonah
735-700 B.C. Micah
650-612 B.C. Nahum
612-606 B.C. Habakkuk
525 B.C. Zephaniah
520 B.C. Haggai
520-518 B.C. Zechariah
445-425 B.C. Malachi
The Major and Minor Prophets cover over a 400 year span from roughly 850 B.C. to 425 B.C.:
Five written between the death of Solomon and the fall of the Northern Kingdom
Eight written prior to the fall of the Southern Kingdom
Four written after the return from Babylonian captivity
Chronological Order
845 B.C.? Obadiah
830 B.C. Joel
780-750 B.C. Jonah
760-750 B.C. Amos
760-710 B.C. Hosea
740-690 B.C. Isaiah
735-700 B.C. Micah
650-612 B.C. Nahum
627-585 B.C. Jeremiah
625 B.C. Zephaniah
612-606 B.C. Habakkuk
606-536 B.C. Daniel
592-570 B.C. Ezekiel
585 B.C. Lamentations
520 B.C. Haggai
520-518 B.C. Zechariah
445-425 B.C. Malachi
Historical Background of the Books. The nation of the Israelites was unified under the kingship of Saul, David, and Solomon between roughly 1050 B.C. and 930 B.C. (described in 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-11). With the death of King Solomon, the nation divided along tribal boundaries (1 Kings 12). Roughly ten tribes in the northern part of the nation aligned to form the Northern Kingdom, often referred to as “Israel” in the scriptures. Roughly two tribes in the southern part of the nation aligned to form the Southern Kingdom, often referred to as “Judah” in the scriptures.
Over the centuries, both kingdoms suffered from external military threats from surrounding Gentile kingdoms, including Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. Around 720 B.C., the nation of Israel fell to the Assyrian Empire and was scattered throughout their Empire never to return (2 Kings 17). The nation of Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire around 600 B.C. (2 Kings 25). Much of the nation was taken into captivity by the Babylonians, but allowed to return to their lands starting around 540 B.C. (Ezra 1) after the Babylonians were conquered by the Medes/Persians (Dan. 5).
The Authors and the Audiences. Each of the 17 books is entitled with the person’s name normally credited with writing the book (Lamentations also written by Jeremiah is the exception). These 16 men all appear to be of Jewish descent, although we know little about most of them. 15 appear to have been from the Southern Kingdom while one was from the Northern Kingdom (Hosea).
Most of these prophetic works were written to address the spiritual apostasy of the Jews. Such apostasy often took the form of disregard for the Law of Moses and overt idol worship of pagan gods. Most of the books were addressed to the Southern Kingdom with two of the books being addressed primarily to the Northern Kingdom (Hosea, Amos).
Interestingly, three of the books were addressed to Gentile nations (Jonah, Obadiah, Nahum). This shows God held Gentile nations accountable for their actions, although they were not subjects of the Law of Moses.
Messages for Christians. While the books of the Major and Minor Prophets were written to predominately Jewish audiences over 2500 years ago, many of their messages are echoed in the books of the New Testament written for Christians. Hence, we can obtain spiritual value by becoming familiar with these ancient books. We can also gain a greater appreciation for the interaction of God with both Jew and Gentile peoples as well as improve our knowledge of the overall historical framework of ancient events in the Middle East.
Approach. This survey takes a historical-chronological approach. The sequence of books in our Bibles is not based entirely on the chronology of when they were written. Although there is some uncertainty regarding dates of authorship, each book is addressed in somewhat chronological order and within its historical setting. At the end of the survey is an epilogue bridging the time between the last prophet, Malachi, and the New Testament.
major and minor prophets in chronological order
Learning about the major and minor prophets may sound like a reference to the major and minor leagues of baseball, but that’s where the similarities end. Who were these biblical prophets? God sent appointed messengers throughout history to warn and guide his people.
We discover God’s first mention of a prophet in Deuteronomy 18:18-19. “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.”
List of the Major and Minor Prophets
Before we go more in-depth, here is a list of the major and minor prophets mentioned in the Bible:
The Four Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel
The Twelve Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
What Does Prophet Mean?
The word prophet defines someone who gives the declarations of God. These men and women did not exist for their own glory but for the glory of God. The Hebrew word for prophet is Nebi, which is derived from the verb action, “to bubble forth” like a fountain. The English word for prophet comes from the Greek word prophetes which means to “speak for another, especially one who speaks for a god.”
The biblical prophets spoke the truth which came from God. Their unique vocation allowed them to authoritatively speak on God’s behalf. They never spoke on their own authority nor did they share their own opinions. They only shared their message as God instructed them. Their role was to make God’s will known, as well as his holiness, and to instruct God’s people to reject idolatry and sin.
The divine inspiration and instruction of the Old Testament prophets are affirmed in the New Testament, 2 Peter 1:20-21: “No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Interestingly enough, women were also prophets. Moses’s sister Miriam is called a “prophet” (Exod. 15:20), as are Deborah (Judg. 4:4) and Huldah (2 Kings 22:14–20).