Having witnessed the destruction of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, new generations of prophets subsequently appeared in the Southern Kingdom, hoping to warn the people to turn back before it was too late. As 2 Kings records, their efforts were met with mixed reactions from various rulers, ranging from positive religious reforms under Hezekiah and Josiah to kings like Manasseh and Amon who “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Regardless of reception, though, those prophetic voices continue to ring out.

This week, we’ll encounter three prophets — Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk — prophesying from various times within the seventh century BC — along with a passage from the powerful yet immensely complex book of Isaiah, from which the earliest oracles seem to date back to the eighth century. All four of these prophets were situated in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and all four are grappling with the destruction of their northern neighbors. Nahum responds with unbridled and visceral anger against the Assyrians for destroying Israel. Zephaniah and Habakkuk believe that Judah will be next. Isaiah sees coming judgment and yet also glimmers of hope.

These texts are largely (though not exclusively) pessimistic and bitter, fearing what God’s response might be. The optimism that once undergirded the national identity in the time of David and Solomon had long since faded. Instead, the prophets looked out at a country that had lost its way, both politically and religiously, and saw nothing but trouble on the horizon. They were right to be concerned: in 587/586 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire would decimate Jerusalem and the surrounding area, destroying Solomon’s Temple (the symbol of God’s presence with the people) and taking a significant portion of the population back with them to Babylon.

The reading from the book of Lamentations that will end this week captures the sense of mourning and loss better than I can here, but the pained hopelessness of those early days in the Babylonian Exile cannot be overstated. And yet even in the midst of hurt and loss, we’ll see prophetic voices begin to wonder aloud … perhaps God is not done with us yet?

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