A Seminar Paper on

Prophetic Response during the Exilic & Post Exilic Period

Submitted to: Rev. Dr. K B Georgekutty Submitted by: Sam V
Subject: Prophetic Response Class: BD III

1. Introduction
The periods of the Babylonian exile and the restoration of Judean community life in Palestine was one of the
crucial times in biblical history. The exile and subsequent deportation to Babylon was catastrophic in terms
of loss of life and destruction of Judah’s infrastructure. It forced a rethinking of former verities such as the
invulnerability of Jerusalem and the absolute protection of Yahweh. 1 It also forced the transformation of
many of Judah’s notions of deity and the institutions that supported its corporate life. The prophets of the
periods of exile and restoration provided visionary thinking in a variety of forms that helped the Judeans to
reconceptualise and remake themselves into a renewed people of Yahweh. These prophets not only
supported the survival and eventual thriving of the Jews but also laid the foundation for the emergence of
Judaism.2
2. Prophets Of The Exile
It is difficult to write a detailed history of the Judeans during the period of the Babylonian exile. Naturally,
Jewish documentary sources are scarce for this time; the community was now divided between Palestine and
Babylonia. Most of its leaders were either dead or in captivity. 3 There was no royal or temple administration;
hence, no official records were kept as they were during the period of the monarchy. The best that we can do
is reconstruct the experience of the Judeans using prophetic voices. Jeremiah spanned pre-exile Judah and
the Babylonian exile though most of his material is pre-exilic. The words of Ezekiel and Second Isaiah
contain the richest collection of material and are especially valuable because both prophets were themselves
in Babylonian exile rather than in Palestine.
3. Prophetic ministry during the exilic period
3.1. Ezekiel:
He is a prophet who speaks during exilic period. He was the one who was taken as exile to Babylon. It is a
spiritual experience because most of the theological re-shapening has taken place during the exilic period. It
is true that it was political and religious disaster, but at the same time it was spiritual. Psalm 42 and 43 came
during the time of exiles, which tells the feeling of the people during the exile. They are under physical
danger, and separated from Yahweh. According to the belief, during exile they feel separation from Yahweh,
but when the prophet is with them, they feel the very presence of God with them.4
The book of Ezekiel deals with the fall of Jerusalem (1-24), description of the foreign nation and judgment
(25-32), and words against Edom and the restoration of Israel (33-48). In Ezekiel, there is less poetry unlike
the other prophetic book. Critical scholars say that the first part of the book was written in Palestine and the
last part is postexilic. Reason: It is difficult for them to say that Ezekiel saw clearly the fall of Jerusalem and
the last part says restoration of the temple, cult, kingdom is not a possibility. So, they say that it was
postexilic. But to those who believe that God can show to his servant believes that it can be from Babylon.
3.1.1. We shall briefly summarize the main concerns raised by him.
a. Yahweh and his appearance: Yahweh and His action is also in substance the great, central theme of
the prophetic preaching. In view of this description of the attributes of Yahweh is completely lacking
except only in (42:12; 36:20-22; 20:39). Yahweh is never called the great, the style of hymmic
description, using the participial (as in Deutero-Isaiah and Psalms) is not seen here.

1
Barry L Bandstra. Reading the Old Testament: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.(USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2004),
340
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.341
4
Ralph W. Klein. Israel in Exile: A Theological Interpretation, (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,1979), 54.
 b. Prophetic announcement of woe to Israel: The judgement speeches are expressed with a clear aim.
For eg. 6 vs. 1-7, the threat of the day of Yahweh in direct address 6:1-7, threatens the mountains and
valleys of Israel with, imminent devastation by war. In 6:11-14, the devastation is made clear and
specific by the trail of sword famine and pestilence (as in Jer 28:8); the acquisition is also very strong
in the judgement speeches. In this, the very name, ‘house of Israel’ can be immediately replaced by
‘house of rebellion’, even there fathers are rebellion ‘up to this day’ (2:3).
c. The proclamation of judgement against the nation: (Ch. 25:32 & 35) Seven foreign nation are
addressed in these oracles is also aimed at Egypt and its ruler (29:32). 29:1 ff and 32:1 ff speak of
Pharaoh as the crocodile of the Nile which is destroyed. Preaching against Tyre (26:1- 28:19): on
account of its selfish, calculating gloating over the fall of Jerusalem with its rival trade judgement is
announced against Tyre.5
d. The prophetic announcement of Salvation for Israel: Here Yahweh’s faithfulness to the house of
Israel comes most fully to expression in ch. 34, 36-48. In 37:1 ff, the creations language is behind the
thought, from death to life. For the sake of His faithfulness, Yahweh will bless the land and make it
fruitful in a new way. In this land, Yahweh will also restore to the house of Israel its original unity.
The sign action of joining together two sticks, which carry the inscriptions, “Judah” and “Joseph”
and 37:15 ff makes this clear.6
3.1.2. The Prophetic Response
1. His first work was to make men understand that their sufferings were actual Divine judgments on
their sins, and therefore calls, like thunder-peals, to awaken them to repentance. God will not leave
men in their troubles to imagine that some evil chance has befallen them, that they are the victims of
accident. By the mouth of some prophet he will assuredly vindicate the connection between sin and
suffering.7
2. But Isaiah had also to bring comfort to the people of God in the time of national calamity. Godly
people are often bowed down by the pressure of surrounding evil, and in their despairing they
sometimes say, "God hath forgotten to be gracious." God will never leave his faithful few to sink
underdiscouragements.8
3. Isaiah's work may be more precisely stated as this: he was to prepare the way for the spiritual
kingdom of God, in the person of Messiah the crucified yet glorified Redeemer. The old theocracy
was breaking up, and God's rule in the world might be lost. Isaiah was to say that it was only passing
into a spiritual theocracy, giving place to the spiritual and eternal reign of God in souls. In Isaiah
messages of severity and of mercy are most graciously blended. The following passage precisely
represents his mission: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell,
severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut
off."
In short, Ezekiel though told them that their exile would last a long time, and that Jerusalem would be
destroyed; yet he also had a message of hope. He promised that God would eventually bring the Jews
back from the exile and that they would again be his people. Some of his prophecies look forward to the
coming of messiah, who would care for his people like a shepherd. He wanted all people to know that
Lord is God of all.9

5
H.L. Ellison. Ezekiel: The Man and His Message. (Michigan: Eerdsman Publishing Company.1956), 85.
6
Gabriele. Boccaccini. Roots of Rabbinic Judaism: An Intellectual History, from Ezekiel to Daniel. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
2002),144.
7
Ibid., 120.
8
Ibid., 125
9
Anthony. R. Ceresko, The O.T: A Liberation Perspective.( Bombay: St. Pauls, 1993),48.
 3.2. Deutro-Isaiah:
The author of Isaiah 40-55 addressed his religious to Jews who were dejected, pessimistic, and disillusioned
during the decade 540-530 BCE. In Chs. 40-48 he seems to have written especially for the Jews living in
Babylonia, in 49-55 he may have contemplated a wider circle of readers.
The economic situation of the Jews in Babylonia was steadily improving. There is no sign among the
Babylonian Jews of the acute economic distress prevailing in Jerusalem until the time of Nehemiah, and well
attested in the writings of Haggai and Malachi. But in spite of their relative freedom and financial prosperity,
the Jews in Babylonia were by no means happy. Some may have imagined Psalm 137. Many however were
tormented by doubts and misgivings. 10 Faced with this dejected mental attitude, the Second Isaiah was
spurred to action. His spiritual epic not only inflamed the faith of Israel, but by formulating religious and
theological principles of universal validity, he endowed his words with permanent significance. He
exclaimed ‘ Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God’ with moving appeals, with alluring hope,
and with impassioned oratory. The author persuades his readers that the power, wisdom, and kind solicitude
of Jehovah are axiomatic eternal verities; to raise any doubts about them is inconceivable.
The second Isaiah presents numerous aspects and instances of Jehovah’s love for Israel (43:4), He is
the father (43:6) and creator, and He is Israel’s husband (50:2). His tender affection is like a mother’s for her
infant child. He has brought Israel from the ends of the earth (41:9; 42:6) holding its hand. The author
shares the past of Israel (41:8; 43:10) and the present too, where His love for Israel will be manifest (42:14-
16), and will then lead Israel gently, as a shepherd caring for his flock. 11 Moreover, Second Isaiah looks
forward to the day when all men will worship Jehovah as their only God and will be saved by Him. So, the
author sees Yahweh as Lord of history, of nature, and as creator of the universe. The servant song is also
given more emphasis by Second Isaiah (42ff). Like the Book of Job (21:22, 9:4), the Second Isaiah stresses
two attributes of God: wisdom and might.
Isaiah had merely expected that a small remnant purified in the fire of affliction would survive;
Jeremiah had hoped that one day Jehovah would write a new covenant in the hearts of men, and thus save his
faithful ones individually as well as nationally; organisation for the future community.12
As the first Isaiah had seen Assyria as the rod of Yahweh’s anger, Deutero-Isaiah saw Cyrus as the
appointed instrument of His work of deliverance, Yahweh’s ‘shepherd’ and His ‘anointed’ (44:28, 45:1).
The great thought of the atoning effectiveness of suffering and death furnished the interpretation of
the death of Jesus on the cross. Christianity cannot be understood without the Second Isaiah. The second
Isaiah with his epoch-making discovery that there is only one God of heaven and earth furnished the basis
for the theology of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
4. Prophets of the Post Exilic Period
The post-exilic prophets include Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and probably Joel. They convey the message of
God for this period of time with cumulative clarity since they come at the end of a long age of prophetic
indictment against the people. These prophets have great explanatory power for progressive revelation up to
their time. They also open the door to a new age soon to come.
These post-exilic prophets, therefore, look to the restoration of the people in the land of Israel, but they look
beyond the restoration as well. The people of God who returned to the land after Cyrus’ decree (538 b.c.)
never realized the former glories of the monarchy, nor did they see all the promises of the prophets fulfilled
in their own generation (see Haggai 2:6–9). These post-exilic prophets are also heralds of a new covenant,
and they look beyond the restoration to a new day, a new creation, and an ultimate consummation.13

10
R. E. Clements, Isaiah 40-55 TNCBC, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980), 110.
11
Ibid., 112.
12
H.E. Freeman. An introduction to OT prophets, (Chicago: Moody Press,1972), 192.
13
Ibid.
4.1. Prophetic Ministry during the Post-exilic Period
Isaiah (56-66): It was B. Duhm who argued for a third Isaiah, and he believes that there are separate author.
It was he who divided 56-66 and considered it as 3rd Isaiah and the author lived during the last half of the 5th
century BCE. Later scholars such as Torrey, F. James etc agreed it.
The interest in cult differs in 40-55 and 56-66. In 56-66 there is a call to revive and to be faithful to
the cult, whereas in 40-55 there is no cult, temple. There is an inspiration to follow cult in III Isaiah. In 40-
55, the blindness of Israel was not able to see the great salvific act of God, where as in III Isaiah, people
were unfaithful to the Covenant of God. The character of apostasy is different in both Isaiah. In II Isaiah,
apostasy is unwilling to come back, whereas in III Isaiah not being faithful to the covenant. In Deutero-
Isaiah, Zion is the climax, whereas in Trito- Isaiah, Zion is the starting point.
Altogether, the picture of III or Trito- Isaiah is the picture of returning of Jews from Babylon. It is a
message of comfort too (66). It also deals with social and legal problems of the society. He also talks about
the failure of the leaders. He also talks against vain cultic observance (58:1ff).
4.2. Haggai, Zechariah, And Malachi
They are the prophets who came at the same period. They are the only prophets that reflect the post-
exilic period of restoration.14 With their prophecy the age of prophecy is said to have ended, and the Holy
Spirit to have departed from Israel. Their prophecy is the climax of the OT prophecy and immediately points
towards fulfilment in the new. Their message was of the coming of Yahweh and establishing His kingdom.
Their message was that, if you rebuilt the temple, Yahweh would come and establish His kingdom. This idea
is not seen in I Isaiah and Jeremiah but in post-exilic. The temple is the place to forgive your sin and to
present Yahweh and His will. Haggai and Zechariah were associated with the rebuilding of the Temple at
Jerusalem, completed in 515 BCE, and was the success of their mission (cf. Haggai 1:12; Ezra 5:1-2).
4.2.1. Haggai:
The role of Haggai as a prophet was to call for a new spirit to revive the community (2:5). Besides this, he
encouraged the people by saying that the ‘latter splendour of this house shall be greater than the former’
(2:9). His vision was of a God appearing in glory (1:8), his spirit dwell among his people (2:5). The people
were economically poor and so they are not so eager to rebuild the temple. Their concern was to build their
home. Haggai said that, Israel would not be Israel, if they were not rebuilding the temple first (1:2-11; 2:4-
19). When they started to build, the Samaritans take some interest in building, but the prophet said that the
temple must be build only by Israel and for Israel. Israel is the one by election, not all who wills or desires. 15
Here he is making a religious exclusivism. He also look for the future a temple not build with wood and
stones but with the treasures of all nation (2:6-9), and a Messianic age about to dawn (2:21-23), and that will
be a great event that will break of heaven and earth. It seems that the prophet expected that Zerubbabel might
be the inspired one or the Messiah (but was not happened).
4.2.1.1. There were four messages he preached recorded in his book.
I. A Word of Rebuke (1:1-11): The troubles that have come upon the returnees were manifestation of
God’s displeasure on them. Why? Because while the people built themselves luxurious homes, the Temple
of God was barely begun. God would be pleased with them and bless them when they would start building
again. The message was well received by the returnees who responded to build in 24 days (verses 12-15).16
II. A Word of Encouragement (2:1-9): Before long, the people got discouraged again, as is the way of all
flesh. To encourage the returnees Haggai assured them God would supply all their needs, “The silver is mine
and the gold is mine.” Moreover the Lord was with them. Though the Temple they were rebuilding could not
compare with Solomon’s, God would see to it that a greater Temple, even the Millennial Temple, should rise
out of great catastrophe before “the desire of all nations shall come.” By these words the people’s resolve to
build was strengthened.

14
Bryan Estelle, The Prophets. in https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/prophets-after-exile ( Accessed on 12/02/2018)
15
G. Campbell Morgan. The Minor Prophets- The Men and their Messages. (New Jersey: Fleming H Revell Company, Nd),120.
16
http://breadoflife.cloudaccess.host/?p=846 (Accessed on 12/02/2018)
III. A Word of Blessing (2:10-19): By putting two questions to the people so as to elicit their answers and
teach them a lesson, the prophet showed why the work of their hands was fruitless because they were
unclean, and because they obeyed not their God. Nevertheless (if they would repent) the Lord should turn
their curse into blessing.17
IV. A Word of Confirmation (2:20-23): The prophet sees a great shaking of the Gentile powers to come.
As for Zerubbabel His appointed servant to rebuild His House, he would be confirmed in his appointment.
He was God’s signet, for “I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts’ (verse 23). What a comfort to every
servant on whom God has set His seal.
4.2.2. Zechariah:
Zechariah means, “The Lord remembers.” Born in Babylon of a priestly family, he was among the first
Contingent of 50,000 returnees, sent under the decree of Cyrus, Emperor of Persia to Jerusalem to rebuild
the Temple. Zechariah was both a priest and prophet. Zechariah began to prophesy two months after Haggai
(Haggai1:1; Zechariah 1:1). This was in 520 B.C. His ministry, like that of Haggai was to encourage the
returnees to rebuild the Temple. His evident interest in the temple and its liturgy, and his father Iddo, who
appears in a list of priests returning with the exiles (Neh. 12:4, 16), suggest that he was himself a priest as
well as a prophet. He like Haggai calls for a right spirit among his people, and his eight visions are set in a
moral appeal to repent, to obey the Lord, to be silent, to love peace, truth etc. He like Haggai sees beyond the
human agents and beyond the earthly temple to heavenly realities beyond (4:6-7).
As his book contains a good number of visions, it is called an apocalypse. It is sometimes referred to as the
Revelation of the Old Testament.
The Prophet gives a complete spiritual history of Israel and of the relation of the Gentiles to her from the
return from captivity to the end time. Messiah and Jerusalem are centres about which all the prophetic
messages revolve.18
Zechariah 1-8 deals with visions, angels, Zerubbabel and Joshua, ethical teachings, and dates, which is
missing in the second part (9-14). The second part deals with prophecies based on world peace, the
deliverance of Jerusalem, the ingathering of the nations, defeat and sufferings of Judah’s enemies. The
difference in the two sections seems that the latter part come from a period long after the heady optimism of
the days of Zerubbabel had passed.
For Zechariah, the building of the temple is the dawn of salvation. He projects much in Messianism. He like
Daniel, Joel, and the author of Isaiah (Chapter 24), helps to bridge the gap between prophecy and
apocalyptic.
4.2.3. Malachi:
Malachi in the title is not necessarily a personal name, because it means ‘my messenger’, and it occurs too at
the beginning of chapter 3. He talks about abuses in the community, about divorce and unbelief, and also
attacks careless priest. He gives more eschatological ideas (2:17; 3:5, 13-21). He says that Yahweh is about
to come for judgment but before that He will send a messenger (3:5).
The heart of the message is a traditional one as it deals with a call for a change of heart, which is a
Deuteronomic approach (cf. Deut 30:6). He also made a remarkable statement on the worship of other
nations (1:11). He claims that the worship of a righteous idolater is preferable to that of immoral
worshippers at the temple in Jerusalem (vv.12-14), which goes far beyond the understanding of Samuel (I
Sam. 15:22-23), and the 8th century prophets (Isaiah 1:10ff; Amos 5:22ff). Some consider this as a powerful
statement of universalism. However, Christian understood this as a future age when perfect worship would
be offered to God. Malachi also contributes to Jewish and Christian tradition about the doctrine of the
messenger to prepare the way of the Lord (3:1ff). In short, his main task was to provoke a change of heart of
his people, which was there throughout the other prophets and in their message.

17
http://breadoflife.cloudaccess.host/?p=850 (Accessed on 12/02/2018)
18
G. Campbell Morgan. The Minor Prophets- The Men and their Messages. (New Jersey: Fleming H Revell Company, Nd),143.
Conclusion
The prophets known as the “exilic” and “post-exilic prophets,” meant the men who claimed to be the
messengers of good news for the ancient Jewish people after their military thrashings at the hands of their
enemies.
The prophets of the post-exilic period are of particular interest because they indicate the various trends of
thought that were taking shape during the centuries that immediately followed the return of the exiles from
Babylon. The Temple in Jerusalem and the many ceremonies and activities associated with it came to
occupy a most important place in the religious lives of the people, and especially in the case of Haggai, who
believed that Yahweh's presence, as well as his blessings, was dependent upon a proper place in which he
might dwell in their midst. The distinction between the secular and the sacred, emphasized by Malachi and
implied in the works of other prophets, came to occupy more and more attention on the part of the priests
It would, however, be a mistake to suppose that these tendencies were present in all of the prophetic writers.
Voices were heard from time to time in which the spirits of Jeremiah and Deutro-Isaiah found magnificent
expression. The introduction of the figure of Satan in the prophecies of Zechariah, as well as the
eschatological implications of Zechariah's visions, marks an important trend in the development of post-
exilic Judaism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bandstra, Barry L. Reading the Old Testament: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.USA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning, 2004.

Boccaccini, Gabriele. Roots of Rabbinic Judaism: An Intellectual History, from Ezekiel to Daniel. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Ceresko, Anthony. R. The O.T: A Liberation Perspective. Bombay: St. Pauls, 1993.

Clements, R. E. Isaiah 40-55 TNCBC, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980.

Ellison, H.L. Ezekiel: The Man and His Message. Michigan: W.B. Eerdsman Publishing Company.1956.

Freeman, H.E. An introduction to OT prophets, Moody Press, Chicago, 1972.

Klein, Ralph W. Israel in Exile: A Theological Interpretation, Philadelphia: Fortress Press,1979.

Morgan, Campbell, G. The Minor Prophets- The Men and their Messages. New Jersey: Fleming H Revell
Company, Nd

Webliography

Estelle, Bryan. The Prophets. in https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/prophets-after-exile ( Accessed on

12/02/2018)
http://breadoflife.cloudaccess.host/?p=846 (Accessed on 12/02/2018)
http://breadoflife.cloudaccess.host/?p=850 (Accessed on 12/02/2018)