Prophets Faithful to God’s Covenant

They were a combination of preacher, whistleblower, and counselor—they were the prophets of the Old Testament era. They warned people who had turned away from the Lord; and they encouraged the faithful to remain faithful. From time to time, they fortified their calls by foretelling the future intent and plans of the sovereign God.

Words of Faithfulness

The lessons of Unit 1 highlight the faithfulness of God, who reveals to his people their need to be faithful to Him. Lesson 1 recounts Moses’ foretelling of a prophet whom God would raise up within Israel to speak the Lord’s words to them. Israel’s necessary response would be to obey the prophet. These words anticipate the line of prophets God would send, culminating in the ultimate prophet, Jesus Christ (see Acts 3:17–26).
The faithfulness of Israel in response to the Lord’s faithfulness was on display in the conquest of Jericho, lesson 2. In lesson 3, God shows his faithfulness to Josiah, the king of Judah, who had wisely and humbly consulted a true prophet. The unit’s final study, lesson 4, focuses on the faithful prophet Elijah, who courageously confronted Ahab, the king of Israel, for forsaking the Lord in favor of the Baals.

Words of Restoration

Lessons of Unit 2 focus on restoration and hope. These begin with the Easter Sunday lesson that focuses on the connection between Isaiah’s fourth Servant Song and the account of Jesus’ resurrection in Luke 24.

The sacrifice of Christ on the cross makes possible forgiveness of sins and removes our estrangement from the Father. That estrangement is powerfully illustrated by the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations 5 (lesson 8). Backsliders, then as now, often must take difficult and decisive action to remove obstacles to a restored relationship with God. But that must be done in order to experience God’s blessings. The texts studied in lessons 6 and 7 narrate such decisive action on the part of the post-exilic figures Ezra and Nehemiah.

Words of Change

At the center of the prophetic message is a call to repentance and change, and Unit 3 focuses on the necessity and possibility of these. In lessons 9 and 11, the prophets Micaiah and Jeremiah courageously spoke truth to powerful individuals who were unwilling to acknowledge and act on that truth. On the other hand, lesson 13 narrates a positive response to a prophetic message on the part of a most unlikely audience: the wicked non-Israelite city of Nineveh. The forgiving response from the Lord in the light of that repentance puts the lie to the old contention that the God of the Old Testament was solely a God of wrath.
In lesson 10, the prophet Isaiah denounces Judah as a people who “come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). Nevertheless, the prophet anticipates a transformation that will come when the Lord acts to change the people, a change likened to the deaf hearing and the blind seeing.

Ezekiel declares in lesson 12 that the path to such a transformation begins in repentance. Each person stands individually responsible before the loving and holy God, who calls out, “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.… I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:30–32).

by Mark Hahlen

Unit 1: Faithful Prophets

Date	Title	Bible Text
March 7	Prophet of Deliverance	Deuteronomy 18:15–22
March 14	Prophet of Conquest	Joshua 5:13–6:5, 15–16, 20
March 21	Prophet of Wisdom	2 Kings 22:14–20
March 28	Prophet of Courage	1 Kings 18:5–18

Unit 2: Prophets of Restoration

Date	Title	Bible Text
April 4	The Suffering Servant	Isaiah 53:4–11a
April 11	The Faith-in-Action Preacher	Ezra 10:1–12
April 18	The Restoring Builder	Nehemiah 2:11–20
April 25	The Nation’s Plea	Lamentations 5

Unit 3: Courageous Prophets of Change

Date	Title	Bible Text
May 2	Speaking Truth to Power	1 Kings 22:15–23, 26–28
May 9	Offering Hope for the Future	Isaiah 29:13–24
May 16	Preaching Doom	Jeremiah 38:14–23
May 23	Preaching to the Exiles	Ezekiel 18:1–9, 30–32
May 30	Preaching to Enemies	Jonah 3