During the eighth century b.c. we note the first definite emergence of literary prophecy, in the books of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. In the previous century, the energies of Elijah and Elisha had been devoted mainly to keeping the people from sheer idolatry, and supporting them during a period of stringent national peril (see I Kings 18:22; II Kings 10:32), but when Amos began his work, this double emergency was over, and there was more opportunity for the preparation and reception of written prophecy. The Hebrews were now at least nominally servants of the true God, while peace and prosperity had followed the successful conclusion of Israel's wars with the Syrians and others. Such a situation, however, is apt to be fraught with dangers of its own, and Amos, a herdsman of Tekoa in Judah (Amos 1:1), felt inspired to enter the neighboring kingdom of Israel, and there to utter stern warnings to his contemporaries. He looked behind the mask of mere ceremony, and denounced the perils of material prosperity. He saw the empty worship offered at the great sanctuaries of the time as little more than "transgression" (4:4), and denounced the unthinking cruelty of those who "sold . . . the poor for a pair of shoes" (2:6), while they themselves dwelt in needless luxury (6:1-6). Amos' most permanent message was probably that of the prime importance of righteousness, which he would have overflow "as a mighty stream" (5:24).
Amos' successor, Hosea, viewed God's dealings with Israel in the light of his own personal and domestic experience (Hos. 3:1). His wife, Gomer, caused him much distress by proving unfaithful (1:2f.), but while he felt constrained to censure her severely for her faults (2:2-4), still he retained an undying affection for her (2:19). Even so Yahweh, the prophet felt, would not forsake his erring people, but would "heal their backsliding" and would "love them freely" (14:4).
The author of Isaiah, chapters I to 39—commonly called Isaiah of Jerusalem—prophesied for almost forty years during the reigns of four kings who reigned in Judah during the latter half of the eighth century B.C. (cf. Isa. 1:1). Evidently a man of high rank, he was a statesman as well as a prophet, and did much to guide the destinies of his country. He consistently stressed the importance of faith in God, who he felt assured would save and protect those who trusted in Him in all sincerity. "In quietness and in confidence," he cried, "shall be your strength" (Isa. 30:15).
