FOR the first three quarters of the seventh century B.C., sometimes called the Babylonian Period, the voice of Hebrew prophecy was hushed, due to the fact that the godless king Manasseh (II Kings 21:2), who ruled for some fifty-five years from 692 B.C., demanded that his subjects should uphold, or at any rate condone, his idolatrous practices on pain of death. In the last quarter of the century, however, when this period of active persecution was over, there appeared four prophets whose work is contained in our Bible — Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk.
In the advance of a horde of Scythian savages from near the Caucasus mountains, Zephaniah saw a symbol of the "day of the Lord" (1:14), which would bring judgment upon a people largely given over to Baal-worship (1:4f.). Still, the prophet held, they might be saved if they would but "seek righteousness, seek meekness" (2:3); and the book ends with a message of hope and of love (see 3:17).
Jeremiah's ministry covers a period of some forty years, from 626 to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. He stood so firmly for true religion, despite the bitter antagonism of kings and princes, priests and people alike, that he is often called "the Rebel Prophet." Living in expectation of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, he refused to utter the pious platitudes which the people desired, but warned them consistently of the inevitable consequences of their wrongdoing. He had no patience with those who cried, "Peace, peace; when there is no peace!" (6:13f., 8:11.) Foreseeing and foretelling the Exile, as he so clearly did, Jeremiah yet felt that the destruction of Israel's national entity would open the way for a more individual reaching out for salvation. The opposition which faced him from all quarters necessitated self-reliance, and, what was more important, reliance upon God, who is represented as omnipresent (23:23f.), and as caring for His people as a husband and a father (3:14, 31:9).
