The Prophets of the Spiro Paintings

 

Isaiah

The Coming of the Messiah

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,

And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The Spirit of counsel and might,

The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

 

Isaiah 11:1 & 2

ISAIAH – Meaning God is Salvation.

Isaiah had royal blood and was born in a palace.  King Uzziah was his cousin.  His call as a prophet comes in chapter 6.  He is in the Temple and sees a vision of the Lord in all His holiness.  The Temple shakes and Isaiah trembles and says ‘Woe is me; I am a man of unclean lips.’  One of the seraphim touches his lips with a burning coal from the altar.  God has cleansed Him and anointed him for the task ahead.

Isaiah was a prophet (holy man).  God appointed Isaiah to warn the people in Judah who were evil.  They needed to ask God to forgive them.  Isaiah lived before Ezekiel and Jeremiah.  Isaiah described the future of many countries (Isaiah 13-24), but especially, he warned his own people in Judah and Israel (Isaiah 28-31).  He spoke God’s word to King Ahaz regarding Assyria’s invasion but he also spoke of events to come far in the future.  His prophecies go on to speak of Assyria being used by God to punish Israel but promises that a remnant will return to the land.  In the future one will come from the House of David and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him.  God will comfort his people (Isaiah 40).  He will forgive those who confess their evil deeds to Him (Isaiah 59) and He will rescue his people (Isaiah 63).

Picture:

Here we see Isaiah in princely dress with his tallit around his shoulders.  On the Hebrew scroll is written kadosh three times.  He is pointing to heaven.  Wonderment is in his face and eyes and the face of a seraph can be seen on the right side of the painting.  This could be Isaiah starting out on his ministry immediately after his vision of the Lord.

 

The Messiah Comes from the House of David

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,

“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;

A King shall reign and prosper,

And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.”

Jeremiah 23: 5

JEREMIAH – Meaning in Hebrew either to build up or to throw down (Raise up or Raze to the ground).  Depends on whether God is being obeyed or disobeyed.

God chose him before he was born to be a prophet.  He came of a priestly family; but the family line was under God’s judgement.  A curse had been placed on the house of Eli.  None of his descendants would see old age because of his sins.  Therefore God had to get Jeremiah started early if he was to get 40 years service out of him!  So his preaching started when he was about 17.

Jeremiah lived at the same time as the last kings of Judah.  Jeremiah warned the people that God would punish them (Jeremiah 4).  They must return to God otherwise, they would suffer terrible troubles (Jeremiah 14-16).

God wanted the people to trust him but they refused (Jeremiah 18).  So, God told Jeremiah that the people must serve their enemies for 70 years (Jeremiah 25).  After that the people from Israel would return to their land (Jeremiah 30-33).

Jeremiah also wrote about the future of other nations (Jeremiah 46-51). He also knew that God would send the Messiah (Jeremiah 23:1-8, 31:31-37, & 33).

Picture:

A young man surrendered to God in prayer, wearing a tallit.

 

Ezekiel

Messiah brings a New Covenant for Israel

“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.  Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 36:24-28

EZEKIEL – Meaning God strengthens

Ezekiel lived at the same time as the last kings of Judah.  God showed Ezekiel events that would happen in the future.  He told Ezekiel that Ezekiel must warn the people about these events (Eze 33).  God would punish Judah because its people did not obey God's law.  Their enemies would surround Jerusalem, which was Judah's capital city (Eze 4-5).  God would leave his Temple (the house of God in Jerusalem) - Ezekiel 10.  This was because the leaders of Judah served false gods (Eze 8).  Soldiers from Babylon would destroy Jerusalem (Eze 21). God would also punish other evil nations (Eze 25-32).

Ezekiel was to see the idolatry and defiling of God’s Temple by the priesthood and the shekinah glory of the Lord leaving the Temple (Eze 10).  Because of Judah’s rebellion Ezekiel was to pack up all his belongings after making a hole in the wall.  He was then to go through the hole so that everyone could see him leaving.  (See Painting)  This symbolised Israel going into exile.  This would be a picture for God’s people of how they would be carried into exile to Babylon as captives.  (Psalm 136.)

However God still cared about his people (Eze 37).  God would send someone from David's family to be their leader (Eze 37:24-28).  God also showed Ezekiel a picture of a new Temple in the future (Eze 40-48).  God himself would return to this temple.

Picture:

One of the men asks Ezekiel what he doing.  He tells them that he is a sign to them.  As he has done so it will be done to them.  There is sadness and pain in Ezekiel’s face and he is wearing a prayer shawl.

Hosea

The Messiah Brings Healing and Salvation

“I will heal their backsliding,

I will love them freely,

For My anger has turned away from him.

I will be like the dew to Israel;

He shall grow like the lily,

And lengthen his roots like Lebanon.

His branches shall spread;

His beauty shall be like an olive tree,

And his fragrance like Lebanon.

Those who dwell under his shadow shall return;

They shall be revived like grain,

And grow like a vine.

Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”

Hosea 14: 4 - 7

HOSEA – Meaning The Lord (Yah) is help

He was a prophet to the ten tribes of the northern kingdom.  Hosea was told to marry a prostitute – Gomer.  (A woman who would be unfaithful to him; she would have three children and only one of them would be Hosea’s.)  Gomer would leave Hosea and return to her shameful ways.  This would be a picture to Israel of how she had broken the covenant with the Lord just like an unfaithful wife.  Hosea, like the Lord who had remained faithful to Israel, would go after his wife and buy her back and come back into a relationship with her.  God would forgive His people and he would love them again (Hosea 14).

Picture:

Gomer is seen leaving through the back door with her belongings.  She is under a cloud of darkness and sin.  Hosea, with tears in his eyes, pens an account of what has been going on.  There is sadness and resignation in his face.

 

Joel

The Messiah Brings Refreshment and Restoration

 

“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,

Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.

Then Jerusalem shall be holy,

And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”

And it will come to pass in that day

That the mountains shall drip with new wine,

The hills shall flow with milk,

And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;

A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord

And water the Valley of Acacias.

“Egypt shall be a desolation,

And Edom a desolate wilderness,

Because of violence against the people of Judah,

For they have shed innocent blood in their land.

But Judah shall abide forever,

And Jerusalem from generation to generation.”

Joel 3: 17 - 20

JOEL – Meaning in Hebrew Yahweh is God

The Book of Joel describes some terrible events.  Joel called these events 'the Day of God'.  A terrible army would attack Jerusalem.  They would destroy everything. Nobody could escape from this army.

At Succoth, the harvest is about to be brought in.  A swarm of locusts descend upon Israel.  (600 million insects covering 400 sq miles can eat 80,000 tons of food a day.)  When they descend on an area all the food disappears – (in Exodus chapter 10 the eighth plague of locusts was sent by God.  Deuteronomy 28 says that God would send plagues if the people were disobedient.)  The sun turned blood red, a sign to come of the end of days, and eclipsed the moon.  The people must confess their evil deeds to God.  Even when these terrible things happen, they must ask God to save them (Joel 2:12-17).  Then, God will be kind to his people.  He will hear their prayers and will cause this terrible army to leave.  He will provide food for his people and he will send his Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28-32).  God will also punish the nations that attack Jerusalem (Joel 3:1-16).  He will protect his own people always (Joel 3:17-21).

Picture:

On his Joel’s face is terror, anguish and despair at the total destruction and loss of all the food.  Fire and darkness in the background – the sun and the moon fail to shine.

Amos

At Messiah’s Death Darkness Came Over the Earth

 

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord GOD,

“That I will make the sun go down at noon,

And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;

I will turn your feasts into mourning,

And all your songs into lamentation;

I will bring sackcloth on every waist,

And baldness on every head;

I will make it like mourning for an only son,

And its end like a bitter day.

Amos 8: 9 & 10

AMOS – Meaning in Hebrew Burden Bearer.

Amos was a not from a prophetic line, he looked after sheep but God sent Amos with a message to his nation (Amos 7:14-15).  Amos knew that many nations were evil and because of these evil deeds God would punish the nations (Amos 1 & 2).

Amos was a herdsman/shepherd who looked after sycamore trees.  (Sycamore figs tended to be the food of the poor.)  He had no religious training, but under God’s hand he was the right man as a spokesman for God.  Although he came from the southern kingdom he preached to the northern kingdom around 8 BC.  It was a time of great poverty but religious observance was insincere.  Amos calls for justice to flow like a stream.  Amos also tended a special breed of small sheep that produced wool of the best quality.  He delivered his message in Bethel, the residence of the king.  (There was a famine of hearing the word of God.)  Amos warned his people that they must confess their evil deeds to God and they must learn to do the right things (Amos 5).  Otherwise, God would allow Israel's enemies to attack (Amos 6-9) and these enemies would destroy the nation.  God would not always punish the people from Israel.  After these terrible punishments, God would allow some of the people to return to their own land (Amos 9:11-15).

Picture:

Amos is wearing a shepherd or farmers clothes and carries a crook.  Rays come down from heaven representing God’s voice.  Jewish use of hands – pointing finger.  His sheep and a cow are in the background.

 

Obadiah

The Messiah Brings Deliverance or Judgement

 

“But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance,

And there shall be holiness;

The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

The house of Jacob shall be a fire,

And the house of Joseph a flame;

But the house of Esau shall be stubble;

They shall kindle them and devour them,

And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”

For the Lord has spoken.

The South shall possess the mountains of Esau,

And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.

They shall possess the fields of Ephraim

And the fields of Samaria.

Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

And the captives of this host of the children of Israel

Shall possess the land of the Canaanites

As far as Zarephath.

The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad

Shall possess the cities of the South.

Then saviours shall come to Mount Zion

To judge the mountains of Esau,

And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Obadiah 1: 17—21

OBADIAH – Meaning Worshipper or Servant of Yahweh.

This book contains a short message about the country called Edom (meaning red, sandstone).  The people from Edom were relatives of the people from Israel; they were descended from redheaded Esau, Jacob’s brother.  They refused to help when the people from Israel suffered.  Edom or Petra as it is known today is on the eastern side of the rift valley.  The tension between Jacob and Esau continued in their descendants and so the Edomites joined any enemy of Israel; (the Philistines, Arabs, Babylonians etc).  They were not strong enough to attack Israel by themselves.  God warned them three times.  Now the nations were going to destroy them and take everything including their territory.

Picture:

Delight and relief in Obadiah’s face as he points to Israel’s enemies who won’t bother them any more.  The rays represent God’s judgement from the sky.

Jonah

Messiah’s Death and Resurrection

 

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

Mattityehu 12: 39 - 41

JONAH – Meaning Dove

Jonah was told by the Lord to go to Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) and warn the people that He is going to destroy their city because of their wickedness.  Jonah, the reluctant prophet, took a ship to Tarshish instead of obeying God.  A storm blew up and, knowing he has disobeyed God Jonah urges the sailors to throw him into the sea.  There a great fish swallows him and he remains in its stomach for 3 days and nights, in prayer and repentance.  Finally the fish throws him out on to the beach and so he goes and warns the people of Nineveh who repent.  God relents and does not destroy them much to Jonah’s annoyance.  Jonah was sad because Nineveh was his enemy he wanted God to destroy Nineveh.  God told Jonah that He cares about the people from every nation.

Picture:

The fish’s stomach acids have bleached Jonah’s face.  He makes himself a shelter at a good vantage point to watch what God will do.  The Lord causes a plant to grow up and give Jonah shade but then the next day He causes a worm to eat the plant so the sun beats down on Jonah’s head and he is angry with God as well as the plant and the worm.

God reminds Jonah that if he was upset about the death of the plant how much more has God got a right to be angry at the thought of destroying Nineveh? – There are over 120,00 children in Nineveh as well as many animals.

 

Micah

Messiah’s Birth Place

 

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting.”

Micah 5: 2

MICAH – Meaning Who is like Yahweh

Micah was a prophet to Judah around 735 BC.  The people were covetous, greedy, cheating, violent and cruel.  Landlords were stealing from the poor, evicting widows and orphans on to the street.  Merchants were using inaccurate scales and weights.  Micah preaches woe to those who ‘schemed iniquity’ he denounces the prophets who have led the people astray – ‘It will be night for you . . . and darkness for you. . . the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will become dark over them.’ They have no power but the Lord does.  The people say, “Is not the Lord in our midst?  Calamity will not come upon us.”  Micah says that because they have not obeyed their God Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins and the mountains of the Temple will become high places of a forest.  The prophet goes on to say that in the last days the Lord will reign over them and other nations will come to learn from the house of the God of Jacob.  The Lord will stand up for the poor, oppressed and disabled.  The people are reminded of what God has done for them in the past.  ‘Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings?’  These are empty gestures if the people are disobedient to the Lord’s commands.  ‘What does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’. (Micah 6:6-8)

Picture:

There is darkness and gloom over the land.  There is a sacrifice in the background but it is the sin of the people which is rising to God, not their sincere prayers and godly actions.

 

Nahum

Good News of Messiah Who Controls Nature

 

He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,

And dries up all the rivers.

Nahum 1:4

Behold, on the mountains

The feet of him who brings good tidings,

Who proclaims peace!

Nahum 1:15

NAHUM – Meaning Comfort of Yahweh.

Capernaum – village of Nahum.  He lived 100 years after Jonah and also brings a prophecy against Nineveh (capital of Assyria).  The people from Nineveh were also cruel to the people in other countries.  God cares about the people who trust him (Nahum 1:7).  So God would send the enemies of Nineveh to destroy it.

God is the God of the nations.  The violence and cruelty; idolatry and arrogance of Nineveh had reached such a level that this time God will not change His mind the city would be destroyed and no trace of it would remain.

God would also help his own people, Israel. They will become a great nation again (Nahum 1:15).  Never again will they have to fear Nineveh.

Picture:

Nahum sees a vision.  In the vision he sees Babylon coming against the Ninevites and totally destroying them.  The colour of the soldiers’ tunics is battle dress red – ‘ the warriors are dressed in scarlet’ (Nahum 2:3).  He claps his hands for joy with relief on his face; the enemy of Israel will be no more.   ‘Your shepherds are sleeping O king of Assyria; your nobles are lying down.  Your people are scattered on the mountains and there is no one to re-gather them.  . . . All who hear about you will clap their hands over you, for on whom has not your evil passed continually? ’  (Nahum 3:18 & 19)

 

Rejoice in Messiah’s Salvation

 

Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labour of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls—

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The Lord God is my strength;

He will make my feet like deer’s feet,

And He will make me walk on my high hills.

Habakkuk 3: 17 - 19

HABAKKUK – Meaning One who embraces.

Habakkuk complained twice to God.  He asked God why good people must suffer and why cruel people seem to succeed.

Firstly, Habakkuk complained that the rulers of his country were wicked.  God replied that soldiers from Babylon would attack these wicked rulers (Habakkuk 1:2-11).

Then Habakkuk complains to God again.  He questions God because he was disturbed at the violence and cruelty of the Babylonians.  He asks why God is silent when righteous people are destroyed.  God replied that he would punish cruel people but this does not always happen immediately.  Habakkuk has many questions for the Lord.  The Lord keeps saying the righteous shall live by faith.  However difficult the situation gets for Judah in the Babylonian captivity the people must trust God.  (God says the Babylonians are His chastening rod.)  The time will come when God will rule the whole world (Habakkuk 2:14).  The Book of Habakkuk ends with a psalm - Habakkuk 3.  This song says that God will rescue his people.

Picture:

Habakkuk is looking/speaking to the heavens, to God.  Though the fig tree (in the picture) does not blossom and there will be no fruit on the vine . . . yet will I trust in the Lord.  A bleak landscape, camel representing far off land.

 

Zephaniah

The Messiah in the Midst of His People

 

Sing, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,

O daughter of Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away your judgments,

He has cast out your enemy.

The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

You shall see disaster no more.

Zephaniah 3: 14 & 15

ZEPHANIAH – Meaning Hidden by God.

This book is more about the message than the messenger.  Zephaniah was of royal blood (going back to good King Hezekiah his great grandfather.  God had hidden him.)  As a prophet he speaks out against Israel’s sin.  There had been no word from the Lord for 70 years since Hezekiah.  In Israel there had been child sacrifices and worship of Molech.  Asherah poles (phallic symbols – fertility cults) were erected on the high ground.

Zephaniah keeps speaking about the Day of the Lord.  Judgement had taken place on other foreign religions.  He explains that God would punish many countries because of their evil deeds (Zephaniah chapters 1-2) and treatment of Judah (Philistines, Moabite, Amorites, Egyptians and Ethiopians).  God would also punish the evil people in Jerusalem (Zephaniah 3:1-5).

So the people should pray to God (Zephaniah 2:1-3).  They must confess their evil deeds to God and humble themselves.  When these terrible punishments happen, God will protect the people who trust him (Zephaniah 3:9-13).  God will rescue them.  He loves them and he will make them glad (Zephaniah 3:14-20).  The ultimate restoration of Israel is promised.

Picture:

There are dark clouds in the sky.  Zephaniah is shown with a clenched fist, there is anger in his face.  This is a stern word.  Other nations are punished but there will be woe to Judah and Jerusalem as well.

 

Haggai

Out of Every Nation People will Come to the Messiah

 

“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.  ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts.  ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts

Haggai 2: 6

HAGGAI – Meaning festive festival of Yahweh.

Cyrus the Persian king had let 50,000 Jewish people return to Israel.  They had rebuilt the broken walls of Jerusalem, rebuilt their own houses but the Temple remained in ruins.

Haggai lived at the same time as Zechariah.  He explained why they were poor.  He said that God was not blessing them.  Haggai told them that they should also rebuild God's Temple (the house of God) - Haggai 1.

The new temple was small but God told Haggai that one day it would be greater than the old Temple (Haggai 2).  Now, God would bless the people because they had rebuilt the Temple.

Picture:

Haggai is pointing to their lovely houses and also pointing to the ruins of the Temple.

 

Zechariah

The Messiah as King

 

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Zechariah 9: 9

ZECHARIAH – Meaning God remembers.

Zechariah lived at the same time as Haggai during the reign of King Darius of Persia.  He was a priest.  Over the next 1600 years the priests would replace the prophets and also take over from the kings as leaders.  (Priest/King.)

God showed Zechariah many strange pictures to encourage the people in Jerusalem.  Zechariah has eight visions.  These pictures explained the good things that God would do in the future.  Some related to event in his own lifetime, some are about the Messiah.  Many of the prophecies have not happened yet.

The 5^th vision is of a large scroll 30ft by 15ft (10m x 5m) in the sky.  It flies through the air over the land.  The words on the scroll read: ‘Curse on all who steal and lie’.  As the scroll comes to a house where someone is stealing or lying it hovers and a curse drops and the house is destroyed.  There was to be a renewed interest in the study of the Torah.  (3^rd Commandment refers to dishonouring the name of God, the 8^th is do not steal and the 9^th is not to give false testimony.)

The Lord’s return to Jerusalem is foretold, Judah will be delivered and blessed and the nations will seek God.  There are prophecies of the coming Messiah and God Himself will fight for His people.  At the end of days, nations which have fought against Jerusalem will come up to worship in Jerusalem and will celebrate the feast of Booths.

Picture:

Zechariah points to God’s word as it flies over the land.  He looks shocked and in awe of what God is revealing.  God’s Torah is very important - Listen to it!  Read it!  Obey it!