Isaiah – Malachi

Isaiah – Malachi

The books of the prophets form a major section in Israel’s Scriptures. Though some of them actually began functioning during the Fourth Course of Punishment, they are all Fifth Course of Punishment prophets. Through their ministries God describes the Fifth Course, with its five installments, in detail. Since there is no sixth course of punishment, everything in God’s program with Israel comes to a head in the Fifth Course. Accordingly, much of Isaiah through Malachi focuses on the final two installments of the Fifth Course – the days of the Messiah – the climactic stages in the program. The great amount of information contained in the prophets falls into the following 7 major doctrinal categories. 1. Details about the five installment breakdown to the Fifth Course. 2. The doctrine of the Messiah. 3. Details about the new covenant of grace God would make. 4. Details about the Lord’s day of purging and avenging wrath. 5. Details about the prescription for cleansing God would administer to Israel. 6. Details about the time schedule for the Fifth Course of Punishment. 7. Details about Israel’s glory to come when the covenanted kingdom of heaven is finally established with them. Of these 7 issues, the time schedule of the Fifth Course is extremely important to understand. The initial time schedule for the First Installment was given to Jeremiah, setting forth the 70 years necessary for the land to enjoy her sabbaths. The balance of the time schedule for the remaining four installments was given to Daniel. From Daniel’s time schedule Israel could track the progress of the remaining installments. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi were the final prophets to function in Israel before God went silent for the Third Installment. Through their ministries Israel was told to give heed to the overall ministry of the Fifth Course of Punishment prophets, while they awaited the day when God would begin the climactic stages of His program with them.