So far, we have done deep dives into the twelve minor prophets, Ezra and Nehemiah, and the major prophet Ezekiel. But I want to give a little nod to a few nonwriting and lesser-known prophets in the Bible. Follow Bible Fiber whereever you listen to your podcasts! (Apple or Spotify or wherever else)
Non-writing Prophets
Prophets in the Bible who did not write their own books are often referred to as non-writing prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel’s prophecies were compiled into dedicated biblical books. The ministries of non-writing prophets are instead recorded within the historical narratives of other books, like Kings and Chronicles. Their primary role was to deliver God’s message to kings and the people of Israel and Judah. Their ministries were frequently characterized by bold confrontations with idol worship and corrupt rulers.
Two of the most prominent examples of non-writing prophets are Elijah and his successor, Elisha. Elijah is a major figure in the Books of Kings. He is known for his dramatic confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where he called fire down from heaven. Another significant miracle was when he raised the son of a widow from the dead. He also miraculously provided a widow with a never-ending supply of flour and oil to sustain her and her son during a severe drought. When Elijah’s time came, God spared him from death, carrying him up to heaven in a chariot of fire.
Elisha was the successor to the prophet Elijah, inheriting a “double portion” of his spirit. His miracles often focused on helping non-Israelites who willingly called on the name of Yahweh. Through God’s power, he provided a widow with a seemingly endless supply of oil to pay her debts and raised the son of a kind and gracious Shunammite woman from the dead. Elisha famously healed the Syrian commander Naaman of leprosy by telling him to wash seven times in the Jordan River. Elisha also performed a miracle with Elijah’s cloak, parting the Jordan River as Elijah had done just moments before he was taken to heaven.
Another significant non-writing prophet is Nathan. When King David committed had an affair with Bathsheba and tried to kill her husband, Nathan rebuked David. Even though David was the strongest king to ever sit on Judah’s throne, he humbly submitted to the condemnations of Nathan, who clearly spoke from the Lord.
Gad, often referred to as “David’s seer,” was a personal prophet to King David. He is mentioned in the books of Samuel and Chronicles. It was Gad who rebuked David after the wrong-headed census. As described in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, King David, for reasons not fully explained, ordered a census of all the fighting men in Israel and Judah. This act was considered a sin, and God was displeased.
After the census was completed, David’s conscience troubled him, and he confessed his sin to the Lord. The census showed a lack of faith in God’s protection; it was merely a display of his own military strength. It was then that the prophet Gad was sent to him with a message from God. Gad presented David with three options for punishment: a choice of seven years of famine, three months of being pursued by his enemies, or three days of a plague in the land. David, recognizing that it was better to fall into the hands of God’s mercy than the hands of men, chose the plague.
As the plague raged, killing 70,000 men, the Lord’s angel of destruction was poised over Jerusalem. Gad instructed David to go to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite to build an altar to the Lord and offer a sacrifice. This threshing floor was later used by King Solomon to build the Temple.
Ahijah was a prophet who lived in the city of Shiloh during the time of King Solomon. His most famous prophecy was delivered to Jeroboam. In a significant event recorded in 1 Kings 11:29-39, Ahijah tore his cloak into twelve pieces and gave ten pieces to Jeroboam. The Bible states that the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from God. Solomon had been led astray by his foreign wives, building places of worship for their gods and practicing idolatry. Because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness, God decided to tear the kingdom from his hands. However, out of His covenant promise to King David, God chose not to do this during Solomon’s lifetime. Instead, he chose Jeroboam to become the ruler of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel after Solomon’s death. Ahijah’s message, symbolized by the tearing of the cloak, was a divine announcement of this impending division.
Micaiah was a prophet known for his courage in standing alone against King Ahab and his 400 false prophets. The story is found in 1 Kings 22. When King Ahab and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were deciding whether to go to war, all 400 of Ahab’s prophets gave a favorable prophecy, encouraging the king to attack. The king summoned the prophet Micaiah. Micaiah first sarcastically agreed with the other prophets, but his mocking tone was so clear that King Ahab immediately recognized it and insisted he “speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord.” When pressed, Micaiah delivered God’s true message: that Ahab would be defeated and killed in the upcoming battle. For speaking this unpopular truth, Micaiah was thrown into prison.
Uriah: A Prophetic Warning
The prophet Uriah son of Shemaiah is a figure referenced in the book of Jeremiah. Uriah delivered a powerful message of judgment against Jerusalem during a chaotic time. King Jehoiakim responded to Uriah’s negativity with intense fury. Uriah had no choice but to flee Israel for his life, running all the way to Egypt. But the king was so determined to silence him that he sent a group of men to track him down. They captured Uriah, dragged him back, and the king had him executed. It was a brutal end for a man who simply spoke God’s message.
You might wonder why we don’t have a whole book from Uriah, like we do for Jeremiah. The Bible tells us that his story, brief as it is, was so important to include because it showed just how much danger prophets faced. Unlike Jeremiah, Uriah likely didn’t have scribes to write down his prophecies, and his ministry was tragically cut short. For thousands of years, his story was just a few lines in a much larger narrative. But here’s where it gets interesting: about 2,500 years later, archaeologists started digging up artifacts that illuminated Jeremiah and Uriah’s prophecies.
The Lachish Ostraca: A Glimpse into a War-Torn World
Archaeologists digging at Lachish discovered a collection of letters from the final days of the Kingdom of Judah, before the Babylonian attack. It was written on broken pieces of pottery called Lachish Ostraca. Think of them as postcards from a war zone. They’re not official history books; they’re the hurried, sometimes desperate, correspondence between a commander named Hoshaiah at an outpost and his superior, Yaush, at the fortress of Lachish.
These letters are filled with the kind of details that bring history to life. They talk about mundane military reports, but also the very real anxieties of a nation under siege by the Babylonians. One letter, known as Ostracon 3, gives us a fascinating glimpse into the tensions of the time. In it, the commander complains about a prophet whose words are “weakening the hands” of the people and the army. We can’t know for sure if this letter is about Jeremiah, Uriah, or another prophet who saw the coming threat. Still, it’s a powerful sign that figures like them were real, active voices during this chaotic time. In Jeremiah 38:4, officials complained that his prophecies are “discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and the people, by speaking such things to them.”
Perhaps most remarkably, one of the letters mentions an army commander named Coniah son of Elnathan who went to Egypt. This is a potential connection to the Elnathan mentioned in the Bible, who King Jehoiakim sent to Egypt to capture Uriah. It’s not a direct confirmation, but it is interesting that an Elnathan figure was active in the very same context as Uriah’s story—and dealing with the very same foreign power, Egypt. The Lachish Ostraca don’t just validate Uriah’s existence; they pull back the curtain and show us the dangerous world in which Jeremiah and Uriah lived and died.
When we look at the story of Uriah and Jeremiah, we see a society that was fundamentally at odds with itself. On one side, you had prophets who were sounding the alarm—not just predicting a future disaster, but calling for a return to justice, righteousness, and faithfulness. They were seen as negative and unpatriotic because they spoke against the king and the nation’s prevailing policies. On the other side, you had the ruling class who chose to ignore those warnings, seeing the prophets as a political threat to be eliminated. King Jehoiakim wasn’t interested in truth; he was interested in maintaining power.
This tension between those who see a coming threat and those who deny it isn’t unique to biblical times. Every society, at one point or another, has faced this kind of division. There are always those who feel a spiritual obligation to speak difficult truths, warning against a dangerous path. And there are always others who, for various reasons—whether it’s comfort, power, or pride—dismiss those warnings. The lesson from history, from the story of Uriah and many others, is that ignoring the alarm doesn’t make the danger go away. But still our hope is in the Lord. Even the weeping prophet Jeremiah promised, “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue you” (Jer. 1:19).
That’s it! I wanted to take a moment to shine some light on the prophets without their own books but who absolutely function in Israel’s world as megaphones for God’s word. Thank you for listening! On October 17, we are launching our brand-new series. We are doing a one-year sprint through the Torah, following the weekly reading calendar that the Jewish people have used for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Shabbat Shalom and Am Israel Chai.