The figures represented in the top panel of the right-hand light are the prophets Jeremiah and Malachi, on either side of John the Baptist. Maynard preached a sermon on these figures on November 21, 1948 as part of his series of sermons introducing the War Memorial window. In that sermon, he concentrated on Jeremiah who is one of the major prophets of the Old Testament. He is represented in the window as an elderly man holding a scroll, presumably of his prophecy concerning the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of her people in Babylon.

Jeremiah lived around the turn of the seventh to the sixth centuries BC. In Maynard's words "He was a statesman, a patriot, and a preacher of righteousness. He was a prophet who was convinced he had a word from the Lord to proclaim to his king and people, in the face of the gathering menace of the growing Babylonian power in Mesopotamia, whose armies were threatening Palestine from the north." Because he lived in times of such threats to his country, Jeremiah is often seen as a pessimist — a prophet of doom — always predicting the worst outcome. But his pessimism about the fate of Jerusalem was balanced by his faith in God, and his vision of a day in which God would make a new covenant with His people in which He would write His law in their hearts. Jeremiah suffered for his faithfulness to his people and to his vision: losing the love, trust and regard of the people for whom he spent himself. He poured out his grief in the book of Lamentations, which has been taken in the Christian tradition as expressive of the anguish of Christ on the Cross.

The prophet Malachi is represented to the right of this panel as a younger, more vigorous man. He was the last of the minor prophets, and the Book of Malachi—the last in the canon of the Old Testament—is thought to date from the middle of the fifth century BC. Malachi is best known in the English tradition through Handel's use of Malachi 3:1-3 in the first part of Messiah.

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

John the Baptist is the central figure of this panel of the window. He is represented as a striking personage, with "his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey." (Matt 3:4). "For this is he that is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (Matt 3:3). The epilogue to the Book of Malachi — "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5) — is taken in some traditions to link John the Baptist, who announced the coming Christ in this way, with the figure of Elijah. The parallels between John and the account of Elijah in 2 Kings are clear: "He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins." (2 Kings 1:8).

John was a charismatic preacher. Many people went to see him and were baptized in the Jordan, confessing their sins. John proclaimed that the one who was to come after him was mightier than he, and would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire (Matt 3:11). John spoke out against King Herod because of his affair with Herodias, his brother's wife. Herod had him put in prison, and later had him beheaded at the request of Herodias (Matt 14:3-11).

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