Lesson 8
How To
Study the Bible Lesson 8: How To Study Prophecy.
By Shane Scott
Prophecy Defined
Many people assume that prophecy always has to do with the future, but that is not the case. Biblically, a prophet is one who speaks for God. The classic job description of a prophet is found in Deuteronomy 18:18: "I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him."
The prophets did much more than predict history; they interpreted history. Predictive prophecy is an important feature of the work of the prophets, but the primary focus of their work was to explain to Israel God's mighty acts in history, past, present, or future.
The Prophets and History
The prophets of God can be categorized in two broad groups: the non- writing prophets and the writing prophets. Elijah and Elisha are two notable examples of prophets who did not write any of the books of the Bible. Our lesson this week has to do with the writing prophets, Isaiah through Malachi. Of course, the NT contains prophetic writing as well, most notably the Book of Revelation.
Although Israel's history stretched across 2000 years, the writing prophets were active for only a brief window of time: from approximately 800 B.C. to 400 B.C. These four centuries were filled with political tumult and moral decline, which explains why so many prophets were active. It is common to divide the writing prophets with reference to their length, thus the terms "major" and "minor" prophets. A better way to group them is according to their chronology, as they relate to the Babylonian exile (587 B.C.):
1) Prophets before the exile (per-exilic): Jonah, Amos, Hosea,
Obadiah, Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah
2) Prophets during the exile: Daniel, Ezekiel
3) Prophets after the exile (post-exilic): Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi
The Key Feature of the Prophets
As I said earlier, most people automatically associate the prophets with predictions. A much more accurate way of characterizing the work of the prophets is that they were preachers of the Mosaic covenant. When God made Israel a nation, He made a covenant (agreement, contract) with them. In addition to laws, this covenant also contained a section of "blessings" if the people kept the covenant, and "cursings" if they did not. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 record these blessings and cursings.
The prophets simply preached these blessings and cursings to the children of Israel. Many times they quote almost directly from Lev. 26 and Deut. 28. Here are some examples:
'Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land. (Lev. 26:5)
"Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy shall oppress you. (Deut. 28:53)
"You shall bring out much seed to the field but you shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it.. You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall devour them. You shall have olive trees throughout your territory but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. (Deut. 28:38-40)
"Behold, days are coming,"declares the Lord, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine, And all the hills will be dissolved. (Amos 9:13)
'Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you, and scatter all your remnant to every wind. (Ezek. 5:10)
"You will sow but you will not reap. You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil; And the grapes, but you will not drink wine. (Micah 6:15)
Because the prophets put such stress on the covenant, many times they spoke as if they were lawyers, or as if God was a lawyer, bringing a case against Israel. For instance, Isaiah 3:13-14 says, "The Lord arises to contend, And stands to judge the people. The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people, 'It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.'"
Keys to Interpreting the Prophets
There are several factors that make interpreting prophecy difficult. One element is the use of highly symbolic language to communicate God's will. In Daniel 2 a statue is symbolic of four coming kingdoms, for instance. Sometimes, as in the case of Daniel 2, the prophet includes an interpretation. Many times, though, he does not, and that's one reason prophecy is difficult to understand.
Another factor to consider is that the books we have are actually collections of many different oracles a prophet delivered. Some of the prophets carefully dated their oracles (take a look at Haggai). But others did not.
Most significantly, because the prophets were so far removed from many of the things they spoke about, their perspective on certain events could be very cloudy. Here is an illustration: if you were to look at a mountain range from long distance, the various peaks would seem close together by virtue of the perspective from which you were observing. Only as you traveled closer could you begin to see how much difference there was between the peaks. Many times the prophets would speak of Judah's return from Babylon, the coming of the Messiah, and the establishment of the kingdom all in the same breath, even though those events were separated by hundreds of years. This trait of the prophets can make interpreting them a real struggle.
The best way to think of what the prophets spoke about is in terms of types of times. A write once said "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." In the same way, the prophets spoke in terms of sinful times, judgment times, and salvation times.
The Sinful Present was the period in which most of the prophets lived. When speaking of this type of phase, the prophets focused on God's laws and the people's sins.
The Coming Judgment was the period of judgment that the prophets warned the people about. Various example of this phase are the Assyrian invasion of Israel (722 B.C.), the Babylonian invasion of Judah (587 B.C.), the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 70), and the second coming. This is where the prophets would point out the curses of the covenant and the righteous judgment of God.
The third kind of prophetic time is the Future Salvation. The prophets would reassure the people that a remnant of the people would enjoy great blessings, very often using some of the blessings mentioned in the covenant as examples. This is also where the prophets would speak of the Messiah and His salvation.
All three of these "types of times" can be illustrated in Isaiah One. In 1:2-4 the prophet speaks of the sinful present. In 1:7, he then mentions the curses that will result. And in 1:18, 26, and 27 he speaks of future salvation.
Some Additional Help
We have only covered the bare facts about interpreting the prophets. To aid your study of these marvelous books, I would suggest that you do the following:
First, carefully read the historical sections of Kings and Chronicles which coincide with the prophet you are studying. Almost all of the prophets record the names of the kings during whose reign they prophesied, so use a concordance and gain as much information s you can about the historical context of that prophet.
Second, consult a good Bible dictionary or encyclopedia. These reference works will provide you with additional helpful information, such as the meaning of the prophet's name, an outline of the book, and the secular history behind the biblical history.
Third, compare your studies with reliable commentaries. There is a place for commentaries, though it is obviously low on the list of priorities. You should do a great deal of homework on your own before you ever read what someone else has to say. The only significant commentaries on the prophets by brethren are by Homer Hailey (Isaiah and the Minor Prophets). L.A. Mott also has a valuable workbook on Jeremiah. Let me again stress that commentaries are only to be used when you have carefully studied a text, and should always be closely scrutinized in light of what the Bible says.
Questions for Review.
1. What does the word "prophet" mean?
2. How are the prophets categorized in terms of the Babylonian exile?
3. What sections of the Law contain the blessings and cursings?
4. Read Amos 4:1-19 and find as many parallels with the blessings and cursings as possible.
5. What bearing does the fact that the prophets lived many years before the fulfillment of things they spoke about have on interpreting them?
6. What are the three types of time in the prophets?