The latter part of the Old Testament records the works and words of the prophets. There are 4 ‘major’ prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel) and 12 ‘minor’ prophets (the last 12 books of the OT). The words ‘major’ and ‘minor’ refer only to the length of each book, not the significance of the prophet’s message. Some of the most memorable and powerful phrases of Scripture come from the so-called ‘minor’ prophets e.g “The righteous will live by his faith”¹ and “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”². These books were written between about 760 and 460 B.C.

Prophecy can be difficult to understand, because it is so different to what we come into contact with day by day – second only to apocalypse, in my opinion. Let’s explore together what the role of the prophets was in Old Testament Israel, and then how their message extends to us today.

Understanding the prophets

The first thing we need to be aware of when considering the words of the prophets is the role that the prophet had in Israel.

The role of the prophet

Contrary to popular opinion, prophecy is not primarily about telling the future. Less than 2% of prophecy was messianic³; less than 5% describes new covenant times⁴. In most cases, the prophets spoke of the immediate future of Israel, Judah and their immediate neighbours.

This is because the primary role of the prophet was to act as God’s spokesman. Specifically the prophets were responsible for reminding Israel of the covenant they were in with God, and pronouncing the enforcement of the covenant, either positive of negative. Sometimes they were called to pronounce blessings (life, health, prosperity, agricultural abundance, respect or safety) such as in Amos 9:11-15. Other times, such as in Hosea 8:14 and again in 9:3, they were required to speak God’s words of judgment and punishment (death, disease, drought, dearth, danger, destruction, defeat, deportation, destitution, disgrace).

It is important to note that their message was not their own. This is reinforced by the frequent use of phrases like “This is what the LORD said to me…”⁵ and “The LORD Almighty has declared in my hearing…”⁶. Their role was similar to that of a modern ambassador: they were appointed by God to go and speak on his behalf⁷. If a prophet presumed to take the office of prophet upon themselves, that was a good indication they were a false prophet⁸.

Equally important, the prophets’ message was not original. It may have used new words, it may have been presented in a new way, but the message was always a reminder of the original covenant. Consider, for example, Hosea 4:2: “There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery.” Whilst the words are different, this is a reference back to what we call the Ten Commandments. Although it only mentions 5, and not in the usual order⁹ people would have been prompted to think about the others, and to assess for themselves whether they were living up to them.

How to read prophecy

The first step in reading any of the prophets is to understand the background of the prophecy. Check out the introduction to the book in your Bible, or consult a Bible Dictionary, to get a feel for the historical circumstances surrounding the prophet’s message and ministry. Other information might include an outline for the book, special features of form, issues of interpretation etc.

It can sometimes be difficult to read the prophets in one sitting, particularly the longer ones like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Whilst this is still a valuable exercise, a better approach is to identify individual ‘oracles’ within the overall message of the prophet. An oracle is a specific word or judgment from God. It may be tied to a specific occasion¹⁰, or may occur over a period of time¹¹. Each oracle is complete in and of itself, but also needs to be understood in terms of the overall message.

There were several types of oracle:

• Lawsuit: God (through his prophet) takes the subject of his judgment to ‘court’, with God himself as plaintiff, prosecutor, judge and bailiff. Each lawsuit includes the following elements: summons; charge; evidence; and verdict¹².
• Woe: An announcement of distress, followed by the reason for that distress and a prediction of doom¹³.
• Promise/salvation: This kind of oracle is one of comfort and hope. It is characterised by: a reference to the future; mention of radical change; and a promise of blessing¹⁴.
• Enactment prophecy: The prophet is instructed to ‘act out’ some aspect of the prophecy, in order to reinforce the words¹⁵.
• Messenger speech: This is a word-for-word relay of God’s words¹⁶.

The words of the prophets were often presented in the form of poetry. Refer to the notes on reading a psalm for more details on this.

Applying the prophets

As with all of the different types of Bible literature, applying the words of the prophets is a matter of first understanding what they were saying to their original audience. When we do, even if our situation is quite different, we will often hear it afresh in our own setting.

The majority of future events described by the prophets are immediate, although some look all the way forward to the end of history. And sometimes the two are mixed, and that’s where it gets a little more difficult to understand. It’s kind of like looking at 2 disks (see image below). When you look at the 2 disks from the straight-on view, they appear to be close together, and perhaps even the same object. When you look from the side-on view, however, you understand that they are actually a long way apart.

To the prophets, looking forward in history, their view was like the straight-on view, and so everything appears as though happening at the same time. We, however, have more of a side-on view, allowing us to distinguish between those things which were events immediately following the prophet’s ministry, from those which refer to much later times. Some things that a prophet says may well belong to the end-times¹⁷ but be careful not to push temporal events into the future as well.

More generally, my advice is to avoid looking for ‘fuller meanings’ for the words of prophecy. Where the prophet’s words may be applied to events immediately surrounding his time, that is the most likely meaning. The exception to this is where NT writers have done so¹⁸.

Finally, remember that the prophets consistently encourage not only correct belief, but also correct action.

Further reading

• Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart, “The Prophets: Enforcing the Covenant in Israel” in How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (Third Edition, Zondervan 2003) pp. 181-204

Endnotes

1. Hab 2:4
2. Hos 1:10
3. i.e. foretelling Jesus
4. i.e. times after Jesus
5. Jer 27:2
6. Is 5:9
7. Is 6; Jer 1; Ezek 1-3
8. Jer 14:14
9. ‘cursing’ refers to the 3rd commandment, about using the Lord’s name in vain; ‘lying’ to the 9th; ‘murder’ the 6th; ‘stealing’ the 8th; ‘adultery’ the 7th
10. e.g. Is 5, which probably occurred at a harvest festival
11. e.g. in Is 20, Isaiah went around “stripped and barefoot” for 3 years!
12. e.g. Is 3:13-26
13. e.g. Hab 2:6-8
14. e.g. Amos 9:11-15
15. e.g. Is 20, Ezek 4:1-4
16. e.g. Is 38:1-8; Jer 35:17-19
17. e.g. Joel 3:1-3; Zeph 3:8-9
18. e.g. in 1 Cor 10:4, Paul explains the ‘fuller meaning’ of the Rock of Ex 20 and Num 21.