Reading the Prophetic Books of the Bible

The experience of many people who read their Bibles is that they find reading the prophetic books of the Bible especially hard to read and understand. The books are written in poetic language, and the writers of the books write about events and concerns that most modern people find strange and irrelevant. And yet, the prophetic books are part of the Holy Scripture and are, therefore, part of the word of God. God gave these books to us. He must have something to say to us in them.

There are some verses and passages in the prophetic literature that people find meaningful. But we should not be satisfied with understanding only small portions of any book of the Bible. And also, when we read only a verse or two out of context, we are likely to misinterpret and misapply those verses. It is, therefore, important that we grasp each biblical book in its entirety to get the full message God has for us in that portion of Scripture.

The prophetic books are an important part of the biblical storyline. They do not advance the storyline historically, but they do provide great insight into God’s unfolding plan during the time of the kings. The Lord sent prophets to call kings and people back to the covenant when they had strayed far from its stipulations given in the Law. But it is important to note that prophecy is the way God speaks to his people throughout biblical history (Hebrews 1:1). So, what we learn about prophets and prophecy is significant to the whole biblical story.

The prophet is a messenger inspired by the Spirit of God. The prophet did not take the prophetic mantel himself, nor did he speak his own words, but only those the Lord gave him (2 Peter 1:20-21). He was called by God for a focused task. The prophet had the great privilege and the grave responsibility to speak a serious word of warning to God’s wayward people.

Most of the writing prophets lived and ministered during the divided kingdom, but some prophesied during the exile and return. We learn from the book of 1&2 Kings that Solomon, the man of wisdom, acted foolishly in his latter days. After his death, the Davidic kingdom was split into two kingdoms, Judah in the south, comprised of two tribes where the Davidic king ruled in Jerusalem, in which the temple of God was located, and Israel in the north, comprised of ten tribes. After the division of the kingdom into two kingdoms, the people of God moved further and further from him. Because of this, the Lord sent prophets to them to call them back to himself. Therefore the message of all the prophets is a message of judgment and salvation that is given in four parts. It is critical to keep these four parts of the prophetic message in mind when we are reading the prophetic books.

(1) Reminder: Covenant Relationship

(2) Charge: Covenant Breach

(3) Warning: God’s Judgment

(4) Offer: Mercy through Repentance

The prophetic message is focused on one or more of four time-frames (those in the exile and return have a different focus in #2).

(1) The Prophets Own Day

(2) The Exile & Return

(3) The Messiah’s Suffering

(4) The Messiah’s Kingdom Come

The prophets prophesied about these events but did not know the exact time between them, so the time between the suffering and the kingdom of the Messiah was not yet clear. Consequently, when Messiah Jesus came, the people of his day struggled to grasp the messianic timing.

We find in the prophetic literature the major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. We also find the minor prophets Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

When we read the prophetic books, it is important to read them prayerfully, seeking God’s help through the Holy Spirit. As we are reading these amazing books, we must remember the four parts of the prophetic message and the four time-frames to which their message was directed (both of which we covered above). It is also important to remember that these books are largely poetic. Therefore, they will have an abundance of figurative language. The prophetic literature is rich in metaphor and symbolism. Another important thing to do as you read these books is to try to determine the structure of each passage, which is the flow of the message. What is the Lord saying to his wandering people through his prophet? How does he develop that message? The last thing we can do to ascertain God’s message to us is to work to understand the main point of each passage that God is communicating to the people of that day. Once we have that, we can recognize the general principle or timeless truth that applies to us in our day. That is what God is saying to us today from his ancient prophet.

The prophetic books of the Bible take a little more time and work than most other parts of Scripture to read with deeper understanding, but it is well worth the effort to gain those golden nuggets of truth God is speaking to our hearts. Don’t avoid or quickly read through these beautiful works of divine literature. God has something to say to you in them. He is waiting for you there to pick up these books and read.