INTRODUCTION TO THE PROPHETIC BOOKS

 I.     PROPHECY AND PROPHETS IN GENERAL

A.   Prophecy

1.  Might be called history in reverse.

2.  Fulfilled prophecy is a proof of the inspiration of the Scriptures.

3.  Values of the study of prophecy

a.    Enlightenment

b.    Security

c.    Purity

B.   Prophets

1.    Twofold meaning of the word “prophet”

a.    One who forth-tells

b.    One who foretells

2.    Many seem only interested in the latter phase.

3.    Many more are more interested in the devil’s “prophecy” than in the Lord’s: fortune tellers, clairvoyants, mediums, witches. (cf. Deut. 18:9, 10)

II.    PROPHETS OF SCRIPTURE

A.   Major and Minor prophets

1.    Reason for such classification - due not to difference in importance, but to the bulk of writings.

2.    Christians today find too little profit in the prophets.

a.    Too difficult

b.    Not practical

B.   A renewed interest in the prophets of the Bible is called for in our day.

1.    The prophets deal in fundamental questions of relation between God and men.

2.    They treat of eternal moral principles.

3.    They interpret current history in the light of God.

4.    They give assurance of God’s sovereignty and over-ruling providence.

C.   The idea of Biblical prophecy

1.    The prophet is a speaker of and for God.

2.    He is a seer.

a.    Sees things that do not lie in the domain of human sight.

b.    Hears things that human ears do not ordinarily receive.

c.    He labors under an absolute compulsion to speak. (Jer. 20:9; Amos 3:8)

d.    Prophets were interpreters of events that were happening or had happened.

D.     Outstanding characteristics of the books of the prophets: authority, fearlessness, interpretations, predictions, eloquence.