From what Biblical book is your pastor preaching? What are you reading in your devotional times? What book of the Bible are you studying in your small group?
Let me guess: An epistle? A gospel? An Old Testament historical book? Some of the Wisdom literature (Psalms, Proverbs, etc.)?
I’d bet very few of you would answer Ezekiel, or Micah, or Zechariah.
The Forgotten Prophets
The prophetic books of the Old Testament make up 250 of the Bible’s 1189 chapters. That’s about 21% of the Bible! And I think those books are sorely neglected.
I don’t have any recent data or research to back me up. But when I talk to other Christians about what they’re reading, the prophets come up the least. If someone mentions the prophets, it’s usually because they’re following a read-through-the-Bible plan. (And they’re usually eager to get to Matthew!)
Five Things We Lose When We Skip the Prophets
Aside from missing out on a fifth of God’s word, here are five specific treasures we miss when we consistently neglect the reading and study of the prophets. (These are not all features exclusive to the prophets, but they appear in most of the prophetic books.)
1. Background to the New Testament
If you want to know what the people of Jesus’s day were thinking about and expecting from God, you need to read the prophets. The prophets were the most recent revelation from God, and yet there had been no word from God for hundreds of years when Jesus was born. The people’s expectations were shaped by prophetic promises of rescue, deliverance, and victory over enemies.
2. References in the New Testament
The New Testament writers assumed a high level of Biblical literacy. They often made reference to portions of the Old Testament, either through allusion or explicit quotation. It seems likely that by referring to a verse New Testament writers assumed their hearers or readers would think of a much larger passage of Scripture. Especially when reading those authors who explain how Jesus fulfilled prophesy, it’s essential that we pay attention to the prophetic books.
3. The communal nature of God’s people
In the prophets, God gives a message to one person for broadcast to his people. There are collective accusations of rebellion and idolatry, collective threats of punishment and exile, and collective promises of salvation. In the modern West, we tend to read the Bible through an individualistic lens, but the Jewish people of the Old Testament were bound together in a way we must understand. While the Bible has plenty of implications for individuals, God frequently addresses us as his church, and we need the counter-balance of thinking collectively that the prophets provide.
4. Hope
Because disobedience has serious consequences, the future was bleak for many who heard the prophetic announcements. But God rarely left his people without hope. The exile would end. The oppressing nations would be defeated. Hearts would be changed and the people’s longing for God’s presence would finally be realized. God always sustains his people through a sure hope.
5. God’s omniscience and sovereignty
In the prophets, we read prediction after prediction about what will happen to God’s people and we see the extent of God’s knowledge. We read of God’s judgment against Israel’s sins and we recognize the extent of his authority and personal rule. Now as then, he is not a God to take lightly.
Start Reading
If you’ve been neglecting the prophets in your own Bible intake, the fix is easy. Start reading!
Here’s a concrete suggestion. Take an upcoming month and devote it to reading the prophets. Pick one major prophet (Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel) and three minor prophets, and make yourself a reading plan.
Take a look at the historical background of each book before you begin. Most good study Bibles have this information (and many web sites do too).
Then read with purpose. If you get confused by the language or bored with what seems repetitive, push through. Write some notes on each chapter as you go to help you understand what you’re reading.
Let’s give our attention to the whole counsel of God, without consistently ignoring any of what he’s given us.
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