There are 39 Old Testament books in your Bible. Each one inspired of God and full of great lessons and eternal truths which every child of God should learn and apply. Though it is no longer in force as law, it is there for our learning. As Romans 15:4 says, “whatsoever things were written aftoretime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
The “writing prophets” make up 17 of the 39 Old Testament books. From shepherds to statesmen, the prophets were all unique men of God in their own right. But each one stood forth to proclaim God’s Word to humanity. We may be tempted to neglect a study of these books, supposing them to be irrelevant for our time, but we do so to our own peril. Wayne Jackson said,
The Bible student who neglects a study of the prophets does a great disservice to their own development of faith.. More study needs to be given to these ancient scribes of divine revelation and their literary productions. The prophets’ lives, including weaknesses and strengths, contain rich lessons from which so much can be learned (cf. Rom. 15:4) (Jackson, The Prophets).
To see the modern relevance of the prophets, one need look no further than the sin which they addressed. Doing so reveals that modern sins aren’t so modern after all. Amos vividly described the rampant greed and materialism in Israel. The righteous were sold for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes (Amos 2:6). The “cows of Bashan” – the wives of the rulers and the rich – were guilty of oppressing the poor, crushing the needy, and saying to their husbands “bring wine, let us drink!” (Amos 4:1). Isaiah pronounced woe on drinking alcohol (Isa. 5:11-12), Jeremiah condemned theft (Jer. 7:9-10), Hosea cried out against adultery and fornication (Hos. 4:14), and Micah decried the false prophets in the land (Mic. 3:11). Idolatry is still a problem in our time and is a major point of emphasis in the prophets (Hos. 2:5-7; 13; 4:10-13; 13:2). People still embrace error (Amos 2:12; 5:10), struggle with spiritual indifference (Haggai), labor under corrupt justice officials (Mic. 2:1-2) and live under wicked government officials (Mic. 7:3). The prophets were called by God to address contemporary concerns in their day, but those concerns were not unique to their time only. They are still alive and well in 21st Century America.
The prophets did not only address concerns germane to their own time, they also spoke of things to come in the future. Chief among these future considerations is Messianic prophecy. More than 300 prophetic utterances of the Messiah can be found in Old Testament Scripture, many of which are found in the books of the prophets. These prophecies address the Messiah’s person, work, and Kingdom.
Of Christ the prophets foresaw…
- His virgin birth (Isa. 7:14).
- His place of birth (Mic. 5:2).
- His betrayal (Zech. 11:12-13).
- His death (Zech. 13:7; Isa. 53).
- His relation to David (Isa. 11:1ff).
Of the Christ’s Kingdom the prophets foresaw…
- It’s time of establishment (Dan. 2).
- It’s place of establishment (Isa. 2).
- The power that would signal its coming (Joel 2).
- It’s universal appeal and existence (Micah 4).
A proper understand of these, and many other, Messianic prophecies, is paramount to a proper understanding of the life and work of Christ as recorded in the New Testament. Failure to do so often results in false doctrine. Consider the doctrine of Premillennialism and its abuse of Kingdom prophecy as an example. As well as false ideas about Heaven which stem, at least partially, from a misinterpretation of Isaiah’s discussion of “new heavens and new earth” in Isaiah 65 and 66.
Why study the prophets? The question should really be, “Why not study the prophets?” The lives and work of these great men of God help us greatly in our desire to be the people God would have us to be