Lesson 5: Introduction to Genre

OT Genres: Prophecy

The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah… to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign…

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

   “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    and before you were born I consecrated you;
    I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” 

But the Lord said to me,
   “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
    for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
    and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
    Do not be afraid of them,
    for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
   “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth…”

—Jeremiah 1:1–9
Many Christians think of prophecy almost exclusively in terms of predicting the future. In reality, the OT prophets did far more than fore-tell the coming of future events. Their primary responsibility was to “forth-tell.” That is, as God’s ambassadors, they revealed the present by proclaiming God’s covenant word to his people regarding their present sins and circumstances as well as their future hope.
YHWH’s prophets were enforcers and ambassadors of the various covenants that God had made with those on earth. They also predicted the coming new covenant, which would fulfill in different ways all the previous divine-human covenants.
Jason DeRouchie, How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament, 59.
Keys to interpreting OT Prophets
Discern and interpret whole oracles. When listening to a sermon, it is important to hear the whole message in order to fully understand what the pastor intends to communicate at each point. So it is when reading the prophets. More often than not, their messages come to us as self-contained units called oracles.
Identify the verbal and structural clues that mark the boundaries of each oracle, such as, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying…”
Discern the main message of the whole oracle, and how all the parts of the oracle support that main point.
Ask how that oracle fits in the flow of the whole prophetic book.
Identify the historical setting of each oracle and the prophet’s ministry as a whole. As with the quote from Jeremiah above, the prophets often specify the time and location of their messages.
Look to the historical books (typically Kings and Chronicles) to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the prophet’s ministry.
Ask, “What sins and issues are at the center of the prophet’s burden?”
Ask, “What response from his audience is the prophet aiming for?”
Consider the covenants. What role do the covenants have in the prophet’s ministry? The prophets’ words of judgment were most often related to some failure on the part of God’s people to obey the Mosaic covenant (i.e. the law). The promises they spoke of were rooted in the covenants God established with Abraham, Moses, and David. When they did look to the future, they had their eyes on the day that God would fulfill all things through his Messiah and the new covenant he would establish.
Look out for “the day of the LORD.” It is mentioned often and can refer to any of several events:
The final day of judgment and renewal at the end of all time
The whole time period from Messiah’s birth to the day of judgment
Messiah’s appearance at the beginning of that epoch
"Lesser” days when God enacted his judgment and/or blessing in Israel’s history
Focus on Christ. Recognize that the prophets were, in one way or another, always pointing forward to Christ. Therefore we should ask, “In what way does Christ ultimately fulfill the prophet’s burden?” (We will consider this further in Lesson 7.)

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:25–27