Scripture: One Book at a Time
The whole of Sacred Scripture is a single narrative that promises and points to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the World. It is an epic story, the greatest ever told, and told "one book at a time." Each book makes it contribution to the narrative as God reveals God's self to us and his desire that all be saved.
Lesson 24: An Introduction to the Prophets
Introduction to the Prophets
There are 16 prophetic books in the Old Testament – which taken as a whole is equal to the entire New Testament in length. So many of the NT quotations are from the prophetic books and so it is nigh on impossible to understand the work and message of Jesus without understanding the Prophets. Who were they? What was their role in their own day? In the flow of salvation history? How are we to read and understand their prophetic messages?
Prophetic books do not easily fall into one particular literary genre. Some are anthologies or oracles, narratives and visions. All use poetic language, parallelism, hyperbole, symbols and metaphors. At times the prophets “act” their prophecies like street theater. All not all prophets are alike, yet they all speak on behalf of God to his people. It is always good to remember that if the people of God had stayed close to God, there likely would not have been any prophets sent. The basic mission of a prophets is to call the people back to covenant relationship with God – something the kings were suppose to do.
Enjoy the video, but take a moment to read:
Introduction to the Prophets Presentation
For those who would like to explore details of this book, please consider videos from Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” program. You can find the entire playlist here.