Most Bible readers would agree with the great reformer Martin Luther who said of the prophets:
They have a queer way of talking, like people who, instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, ramble off from one thing to the next, so that you cannot make
head or tail of them or see what they are getting at.154
Probably no part of Scripture mystifies and frustrates readers more than the proph- ets. Indeed, OT prophecy presents a veritable snake pit of interpretive problems.
Many prophetic messages strike the reader as hopelessly obscure. The prophetic books seem to teem with spooky creatures flying or crawling all over the earth,
l”For a discussion of the genre “vision report,” see Tucker, “Prophecy and the Prophetic Litera- ture,” 341-42; March, “Prophecy,” 170.
15’See Hos 1, 3; Isa 7:3; 8:lA; 20:16; Jer 13:1-11; 16:l+ 5-7, 8-9; 32:1-15. Cf. G. Fohrer, “Die Gattung der Berichte iiber symbolische Handlungen der Propheten,” zAW64 (1952): 101-20; id., Die symbokcben Handlungen akr Propheten, ATANT 25 (Ziirich: Zwingli, 1953).
152There is also a simpler form that has only a command and the interpretation (Isa 8:1-$ Jer
16:2-a
or report and interpretation (1 Kgs ll:29-31; Jer 28:10-11). For even simpler examples, see Isa 7:3; 20:1-6; 1 Kgs 19319-21.“‘Tucker “Prophecy and the Prophetic Literature,” 342. The symbolic action of Jesus in cursing the figless tree iarallels this example (Mk 11:12-14, 20-21, par.).
‘%Quoted by G. von Rad, Old Testament 7%eoloey, 2 (New York: Harper bi Row, 1965), 33, n. 1.
Genres of the Old Testament 303
devouring everything in their path. Even when readers understand all the words, a prophetic passage may leave them asking, “But what do they mean?”
At the same time, more ingenious readers claim to find predictions of current events (especially those in the Middle East) hidden behind every obscure word and symbol. With the Bible in one hand and a daily newspaper in the other, they skill- fully cross reference the two. Confidently they proclaim some modern leaders to be the goat’s fourth horn of Daniel (Dan 8) or Ezekiel’s Gog (Ezek 38-39).155 Such identifications, of course, do enjoy one distinct advantage: the more obscure the prophet, the less ground others have to dispute the interpreter’s views!
Interpretation of the prophets, however, is not as impossible or arbitrary as it may seem. A few passages may still doggedly resist our attempts at interpretation, but most can be understood at least to some degree. And however unintelligible, all can certainly give the reader spiritual benefit. Let’s consider some principles that can help readers find their way through the quagmire of OT prophecy.
The Nature of Prophecy
An
understanding of the nature of prophecy is the foundation for its interpre- tation. Basically, prophets conveyed messages from God to his people. Prophecy assumes that God has something important he wants people to understand. The essence of prophecy, thus, is the communication of God’s word to humankind through human speakers or writers. In itself, that implies something important about prophecy: God intends that it communicate-not obfuscate. Further, we must re- member that pious people preserved and passed on the writings of the prophets, apparently believing them relevant for later generations. So, however bewildering the prophetic writings, we cannot escape the simple truth that, in the Bible’s view, they have relevant things to say-even to us.Traditionally, one describes the content of prophecy under the terms forth- telling and foretelling. Better known, foretelling refers specifically to predictive prophecy-the prophets’ predictions about the future. This is what comes to mind when most people think of biblical prophecy. They equate prophecy with predic- tions about the distant future, especially those about Christ and the “end times.”
Contrary to popular impression, however, very little of OT prophecy is predictive prophecy. According to Fee and Stuart, “Less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is messianic. Less than 5 percent specifically describes the New Covenant age. Less than 1 percent concerns events yet to come [after the NT period].“156
Instead, most of it involves forthtellin~messages for a prophet’s own audi- ence about their own day or the near future. At times the prophets accused their contemporaries of terrible social and spiritual corruption. Consider Hosea’s indict- ment of his fellow Israelites:
‘55Examples of this approach include T. LaHaye, ne Beginning of the End Wheaton, IL:
Tyndale House, 1972); and H. Lindsey, The 1980’s: Countdown to Armageddon (New York: kin- tam Books, 1980).
‘%Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible. 150.
304 Introduction to Biblical Interpretation There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgement of God in the land.
There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery;
They break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed. (Hos 4: lb-2)
At other times, prophets announced that awful destruction was just around the corner. The immediacy and urgency of this message must have scared Jeremiah’s audience:
Raise the signal to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I [Yahweh] am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction. (Jer 4:6)
The fact that most prophecy spoke about the present or immediate hture rather than the distant future should encourage Bible students today. No one should avoid studying prophecy out of fear of its obscurity. That the prophets spoke about life in their own day makes it easier for us to understand their message for our day.
Indeed, sometimes they sound so paintilly contemporary that readers may wish they did not understand them!
Finally, we
need to be aware of several
Benera characteristicsof
prophecy.157 This will help us interrelate OT prophecies with their llfillments in the NT. First, the prophets have a telescopic view of the future. From Denver,Colorado, the Rocky Mountains appear as a series of distant peaks close together. In reality, the peaks are many miles apart from each other. Similarly, the prophets saw titure events as a succession of distant “peaks” (i.e., events) without an awareness of the large time gaps between them. 158 Isaiah 9:6-7 provides a good example:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . . .
He will reign on David’s throne. . . . from that time on and forever.”
Christians believe this text predicts the birth and reign of David’s greatest son, Jesus Christ the Messiah (actually, it probably had immediate llfillment in Isaiah’s time, too; cf. chaps. 7-8). According to the NT, the present so-called church age comes between Christ’s birth and his future earthly reign. But Isaiah sees the birth and reign of this fLture Davidic ruler as telescoped, i.e., chronologically close rather than separated.
‘“Here we draw on the illuminating discussion in T. N. Sterrett;How To Understand Your Bible (Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1974), 140-42.
‘%Fee and Stuart (How to Read the Bible, 164) provide a good visual illustration of this tele- scopic concept.
“_ _ ,_.^ll_.i_““,_.-~” .,,_” .-.- _x _ I.-- ---ll.-“l-.-,-(-l-”
Genres of the Old Testament 305
There is a corollary principle related to the prophet’s telescopic vision. The prophets understood that history had two major periods-the present age and the age to come-although they did not always make a hard-and-fast distinction be- tween the two. Most prophecies concern the present
age, even those that predict events in the distant future. But introductory phrases like “in the latter days,” “in that day,” or “days are coming” often identify a prophecy about the age to come (e.g.,Isa 2:2; ll:lO, 11; 24:21; Jer 23:5; 31:31; Zech 14:l; etc.).159 The point is that the prophets viewed the age to come telescopically as a whole scene without obvious time gaps.
Hence, when we relate such OT prophecies to the NT, we must fit them in to the NT’s perspective. According to the NT, the first coming of Jesus introduced the future age to come into the present age. The work of Christ and the Church represents an invasion of that &ture age of judgment and salvation into the present one 160 Hence, we must interpret OT prophecies about the age to come in terms of
. thehistorical turning point that Jesus initiated.
Again, while OT prophets saw the coming age as a whole, the NT presents it as having several major phases. Opinions among Christians differ about the number and definition of such phases, but it has at least two periods: the present church age and the period after Christ’s second coming. I61 Hence, when plotting the fulfill- ment of OT prophecies about the future, we must carefully analyze their content to see where they fit in this larger schema.
We must add a second characteristic of prophecy: it may have two Ilfillments, one near the prophet’s lifetime and one long past it. We know of these multiple fulfillments because the NT reapplies an already-llfilled prophecy to a later event.
For example, God promises David that his son, Solomon, will succeed him as king (2 Sam 7:12-16). In v. 14, God even promises Solomon that “I will be his father, and he will be my son.” When Solomon later became king (1 Kgs l-2), this proph- ecy found its fulfillment. But Heb 1:5 also applies 2 Sam 7:14 to Jesus, not just as son of David, but as son of God. Sound theology undergirds the idea of such mul- tiple fLEillments-belief that God rules all human history and can bring about both
%ons . n162
Third, NT teaching associates all prophetic f%Xlments with Christ’s first and second comings. That teaching leads us
notto expect ftlfillments in between those two events. Thus, one should not suggest that a certain contemporary event ‘%I- fills biblical prophecy” unless one can also demonstrate that current events also im- ply the imminent return of Jesus. Lacking the latter, Bible students should treat such alleged fi.Sllments as speculations, not biblical interpretation.
15There are exceptions to this general rule, however (e.g., Jer 30:3; Amos 4:2; etc.). In the end,
only the content of a text can determine which prophetic age it concerns.
la0n this subject, see G. E. Ladd, 7%e Presence of the Future (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974).
161Those whose eschatology is premillennial add a third major historical period: the thousand- year reign of Christ (or millennium) following his second coming, also part of the age to come.
162The same principle may help us explain Matthew’s application (Mt 1:22-23) of Isaiah’s proph- ecy about Immanuel’s virgin birth (Isa 7:14). We recognize, however, the major interpretive problems those texts present, problems outside the scope of this book.
306 Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Fourth, many prophecies are conditional. 163 For example, consider the case of the judgment announced by Jonah on the Ninevites. Jonah’s message seemed straightforward and unconditional: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be de- stroyed” (Jonah 3:4). But more than forty days came and went without destruction falling on the city. Because the people repented and humbly pled for God’s mercy, he compassionately spared the city (3:5-10).
In the case of Jerusalem, Jeremiah made the conditions explicit. If the city would repent, he announced, it would not suffer the awful destruction God had planned (Jer 26:1-6; cf. 7: 1-15; 36:1-7). Sadly, Jerusalem rejected the offer, and two decades later God destroyed the capital (Jer 52). Elsewhere, God explained to Jeremiah the principle that underlies all of God’s prophetic dealings:
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (Jer 18:7-10)
Therefore, those prophecies that concern a particular individual or people receiving a particular blessing hinge on one condition, whether implicit or explicit: a right relationship between the people concerned and God.lti Similarly, some judgments may be reversible if the individuals involved repent. Except for specific uncondi- tional prophecies discussed below, announced prophecy does not bind God to bring about fulfillment. God sovereignly reserves the right to fulfill or not llf!ill it de- pending upon his own purposes and his expectations of his people.
This implies that readers must interpret predictive prophecy with a certain tentativeness. We cannot be certain that God will fulfill all OT prophecies literally. That does not imply divine unpredictability, as if God arbitrarili changes his mind simply because he “feels like it.” Rather, it realistically reckons with the possibility that human infidelity to God may lead him to exercise sovereign options like those in Jer 18 above.
On the other hand, we still regard the prophecies that involve the major mile- stones in God’s plan for history as unconditional. They do not concern a particular individual or people experiencing a particular blessing, nor are they tied to a par- ticular era in history. So regardless of Christian apostasy, we fully expect the return of Christ, God’s final triumph over his enemies, and the creation of a new heavens and a new earth. These depend solely upon God’s sovereign, unchangeable will for his creation. Unlike conditional prophecies, they are not the means God will use to achieve his historical ends; they represent the ends themselves. With complete con- fidence Christians may rightly anticipate the titure advent of these great events.
163Cf. the helpful discussion in J. B. Green, How to Read Prophecy (Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1984), 100-103.
‘@Similarly, G. V. Smith, “Prophet; Prophecy,n ISBE, rev. ed., 3: 1002. Green (How to Read Prophecy, 100-102) even believes-rightly, in our view--that the same condition applies to the prom- ises to Abraham (Gen l2:l-3; 15; 17). Contrast Sterrett (How to Understand Your Bible, 144) who accepts some prophecies as unconditional.
Genres of the Old Testament 307
Finding the Fulfillment
Assuming we understand what a prophecy says, what can we say about its fulfillment? Fortunately, the Bible’s treatment of prophecy in both testaments sug- gests some guidelines on the matter. Indeed, the biblical pattern indicates that prophecy finds fulfillment in many ways.16’ As we shall argue, that larger pattern provides us with useful options to apply to our interpretation of prophecy.
As we might expect, prophecies commonly find literal fulfillment in subse- quent events. Some prophecies involve immediate predictions whose hlfillment fol- lows a short time later. For example, Elisha predicted that, though cut off from outside supplies by a Syrian siege, Samaria would have inexpensive food by the next day (2 Kgs 7:1-2; cf. 19:20-36). Similarly, Jeremiah predicted that Jerusalem and King .Zedekiah would survive a Babylonian siege if they surrendered (Jer 38:17- 18). Sadly, they continued to resist Babylon, and a short time later the Babylonians destroyed the city and brutally punished the king (Jer 39:1-7).
Other prophecies find literal llfillment within their respective biblical peri- ods. So, an unnamed prophet prophesied that Josiah would desecrate the idola- trous altar at Bethel (1 Kgs 13:1-3). Three hundred years later King Josiah did (2 Kgs 23: 15-16). By the same token, Jesus successtily predicted his own death (Mt 16:21; 27) and the destruction of Jerusalem (Lk 19:41-44).lti Then too, some OT prophecies reach literal fulfillment in the NT period. So the preaching of John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus just as Isaiah had said (Isa 40:3-5; Lk 3:3-6), and Jesus announced that his ministry fUlfilled the messianic mission foreseen by Isaiah (Isa 61:1,2; Lk 4:16-21).167
The NT also indicates that literal OT prophecies may reach fulfillment in non- literal ways. They may, for example, find afigztrative fulfillment. Recall our discus- sion of typology above. Consider Jesus’ application of Zech 13:7b (“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered”) to the flight of his disciples after his arrest (Mt 26:31). According to Zechariah’s prophecy (Zech 13:7-9), God would severely judge Israel by killing both the shepherd (her leader) and his scattered sheep (the people of Israel). Two-thirds of them will die, but God will refine the remain- ing third and enter into a covenant with them (v. 9).
Obviously, this involves no literal Ilfillment. Granted, one may rightly regard Jesus as the shepherd (cf. John lo), and one might even say that God did “judge” him.
The problem is that, according to Zechariah, God judged the shepherd for his own sins, while Jesus, completely sinless, suffered God’s judgment for the world’s sin (cf.
Gal 3:13; 1 Pet 2:24-25). Further, when the disciples scattered, God did not kill eight
‘65Here we build on the insights of Sterrett, How to Understand, 139X1, 142-43. Cf. also the more complete discussion in Green, How to Read Prophecy, 83-108.
‘&We assume here, along with many evangelical scholars, that the synoptic gospels were writ- ten prior to A.D. 70 and thus record genuine predictive prophecies. For further defense see, inter alia, D. A. Carson, et al., An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992); and D.
Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, 4th ed. (Downers Grove/Leicester, UK: InterVarsity, 1990).
Ih7Cf also Mic 5:2 and Mt 2~4-6. For other prophecies fulfilled literally, see the selective list in.
Sterrett, How to IJnderstand Your Bible, 142-43. -
. ,,
3 0 8 Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
of them and bless the remaining four. We conclude, then, that Zech 13:7 found its fulfillment typologically in the death of Jesus and the flight of the disciples.
The NT also shows that other literal OT prophecies have what we call a
lit- eral/spiritual fulfillment. For example, Amos 9: 11-12 prophesied about the resto-ration of the Davidic monarchy and its rule over Edom and other nations.16* The context gives the reader no reason to expect anything but a literal fulfillment. In Acts 15: 16-17, however, James says the fulfillment of Amos 9 is the admission of non- Jewish believers to the company of Jesus’ followers. He does so by interpreting Amos’ prediction of David’s future political rule as representing Christ’s spiritual rule over non- Jewish Christians. In sum, James sees the prophecy fulfilled in a lit- eral/spiritual way. It is literal in that it happened in history to God’s people and spiritual in that it also involves Gentiles.
Similarly, Jeremiah prophesied that God would make a new covenant with Israel and Judah, and again we expect only a literal fulfillment from the context (Jer 31:31-34). Now nothing in subsequent OT history fulfills this prophecy, so we might be tempted to expect its fulfillment in the last days. But Hebrews rightly sees the new covenant fulfilled in the Church and sealed by Jesus’ atoning death (see 8:8-12; 10:15-17; cf. 1 Cor 11:25). So in this case, too, a literal OT prophecy finds a literal/spiritual fulfillment.
While some interpreters tend to agree with us, they argue that prophecies like Amos 9 and Jer 31 still have a future
literalUfillrnent involving the nation of Israel.
Though Rom 11 admits some future place for Israel in God’s plan, we do not be- lieve the Bible supports this literal view. First, we contend that the NT assumes that such prophecies have already achieved literal fulfillment through Christ and the Church. It leaves no reason to anticipate a second, later fuhillment. Second, to expect the latter implies that God has two separate peoples, Israel and the Church, each serv- ing a different historical purpose and each having separate dealings with God.
But in our view, the Bible teaches that God’s plan was to create one people composed of Jews and Gentiles (cf. Isa 19:19-25; Eph 2). He chose the OT nation of Israel as the means to reach and eventually incorporate believers from all nations into his people. The NT clearly teaches that Christ’s coming llfilled Israel’s na- tional destiny. In addition, 1 Pet 2:9-10 assumes that the Church in this messianic era now constitutes
the people of God(cf. Gal 6:16; Rom 2:28-29). According to Rom 11, God will graft future Israel, presently a discarded branch, back into his olive tree, presently the Church. In sum, we see no persuasive biblical reason to expect a future literal fulfillment of what the NT says has already occurred, though with an additional spiritual dimension.
Some OT prophecies receive
unexpected fulfillment in the NT.169 They maynot only take on new meaning in time but their fitlfillment may also involve a sur- prise-something that goes beyond the original prophecy. Jesus himself best illus- trates this element of surprise. Some pre-Christian interpreters understood the suffering servant of Isa 52-53 to ,be the Messiah. But the interpretation of OT
‘@For the textual problems, see the NIV footnote and commentaries.
16’Green, How to Read Prophecy, 10>105.
,_._“.._ _ (,___, _^ ,,_. -1- _ “.“_,(~_. -_,;_ _“._( “,___ ___,_,___._l~ ._____, -.l-..~ll.“l-. __ *., ,“..__. ,X...‘*“..,-.“_,---“_ -._i -- i_‘^_ 1.1 ‘~ “‘__X” .‘~..^=__-_-i-
Genres of the Old Testament 309
prophecy typical of Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries did not prepare them for his cru- cifixion. Taking OT prophecy literally, they expected a conquering Messiah (cf. Isa 9; 1 l), not a suffering one. So they stumbled over the cross of Christ; meant to be a bridge, it became a barrier to their belief
(1 Cor 1:23).
Similarly, in the NT the OT promise of land to Abraham takes on new mean- ing. For Christians the promised land is not earthly Palestine but “a better coun- try-a heavenly one” (Heb 11: 16; cf. w. 8-l 5). Does this mean that God is unpredictable? Not at all. Enough continuity exists between the original prophecy and its unexpected fulfillment for readers to recognize their connection. Instead, such surprises suggest that God has the right to exceed the expectations of his an- cient words. He does so in light of the new historical situation and in accordance with his redemptive purposes for his creation.
Stephen Travis offers a helpful human illustration of this point. He compares God to a loving parent who, knowing his children’s expectations, delights in out- doing them. A little girl may expect a doll for Christmas, but the doll she receives- one that walks, talks, weeps, and wets-far exceeds her expectations. She gets what she wanted-a new doll--so continuity connects her expectations with their fulfill- ment. She does not feel deceived by the difference between them but happily sur- prised.“O Likewise, God’s fulfillment of some prophecies may exceed the expectations his people have of them.
For readers today this illustration indicates that we should resist the popular tendency to interpret prophecy as if it were a written script that God was obligated to follow. God’s purposes certainly do not change, and we may expect him to ad- here to much of the prophetic design. But as he has in the past, he may ad-lib some unexpected lines. Hence, as we said earlier, Bible students should interpret proph- ecy tentatively rather than dogmatically. Our God is a God of surprises, and he may still have some left!
At this point, some readers may ask, how can NT writers interpret apparently literal OT prophecies so nonliterally? We reply with the crucial assumption that, in our view, underlies their interpretation. Indeed, that assumption frames the way we believe readers should interpret prophecy today. Put simply, NT writers believed that Jesus Christ and the Christian Church represent the fulfillment of Israel’s God- given mission in history.i’l
The NT writers regard Jesus as the new David (cf. Isa 11: l-5; Jeer 23:5-6) and the Church as the new Israel. They do not deny that Israel still exists, nor do they say it has no prophetic future (e.g., Rom 10:1-4; 11). But they stand convinced that Jesus and the Church-with both Jewish and Gentile members-fulfill Israel’s prophetic hopes and, hence, constitute God’s one, true elect people (see Eph l-2).‘” That ex- plains why their term for “church” is ekklha (“assembly”), the same word the
“OS.
H. Travis, I Believe in the Second Coming ofJesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 19821, 140.“‘Here we differentiate ourselves from those Christians (e.g., some dispensationalists) who be- lieve that Israel will literally fulfill OT prophecies. As we indicated, we believe the NT teaches that many have already been fulfilled literally, though with an unanticipated spiritual dimension.
“*For a treatment of God’s true elect people, see W. W. Klein, L%e New Chosen People: A Cotpo-
rate View of Election (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990). *