Prophecy

The Books of the Prophets

Blackwood’s Comprehensive Aids to the Study of the Bible · Vol. I, pp. 42–43

Showing the Occasion of Each Prophecy, with Date and Scripture Reference.

Showing the Occasion of Each Prophecy, with Date and Scripture Reference. (Concluded from preceding page.)

Note.—The above Table states after what Scripture the different portions of the prophetic books are to be read in the order of time, but it does not necessarily imply that there is any connection of subject between the Scripture and the prophecy; as, for instance, Mal. i., ii., iii. 1-16, following Psalm cxix. Often, however, there is an important connection: for instance, 2 Kings xvi. 5, with Isa. vii.-x. 1-5, presents us with an astonishing view of the long-suffering of God to one of the most wicked of men: the prophet Isaiah, for the consolation of Ahaz, was sent not only to assure him of immediate safety, but to announce to him one of the most splendid prophecies in the Old Testament respecting the promised Messiah (Isa. vii. 14; ix. 6, etc.).

In studying prophecies, as in parables, we are chiefly to consider their scope and design, without attempting to find too minute or exact an explanation of the poetical symbols or images in which the Sacred Books abound; many of these are simply used as adornments of style—the sky and trees in the background to fill in and beautify the picture.

Many of the Old Testament prophecies have a twofold application: first, directly to the temporal punishments and blessings of the Jews; and secondly, less directly, yet clearly and unequivocally, to the Messiah and His kingdom. In fact, almost all the prophecies in the Old Testament, whatever their direct significance and object, are to be referred to the Gospel, where alone we can find their full completion. We must not, however, look for a mystical or typical meaning in every prophecy; as a rule, when the direct meaning is plain and complete in sense and application, or when history shows an entire fulfilment, it is scarcely needful or expedient to depart from it or to be over-curious to look beyond.

In the reckoning of time, in prophetical language, a day denotes a year, and often things yet future are, to indicate their certainty, spoken of as though past. When the prophets speak of the last days or the latter days, they always refer to the Messianic era, and so also, generally, when they use the expression that day.