The remaining books in the Old Testament are set down together in the above boxes to illustrate that they all have one thing in common; these books are all prophetic. Also notice how they demonstrate another very special characteristic; organizationally they duplicate the History portion.

A prophet is often thought of as someone who simply tells the future but such a view of Biblical prophets is overly restrictive. They had two roles; one mission was rightly to fore-tell the future, but the other was to forth-tell current or even past events, placing them within the context of God’s Word. The prophet was one who spoke in the place of Another, i.e. God.

It is possible to detect five distinct theocratic orders within Old Testament Israel. These were Priests, Levites, Judges, Kings, and Prophets. Each of these groups of people was given defined roles within the earthly administration of the Covenant of Law. The role of the prophet was distinct from the others in the respect that it reached beyond the ordinary ones of administering and maintaining Covenantal ordinances, proclaiming and interpreting the Law, adjudicating disputes and judgements, and ruling the people. His role was extraordinary because it often transcended those instructions already given by God by explaining what was happening or would happen. A true prophet provided inspired insight not set down explicitly in the written Law, although that insight was always in harmony with the Law. Thus the role of the prophet was activated when reproof and correction were required beyond the excursions of the written Law.

The writing prophets all lived in the period of II kings or thereafter, a time when Israel was already steeped in the ordinances and traditions of the Law but when they were losing its true meaning. It is not accidental that the prophets appeared at precisely that time as "watchmen on the towers", grounded in the Law but discerning the present-day failures, then warning about judgements on the horizon if there was not national repentance.

A more detailed discussion of the content and outline of each of these prophetic books will be found in PROPHETS (TOPICAL DETAIL), or you may want to peruse other portions of the REDEMPTIVE PLAN.

REDEMPTIVE PLAN