THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS
By: Daniel McMillin
In the Old Testament, we read about how God revealed His holy words through prophets. These prophets acted as spokesmen of God. We notice many profound men in the Bible, such as Elijah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, etc., who were prophets who each played a pivotal role in the history of Israel. But what did they preach or write about? What exactly are the themes of the prophets’ oracles? I want to notice two major themes that we find in the work of the prophets: the Covenant and the Messiah.
First, we will examine the theme of the covenant. The Old Testament is a covenant of the past that was replaced by the (new) covenant promised by God through the prophet Jeremiah (31:31-34). This theme is the framework of the Bible, especially in the writings of the prophets. Many of the prophets of God would appeal to covenantal language when speaking to the people of God. The Bible provides a twofold theme within the context of the covenant: Exile and Exodus. Each prophet would employ this theme of Exile and Exodus within their preaching and writing. In the Old Testament, God’s people were in captivity, whether Egyptian or Babylonian, and were released from captivity through God’s vehicle of redemption, namely, a person (Moses) and water (the Red Sea). Similarly, in the New Testament, God’s people were in captivity, sin, and were released from captivity through God’s vehicle of redemption, notably, a person (Jesus) and water (baptism). The work of the prophets prepared the way for the work of the true prophet, Jesus Christ. The act of redemption precedes the covenant between God and His people. After God has delivered His people through the Exodus, He declares those He has saved as His people and then establishes a covenant with them. This prepares us for our second theme on the Messiah. The person and work of the Messiah, the Anointed One, are anticipated in the Old Testament and presented in the New. The New Testament explains everything that was found in the Old. Van Pelt wrote, “The Old Testament is the shadow, and Jesus is the reality.”[1]
The Old Testament prophets prepared us for the mystery of the Messiah through their various prophecies. The New Testament authors unveil this great mystery of the Messiah by writing about Jesus of Nazareth. The revelation of this mystery is the heart of the good news of Jesus Christ. According to the Apostle Paul, the good news that he preached about the person and work of Christ was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:2). The Old Testament reveals the Messiah as the “Son” that “was a descendant of David according to the flesh and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead” (Rom. 1:3-4). The Old Testament prophets promise the Messiah and prepare us for the future. The New Testament authors identify Jesus as the man who fulfilled the Old Testament promises by (1) being born in David’s lineage, (2) being designated as the divine Son, and (3) resurrecting from the dead.
The prophets are very important because they point us to the beautiful promises of the New Testament and the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It is a joy to read the works of these faithful spokesmen of God who boldly proclaimed the oracles of God. Hopefully, we will appreciate the ministry of God’s prophets and aspire to be just as faithful today.
END NOTES
[1] Miles V. Van Pelt, A Biblical Theological Introduction to the Old Testament: The Gospel Promised (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 25.
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