Book 1. Grasping God's Word Duvall/Hays Chapters 20-22

Book 2. How to Read the Bible for All its worth Fee/Stuart Chapters 10-12

To see the prophets as primarily predictors of future events is to miss their primary function, which was to speak for God to their own contemporaries"- Fee/Stuart, p. 188

"...the prophets emerge as God's spokesmen to call the people back to covenant obedience...most of the prophets preach in one of two contexts: just prior to the Assyrian invasion, which destroyed the northern kingdom, Israel; or just prior to the Babylonian invasion, which destroyed the southern kingdom, Judah"- Duvall/Hays, p. 402

Assigment:

The quote for week 5 overview, from Fee & Stuart points to the common misunderstanding of the purpose and function of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, while the Duvall & Hays quote clarifies the historical contexts within which the Hebrew prophets are likely to have operated.

In your discussion forum this week, reflect on one or more of the following questions:

• How closely do these construals of biblical prophecy align with your own experience of how biblical prophets are understood and how prophetic books are interpreted with the Christian Church?
• How might a greater understanding of the historical contexts envisaged by the prophetic literature affect the interpretation of these books in a contemporary context?
• If it is true that the biblical prophets are best understood primarily as speaking on behalf of God in their own contexts, how might contemporary interpreters do justice to this reality while responsibly hearing their words as Scripture for today as well?