How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets

by Peter J. Gentry

A Concise Guide to Reading the Prophetic Books

The Prophetic Books of the Bible are full of symbolic speeches, dramatic metaphors, and lengthy allegories—a unique blend of literary styles that can make them hard to comprehend. How can we know if we are reading them the way God intended them to be read?

In this accessible guide, leading Old Testament scholar Peter Gentry identifies seven common characteristics of prophetic literature in the Bible that help us understand each book’s message. With illustrations and clear examples, Gentry offers guidance for reading these challenging texts—teaching us practical strategies for deeper engagement with the biblical text as we seek to apply God’s Word to our lives today. 

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Old Testament, Faith, Christianity, Christian Non Fiction

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2017

About the author

Peter J. Gentry (PhD, University of Toronto) is professor of Old Testament interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and director of the Hexapla Institute.

Reviews

[Jeremy Mueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this accessible primer on prophetic interpretation, Gentry argues that far too many Christians wrongly read the various genres of Scripture in the same way. He says that since the enlightenment, many in the church read the Gospels the same way they read the narratives and prophets of the Old Testament and the same way they read the epistles like Romans. This practice can lead to a faulty interpretation because it fails to account for the structure and style of prophecy written by ancient far east writers. In order to prove this argument, Gentry gives thorough exegetical examples throughout the book, focusing particularly on Isaiah and Daniel.

For Bible readers who want to better understand how to read and understand the prophets or for preachers who want to more faithfully exposit the prophetic writers, this book is a great introduction.

"The biggest part of the message of the biblical prophets has nothing to do with predicting future....
Instead, the majority of what they had to say constitutes proclaiming a message that explains how the word of God, already revealed and received in the past, applies to the present circumstances and situations."

[Amber Thiessen]

{first posted here: https://www.amberthiessen.com/post/ho...}
What strategies do you use when your bible reading feels stagnant?

I’m well into the prophets for my yearly bible reading plan and I began to notice a little apathy creep in. Slowly abiding time seems equated to a chore rather than a delight, a task to complete instead of a relationship to grow, a heart on empty versus one filled with worship.

I resolved to read slowly—knowing my tendency is to hasten over the words— and seek further insight, rather than rush through passages I was struggling to make sense of..

It was in this shift I opened up a kindle book I’d had for awhile on How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets by Peter Gentry, and it was the right thing for the right time.

Content
Purpose of the Book
This book is a short primer on how to read the prophetic books of the bible. It’s obviously not comprehensive, nor is it intended to be (the author points you to other resources for that). He leads you generally through some principles of Hebrew literature to show us how it's different from the way we're used to reading today.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 Calling the People Back to the Covenant
CHAPTER 2 The End of the Covenant, Judgment, and Restoration
CHAPTER 3 The Function of Repetition in Hebrew Literature
CHAPTER 4 The Purpose of the Oracles concerning the Foreign Nations
CHAPTER 5 Describing the Future, Part 1: Typology and the New Exodus
CHAPTER 6 Describing the Future, Part 2: Apocalyptic Language
CHAPTER 7 Describing the Future, Part 3: The Already and the Not Yet
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX Literary Structure of the Book of Revelation


Summary
In these 7 chapters, the author takes you through techniques of Hebrew literature, definitions of covenant and its central place in prophecy and an overview of how prophecy functions for the Old Testament readers, as well as New Testament.

I rated this book as moderate in difficulty, you’re going to be introduced to concepts like typology and Hebrew poetic structures, but these are all explained well and he makes the intent to apply them as well. Each chapter uses a passage from the prophetic books to illustrate the concept he is teaching, which is really helpful to see it unfold.

This book is meant to whet your appetite for studying these important, and often misunderstood, parts of Scripture. So you won’t walk away with a framework for study, but you’ll read with a new lens and curiosity.

My Take
The call of the prophets for Israel to return to covenant faithfulness is central in reading through their words. It’s interesting to take note much of what the prophets share is a review of what the people already know from God’s words to them in the law.

It’s a call to remembrance and repentance.

For all their sinful pursuits they were told of terrifying, destructive, imminent judgement, but also of the hope and restoration in an ever-faithful God.

They would be faithless, but he would remain faithful.

As irritated as I feel toward Israelites as I read sometimes, wondering why they would ever abandon their worship of Almighty God, I’m humbly convicted because I struggle with exactly the same fickle heart. It’s wishful thinking on our part to consider ourselves any better than they. Our sinful nature wreaks havoc on our hearts and minds, just as it did then.

Aptly the hymn goes: Let thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.

There would be time for weeping and lament as destruction came upon them and the exiles followed the dusty path away from their homeland, but the prophets would speak words of truth laced with promise for redemption in the Messiah who would make all things new again.

Grace to save us and to sustain us.

It’s a good word to remember these days as war continues to break out across the world. The already-not yet kingdom is under the sovereign hand of God and we, along with creation, cry out for the day of Christ’s return when his kingdom will be established. SDG

My Recommendation
If you’re reading through one of the prophecy books of the Bible, or are interested to understand more about how to interpret these challenging books, here’s a nice short teaser to get you started.

Or, if you lead or teach a bible study, this will make a great addition for your shelf!

Quick Stats
# of Pages: 144
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
My Rating: 5 stars

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book and introduction to reading the Prophets. For its length, the detail that Gentry provides is exceptional, and, in contrast to some other reviewers, I found his emphasis on Isaiah to be more helpful as opposed to a smattering of different books. The emphasis on Isaiah allows the reader to see the principles working together collectively, and has a compounding effect as the book progresses.

Despite the fact that Gentry stays away from being explicitly eschatological in this book, his futuristic hermeneutic can be found throughout. He repeatedly justifies this hermeneutic when he speaks of prophecies of near and distant futures appearing "side-by-side" in books. And it is especially prominent in Chapter 7. This was disappointing because this was the only chapter devoted to using the NT to understand the OT, and there was almost nothing in this (short) chapter apart from Gentry's defense of a gap theory of thousands of years.

This book would probably be above the level of many laypeople, but would be excellent for someone who has a good introductory grasp on hermeneutics and wants to dig deeper into exegesis.

[Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only real gripe is that the overwhelming majority of examples Gentry cites are exclusively from the book of Isaiah. Some more variety there would have been helpful. Otherwise, this really is an excellent popular-level introduction to the prophetic literature.

[Mark Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm privileged to be able to say that Dr. Gentry is a friend and was my professor at seminary. He's taught me an incredible amount about the Word of God and how to read it faithfully; by taking it on it's own terms as it has been handed down to us.

Through this book he has continued to teach me and this short book packs a punch. Gentry helps the reader navigate the biblical prophets, which are notoriously hard for the modern readers, and points out "seven characteristics or features of prophetic literature... to help Christians comprehend these texts for themselves with real understanding."

This work, while short, and laden with examples to help illustrate each point, is dense and will be best read and mulled over time. It reveals lessons learned over a lifetime of diligent study and mediation on God's Word, so these skills (or tools) are unlikely to be picked up in a cursory reading of this book. I intend to revisit it again!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who has ever struggled to understand what they're reading as they read through the major or minor prophets of the Bible, I heartily recommend Peter J. Gentry's How To Read and Understand The Biblical Prophets. This book is not a commentary telling you what each book, each chapter, each verse means. Rather the book seeks to teach readers how to read and understand on their own. He teaches you guidelines and principles--giving readers the tools they need to do it themselves.

One thing he emphasizes throughout the book is the importance of the book of Deuteronomy. To understand the prophets, to make sense of many, many books of the Bible (not just OT but NT too) one must be familiar with, one must grasp--hold central--the concepts and teachings of the book of Deuteronomy.

He writes,

"Everything in the prophets is based upon the covenant made between God and Israel during the exodus from Egypt, especially the expression or form of the covenant as it is found in the book of Deuteronomy."

And

"For the prophets, their perspectives on social justice, their promises and their threats, even their very sentences and words, are all based upon the book of Deuteronomy, an expansion and renewal of the covenant made at Sinai."

One must not only understand the foundational importance of the covenant, of God's special relationship with the nation of Israel (and by Israel I mean Israel and Judah), of the blessings and curses associated with the covenant. But one must become acquainted with ancient, Eastern literature of that time.

For example, he writes:

"The normal pattern of Hebrew literature is to consider topics in a recursive manner, which means that a topic is progressively repeated. Using the recursive approach, a Hebrew author begins a discourse on a particular topic, develops it from a particular perspective, and then concludes his conversation. Then he begins another conversation, taking up the same topic again from a different point of view. When these two conversations or discourses on the same topic are heard in succession, they are like the left and right speakers of a stereo system. This pattern in Hebrew literature functions on both macro and micro levels. Individual sentences are placed back to back like left and right speakers. Paragraphs and even larger sections of texts are treated the same way."

He wisely points out and reminds us:

"For a hundred years or more, scholars have not asked, What were the Hebrews’ own principles and rules for telling stories? And how did the authors of that culture and time construct their works? The literary structure of each prophetic book as a whole is fundamental to interpretation."

The book he uses in most of his illustrations is my personal favorite--Isaiah. As he takes readers through the book, he discusses word pairs. I hadn't really studied word pairs or heard much about them before. So I found this section very informative.

The word pair becomes an idiom expressing a single thought that is both different and greater than the words considered independently.

A word pair, then, is a mini stereo sound bite in which two words, like the left and right speakers of the stereo, communicate an idea that is fuller and greater than either of the two words considered individually.

The word pair justice-righteousness is central to the discourse of Isaiah and occurs some eighteen times, always at critical or key points in the discourse.

Social justice is a term used by Isaiah and other prophets as a way of summarizing all the diverse instructions in the covenant. So here, the term social justice is defined by the detailed instructions in the covenant for treating other people in a genuinely human way.

He also addresses the question WHY did some prophets write down and record their prophecies (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc.) and why some prophets didn't (Elijah, Elisha, Nathan, etc.) I had not thought about it in such a way before. But once I read this book, something clicked for me.

"Apart from the prophetic word, imagine what the people of Jerusalem would have thought when the Babylonians came and conquered the city and razed it to the ground, exiling the citizens to Babylon. Imagine undertaking the journey on foot, in chains for weeks, perhaps months, and finally arriving in Babylon in a land far away from home. Imagine walking down a corridor of high walls, beautifully decorated, and arriving at the massive Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon. Archaeologists have reconstructed this gate, and it is displayed in a museum in Berlin. Even today, simply viewing the reconstruction is an overwhelming experience. Were it not for the prophetic word, the people of Judah and Jerusalem would surely have concluded: “Now we know why the Babylonians conquered us. It is because the gods of Babylon are bigger and more powerful than Yahweh.” Such a conclusion, of course, would have been utterly wrong. They were conquered for only one reason: they had violated the covenant, and the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 had came upon them. God had promised that he would send enemies and kick them out of their land, and he had finally kept his word and done it. God brought the Assyrians and the Babylonians against his own people for violating the covenant. It was necessary, then, for the predictions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel to be written down so that when those events occurred, the people of Israel would draw the right conclusions."

Also addressed within the book: TYPOLOGY. Now I'm more familiar with types and typology, so this wasn't all new to me. But he does a good job in the book explaining it. Primarily the focus is on the exodus and the new exodus.

"A major type in the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments, is the exodus, when God delivered his people Israel from bondage and slavery in Egypt. Here an event in the past becomes a model or pattern to describe future deliverance and salvation for the people of God."

"In brief, typology is governed by four factors. The first is correspondence between events, people, places, etc., Second is escalation from type to antitype so that the later event, person, or thing that can be said to be the fulfillment of the type is much better and greater than that which foreshadows it. Third is biblical warrant. For something to be considered a type, there must be exegetical evidence in the original text that indicates that what the text is dealing with is intended to be a model or pattern for something to follow in history. The fourth factor is that the progression of the covenants throughout the narrative plot structure of the Bible both creates, controls, and develops the typological structures across the canon of Scripture."

He also talks about language, literary structures, genres, metaphors, symbols, etc.

"Apocalyptic is both a genre or kind of literature and a type of language that may be used in other genres that are not apocalyptic. Apocalyptic language uses complex and highly colored metaphors and symbols in order to describe one event in terms of another. In this way, an event can be described and, at the same time, the meaning of the event can be explained."

Overall, I found this book packed with helpful information. The appendix focuses on the book of Revelation.

[Chase Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this book. Introduces elementary principles for interpretation of Hebrew literature (which I desperately need). The end of the book was phenomenal and talks about how the work of exegesis in the prophets could leave us at a mere rabbinic lesson on Hebrew literature. We need to identify in the prophets how this relates to the person of Jesus Christ and fulfillment in the New Testament.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Gentry has contributed significantly to the movement toward a better understanding of the covenants in "Kingdom Through Covenant" which he co-authored with Steve Wellum. This is a much shorter work dealing with interpreting the prophetic works in the Old Testament, which of course contributes toward an understanding of the prophecies in the New. The book is not necessarily geared toward the academy, as he acknowledges in his conclusion, and it is not a difficult book to read.

Gentry begins by arguing that the prophetic literature "constitutes its own genre" and must be read in ways consistent with the variety of ways in which the prophets communicate. He emphasizes that "Everything in the prophets is based upon the covenant[s]" and that understanding the Bible can often be difficult for "readers with a modern and Western background in culture and language."

He then exegetes much of Isaiah to demonstrate the manner in which the prophets proclaimed "a message that explains how the word of God, already revealed and received in the past, applies to present circumstances and situations." This is what Gentry argues is the "majority" of what the prophets had to say. This is all worked out through understanding the covenants, the consequent judgments, and then restoration.

He rightly argues, concerning Isaiah:

"Isaiah shows that the return of the people to a right relationship to Yahweh would happen in two stages. First, the people would be released from physical exile in Babylon. Second, the people would be released from spiritual exile and slavery to sin."

He later expands upon this idea, writing, "the prophet paints a panoramic picture in which the near and distant futures of his vision are set side by side." But he seems to distinguish between near and future fulfillment in the text, without arguing that they overlap--having both meanings. Perhaps I misunderstood him in this, but that seems to be his argument.

More specifically, he says that the prophet:

"would place his predictions concerning the near future next to his predictions of the distant future so that when the more immediate predictions came to pass, his hearers would be encouraged or instructed by his predictions concerning the distant future. This point alone is responsible for the fact that books such as Isaiah, Daniel, and Zechariah are divided into a part dealing with contemporary issues and a part dealing with the distant future."

The distinction is significant because I think this is where Gentry and those following the same hermeneutic make subjective decisions in determining what prophecies are fulfilled in the near future, versus the far future. I think it is much more likely that the prophecies have a near fulfillment AND a future fulfillment. The promises made in the near future are good, and are fulfilled, but are truly and completely filled in Christ. The longer-term consequences of Gentry's position allow him to add a dispensationalist-type "gap" between near and future prophecies and prophetic timelines.

He does this with Isaiah 61 and Jesus's reading of it in Luke 4:16-21, Jesus stops short in Isaiah and does not read about the "day of vengeance of our God." Gentry writes of this, "It is because he has come to proclaim the year of emancipation and Jubilee release, but the judgment will have to wait until his second coming."

While it is clear that the purpose of Jesus's ministry was, what Gentry says, Jesus does warn of the "days of vengeance" in Luke 21:22, and it is only because of Gentry's "gap of at least two thousand years" that his hermeneutic allows that he isn't forced to acknowledge the imminence of Jesus's words in Luke 21.

So I think Gentry misses the mark and does so, largely because he seems too entrenched in his futurist hermeneutic. This is the book's main weakness. The book, though, has much good material in it, and I don't intend to be overly critical here.

Gentry is very strong on seeing creation and de-creation themes in the prophets. He shows how Jeremiah reverses the "stages of creation" in Jeremiah 4:23-26. He understands passages like Isaiah 13:9-11. I truly appreciate his words here, for there are so many that get sucked into all sorts of silliness here by forcing their woodenly literal hermeneutic upon the text:

"the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light."

Gentry rightly acknowledges:

"The devastation will be an un-creation event. We are not supposed to read this literally, as if the moon, sun, and stars will be gone and the mass-space-time universe will no longer exist. No, creation language is reversed to express the gravity of the destruction and change in life brought by this event."

Gentry also seems to have a firm grasp on biblical typology, and applies in in helpful ways in many places. He also understands the "bogus" "debate between literal interpretation and spiritual interpretation."

So all in all, the book is mostly good, but there are some holes that lead to blindspots in rightly interpreting New Testament prophecy.

[Matt Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super good. Super short. Still a tad complex though.

I read this as I have been preaching through Joel. I found it insightful and useful for Joel even though the author never mentions that particular prophet. I think I’ll be revisiting this book again and again as reference.

[Caleb Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book for learning how to read the prophets, it could be a little hard to read at times but for the most part he made things really understandable. One seminary book down, a lot more to go

[Lindsay Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful place to start if you want to demystify the books of the prophets. Though this is an introductory work, it didn’t have to go too deep to build on my understanding of the prophets (and maybe triple or quadruple it). I’ve been wanting to really study the prophets, and this book was the leg-up I needed to get on that horse. It offers explanations of the literary structure, genre, and devices (symbolism, typology, apocalyptic language, and so on) used in the prophets to help you approach these books if like me you were completely lost as to how to do that.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful little book, aimed at the general audience. It's clearly written, with plenty of examples to illustrate Gentry's points. He begins by discussing the fundamental function of prophecy and continues with an informative presentation of the characteristics of Hebrew literature. He concludes with three chapters on the prophets and the future. An appendix sets out an illustration of the structure of the book of Revelation. Recommended for anyone wanting a clearer sense of what the prophets are saying, and how they are saying it.

[Tristany Corgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think this book was quite what I was expecting. I was expecting it to be more of an overview of the literary features of the Old Testament prophetic books, and while it did do that, it also worked through lengthy examples that only focused on one book - so much so that I would nearly forget that I was reading a book about all the prophets and not just Isaiah. I do think this book contains valuable information and insight for the Bible student, but I’m not sure it’s accessible enough for every Bible reader.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good entry-level book on interpreting prophetic liturature in the Bible. Gentry gives some basic principles of interpreting literary elements like typology, Hebrew poetry and literary structure. He then walks the reader through some concrete examples of OT and NT prophesy in Isaiah, Daniel, Revelation and other places. For those who have not spent much time studying prophecy, this is a helpful read!

[Brian Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Gentry presents hermeneutical principles for reading the prophetic books. For example, he explains the prophetic role in relation to the covenant, unique literary elements in Hebrew literature, typology, etc. Most of his examples are from Isaiah (with a conclusion about Daniel and an appendix on the structure of Revelation). It just made me wish Gentry would write a commentary on Isaiah!

[Lucas Bradburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful.

[Shane Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 reads: 17/52

Rating: 4 stars

[Clifford Luebben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, helpful, and accessible to lay Christians. At least to laity who are already devoted to studying the Bible.

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how we can learn more about God and how we can see him in the many covenants.

[Will Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greatly lacks some kind of application to real life.

[Mason Bramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat helpful.

[David Couch · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is said that there are two kind of teachers: those who teach so their students can pass tests, and those who teach so their students learn. Peter J. Gentry, in ‘How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets’, is one of the latter.

This book is an explanation, and a worked-out example, of how to grapple with the Biblical prophets in a way that doesn’t feel heavily academic, but also does not leave you feeling short changed. As a fan of ‘Kingdom through Covenant’, it was nice to see Gentry showing more of his working throughout this book.

He starts his book out by pointing out that many people lack context when approaching the Prophets. He calls for a strategy in order to understand the books, lamenting that ‘we have been reading the Gospels of the New Testament, the narratives of the Old Testament and the book of Acts, and the Hebrew prophets of the Old Testament and the New Testament (e.g., Revelation), including apocalyptic prophecies, exactly the same way we read Romans”. This is not a new complaint, but one that is rarely actually addressed by the accusers.

In order to address this Gentry breaks his book into five main sections: ‘Calling the people back to the covenant’, ‘The end of the covenant, judgement and restoration’, ‘The function of repetition in Hebrew literature’, ‘The purpose of the Oracles concerning the Foreign Nations’, and ‘Describing the future’.

From the get-go, Gentry puts everything into context by explaining how the prophets views ‘are all based upon the book of Deuteronomy, an expansion and renewal of the covenant made at Sinai.’ He then works through examples to show how this is the case. By reconnecting the prophets back to the previous Biblical writings, he shows how we can understand the language, the appeals to other nations, and the futuristic aspects of the prophets in an easy, understandable, and more importantly, Biblical way.

The book then ends with an appendix on Revelation, which was a welcome surprise to an already valuable book. His short analysis is extremely helpful, and left me wanting a more in depth treatment!

At the time of writing, my wife and I are reading through the major prophets in our quiet time. The advice given by Gentry in this book has been invaluable to our understanding of what we’re reading, and allows us to put the prophetic books into their correct Biblical context. It truly has made, what could be a confusing situation (especially before the morning coffee has kicked in), into a delight.

Overall I think that Peter J. Gentry has done a great job at translating his Hebrew understanding into a book for the masses. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is studying the Biblical prophets, and plan to come back to this book again and again.

Crossway provided me a complimentary copy of this book through the Blog Review Program.

[Alan Fuller · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The debate between literal interpretation and spiritual interpretation is entirely bogus.
When the Reformers talked about the “literal sense” of the text, they meant the meaning intended by author according to the rules of the genre of literature being used to communicate the message." p. 124

The apostle Paul might disagree with Mr. Gentry.

"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 2 Cor 3:6

Literal means taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory. If the Reformers were so sure about what the writers intended, then why are there so many interpretations now, then, and in Paul's time?

"The heritage of the Enlightenment period has contributed to an atomistic study of the text, focusing on minute details of grammar and the meanings of words and neglecting the perspective given by the structure of the text as a whole." p.125

So there are different opinions.

"Critical scholarship of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not rigorously ask these questions: What were the Hebrews’ own rules for writing literature and prophecy? What patterns, rules, or traits did they use in their writing? Instead, analysis of the prophets as literature was based on modern and Western rules of literary analysis rather than the rules of literature governing ancient and Eastern texts." p.41

If there are ancient Eastern rules then why not give clear references to ancient discussion of these rules rather than developing them from a modern analysis based on Western rules?

[Jeff Breeding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, short survey on interpreting OT prophetic literature. The chapter on apocalyptic literature/language is worth the price of the book. My favorite line, written to emphasize the necessity of interpreting texts based on the rules of their particular genre: "It is not a matter of defending a literal hermeneutic. It is a matter of discerning the method of communication used by the prophets and using that method to discern their intended meaning. The literal meaning is the meaning as determined by the rules of the particular genre or kind of literature."

[Vincent Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful! Book is short, concise, readable, and helpful to those who are interested in gaining a better understanding of how to read and understand the Biblical prophets. Gentry provides many illustrative examples that support his points. He examines the purpose, the literary structure, the reason for the different oracles to foreign nations, typology, apocalyptic language, and the concept of the already and not yet. Definitely worth a read!

[Jon Pentecost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful, clear introduction to the framework and genre of biblical prophecy.

Gentry not only helpfully explains the theory, he constantly takes the reader through the steps of interpreting particular passages from OT prophets, in order to illustrate what he is describing. Very useful tool to help make clear the overall function of prophetic books. Highly recommend to anyone seeking to grow in their understanding of the Old Testament, and the unity of Scripture as a whole.

[Nathan Whitley · Rating 2 out of 5]

My hope was that this would be a biblical theological, redemptive historical overview of the prophets. Instead it’s a book that is more confusing than the prophetic books themselves. I’ve read easier textbooks on the prophets in seminary that get Gentry’s message across. Readers may need a How to Read and Understand Peter Gentry’s How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets.

[Brett McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needs multiple reads to stick. Incredible tool for reading Hebrew prophecy. Gentry needs to finish his work on Isaiah!

[Mark Schisler · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC book. So clear and concise.

[Michael Watt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Most Intimidating Books of The Bible

The Biblical Prophets are probably one of the most avoided and neglected portions of Scripture for the modern day believer. Strange visions, unfamiliar characters and numbers intimidate the reader. Add to that the number of prophecy websites with insights and predictions that conflict with other prophecy websites and one begins to ask, “Is there any way to understand these books at all?” “Can anyone know the true interpretation?” This is unfortunate because the biblical prophets are most importantly concerned about the person and work of Christ. In the prophets we get to see the beauty, redemption, and judgements of our great Lord and Savior.
 
A Proper Paradigm

Peter Gentry in his recent book, “How to Read and Understand the Biblical Prophets”, lays out a simple paradigm for gleaning the great truths that God has given to us in the Prophets. Too many times we begin to look for the minute details and applications and fail to first understand the grand narrative that God is laying out in the prophets, namely that of Jesus Christ’s glory in salvation in his first coming and His glory in Judgement in His second coming.
 
In the first part of the book, Gentry explains to the reader how the prophets wrote and how to view and understand apocalyptic literature. He argues that much of the debate surrounding biblical prophecy is due to the western grammatical mindset that we bring to our studies. He demonstrates that a literal view of scripture means that we read the various portions of scripture according to the genre in which they are written and teaches the reader the rules and characteristics for apocalyptic literature.
 
A Balanced Approach

Gentry does get into some interpretation issues but does not remain there long. He does not hold fast to either Covenant Theology or Dispensational Theology which I believe makes it a valuable and sharpening read for those on both sides of the interpretive traditions. I believe congregations will always be edified when Christ’s authority, saving power, and coming judgement are magnified in our pulpits when preaching through the prophets. The first part of the book was pretty academic, but I would recommend to any reader to particularly focus on chapters 5-7, Describing The Future, Parts 1-3.
 
Note: I received this book as a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Other Books by Peter Gentry

Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical-Theological Understanding of the Covenants
God's Kingdom through God's Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology