A large part of the Old Testament is counted among the prophetic literature.

What is the role of the prophet in the Old Testament?
•    less than 2% of the prophecies talk about the messiah
•    less than 5% talk about the age of the new covenant
•    less than 1% describe events in the future

First, remember the basic steps of reading and understanding texts:
1.    Read and read again!
2.    What is the meaning of the individual words?
3.    Ask A LOT MORE questions
4.    What is the context?
5.    What is the main point?
6.    What do other Christians say?
7.    How can I apply this to my life?

These steps apply to the prophet as well, so do them and you’ll be on a
good track! You might find that you need to do step 6 more thoroughly
than with other types of literature – that is to say: read a good
commentary or ask an experience teacher.The prophets are people who speak for God and their “prediction” normally refer to THEIR immediate future.

Example: You standing in the middle of the street and I shout: “Watch out, there is a big truck coming!” What do I want to achieve? Certainly, it isn’t my goal to get you into the hospital and say: “Well, my friend told me that this would happen!” I want you to get out of harm way!
Look at Jonah 3:4 and 3:10 for an example!

What was their task?

Prophets weren’t especially commissioned to talk about the future. They were preachers who sued for a debt – on the basis of the covenant, they called on the people to respect that covenant! Even the messiah was a well known factor of it (Deuteronomy 18:18)

Both blessing (Deuteronomy 28:1-14) and course (Deuteronomy 28:15f) have been announced already and the prophets call attention to those conditions of the covenant. And they woo for the people to return to their covenant relationship with the Lord.

Who were they talking to?

Eg. Amos 5:10-12 + 5:24 – it is easy to make the mistake of thinking that this is a sermon against the godless culture of our era. This would mean to neglect the context of these statements.
The prophet’s audience is almost always the people of God and not our godless culture. (But see 1:3-2:3 for an exception)

The prophetic telescope

Imagine you’re hiking in the beautiful Austrian Alps. Through your telescope you see that what looks like 1 mountain top. Actually there are 3 different tops lined up  - when you twist the telescope you might get the second or third into focus. As you walk on and come nearer, you realize there are valleys and rivers in between the tops.
There are three main tops of Old Testament prophecy:
a.    the immediate meaning for the first listeners
b.    the fulfillment in the light of Jesus’ first coming (Life, death, resurrection, ascension)
c.    the fulfillment in the light of Jesus’ second coming.

Example No. 1: Isaiah 40,1-11
The context – chapter 39:5-7. Things look gloomy. The people of God will go into exile. There won’t be a king no more, a people of God no more.
But God has a plan! Chapter 40 is the prelude to the 2nd half of the book. What does the telescope show?

• after the exile there will be a restoration; 1+2 show the punishment, 3+4 that God will bring his people home and nothing will prevent that; All of that has taken place (Cyrus sacked Babylon,...) , but without the splendour we would expect from verse 5. After that: Temple (Esra), city wall (Nehemiah), a depressed people encourage by the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi – something is missing!
• what is the connection with the 1st coming of Jesus? Look at Vers 3! Read Mark 1:2-3. And where does it say that Jesus was glorious in his first coming? Look at John 1:14! But is this the whole fulfillment of Isaiah 40? Look at verse 5 – there is still something missing!
• what is the connection with the 2nd coming of Jesus? Every tongue will confess, every knee will bow – Verse 4.

Example No 2: The Servant of the Lord
There are 4 servant songs in the second part of Isaiah, most famous is Isaiah 52:13-53:12. The big question is: Who is this servant?

1. 49:3 shows the identity of the servant - 42:6 and 49:6 show the task of the servant
2. 53:1-3 shows the identity of the servant - 53:4-6 shows the task of the servant. What does the New Testament say to these questions? See Luke 22,36-37, Matthew 12,15-21, John 8,12.
3. A further fulfillment - Matthew 5,14

Example No. 3: Hosea
Historical situation: Israel commits adultery (1:2). This is a message of judgment (based on Deuteronomy 28). Look at 1:6-9, 2:23-25; 3:1-5 and Romans 9:22-26, 1 Peter 2:9-10. What is the meaning here?

Example No 4: Isaiah 40:31
In a sermon about this text the listeners hear – among many other things about eagles – that these birds clean their feathers very thoroughly, also making use of hot breath (out of their nostrils, comparable to a steam cleaner). We Christians should also regularly do a thorough cleaning, by confessin our sins to God. What do you think about that? Does the text allow this interpretation and application?