The Old Testament Prophetic Books

The prophetic books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and minor prophets can be hard for me to follow what all they are talking about at times. It can seem to me that it may jump from this to that and also with time periods as well such as a messianic prophesy mixed in with the rest of the text that I don't understand very well. Is there a particular way to read them to understand better and does order of reading matter? Any tips?

I agree Cherie. Sometimes just by reading it we get a picture in our mind (even if we are slow to understand) and the words these prophets speak resound within us. We say to ourselves "ah yes, isn't that what Jeremiah said" or whatever.

I must say though, most of us like a pretty picture and Jeremiah isn't a pretty picture and is hard going to read. Lets face it, he had a hard time of it.

"My breast! my breast! how I suffer! The walls of my heart! My heart beats wildly." —Jeremiah 4:19

Jeremiah's prophecy of the Babylonian invasion destroying Jerusalem is so intense that he almost has a heart-attack in the midst of prophesying. No wonder we find it hard to read.

I don't know about him almost having a heart attack... maybe but seems to me he could have just been experiencing palpitations such as from stress and/or anxiety. When under such intense stress, the body can be healthy and at the same time the heart to be beating very fast.

Well yes I am sure your are right and God would not have let him have a heart attack. It probably felt like that to him though as it must have been pretty bad his thoughts knowing what was to come upon everyone. He might have felt like he was having a heart attack or palpitations as you say; whichever you prefer.

most of the prophecies in the o.t. are relating to what is going to happen to israel. its always something physiacl in the o.t as well like good harvest, bad harvest, wartime, peacetime, babylonian captivity, no captivity if obedient etc.

its part of the law that was given to israel. if you obey you are blessed if you disobey you are cursed.

isaiah speaks alot about end of the days and about the messiah ruling on earth, that we know is future. ezekiel mentions it too.

only advice i can give is pray and ask for wisdom to know what its talking about.

That is why God hid the dead sea scrolls until the 1940's. There is so much time between the people told of in those scriptures and us that it is difficult for us to understand. It has taken years to piece together the information in those scrolls, through that their thoughts and ways.

Of course we often didn't understand or even misunderstood. If someone not of our culture listened to our talk using the words net, mouse, or mass media they would be bewildered.

The people who have studied this ancient culture often work in the ancient history department of our best colleges, and the Christians who study this culture often work with the roots movement in our churches.

You are not the only one. I found this and saved the site years ago so as to share with anyone like myself and having that same question as you have today. I hope it is a blessing to you.
Understanding the Prophets — The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology

English Bibles are not organized chronologically. The prophets ministered through the time of Kings and Chronicles, and it helps to understand the prophet if you understand the times in which he spoke. Most of the books have clues if not outright statements linking the two.

For example, Isaiah 11 tells us that he ministered "during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." If we do a bit of searching, we can find that Uzziah's reign is discussed in 2 Kings 15 and 2 Chronicles 26. Those chapters will tell us what was happening in Judah during that time. Amos 1:1 also tells us that he prophesied during the reign of Uzziah, so we know that he was contemporary with Isaiah.

Not all the books are so clear; Jonah has no clear dating reference, and talks about Nineveh which is only mentioned a couple of times in Scripture. However, Jonah is also self-contained, so it's less of an issue.

I went looking for more help and if you like video teaching this may help.

The Bible Project: The Minor Prophets

The Bible Project : The Major Prophets

You are quite right in saying that in the prophetic books there is no chronological order. But that should not be an issue if you are able to classify those prophecies as follows (1) immediately applicable to Israel and the surrounding nations, (2) applicable to the first coming of Christ in humility and humiliation, (3) applicable to the second coming of Christ with power and great glory, and (4) applicable to events after the Millennium and extending into eternity.

EXAMPLE -- ISAIAH CHAPTER 2

THE MILLENNIUM AND BEYOND
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

THE PRESENT
6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.

THE TRIBULATION AND THE DAY OF THE LORD
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15 And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16 And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?

A great post.
Where did you get that from? I know the verses are the KJV site but where did you get the commentary list from?

The Holy Spirit has revealed that to me. I did not consult any commentary.

Read them for exactly what they say and look for Jesus on every page... seriously look for Jesus on every page.

Zec 4:7 (KJV) Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

Zerubbabel is a picture of Christ. The mountain is the barrier between us and Christ - the law.

Christ removed the mountain and made it a plain - made it easy for us to get to him- FAITH not works. Christ brought forth the tombstone to salvation through the law.... shouting grace grace to the law - God put his laws in us.

I know it’s hard to see but when you see mountains or obstacles and GRACE I guarantee you it’s about Christ.