Books of the Prophets

‘The gospel of God which he had promised before by the prophets in the holy scripture’ (Romans 1:2); ‘By the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith’ (Romans 16:26); ‘Saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come’ (Acts 26:22).  There are numerous allusions of the same sort throughout the New Testament.  Those we have quoted are conclusive; they are clinched by the statement of the angel to John in Patmos: ‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’ (Revelation 19:10).  The work of the prophets took various forms during the long interval between the entrance into the promised land under Joshua and the rebuilding of the temple on their return from Babylon.

When the prophets are spoken of, most people think of the books of the prophets forming the last part of the Old Testament, from Isaiah to Malachi.  The writers of these books form only a part of the order of men by whom God spoke to Israel  That order of men goes back to the very beginning and embraces many who did not write books and those whose books have not been preserved.  Their primary work was not to write books, but to deliver oral expostulations from God to Israel, to bring them back to harmony with Himself.

If this is kept in mind, there will be none of the quandary that some appear to experience on the subject of unwritten and lost books, people who seem to think that a prophet’s work was a failure if he did not leave something for the Bible, and still more so if he wrote something that has been lost.  They have not realized that the prophet’s primary work was his own living presence in Israel, and that in the case of preserved writings, this preservation was something over and above the natural work of their lives.  It was a gift of God’s providence to succeeding generations which have not been thankful enough.

These remarks will be verified by a careful perusal of the history of Israel as contained in the scriptures.  The books that are preserved are sufficient for the work to be afterwards accomplished by their means.  If we had had the others, we should have only had books agreeing with those we already have.  ‘And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all nations shall be blessed”’ (Galatians 3:8).

Bro John Richard Chulu (Lundazi, Zambia)