Book Review – Understanding Prophecy

Have you ever experienced a “left behind” moment? I have. Before I held to a different eschatological position, I remember being a young teenager who believed in the rapture. And I also remember an instance where I was unable to find any of my family in the middle of the day when they all should have been at home. I recall being a little panicked, wondering if I had been “left behind.” If nothing else, that anecdote reminds me of the importance of biblical prophecy, and how imperative it is to understand the Bible in general but biblical prophecy more specifically.

The primary goal of Understanding Prophecy by Alan S. Bandy and Benjamin L. Merkle is to “give readers a framework of how to interpret any passage in the context of the Bible.” That is, they want to do more than just explain prophetic texts; they want to help students of the Bible read these passages with understanding.

The first three chapters of this book outline prophecy and how one might approach it from the biblical-theological perspective. The authors do this by providing guiding principles for interpreting predictive prophecy which take into account such things a redemptive history, the Christo-centricity of Scripture, and the progression of revelation. They elucidate on the ministry of the prophets, the genre of prophecy, and some of the challenges prophecy presents. Finally, they locate prophecy in their biblical-theological framework.

I found this first section, chapters 1-3, extremely helpful in providing me a foundation for my ongoing attempts to read and understand this genre of the Bible. Some parts were review, some were new to me, but all were helpful. This section of the book is one which I’m sure I will revisit.

In the next two sections the authors apply the framework for understanding prophecy that they presented in section one. Chapters 4-6 consider prophecy in the Old Testament and chapter 7-10 examine the same in the New Testament.

In examining OT prophecy, the authors compare unconditional prophecies, conditional prophecies, and fulfilled prophecies. They consider restoration prophecies given to Israel as well as messianic prophecies which, the authors contend, are both fulfilled ultimately in the Messiah.

Again, there was very interesting and enlightening material n these chapters. I particularly liked how they took these pre-Christianity writings and demonstrated how they point to Christ. There is thorough interaction with many prophets and their writings from the Old Testament.

The final section of the book focuses on prophetic texts found in the New Testament. These include prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Spirit, and the return of the Messiah. The book of Revelation is dealt with extensively, with many helpful and intriguing insights.

These chapters address many of the obvious questions people have regarding the end times. I found it helpful that the authors dealt with the main perspectives of eschatology and did so in an irenic and fair manner.

For me, this book’s strength is in the accessibility it provides for the average lay reader to some very difficult passages of the Bible. The topics covered may be popular in our Christian culture, but sound answers and thorough explanations of those answers are less than common. Understanding Prophecy provides answers to some hard questions but also provides a framework for working through those questions for oneself. I recommend this book as a solid resource for understanding prophetic texts on the Bible.