the most important peculiarities, which the interpreter should bear
present, and to disclose the future. Their interest always centered in the Kingdom of God, or the work of redemption through Christ. The prophets received insight into the council of God through dreams, visions, inward suggestions, or oral communications; and they communicated their message to the people either by simple declarations or by a description of their dreams and visions, or by symbolical actions. Two points call for special consideration: (1) The special characteristics of prophecy; and (2) Rules for the interpretation of prophecy.
1. SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPHECY. The following are the most important peculiarities, which the interpreter should bear in mind.
a. Prophecy as a whole has an organic character. It is equally absurd to deny the predictive element altogether, and to regard prophecy merely as a collection of aphoristic predictions. The prophets do not always predict particular facts, but often promulgate general ideas that are gradually realized. Some of the most important prophecies are first couched in general terms, but in the course of God's progressive revelation increase in definiteness and particularity, as we note in those of a Messianic character. They remind one of the bud that gradually opens into a beautiful flower.
b. Prophecy is closely connected with history. In order to be understood, it must be seen in its historical setting. The prophets had, first of all, a message for their contemporaries. They were watchmen on the walls of Zion, to guide the destinies of ancient people of God, and to guard against the dangers of apostacy. It is a mistake, of frequent occurrence in the past, to regard the prophets as abstract personalities that were not in living contact with their environment. At present, the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction, and it becomes necessary to warn against the idea that history will explain everything in the prophets. The ancient seer often found historical occasions transcending the limits of history.
c. Prophecy has its own peculiar perspective. The element of time is a rather negligible quantity in the prophets. While designations of time are not altogether wanting, their number is exceptionally small. The prophets compressed great events into a brief space of time, brought momentous movements close together in a temporal sense, and took them in at a single glance. This is called "the prophetic perspective," or, as Delitzsch calls it, "the foreshortening of the prophet's horizon." They looked upon the future as the traveler does upon a mountain range in the distance. He fancies that one mountain-top rises up right behind the other, when in reality they are miles apart. Cf. the prophecies respecting the Day of the Lord, and the twofold coming of Christ.
d. Prophecies are often conditional, i.e., their fulfilment is in many cases dependent on the contingent actions of men. Some scholars ascribed a conditional character to all predictions, and found in this a ready explanation for the non-fulfilment of a large number. But this is an erroneous view. This conditional character can only be ascribed to those prophecies that referred to the near future, and that could, therefore, be made conditional on the free actions of the prophet's contemporaries. It follows from the nature of the case that prophecies referring to the distant future are not so conditioned. It should be borne in mind that a prophecy may be conditional, though the condition is not expressed. Cf. Jer. 26:17–19; 1 Kings 21:17–29; Jonah 3:4, 10.
e. Though the prophets often express themselves symbolically, it is erroneous to regard their language as symbolical throughout. They did not, as some writers on prophecy supposed, construct a sort of symbolical alphabet to which they habitually resorted in the expression of their thoughts. Even P. Fairbairn falls into this error when he says that "in the prophecies of the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation, nations are a common designation for worldly kingdoms, stars for ruling powers, roaring and troubled seas for tumultuous nations, trees for the higher, as grass for the lower grades of society, running streams for the means of life and
refreshment, etc." (On Prophecy, p. 143). It is safer to take the position of Davidson: "When Joel speaks of locusts, he means those creatures. When he speaks of the sun, moon and stars, he means these bodies. When he says, 'How do the beasts groan?' he means the beasts, and not, as Hengstenberg thinks, the uncovenanted nations of the heathen world" (Old Testament Prophecy, p. 171). When the prophets do express themselves symbolically, the context will usually indicate it. Sometimes it is expressly stated, as it is in Dan. 8 and Rev. 17. As a rule the language of the prophets should be understood literally. Exceptions to this rule must be warranted by Scripture.
f. The prophets clothed their thoughts in forms derived from the dispensation to which they belonged, i.e., from the life, constitution, and history of their own people. In view of this fact the question naturally arises as to whether the form was essential, so that the prophecy was destined to be fulfilled in the exact terms in which it was uttered. While it was but natural that prophecies referring to the near future should be realized in all particulars, it is by no means self-evident that this should also be the case with prophecies that point to some future dispensation. The presumption is that, after the forms of life have undergone radical changes, no more can be expected than a realization of the essential central idea. In fact, the New Testament clearly proves that a literal fulfilment is not to be expected in all cases, and that in some important prophecies the dispensational form must be stripped off. Hence it is precarious to assume that a prophecy is not fulfilled as long as the outer details are not realized. Cf. Isa. 11:10–16; Joel 3:18–21; Micah 5:5–8; Zech. 12:11–14; Amos 9:11, 12, Acts 15:15–17.
g. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the prophets occasionally transcended their historical and dispensational limitations, and spoke in forms that pointed to a more spiritual dispensation in the future. In such cases the prophetic horizon was enlarged, they sensed something of the passing character of the old forms, and gave ideal descriptions of the blessings of the New Testament Church. This