How to Read the Prophets

How to Read the Prophets

Taught by J. Daniel Hays

Learn how to read the prophets. Sign up today to get discounted pricing!

Course Details

  • 3 Units

  • Self-paced

  • 1 hour of video

  • Beginner

  • The Message of the Prophets

6 Month Access
$29.99 USD


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Course Description

Have you ever read the prophets and felt like you’re missing something?

Maybe it’s a name or a place that’s unfamiliar. Maybe it’s a reference to an event, like a plague. Or maybe it’s the audience—sometimes it’s written for Israel, and sometimes for the surrounding nations. Sometimes it’s simply the question—why is God doing or saying that?

The biggest question of all is why the prophets are the Bible in the first place. What makes prophetic literature God’s Word? And why do the prophets still matter for today?

It’s true, the prophets are important. But they’re also very difficult to read.

This online course will change that.

When you sign up, you will get an accessible introduction to the prophets from J. Daniel Hays, who has been teaching on the prophets for years. He’s also the author of The Message of the Prophets, used by thousands of students at Bible colleges and seminaries around the world.

Here is what you will learn:

  • How the New Testament writers understood the prophets
  • The difference between the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets
  • What the prophet’s role was
  • When the prophetic books were written
  • The geopolitical realities in ancient Israel
  • How the genre of the prophets affects how we interpret them
  • Why the prophets are difficult to outline
  • Why understanding poetry matters for reading the prophets
  • The theological context of the prophets was and why it matters for how we read them
  • The basic components of prophecy, such as indictment for covenant violations, promise of judgment, and promise of restoration
  • How the Old Testament prophets speak to twenty-first century culture
  • The 6 interpretive challenges in reading the prophets, and how to overcome them
  • What the prophets say about the future

Sign up for the course and work through the lessons, so you can begin reading the prophets with greater purpose and clarity.

Meet Your Instructors

J. Daniel Hays

Th.M., Dallas Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

J. Daniel Hays is dean of the Pruet School of Christian Studies and professor of Old Testament at Ouachita Baptist University. He is the author of From Every People and Nation, and he has coauthored Grasping God's Word; Preaching God's Word; Journey into God’s Word; The Story of Israel: A Biblical Theology; Iraq: Babylon of the End Times?; Apocalypse; and The Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy. He teaches adult Sunday school at his local church in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and preaches frequently throughout the nation. 

Course Outline

  • Prophets, Prophecy, and History

  • The Literature and Message of the Prophets

  • Prophets and Biblical Eschatology

 

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