The Lost World of the Prophets (Lost World Series), John H. Walton. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514004890) 2024.

Summary: How understanding the ancient Near East context of the prophets can shed light on their message for us.

There is good reason to take prophecy seriously and seek to understand it. Prophets often prefaced their words with “thus saith the Lord” or “this is the word of the Lord.” We wonder, is there a message for us to heed, trust, and obey? Unfortunately, this instinct can go awry when we fail to understand the primary role of the prophet, the nature of prophetic literature, and its theological significance then and now. In The Lost World of the Prophets, John H. Walton, as he has done with other “Lost World” books, takes us back to the ancient Near East backgrounds of prophetic and apocalyptic literature. Building on this background, he helps us understand the message of the prophets and its relevance to us.

As in other works in this series, Walton unpacks the lost world of the prophets through a series of propositions. Perhaps the simplest way to summarize the content of this work is to list these propositions as Walton outlines them in the book:

Part 1: Ancient Near East
1: Prophecy Is a Subset of Divination
2: Prophets and Prophecy in the ANE Manifest Similarities and Differences When Compared to Israel

Part 2: Institution
3: A Prophet Is a Spokesperson for God, Not a Predictor of the Future
4: Prophecy in the OT Is Not Monolithic but Developing
5: The Classical Prophets Are Champions of the Covenant in Times of Crisis
6: Prophecy Takes a Variety of Different Shapes After the Old Testament

Part 3: Literature
7: Recognition of the Categories of Prophetic Message Help Us Be More Informed Readers
8: Prophets Were Typically Not Authors
9: The Implied Audience of the Prophetic Books Is Not Necessarily the Audience of the Prophet

Part 4: Methodological and Interpretive Issues
10: Distinction Between Message and Fulfillment Provides Clear Understanding of Prophetic Literature
11: Fulfillment Follows Oblique Trajectories
12: The NT Use of OT Prophecy Focuses on Fulfillment, Not Message
13: Prophecy Carries Important Implications for Understanding God and the Future, but Our Ability to Forge a Detailed Eschatology with Confidence Is Limited

Part 5: Apocalyptic
14: Apocalyptic Prophecy Should Be Differentiated from Classical Prophecy
15: In Apocalyptic Literature, Visions Are Not the Message but the Occasion for the Message
16: New Testament Apocalyptic Operates by the Same Principles as Old Testament Apocalyptic

There were several aspects of Walton’s treatment that I felt were of great importance. Firstly, he focuses on prophets as spokespersons for God rather than predictors of the future. When we focus on the latter, we miss the strong focus on the warnings the prophets brought as God’s people violated his commands.

Secondly, the focus of their condemnations was how they breached God’s covenant relationship with them. The primary message of the prophets was to warn of God’s impending judgment because the people had not kept faith with God.

Thirdly, Walton emphasizes that the prophetic books as we have them reflect a process from initial message to transcription to compilation that may have involved more than one person over a period of time. Likewise, the original audience of the prophet may not be the audience of the prophetic book.

Fourthly, Walton’s distinction between message and fulfillment is so valuable when considering New Testament “fulfillments” that seem at variance with the plain meaning of the original message. Specifically, he pleads the authority of the New Testament interpreters and the fact that the fulfillments are things that have occurred. On the same basis, he argues against attempts to predict particular fulfillments of eschatological passages that have not occurred. We, unlike the apostolic witnesses, are not inspired. Instead, we should focus on the broad message of God’s purposes and promises to those who persevere through suffering.

Fifthly, I will just note the very helpful distinction Walton draws between prophetic and apocalyptic writings, summarized in the table on p. 130. I found particularly intriguing the distinction of prophecy originating as spoken word whereas apocalyptic is literature-based.

Finally, and perhaps most significant for our reading, Walton provides a rubric of four types of messages we will encounter in prophecy: indictment, judgement, instruction, and aftermath. In his conclusion, he offers guidance about how we might appropriate each in our present day.

As in other contributions to this series, Walton offers clear and concise explanations that summarizes a vast amount of recent scholarship for the serious lay student of scripture. in notes and recommended further reading, he points the interested reader to more in-depth scholarship. Finally, he gently corrects our misreading of prophetic and apocalyptic literature, encouraging us to keep the main thing the main thing, and not to lose ourselves in speculative schemes.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.