"In this latest addition to the Lost World Series, John H. Walton shares many important and helpful propositions. As followers of this series would expect, he opens up the ancient world of the Bible in ways that challenge popular assumptions about how to read the Prophets, and he also channels many currents of contemporary scholarship in a confessional framework. In the end he redirects the reader's imagination to more carefully considered applications of the prophetic message for our lives today."

"John Walton has distinguished himself as one of the foremost interpreters of the Old Testament for the church today. The Lost World of the Prophets makes accessible serious biblical scholarship on the cultural context of the Old Testament prophets. This book is a superb guide to reading the message of the prophetic literature with integrity and faithfulness to the God of Israel and Jesus Christ. I am deeply grateful for this outstanding work."

"The Lost World series has done much to help the church recover confidence in biblical interpretation, and reasonableness in articulating belief in the marketplace of ideas. This latest volume is no exception as it takes us back in time to hear afresh the prophets' messages for us that go far beyond messianic fulfillment. Walton's wealth of knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern world brings clarity to these sometimes confusing and cryptic books, enabling faithfulness to the prophetic word in today's world."

"In this volume, John H. Walton turns his 'Lost World' lenses on the prophets to good effect. While the previous volumes in his Lost World series are helpful, this one is needed today more than the others, because the prophets are so misunderstood in the church today. His sequential propositional approach is perfect for showing why we so often shortchange the prophets by reading them only for eschatology or apologetics. This book offers the church a much-needed corrective in guiding us back to the message of the prophets—a message that still has power to form and transform our lives as readers."

12/01/2023

In the latest of his "Lost World" series, Walton (emeritus, Old Testament, Wheaton Coll.; The Lost World of the Torah) takes readers into how prophets and the concept of prophesy functioned in ancient Israel. Starting with a literary comparison between Israel and its neighbors in the Near East, the book shows how Israel's prophets developed their distinctive voice. Like other Near Eastern prophets, Israel's prophets initially addressed rulers but eventually came to speak to the people at large about their covenant relationship with God. Walton emphasizes that the function of prophecy was to speak, not forecast, on behalf of God and His intentions. He notes that oracles were generally compiled and arranged by others—not the prophets themselves—who often crafted messages for a different audience. The book demonstrates that the principles guiding prophetic writings also apply to books such as Revelation. Walton takes great care to sidestep issues his fellow evangelicals might have pounced on, such as the precise development of the Book of Isaiah. VERDICT Some readers may view this as a covert attack on the authority of scripture, but many others will find the questions posed in this title to be incidental to gaining a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of biblical prophecy.—James Wetherbee