What do you think?
Rate this book
Back Toward the Future: Hints for Interpreting Biblical Prophecy
Biblical prophecy comprises one of the most rewarding topics of Bible study. Difficulty of subject matter and unfamiliarity with the literary forms, however, deter many students. 'Back Toward the Future' removes these obstacles and invites exploration of this exciting subject. The author, a respected expert in the field, presents an introductory guide to the issues and methods of interpreting prophetic literature. The principles he formulates, coupled with his mature insights, will help students avoid many exegetical pitfalls. Part I helps the reader to discern conditional and unconditional prophecies, comprehend apocalyptic symbols, and understand future events in expressions of the past. Part 2 provides specific steps for interpreting prophetic passages. And Part 3 discourages Bible students from finding double meanings in prophetic statements and encourages them to embrace the author's single-truth intention. A Scripture index concludes 'Back Toward the Future'
152 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1989
22 people want to read
About the author
Walter C. Kaiser Jr.
97 books54 followersWalter C. Kaiser Jr. (PhD, Brandeis University) is president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He previously taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and at Wheaton College. Kaiser is active as a preacher, speaker, researcher, and writer and is the author of more than forty books, including Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament and The Majesty of God in the Old Testament.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 24, 2023
"Prophecy is more than 'fore-telling'; it is mostly 'forth-telling.' Less than a third of what the prophets had to say had to do with the future. Two-thirds of their message was a setting forth of the word of God against the backdrop of the failure of the people to obey the moral law of God." - Walter Kaiser
I've increasingly found Kaiser's works thoroughly Biblically and quite insightful. For what it sets out to do, this is an excellent book. Kaiser is not seeking to present a drawn out, academic argument for how one interprets prophecy (he does that elsewhere). Kaiser's goal here is to present a concise, lay-person friendly book that actually helps them understand the prophets and he does this wonderfully. Short chapters, simple to understand sentences, and even some humor makes this the first book I'd give to someone seeking to learn how to study the prophets better.
As the title suggests, Kaiser rightly helps the reader to realize that if they want to understand books like Isaiah and Amos better, they need to go back and read Genesis and Deuteronomy. Oftentimes, the meaning and significance of the prophet's message is lost on us because we aren't as familiar with the Pentateuch and the former prophets as the original audience was.
Kaiser is not a dispensationalist in that he doesn't believe in a pre-trib rapture, but he is very strong on other key tenets of dispensational theology. He very clearly puts forth that both OT and NT maintain that there must be a future salvation and redemption of national Israel in the promised land. He is also very clear on premillennialism (very helpful comments here on 1 Cor. 15). As such, this is a book I can hand to church members without hesitation. My only complaint is I wish there was even more material and interaction with Biblical texts! 4.5 out of 5.
I've increasingly found Kaiser's works thoroughly Biblically and quite insightful. For what it sets out to do, this is an excellent book. Kaiser is not seeking to present a drawn out, academic argument for how one interprets prophecy (he does that elsewhere). Kaiser's goal here is to present a concise, lay-person friendly book that actually helps them understand the prophets and he does this wonderfully. Short chapters, simple to understand sentences, and even some humor makes this the first book I'd give to someone seeking to learn how to study the prophets better.
As the title suggests, Kaiser rightly helps the reader to realize that if they want to understand books like Isaiah and Amos better, they need to go back and read Genesis and Deuteronomy. Oftentimes, the meaning and significance of the prophet's message is lost on us because we aren't as familiar with the Pentateuch and the former prophets as the original audience was.
Kaiser is not a dispensationalist in that he doesn't believe in a pre-trib rapture, but he is very strong on other key tenets of dispensational theology. He very clearly puts forth that both OT and NT maintain that there must be a future salvation and redemption of national Israel in the promised land. He is also very clear on premillennialism (very helpful comments here on 1 Cor. 15). As such, this is a book I can hand to church members without hesitation. My only complaint is I wish there was even more material and interaction with Biblical texts! 4.5 out of 5.
February 28, 2020
Regardless of your eschatological viewpoint, Walter Kaiser, mighty in the Scriptures, gives guidelines for hermeneutics and how to approach prophetic texts. Only one chapter deals with so-called “millennial issues.”
Make Prophetic Interpretation Center on the Living God
Prediction isn’t an add-on to divine revelation-- “it is one of the methods of revelation” (Kaiser 18: Rev. 19:10). Characteristics of biblical prophecy:
1) Plainly foretells things to come. No ambiguities.
2) Entails designed and intended predictions.
3) Written or spoken prior to the event.
4) It is not isolated but correlated to larger biblical revelation.
1 Peter 1:10-12 doesn’t mean Old Testament prophecy was vague or needed NT for the “real meaning.” It just means the OT writers didn’t know the time of Christ’s coming (Kaiser 23). A prophet didn’t “speak better than he knew,” but rather, on issues where he confessed ignorance (Dan. 8:27; 12:8; Zech. 4:13), he merely confesses ignorance of the time or “wants to understand what is said before he writes it down” (24).
Because biblical prophecy involves the Lord of space and time, its fulfillment isn’t intended to be ambiguous, as we see in Greek oracles.
Don’t Believe Every Prophet
Kaiser gives some criteria for discerning false prophets. They are known for their immoral lifestyles. They are crowd-pleasers. They do not distinguish their own thoughts from biblical revelation. Finally, they plagiarize (Kaiser 31).
Yet some prophecies do not appear to be fulfilled. Kaiser mentions several kinds of prophecy: unconditional fulfillment; conditional fulfillment, and sequential fulfillment (35). We shouldn’t be surprised by conditional prophecy: prophecy is intended for holy living. God’s character doesn’t change; his actions might.
Word Packages
When the Bible uses “earth” in distinction from heaven, it is usually universal. When it uses earth in distinction from the Gentile world, it probably means Israel (48).
Go Back to the Past in Order to Get to the Future
Thesis: Biblical prophecy uses the language of previous revelatory events: creation, flood, Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.
Biblical Theology of Prophecy
Kaiser’s method for studying prophecy is standard Evangelical hermeneutics. He wisely recommends finding longer passages and units rather than just proof-texting verses.
Kaiser recommends we focus primarily on the promise plan of God. While it is true that Christ is the center of the Old Testament, Christ emerges from the Old Testament promises. It is like a tree that is branching out. This is a much better approach than seeing Jesus as a rock on the road to Palestine. It avoids allegorical goofiness.
He suggests we read “All Israel will be saved” as sequential in thought. It might be temporal. It seems to be temporal, but even if it isn’t, nothing is lost by seeing it as sequential to the promises (114). It follows from the promises made in the OT about including the Gentiles in salvation. It isn’t negating Israel. The phrase “life from the dead” brings to mind Ezek. 37.
The Pentecost Problem
Simply because Peter cited a few verses from Joel 2, does that mean all future referents in Joel are exhausted on the day of Pentecost? Of course not.
Kaiser mightily refutes the “double-meaning” theory of prophecy, which is akin to allegorism. Note, he isn’t addressing the fact that some prophecies have a partial or delayed fulfillment. That is perfectly legitimate. Nay, he refutes the Philonic allegorism.
(1) This sets aside the common laws of language and makes communication meaningless.
(2) If there were a double/allegorical meaning, how could it be identified (129)?
(3) What boundaries, if any, are to be placed on double-meanings (130)?
(4) Advocates of double meaning admit it shouldn’t be used to establish doctrine, but why this reluctance all of a sudden?
(5) While it is sometimes claimed that the NT writers give a “spiritual” interpretation to OT passages, they wouldn’t have expected prophecy-fulfillment to make any sense if the rules of language were conveniently thrown out the window.
Make Prophetic Interpretation Center on the Living God
Prediction isn’t an add-on to divine revelation-- “it is one of the methods of revelation” (Kaiser 18: Rev. 19:10). Characteristics of biblical prophecy:
1) Plainly foretells things to come. No ambiguities.
2) Entails designed and intended predictions.
3) Written or spoken prior to the event.
4) It is not isolated but correlated to larger biblical revelation.
1 Peter 1:10-12 doesn’t mean Old Testament prophecy was vague or needed NT for the “real meaning.” It just means the OT writers didn’t know the time of Christ’s coming (Kaiser 23). A prophet didn’t “speak better than he knew,” but rather, on issues where he confessed ignorance (Dan. 8:27; 12:8; Zech. 4:13), he merely confesses ignorance of the time or “wants to understand what is said before he writes it down” (24).
Because biblical prophecy involves the Lord of space and time, its fulfillment isn’t intended to be ambiguous, as we see in Greek oracles.
Don’t Believe Every Prophet
Kaiser gives some criteria for discerning false prophets. They are known for their immoral lifestyles. They are crowd-pleasers. They do not distinguish their own thoughts from biblical revelation. Finally, they plagiarize (Kaiser 31).
Yet some prophecies do not appear to be fulfilled. Kaiser mentions several kinds of prophecy: unconditional fulfillment; conditional fulfillment, and sequential fulfillment (35). We shouldn’t be surprised by conditional prophecy: prophecy is intended for holy living. God’s character doesn’t change; his actions might.
Word Packages
When the Bible uses “earth” in distinction from heaven, it is usually universal. When it uses earth in distinction from the Gentile world, it probably means Israel (48).
Go Back to the Past in Order to Get to the Future
Thesis: Biblical prophecy uses the language of previous revelatory events: creation, flood, Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc.
Biblical Theology of Prophecy
Kaiser’s method for studying prophecy is standard Evangelical hermeneutics. He wisely recommends finding longer passages and units rather than just proof-texting verses.
Kaiser recommends we focus primarily on the promise plan of God. While it is true that Christ is the center of the Old Testament, Christ emerges from the Old Testament promises. It is like a tree that is branching out. This is a much better approach than seeing Jesus as a rock on the road to Palestine. It avoids allegorical goofiness.
He suggests we read “All Israel will be saved” as sequential in thought. It might be temporal. It seems to be temporal, but even if it isn’t, nothing is lost by seeing it as sequential to the promises (114). It follows from the promises made in the OT about including the Gentiles in salvation. It isn’t negating Israel. The phrase “life from the dead” brings to mind Ezek. 37.
The Pentecost Problem
Simply because Peter cited a few verses from Joel 2, does that mean all future referents in Joel are exhausted on the day of Pentecost? Of course not.
Kaiser mightily refutes the “double-meaning” theory of prophecy, which is akin to allegorism. Note, he isn’t addressing the fact that some prophecies have a partial or delayed fulfillment. That is perfectly legitimate. Nay, he refutes the Philonic allegorism.
(1) This sets aside the common laws of language and makes communication meaningless.
(2) If there were a double/allegorical meaning, how could it be identified (129)?
(3) What boundaries, if any, are to be placed on double-meanings (130)?
(4) Advocates of double meaning admit it shouldn’t be used to establish doctrine, but why this reluctance all of a sudden?
(5) While it is sometimes claimed that the NT writers give a “spiritual” interpretation to OT passages, they wouldn’t have expected prophecy-fulfillment to make any sense if the rules of language were conveniently thrown out the window.
April 22, 2008
General information about how to interpret Bible prophecy. Does not push any particular end time view but shows how to properly analyze prophecies.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews