Types of Prophetic Verses in the Bible, and Where to Find Them

We human beings are full of curiosity, worries, and questions. We crave answers. We like to be prepared. We want to know what’s happening next.

When reading Scripture, we find many passages that point to the future. They tell of events still to come, or what God plans to do. These are considered “prophetic” verses, or messages from God delivered to people through His prophets.

But at times, prophetic verses can be challenging to study, regardless of whether you’re picking up a Bible for the first time or if you’ve been studying it for years. There is frequent use of symbolism and metaphor that can call for deeper analysis. 

So how do we determine how to interpret these prophetic passages?

First, it helps to identify which type of prophecy we’re looking at. Then, we can better understand God’s intent for the message and the context of when the prophecy was given. It can even provide us with a deeper perspective of God’s character.

So Bible prophecy doesn’t have to seem like intimidating riddles from some otherworldly intelligence. Instead, we can learn amazing things about God and His communication with the people He loves. 

We’ll look at:

• Major prophetic books in the Bible
• Types of prophecy in the Bible
  • Prophecies about ancient Israel
  • Prophecies fulfilled within Scripture
  • Prophecies about Jesus
  • Prophecies that were conditional
  • Prophecies revealing unknown information
  • Prophecies of personal revelation, guidance, rebuke, or constructive lessons
  • Prophecies of post-biblical events
  • Prophecies of end-time events

Let’s begin by identifying the books of the Bible best known for their prophetic verses.

 

Major prophetic books in the Bible

Several books of the Bible consist mostly of prophecy. But before we look at those, it’s important to understand that prophecies aren’t always visions into the future. There are many different types of prophecy that vary in purpose and context.

As explained by Gerhard Pfandl, PhD, former associate director of the Biblical Research Institute, “Since the Fall [of humanity], God communicated through prophets. The prophet was chiefly a teacher of spirituality and ethical conduct, a moral reformer bearing messages of instruction, counsel, admonition, warning, and sometimes predicting future events.”

So while our first association with prophecy often has to do with foretelling future events, let’s keep in mind that different prophecies serve different purposes. 

Some prophecies were warnings or instructions to individuals, while others were long-term predictions about the future. Some simply reveal information that was previously unknown.

By categorizing prophecies, we better understand their purpose. Then that can guide how we study and apply them to our own spiritual development. 

The books that have the most to do with prophecy are often referred to as the Major Prophets, the Minor Prophets, and New Testament Prophecy:

Major prophets:

These books of the Bible are typically longer and have a broad message that looks toward the New Testament, and sometimes post-biblical times.

• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations
• Ezekiel
• Daniel

Minor prophets:

These books are shorter, and their prophetic messages have a more specific focus. Their purposes can range from discussing a singular event, providing situational instructions or guidance, or describing possible consequences of a collective decision. 

• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Obadiah
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi

New Testament prophecy:

While there are passages of prophecy tucked into the Gospel accounts and some of the epistles, the majority of prophetic verses in the New Testament are in the book of Revelation. This book features a lot of post-biblical prophecy as well as information about the end times and the Second Coming of Christ.

There is a lot of metaphorical language in this book, so it can seem intimidating to read through or study.

But keep in mind that God communicates with His chosen messengers throughout the entire Bible, and there are prophetic Bible verses sprinkled all through Scripture. It’s just that books like Revelation, as well as Ezekiel and Daniel, are ones that contain the most prophecy about events that have yet to happen. That’s why so many things have to be described symbolically.

They also help us understand how God will ultimately make everything right.

But there are many types of prophecy in different parts of the Bible, given at different times to different people for different reasons. And that’s what we’ll explore next.

Different types of prophecy in the Bible

Prophecy, or the passing along of a message from God to humans, has several purposes. Understanding the key distinctions among them helps us get the most out of our study of Scripture. 

The most commonly recognized categories we’ll cover are:

• Prophecies about ancient Israel, or the symbol of God’s followers
• Prophecies that were fulfilled later in Scripture
• Prophecies about Jesus
• Prophecies that were conditional upon human choices
• Prophecies revealing unknown information
• Prophecies of personal revelation, guidance, rebuke, or education
• Prophecies of post-biblical events
• Prophecies of End-time events

Prophecies about Israel

The Bible is full of instances when God uses prophecy to communicate with His people. These messages helped the Israelites understand their part in God’s plan while also providing guidance for the various challenges they faced.

Sometimes these prophecies would warn them about future events, and sometimes they had to bring important but uncomfortable things to their attention. Especially when they had to do with letting consequences play out for Israel’s collective neglect of God’s guidance. 

Here are a few Bible verses where God communicated with Israel and Judah about events in their future, which were often prompted by their actions:

• Jeremiah 3: The prophet Jeremiah predicts the judgment of Judah and Israel. God’s chosen people had let themselves be enticed by the pagan, idolatrous practices of other nations. But God expressed that He wished for them to change—to resume following His loving commandments instead of the destructive cultures of their oppressors.
• Jeremiah 29: Jeremiah addresses Israel’s siege and takeover by Babylon. And amid those details, he communicates that God wants them to live good, virtuous lives even while living among their Babylonian oppressors. They were also to be wary of false prophets that were likely to appear among them.
• Ezekiel 37: This chapter, known as the vision of the “valley of dry bones,” details a prophecy of God breathing life back into His chosen people. The nation would be restored under David as king, and God promised to bless them and increase their numbers.
• Ezekiel 40-43: These chapters describe Ezekiel’s vision of a new temple after the old one in Jerusalem was destroyed in the Babylonian siege. This was to reassure the Israelites that God was still with them, and He had good, noble plans for their future.

Prophecies fulfilled within Scripture

When we read through the Bible, we can see that God always keeps His promises and follows through with the messages He sends through prophecy. In many cases, we can read of a prophecy in one part of Scripture, and read about its later fulfillment in another part. Here are a few examples:

• Genesis 15: God promises Abraham a son and many descendants. He also warns that these descendants would, for a time, be “resident aliens” in a foreign land (verse 13-14, CSB).
  • Genesis 21: Abraham’s promised son, Isaac, is born.
  • Exodus 1: Abraham’s descendants, who settled near Egypt at the time, “became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them” (verse 7, CSB). But then they were oppressed and enslaved. However, God had communicated through Joseph (Genesis 50:24) that He would one day lead them back to the Promised Land (Canaan).
• Jeremiah 21, 25, 30: Jeremiah prophesies that Nebuchadnezzar will capture Jerusalem and they will spend 70 years of captivity in Babylon—but Israel will eventually be restored to a self-sufficient nation.
• Ezekiel 4-5, 12: Ezekiel also predicts Jerusalem’s siege and destruction, and that the Jews will go into exile, facing hardship due to their disobedience.
  • 2 Kings 25: The account of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem.
  • Ezra 1-2: As prophesied by Jeremiah, the exiles return to Jerusalem and rebuild.
• Jeremiah 50-51: Jeremiah prophesies about Babylon’s destruction.
  • Daniel 5: Daniel interprets God’s message to King Belshazzar, which also tells of the coming destruction of Babylon. That very night, Belshazzar is killed and Babylon is overtaken by the Medes and Persians.
• Jonah 3-4: Jonah brings a message from God to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, instructing them to repent or they will be destroyed. Then the people of Nineveh repent and no longer face destruction.
  • Nahum 1: Nineveh faces destruction again after its people slip back into their old ways.
  • Nahum 2-3: Nineveh’s downfall, and an account of its collective sins.

Also in this category would be prophecies about Jesus, the Son of God, coming to earth as the Messiah. They include details about how He will live as our example and then demonstrate His love for all humanity by dying in our place. But there are enough of these verses to be categorized in their own section.

Prophecies about Jesus

With these messages about a coming Deliverer, God filled generations of followers with hope, letting them know that no matter how bad things got, there was still a chance for redemption—a way to be set free from Satan’s influence and the curse of sin.

When sin was first introduced into the world, God made this promise:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).

Ever since God declared this in the Garden of Eden, there are verses throughout Scripture that describe what this coming Savior would be like and what He would do. 

The key details of Jesus’ coming were foretold in Old Testament prophecy—the place He’d be born, how He could be recognized, what His earthly ministry would show to us, how He would eventually die, and what His death would mean. 

• Leviticus 1-5: A description of the Israelites’ sacrificial system, which represented Christ taking on the ultimate consequence of the sins of humanity
• Psalm 22: A description of Jesus’ death
• Isaiah 9: Encouragement to the Jews about Christ coming to earth
• Isaiah 32: Jesus is described as a righteous King who will ultimately govern a restored humanity in an endless age of peace and justice
• Isaiah 52: Predicting Christ’s crucifixion
• Micah 5: Birth in Bethlehem
• Zechariah 9: Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem
• Malachi 4: Predicting Christ’s mission on earth, as well as John the Baptist preparing people for His ministry

Prophecies that were conditional

When God sends messages through His prophets, it’s not always a proclamation of inevitable events. Sometimes God intends to warn His followers what the consequences of their ways will be if they continue on their current path. 

So these messages can be delivered with conditions, such as, “If you do this, this will happen, but if you do this instead, this will happen.”

God wanted to make sure His children had every opportunity to repent before facing the harmful consequences of their actions. Here are a few examples of such prophetic warnings:

• Jeremiah 3-6, 13: A call for Israel to repent and return to God, or the nation would fall into ruin. Israel did not listen, and Jerusalem was overtaken.
• Daniel 4: A warning against King Nebuchadnezzar to change his ways, or he would lose his sanity. This was carried out, though he ended up recognizing the power of God, and his sanity was restored.
• Jonah 3-4: A warning against the Assyrians in Nineveh, telling of their destruction if they didn’t change their ways. The Ninevites listened to Jonah and repented at the time, which postponed their demise. Though because they returned to their old habits, the book of Nahum tells of the city’s destruction.

Prophecies revealing unknown information

Apart from giving messages about what will happen in the future, there are times when God has prophets reveal information about the present or past that was previously secret or unknown. 

Here are a couple examples where prophecy was used to reveal information:

• Genesis 18: Abraham is informed of Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness and impending destruction.
• 1 Kings 19: The prophet Elijah felt like he was the only one left with reverence for God. But God encouraged him by revealing that there were 7,000 other believers in Israel.
• 1 Kings 20: King Ahab is given instructions for how to deal with the armies of Ben-hadad that had Israel outnumbered
• 1 Kings 21: Elijah is informed of King Ahab’s murder of Naboth.
• 2 Kings 6:8-12: God reveals to Elisha the plans and actions of an enemy king.
• Daniel 5: God reveals to Daniel the meaning of the strange writing on the wall that appeared during Belshazzar’s feast.
• Matthew 2: Joseph is given a prophetic dream, as are the wise men, warning them that King Herod is seeking out baby Jesus to kill Him, and advising them of how to stay safe. God tells them to flee to Egypt. 
• Luke 2:25-28: The Holy Spirit reveals to Simeon that Jesus, the Messiah, had been born and he was able to meet Mary and Joseph at the temple when Jesus was dedicated.

Prophecies of personal revelation, guidance, rebuke, or constructive lessons

Prophecies aren’t always directed at kingdoms and nations. Sometimes a prophecy is personal, meant to rebuke, educate, or guide a particular individual.

This shows us how God cares about our individual lives, desiring a daily personal relationship with us. Here are a few prophecies that were given to guide individuals, or to call out harmful choices or behaviors:

• Genesis 37: Joseph is given guidance through prophetic dreams. He was shown that he would one day occupy a position of high influence, and that his brothers would one day submit to him.
• 1 Samuel 3: God tells Eli, through Samuel, that consequences are already in motion based on his sons’ harmful actions that he allowed to continue.
• 2 Samuel 12: Nathan is given a message to rebuke King David, revealing that God knew the sins David was trying to keep secret.
• 1 Kings 19: After telling Elijah that he was not the only believer left, God directs Elijah’s journey back to his people and tells him to anoint and mentor Elisha, who would serve as a prophet after him. 
• Jeremiah 34: God tells King Zedekiah, through Jeremiah, about the fate of Jerusalem and his own death that would happen in Babylon.
• 2 Kings 20: God sends Isaiah to tell King Hezekiah that his illness will be fatal. Then, when Hezekiah prays for recovery, God gives Isaiah a new message, assuring Hezekiah that he would recover.
• Daniel 4, King Nebuchadnezzar is given a dream (interpreted by Daniel) predicting the loss of his sanity, resulting from his pride, that would precede his eventual restoration to God’s favor.

Prophecies of post-biblical events

Some prophecies in the Bible refer to events that have already happened from our perspective today, but were still in the future for those who wrote those passages. 

It’s encouraging to see more and more evidence of how God keeps His word, and that even though biblical history is long past, He never stops working with each of us for our salvation. 

Here are a few of the major post-biblical prophecies that saw their fulfillment in our history books:

• Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of a statue with the head of gold, the chest of silver, the torso of bronze, the legs of iron, and the feet a mix of iron and clay. This statue symbolized the progression of political powers from Babylon to present day.
  • The head of gold represented Babylon
  • Which later fell to Persia (silver)
  • Which then fell to Greece (bronze) 
  • Which was eventually conquered by Rome (iron)
  • And then a splintered collection of global powers of varying strengths (iron and clay).
• Daniel 7: The four beasts in Daniel’s vision represent the power and influence of the first four kingdoms previously listed.
• Revelation 1-3: John, through the Holy Spirit, is given visions of the Christian churches Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These visions address the characteristics of each church, both good and bad, and describes what each church needs to tackle in order to remain faithful to Christ.

Prophecies of end-time events

It’s not exactly pleasant to think about the end of the world as we know it. But prophecies about end-time events were actually meant to be encouraging. They let us know God’s ultimate plan for the world, and that no matter how tumultuous things get, He has a plan to save us. He will one day put an end to sin and make everything right.

But before Jesus returns at the Second Coming, certain events must play out. So, by knowing these end-time prophecies, we can make more informed decisions about our allegiances and priorities in our lives. We can gain a big-picture view of where the world is headed, helping us prepare our hearts and minds accordingly.

Here’s an overview of what end-time prophecy tells us:

• Isaiah 24: God will return to earth to judge humanity, as well as Satan and his angels
• Isaiah 27: God will call all His believers to come to Him and receive their redemption and restoration.
• Isaiah 65: God will eventually create a new heaven and a new earth, after purifying the current earth
• Daniel 2: After describing the statue that represents the progression of world powers, a rock (God) destroys the statue, then grows into a mountain that covers the whole earth. This shows how God will overthrow all human political power to establish His own perfect, everlasting kingdom on the new earth.
• Daniel 7: After forecasting the rise and fall of empires and rulers, a world power will arise that will try to exalt itself in place of God. But then Jesus Christ will return to earth as a ruler and righteous judge for the new earth.
• Daniel 12: There will be a time of trouble as the world faces its consequences, and it will be followed by the deliverance of God’s people
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:23: A hopeful description of the Second Coming of Christ, then a description of the “Day of the Lord,” focusing on the state of the world at the time of Christ’s return. This event will occur unexpectedly to the world, as a “thief in the night.”
• 2 Peter 2-3: Warning of false prophets and naysayers who will refuse to believe Scripture, especially as Christ’s coming draws nearer. 
• Revelation 11-13: Followers of Christ will face opposition and persecution for choosing to stay faithful to God instead of an earthly religiopolitical power.
• Revelation 20-22: Satan’s defeat, the end of all evil and sin, followed by God creating a new heaven and earth, restored to the perfection of Eden.

While many of those verses sound intense, God’s victory will be complete and final, and what comes next for us is promised to be better than we could ever possibly imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Studying and categorizing prophecy

In going through all this information, we’ve caught glimpses of how different types of prophecy help us follow and understand God’s will.

General prophecies were given to the children of Israel to help keep them on track, and apocalyptic prophecies inform us of last-day events.

Some prophecies foretell of good news like the birth of Jesus, and others warn of potential disaster.

Some prophetic messages were meant for entire nations, and others were sent to specific individuals. 

But through it all, one thing shows through: God knows the future—He is ultimately in control. We don’t have to be anxious or afraid because we know that tomorrow is in His hands.

If lengthy books of Old Testament prophecy have taught us anything, it’s that God always keeps His promises. Long ago, He promised that He would send a Savior, His Son, to be our Messiah and to demonstrate the highest, truest love to humanity. And that very Savior promised that one day soon, He’ll be coming back for us to make everything right (Revelation 21:4). 

So as we study prophecy, whether on our own, with a study guide, or with a group or mentor, we can always find hope in the underlying purpose of it all—to demonstrate God’s unsurpassable power, His unsurpassable love, and His plan for our redemption and salvation.