Shown is the first column of the Great Isaiah Scroll, the oldest complete copy of the book of Isaiah (apart from some small damaged parts), written in 54 columns on 17 sheets of parchment about 10 inches high, with a total length of about 24 feet. The work is in the public domain in its country of origin and so this photographic reproduction of it (found here) is also considered to be in the public domain in the United States.
We might understandably wrongly think that the prophetic books of the Old Testament are not so relevant for us today, since at least some of what they fore-tell has already happened, including the coming of the long-promised Messiah, our Savior Jesus Christ. Yet, at least in part precisely because they still forth-tell of the Christ, they remain relevant! Furthermore, their unchanging law that shows sin and their Gospel that forgives sin apply not only to the people for whom they originally prophesied but also to all people, including us. And, that is not to mention that at least some of what the Prophets fore-tell has not already happened, such as the Last Day with its resurrection of all of the dead and its final at least declaratory judgment of the living and the dead, which judgment sends unrepentant unbelievers to the eternal torment of hell and leaves repentant believers under a new sky on a new earth for eternal life with God. The apostle Peter preached that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead and said that to Him “All the Prophets Testify” that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name (Acts 10:42-43). Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans and to us that the Law and the Prophets testify to the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (Romans 3:21-22).
Although not all of the Old Testament prophets necessarily wrote books, when the Divinely-inspired St. Paul and others so refer to “the Prophets”, they essentially are referring to “The Prophets” as a category of Old Testament books (along with the “Law” and “Writings”), but they are not referring to “The Prophets” as we usually might think of them. For example, we tend to think of the Old Testament books in the order that we find them in our English Bibles, and we typically think of two subcategories of the Prophetic Books in that order: the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). However, the original Hebrew and later Greek collections of those prophetic works had their own sequences and groupings. For example, they might speak both of “Former Prophets”, such as Joshua and Samuel, who wrote what sometimes are called “Historical Books”, and of “Latter Prophets”, such as Isaiah and Amos, who wrote what can seem to more of a sermon, whether in prose or poetry. Pilgrim’s immediately-preceding Midweek Bible Study, “Salvation History is Our Story“, arguably covered the “Former Prophets” as that Study traced the historical narrative of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and this immediately-following Midweek Bible Study, “All the Prophets Testify”, intends to cover the “Latter Prophets” in the order not of the Hebrew, Greek, or English Bibles but in what is thought to be the order of their writing.
This Midweek Bible Study does not belabor every original Hebrew word, nor does it rapidly skim a whole book in one session, but the Study intends to avoid those extremes and, at a moderate pace, to appreciate God’s Divinely-inspired and therefore inerrant Word spoken through the prophets, especially as that Word applies to us today. Pilgrim’s Midweek Bible Study meets live on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., both in-person in the Conference Room/Library found in the Office Area and on-line via Jitsi (see the link near the top of the page in the grey-widget area on the right). All are welcome! Those participating online only by streaming or downloading are welcome to submit questions using the contact information at right, and we will attempt to address those questions the session after the questions are received. Note that, while generally weekly, Midweek Bible Study is subject both to cancelled dates for pastor’s vacation and holidays and to hiatuses for Advent and Lent, when Pilgrim usually offers a Vespers service on the same day at the same time, in-person in the Sanctuary and on-line via YouTube (again see the link near the top of the page on the right). Finally, as they are available, both PDFs of handouts and recordings of audio and video to stream or download are linked below in reverse order, with the most-recent session first.
Due to Lent, Midweek Bible Study is on hiatus until after Easter, April 8. All are invited and welcome to the Ash Wednesday Divine Service, to Midweek Lenten Vespers, and to Holy Week Divine services (see the schedule and links at right).
Week 16 – February 11, 2026 – Amos 1:3-2:3
Handout Audio Video
Week 15 – February 04, 2026 – Introduction to Amos and Amos 1:1-2
Handout Audio Video
Week 14 – January 21, 2026 – Jonah 4:1-4, 5-11
Handout Audio Video
Week 13 – January 07, 2026 – Jonah 3:1-3, 4-10
Handout Audio Video
Week 12 – November 19, 2025 – Jonah 2:1-10
Handout Audio Video
Week 11 – November 12, 2025 – Jonah 1:4-17
Handout Audio Video
Week 10 – October 29, 2025 – Introduction to Jonah and Jonah 1:1-3
Handout Audio Video
Week 9 – October 22, 2025 – Joel 3:13-21
Handout Audio Video
Week 8 – October 15, 2025 – Joel 3:1-12
Handout Audio Video
Week 7 – October 08, 2025 – Joel 2:28-32
Handout Audio (No video due to technical difficulties)
Week 6 – October 01, 2025 – Joel 2:18-27
Handout Audio Video
Week 5 – September 24, 2025 – Joel 2:1-17 (3)
Handout Audio Video
Week 4 – September 17, 2025 – Joel 2:1-17 (2)
Handout Audio Video
Week 3 – August 27, 2025 – Joel 2:1-17 (1)
Handout Audio Video
Week 2 – August 20, 2025 – Introduction to Joel and Joel 1:1-20
Handout Audio Video
Week 1 – August 13, 2025 – Introduction to the Prophets
Handout Audio Video (lost the first 50 minutes due to technical issues)
The front-page slider graphic corresponding to this page was composed by Katy Myers, whom we hereby thank, using a portion of an image of the Great Isaiah Scroll, which image is in the public domain and was obtained here.
