Most Biblical Prophecy Is Poetry

We continue our study of prophecy, with especial reference to the 1989 study made by theologians of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod: The End Times - A Study on Eschatology and Millennialism. We'll take a careful look at what are called "hermeneutical considerations." Hermeneutics refers to the method and principles of interpreting, especially Biblical texts. The study says,

"Most of both the major and minor prophets are written in poetry, with its characteristic figurative (symbolical) and picturesque language. . . Symbolic language of this kind is especially common in apocalyptic literature such as Daniel and Revelation. In Revelation" (Part 2).

What is poetry? Wow! It's so hard to define. Here are a few attempts:

• An imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound and rhythmic language so as to evoke an emotional response. . . The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define. 
• A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme.
• The art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative or elevated thoughts. 
• Musical thought . . . the expression of the imagination . . . order threatening to become chaos . . . the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. 

The study quoted above says that most of the major and minor prophets wrote poetry rather than prose. What are some of the common characteristics of the above definitions of poetry?

1. Poetry is verbal, using words, either written or spoken
2. Poetry creates images, word pictures, figures of speech and symbols
3. Poetry evokes feelings and emotions
4. It is art, like music and dancing, using various rhythms, but not necessarily meter 
5. It is philosophy, dealing with ideas, thoughts, concepts rather than a mere description of events

Hebrew poetry in particular has its own kind of rhythm, called parallelism. It is often described as synthetic, synonymous, antithetic, introverted, palilogical, climactic and rhythmic parallelism. Some examples:

• Synthetic parallelism: the same thing is repeated in different words. The second line adds something fresh to the first or else explains it. For instance Psalms 19:7-9:

"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

"the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;"

• Synonymous parallelism: the same thing is repeated in different words. For instance Psalms 36:5,

"Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds."

•  Antithetic parallelism: the second member of a line or verse gives the obverse or other side. So Proverbs 10:1 reads,

"A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother."

I could continue. For more details study Bible Research-Hebrew Text- Poetry.  The major task for us in this discussion of prophecy is to determine whether the prophet is writing poetry or prose. Prose can and does often have some sort of rhythm, repetition and balance, but it does not have any sustained formal arrangement. The unit is the sentence, not the line. So you do not find line breaks. Wu Qiao, a Chinese author wrote, "When you write in prose, you cook the rice. When you write poetry, you turn rice into rice wine. Cooked rice doesn't change its shape, but rice wine changes in quality and shape."

If the books of Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation, for instance, are really poetry rather than prose, that makes a big difference in how we treat them. More on that another time.