Honestly I’d been putting off the major prophets for ages because they seemed so intimidating. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel – big books with weird visions and judgment speeches. Where do you even start? My Bible app stayed closed until last Tuesday when I finally grabbed my coffee and decided to just dive in. No fancy plan, just me opening to Isaiah 1 like a dummy.
The overwhelm moment
First sentence hits about rebellious children and loaded metaphors about oxen recognizing owners. Felt like walking into a movie halfway through. I kept flipping pages seeing “woe to you” passages and getting more confused. Realized quickly I was doing it totally wrong.
What actually worked
Went back to basics Thursday morning. Grabbed:
- My easiest-to-read translation
- A cheap notebook
- Highlighters in three colors
Started focusing on just one prophet at a time instead of jumping between books. Chose Daniel for round one because honestly? Lions’ dens and fiery furnaces sounded more approachable than endless temple sermons.
My game plan evolved
Noticed Daniel has clear chunks. So each morning with breakfast:
- Yellow highlighter for concrete stories (like the writing on the wall)
- Pink for prophecies that felt too symbolic
- Blue for personal prayers Daniel said
Wrote questions in my notebook like “Who’s this Darius guy?” and “Why golden statue?” instead of stressing about every detail. Bible footnotes actually became useful for once.
The breakthrough
After finishing Daniel’s story sections (chapters 1-6), the vision parts in later chapters suddenly clicked better. His exile context made the “end times” stuff feel anchored. Then moved to Isaiah starting with messianic passages everyone knows like chapter 9 instead of dense opening chapters. Way less headache.
Where I am now
Still wouldn’t call myself a prophecy expert, but I’m cruising through Jeremiah without feeling lost. Main takeaway? Start with narrative-heavy sections to get your bearings before tackling apocalyptic visions. Daniel chapters 1-6 got me over the intimidation hump – it’s like training wheels for major prophets.
