Best Christian Books on Bible Prophecy: 13 Classics to Read Free
If you want one book to see how Bible prophecy fits together, read Arno C. Gaebelein's The Harmony of the Prophetic Word. It takes about four hours. Each chapter takes one theme, the day of the Lord, the great tribulation, the Antichrist, the restoration of Israel, and sets the prophets' words side by side so you can hear them speak with one voice. If your question is whether prophecy can be trusted at all, start instead with Sir Robert Anderson's Daniel in the Critics' Den.
The classic writers didn't all agree on the details of the future. Puritans like Thomas Goodwin read Revelation as the history of the church through the ages. Many writers of the 1800s and early 1900s, such as Darby, Kelly and Gaebelein, read the prophets as pointing to a future restoration of Israel and a kingdom that begins when Christ returns. But they agreed on the main things. God knows the end from the beginning and has told us much of it. Prophecy already fulfilled is one of the strongest proofs that the Bible is His Word. Christ is the center of it all. And prophecy is given not to satisfy curiosity but to make us holy, hopeful and watchful.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.
2 Peter 1:19
Here are thirteen of the best books on prophecy in TheWay Library. For books on the return of Christ itself, see our separate guide to the best Christian books on the second coming.
Start here
1. The Harmony of the Prophetic Word, by Arno C. Gaebelein
Gaebelein argues that the harmony of the prophets, writing over many centuries, is itself proof of inspiration. Then he lets them show it, theme by theme, ending with the conversion and restoration of Israel and the kingdom.
The harmony which exists throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is one of the strongest arguments for the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures.
The Harmony of the Prophetic Word, Introductory
See Arno C. Gaebelein's books. Read The Harmony of the Prophetic Word.
2. Daniel in the Critics' Den, by Sir Robert Anderson
Critics said the book of Daniel was written after the events it "predicts." Anderson, a Scotland Yard chief trained to weigh evidence, says the real question is a plain one of fact: was Daniel written before the days of Antiochus? He answers the charges of historical error about Belshazzar and Darius the Mede and shows how incidental details confirm the book.
The accuracy of Daniel in this matter is confirmed in a manner which is all the more striking because it is wholly incidental.
Daniel in the Critics' Den, chapter III
His The Coming Prince, on the seventy weeks, is in our second coming guide. See Sir Robert Anderson's books. Read Daniel in the Critics' Den.
Daniel
3. Studies on the Book of Daniel, by J. N. Darby
Short talks given to friends who wanted help with Daniel. Darby's key is that Daniel covers "the times of the Gentiles," when God's throne has left Jerusalem and power has passed to the nations. He is especially good on Daniel's faith in Babylon and on his prayer of confession in chapter 9.
The essential point, however, is the spirit in which Daniel identifies himself with the people of God, confessing all their sin as his own, before God.
Studies on the Book of Daniel, Lecture V
Read Studies on the Book of Daniel.
4. Notes on the Book of Daniel, by William Kelly
A fuller commentary by Darby's close colleague. Kelly treats the first half as moral chapters showing the character of Gentile power and God's care for His witnesses, then the visions: the four beasts, the Son of man, the seventy weeks and the final vision. The scan has some misread words.
This prophecy does bring us to the final blessing of Israel when the seventy weeks are consummated.
Notes on the Book of Daniel, Daniel 9
See William Kelly's books. Read Notes on the Book of Daniel.
The other prophets
5. The Prophet of Hope, by F. B. Meyer
Meyer reads Zechariah as a book of hope for small and struggling works of God. He takes the night visions one by one, the rider among the myrtles, Joshua the high priest given clean garments, the golden candlestick, then the rejected Shepherd and the coming kingdom. Devotional and warm.
The mission of Israel would be realized not by them, but by the Spirit of God through them.
The Prophet of Hope, The Candlestick
For a more detailed study of the same book, read Gaebelein's Studies in Zechariah. See F. B. Meyer's books. Read The Prophet of Hope.
6. The Prophet Ezekiel, by Arno C. Gaebelein
Ezekiel is one of the hardest prophets to read alone. Gaebelein gives a full outline, then follows the vision of glory by the river Chebar, the glory leaving the temple, the parables, the dry bones, Gog and Magog, and the glory returning.
All will be accomplished when the Lord returns to dwell in the midst of His people, so that the name of the city will be "Jehovah-Shammah" — "the Lord is there"
The Prophet Ezekiel, The Analysis of the Book
7. Notes on Jeremiah and Lamentations, by H. A. Ironside
Notes written, Ironside says, to feed the soul in a busy life. He follows the weeping prophet through his call, the potter's house, Jehoiakim's penknife and the fall of Jerusalem, then Lamentations.
It is impossible to ask in faith when clinging to something that is grieving the Holy Spirit and dishonoring the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notes on the Prophecy and Lamentations of Jeremiah, Let Us Search and Try Our Ways
See H. A. Ironside's books. Read Notes on Jeremiah.
8. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Isaiah and Jeremiah, by Alexander Maclaren
Not a prophecy chart but the prophets preached, one text per sermon, by the great Manchester expositor. Isaiah's call, the Immanuel and Branch prophecies, "in quietness and confidence shall be your strength," the comfort of chapter 40 and the Servant songs.
Other men, the highest, give us fragments of that mighty voice; Jesus speaks its whole message, and nothing but its message.
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Isaiah and Jeremiah, The Servant's Words to the Weary
Read Maclaren on Isaiah and Jeremiah.
9. Expositions of Holy Scripture: Ezekiel, Daniel and the Minor Prophets, by Alexander Maclaren
The companion volume: the valley of dry bones, Daniel in the lions' den, a long run on Hosea, Micah's "what doth the Lord require," Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, then the opening of Matthew.
Every gift of God is to men either a savour of life unto life, or a savour of death unto death.
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Minor Prophets, The Baptism in Fire
See Alexander Maclaren's books. Read Maclaren on Ezekiel, Daniel and the Minor Prophets.
Prophecy and the whole of history
10. A History of the Work of Redemption, by Jonathan Edwards
Edwards preached this to his congregation as one connected series: the whole of history, from the fall to the end of the world, as God's work of redeeming a people. The first part traces how every age of the Old Testament prepared for Christ; the last looks ahead to the church's final glory.
God has always, ever since the first erecting of the church of the redeemed after the fall, had such a church in the world.
A History of the Work of Redemption, General Introduction
See Jonathan Edwards' books. Read A History of the Work of Redemption.
11. The Jewish Question, by Arno C. Gaebelein
A short study of Romans 11: has God cast away His people? Gaebelein follows Paul's answer through the remnant, the olive tree and the mystery that "all Israel shall be saved."
The Holy Spirit unfolds here the purposes of God concerning the Jewish race.
The Jewish Question, The Question Solved
12. The Exposition of Thomas Goodwin on the Book of Revelation
The Puritan view. Goodwin reads the seals, trumpets and vials as the history of the church from the Roman empire onward. It opens with a long life of Goodwin, including Richard Sibbes' advice to him to preach the free grace of God.
This book is a tragi-comic vision of the occurrences of the world, and of the church in the world, through all times and ages
The Exposition of Thomas Goodwin on the Book of Revelation, A Synopsis of the Whole Prophecy
More Puritans are in the best Puritan books. Read Goodwin on Revelation.
More to explore
H. A. Ironside's Notes on the Minor Prophets and The Four Hundred Silent Years, on the time between Malachi and Matthew, are good, though their scans lost the opening words of many chapters. On the Bible's prophecies as proof of its inspiration, see our guide to books on the inspiration of Scripture. For commentaries on Revelation, see the best classic Bible commentaries.
Where to start
- The big picture: Gaebelein's Harmony of the Prophetic Word.
- Can prophecy be trusted? Anderson on Daniel.
- Reading Daniel: Darby, then Kelly.
- Something devotional: Meyer on Zechariah, or Maclaren.
- All of history in God's plan: Edwards.
More books are on the prophecy topic page.