The Forgotten Books: Golden Truths from the Minor Prophets

INTRODUCTION TO THE MINOR PROPHETS

When was the last time that you read any one of the Minor Prophets? For some of us, we would first have to ask, What are the Minor Prophets? For others, we would say, Well, I read through the Bible once a year. But I don’t really remember what I read in the Minor Prophets.

If we were to describe any part of the Bible as being neglected or forgotten, I think quite a number of us would list the last twelve books of the Old Testament right at the top! It is not that they are unimportant, it is just that there is so much information, so much obvious prophecy, and so many unfamiliar historical references that we literally get lost trying to make sense of the books. But I do not think it has to be this way.

The last 12 books of the Old Testament are called the minor prophets. It is not because these prophets were any less important but because the books are so much smaller. In fact, one of the books, Obadiah, only has one chapter. The longest books, Hosea and Zechariah, only have 14 chapters each. This doesn’t seem like an especially small size but compared to books like Isaiah, which has 66 chapters, Jeremiah, which has 52 chapters, and Ezekiel, which has 48 chapters, these 12 books look minor. But the books are obviously important because they are part of the Bible.

In order of appearance in the Bible was have - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. However, it seems that there are several ideas on their chronological order. So rather than try to nail down the dates, let’s just deal with the content and allow the Lord to speak to us through his word.

Here is what we know for sure:

·  Hosea and Amos: Both were composed in the second half of the eighth century, in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The king of Israel from approximately 790 to 750 B.C. was Jeroboam II (son of Joash), who built Israel into a wealthy trading empire by controlling the trade routes to Damascus on both sides of the Jordan. In light of this, the prophecies of Amos seem to be about financial issues such as the treatment of the poor and so on.

Amos 6:1-7 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!  2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?  3  Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;  4  That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;  5  That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;  6  That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.  7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

On the other hand, Hosea focused on the theme of Israel’s faithfulness to God. Israel has been unfaithful, but God wants her to return. In fact, God says:

Hosea 6:1-3 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.  2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.  3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

·  Joel: Joel is found between Hosea and Amos in the Bible. He prophecies during the time of King Josh (2 Chron 22-24) As a younger man he may have known Elijah but would have certainly known Elisha. If not personally, he definitely lived during their days of ministry.

·  Micah: Chronologically, Micah appears next. Micah prophesied at the end of the eighth century in Judah, the Southern Kingdom. He was active at the same time as Isaiah, and during this time period, the Assyrian empire threatened to conquer Judah.

·  Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: The next of the Twelve Prophets are Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk (especially chapters 1-2) and Zephaniah. These men prophesied around the time of the destruction of Judah, at the end of the seventh and beginning of the sixth centuries. Even though they all prophesied in the same period, they emphasize different issues.

·  Zephaniah: Zephaniah refers to idolatry and corruption in Jerusalem, describing the punishment of the impending day of the LORD.

Zephaniah 1:7  Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

·  Nahum: Nahum’s prophecy speaks about the fall of Nineveh, which was conquered by the Babylonians in 612 BC.

·  Habakkuk: Habakkuk focused on the social injustice in Judah and announced its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.

Habakkuk 1:5-6 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.  6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.

·  Obadiah: Obadiah picks up the theme of the destruction, raging against the Edomites for despoiling Judah while the Babylonians destroyed the cities.

·  Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: The last group within the Twelve Prophets is Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, all of whom prophesy after the Babylonian exile. The historical background of these books is found in Ezra and Nehemiah. But even though they are written in the same basic time period, the emphasis of each book is a bit different from the other two. Haggai emphasized the rebuilding of the temple. Zechariah emphasized God’s choice and desire for his people, Israel. Malachi focused on societal issues - neglect of sacrifices and intermarriage.

·  Jonah: Jonah is a bit difficult to place in any specific date because it doesn’t appear to be connected to any historical event outside of itself. Its main point has to do with the repentance of Nineveh which is its own historical event! But that is not the only prophecy of Jonah. According to 2 Kings 14:25-27 he made some other prophecies during the time of Jeroboam II.

Why should we study the minor prophets? Because most Christians never really study them.  It is not completely their fault. Most preachers never really preach on them either. Some Christians never really read them. But then again, some Christians have no daily Bible reading of any form! Very few Christians know what they contain. That’s because most Christians never read them or study them and most preachers never preach from their texts.

This study will not be in-depth, but rather an overview that is designed to remedy the above-mentioned problems. What we are seeking to do is to become more familiar with its contents and get an understanding of how it applies to us today.

HOSEA – The Prophet of Persevering Love

If there is one prophet in the Bible that I would NOT want to be - it is Hosea. Hosea was given the responsibility of using his private life as a public example of God’s relationship between God and the Jews. Hosea’s home-life was absolutely horrible.  First, God tells him to marry a harlot. And then she continues in her sin AFTER they got married. Not exactly the kind of life that you would expect from a prophet, but it was all by God’s design and God’s plan. And that’s a difficult point to figure out!

Let’s face it. Sometimes there are things in the Bible that are hard to figure out. According to the Book of Hosea, God COMMANDED Hosea to marry a bad girl.

Hosea 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

But God had his reasons, as we shall see.

In order to understand the book, we need to know a bit more about the background. The book of Hosea was written by the prophet whose name it bears. The name Hosea means, salvation. This book is literally a message of salvation to a spiritually bankrupt people.

During the time of Hosea’s life, Israel was a very financially prosperous nation. They had peace politically but were spiritually bankrupt.

Hosea 3:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

Basically, God’s people were acting like idolaters and drunkards. Suffice it to say that Israel was guilty of great spiritual evil.

One interesting thing about the Jews is that they have always had a certain religious bend to their nature. So even though they were far away from the will of God, the ministry of Hosea interested them. That is why God used Hosea’s life to illustrate His relationship with Israel. And that is exactly the case in the book of Hosea. Through this prophet’s family, God will reveal His love for His wayward people. Hosea’s marriage becomes a touching picture of the redemption we have in Christ Jesus.

Hosea 1:1  The word of the LORD that came unto Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

Hosea 1:1 gives us a good idea of what the nation was going through. The nation had been divided.  Ephraim, to the North, had practically gone completely into idolatry. Judah, to the south, had its ups and downs with bad kings like Ahaz or Uzziah. But then it had good kings like Jotham or Hezekiah too.

Other passages on Hosea show us how bad things had become, spiritually speaking:

Hosea 4:1-2 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.  2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

Hosea 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

No mercy, no truth, no knowledge, immorality, murder. Sounds like todays newspaper. Ignorance of God’s truth. Rejection of God’s standards. Sounds like the average church.

It was a time of iniquity, ignorance, infidelity, and insubordination. People were living it up, as we might say, and didn't have much time for God. They wouldn't have said that, of course; nobody ever says that when it is true. Instead they may have said something like we do—that it was just a case of not having quite enough time to meet the demands that God made upon them. They were so busy with so many other important things. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was ready for the weekend.

Characteristics

The first three chapters are a narrative and are symbolic in nature.

Hosea 1:2-3 The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.  3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.

The prophet Hosea, his wife, and his three children become pictures of the relationship between God and his people. And this is an incredibly big point that must be remembered so that we come to the right conclusions in the book.

Hosea illustrates for us a picture of God. Gomer, his wife typifies God’s people. Even the children’s names have meaning:

·  Jezreel - God sows, with the implication that God is scattering seed. Jezreel was a name with a history in Israel.

Do you remember the bloody story of Queen Jezebel and Ahab? Ahab cheated his neighbor out of his property and stole his neighbor's vineyard, and Jezebel was the wicked queen who encouraged him to do it.

But God judged her for her wickedness. One day she was looking out her upper story window when a general, Jehu, was down in the courtyard.

Jehu looked up and saw her painting her face and he said, Will somebody go there and throw her out? Somebody threw her out and she fell on the pavement and was killed, and the dogs ate her up, and the courtyard has been called Jezreel ever since. (2 Kings 9:30-37)

Hosea understood that God was thus warning his people: they too would be cast away if they didn't recognize the folly of their actions. If they didn't turn from their sin, God was going to punish them too.

·  Loruhamah - This name means not having mercy, unloved, no compassion. Nowadays we name little girls, Mercy. One of my friends has a daughter named Mercy. Can you imagine naming your little baby girl No Mercy?

It meant that God would no longer have mercy or compassion on his people if they continued their stubborn rebellion.

God’s patience was running out. After some hundreds of years of trying to reach this stubborn people, he was now warning them that they were getting near the end.

A time would come when he would no longer pity them but would hand them over to invading armies.

·  Loammi – This name means not my people (Hosea 2:4). God was saying, you are not my people and I will not be your God.

God had said that he would name these children as a sign to his people, but there would come a day of restoration:

Hosea 2:23  And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

So that even in this time when God was announcing judgment. his grace also was being shown.

At one point, God told Hosea to do a strange thing. God said, Hosea, I want you to go marry a bad girl. And the reason God gives for this is because Israel had been committing spiritual adultery.

Hosea 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

Sometimes, God does strange things at times, things we don't always understand, things we can't categorize, things that don't fit into what we think we know of him.  And this is one of those strange things.

Then, after Hosea and Gomer marry, she gives him three children that he calls by symbolic names. And while this is all happening up North, Isaiah is down South doing basically the same thing:

Isaiah’s oldest son was named Mahershalalhashbaz. He was probably in college before he could spell his own name! Mahershalalhashbaz means hasten to the prey or haste to the spoil. It was God's prophetic way of telling the nation that they were in deep trouble. But he also comforted them with the words a remnant shall return.

Isaiah’s youngest son was named Shearjashub, which means a remnant shall return. That was God's promise to Israel that even though they were taken into captivity, a remnant would come back. So, the names of the prophet’s children were quite important in those days!

For me, one of the most difficult parts of the book is not the prophetic addresses that come later. It is the fact that Gomer fulfilled God’s prediction of her unfaithfulness to Hosea.

Nothing is quite so painful as a betrayed love. And that was just the point that God wanted his people to see! But not only did she cheat on Hosea, she flat out left him! So, what was the effect on Hosea’s preaching? He still preached judgment but he did so with a greater compassion!

You might wonder why Hosea put up with Gomer for so long.  But love does not act according to logic.

But the way of the transgressor is always hard. So, before it was all over, Gomer had sunk to the point that she was basically a slave in the slave-market. It was there, at her lowest point, just a slave in the market of sin, where Gomer bought her back to himself.

Hosea 3:3  And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide