Minor Prophets - Hosea through Micah

     While various rulers are leading the descendants of Abraham farther and farther into idolatry, God is not sitting quietly by.  He sends a number of prophets to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well as to the people of surrounding nations, in an attempt to lead them to repentance.
     The books of prophecy in the Old Testament are commonly divided into two groups: the major and minor prophets.  These labels are misleading, since they leave the impression that some prophets are more important than others.  Actually, this distinction is simply intended to identify which writings are longer and which are shorter.  All of the prophets are regarded with equal importance.
     It would be just as valid to make a distinction between prophets who write a book and those who do not.  After all, many men such as Elijah and Elisha leave no writings.  Another possible separation would be between prophets who address Israel and those who speak to Judah.  Or maybe we should contrast prophets whose revelations come before the exiles with those whose messages come after the Assyrians and Babylonians carry Israel and Judah, respectively, into captivity.
     Six of the minor prophets (that is, prophets who have written shorter books) who speak to Judah and Israel before the exiles are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah.  Joel addresses the southern kingdom, while Amos and Hosea work in Israel.  As we know from 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah also prophesies in the north.  But he is remembered primarily for his mission to Ninevah, capital of the foreign nation of Assyria.  Micah speaks about both kingdoms, and Obadiah reveals the fate of the neighboring country of Edom.
     The Edomites are the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob.  So they are from the lineage of Abraham and Isaac, and therefore are cousins of the Jews.  But they often do not behave in a neighborly fashion.
     When the Israelites are traveling from Egypt to the land of Canaan, the Edomites refuse to allow them to pass through their country.  In 2 Kings 8:20 we read about Edom's revolt against Judah centuries later.
     From the book of Obadiah it is obvious that the people of Edom take comfort in the fact that they live high in the rocky cliffs.  This is one of the things that gives them the confidence to rebel against Judah.
     "The arrogance of your heart has deceived you," verse three of Obadiah observes, "you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to earth?'"
     "Though you build high like the eagle," God warns in the next verse, "from there I will bring you down."
     Of all the prophets in the Old Testament, Jonah is one of the best known.  In the first chapter God instructs Jonah to warn Ninevah of their destruction.  Instead he boards a ship in an attempt to flee to Tarshish.  A violent storm attacks the ship, and Jonah finally convinces the sailors that he is the cause and must be thrown overboard.  The men do not want to do this, but they finally realize it is the only solution.
     God prepares a great fish to swallow Jonah.  After three prayerful days in the belly of the fish, the prophet is cast out on the shore.
     Ninevah is such a large city that it takes three days to walk across it.  Jonah walks for one day, which puts him near the center of the city.  Then he begins to preach of the pending disaster.  The king repents and orders the people to do the same.  Chapter two ends with God relenting concerning the calamity.
     By the way, there is something we should learn here about prophecy.  There are sometimes conditions that God does not immediately reveal.  The message of Jonah was simply that the city would be destroyed.  But God spares the city because of the repentant attitude.
     Our first impression as the story begins is that Jonah is simply afraid to preach to this capital city of one of the world's most powerful nations.  But from the second verse of chapter four we learn that there is another reason why he does not want to warn Ninevah.
     "Please Lord," Jonah explains, "was not this what I said while I was still in my own country?  Therefore, in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and One who relents concerning calamity."
     Jonah is a prophet to Israel.  Assyria, with its capital at Ninevah, eventually carries Israel into captivity.  So Jonah does not want this king to repent.  The last chapter reveals his disgust with God because the city is spared.
     "And should I not have compassion on Ninevah," God asks in the final verse, "the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"
     More than anything else, the story of Jonah is a lesson about God's great love for his creation.

     How much does God love mankind?  He loves them enough to cancel the destruction planned for Ninevah because the people are willing to repent.  But there is perhaps no greater message in the Old Testament of God's awesome love than that found in the book of Hosea.
     To portray His own love for His people in spite of their disobedience, God instructs Hosea to marry a prostitute.  Through this God demonstrates His willingness to accept the people who have rejected Him and turned toward idols.
     Chapter two contains some references to the future relationship available through Christ, which is logical since God's desire to help us is most clearly shown through Jesus.
     "And I will say to those who were not my people, 'You are My people!'  And they will say, 'Thou art my God!'" verse 23 foretells in a passage quoted by Paul in Romans 9:25.
     Amos, as he informs the priest Amaziah in chapter seven, verse 14, is a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.  But God has another mission for Amos.
     The first two chapters pronounce judgment against various cities and countries around Israel, including Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon and Moab.  Warnings are also issued to Judah.  The rest of the book is directed to Israel.
     In chapter four God lists some of the things He has done in attempts to cause Israel to repent.  Sadly, the common phrase in this chapter is, "Yet you have not returned to Me."
     How does God feel when people continue to do things their way and refuse to follow His instructions?
     "I hate, I reject your festivals," God notes in Amos 5:21-23, "nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
     "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offering of your fatlings.  Take away from Me the noise of your song; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps."
     Joel begins his warning to Judah by comparing the coming punishment to locusts.  What one kind of locust leaves behind, another kind of locust destroys, until there is nothing left.
     "There has never been anything like it," he writes in verse two of chapter two, "nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations."
     There is, however, hope for the future.  When Peter preaches the first gospel sermon in Acts two, he quotes from the second chapter of Joel.
     Micah, who addresses both Israel and Judah, also looks forward to Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom, the church.
     "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah," Micah 5:2 prophesies, "from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.  His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."
     "And this One will be our peace," verse five adds.
     "And it will come about in the last days," chapter four, verse one, says of the beginning of the church, "that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.  It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it."
     Chapter three condemns false teachers and rulers who lead God's people astray.  The emphasis is on teaching and doing what God has instructed.
     Looking back at the book of Hosea, we notice how important this is.
     "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge," Hosea 4:6 states.  "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest.  Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."
     "So the people without understanding are ruined," verse 14 observes.
     "I will go away and return to My place," God warns in Hosea 5:15, "until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
     "Come, let us return to the Lord," Hosea 6:1-2 offers hopefully.  "For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him."
     "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice," God instructs in verse six, "and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
     We can go through all the religious motions we like.  But only the truth will set us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)