Exploring The Minor Prophets -- Part 1

      I've mentioned previously that I've been working on a book that will be an overview of the 12 Minor Prophets. I've finished the first six of the Minor Prophets, so I will be posted one chapter of the new book on the blog in midweek posts for the next few weeks. This is the first post that includes the intro and the chapter on the book of Hosea. Next week on the midweek post, I will post the chapter on Joel. Thank you for reading the blog. At the end of all 12 Minor Prophets, I will post the book as a whole. I would just like to mention that this isn't an in-depth commentary. This is just a work that is meant to briefly introduce each book and the main themes. I hope that it will cause you to become more interested in reading and studying these book of the Bible for yourself. 

Introduction

 

     The Minor Prophets aren’t named properly. They aren’t minor by any means. I know that they were given that particular designation due to the fact that most of the books are small. However, the name gives people the wrong impression.

     Many possess the mistaken notion that the Minor Prophets don’t have much in them that is really relevant for life today. Many think that they lack a message applicable to Christians.

     I hope that in this brief book that I can dispel the idea that the Minor Prophets are books that can be overlooked because they don’t have an important message. It is my hope that after you read this overview of the twelve Minor Prophets that you will understand more about the works and the men who wrote them.

     I’ve always been drawn to the Minor Prophets for some reason. I had the chance in both Bible college and seminary to study these books in depth, and they have become something of my specialty. I’ve had the privilege of writing about the books Haggai and Obadiah in another book that I wrote about the shortest books in the Bible. I’ve also been able to preach about and do Bible studies through many of the books in the Minor Prophets.

     In this particular book, we are not going to have an in-depth, verse-by-verse commentary on each of the books on the Minor Prophets. Instead, I want to focus on the main ideas that are contained in each of the works. I want to provide some background about each book and the book’s author. I then want to take a couple two or three ideas from each and see how that they apply to our lives today. As we go through each book, I also want to point out some of the prophecies about Jesus contained in these books and how He fulfilled them. We will also see that there are several prophecies regarding the Second Coming in these works as well.

     As you read about each of the Minor Prophetic books, take the time to read each work in its entirety. As you read, make sure that you pray that the Lord will take the words and help them becoming meaningful for you in a personal way. Hopefully, this book will make you want to know more about the Minor Prophets and you will seek to study one or more of the books written by these prophets in depth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

Hosea

 

     The first of the Minor Prophets that we will focus on is Hosea. Hosea’s name means salvation, and that is significant because the salvation that the Lord offers even when we turn away from Him is a key component of this prophet’s message.

     Hosea ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel sometime shortly before Israel fell to the power of the Assyrian Empire. His ministry may have even been right at the very end of the end of Israel as an independent state. Keep in mind, Israel consisted of the ten tribes that rebelled and formed their own country when Solomon’s son attained the throne. Two tribes remained loyal to Solomon’s son, and that nation was thereafter known as Judah. Judah would remain in existence for several years after Israel fell to the Assyrians.

     In the very beginning of this book, God tells the prophet Hosea to go and take a wife who God knows will ultimately commit adultery against Hosea. In Hosea 1:2, this woman is referred to as a prostitute. In obedience to the Lord, Hosea married a woman named Gomer.

     Over the course of the marriage, Gomer gave birth to three children. Each child received a symbolic name. The first child was named Jezreel. The second child was named Lo Ruhamah which means “not loved”. God was no longer going to show His love outwardly for Israel. The third child’s name meant not my people. The ten tribes would not longer be God’s people. That was not God’s doing. It would come about because the people did not want to have anything to do with the Lord. Instead, they followed after idols. God will not force anyone to love Him and follow Him. If someone wants to walk away from the Lord, ultimately, He will let them do that.

     After a time, Gomer walked out on Hosea. This is what the Lord said would happen. She took up with another man committing adultery against her husband.

     When Gomer had been away from Hosea for a while, God told the prophet to go and take his wife back. Hosea searched for and found Gomer. He actually had to purchase her back as she had probably ended up as some type of sex slave at this point.

     So, what does this story from the book of Hosea have to teach us? This story works on two different levels. First of all, let us look at it as a symbol of what was actually happening at the time. Israel had abandoned the Lord just as Gomer had abandoned Hosea. God had taken His people out of the land of bondage, loved them, and made them His own. However, the people turned against God so often and in so many ways. They committed spiritual adultery by worshipping the golden calves and all other types of idols. They ended up committing all types of immorality in direct contradiction to the clear commands of the Lord.

     Because of the people’s sins against Him, God gave the nation over to their fate. However, God still loved His people in spite of the way that they had treated Him. He went after them, and He brought them back to Himself once they were willing to return to Him again.

     We can also look at this story in light of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah tells us that all of us are like sheep that have gone astray and followed our own way. We have rebelled against the Lord our creator. In spite of our rebellion, in spite of the fact that we were His enemies, God loved us and wanted to redeem us from our sins.

     The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us and provide forgiveness. He provides us a way back to the Father through His atoning death and through His bodily resurrection from the grave. The Lord bought us out of our sin by His shed blood on the cross.

     I also believe that there is another application from this account in Hosea. There are times after we have come to faith in Christ when we sin and go astray. We fail to do what the Lord wants us to do. We do the things that He has expressly told us not to do. At these times, we are in a sense committing spiritual adultery. But, there is forgiveness and restoration with the Lord. He never stops loving us, and He never gives up on us. It says in I John that if we confess our sins, the Lord will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

     There is one more thing that I would like to point out from the book of Hosea. This book contains an important Messianic prophecy. A Messianic prophecy is one that points to something that the Messiah would do when He was on the earth. Hosea 11:1 tells us that the Messiah the Son of God would be called out of Egypt. When Jesus who is the Messiah was a baby, Herod wanted to kill all of the children in Bethlehem. The Holy Family fled to Egypt until the time it was safe to return to Nazareth. Jesus completely fulfilled this prophecy.