But ending the whole Old Testament tonight. Started this journey in
2003—and we’re just now getting to the end.
But we’re not ending quietly, but in a whirlwind—going through 12
prophets in 20 minutes.
Minor prophets—named that because of the small amount of written
material they produced. Not minor because what they said was less
important—rather, just because of the small amount of written material
we have from them.
Probably most of these prophets had much the same kind of impact that
the biggies—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel—had in their day.
Tonight—just wanted to do a whirlwind tour through the last part of your
Old Testament—and point out some of the interesting things about them.
Insert this on screen HERE
The Pre-Exile Prophets
Prophet Date/Place
Amos 760-750: Israel under Jeroboam II
Hosea 745; Israel under Jeroboam II
Micah 750; Judah under Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah
Nahum 625-610; Judah under Josiah
Zephaniah c. 621; Judah under Josiah
Habakkuk 615-598; Judah?
Our map on this tour is a timeline, with a Great Babylonian Exile that we’
ve been talking about through this whole series—the Babylonian Empire
carting off the elite Jews from Jerusalem in three separate events in the
597, 592, and 586.
#1 Amos:
· Earliest of the prophetic writings
· Wrote during the good times, during the Northern Kingdom
· Made it more difficult because it’s a lot harder to get people’s
attention during the good times
· Critical of Israel’s neighbhors, but most critical of Israel for the way
they treat the poor and underprivelaged
· Famous Scripture:
Remove the noise of your songs. I will not listen to the music of your
harps. Rather, let justice roll down like a river, and righteousness like an
everlasting stream. Amos 5:23-24
#2 Hosea:
· Still in Northen kingdom, early 700’s, kings had been assassinated,
Assyrians were right around corner.
· Hosea told to marry a prostitute—Gomer—the name is worst part.
· Israel had been prostituting itself by not obeying God’s laws and
worshipping other gods.
· Gomer is unfaithful, like Israel, and she bears him three children,
all of whom symbolically represent one of the sins of Israel.
· Gomer leaves after 3 kids, but God tells Hosea to go get her—Like
God, Hosea remains faithful during Israel’s unfaithfulness.
#3 Micah:
· Contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea and Amos
· Covers some of the same topics as they do
· Made a prediction that Judah would fall as well as Israel
· He made the prophecy that Bethlehem would give birth to future
king
· And you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, though you are small among
the rulers of Judah, from you will come one who will rule for Me over
Israel Micah 5:2
#4 Nahum:
· Name means comfort, but there is some irony in this—one of the
most violent sounding prophets!
· Celebrates the fall of the cruel Assyrian Empire
· The comfort: the fall of Assyria is comfort to all the brutalized
nations of the ancient Near East.
#5 Zephaniah:
· Active during reign of good king Josiah, may have even been a
relative
· Written before Josiah’s reforms, idolatry was running rampant
· Warned of the day of the Lord when God would judge the world.
· Still, hope remains, as always: God will one day restore Israel
#6 Habakkuk:
· Written during growing Babylonian power
· He predicts the fall of Jerusalem
· Deals with theodicy—why do bad things happen to good people?
· Stays in watchtower to wait for God’s answer, but there is only
silence
· Finally, God answers him, telling him that God will deal with the
wicked in God’s own time.
Now we’re going to deal with the prophets who did their main work after
the Babylonians had destroyed the nation in the 590’s
The Post-Exile Prophets
Prophet Date/Place
Haggai c.520: Jerusalem in post-Exilic period
Zechariah c.520-518; Jerusalem in post-Exilic period
Malachi c.460-450; Jerusalem after Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt
Obadiah c.460-400
Joel c.350
Jonah Lived in c.750; book written in c.350
#7 Haggai:
· Lived during the period when the Persians had conquered the
Babylonians and the exiles were returning back home to Jerusalem
· Wanted to motivate the people to rebuild the Temple
· Chastised them for beautifying their own homes before doing so
the Temple.
· Eventually did as they were told—completed the Temple in 515
BCE
#8 Zechariah:
· Contemporary of Haggai—says the same thing: rebuild the Temple!
· Some of his visions have significance for future generations:
o Zechariah is a shepherd who is paid 30 pieces of silver (Judas)
o Sees a day when the Messiah would come riding into Jerusalem
on a donkey (Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem)
#9 Malachi:
· Early fifth century prophets who calls out the people’s continued
unfaithfulness
· God will punish the people on the upcoming day of the Lord
· Predicts Elijah will return to earth to prepare God’s people for God’
s coming
· We Christians have interpreted this as John The Baptist
#10 Obadiah:
· Shortest book in the Hebrew Bible—only 21 verses
· Angry with Israel’s neighbor to the south: Edom
· Israel saw themselves as related to the Edomites, so the betrayal
feels especially painful.
· Edom gloated over Israel’s defeat at the hand of Babylonian in the
590’s
· They will pay the price for their gloating, Obadiah predicts
#11 Joel:
· No clue to when it was written—could be between a 400 year
stretch.
· “Day of the Lord” theme again
· This time it will be for the whole earth, not just Israel
· Day of judgment, one way or another, for everyone—Repent now!
#12 Jonah:
· Runs away from the call God has on his life to warn the people of
Nineveh (Assyrian)
· Runs in opposite direction on ship; storm happens, the sailors
throw him overboard, gets swallowed by a big fish; fish vomits him up; he
goes and prophesies to Nineveh
· And surprisingly they believe him! They repent and the city is
saved.
· Jonah is bitter because of this: they did what God asked them to
do, but he bitter that they got off the hook
· Wants people to get what is coming to them
Glad it ends with Jonah tonight—reminds us that the point of prophets
was not judgment but a desire for God to be merciful if the people would
only turn around.
A God who is for you rather than against you.
