The Minor Prophets – Part 1
I. Introduction
Their messages are not “minor” as far as content is concerned; “minor” refers only to
their size.
Most of the minor prophets have a threefold message: the of the people; the coming sin
judgment of God; and the future restoration of Israel. The promise of hope is present even
in the message of judgment.
The prophets Jonah, Amos, and Hosea ministered in the kingdom before it was northern
taken by Assyria.
In the kingdom, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Obadiah southern
served prior to the Babylonian captivity.
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi ministered to the Jewish remnant after their return to the
land from exile.
II. Hosea – Divine Faithfulness
Hosea preached in the northern kingdom when the nation was prospering outwardly but
decaying inwardly and facing certain judgment.
Hosea: God’s Accusations:
1. Blended false gods into their worshipIdolatry:
2. Content with an intellectual knowledge of God instead of relational Spiritual apathy:
knowledge of God.
3. Deliberately chose not to trust God and formed political alliances Political alliances:
with pagan nations.
Hosea: God’s Example
Hosea’s Gomer is unfaithfulwife:
Hosea’s children:
Jezreel (God scatters)
Lo-Ruhamah (not loved)
Lo-Ammi, (not my people)
In other words, “get out,” “I don’t love you,” & “You’re not mine.”
Hosea’s rescue: Buy back your wife & love her again.
Hosea: God’s History Lesson
Jacob: Lying and Treachery
Israel’s Journey to the promised land: Rebellion
Israel’s demand for a king: Rejection
Some things never change in this family.
Hosea: A Faithful God
Hosea call Israel to repent even though he knows it won’t last.
But…God promises Israel
“I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.”
Hosea 14:4
Hosea, Jesus, and Us
God’s love & mercy are more powerful than Israel’s sin. Israel didn’t deserve it but God
planned to love them anyway; that’s how grace works.
God’s love & mercy are more powerful than my sin. I don’t deserve it but God plans to
love me anyway; that’s how grace works.
III. Joel: The Day of the Lord
The prophet Joel ministered in Judah at a time when drought and a plague of locusts had
devastated the economy. Joel’s message centers around “the day of the Lord.”
The Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord and Current Events: A historical plague of was attacking locusts
Judah. Like Egypt, they were designed to get attention.
The Day of the Lord and Coming Events: The would attack Israel before Assyrian army
God would stop them at Judah.
The Call to Repent!
“Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but
tear your hearts instead. Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and
compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and
not punish.”
The Day of The Lord and Future Events:
God will He will transform and empower His people so that they can send his Spirit.
follow Him.
God will defeat all evil. He will make right what was made wrong.
God will renew all of creation and establish a new Eden for His people.
Our Day of The Lord:
Jesus’ death on the cross was our day of the Lord, when God’s judgment for our
disobedience was experienced on our behalf by our sinless representative. (Acts 2:17-21)
IV. Amos: God’s Justice
Amos was a shepherd and fig tree farmer.
Amos lived in but pronounces a message of judgment for the Judah
Northern Kingdom at Bethel.
8 Messages of Doom
5 Sermons
3xs – “Listen…”
2xs – “What sorrow Awaits you…”
“Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the
entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt: I have known only you out of all the
clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
Amos 3:1-2
5 Visions
A plague of Locusts
A great ________________
A ____________________
A basket of summer fruit
The Lord at the altar
What’s the point of the sermons and visions?
What Israel was doing:
Israel has treated in an unjust manner: The wealthy ignore the poor, allow the the poor
poor to be sold into debt slavery, and then deny the poor any legal representation.
What God wanted to see:
“I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”
Amos 5:24
Three Promises: What God will do one day
I will destroy the sinful kingdom
I will restore the fallen house of David
I will restore the promise
V. Obadiah: God’s Vengeance
Smallest Book in the Old Testament
Pronounces judgment against Edom - Israel’s “brother” nation (Jacob & Esau)
Edom’s Pride and Downfall
Edom's pride-They trusted in their:
Location (strongholds in the mountains)
Alliances (other nations support us)
Wisdom (smarter than other nations)
Edom’s Downfall Points to God’s Vengeance
They must account for their actions.
He will do to them what they did to and Judah Jerusalem.
Edom’s Downfall and God’s Kingdom
Edom’s downfall also points to the coming of God’s Kingdom.
He will establish a new kingdom.
His kingdom will be over all nations.
Obadiah, Jesus, and Us
Jesus bore the vengeance of God against our sin. By satisfying God’s vengeance, Jesus
provides the way of deliverance for prideful and arrogant, people — like us.
Everyone will experience God’s vengeance. Either we can accept Christ’s experience of
God’s vengeance on our behalf, or, if we refuse, we will have to experience God’s
vengeance directly.
VI. Jonah: The Wideness of God’s Mercy
Jonah lived during a period of physical prosperity, peace, & expansions for the norther
kingdom. But, it was also a period marked by rebellion against God.
God called Jonah to preach to Israel’s enemy, the Assyrians.
Jonah: Act 1
1:1-3 – God Sends His Word to Jonah
God commissions Jonah to go to Nineveh
Jonah disobediently flees to Tarshish
1:4-16 - God sends a on Jonahstorm
The turn to their own pagan godssailors
The sailors turn to and then throw him overboardJonah
“I worship the Lord…who made the sea and the dry land.” (1:9)
The sailors turn to the God of the storm
1:17-2:10 – God sends a to Jonahgreat fish
Jonah’s thankful prayer for life
“Salvation belongs to the Lord.” (2:9)
God commands the fish to vomit out Jonah
Jonah does not repent
Jonah: Act 2
3:1-3a God Sends His Word to Jonah (Again)
God re-commissions Jonah to go to Nineveh
Jonah obediently goes to Nineveh
3:3b-10 God sends His Word to the great city
“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” (3:4)
The pagan city and king turn from their evil
God turns from his judgement
4:1-11 The great God sends a message to Jonah
Jonah’s angry prayer for death
“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God” (4:2)
God sends a and to teach Jonahplant, worm wind
God teaches Jonah about His compassion
“Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh” (4:11)
Jonah and Jesus
Jesus says that he is “greater than Jonah” (Mat. 12:41). He is the one who succeeded
where Jonah failed.
Instead of fleeing from God’s call in rebellion and running away from his
enemies, Jesus ran toward his enemies, in full submission to his Father’s will.
Like Jonah, Jesus would spend three days in darkness. But unlike Jonah, he would
emerge with determined to pursue his enemies with life-giving love.
Jonah and Us
God gets the final word in Jonah so that the book serves as a mirror. This mirror asks us
to consider if we are ok with the fact that God loves our enemies.
VII. Micah: God’s Divine Lawsuit
Only prophet sent to both southern & northern kingdoms.
Ministered especially in Jerusalem & Samaria
God Calls a Long List of Witnesses to Testify Against Judah
Property barons: enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow countrymen.
Opportunists: moral compass is stuck on greed.
Government officials: use their power to enrich themselves on the backs of those
they govern.
Self-appointed & corrupt ready to preach health & wealth as prophets priests:
long as the offering plate is full.
Dishonest businessmen: use every trick to extort more profit.
God’s Case:
God’s people are without excuse. They knew how they were to live.
“The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do
what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8
God’s Judgement
“Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A
thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.”
Micah 3:12
God’s Promises of Hope
God will preserve a small group of people who will remain loyal to Him. He will use this
minority to rebuild His people.
God promises a time when he will restore more than Judah. A new & expanded people of
God will be led by a just & merciful (5:2–5). Under his guidance and care, this shepherd
new community will live securely and eternally. (Micah 4:4–5).
God promises that a ruler will come from Bethlehem
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are
from of old, from ancient times.”
Micah 5:2
