The prophet spoke in place of God. A true prophet could say, “Thus says the Lord.” The ‘pro’ in prophet does not mean that the prophet is a ‘predictor’ of coming events. His primary purpose was to warn the people of impending judgments, and encourage the people with coming blessings. The prophet was not inspired. His message from God was inspired. The prophet served God alongside the Priests, Levites, Judges, and Kings. The prophet appeared when the people fell into ritually obeying the Law, or when they turned away from it.
In several of the messages God gave the Minor Prophets, the prophets directed the Israelites to the coming “Anointed One”, who Himself would not destroy the Law, but would fulfill it.
When viewing all sixteen Major and Minor prophets according to their messages, they fit together as follows:
Two to Israel: | Amos, Hosea |
One to Israel and Judah: | Micah |
Two to Nineveh: | Jonah, Nahum |
One to Exiled Jews: | Ezekiel |
One to Babylon: | Daniel |
One to Edom: | Obadiah |
Eight to Judah: | Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi |
Nine of the twelve Minor Prophets are ‘pre-exilic’. They lived and wrote before King Nebuchadnezzar exiled the people of Judah to Babylon. The other three prophets lived and wrote after a remnant of Jews returned to Judah. They are called ‘post-exilic’. We’ve already learned that Ezekiel and Daniel are known as ‘exilic’ prophets, because they lived and wrote during the exile.
- Jeroboam II (13)
- Zechariah (14)
- Shallum (15)
- Menahem (16)
- Pekahiah (17)
- Pekah (18)
- Hoshea (19)
His ministry was during the reign of four kings of Judah:
- Uzziah (10)
- Jotham (11)
- Ahaz (12)
- Hezekiah (13)
Sharing:
- Hosea’s time covered seven kings of Israel, and five kings of Judah. They were short reigns, showing that evil literally sucked the life out of them.
- His relationship to other prophets:
A few years before Amos concluded his ministry in Israel.Fifteen years before Isaiah’s ministry to Judah.Concluded his ministry by overlapping with Micah’s ministry to Judah.
His ministry was to Israel during the time of oppression under the Assyrian Empire (753-715 B.C.).
Hosea preached in the northern kingdom of Israel, after the prophet Amos, during the troubled times before the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C. He was concerned about the idolatry of the people and their faithlessness toward God. Hosea boldly pictured this faithlessness in terms of his own disastrous marriage to an unfaithful woman. Just as his wife Gomer turned out to be unfaithful to him, so God’s people had deserted the Lord. Judgment was the result on Israel. Yet, in the end God’s constant love for His people would prevail, and he would win the nation back to Himself and restore their relationship. This love is expressed in the words: “How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you?... My heart will not let me do it! My love for you is too strong” (Hosea 11:8, GNT).
· The extent to which God will go in dealing with unfaithfulness among His people.
Sharing:
- Hosea was a prophet to Israel, after Amos, but before Israel was kicked out of its own country. They ended up not being exiled, but scattered, never to return.
- It is a good reminder that prophesying has more to do with ‘forth-telling’ than ‘fore-telling’. It never came to say that people were good, but rather to tell them to leave their sin.
- Hosea’s story is the same as that of Ezekiel all over again. It is about God’s totally unconditional love.
- Was Hosea’s wife a prostitute when they married? Probably not, because he wouldn’t have married one. Her behavior impacted the children, as it always does.
- Israel is an unfaithful wife to the Lord. God commanded Hosea to take an unfaithful wife, and in doing so, enter into a love relationship that He will be cheated on again and again.
- What kind of husband is God? Remember this question, because it will let us know our God as we listen to the story of Hosea.
- Hosea 2:5-8: God will take away His gifts, and His wife, Israel, will go to her lovers because she will never acknowledge that it was God who gave her food and water and gifts to make her beautiful, and love to make her strong. She runs to her lovers and they have nothing to give her. They only take. God even blocks her way so that she can’t find them. He takes everything from her that He gave so that she could no longer give His gifts to her lovers. It was God who gave her everything, so He takes everything away and leaves her broken and starving in punishment. What an awful, cruel God! He sounds so mean if you stop there. He appears so jealous and petty. But as the story continues, the very next verse (v.8) shows the reason God was so harsh.
- Hosea 2:14-17: God has a scary depth of love for us. He gives because He loves and He takes away because He loves.
- Hosea chapter 3: God tells Hosea to buy back his unfaithful wife. She has run off with so many men she’s become ugly and broken. One of her so-called lovers has sold her into slavery. God tells Hosea to love his unfaithful wife like He unfaithful Israel.
- The idols we face are ‘things’, but God always leaves a way back from idols.
- God’s loyalty is shown throughout the book. “The pursuing love of God is the greatest wonder of the universe” (Donald Barnhouse).
- Hosea’s children’s names reflect how the people felt – not loved and not God’s people.
- Hosea chapters 4-10 lays it out that the people had no one else to blame, and no excuse for not knowing the truth.
- It seems Israel chose to be ignorant and reject what they knew was right, thinking this would make them feel that they were not sinning.
- God doesn’t leave sin unaddressed with those He loves. Israel has been told their sin over and over. Our God will painfully and unmistakably show us our sin and leave us facing a choice: repent and change to live in freedom from sin; or ignore and rationalize your sin.
- We can see the results again and again in God’s story of choosing to overlook our sin. Or even not choosing, and trying to be lovers of God and lovers of self. It will destroy the soul and drain the peace and joy from your life.
- Hosea 4:12-13: What’s wrong with loving nature and appreciation the land under the shade of a tall tree? Underneath all of the peace that the relativity philosophy appears to bring, no comfort is found. There is only pain and hurt and loss of goodness and hope. God blames the parents, and especially the priests, for much of this. Parents, how do our children see God in us? No matter what we would like to think, our behavior and involvement mean more spiritually than we could ever know.
- Does the way we live and love our spouse show God’s love to people around us, especially our children?
- God continues to expose the priests, parents and children, and all the countries around them, for their evil. He keeps telling them how awful they have made themselves and how terrible their punishment will be.
- Just when we want to close our Bibles in disgust and hopelessness, or maybe even with guilt for recognizing a part of us in all this sin and evil, God reveals to us what kind of Husband and Father He is!
- Hosea chapter 11 shows that we don’t have a choice whether God will love us or not!
- God’s story with Hosea ends with a challenge: listen and get your knowledge puffed up, or know God more and love others more. We can respond and take God’s Word and become different, or we can ignore His Word and stumble through life, because we refuse to look inwardly and apply the truth we hear to our hearts.
- His exact date of ministry is uncertain. If his ministry was around 835 B.C., then Jehu was the king of Israel (10).
- His ministry was during the reign of queen Athaliah of Judah (7 in succession of kings), and Joash of Judah (8).
- His relationship was with the prophet Elisha.
Little is known about the prophet Joel, and it is not clear just when he lived. It is generally accepted that it was around 835 B.C., although some suggest it was during the fifth or fourth century B.C., at the time of the Persian Empire. Joel describes a terrible invasion of locusts and a devastating drought in Palestine. In these events he sees a sign of the coming day of the Lord, a time when the Lord will punish those who oppose his righteous will. The prophet conveys the Lord’s call to the people to repent, and His promise of restoration and blessing for His people.
· The extent to which God will go to motivate the sensitive ear to listen to His words.
Sharing:
- The same theme of consequences, punishment and hope is continues throughout the prophets.
- Joel is a short, honest, convicting book. Once again, he is a prophet of warning. God will not take it easy on those He loves. In fact, He will hold those who know Him to a higher standard. He will allow them to go through punishment and consequences that will open their eyes to their sin.
- Note the difference of times: then and now; things happened then, versus now.
- The day of the Lord is mentioned several times in Joel as a frightening time of justice (Joel 2:11). Who can endure the day of the Lord?
- Throughout the Bible we are faced with the truth that there is no way to serve God without His help. This is the theme of the Bible. Joshua told the Israelites: “You cannot serve a Holy and Righteous God.” When the Israelites heard the unrestrained voice of God, they knew that if they heard it again they would die. When Moses was faced with the one true God, his first response was to fall on his face in fear.
- What is our response to our Holy, Righteous God? I’m afraid I resemble the Israelites Joel is talking to more than I want to believe. When faced with the truth about myself, my basic, natural reaction is to avoid it. I want to rationalize it. If I could somehow deflect the proof of my selfishness with an excuse or appease it with a good deed, I won’t have to change. But Joel says, the Bible says, God says, we are a dirtied creation unable to stand in the presence of Holiness. It is absolutely hopeless for us. But not for God. The only way we can receive the gift of drawing near to God is the next two verses in Joel - verses 12-13. Rend your heart, not your clothes. Change your life, not your appearance. Act love, don’t just talk love and God will forgive and accept you. This is because He is a terrifying, holy, just God, and at the same time He is also a loving, gracious, and compassionate God. He loves to forgive. Like any relationship, your words and appearance mean nothing at all, if they’re not accompanied by a desire to love. God knows our hearts; there is no deceiving Him with our words, actions or appearance. He desires a real, genuine, heartfelt relationship, and nothing else will do. He will not be an acquaintance. He will not have half your heart. This is because He will not reside with the sin we naturally have in our hearts.
- Israel in Joel’s time enjoyed incredible prosperity, and while they appeared to worship God, He sent Joel to tell them He knew the lies in their worship. They could very well have been doing everything right, and yet that is not good enough. It’s all about their hearts. They did many things right, like their temple worship, but it was not about what they did. Samuel said to Saul long before this, “God desires obedience more than sacrifice.” Remember David, when he did not sacrifice, but repented. This is what make him a man of God. Israel wanted all the benefits of God’s blessing, while still being able to live selfishly. They wanted everything God could get them, and everything they could get for themselves. Prophet after prophet is sent to them, telling them to forget all the sacrifices and rituals and traditions. They are worthless if you haven’t given your heart to God. That’s what God desires. It is the only thing, and yet everything. They had to trust that He knew how to take care of their hearts.
- The Lord gave hope to His people in Joel 2:28, which continues to the end of chapter 2. God will be with you. You will call and He will answer. His Spirit will be poured out on all His children – young and old, man and woman. He is the same God now as He was then. We cannot get away with living for ourselves while confessing to be one of His children. He still wants only our hearts. We still have to trust that our God knows more than we do. He knows how to take care of us. And He will.Joel 3:14 shows that God can use us as a tool to try and help others know of eternity and make a choice.
- Joel 3:17 says that the people will know (all Israelites and Egyptians). The whole world will know that there is one true God. Israel sinned more than the foreigners in that they knew more.
- Joel ends with an undeserved pardon. We’re all born with guilt, and all we can do is make more guilt, until we give it up. What we need is freedom from that bloodguilt. And God will pardon, and has pardoned a guilty people, and made them a saved, redeemed people. God requires a heart that is open to Him and voluntarily vulnerable. If we give our hearts to God and are willing to face the punishment and conviction we deserve, we will receive forgiveness and mercy instead.
- His ministry was during the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel (13).
- His ministry was during the reign of Uzziah of Judah (10).
- His relationship to other prophets:
- Jonah would have been in Nineveh at the beginning of the time of Amos.
- Hosea began his ministry to Israel toward the end of the time of Amos.
- His ministry was to Israel and Judah, with strong words of judgment against six surrounding nations (760-753 B.C.): Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab.
Although he came from a town in Judah, Amos preached to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was a time of great prosperity, notable religious piety, and apparent security. But Amos saw that prosperity was limited to the wealthy, and that it thrived on injustice and oppression of the poor. Religious observance was insincere, and security more apparent than real. With passion and courage he preached that God would punish the nation. He called for justice to “flow like a stream,” and said, “Perhaps the Lord will be merciful to the people of the nation who are still left alive” (Amos 5:15, GNT).
Ponder
- God will use evil nations to judge His own people, and yet He will not excuse them of their evil.
- The extent to which God will go to call His people to justice and righteousness.
Sharing:
- Amos was a poor, uneducated man (a shepherd and ‘apple-picker’) before he was a prophet.
- It is similar to the times of Jonah and Hosea. There are lots of prophets because Israel was not doing well and need to hear the prophets’ messages of repentance. Confession is easy; repentance is hard.
- The prophet Amos was given the judgments of the surrounding nations. We’re finally seeing the results of the nations sinning for so long. They will receive judgment and punishment for their sin. These warnings should be an example to Israel of the results of following other gods. But they seem to have the mentality of: “As long as it’s not me.”
- God is showing that all nations are accountable to Him. Everyone will experience the consequences of sin. Israel and Judah knew so much more about God than other people, and yet they tried to use Him, instead of trying to love Him.
- Israel and Judah are not left out of the punishment. But it seems to be human nature to ignore what you’re doing wrong until you’re punished, and then act guilty until the consequences go away.
- Amos 7:10-15: Amos goes to Bethel and prophesies the punishment of Israel. He is confronted by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel. He tells the King of Amos’s negative prophecies. Then He tells Amos to go back to Judah and get his money for prophesying there. True prophets were not paid because no one wanted to hear their messages. The mindset at that time was to keep paying until you get what you want. Amos 7:14 shows that true prophets do not prophesy for pay; they prophesy because God told them to. So here was Amos, trying to tell Israel about the coming punishment so that they would turn from their evil and be saved. He’s told by a priest in Bethel to do his tricks somewhere else. False prophets were so numerous in Israel that all prophets were assumed to be out for money. They had stopped testing the prophets for truth, and the result was they trusted none of them. Let’s not be like that with our teachers. They are meant to be checked and held accountable for their words. Otherwise we are letting ourselves be led astray.
- ‘Beth’ itself means ‘House of’, or ‘town’, and ‘El’ means ‘God’. So here in the City of God, His own prophet is not welcome.
- By the time Israel falls, the prophets of God are calling it Beth-aven. ‘Aven’ means ‘evil’ or ‘wickedness’. So men had turned the City of God into the City of Wickedness. We so easily turn what God made good, into something self-serving and eventually wicked. By the actions of Adam and Eve, a good, perfect world of God, was turned into a world where sin reigns in the hearts of men. We can do that with prayer, or public worship, or teaching. It so easy to get up in front of people for the good feelings it gives us, or to look spiritual or sound spiritual, and in doing so, changing the good thing God has given us into something evil. God desires authenticity; He desires the heart to match the words. Israel went through so much to look repentant, when all they had to do was repent, and their sins would be forgiven. The way back to God is simple. Pretending obedience is complex, and guilty, and impossible.
- Amos 8:9-12: God tells Israel He will remove His voice from the nation. They will search for His voice but they won’t find it. What did they do when they did have His voice?
- Amos 9:9-10: There are God’s people and there are sinners among them, especially during prosperous times. But the God that we worship tells us here that He will bring hard times to His people to separate the good from the bad, to purify and protect His loved ones. This is very different from how we as humans view hard times.
- Amos 9:11-15: God promises to restore His broken people. He calls David’s house a house of ruins. But from the ruins, God promises to bring His people back and give them the land again. God never blesses a proud people, or a mighty people. He blesses the low, the ruined, the humbled, and He loves to do it. We turn beauty into ruin, and He takes our ruin and makes it beautiful. It is the low and humbled spirit that admits self-ruin. It has always been the only way to come to God. He will not accept a prideful heart because pride doesn’t belong with salvation. We should beg for the pride in our lives to be continually broken and ruined. Then we can be happy no matter the circumstances. We have a God to be proud of, and His Son who loves us as we are. The table is meant for us to praise God as we are, for who He is and for what He’s done. He is the God of Salvation and He loves to save.
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