Major Lessons From Minor Prophets

Ah! Those last twelve books of the Old Testament. The minor prophets, we call them. Minor not because they have something of insignificance to say, but because they are brief.

There is Hosea who preached through a bad marriage, through his wife’s illegitimate children, through divorce and remarriage. He said Israel was a harlot but God would take her back.

There is Amos. His name means burden. He prophesied to an unburdened people reveling in their affluence, in denial as to their moral decline.

Then there is Micah, angry that his people weren’t listening. So he shaved his head and stripped himself, like a prisoner of war going into exile, just to dramatize his message.

I could tell you of Jonah, Nahum, Obadiah, and Zephaniah, each unique. But I’ll only tease you of them that you might read them all and begin to comprehend the major lessons of these minor prophets.

On several points these twelve ministers fully agree. First, God is a holy God who holds people to a moral standard of righteousness. And, second, that God is prepared to judge a people for moral failure: sin.

From these twelve books an important picture of the process of judgment emerges. As a nation begins to sin God dispatches a spokesman, His prophet, to firmly yet politely call people to repentance. If the people will not hear, but stubbornly persist in sin, the prophet turns up the volume, even becomes harsh. Micah used puns. Amos used a series of unflattering images; Hosea called his people spiritual harlots.

When the transgressions continue God begins to pull the plug on economic prosperity. In the book of Joel a plague of locusts devoured the crops. If such privation doesn’t breed repentance, the next step downward is a step into lawlessness, social chaos. Amos said the land would tremble because of sin.

Finally there is the last step: national collapse and conquest. In the minor prophets’ day the conquerors were Assyria and later Babylon.

What relevance could twelve obscure ministers writing 2,500 years ago possibly hold for our nation today? Read them and see for yourself. I dare you! For surely there are major lessons to be learned from these minor prophets!

The Reverend Stephen Crotts is pastor of Village Presbyterian Church in Charlotte Court House, VA. He is also the director of the Carolina Study Center, Inc., a campus ministry, located in Chapel Hill, NC. Pastor Crotts may be reached at carolinastudycenter@msn.com.