Minor Prophets

The minor prophets aren’t called that because their value is less than, say, an Isaiah or Ezekiel. The books are shorter and are grouped together, even though they lived at different times, but they all contain valuable material. The prophets were called by God – some against their wishes – and were often mistreated, ignored, or reviled. Remember the parable of the wicked husbandmen (found in the three synoptic Gospels) who tended the vineyards of the owner who went away for a time. When he sent a servant to gather some of the fruits, the tenants beat one, stoned one, and killed another. They did likewise to other servants the owner sent. Finally he sent his son and they killed him too. If they did this to the Son, is it any surprise the prophets were treated poorly? People of any time don’t want to hear they are sinners.

As we learned in the books of Kings and Chronicles, the rulers and the people could plumb the depths of depravity and disobedience to the Lord God. The job of the prophets was to bring this to their attention in order to give them the chance to repent. That they often failed was not the fault of the prophets; it speaks more to the hardness of heart and stubbornness of the people. As we also know, God is always ready to forgive and welcome back the repentant sinner (the Prodigal Son).

The twelve minor prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi (whose name means “my messenger”). They appear in the Bible just before the last Old Testament book, Maccabees. It seems appropriate that the stories of these messengers of God’s love are placed in proximity to the Son Himself, fulfilling the Messianic prophecies in the New Testament.