Chapter 12: The Prophets: Hosea to Obadiah
The Prophets
Hosea to Obadiah
The “minor prophets” have that name, not because their messages are less important but because their books are shorter in comparison to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The ministries of the prophets addressed the future of the Jewish people and sought to bring the people back to God with the message of the Lord’s love for them. Hosea uses “marriage” to convey his message while Jonah delivers a missionary message.
Hosea
His name means “the Lord saves,” and his ministry was to rescue the people in Judah from their low level of spiritual life. The times were prosperous, but the nation’s spiritual life was far from what the Lord desired. Idolatry was rampant, and the people attributed their prosperity to their idols and not to the Lord. Hosea compared their false religion to prostitution: the people had forsaken the true God to whom they had been “married” at Sinai and had attached themselves to false gods. Hosea knew something about this sin because his wife, Gomer, had left him and their three children and become a prostitute. She ended up in the slave market, and Hosea had to buy his own wife in order to take her back home! Of course, this was an “action sermon” illustrating God’s great love for His people and His willingness to pay the price to receive them back. This book is a love story! God is the faithful husband; Judah is the unfaithful wife and unclean prostitute.
Often in Scripture, you find adultery and prostitution (“whoredoms”) as pictures of false religion, an unfaithful relationship between God’s people and some sinful substitute. Just as Gomer abandoned her husband and three children, so professed Christians abandon the Lord and His family to seek pleasure in false religion. As you read Hosea, you will discover the tragedy of such sins. If the people—especially the priests and leaders—had maintained their walk with God, obeyed His Word, and warned the people, the nation would have been saved. What they needed was to repent, leave their idols, and return to the Lord; but perhaps that is what many of our churches need today.
How do we know if we are far from the Lord, disobeying His Word, and living for the world? The prophet used several vivid pictures to describe the Jewish people of that day and to warn them that they were heading toward disaster. What he wrote centuries ago may apply to some of us today.
The Cloud and the Dew (6:4–6)
Clouds and dew usually do not last very long, and some believers are just as temporary in their Bible reading, praying, or attending of public worship. These people have good intentions but poor performances. God wants us to be steadfast in the disciplines of the Christian life. In the Psalms, David revealed that he got up early in the morning to worship and meditate, and sometimes he stayed awake at night to fellowship with the Lord. For us to be satisfied with brief, fleeting devotions is dangerous, for Jesus asks us, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (Matt. 26:40).
The Half-Baked Cake (7:8)
To bake bread in ancient days, you first heated a rock and then put the dough in a pan on the rock so it could cook. If it wasn’t baked thoroughly, you would have trouble serving it. Do we have “half-baked believers” in our churches? A cake unturned described half-baked believers who don’t allow the truth to penetrate deep in their hearts. There is no substitute for taking time to be holy as the seed of God’s Word gets deeper and deeper into our inner person.
The Gray Hairs (7:9)
Generally speaking, gray hair marks old age and a gradual loss of strength. It’s possible for us to be losing our spiritual power and not know it! Samson’s power was gone, but he didn’t realize it (Judg. 16:20). Just as concert musicians must practice diligently lest their performance lose its quality, so God’s people must practice spiritual discipline to not lose it. I don’t want to be among those who are in the Laodicean church and be wretched, poor, blind, and naked and not even know it (Rev. 3:14–22).
The Silly Dove (7:11–12)
Instead of looking to the Lord for guidance and help, the leaders in Hosea’s day turned to Egypt and then Assyria for help. They had no definite plans; they flitted from one thing to another, and their indecision led to defeat. They were not serious about determining God’s will and obeying it so He would be glorified. If you have ever watched birds in your backyard or the park, you may have seen a demonstration of nervous indecision.
The Deceptive Bow (7:16)
A deceptive bow is one that is improperly bound and balanced so the archer can’t aim accurately. He thinks he has the arrow pointed properly, but he doesn’t (Ps. 78:56–57). Professional shooters are careful to have the weapon’s sights set accurately. No matter what tool or weapon or instrument we use, we want it to be dependable. The Lord wants us to be dependable as we study, labor, lead, and seek to serve Him.
Just as we visit the family physician systematically to find out our true physical condition, so we should visit the Great Physician, Bible in hand, and be ready to learn the truth about our spiritual condition. Occasionally in our daily devotional time, we may discover changes we must make. The psalmist David had the right approach: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (139:23–24).
Joel
Joel ministered to the kingdom of Judah, and his emphasis was on “the day of the Lord,” when God would judge His people and also on the Gentile nations for the way they treated His people. Perhaps the easiest way to grasp Joel’s message is to see the prophet’s four “looks.”
First, he looks around at national calamity (1:1–12; 2:1–11). An “army” of locusts (2:25) had descended on the kingdom of Judah and was destroying the crops, and a drought was making the situation even worse. But this was God’s land (1:6); the vines were His, and so were the fig trees (v. 7). Joel’s name means “the Lord is God,” and he reminded the people that God is sovereign in all things. This invasion came because the people had disobeyed the Lord and broken the covenant (see Deut. 28, especially v. 38). Joel addressed the drunkards who missed their wine (1:5–7), the priests who had no sacrifices to offer (vv. 8–10), and the farmers who had no crops (vv. 10–12).
In verses 13–20, Joel pleaded with the people to look within their own hearts and confess personal responsibility. He pleaded with the priests to repent of their sins and to call the people to prayer (1:13–20; 2:12–17). In 2:1–11, Joel announced that this is “the day of the LORD,” the day when the Lord has His way as He seeks to discipline His people and deliver them from their sins. Did he remind them of God’s promise found in 2 Chronicles 7:14? They must call a solemn assembly and fast and pray (1:14; 2:12–17). Joel commanded them to “look up to the Lord in heaven and expect wonderful generosity,” for He had promised to bless them and the land (2:18–22). Joel told them that the Lord would send the people spiritual blessings as well as material blessings. Note that 2:28–32 shows up in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14–21). If the people obeyed, God would heal their land and enrich their spiritual experience.
Finally, in chapter 3, he told us to “look ahead for the fulfillment of God’s promises to His people.” The coming day of the Lord will involve the judgment of the Gentile nations as well as the establishment of Christ’s kingdom, bringing glory to the church and restoration to the people of Israel and their land. The nations will be judged (3:1–17), and Jesus will reign. We learned some of this when we reviewed the book of Ezekiel. God will not abandon His chosen people but will bless them in His kingdom when He reigns and dwells in Zion (3:21).
Amos
Amos’s name means “burden,” and it matches his ministry perfectly, for the way his people were living burdened him. Israel was in an age of materialism and shallow religion as the rich took advantage of the poor and lived in luxury and ease (3:15; 5:11; and 6:4–8). Amos was from Tekoa, a small village a dozen miles south of Jerusalem, and he worked as a shepherd and dresser of sycamore trees. He was not trained in any school of the prophets nor mentored by any prophet. His simple testimony is found in 7:10–16. The Lord calls and uses people of various backgrounds and abilities, and no two are alike. Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, despised him, but Amos took his stand and ministered as the Lord directed him. Paul told us that “not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:26–29).
Three important ministries of the prophet Amos are found in his book.
Amos the Judge: People Are Condemned (Chapters 1—2)
Six Gentile cities, plus the nations of Judah and Israel, were brought before the heavenly court and found guilty of many sins (1:1—2:3). They had greatly mistreated God’s people. Amos mentions cruelty, slavery, selfish anger, and revenge. As the Jewish people heard Amos’s words, they must have rejoiced that the Lord would punish their Gentile neighbors for abusing the Jews so mercilessly. But the prophet concluded with an indictment against Judah (2:4–5) and Israel (2:6–16). The Jews had deliberately broken God’s commandments. Amos mentioned greed, lies, lust, and taking advantage of the poor by robbing them of what little they had. They had been taught God’s holy law but ignored it and deliberately disobeyed it.
God gave His law to the Jews, but the righteousness of the law is God’s standard for all people. The Jews sinned against a flood of light, but God didn’t ignore the sins of the Gentiles. He longs for all nations to know the truth and obey it so He might bless them and make them a blessing to others. Our Lord commissioned the church to take the gospel and God’s Word to all the nations, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
Amos the Preacher: Three Sermons to the Children of Israel (Chapters 3—6)
These sermons emphasize the fact that the Jewish people had been privileged to know the true and living God who delivered them from Egypt and gave them their land. They were also possessors of the Word of God, and where there are privileges, there are also responsibilities (3:2). Eight times, Amos said, “thus says the Lord,” and he admonished them to “seek the Lord” four times. (Take time as you read to locate these references.)
The questions Amos asked in 3:3–8 deal primarily with cause and effect. Things don’t just happen; they are caused. If I want to have lunch with a friend, we set a time and place where we can meet. Lions roar when they have found game. Birds are trapped when they step on the trigger and get snared, and the trap is set by the hunter. The sound of the trumpet awakens and alarms the inhabitants of the city. The Lord’s will and work are not without purpose, and He usually reveals His plan to His prophets, even if they are humble shepherds. God’s people had sinned, and His prophet, Amos, declared the consequences in 4:1–13 and lamented over what was coming in 5:1—6:14.
Amos the Seer: Six Visions (7—9:16)
In 7:1–9, Amos described three visions God gave to him of the punishments He intended to send to His people, and when Amos asked Him for mercy, He relented. Like Moses, David, Stephen, and our Lord at Calvary, he interceded for undeserving people. After the third vision, the priest Azariah interrupted Amos, and the prophet’s defense silenced him (7:10–17). From 8:1—9:15, Amos described three more visions, the last of which guaranteed the restoration of the kingdom.
That’s quite a demonstration of wisdom and truth for an untrained shepherd/farmer preacher!
Obadiah
Obadiah’s name means “one who worships God,” and his book is the shortest in the Old Testament, although its contents have considerable spiritual worth. His focus was on the Lord’s judgment of the nation of Edom (Ps. 137:7–9), which was founded by Jacob’s brother Esau. The two brothers were competitive in the womb, and in adult life, they were almost enemies (Gen. 25:19–30; 35—36). God chose Jacob to build the family and receive the blessings of the covenant God had made with Abraham. When Israel was traveling from Egypt to Canaan, the Edomites did not permit them to cross their land (Num. 20:14–21), but before he died, Moses commanded Israel not to abhor the Edomites (Deut. 23:7). It was time to end the family feud, but still the conflict went on for centuries.
When the Babylonian army invaded Israel and destroyed Jerusalem, the Edomites started as spectators at the event and eventually even helped the Babylonians capture the Jews. In verses 11–16, Obadiah listed the Edomites’ terrible attitudes and actions which occurred at a time when they should have shown compassion and given help. They prevented their Jewish relatives from escaping and even plundered the city themselves! They turned a tragedy into a drinking party (v. 16).
The prophet Obadiah made it clear that the basic sin of the Edomites was pride (vv. 3–4). Esau had finally triumphed over Jacob! Instead of helping their family, they stood “on the other side” and cheered the Babylonians! The Lord warned them that He would pay them back for their pride, violence, and plundering (vv. 3–4, 13), and God “brought them down.” Today their country, now part of southwestern Jordan, is only a place for Bible students, archaeologists, and visitors to the Holy Land. And let’s not single out Moab as the only nation that practiced revenge because of a family feud. History records more than one war that was motivated by revenge. Scripture has much to say about forgiveness and brotherly and sisterly love (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13; Luke 6:37; Matt. 6:12–14, 18:21–35; Rom. 12:10; 1 Thess. 4:9; 2 Pet. 1:7). When we pray (not merely “say”) the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:5–15), “as we forgive our debtors” is an important statement. More than one church has been divided, and more than one family has split because somebody was offended and would not forgive.
The Herodian rulers in the New Testament descended from the Edomites and almost all were killers. They killed the Bethlehem babies (Matt. 2), John the Baptist (Mark 6:14–29), the apostle James, and they tried to kill Peter (Acts 12). One of them was involved in the trial that led to Jesus’ death (Luke 23:6–12). But murder also was in their forefather Esau’s blood because he wanted to kill his brother Jacob (Gen. 27:41).
Nevertheless, the future of Israel is secure: “The house of Israel shall possess their possessions” (v. 17). They own their land but do not possess all of it, but they shall one day when Jesus reigns in His kingdom. Similarly, we who are saved own spiritual wealth in Jesus (Eph. 1), but we only possess and use that which we clam by faith. Are you possessing your possessions?
ADVENTURE ASSIGNMENT #12
Suppose these four prophets got together and compared notes. What might they discover from one another? How did their ministries differ and how were they the same? Which of them says the most to you?