Hosea was a prophet to the apostate northern tribes,
who were ripe for destruction. His great
purpose is to reveal the love of God for a sinful and rebellious nation.
He pictured that nation, under the
symbolism of an unfaithful wife, as a nation that had committed spiritual
adultery, and he pleaded with
them to repent. He informed them that they would go into exile before
mercy would be shown to them
again.
Joel was a prophet to JUdah, his purpose was to warn
the nation of the need for humility and
repentance and the certainty of coming judgment. At the same time,
he tried to keep the heart of the
people faithfid to the prorinses of God by reminding them of the coming
salvation and of the destruction
of their eneffties and God's enemies.
Amos was a prophet to Israel who had rejected the
house of David as king and had turned their
backs upon GocL At the same time, they were smug and confident that
they were God's chosen people
and no calamity could come upon them. They worshiped the Lord with
the lips, but their hearts were far
from Him. Their lives were characterized by selfishness, greed, immorality,
oppression of the poor.
There was no justice in the lane[ Amos warned the people of their coming
doom and predicted the exile.
His purpose was to warn, but also to p~omise deliverance through Christ.
Obadiah prophesied against Edom's actions toward
Judah. Edom tntsted in her pride, but God
would bring her low, confounding her mighty men. Edom's conduct was
unbrotherly and the Lord
pointed out to her what she should not have done. He announced the
coming of the day of the Lord
when Edom, like other nations, will be visited for her sin. Nevertheless,
there would be deliverance in
Zion and the kingdom will belong to the Lord.
Jonah was a prophet to Nineveh. Jonah was cast into
the depths of Sheol and brought up alive
serving as an illustration of the death of the Messiah for sins not
His own and of the His resurrection.
The experience of Jonah had as its basic ~ to point forward to the
experience of that One who is
"greater than Jonas." The ministry of Jonah also served to point out
the stubborn and rebellious
character of the Israelites. Many Igophets had arisen in Israel yet
they had not repentecL but when
Nineveh heard of the words of one pinglint, they repented in sackcloth
and ashes. Lastly, the mission of
Jonah served to impress upon the Israelites the fact that the Lord's
salvation was not to be confined to
one nation. Israel was the servant to bring the knowledge of the Lord
to the world.
Micah was a prophet to both Israel and Judah. The
purpose of this short book presents a
summary of Micah's ministry, and was to set forth the nature of God's
complaint against His people, to
announce the certain punishment of sm and the sure salvation to comepwhich
salvation will center about
the appearance of the divine Messiah.
(adapted from "An Introduction to the Old Testament" by Edward J. Young