THE MINOR PROPHETS (1)

(Message by Tanny Keng)

0. Introduction

a) What is commonly referred to as the "minor prophets" are a collection of writings in the Bible from twelve different men inspired by God. The longest of these books are Hosea and Zechariah, with each having fourteen (14) chapters. The shortest prophetic book in this series is Obadiah, with only one chapter, followed by Haggai, which has only two.

b) The minor prophets, from oldest to youngest writing, are Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Joel, Obadiah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Their books are considered minor since each is much shorter than the writings of Isaiah (sixty-six chapters), Jeremiah (fifty-two chapters) and Ezekiel (forty-eight chapters). If all of their writings were combined into a single book it would be only two-thirds of the size of the book of Isaiah.

c) The Book of Daniel, although it contains important prophecies from Daniel’s time to the end of the age and Christ’s return, is not included as part of the writings of the prophets. This is because Daniel wrote in Babylon during the Jews’ 70-year exile in captivity due to their sins.

Date (B.C.)	Name	Theme	Prophecies To / About	Sins Addressed
798	Jonah	Jonah as type of Jesus Christ. Mercy to Repentant.	Nineveh, with implications to all people	Cruelty of Assyrians
796	Amos	Day of the Lord. The Eternal will roar.	Israel, Judah, Benjamin and all nations.	Oppression of poor. Sexual Immorality. Wanton Luxury. Corrupt law and men
796 - 719	Hosea	Salvation	Israel (Ten Tribes of Israel)	Adultery, drunkenness, idolatry, licentiousness
740 - 711	Micah	The Eternal is a just Judge.	Samaria, Jerusalem, All Nations	Lack of justice. Oppression
711	Nahum	Judgment on Nineveh. Comfort to Israel	Assyrians, primarily city of Nineveh	Cruelty of Assyrians, overstepped boundaries
626	Habakkuk	God embraces Judah through destroying the Chaldeans.	Babylon with implications for all people	Aggression, plunder, greed, graft, idolatry and inhumanity.

The End ...