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The Minor Prophets

Bible overview
Paintings of the Minor Prophets.
Story also available on our translated website: German
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Hosea. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Hosea was the son of Beeri and he lived in Israel during its ‘golden age’ under Jeroboam II. Hosea (or Hoshea) was a common name in ancient Israel derived from the Hebrew word meaning ‘salvation’. – Slide 1
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Hosea prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah (787-734BC), Jotham (750-730BC), Ahaz (731-715BC), and Hezekiah (715-686BC) of Judah, and of Jeroboam II of Israel (791-750BC). <br/>Hosea’s prophecies are directed primarily against the Northern Kingdom of Israel who had allied with Assyria. – Slide 2
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Joel. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Joel isn’t mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament, so we don’t know much about him. His book shows he was a powerful and effective preacher. His writings are probably set in the same period as Hosea and Amos. – Slide 3
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Joel’s vision of the locust plague is among the most familiar prophetic images of impending invasion and devastation. – Slide 4
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Amos. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Amos was a shepherd and sycamore fig farmer from Tekoa, a village about ten miles south of Jerusalem. – Slide 5
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His prophecy is precisely dated to two years before the earthquake in Uzziah’s (787-734BC) and Jeroboam II’s (791-750BC) reigns. This earthquake is usually set around c. 750BC. So Amos prophesied circa 752BC. – Slide 6
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Obadiah. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Obadiah means ‘servant (or worshiper) of Yahweh.’ Obadiah is the shortest book of the Old Testament—just twenty-one verses long – Slide 7
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Obadiah pronounced divine judgment against the nation of Edom for assisting the Babylonians in their conquest of Judah, and to predict the divine restoration of the people of Israel. – Slide 8
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Jonah. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. Jonah’s career is placed in (or before) the reign of Jeroboam II (791-750), according to 2 Kings 14.25. – Slide 9
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The book of Jonah is unique among the prophetic books of the Old Testament. Rather than being a collection of the oracles of the prophet, it relates an episode in his life. – Slide 10
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Micah. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>A contemporary of the well-known prophet Isaiah, from Moresheth, a small town located in the hilly region between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea. <br/>Micah prophesied during the reigns of Jotham (750-730), Ahaz (731-715), and Hezekiah (715-686). – Slide 11
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Micah ministered during the great Assyrian crisis. He was a witness to the events that brought about the destruction and deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel. <br/>When Jeremiah was threatened with death for his prophecies of doom against Jerusalem, elders reminded the people that Micah had prophesied the same more than one hundred years earlier (Jeremiah 26:18–19). – Slide 12
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Nahum. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Nahum dates to circa 650BC and directed at Nineveh. It dates before that city’s fall in 612BC. – Slide 13
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More than a century after God spared Nineveh from judgment (prophesied through Jonah), Nahum also declared the judgment of God upon the wicked city of Nineveh. This time there was no fasting or sackcloth, and Nineveh was not spared. – Slide 14
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Habukkuk. James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Habakkuk was active prior to the reforms of Josiah and during his reign. – Slide 15
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Little else is known about the prophet but most scholars believe he lived in Jerusalem and was possibly a Levite and singer in the Temple. – Slide 16
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Zephaniah. James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Zephaniah was possibly a member of the royal household and was a contemporary of Jeremiah. – Slide 17
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He prophesied to the people of Judah during the Babylonian period that eventually led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. – Slide 18
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Haggai. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Haggai was a contempo-rary of Zechariah, and through their combined ministry the temple of the Lord was rebuilt in Jeru-salem. – Slide 19
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The prophecies of Haggai are precisely dated: <br/>1.1: 29 Aug 520BC <br/>2.1: 17 Oct 520BC <br/>2.10: 18 Dec 520BC – Slide 20
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Zechariah. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>Zechariah means ‘Yah(weh) has remembered,’ which is his message to Jerusalem after the exile. While Haggai called on the people to erect the temple of God, Zechariah summoned the community to repentance and spiritual renewal. His task was to prepare the people for proper worship and temple service once the building project was completed. – Slide 21
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The prophecies of Zechariah are precisely dated: <br/>1.1: 27 Oct – 24 Nov 520BC <br/>1.7: 15 Feb 519BC <br/>7.1: 7 Dec 518BC – Slide 22
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Malachi. <br/>James Tissot (1836-1902) – The Jewish Museum, New York. <br/>In the entire Old Testament, the name Malachi only appears in the title verse of this book (1:1). The name can be translated as ‘my messenger’ or ‘my angel.’ – Slide 23
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The prophecy of Malachi probably dates to around 470BC (sometime after 520BC, when the Judean exiles returned and 457BC when the intermarriage problem was addressed by Ezra). – Slide 24
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