The Minor Prophets (Part 2)

4. Obadiah

•      Name means “Worshiper or Servant of Yahweh.”

•      The shortest book of the OT.

•      The Babylonians have conquered Judah (586 BC) with the help of Judah’s neighbor the Edomites. 

Message of Obadiah

•      Divine judgment against the nation of Edom.

•      God’s people will be restored.

•      Obadiah 1:10, “For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.”

•      The Edomites were driven out of their land by the Nabateans in the 4th century BC and had vanished from history by the end of the 1st century AD. 

5. Jonah

•      Name means “dove.”

•      Jonah lived in the 8th century BC (2 Kgs 14:25).

•      The book of Jonah is not the message from a prophet but a series of events in the life of a prophet. 

•      Jonah ran from God (chap. 1), then to God (chap. 2), then with God (chap. 3); then was taught by God (chap. 4).

Message of Jonah

•      God is a universal God who cares for all people, even heathen nations.

•      God extends his love even to non-Jewish people in the OT, providing opportunity to come to him.

•      Jonah was a reluctant missionary, demonstrating resistance to God’s desire for a light-shining people (Ex. 19:3-9; Isa. 43:8-13; Acts 13:47; etc.).

•      Jonah 4:2b, “for I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, One who relents from doing harm.” 

6. Micah

•      Name means “Who is like Yahweh.”

•      Prophesied in Judah (c. 735-700 BC); contemporary of Isaiah.

•      Quoted by Jeremiah about a century later (Jer. 26:18-19).

•      Rebukes particularly the wealthy and powerful in Judah for their mistreatment of the poor.

Message of Micah

•      Exposes and rebukes the sins of his people.

•      Warning of God’s judgment.

•      Promise of redemption.

•      Messianic hope.

•      Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

7. Nahum

•      Name means “Comfort or Consolation.”

•      Prophesied in Judah c. 625-612 BC.

•      Contemporaries: Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, all prophesied against Judah.

•      About a century prior to Nahum’s ministry, God had given the people of Nineveh the opportunity to repent through Jonah’s preaching.

•      Now they have reverted back to their old sinful ways, and Nahum prophesies against them.

•      Nineveh is the capital of Assyria.

Message of Nahum

•      This message of doom against the people of Nineveh was probably intended to give comfort to the people of Judah, who were being afflicted by the Assyrians.

•      God is in control.

•      God is patient, but it is not limitless.

•      God hates evil and holds sinners accountable.

•      God does not forsake his people.

•      Nahum 1:7, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who trust in him.”

--Kevin L. Moore

Related Posts: Minor Prophets (Part 1), Part 3, Nahum

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