This month our Bible reading plan takes us to the Minor Prophets. To help us assemble these books and understand their message, here are a number of resources to Hosea, the first book of The Twelve. You can find more information about the Minor Prophets here. Continue reading
Minor Prophets
The Theological Message of the Twelve
In his book The Unity of the Twelve, Paul House argues that sin, judgment, and restoration are three themes extant in each prophet. He argues these themes also organize the Twelve (i.e., the Minor Prophets), where the first six books stress sin, the next three judgment, and the last three judgment. For him, this is the plot line that puts the Twelve together.
Complementing that vision, while not completely affirming, Richard Alan Fuhr and Gary E. Yates, in The Message of the Twelve, present four themes that repeat through the Twelve: (1) repentance and return, (2) the Day of the Lord, (3) a new covenant, and (4) the coming messiah can be found in the Twelve. I will outline these below. Continue reading
Putting the Prophets in Their Place: An Introduction to the Historical Background of the Minor Prophets
There are four “major prophets” in the Old Testament—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve. While the first three major prophets are each associated with one prophet, the Minor Prophets (i.e., the Twelve) is a collection of twelve different prophets. Together, the twelve Minor Prophets compose a book of prophecy approximately the same size as the other Major Prophets.
Focusing our attention on the Minor Prophets, we can see that these twelve books originated over the course of four centuries (approx. 770 BC to 430 BC). Through this chronology, the Minor Prophets provide a unique perspective on the spiritual welfare of God’s people over time. While there are challenges to discerning the unity of the twelve, their chronology is especially important for understand God’s message.
Because the prophets are forth-tellers of God’s law, more than fore-tellers of God’s future, the prophets addressed the sinfulness of Israel/Judah, called for repentance, and promised mercy in a time to come. To rightly perceive their message, we must know the historical setting. Indeed, because prophets are given to Israel throughout their history (Jer. 7:25), it is vital to learn some basic events in Israel’s history if we are to learn the message of the prophets. Continue reading
Unshakeable Faith: Seeking Christ Through Haggai’s Temple – Part 2 (Haggai 2:1–23)
Unshakeable Faith: Seeking Christ Through Haggai’s Temple (pt.2)
The book of Haggai centers on God’s great promise to restore the temple during the days of Judah’s return from exile (520 BC). In this little book, there are four messages from the Lord. The second, third, and fourth messages in Haggai are all found in chapter 2, and respectively they speak about the temple (2:1–9), the priesthood (2:10–19), and the kingdom (2:20–23). These were the three focal points of this week’s sermon.
As we considered in this sermon the Lord encouraged the people by telling how he was restoring his dwelling place to Jerusalem, his priesthood to Levi, and the kingdom to Zerubbabel. Yet, we also learn that this restoration is not immediate or ultimate. Rather, like so many things in life, his plans fit into his larger aims bringing his Son to the world and leading his people to place faith in the Son.
In this week’s sermon, we place this book in the larger plan of God’s redemption and learn how Haggai helps us understand what God was doing and now has done in Christ. You can listen to the sermon online. Discussion questions and resources for further study are found below. Continue reading
Unshakeable Faith: Seeing Christ Through Haggai’s Temple — Part 1 (Haggai 1:1–2:9)
Unshakeable Faith: Seeing Christ Through Haggai’s Temple
This Sunday we began a two-week series on the book of Haggai. If you are not familiar with this little book, it is the tenth book in the Minor Prophets, and its four-fold message serves as a turning point in the Twelve, as the Book of the Twelve shifts from looking at God’s judgment (Nahum–Zephaniah) to the restoration of God’s people (Haggai–Malachi).
In this week’s sermon, we considered the hopeful message of this prophet, who called the people to seek God first and to finish rebuilding the temple. In his first message (1:1–11), Haggai rebukes the people, the leaders, especially, for prioritizing their own comfort before the Lord’s worship. Thankfully, unlike the previous minor prophets, the people obeyed God’s word and repent (1:12–15). In response, Yahweh promised to be with them and strengthen them as they rebuild his temple (2:1–9).
In this word of encouragement, God tells them that a day is coming in the future when he will shake the heavens and the earth, only to establish a greater kingdom with a greater temple. Thus, Haggai not only has a message for the Jews returning from exile in 520 BC, but also has a message for us. And by listening to his message, we see more clearly all God has done and is doing in Christ.
Therefore, Haggai is far more than a short word from the Lord to an ancient people. Rather, like a sturdy hinge, it swings the message of the Twelve towards God’s grace and the coming of Christ.
For those interested, you can listen to the sermon online. Discussion questions and additional resources are listed below. Continue reading
Finding Unity in The Minor Prophets
How do we put the Minor Prophets together?
That has a been a topic of discussion on this blog and at our church over the last few months. As we’ve preached Jonah, Nahum, and (now) Haggai, we’ve paid careful attention the literary structure of the Twelve. With help from Paul House and David Peterson and Jim Hamilton, we’ve considered how the Twelve is put together and how that arrangement influences our reading and interpretation.
Today, we continue that study with a few
qualifications and theological considerations from Richard A. Fuhr and Gary Yates. In their recent book, The Message of the Twelve, these two Liberty professors provide a reading of the Minor Prophets that finds unity in the “theological message . . . that emerges when these books are read as a collective whole” (42). In this approach, they engage with the differences between the Hebrew Bible (i.e., the Masoretic Text) and the Septuagint (LXX), the chronology of the books, the catchwords that may contribute to their order, and the overall theological message that unites these books. While more reserved in their approach than Paul House and his plot line reading of the Twelve, their theological approach helps identify some key themes in the book.
In order, we will consider some of their observations, which help us read the Minor Prophets as a theological whole. Continue reading
The Sword of the Lord: In Nineveh and Now (Nahum 1:9–2:13)
The Sword of the Lord: In Nineveh and Now (Nahum 1:9–2:13)
What did Jesus mean when he said, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34)? On Sunday, we considered that question from the book of Nahum.
The connection between Matthew and Nahum is found in the fact that Nahum presents the sword of the Lord in all of its flame and fury, while Jesus comes to first extinguish the Lord’s wrath in his own flesh. Then, after his resurrection, he now has all authority to carve out a new community and one day bring judgment on all flesh.
All of these features are considered in this week’s sermon. You can listen to this sermon online. Discussion questions are below, as well as additional resources. Continue reading
Reading the Bible Better: Finding Unity in the Book of the Twelve
What are the Minor Prophets about? Should we read them together, as one unified book? Or should we read them as twelve discreet books, written (Nahum) or spoken (the other 11) by twelve different prophets?
These are questions worth asking when we study the Book of the Twelve. And as our church has studied Jonah, is starting Nahum, and will soon look at Haggai, I wanted to share another post on ways we find unity in the Twelve. Already, I’ve shared the helpful work of Paul House. If you haven’t read that, start there and then come back here.
In this post I will look at the work Old Testament scholar David L. Petersen (not to be confused with David G. Peterson, the New Testament scholar) and biblical theologian Jim Hamilton. In David Peterson’s survey of research (“A Book of Twelve?” in Hearing the Book of the Twelve, ed. James D. Nogalski and Marvin A. Sweeney, pp. 1–10), he lists five evidences of unity in the Twelve. And in Jim Hamilton’s book God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment, he shows how each book is connected to the others through various catchwords and themes. We’ll look at each of these studies to better read the Bible and better understand the unity of the Twelve. Continue reading
Let Us Behold (Not Begrudge) Our Gracious God (Jonah 4:1–11)
Let Us Behold (Not Begrudge) Our Gracious God
(Jonah 4:1–11)
This Sunday we brought our study of Jonah to a close. After looking at the big picture of Jonah (Jonah 1–4), diving into his storm of disobedience (Jonah 1), going under the waters of Jonah’s baptism (Jonah 1:17; cf. Matthew 12:38–41), inspecting Jonah’s prayer (Jonah 2), and learning what true repentance looks like (Jonah 3), we set our gaze on the God of sovereign grace.
By reading in Jonah in conversation with Genesis 4, Exodus 34, and 1 Kings 19, to name but a few passages, we learned what Jonah 4 says to us about our hearts and God’s. Just as the other chapters examined the heart of the reader, Jonah 4 does so all the more. It finishes with Jonah’s rage and God’s question, and it prompts the reader to ask: Will you begrudge God’s grace too?
You can listen to the message online. Discussion questions can be found below as well as a few additional resources. Continue reading
Reading the Minor Prophets Together: Ten Observations from Paul House’s ‘The Unity of the Twelve’
By 1990 there was no consensus on the structure of the Minor Prophets. Observing this fact, Paul House, in his book The Unity of the Twelve, surveyed the way scholars looked to chronology and regional location as possible ways “the Twelve” were ordered. Such approaches were significantly lacking, however, and so he concluded: “It is probable that historical research has not successfully uncovered the structure of the Twelve because that structure is governed by literary principles” (67).
In conversation with literary critics and scholars employing methods of canonical criticism, House shows why we should read the Twelve as more than 12 similar but separated oracles. Rather, by examining the structure and plot of the Twelve we can come to a clearer understanding of the unified message that the Minor Prophets is seeking to convey.
As others have observed in the Psalms, there is an intentional ordering in the Minor Prophets, better termed The Twelve. Historically, these 12 books are always found together and typically in the same order (63). For that reason, a unified study of their message is valid and valuable. And Paul House’s book, though technical, is an important for helping read and understand the Minor Prophets.
To get a sense of his argument and how the twelve prophets are unified, let me share some of his observations—first on the structure of the Twelve, then on the plot of the Twelve. Continue reading
Via Emmaus 