DANIEL Faithfulness blessed and rewarded, Dan. I. The prophet in the lions' den, Dan. 6. CHAPTER XII STUDIES IN THE EARLIER MINOR PROPHETS Minor Prophets. The minor prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi-are twelve in number. They are called minor prophets not because their message is less weighty than that of the major prophets, but because it is briefer. The combined writings of the minor prophets make a smaller volume than the book of Isaiah. It is unfortunate that the arrangement of the minor prophets in our Bibles does not follow a chronological order. Amos, whose career dates from the middle of the eighth century before our era, is undoubtedly the oldest of all the prophetical writers. He antedates Isaiah by several years, yet he is placed third among the minor prophets. Joel, though one of the latest of the minor prophets, is placed second; and Hosea, though prophesying after Amos, opens the list. There are, as we shall discover later, still other departures from a chronological arrangement. Relation to the New Testament. The minor prophets, with their varied messages, are frequently quoted in the New Testament. In some cases there is no direct prediction; the New Testament writers merely adopt the earlier statements as apt or interesting illustrations.1 Our 1" It is admitted that the sense put by the New Testament writers on much of the Old Testament which they quote is not the true historical sense, i.e. not the sense which the original writers, prophets, or wise men had in their mind." DAVIDSON," Old Testament Theology," p. 22. Saviour sometimes used the spiritual truth announced by the prophets, and by an apt quotation closed the mouths of His antagonists. In other cases there is a claim of the fulfilment of earlier predictions. A few examples will make all this plain. In Hosea (111) Jehovah, in recounting the early history of the Hebrew people, is represented as saying, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." It is not a prediction of a future event, but a statement of a past event. But the evangelist seizes upon this statement of the prophet as furnishing an illustration or parallel of the flight of Joseph into Egypt; and accordingly he writes: "And he arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt; and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call My son."1 In the sixth chapter of Hosea, the prophet rebukes Israel for formalism and iniquity. With true spiritual insight he declares in the name of Jehovah, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." This statement of truth Jesus employs with irresistible effect against the carping Pharisees, who in their excessive devotion to outward observances complained of the violation of the Sabbath by the disciples. "If ye had known," He answered, "what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." 2 In foretelling the future glory of Israel, the prophet Micah had said, "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel." 1 Matt. 2: 14, 15. 2 Matt. 12:7. This prediction was understood among the Jews to refer to the coming Messiah. Accordingly, when Herod inquired of the priests and scribes "where Christ should be born," they answered without hesitation: "In Bethlehem of Judæa for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule My people Israel.” 1 Hosea. Hosea, of whom little is known further than his father's name, was a prophet of Israel during the period immediately preceding the fall of the northern kingdom. He was married to a faithless wife; and his love and kindness to her he employed symbolically to set forth the gracious attitude of Jehovah to Israel. From the list of kings in the opening verse, we are able to fix the date of his prophecies, which cover the long period of about half a century. As may be seen from the narratives in 2 Kings, particularly the fifteenth chapter, the prophet lived in a period of anarchy. Murder repeatedly opened the way to the throne. Shallum, who had obtained the kingdom by conspiracy and assassination, reigned but a month. He was slain by Menahem, who maintained himself for ten years through the support of Tiglath pilezer of Assyria. This support was procured through the payment of a burdensome tribute.2 Under Hoshea, who ascended the throne 1 Matt. 2: 6. 2 KINGS OF ISRAEL CONTEMPORARY WITH HOSEA B.C. 786. Jeroboam II. 746. Zechariah. 745. Shallum. 745. Menahem. 737. Pekahiah. 735. Pekah. 733. Hoshea. 722, Fall of Samaria. about the time Hosea's prophecies ceased, the northern kingdom came to its end (722 B.C.). Religious Conditions. As might be expected, this anarchic period was characterized by great moral and religious decadence. In the seventeenth chapter of 2 Kings, we have a full statement of the transgressions and idolatries of the people. Hosea's arraignment of Israel is a strong, comprehensive indictment: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: For the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, And killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, They break out, and blood toucheth blood." The mission of Hosea was to call his people to repentance and reformation. He urged upon them the goodness of Jehovah; he reminded them of the gracious providences of their previous history; but, at the same time, he announced the woes that would certainly follow impenitent sin : "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against Me: Two Parts. The book of Hosea naturally falls into two parts. The first part (chapters 1-3) belongs to the reign of Jeroboam; the second part (chapters 4-14) contains a summary of Hosea's prophetic discourses under the reigns of subsequent kings. The first part is devoted to a symboli |