E-Book, Englisch, 464 Seiten
Simmons The Books of The Minor Prophets
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6992-2
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
E-Book, Englisch, 464 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6992-2
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
DR. BRIAN SIMMONS is a passionate lover of God. After a dramatic conversion to Christ, Brian knew that God was calling him to go to the unreached people of the world and present the gospel of God's grace to all who would listen. With his wife, Candice, and their three children, he spent eight years in the tropical rain forest of the Darien Province of Panama as a church planter, translator, and consultant. Having been trained in linguistics and Bible translation principles, Brian assisted in the Paya-Kuna New Testament translation project. After his ministry overseas, Brian was instrumental in planting a thriving church in New England (U.S.) and currently travels full time as a speaker and Bible teacher. He is the lead translator of The Passion Translation®.
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EXCURSUS ON THE MINOR PROPHETS
HISTORICAL DATING, CONTEXT, AND ORIGIN
The prophetic books that follow were originally contained in one book, which the Jewish people call “the Twelve.” According to the Talmud, the “men of the great assembly,” who lived during the Persian period, compiled the scroll of the Twelve. In antiquity, scroll capacity was limited by practicality and size. Thus, each of the three Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) fills up one unique scroll. The other twelve prophets were combined into one scroll. A more contemporary analogy is the music CD, which was designed to hold the totality of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony but can also be filled with many shorter musical numbers.
Broadly, the books cover the following themes:
•Three books of the Twelve cluster around the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (722 BC): Hosea, Amos, Micah (as does the book of Isaiah).
•One book focuses on the fall of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (586 BC): Zephaniah (as do the books of Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel).
•Two books focus on the rebuilding of the temple: the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah (520 BC).
•Six books have a less precise historical focus, and their dates are disputed in some cases: Joel (800s or 500s BC, among many other possibilities); Obadiah (800s or early 500s BC); Jonah (events occurred in the mid-700s but writing date is unknown; perhaps post-612 BC or later); Nahum (sometime in the second half of the 600s BC); Habakkuk (sometime between 612 and 586 BC); Malachi (sometime between 515 and 430 BC).
The prophets themselves demonstrated their genuine humanity in their respective books. And although we do not know everything about them—or, indeed, anything, in some cases—we know enough to be able to understand the main thrust of their messages. Precise dating and comprehensive biographical details may be helpful and interesting, but these are not essential for appreciating the primary emphases of their prophetic oracles and visions.
A great deal of emphasis was placed on the geographical centrality of Israel and Judah. None of the Twelve was born in captivity except, perhaps, Zechariah, who was most likely born in Babylon and then returned to Judah from captivity with the exiles around 538 BC.
In the Persian period (about 539 to 332 BC), Jerusalem had a population of fifteen hundred to four thousand, down from the prosperity of the late monarchy with twenty-five thousand inhabitants, complete with a king, his royal complex, and Solomon’s Temple.
After the great catastrophe of 586 BC, when the Babylonians laid waste to Jerusalem and the people were exiled, Judah had become a backwater client kingdom of a superpower. The people asked the question, The Twelve used memories of the past and visions of the future to put things into perspective and give people hope. Their message: “This is not the end of the road for Israel but rather a step in the journey toward a brighter future that will also bless the nations.” Such a message revealed their recognition of the central importance of the divine covenant in the history of the nations of Israel and Judah.
THE CENTRALITY OF THE DIVINE COVENANT
As we read through the prophecies in the Twelve, there is no doubt that the covenant undergirded their entire worldview. This covenant was one that encapsulated both the blessings and curses of that intimate divinehuman relationship between God and his people, and that divine grace and compassion were extended to the nations as well. This was the case even though in Obadiah and Nahum, the primary focus is on God’s judgment against wicked nations, and in Jonah, the focus is God’s compassion for a penitent gentile city. Nonetheless, in these three books, the covenant foundation is still there, even though it’s implicit rather than explicit. The following list notes covenant emphases in the Twelve:
Hosea. Israel was indicted for her “spiritual adultery” against Yahweh—that is, her idolatrous worship of pagan deities—and subsequently condemned to exile at the hands of the Assyrians: the curse of the covenant. But God then promised to restore his people to their homeland and renew them spiritually and materially: the blessing of the covenant. Joel. Israel was condemned for her self-indulgent lifestyle and suffered a catastrophic locust plague: the curse of the covenant, expressed here as a manifestation of the day of Yahweh. And again, God promised to heal the land and cleanse his people from their sin: the blessing of the covenant.
Amos. For her economic corruption and social injustices, Israel was condemned to exile at the hands of the Assyrians: the curse of the covenant. And then the Lord promised her restoration and spiritual renewal after her punishment: the blessing of the covenant.
Obadiah. The focus here is slightly different in that God cursed Edom for her brutal treatment of his people: an example of God applying the covenant curse to an enemy of his people. The curse declared that Edom would be destroyed but the kingdom of Israel would be blessed and prosper by the implicit covenant faithfulness of Yahweh.
Jonah. Unlike the other books among the Twelve, Jonah’s work is “a narrative account of a single prophetic mission” and does not contain an oracle as such. However, it certainly demonstrates the compassionate love of God toward those who confess their sin and put their trust in him. This includes not only the people of Yahweh but also repentant gentiles, like this penitent generation of Ninevites. And, again, the notes, “This book depicts the larger scope of God’s purpose for Israel: that she might rediscover the truth of his concern for the whole creation and that she might better understand her own role in carrying out that concern.” Readers can also note that such a concern has a distinctive covenantal foundation.
Micah. This book contains a series of alternating oracles of covenant curses and blessings. The prophet indicted Israel for her constant violations of the divine covenant statutes: injustice, corruption, cruelty, godless leadership, and the like. However, such judgment was accompanied by promises of forgiveness and renewal, including freedom from the oppression of her enemies.
Nahum. Similar to Obadiah, the book of Nahum focuses on the impending destruction of a wicked gentile nation, in this case, Assyria, via its capital city, Nineveh. It is again an example of the application of the covenant curse to a pagan nation. However, the blessings of the covenant were not forgotten here either, as God promised that the land of his people would never again be invaded by its enemies, for its enemies would be completely destroyed.
Habakkuk. This book is also unusual in the prophetic writings. It is an extended dialogue between the prophet Habakkuk and Yahweh, starting with the prophet feeling overwhelmed by the that God did not care about the rampant wickedness of the people of Judah. However, this conversation ultimately provoked a prayer of confession and praise from the prophet in which he recognized Yahweh’s faithfulness in delivering his people down through the ages and concluded with a determination to wait patiently for God’s redemptive purposes to be fulfilled. Again, the underlying framework for this interaction is clearly a covenantal one.
Zephaniah. The main theme of Zephaniah is the approaching day of Yahweh, signaling an outpouring of divine judgment (i.e., covenant curse) on both the pagan nations and Judah for their respective godlessness. And again, there is the concluding promise of Yahweh to bless his people and restore the fortunes of the Judean nation.
Haggai. In this postexilic prophetic book, Haggai proclaimed to his people that they were under the judgment of God because they had neglected the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem—a judgment with clear covenant undertones. As a result of the movement of the Spirit of God, the people responded in obedience, and God’s blessing was again poured out upon them when they resumed the rebuilding of the temple. That blessing was expressed both as a contemporary material prosperity and as a promise that anticipated a blessed Messianic future, when Yahweh declared that “the glory of this new temple will surpass the glory of the original” (Hag. 2:9).
Zechariah. This book contains a profound blend of prophetic visions along with judgment and salvation oracles, all undergirded by the foundation of covenant blessing and curse. In the end, the encouragement to the people of Yahweh is the dominant theme, expressed via these oracles declaring the future arrival of the long-awaited Messiah and his kingdom.
Malachi. After the people of Judah had returned to their homeland, the quality of their worship of Yahweh deteriorated to the point of rank corruption. The people further displayed their contempt for the covenant by widespread divorce in violation of their marriage...
