The Minor Prophets

Part 1
© John Stevenson, 2012
Eden Conflict between two seeds (Genesis 3:15)
Bruised
Head/heel
Captivity Seventy Years Return

“When seventy
years have been
completed for
Babylon…
(Jeremiah 29:10)
Captivity Seventy Years Return

…I will visit you

and fulfill My good
word to you, to
bring you back to
this place
(Jeremiah 29:10) .
God’s Covenant Marriage
 Hosea 1:1
The word of the LORD which came
to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the
days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during
the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash,
king of Israel.
 Jehoash
(798-782 B.C.) Amaziah

4th Dynasty
(796-767 B.C.)
Jonah Jeroboam II
Amos (793-753 B.C.) Azariah
Hosea Zechariah Shallum (Uzziah)
(790-740 B.C.)
Menahem
Pekhaiah

Isaiah Pekah Jotham

(742-732 B.C.) (750-731 B.C.)
Hoshea
Micah (732-721 B.C.)
Ahaz
(735-715 B.C.)

Hezekiah
 Hosea 1:2-3
When the LORD first spoke
through Hosea, the LORD said to
Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of
harlotry and have children of harlotry;
for the land commits flagrant harlotry,
forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and
took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim,
and she conceived and bore him a son.
 Hosea 1:4-5
And the LORD said to him, “Name
him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I
will punish the house of Jehu for the
bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an
end to the kingdom of the house of
Israel. 5 On that day I will break the bow
of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
 Jezreel
• Deborah
• Gideon and
Midianites
• Saul
• Joram
• Ahaziah
• Jezebel
 Hosea 1:6-7
Then she conceived again and
gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD
said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for
I will no longer have compassion on the
house of Israel, that I would ever forgive
them. 7 But I will have compassion on
the house of Judah and deliver them by
the LORD their God, and will not deliver
them by bow, sword, battle, horses or
horsemen.”
~x;r Racham
 Hosea 1:8-9
When she had weaned Lo-
ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth
to a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Name
him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people
and I am not your God.”
 Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the sons of Israel
Will be like the sand of the sea,
Which cannot be measured or
numbered;
And in the place
Where it is said to them,
“You are not My people,”
It will be said to them,
“You are the sons of the living God.”
 Hosea 1:11
And the sons of Judah and the sons of
Israel will be gathered together,
And they will appoint for themselves one
leader,
And they will go up from the land,
For great will be the day of Jezreel.
 Hosea 2:1
Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and
to your sisters, “Ruhamah.”
 Hosea 2:2
Contend with your mother, contend,
For she is not my wife, and I am not her
husband;
And let her put away her harlotry from
her face
And her adultery from between her
breasts,
 Hosea 2:3
Or I will strip her naked
And expose her as on the day when she
was born.
I will also make her like a wilderness,
Make her like desert land
And slay her with thirst.
 Hosea 2:4-5
Also, I will have no compassion on her
children,
Because they are children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the harlot;

She who conceived them has acted

shamefully.
For she said, “I will go after my lovers,
Who give me my bread and my water,
My wool and my flax, my oil and my
drink.”
 Hosea 2:6-7
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her
way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so that
she cannot find her paths.
7 She will pursue her lovers, but she will

not overtake them;

And she will seek them, but will not find
them.
Then she will say, “I will go back to my
first husband,
For it was better for me then than now!”
 Hosea 2:13
“I will punish her for the days of the
Baals
When she used to offer sacrifices to
them
And adorn herself with her earrings and
jewelry,
And follow her lovers, so that she forgot
Me,” declares the LORD.
 Hosea 2:14-15
Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her.
15 Then I will give her her vineyards from

there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of
hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of
her youth,
As in the day when she came up from
the land of Egypt.
 Jericho


Jerusalem

Then Joshua and all Israel with him, took

Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the
mantle, the bar of gold, his sons, his
daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his
sheep, his tent and all that belonged to him;
and they brought them up to the valley of
Achor. (Joshua 7:24)
 Jericho


Jerusalem

Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us?

The LORD will trouble you this day." And
all Israel stoned them with stones; and they
burned them with fire after they had stoned
them with stones. (Joshua 7:25).
 Hosea 2:15
Then I will give her her vineyards from
there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of
hope.
And she will sing there as in the days of
her youth,
As in the day when she came up from
the land of Egypt.

“Trouble”
 Achan Jesus
He was guilty He was without sin
His sin brought His obedience
defeat and death brings victory and
upon the nation life to the world
He was put to death He was put to death
for his sin so that for our sins so that
the nation could all can partake in
partake in victory victory
 Hosea 2:16-17
“It will come about in that day,” declares
the LORD,
“That you will call Me Ishi
And will no longer call Me Baali.”
17 For I will remove the names of the

Baals from her mouth,

So that they will be mentioned by their
names no more.
 Hosea 3:1-2
Then the LORD said to me, “Go
again, love a woman who is loved by
her husband, yet an adulteress, even as
the LORD loves the sons of Israel,
though they turn to other gods and love
raisin cakes.” 2 So I bought her for
myself for fifteen shekels of silver and a
homer and a half of barley.
 Hosea 3:3
Then I said to her, “You shall stay
with me for many days. You shall not
play the harlot, nor shall you have a
man; so I will also be toward you.
 Hosea 3:4
For the sons of Israel will remain
for many days without king or prince,
without sacrifice or sacred pillar and
without ephod or household idols.
 Hosea 3:5
Afterward the sons of Israel will
return and seek the LORD their God
and David their king; and they will come
trembling to the LORD and to His
goodness in the last days.
 Present
unfaithfulness

Captivity

Return
 Hosea 1-3 Hosea 4-13 Hosea 14
Hosea’s
Hosea’s Message
Marriage
Gomer’s… The case of God’s
covenant lawsuit is
• Unfaithfulness Ultimate
set forth, showing
• Discipline restoration
how Israel has been
• Restoration the unfaithful bride
 Hosea 4:1
Listen to the word of the LORD,
O sons of Israel,
For the LORD has a case against the
inhabitants of the land,
Because there is no faithfulness or
kindness
Or knowledge of God in the land.
 Hosea 4:2
There is swearing, deception, murder,
stealing and adultery.
They employ violence, so that
bloodshed follows bloodshed.
 Hosea 4:4-5
Yet let no one find fault, and let none
offer reproof;
For your people are like those who
contend with the priest.
5 So you will stumble by day,

And the prophet also will stumble with

you by night;
And I will destroy your mother.
 Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of
knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My
priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your
God,
I also will forget your children.
 Hosea 6:6-7
For I delight in loyalty rather than
sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather
than burnt offerings.
7 But like Adam they have transgressed

the covenant;
There they have dealt treacherously
against Me.
 Hosea 11:1
When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.
 Hosea 11:1-3
When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And out of Egypt I called My son.
2 The more they called them,

The more they went from them;

They kept sacrificing to the Baals
And burning incense to idols.
3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,

I took them in My arms;

But they did not know that I healed
them.
 Hosea 11:4-5
I led them with cords of a man, with
bonds of love,
And I became to them as one who lifts
the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and fed them.
5 They will not return to the land of

Egypt;
But Assyria-- he will be their king
Because they refused to return to Me.
 Hosea 14:1-2
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
For you have stumbled because of your
iniquity.
2 Take words with you and return to the

LORD.
Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity
And receive us graciously,
That we may present the fruit of our
lips.”
 Hosea 14:3
“Assyria will not save us,
We will not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’
To the work of our hands;
For in You the orphan finds mercy.”
 Hosea 14:4
I will heal their apostasy,
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from
them.
The Day of the Lord
 Joel 1:1
The word of the LORD that came
to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
 Joel 1:2-3
Hear this, O elders,
And listen, all inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this happened in your
days
Or in your fathers’ days?
3 Tell your sons about it,

And let your sons tell their sons,

And their sons the next generation.
 Joel 1:4
What the gnawing locust has left, the
swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left,
the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left,
the stripping locust has eaten.
 Joel 1:6
For a nation has invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.
1:1 2:1 2:12 2:28 3:1

Locusts Army of
the Lord
Call to
Jerusalem Repent

Present Imminent
 Joel 2:12-13
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and
mourning;
13 And rend your heart and not your

garments.”
Now return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in loving-
kindness
And relenting of evil.
 Joel 2:14
Who knows whether He will not turn and
relent
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink
offering
For the LORD your God?
 Joel 2:15
Blow a trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn
assembly,
 Joel 2:16
Gather the people, sanctify the
congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and the nursing
infants.
Let the bridegroom come out of his
room
And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
1:1 2:1 2:12 2:28 3:1
Spirit of
Locusts Army of the
the Lord
Call to Lord
Jerusalem Repent Nations
Present Imminent Future
 Joel 2:28-29
It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all
mankind;
And your sons and daughters will
prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 Even on the male and female

servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
 Joel 2:30-31
I will display wonders in the sky and on
the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness

And the moon into blood

Before the great and awesome day of
the LORD comes.
 Prophecy & Fulfillment
• God’s Spirit to be • God’s Spirit was
poured out poured out
• Sons and daughters • Men and women
to prophesy prophesied
• Dreams and visions • Dreams and visions
• Blood and fire, and given
vapor of smoke • Blood of Jesus shed
• Sun darkened, moon and tongues of fire
given
into blood
• Sun darkened at
crucifixion
 Joel 2:32
And it will come about that whoever
calls on the name of the LORD
Will be delivered;
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who escape,
As the LORD has said,
Even among the survivors whom the
LORD calls.
1:1 2:1 2:12 2:28 3:1
Spirit of Judgment &
Locusts Army of the
the Lord Promise
Call to Lord
Jerusalem Repent Nations
Present Imminent Future Ultimate
The Prophet of Social Inustice
 Jerusalem

Bethlehem
 Tekoa

The words of
Amos, who
was among the
sheepherders
from Tekoa…
(Amos 1:1)
 Amos 1:1
The words of Amos, who was
among the sheepherders from Tekoa,
which he envisioned in visions
concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah, and in the days of
Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel,
two years before the earthquake.
 Amos 7:14-15
Then Amos answered and
said to Amaziah, “I am not a
prophet, nor am I the son of a
prophet; for I am a herdsman and
a grower of sycamore figs. 15 But
the LORD took me from following
the flock and the LORD said to
me, ‘Go prophesy to My people
Israel.’
• Amos was Jerusalem

from Tekoa,
Bethlehem
south of  Tekoa
Jerusalem
• Amos was
from Tekoa,
south of
Jerusalem
Samaria
• His prophecy 

is directed
primarily
toward the 
Jerusalem
Northern
Kingdom of
Israel.
 Amos 1:2
He said,
“The LORD roars from Zion
And from Jerusalem He utters His voice;
And the shepherds’ pasture grounds
mourn,
And the summit of Carmel dries up.”

The LORD roars from Zion

And utters His voice from
Jerusalem… (Joel 3:16).
 Amos 1:3
Thus says the LORD,
“For three transgressions of Damascus
and for four I will not revoke its
punishment,
Because they threshed Gilead with
implements of sharp iron.”
 Amos 1:5
“I will also break the gate bar of
Damascus,
And cut off the inhabitant from the valley
of Aven,
And him who holds the scepter, from
Beth-eden;
So the people of Aram will go exiled to
Kir,”
Says the LORD.
For three transgressions
and for four… • Damascus
Damascus • Gaza
Tyre
• Tyre
• Edom
• Ammon
• Moab
Gaza Ammon
• Judah
Moab
Edom
• Israel
 Chapters Chapters
Chapters 1-2 Chapters 3-6
7 - 9:10 9:11-ff
For three Judgments
transgressions against Israel
and for four… •
You were
• Damascus God’s
• Gaza chosen
people (3)
• Tyre
• Edom
• Ammon
• Moab
• Judah
• Israel
Hear this word, you
cows of Bashan
who are on the
mountains of
Samaria, Samaria
Bashan
Who oppress the 

poor, who crush the

needy,
Who say to your 
Jerusalem
husbands, “Bring
now, that we may
drink?” (Amos 4:1).
The Lord God has
sworn by His
holiness,
"Behold, the days
are coming upon
you
When they will
take you away
with meat hooks,
And the last of
you with fish
hooks.” (Amos
4:2).
 Amos 4:6
“But I gave you also cleanness of teeth
in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the LORD.
 Amos 4:7
Furthermore, I withheld the rain from
you
While there were still three months until
harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city
And on another city I would not send
rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry
up.
 Amos 4:8
“So two or three cities would stagger to
another city to drink water,
But would not be satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the LORD.
 Amos 4:9
“I smote you with scorching wind and
mildew;
And the caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig
trees and olive trees;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the LORD.
 Amos 4:10
“I sent a plague among you after the
manner of Egypt;
I slew your young men by the sword
along with your captured horses,
And I made the stench of your camp
rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the LORD.
 Amos 4:11
“I overthrew you, as God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a firebrand snatched
from a blaze;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares the LORD.
 Chapters Chapters
Chapters 1-2 Chapters 3-6
7 - 9:10 9:11-ff
For three Judgments
transgressions against Israel
and for four… •
You were
• Damascus God’s
• Gaza chosen
people (3)
• Tyre
• You haven’t
• Edom
returned (4)
• Ammon • Seek me
• Moab that you may
• Judah live (5)
• Israel • Against the
men (6)
 Chapters Chapters
Chapters 1-2 Chapters 3-6
7 - 9:10 9:11-ff
For three Judgments Five Visions of Promise of
transgressions against Israel Judgment Restoration…
and for four… • • • Of Israel
You were Locusts
• Damascus God’s • Fire • Of the
• Gaza chosen • nations
Plumb line
people (3) • Forever
• Tyre • Ripe Fruit
• You haven’t
• Edom • Lord by the
returned (4)
• Ammon altar
• Seek me
• Moab that you may
• Judah live (5)
• Israel • Against the
men (6)
 Amos 9:11-12
“In that day I will raise up the fallen
booth of David,
And wall up its breaches;
I will also raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant

of Edom
And all the nations who are called by
My name,”
Declares the LORD who does this.
How does James apply this
promise in Acts 15:13-18?