The so-called “Minor Prophets” (twelve in number) are anything but minor as far as interest and insight are concerned. They are called that mostly because they are much shorter than the better known and influential “Major” prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. In the history and literature of Israel they play a very significant role in helping to define the character and history of the Hebrew nation. I would like to focus here on the two of the twelve that have always struck me as especially interesting, namely Hosea and Amos. Jonah’s story is well-known.
Hosea dates from the latter part of the 700s BCE and is essentially a serious warning to the Hebrew leaders not to make a deal with the threatening Assyrians (who soon would conquer them). The warning comes in the form of two stories which are clearly allegorical. The author writes of the relationship between Hosea and his wife Gomer as a parallel to that of Israel to God. It appears that the writer (Hosea?) has separated or divorced himself from his wife Gomer because of her unfaithfulness. Gomer clearly represents Israel in its relationship with Yahweh.
The prophet sees the nation of Israel as a wife having become, or perhaps as having already been one. It almost reads as if Hosea has deliberately taken her as his wife because she was already a harlot in order to make his message more dramatic. Verse Two of Chapter One actually has God telling Hosea to take a wife who was already a harlot. Hosea was obedient to this charge and Gomer delivered a son, namely the nation of Israel. She, like Israel, has become unfaithful and now God will punish her, like Israel, for her “wantonness.”
But then, surprisingly, God tells Hosea to go redeem Gomer and perhaps remarry her (2:14 and 3:1) as a sign of God’s undying, redemptive love for his people. This dramatic redemptive love on Hosea’s part for his chosen wife symbolizes God’s love even for those who have been unfaithful. I find great comfort and challenge in this image of God’s relentless love for humankind. There is a variety of ways this metaphor can be useful as we find our way along our path.
The prophet Amos lived roughly in the same time and situation as Hosea, but unlike Hosea he seems to have had no “official” standing as a prophet. Rather, he terms himself “a sheep farmer from Tekoa”, seemingly a completely self-appointed “prophet.” Amos seems to have marched straight into the palace and delivered his message seven-fold message to the High Priest Amaziah. It is significant to note that Amos lived in the Southern Kingdom during the period of the split kingdoms in the time of Uzziah, king of Israel, the southern kingdom and Jeroboam, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah.
Without any official standing in either kingdom, Amos walked from his home of Tekoa south of Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom straight to the king’s headquarters in the Northern Kingdom to deliver his message, probably about one hundred miles. He delivered a series of searing prophecies about the coming judgement of God on all the surrounding locales of the Northern Kingdom; Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab. and even Judah the Southern Kingdom. Most of these names are familiar to us today because of the terrible recent events in this region.
Amos concludes his diatribe by zeroing in on Israel itself, not his own region. First he attacks their religious hypocrisy “their pilgrim feasts and sacred ceremonies” (5:21ff.) Then he attacks their unjust political systems (5:24ff.) and then he promises the wrath of God on their future. Finally, in Chapter Seven, Amos confronts the High Priest Amaziah directly when the latter verbally attacks and condemns him. Amos concludes with a prophecy about the future of Israel structure around several powerful images of the souring of nature.
Each is announced with the phrase: “On that day.” The final prophecy, however, announces a day of “restoration”. (9:11-15) “On that day I will restore David’s fallen house” and “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.” Unfortunately, these people as a nation even today are still waiting for the fulfillment of this promise through no fault of God’s grace but because of their own confusion about how to relate their “chosen-ness” to the people around them.