The very last of the twelve Minor Prophets is Malachi, who delivered his message about one hundred years after Haggai and Zechariah, the two prophets before him. You will recall that both Haggai and Zechariah delivered God’s message to the people of Judah, who had recently returned from a seventy year exile in Babylon. The people had been tasked with rebuilding God’s temple, but had met with opposition and become discouraged. They soon stopped working and succumbed to selfishness and sin. Haggai and Zechariah both delivered messages of reproof, encouragement, and hope, and as a result, the ne ..read more

-Along with the prophet Haggai, Zechariah was one of nearly 50,000 Jews who returned to Judah from exile in Babylon in response to the decree of king Cyrus (538 B.C.) to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The people had begun work on the temple, but after laying the foundation, discouragement set in and sixteen years passed with no progress. So God called first Haggai and then Zechariah, often referred to as "prophets of the restoration", to call the people to return to Him and resume building.   God first raised up Haggai who pointed out the people’s sin and selfishness in failing to comp ..read more

If you are a classical music lover or if you have ever been to an Easter performance of George Frederick Handel’s Messiah, then you may already know something of what Haggai’s prophecy is all about. Very early on in that magnificent oratorio the choir announces, “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed!” And this is followed by a powerful bass solo which proclaims the words of Haggai 2:6-7   “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nat ..read more

 The prophet Zephaniah spoke to the people of Judah at a time when the whole nation had turned away from God and was full of wickedness and corruption. Everywhere, from the elders and officials to the common citizen, the people had forsaken the LORD. Zephaniah compared the judges to rapacious wolves who roamed about in the evening darkness. The prophets were faithless, proclaiming what was in their own hearts and minds. Instead of God's word, they spoke words that tickled the people’s ears. Even the priests perverted the law and failed to lead the people in true worship of God. Men like ..read more

Martin Luther was a monk, priest, professor of theology, composer, and one of the most important figures in the Protestant Reformation. As a young monk, Martin Luther worked hard, denied himself, and even inflicted physical punishment on himself, seeking to live a righteous life and be justified in God’s sight. With his whole heart he sought to please God, but in his mind he knew he could never measure up. No matter what he did, he could never be pure and holy in the sight of God because he knew he was a sinner. As he searched the Scriptures looking for a solution to his dilemma, God gracious ..read more

Sometime before the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C., the prophet Nahum preached a message proclaiming judgment upon the city. That is similar to what the unwilling and defiant prophet, Jonah, had done about one hundred years before. It was during the first half of the 8th century that God had sent Jonah to march through the city of Nineveh and proclaim, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4). Surprisingly, at that time, the pagan people of Nineveh, from the king down to the lowest peasant, believed God and they repented. The king of Nineveh published a decree that everyone ..read more

The sixth of the Minor Prophets, Micah of Moresheth, was a bold prophet of God who openly denounced the sins of the people of Israel and Judah. But he especially brought to light the sins of the leaders, the judges, priests, and prophets, who put their confidence in power and profit and caused the people to suffer because of it. In this sense, I would venture to say that Micah was a political prophet. His prophecy shows how the sins of the leaders of a nation filter down to the common people and have a devastating effect on them. The people suffer for the sins of their leaders in two ways: 1 ..read more

Of all twelve Minor Prophets, I think Jonah is the most interesting - maybe even amusing. I also think he is the one we can most easily relate to - not because he got swallowed by a whale, but because he tried to run away from God. God called Jonah to preach a message of judgment to the wicked people of Nineveh who were fearsome enemies of the Jews. Jonah refused and ran in the opposite direction. You’ve probably heard the story. Jonah got on a boat that could take him as far away from Nineveh as he could get. But God sent a storm that was eventually the cause of Jonah being thrown overboard ..read more

Do you recall the story of Jacob and Esau? They were the grandchildren of Abraham, the patriarch of Israel. Their father was Isaac, the child of promise, who had loved and married Rebekah (Genesis 24:67). When she became pregnant, Rebekah felt a struggle going on in her womb and was concerned, so she prayed to the Lord and asked Him what was happening. The Lord answered, revealing that she would bear twins and, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.” These twin brothers w ..read more

The very last of the twelve Minor Prophets is Malachi, who delivered his message about one hundred years after Haggai and Zechariah, the two prophets before him. You will recall that both Haggai and Zechariah delivered God’s message to the people of Judah, who had recently returned from a seventy year exile in Babylon. The people had been tasked with rebuilding God’s temple, but had met with opposition and become discouraged. They soon stopped working and succumbed to selfishness and sin. Haggai and Zechariah both delivered messages of reproof, encouragement, and hope, and as a result, the ne ..read more