The (not so) Minor Ones

The minor prophets, despite their 'title,' offered very major themes, continuing in the tradition of the major ones. I will, therefore, not write on each separately, as it will probably be too laborious a task time-wise and also maybe somewhat daunting for the blog-reader! I had made notes, and what follows is a summary of what I'd experienced in this journey through the prophets.

It is obvious that prophecies of the Messiah thread through all the prophetic messages, and I will refer to them from time to time.

Hosea: God is Love

The very idea of marrying a prostitute must have been repugnant to Hosea, who, as a prophet, was to exemplify a lifestyle characteristic of a holy man. However, God's lesson through him was to show true love, that it cares for mercy and forgiveness.

Hosea, in a way, was a mirror of Christ. With this in mind, it must seem strange that the Pharisees (who professed to believe the prophets) were horrified that Jesus should mix with prostitutes and other sinners.

Indeed, the prophets, beginning with Hosea, set forth a pattern that the Messiah would later fulfill; they made prophecies that came true through him, and they set forth practices that would find their ultimate meaning in him.

Joel: God's Renewal

Apart from the locusts, undeniably the most stirring thing about this book, the next most groundbreaking message was the prophecy of God pouring out his Spirit on all.

Peter, in the book of Acts, quoted the passage from Joel, now popularised in the words of the song "Great Awakening", in which God tells of young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams.

The age of the Spirit is a new age, in which God gives us fresh opportunities to reorient our lives according to his pattern.

Amos: True Judgement

In Peterson's introduction, he warns us to be wary of those who use God's name as a sanction for the outrageous things they do. A thought came to me: What about the prophets? Did they not make great claims in the name of God? The answer, I found several lines later in the intro: The prophets rigorously tested all against what they knew, and vice versa. They were more 'wise men' than 'divine mystics.'

Amos tries to portray judgement as it truly is: not something to be feared, but to be embraced. It is like a door that kills everything that goes through it. But God raises them up. Those who actually die, are those who are forced in, still clinging on to life 'status quo.'

In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis wrote (and I paraphrase), "It is better to die than live this way," referring to an 'undead life' -- neither fully damned nor fully alive.

It is somewhat difficult to understand, I think, but unless we are willing to die to self (how this command has been truncated by our 'packageable' Christianity!), we cannot live in Christ. The church's teaching has given us the general perception that judgement is to be feared, and Christ provides a 'way out.'

Instead, I think Christ has rather prepared a 'way in'! Unless we allow the fire to kill us, we shall never be raised incorruptible, purified as gold.

Obadiah: You Too

His message is an attack on all who have perverted justice by standing by and applauding injustice and the suffering of others. (Bono would have loved Obadiah!)

Verse 21, the final and probably most stirring verse, shifts the focus of God's kingdom off the narrowness of Judah and Edom, and onto the new creation, too big for the old to fit it. It sends an invitation to all peoples everywhere: you too, will be judged, and you too, can partake in the Kingdom.

Being only one chapter in length, I think it is symbolic of the 'shortness' and insignificance of the two brothers' squabbling.

Micah: Justice and Mercy

He writes, in 4:10, "what you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon" -- a paradox if ever there were one. Maybe, the life we lose when we squander the fertile land, God will redeem and restore in the ashes and dust of repentance. After all, he goes on to write, "God will give you new life again."

Verse 6:8 is my favourite: "Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God." Now that wasn't quoted from the Message, yet it is the version that I remember best, for Steven Curtis Chapman sang it in his song "The Walk". The Message translates 'walk humbly' as 'don't take yourself too seriously'. Truly, to be humble is to place the spotlight and emphasis on Him who really matters.

Nahum: The Point of No Return

"God is good, a hiding place in tough times" is the exhortation of 1:7. For this reason (and maybe this reason alone), it is imperative that we seek God and no other. It is sheer stupidity to place our lives in the hands of something or someone who is not good, who will not care (indeed, who will not 'give a d--n') about our very lives.

Chapter 2 is an all-out attack on the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, and the rest of the book chronicles the outcome of those who find themselves at the point of no return, where their fate is sealed and they have not turned to God. It closes with a prophecy of dooom unto the Assyrian King.

Habakkuk: The Prophet who Questioned, Waited and Saw

"God, your age old reputation
Silences me, humbles me.
Do as you did in the days of old.
Bring judgement, as it is inevitable,
But don't forget mercy."

The verses above, 3:1-2, resonated with me most. It is the recognition of God as Sovereign (Greek translates 'Sovereign' as 'despotes'; God is not a despot but has far greater power and authority than one), and willingly accepts his judgement, yet clings faithfully to the promise of mercy.

In the Intro, Peterson writes, "only there did he realize that the steady trusting-in-God life, is the only real life." These are God's words in 2:4 (paraphrased: "You're really alive if you stand right, and steadily and loyally in God"), and Habakkuk learns that it is not for him to question God's methods, but to trust no matter what.

This faith-stance forms the attitude and context for his closing words, which I again paraphrase: "Though the world should fall, yet will I praise the Lord." And the against-all-odds prayer of praise inspired Don Moen's song "I Will Sing".

Habakkuk really caught my attention; here was a prophet who was different. Indeed, as Peterson wrote, while the others brought God's messages to us, he brought our messages to God. He lays before us a model which we must follow: to question God when necessary, but most of all to wait and listen. Far too many question, and leave it at that, thinking God will never speak, and when he does, they are surprised.

Zephaniah: Judgement Day

His cry is against a people who no longer care about God or their fellow men. Zephaniah (not to be confused with Zechariah, who sandwiches Haggai on the other side!) draws his focus onto Judgement Day (not to be confused with the Terminator movie), the point, as Peterson writes, at which all the consequences of our actions (or lack thereof) meet. He is like a convex lens that focuses the rays of light onto a focal point (oops, too much Physics lately!)

He calls us to seek God, and I believe this refers to a seeking of the true God, in the words of C.S. Lewis, "not as we think he is, but as he knows himself to be." Not to make too many smart guesses about God, but to stand in reverent awe before him whom we will never fully comprehend.

He also calls us to interconnectedness with other people, not just Christians or 'believers'. All our actions have consequences (oops, too much Physics again. No, this is not Newton's 3rd Law!), not referring to karma-like effects, but that indeed we will be judged by what we do (or fail to do). This is probably the failure of the 'personal gospel'; too many people 'accept Christ as personal Lord and Saviour', and so it truncates the vastness of the community, since Christ is, after all, merely personal.

3:12 points out the kind of people ready for blessing: those who are poor in spirit. Jesus would later use this concept in his Sermon on the Mount. Dallas Willard writes that it doesn't mean 'humble' so much as 'empty'. Those who are poor, really poor, are those who are empty enough to be filled, as is echoed in the Jars of Clay song, "Faith Enough".

Haggai: The Temple

Peterson's Intro goes: "In God's economy it is perhaps unwise to rank our assigned work as either more or less spiritual." Michael William, in a talk on God's will, pointed out that Martha's mistake was not that she was busy working, but that she poked into Mary's business and complained about it. We are each to do our assigned portion as faithful servants of the King.

I see the temple of Haggai, as a metaphor of the spiritual temple Christ would establish among his people; indeed, his people would actually be that temple. At the end of the rebuilding, I get the impression that the temple's beauty would never compare to the change in the very hearts and lives of the people, for God was truly working in them. The physical rebuilding was merely a reflection of internal, spiritual change.

Zechariah: H-impossible

Before I continue, this is a little something for Soo Tian: Zechariah's fourth vision of Joshua's New Clothes, kind of brought to my mind your word, 'cleansation.' And no, it still doesn't exist ;)

In his many visions and prophecies, Zechariah makes one thing plain: God is steadily setting in motion a new creation, a new Kingdom of real holiness where all things are made new. Though the images are nowhere near as powerful and otherworldly as Daniel's or Ezekiel's, somehow Zechariah seems to connote a greater sense of impossibility.

Yet, God 'counter-attacks' this notion that his plans will not come to pass. As Selwyn Hughes wrote, God breathed into Abram's and Sarai's names; they became Abraham and Sarah. The new names require breath to be pronounced, for one actually has to breathe out when saying the 'ham' and 'ah'. So God makes the impossible, h-impossible, or rather Him-possible!

4:10 goes: "Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings?" God is the master of making little things big, of turning small, timid steps into bold strides. I am thankful for this journey through which God has brought me and Soo Tian into. Truly, the words of this verse could have been said at our beginning, and look where we are: on steady course into the New Testament already. God is gracious.

Malachi: Holiness

I see the message of Malachi in three main verses (to me, that is) and one passage.

1:10 "Empty worship". This is something whose extent in our lives we may not even be aware of. Are we really connecting with God, or just going through the motions?

2:10 "Don't we all come from one Father?" This is a scathing comment, that throws a light on divisions within the church. If the church itself can't stand together, can we expect the world to?

3:9-11 "Test me in this" Not that we are to 'test' God as a scientist performs a litmus test, but to live God's way and see if it doesn't remarkably change our lives -- again, not to 'follow the motions', but truly live.

[Lame one here: I just noticed that all the above verses cover the 10th verse of each chapter]

The part on testing God, Malachi specifically attaches to the practice of tithing. I have been faithfully doing my part in this area, and sometimes, I can see the fruit of it, for I am often blessed beyond my expectations. Yet sometimes, I wonder if it's all coincidence, since at other times God seems far away.

But the point of it all, is not whether God blesses or not, but how we conduct our lives. Tithing has become natural for me, it is now, in Conrad Gempf's words, the 'default' setting in my life. I think the real change is not in my bank account, but my life.

3:1-4 is the passage that foretells the coming of John the Baptist and the Messiah. John would model holiness, preparing the hearts of many for the coming of the King, who would then inaugurate the new righteousness, what Dallas Willard calls the 'Kingdom dikaiosune'. (Dikaiosune is Greek for righteousness)

Being the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi sets the stage for tension, demanding some sort of resolution. The ending of the Old Testament is unrest. This great expectation is fulfilled some 400 years or so later, in the Temple, and a small Galilean village.

Final Note on the Prophets

Conrad Gempf wrote that in the Jewish language, the words matter even more than the point made. He cites the example of Abraham haggling with God over the lives of those living in Sodom and Gomorrah, namely Lot. He points out that we tend to say, of Abraham's actions, "How strage!" while a Jew would say "How typical!"

The Prophets have long been dissected for their 'message', for the 'gist' if you may. And so all manner of Bible scholars, pastors and theologians try to unravel the mystery of the prophets by explaining all their prophecies, by guessing at what they meant by their words. Yet it is their very mystery that makes them special.

Who were these 'Jedi', who stood out and pointed out the way to God's way of life? Until we can appreciate the prophets, not for the so-called 'clear-cut messages' we have been made to learn, instead for the awe they bring, and the way in which they call us to God, we cannot claim to have understood the first thing about them.