A Beginning

Why start with the Minor Prophets

They seem rather obscure to most Christians. They are found at the very back of the Old Testament (which is unwisely avoided by many already) and when looked at in a quick fashion, appear to be rather bleak and frightening. They are about judgment and punishment. God threatens on a regular basis to do away with His people entirely because the refuse to turn away from their sin. Those who have spent time in study of the Scriptures know that way back in the front part of the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus (only the second book of the Bible), God hands over the Ten Commandments to His people so that they will have full knowledge of how to live in a manner that pleases Him. Those Ten Commandments show us what the godly life looks like, they keep the entire human race reigned in (a little) and they show us our sin. Then, remarkably, the sin that seems to bother God the most throughout the rest of the Bible can be described in one word – idolatry. The first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Ex 20:30) Upon further study of the rest of the Word, you will find that God focuses His attention on that first commandment. It seems that if that commandment is followed, the rest of them seem to fall in line behind it. Now please don’t misunderstand – we will struggle daily to keep all 10 commandments. We are sinners from the inside out. Success is not going to be achieved. Jesus is the only One who was able to live the sinless life. In His mercy, God had a plan to deal with our sin. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross covers our sin and God views us as righteous because of it.

But – if striving to stay away from the sin of idolatry is a part of an intentionally lived life, God is pleased. This is the lesson we learn from a study of the Minor Prophets. The entire Old Testament is filled with stories of God’s people succeeding and failing to keep the true God at the center of their lives. Since the fall of Adam and Eve the battle with idolatry has been fierce for every believer. The twelve prophets included in this category all carry the same message of repentance; turn away from your idolatry and back to the Lord. This is a message we each need to hear daily and should not tire of integrating into our lives.

For the next several weeks, we will explore a verse or two of these prophets and see just how the Scriptures can and do live for us today.

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