The three Minor Prophets of Amos, Hosea, and Micah were active in the 8th century BC in Israel and Judah. They condemned their people for social and religious sins like idolatry. Hosea used the metaphor of an unfaithful wife to represent Israel's disloyalty to God. Micah and Amos harshly criticized the ruling elites for corruption and a lack of justice. They predicted coming judgment but also ultimately held out hope for restoration if the people would repent.

1. Minor Prophets I
Amos, Hosea, Micah

2. Amos, Hosea, Micah
• Active in the 8th century BC
• Focus is on sins of their own people
– Social Sin
– Cultic Sin (Idolatry, religious abuses)
• Contemporaries of Isaiah
– Hosea is in the northern kingdom
– Micah is in the southern kingdom
– Amos is from the south, but working in
the north

3. Hosea
• Images of marital infidelity are tied
to Israel’s disloyalty
– Unfaithful wife who becomes a
prostitute
• Hosea’s personal experience with his
wife, Gomer, is a metaphor for God’s
relationship with Israel
– Unfaithful wife who becomes a
prostitute

4. Hosea
• Part I: Hosea’s faithless wife
– Chapters 1-3
• Part II: Collection of prophetic
speeches
– Condemns Israel’s behavior
– Predicts God’s punishment
– Express Hope for renewal

5. Hosea
• Part One
– Gomer – not just a harlot, but a cult
prostitute serving the god Baal, making
Hosea’s choice even more dramatic.
• Covenant
– God and the people are bound by the covenant
• Idolatry and Infidelity
– Baal is the fertility god, responsible for crops,
herds, and people
– Hosea says you cannot choose when to serve the
Lord: it’s a package deal

6. Hosea
• Part One
• Understanding God
– God is all that best about human nature
• Land and Desert
– The land is filled with milk and honey;
worshipping Baal will lead to a desert
– In the desert, though, God may court his people
and renew the covenant

7. Hosea’s children
• Jezreel
– Jehu had royal family executed and
heads sent to Jezreel. God will punish
Jehu and destroy his family ruling in
Israel
• Lo-ruhama (unpitied)
– God no longer pities Israel
• Lo-ammi (not my people)
– Yahweh will not consider Israel his
people any longer

8. Hosea 11:1-4
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When Israel was a child I loved him,a
out of Egypt* I called my son.b
2The more I called them,
the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals
and burning incense to idols.
3Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
who took them in my arms;c
but they did not know that I cared for them.
4I drew them with human cords,
with bands of love;*
I fostered them like those
who raise an infant to their cheeks;
I bent down to feed them.d
How do
these
images
apply to
our world?

9. Hosea
• One way of knowing God is
through human experience.
How is God like a faithful
spouse, a loving parent, a
friend seeking a lasting
relationship?
• God’s judgment and
punishment is always
directed toward restoring
relationship.

10. Amos
• Priest of Bethel
• Shepherd, “dresser of sycamores”
• Religion requires more than ritual
observances; it requires a moral life.
• Harsh critic of Israelite society; 25
years after Amos, Samaria falls to
Assyria.
• Prophet of Doom

11. Amos
• Concern for justice is passionate
– Demands in all areas of life:
political, economic, judicial
– The fall of Israel is inevitable
because of corruption and injustice.
• Structure of two sentence
pronouncements of sins,
judgment

12. Amos
• Independent; southerner who
proclaims in the north
• Does not rely on priests or kings
for support
• Prophecies against the king make
the priests nervous
• Independence leads to blunt and
somewhat offensive style
– Cows of Bashan (4:1) to refer to
women of Samaria

13. “words” and “woes”
• Hear this word… (3)
• Hear this word… (4)
• Hear this word… (5)
• Woe (5:7)
• Woe (5: 18)
• Woe (6:1)
• Followed by Visions for renewal

14. Amos
• Amos was the conscience of the nation
and spoke for the powerless.
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– Who are the powerless in our time?
– Who speaks for them?
Take away from me
your noisy songs;
The melodies of your harps,
I will not listen to them.
24Rather let justice surge like waters,
and righteousness like an unfailing stream.
(5:23-24)
– How is acting justly linked to prayer and
worship?

15. Micah
• Anthology of short speeches
– Judgment speeches
– Salvation speeches
• Concern about the impending
Assyrian invasion and social justice
– Accuses ruling elite of corruption
– Impatience with false prophets

16. Micah
• Similar to Jeremiah in tone and in
terms of acceptance
• He was a poor peasant –
farmer/shepherd class
• Impending Judgment
– God is coming to judge
– The rich have taken from the poor; the
Assyrians will take from the rich
– Virtue requires justice and facing
reality

17. Micah
• Uses the Hebrew word hesed for
covenant, which refers to the
steadfast love that binds two parties
together.
• Punishment is deserved, but Micah
still mourns for his people.
• Zion is a plowed field

18. Micah
• Prophecies of Restoration
– Probably added after Babylonian exile
– Hope after destruction
– Prophecy for Bethlehem
• Indictment of Israel
– Israel’s failure to respond to God’s
faithfulness
– True religion is based on acting justly,
walking humbly, loving tenderly

19. Micah
• Concluding Indictment and
Prayer
– Only solution to the corruption of
the society is repentance and
reliance on the Lord
– God will forgive a repentant people
and restore them to favor.

20. Micah
• Prophets who point out the
problems in society are not
popular.
– What true prophets do we have in
our time?
– What “professional” prophets in
our time mislead people in our
time?

21. Micah
• But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
least among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
• What does this section from Micah
mean for you? Why is it significant
that Jesus will come from Bethlehem?