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?