THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE EXPLORING THE MINOR

THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE EXPLORING THE MINOR PROPHETS

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE? ● Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) divisions: ● Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim (Law, Prophets, Writings) ● Book = Scroll ( ספר - sepher) ● תרי עשר = “The Twelve” ● Emerged as a collection around 190 BC ● Intended to be read as an episodic unity.

ISRAELITE HISTORY • Exodus (15 th or 13 th centuries BC) • Settlement & Proto-democratic Tribal Confederation • United Monarchy – Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboam (c. 1000 BC) • Divided Monarchy (and decline) • Fall of Samaria (N) to Assyria (c. 722 BC) • Fall of Jerusalem (S) to Babylon (587 BC) • Cyrus the Great invades Babylon (539 BC) • Edict of Cyrus Allows Jews to return home and rebuild

MAJORING ON THE MINORS • • History – What really happened? Message – What does it say? Reception – How have others interpreted it? Significance – What does it mean for us?

THE PATH AHEAD May 21 – Intro to the Book of the Twelve May 28 – Hosea June 4 - Joel June 11 – Amos June 18 –Obadiah June 25 –Jonah July 23 – Zephaniah July 30 – Issues in the Minor Prophets ( Dr. Robin Mc. Call, Guest Teacher) Aug 6 – Issues in the Minor Prophets (Dr. Don Polaski, Guest Teacher) Aug 13 – Haggai Aug 20 – Zechariah July 2 – Micah Aug 27 – Malachi July 9 – Nahum Sep 3 – Closing the Scroll July 16 – Habakkuk

TIMELINE OF THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE Christian Bible (Masoretic Text) Ancient Greek OT (Septuagint) Chronology (all BC) Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Amos (mid-8 th) Hosea (mid-8 th) Isaiah (late 8 th) Micah (late 8 th) Nahum (late 7 th) Habakkuk (late 7 th) Zephaniah (late 7 th) Jeremiah (late 7 th or early 6 th) Lamentations (early 6 th) Ezekiel (early 6 th) Obadiah (early 6 th) Haggai (late 6 th) Zechariah (late 6 th) Malachi (late 5 th) Jonah (5 th – 4 th) Joel (4 th ? ) Daniel (2 nd) --------Hosea Amos Micah Joel Obadiah Jonah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

THIS TIME IN HISTORY • The first Olympics (according to tradition) in Greece (776 BC) • The City of Rome is founded (753 BC) • Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey are put to writing (c. 750 BC) • Micah’s prophetic ministry (c. 750 – 687 BC) • Fall of Samaria/Northern Kingdom to Assyria (722 BC) • Greeks add vowels to Phoenician language (700 BC) • Fall of Jerusalem/Southern Kingdom to Babylon (586 BC) • Socrates born (470 BC) • Alexander the Great born (356 BC)

MICAH’S HISTORY • Micah means “Who is like Yah(weh)? ” (7: 18) • 8 th c. Southern Prophet • Contemporary of Isaiah? • Prophesied against both N & S Kingdoms • 2 Kings 16 -20 • Quoted by name in Jeremiah 26: 18 • From Moresheth • About 20 mi. SW from Jerusalem • Rural Judah • A refugee? • Assyrians besiege nearby Lachish in 701 BC • Micah vs. Jerusalem’s elites

MICAH’S HISTORY • Judah under threat • Syro-Ephraimite War (735 BC) (Hosea) • Samaria falls (722 BC) • Jerusalem within 10 miles of Assyrian occupation • Sennacherib (701 BC) • Jerusalem somehow is saved • Refugee situation • Northerners flee toward the south • Rural dwellers flee for more urban settings

MICAH’S HISTORY • Micah means “who is like Yah(weh)” (7: 18) • 8 th c. Southern Prophet • Contemporary of Isaiah? • Prophesied against both N & S Kingdoms • 2 Kings 16 -20 • Quoted by name in Jeremiah 26: 18 • From Moresheth • About 20 mi. SW from Jerusalem • Rural Judah • A refugee? • Assyrians besiege nearby Lachish in 701 BC • Micah vs. Jerusalem’s elites

MICAH’S MESSAGE Outline • I – Threats Against Samaria & Jerusalem (chs. 1 -3) • II – Proclaiming Israel’s Restoration and Glorious Future (4 -5) • III – Renewed Oracles of Doom, Denunciations, and Laments over Israel (6: 1 -7: 7) • IV – God’s Favor for Israel and Contempt for Her Enemies (7: 8 -20)

MICAH’S MESSAGE Act I (chs 1 -3) • Samaria & Jerusalem – High Places • Prostitute theme in 1: 7 (Hosea) • Mourning Micah (naked, barefoot, shaven) • Series of Puns in 1: 10 -15 • Social Injustices • “But you rise up against my people as an enemy. ” (2: 8) • They covet fields and seize them (2: 2) • Repossess Houses and rob inheritances • Strip robe from the peaceful • Build Zion with blood • Jer. 26: 18 -19 quotes Micah 3: 9 -12

MICAH’S MESSAGE Act II (chs 4 -5) • By another writer • Micah 4: 1 -5 & Isaiah 2: 2 -5 • Mentions Babylon in 4: 10 • Prophecy of a shepherd king (5: 2 -6) • Quoted in Matthew 2: 6 (wise men use it) • Alluded to in John 7: 40 -43 (Jesus from Galilee)

MICAH’S MESSAGE Act III (6: 1 - 7: 7) • Covenant Lawsuit • Micah 6: 6 -8 6 "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? " 8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

MICAH’S MESSAGE Act III (6: 1 - 7: 7) - continued • Dishonest weights / Wealthy are violent / liars (6: 11 -12) • Political bribes (7: 2 -3) Act IV (7: 8 - 20) • Prophecies of repentance and hope • Probably from a later redactor

JONAH’S RECEPTION Ancient Reception • Verbal link with Nahum • Catchword • 18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in showing clemency. 19 He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and unswerving loyalty to Abraham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old. (Micah 7: 18 -21) • NRS Nahum 1: 1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. 2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD, the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and rages against his enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger but great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. (Nahum 1: 1: 3) • Bringing Hosea and Amos’s message to Judah

MICAH’S RECEPTION Late Ancient (New Testament) • The Bethlehem prophecy in Matthew & John Early Church / Medieval • Messianic Prophecy • False Prophets • Ecclesiocentric Interpretation • Injustice and love of God & Neighbor

MICAH’S SIGNIFICANCE • Social (In)Justice • Refugee activism • Wealthy Urban Elite Preying on the Rural Poor • The Extinction of Armed Conflict • A Promised Son of David • God’s Ultimate Deliverance