Looking at the other prophetic books individually doesn’t help much in trying to figure out what we should be doing in the 21st Century. Jonah is obviously another fictional story like those in Daniel, written to encourage people to obey…

The Old Testament prophets try to explain how their God can be supreme while other nations, who worship different gods, continually defeat and control the Israelites. Their attempts sometimes produce inconsistent pictures of God. In one paragraph, he brings judgment…

Although Hosea proclaimed judgment against God’s people at around the same time as Amos, he certainly offered more hope. In fact, his ideas lay the groundwork for Jesus’ ministry. Hosea links divine judgment much more to Israel’s seeking security from…

Let’s start with Amos. We know very little about his life. He shows up at Bethel in the northern kingdom of Israel, proclaiming God‘s judgment right before Assyria crushes her. Because he is from Judah, the king’s priest tells him…