The Minor Prophets provide us with a background to God’s people during a turbulent time in their history. It’s a landscape of highs and lows; praising a merciful God but then revealing their deep grief and loss as they see their way of life change. These were meant to be a people led by the one true God, who were blessed with their own land.
We may call them the Minor Prophets, but there is nothing minor about them. These books use words like holy, sovereign, loving, gracious and merciful to paint a picture of the God whom we can also know.
A nation’s story
God’s chosen people entered the promised land in about 1406 BC, after the death of Moses, under the leadership of Joshua. This was the same land promised to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 15:18-21. Initially, the nation of Israel prospered, putting God at the centre of their lives. But they soon turned from God, and demanded a king to lead them. Kings came and went, and the nation’s heart for God waned.
Under David and Solomon, Israel was one nation. But after Solomon’s death, only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained faithful to their king, becoming the kingdom of Judah, with the capital of Jerusalem. The remaining ten tribes became the northern kingdom of Israel, with their capital Samaria. This kingdom lasted from 930BC to 720 BC, but was conquered by the Assyrian empire. The kingdom of Judah prospered until the defeat of the Assyrians, by the dynasty of Egypt and the Babylonians trying to control the Eastern Mediterranean in 597 BC and 582 BC. God spoke to his people during this time through prophets like Amos and Zephaniah, who called the people to repent, lament, and turn to him.
