Bloggin' the Minors- Redefining Awesome for a Whole New Purpose. The Prophets are at your fingertips, drink deeply friends!

Friends and family, a sad thing has just happened to me, something that I am sure you have experienced in your lifetime. I had just finished writing what was probably the most amazing blog ever- and then I went to insert a picture into it and BAM- gone! All of it, totally irretrievable, gone missing like the lost tribes of Israel. I will attempt to recount it for you here, but it will be a lackluster, disheartened attempt :(. The tears flow freely on this end of the mac.

In the lowest of moral I write these somber words- I will miss you forever lost blog of awesome....


Enough of that sadness- now to the good news. I am feeling very Joshuaish today- which means I am done wandering around the wilderness of randomness and am dedicating myself to sticking to a theme, for once, for this blog. What this means for you is this: you get the pleasure of going with me through the Minor Prophets! Yes, I am sure you jumped out of your seat with pure, uncontrollable joy, causing those sitting in your nearest vicinity to shockingly proclaim, "goodness man, what's wrong with you! (in your bestest British accent)!" But don't be afraid. Because I am here to argue today that the Minor Prophets, though often glazed over, are indeed awesome. They are chock full of messianic prophecy, national judgement, national blessings, and lots of good hope for the future. If you are thinking that this might bore you to death- have no fear, friends, because I promise you will not be bored, at least I hope...so buckle your seat belts and hold on tight-- Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Here is a little snap shot of why the "Minors are sooo not Minor"

This is the gist of this chart- there are 2 different types of prophets- there are the non-litearary, those who didn't write anything, and the literary, those who did write something. The non-literary prophets mainly addressed what was going on during their own time. But, the literary prophets, where the Minors fall, contain some 61% predictive material- which means that over half of their material deals with the future times. This is something to ponder indeed! What do they predict? Well, here is the 2 main themes that emerge out of them: (1) the 2 kingdoms will eventually cease to exist (Judah and Israel) AND (2) God will establish a new kingdom of a different kind, one that will attract all people (sound familiar?). The head of this new kingdom would be none other than the Messiah- who we have come to worship and adore as Jesus Christ...... see- the Minors are not minor at all! But I am getting into it too deeply right now....

Back to the basics. I have for you this very terrific summary chart of the prophets. Much painstaking work has been done by yours truly in its preparation. It reflects hours of mind numbing study, so enjoy. It is a very good summary of the Prophets in chart form. You can find it here on this new page I have established for the proliferation of all things "Minor": Awesome Prophets Chart .

Give that baby a good look, then come back to the page.

Ok, welcome back. I want to give you a little snapshot of the historical juncture we are at in the Minors. There resides at the furthest reaches of my book shelf a large book by John Bright called, "A History of Israel." Up to this point, I thought that this book was destined to a life of dust collecting and putting me to sleep at night. But alas, it has been resurrected and its has taken on a new significance in my life... at least in the life of this blog at this particular moment in time. For I have mined out of it a few gems, some very quality charts and maps. You know, the ones that you flip through in the back of your bible when the sermon happens to be particularly boring (unless of course you go to Oaks, then you don't know what I am talking about). I found a set of 3 charts, scanned by mine own hand (hence their shoddy appearance) that will be of extreme help to us in placing the Minors in their historical context. You see, I am a chart geek. I love to get a visual picture of things- helps me to wrap my brain around them.... Pay particular to the books in the brackets (Amos) (Hosea) (Micah) (Zephaniah) (Habakuk) (Nahum) (Obadiah) and (Malachi)

If those charts were super boring to you, my apologies. I find them quite helpful. Here is the gist- the minor prophets cover a pretty broad timeframe, but mostly coming toward the end of the Kingdoms (Judah and Israel), as least as they knew it.

Ok, well, you are in for a treat- if those charts were super boring for you- I have some very juicy tidbits for you here. Prepare for an informational Minor Prophet deluge... Hold onto your seats....

Whew-- too much to handle in one blog? I think not- one final chart (this is basically the same chart that I made. I wish, actually, that I knew of its existence before I created mine! Oh well, you learn more the other way.

Ok friends, that is enough for today. I hope this gives you a pretty comprehensive overview/preview of the Minors. For the next blog- read Obadiah. Its a short book, I look forward to enjoying some dialogue. I will assume you have read it for the blog.... and one more thing, I am going to be going through them chronologically, not in the same exact order they are in the Bible. If you are wondering why there is a difference, I have put a chart somewhere up there that explains it. If not, this will explain it:

That is all I have for today. This is a lot to digest- so enjoy. PJ