Week 49, December 1–7: Hosea 1–14; Joel, Amos 1–2; Psalms 131–136

• Sun      12/1     Hos 1–3          
• Mon     12/2     Hos 4–5           Psalm 131
• Tue      12/3     Hos 6–8           Psalm 132
• Wed     12/4     Hos 9–11         Psalm 133
• Thu      12/5     Hos 12–14       Psalm 134
• Fri        12/6     Joel 1–3          Psalm 135
• Sat       12/7     Amos 1–2        Psalm 136

This week we begin the last stretch of OT reading for the year, the books often referred to as the Minor Prophets. This group of relatively short biblical books (Hosea–Malachi) was considered a single book in the most ancient collections of writings in the Hebrew Bible, at it is referred to the Book of the Twelve. Adding to this historical evidence for the unity of this group, there are several features within the text that suggest they were intentionally tied together as a unified composition. Here are several examples of the kind of links that suggest intentional interconnectedness (sometimes referred to as “intertextuality”) between the Minor Prophets:

• “Restore their captivity” (Hos. 6:11; Joel 3:1; Amos 9:14; Zeph. 2:7; 3:20
• “I will send fire on their cities and consume their fortresses” (Hos. 8:14; Amos 1:5ff)
• “Day of Yahweh is near” (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 3:14; Amos 5:18–20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:14–15
• “Day of gloom and darkness” (Joel 2:2; Amos 5:18; Zeph. 1:15)
• Quote of (or allusion to) Exod. 34:6 (Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2; Mic. 7:18–20; Nah. 1:3 [Also maybe Hos 4:1-8; 8:13; 9:9; Amos 3:2,14])
• “Who knows whether he may turn and have compassion” (Joel 2:14; Jon. 3:9)
• “Everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved” (Joel 2:32; cf. Amos 9:12; Jon. 1:8; 3:8; Zeph. 3:9)
• “There will be deliverance on Mt. Zion” (Joel 2:32; Obad. 17)
• “I will gather all nations and enter into judgment with them” (Joel 3:2; cf. Zeph. 3:8)
• “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears” (Joel 3:10; cf. Mic. 4:3)
• “Yahweh will roar from Jerusalem” (Joel 3:16; Amos 1:2)
• “Jerusalem/Zion will be holy” (Joel 3:17; Obad. 17)
• “Strangers/wicked will no longer pass through you (Joel 4:17; Nah. 1:15)
• “Mountains drip with wine and hills with milk (Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13)
• “What I have not punished I will punish” (Joel 3:21; cf. Nah. 1:3)
• “Yahweh will dwell in Mt. Zion” (Joel 3:17, 21; cf. Obad. 17; Mic. 4:7)
• “Every face grows pale” (Joel 2:6; Nah. 2:10)
• “That they may possess a remnant of Edom” (Amos 9:12; cf. Obad. 17, 19–21)
• “In that day I will assemble the lame and gather the scattered (Mic. 4:6; Zeph. 3:19)
• “Day of trouble” (Nah. 1:7; Hab. 3:16; Zeph. 1:15)
• “Be silent before Yahweh” (Hab. 2:20; Zeph. 3:19)

Other similar threads like this could be added, demonstrating a deliberate interconnectedness tying together the Minor Prophets, the different parts of the Book of the Twelve. So when we read it, we follow the design of Scripture by looking for the unifying themes. We can read Hosea and track its message on its own, but we should also be following along with the message of the whole collection and seeking to hear and respond to that overall message too. With that being said, here we will include just a brief introductory overview of the individual contributions of each of the twelve prophets in this collection.

Hosea serves as sort of a thematic introduction to the Book of the Twelve. His name, Hosea, means “He saves” or simply “salvation” and it is the same as Joshua’s original name (Num 13:16) and related to the Hebrew name underlying Jesus’ name. The time of Hosea’s prophetic ministry spanned the reigns of Uzziah (aka Azariah, 2 Kgs. 15:1; 2 Chr. 26:1), Jotham (2 Kgs. 15:32-38), Ahaz (2 Kings 16), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18–20) in the southern kingdom of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Joash (2 Kgs. 14:23; 15:1) in the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea’s prophetic message is mostly directed towards Israel, just prior to their fall and exile to Assyria.

One unique aspect of Hosea that contributes significantly to its message and to the message of the Book of the Twelve as a whole is that Hosea’s own life story provides a sort of parable for the Lord’s critique of his people. The prophet’s relationship with his unfaithful wife represents God’s relationship with unfaithful Israel. This is a theme running through all the OT prophets, both the so-called Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets. The prophets’ words to the people, and their written words we read now, declare God’s righteous judgement on his wayward, sinful people. These books call God’s people to turn from their sinful ways and return to the Lord (Hos. 6:1a). Punishment and consequences dominate the prophetic books, but a persistent message of hope is included throughout all these books as well.

Hosea cries out for the people to return to the Lord, “for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hos. 6:1b–2) Earlier in Hosea we read that at a later time, God’s people will return to him and “seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days” (Hos. 3:5). This verse, which could be seen as the theme verse for the whole Book of the Twelve, speaks of a time to come (from the prophets’ perspective) when a new David would come and reign over God’s kingdom, and he would restore his people to the Lord and to resurrection life.

Joel is a short book that centers around a prophetic message of judgement, which is depicted as a locust plague, and of salvation on the Day of the Lord. Joel’s name means “The Lord (Yahweh) is God”. Unlike Hosea and some of the other Minor Prophets, this book gives no clear indication of its historical context or the date it was written. Some have suggested this is because it was meant to function as a liturgical lament, repeated across time in various contexts.

The three chapters can be broken down into a two-part structure, divided between 2:17 and 2:18. The first half speaks of the Day of the Lord and gives a call to repentance, and the second half looks ahead to restoration and the final Day of the Lord. As we have observed before, often the perspective of the prophets in the OT is of a future that appears to unfold all at once, but as history unfolds, we realize later that the events the prophet was anticipating may take place in different eras. We see an example of this principle in Acts 2:14–21. There Peter (and Luke the author) observes the miraculous phenomena of the Holy Spirit coming upon believers in Jerusalem, and we see this beginning of the Church as the fulfillment of Joel’s Day of the Lord Prophecy. However, there is more envisioned in the prophet’s message of what will take place in the coming days; there is further eschatological fulfillment beyond what was fulfilled in Acts. The Day of the Lord has come, and we still await its final consummation.

We also begin reading Amos this week and continue it into next week’s reading. Amos was a shepherd and did not consider himself a professional prophet (Amos 7:14). His prophetic ministry overlapped with Hosea’s and he prophesied in the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, king of Israel. Amos’s message calls out the sin of Israel, particularly focusing on their idolatrous practices and the social injustice of the rich and powerful oppressing the poor and needy.

Rather than going through the motions of religious practice, what God wants from his people is true justice and righteousness.

“I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

I will not look upon them.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:21–24)