Way of Life Commentary: Minor Prophets

The Minor Prophets are so named not because they are of lesser importance than the “major prophets” but because they are shorter in length than Isaiah Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. (The exceptions are Hosea and Zechariah which have more chapters than Daniel.)

They are also called “minor” because the prophecies encompass a smaller view than the major prophets. The major prophets give the broad overview of prophetic events and themes, whereas each minor prophet focuses on one or more of these events and themes to enlarge and amplify it.

Each of the minor prophetic books is a powerful and important divine revelation.

In the Minor Prophets, we see His amazing love and kindness and long-suffering. G. Campbell Morgan observed, “When I decided to take up these minor prophets, I expected to study a very magnificent section of prophecy in which I should hear stern, hard, magnificent Hebrew prophets thundering against sin. I found this even more than I had expected, but the supreme thing in every one of their prophecies is that the God with whom these men were intimate was known by them to be a God of tender love, of infinite compassion, angry because He loves, dealing in wrath upon the basis of His love, and proceeding through judgment to the ultimate purpose of His heart. It is the heartbeat of God that throbs through these passages.”

Major Themes of the Minor Prophets are: The Revelation of God. The chief purpose of the Bible is to reveal God’s heart and character; The call of Israel to repentance; The day of the Lord; Encouragement of believers; The Messiah; The restoration of Israel; The Messianic kingdom

This series is designed in a unique format to be used as commentaries, as teaching courses, and for expository preaching. The commentaries are thorough, serious, broad, insightful, and practical, with an emphasis on application to the Christian life and ministry. Context is honored; words are defined; metaphors are explained; difficulties are tackled. The commentaries are packed with historical backgrounds and archaeological studies based on the author’s personal research, which is reflected in books such as Bible Times and Ancient Kingdoms and Jews in Fighter Jets. The interpretation is from a literal, dispensational perspective, and the King James Bible is explained but not criticized. There is no hint of modernism nor influence from compromised evangelicalism. The user will find no reference to or dependence upon men such as Origen, Jerome, Augustine, C.S. Lewis, Eberhard Nestle, or Bruce Metzger.

Way of Life Literature, copyright 2018, paperback, 452 pages.