The aim of this book is to present to readers, both Christian and non-Christian, the five rather different messages which the so-called ‘Minor Prophets’ Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah preached to their Israelite contemporaries, mostly in the eighth century BC, in the conviction that they are still very relevant to us today in the twenty-first century AD. The messages are very searching, because they relate to our conduct in daily life today, and speak of our spiritual destiny. They are also very revealing, since they speak both of God’s interventions in the history of ancient Israel, and of His further plans for them and the whole world, probably in the near future. In some of them Christ is clearly predicted to hold the key to Israel’s final blessing, while in others we can learn valuable lessons for Christian life and service. These messages are divinely-inspired to guide us safely through the dangers all around us today into the safety of God’s heavenly harbour. To ignore them is disastrous. After a General Introduction, each book is introduced individually, then followed by a concise commentary on every chapter in it. The historical background of each is described, as is its outline analysis, but most is said concerning its main message for the original readers and for us today. Linguistic difficulties are considered fairly briefly to ascertain the meaning intended by the prophet, and several helpful more literal translations of the Scriptures are referred to, besides the AV/KJV, which is the base text followed. The commentaries are written from the doctrinally conservative Pre-Millennial Pre-Tribulational point of view, in which the principle ‘literal wherever possible’ is used, and found to explain the text of all Scripture and its meaning more coherently and satisfactorily than any other approach.
