Habakkuk wonderfully frames a question that runs through the Bible and human experience: if God is good and powerful, why do evil and injustice flourish? God?s unexpected answer and Habakkuk?s prayerful response show us what realistic faith looks like.

Nahum is a book of shocking images. They are images that challenge our common notions of what God is like, that challenge our tendency to flatten the character of God. They are images that show us clearly that God is against all evil, that make us ask whether God is against us. And they are images meant to send us running to Jesus.

Like so many of the Minor Prophets, Micah focuses on coming judgment and promises a kingdom of peace and security on the other side of judgment. But Micah is unique in his focus on leadership. Israel?s unfaithful leaders led to the nation?s downfall. So who would lead them?and us?to peace?

Jonah is a powerful story celebrating the extent of God?s mercy that reaches even to the enemies of his people. But even more, it is an ironic and witty satire exposing the foolishness and hypocrisy of Jonah. The story contrasts, on one hand, Jonah?s experience of God?s mercy when he deserved to die for his disobedience; and, on the other hand, Jonah?s burning resentment when Ninevah receives the same mercy he enjoyed. The key question for us: how can we avoid Jonah?s hypocrisy?

In the wake of their exile, and especially given their treatment at the hands of their enemy Edom, Israel had to wonder whether the promises of God would come to nothing. Obadiah prophesied against Edom, but his was a message Israel was meant to overhear. It?s a message meant to encourage them and all who have ever had cause to doubt whether God could deliver on his promises.

A contemporary of Hosea, Amos prophesied to dispel Israel?s mistaken assumption that sin and judgment were someone else?s problem. Amos is unique among the prophets for his emphasis on Israel?s exploitation of the weak and vulnerable. His words, full of beauty and laced with satire, help us understand why God takes injustice personally. And they help us understand why Jesus is the only hope for the unjust.

Like so many of the Minor Prophets, Joel is a book of warning. He speaks especially of a coming ?Day of the Lord,? a decisive and terrible day when everyone opposed to God?s rule will be destroyed. That has never been a fashionable message, perhaps never less so than now. But what if Joel is right? How could we avoid our share in that judgment?

Hosea offers one of the Bible?s most vivid illustrations of the nature of sin: sin boils down to spiritual adultery, rejecting God?s love in favor of other options. But Hosea offers just as vivid an illustration of redemption in the face of judgment, what one author has called ?an anticipation in pageant form of Christ?s story.?

This series introduction answers three basic questions: What are the Minor Prophets? What can we learn from the Minor Prophets? And how can we make the most of this study?

The nature of the gospel ? Paul?s ?mystery of Christ? ? controls how we communicate this message to those who don?t follow Jesus. In other words, the message should control the medium.