Zephaniah was the last of the minor prophets to write before the captivity.  His message to Judah parallels Amos' message to the northern kingdom, Israel, more than a century earlier.  God's judgement cannot be ignored; His great love should not be forgotten.  

Believers must learn to take God seriously.  He reserves the right to be God, to work as He sees fit.  We may turn toward Him with questions, but we will never understand life if we, instead, turn away from Him in bitterness.  This prophet resolves the problem of evil in the world, not in intellectual debate, but through a fresh encounter with the God of history. 

Nahum, like the earlier book of Jonah, focuses attention on Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire.  But where Jonah records the city's reprieve, Nahum predicts destruction.  Prophesying in the mid-seventh century B.C., Nahum composes the most graphic poetry in the Bible.  Along the way, he verbally paints a stunningly comprehensive picture of Judah's God.

Micah writes to a nation addicted to luxury and careless of the civil rights of the common man.  The people were ruled by leaders who were proud, unscrupulous, and cruel.  Practical unbelief coexisted with the outward worship of Yahweh.  Lying politicians were supported by false prophets.  His visions targeted both Israel and Judah...and contemporary America!

More ridiculed than any other book in the Bible, Jonah is not simply an interesting fable about a man swallowed by a fish.  In fact, only three verses mention the fish.  Neither allegory nor parable, this literal account of a man's dissatisfaction with God rings true as a resoundingly modern story.  What do we do when God won't cooperate with our plans?

Briefest of the Minor Prophets, Obadiah doesn't speak primarily to Judah.  Instead, he speaks warnings to Edom as a demonstration that Yahweh knows no boundaries.  All nations stand accountable before Him.  This urgent message is meant for the nations of 2020 as well.

Prophesying to the Northern Kingdom in the eight-century B.C., Amos was contemporary with Hosea in Israel and Isaiah and Micah in Judah.  He was a laymen called by God to confront complacency and indulgence.  God's economy had become a society of haves and have nots hidden behind self-righteous religious activities.  To this unjust people, the God of Armies roars His Word like a lion!

Joel (“Yahweh is God”) is identified as the son of Pethuel. No other biographical information or historical context is made available. His message is, therefore, timeless as a warning of certain judgment on sin, a call to determined repentance, and a reminder of the character of the Almighty God.

Hosea was a man who wore his heart on his sleave; and his book teaches us that sin not only breaks God's law, it also breaks God's heart.  Forerunner to Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, Hosea prophesied when memories of Elijah and Elisha were still fresh in the land.  Speaking primarily to Israel, he frames false religion as adultery and hold out hope for restoration to those who turn to God in repentance.  

It is easy to waste life on small purposes- to blunder through our days without direction, busy yet getting nowhere.  A person without purpose makes no progress in life, even when circumstances seem favorable.  Authentic believers, however, answer a call to noble living, adopting the high standard of godliness in order to glorify Christ Jesus.