Minor Prophets for Real Life
BRANDEN OBRERO
11/22/2025
How applicable are the Old Testament Minor Prophets to contemporary Christians? Can they be relevant for specific ministry situations, or are they best used to provide narrative illustrations and astounding claims? The Minor Prophets are most relevant to specific situations if one can understand a prophetic book’s message through its fulfillment in Christ. I hope to illustrate this with the following example.
Does a person’s view of God’s grace affect his perspective on the judgement of sin? Amos 9 helps address this question and is applicable to a ministry situation of mine. I have a friend, Raphy, who is a professing Christian. When I caught up with him, he was discouraged over an inadequate amount of righteous works in his life. In particular, he felt his lack of caring for the Church’s poor is a sin that will warrant judgement, and he desired to express more righteous works in his life. I believe Raphy’s discouragement has resulted from an imbalanced understanding of sin and grace. The issue facing me is how to best encourage Raphy, from Scripture, to have a healthy, biblical understanding of the judgement of sin but also the significance of God’s grace in the gospel. Amos 9 applies to this situation by displaying that the sins of God’s people warrant judgement but also that God preserves and restores his people by his grace.
The book of Amos was written by the prophet Amos during the “days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel” (Amos 1:1 ESV). Amos’s ministry was “set in the northern kingdom [of Israel] against the backdrop of the great success that attended the reigns of Jeroboam and Uzziah…a period of unprecedented prosperity.”[1] The book opens with judgements proclaimed on Israel’s pagan neighbors (Amos 1:2-2:3) “primarily for war crimes.”[2] Judgement is then proclaimed on the nation of Judah for transgressions of the law (Amos 2:4-5). Finally, judgement is pronounced on the nation of Israel itself (Amos 2:6-16). Prophetic lawsuits against Israel for transgressions of the covenant are frequent in Amos 3-6.[3] God then shows Amos five visions of judgement against Israel; the first four are contained in Amos 7-8. Amos 9 contains the fifth and final vision. The first part of the fifth vision (Amos 9:1-10) is the “culmination of the previous oracles and visions”[4] where the inescapable nature of God’s judgement is shown.[5] However, Amos 9:8-10 reveals that God will graciously preserve a remnant of the Israelites. Though the “sinful kingdom” (Amos 9:8 ESV) will be destroyed, God will “not utterly destroy the house of Jacob” (Amos 9:8 ESV). Amos 9:11-15 then describes an amazing restoration of Israel.
Amos 9 displays that the sins of God’s people, the Israelites, warrant judgement. Earlier in Amos, the Israelites were exhorted to seek God (Amos 5:4-6) and were rebuked for not returning to him (Amos 4:6-13). Amos 9:1-4 describes the inescapable judgement of God in response to their sins, much of which was idolatry, social injustice,[6] and “the abuse of wealth, power, and privilege by the wealthy in Samaria.”[7] Two merisms are used in Amos 9:2-3 to show there is no place where God’s judgement can be evaded – neither heaven or hell, neither the bottom of the sea or a mountaintop, can provide escape for the Israelites.[8] Not even exile can prevent death as a result of judgement (Amos 9:4).[9]
The implied law in this passage is that God’s people should not transgress God’s laws. Stated conversely, it is that God’s people should be righteous. Consequently, it is understandable that Raphy desires a greater expression of righteous works in his life. However, Raphy’s persistent discouragement over his perceived sin warranting judgement reveals he may have lost sight of the grace in the gospel. The judgement as a result of sin described in Amos 9 was fulfilled in the destruction and exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.[10] Typologically, God’s judgements on sin throughout Scripture prefigure God’s definitive judgement of sin at the cross of Christ for all God’s people composing the true Church (Isa 53:4-6; Rom 5:8-9; 2 Cor 5:21) and at the final judgement for all other people (Matt 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15). Raphy, and every Christian, does sin throughout life, which warrants judgement. However, Jesus Christ experienced that judgement on Raphy’s behalf on the cross (1 Pet 3:18-22). Raphy does fail to obey the implicit law to be righteous, including caring for the poor within the Church. However, Jesus was sinless (Heb 4:15; 1 John 3:5) and did perfectly care for the poor amongst God’s people (Matt 11:4-5). It is Jesus’ perfect righteousness which has been credited to every Christian in God’s sight (2 Cor 5:20-21; Rom 3:21-22). When Raphy is discouraged by the sin in his life or feels that he isn’t righteous enough, he must remember that it isn’t his own righteousness he must trust in. Rather, it is Jesus’ righteousness credited to him in God’s sight.
A sinful heart issue of pride may have caused Raphy to lose sight of the grace in the gospel, leading to his discouragement. He may want to feel that he contributed to his salvation, that he has done the works required. After being saved by faith, Raphy must not foolishly think he continues in salvation by works (Gal 3:1-6). Rather, he must rest in the salvation he received by faith, made possible through the work of Christ.
Amos 9 also displays that God preserves and restores his people by his grace. God promised to preserve a faithful remnant of the Israelites from destruction (Amos 9:8-10). Israel is described as being “[shaken] with a sieve” (Amos 9:9 ESV), which references the idea that the righteous will be separated from the non-righteous.[11] God also promised a future restoration for the preserved remnant. “In that day” (Amos 9:11 ESV) God will “raise up the booth of David that is fallen” (Amos 9:11 ESV), referencing the kingdom and dynasty of David.[12] This restored Israel will then possess “all the nations who are called by [the Lord’s] name” (Amos 9:12 ESV), alluding to power over former enemies.[13] They will experience great agricultural abundance (Amos 9:13-14) where there is so much produce that harvest won’t finish before the next planting of crops,[14] and they will “never again be uprooted” (Amos 9:15 ESV). God did preserve and restore a remnant of Israelites, albeit from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, as recounted in Ezra and Nehemiah. However, this restoration was lacking in comparison to the description in Amos 9:11-15.[15] Post-exilic Israel did not possess the lands of former enemies. Rather, they were still under Roman rule during the life of Jesus. Elements of the restoration remained unfulfilled.
Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the preservation and restoration of God’s people described in Amos 9. Jesus, the Davidic king who reigns for eternity, progressed the restoration of Israel described in Amos 9:11-15 through the creation of the Church at his first coming. James understood the fulfillment of restored Israel possessing foreign nations as the inclusion of gentiles into the people of God (Acts 15:13-18). The New Testament transforms “the remnant of Israel…into the Christian ‘remnant.’”[16] The promise of overflowing agricultural abundance plausibly awaits fulfillment in “a wider renewal of the whole earth in a future age.”[17] Jesus also preserves the Church in the current age against Satan (2 Thess 3:3) and unto salvation (Eph 1:13-14; 4:30). This applies to my ministry situation by affirming that not only has God saved Raphy by grace, but God is also preserving Raphy by grace through the current age and into eternity. Raphy’s discouragement reveals he likely lost sight of the aforementioned reality that every part of his Christian life is by God’s grace. Raphy must let go of any prideful desire to contribute to salvation by works (Gal 3:1-6) and rest in the peace of Christ he already has (Col 3:15). However, this is not to discount the good works that should characterize Raphy’s life as a Christian (Eph 2:8-10; Jas 2:18).
Amos 9 displays that the sins of God’s people warranting judgement must be understood in relation to God preserving and restoring his people by grace. Raphy’s discouragement over his inadequate care for the Church’s poor and fixation on works reveals he likely lost sight of the grace in the gospel. When Raphy is discouraged that his sins warrant judgement, he must find comfort knowing that Jesus paid the cost of that judgement on the cross. When Raphy is discouraged by his lack of righteous works, he must find comfort knowing Jesus’ righteousness has been credited to him in God’s sight by grace through faith. Raphy must rest in the peace of Christ he already has and remember God’s grace abounds in every part of his Christian life. Concurrently, he must also strive to exhibit the good works that should characterize a Christian’s life, also empowered by the grace of God.
As I hope has been displayed by the preceding example, the Minor Prophets are relevant to specific ministry situations. However, they must be understood through their fulfillment in Christ. If one fails to do this, he risks moralizing a prophetic narrative and feigning a connection to modern hearers. Let us strive to apply the richness of the Minor Prophets to our own lives and situations through understanding their fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Notes
[1] Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2006), 423.
[2] Longman III and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 428.
[3] Longman III and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 429.
[4] John Oswalt, study notes in ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1674.
[5] Oswalt, study notes in ESV Study Bible, 1674.
[6] Longman III and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 431.
[7] Longman III and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 423.
[8] Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, Word Biblical Commentary 31 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1988), 392.
[9] Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 392.
[10] S. A. Fix, “Notes and Reflections on Christ in Amos 9,” (handout, Westminster Theological Seminary, Glenside, PA, May 24, 2025), 1.
[11] M. Daniel Carroll R., The Book of Amos, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020), 642, ProQuest Ebook Central.
[12] Carroll R., The Book of Amos, 650.
[13] Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 398.
[14] Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 398.
[15] Carroll R., The Book of Amos, 658.
[16] Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, 400.
[17] Oswalt, study notes in ESV Study Bible, 1675.