God’s concern with biblical justice, as portrayed in the Minor Prophets, is primarily seen in terms of His covenant with Israel. Any treatment of our current social milieu that doesn’t place things squarely within this interpretive lens is dangerously myopic, at best. The point being: social justicians tend to place a heavy emphasis on righting perceived societal wrongs, but they do so to the detriment of the main points of these respective texts, which are grounded in Israel’s faithfulness (or faithlessness) to the Mosaic Covenant given in Ex. 19-24 (see also covenantal blessing and cursing in Deut. 28 and Lev. 26).

The Minor Prophets are often quite neglected in the church today. Some find them inordinately difficult to interpret due to the genres these books employ, especially as they can cover the range of poetic, dialectic, prophetic, and apocalyptic styles all in one fell swoop. Others struggle to see the relevance they have within the church today. Some of this is due to a Marconian influence in failing to see their relevance to New Testament believers, whether that’s intentional or not. Some of it is due to people simply not knowing their Old Testament all that well. They may struggle to understand how God operates in terms of covenant, or how these covenants even relate to one another. They may likewise struggle with their eschatology, so these books prove to be all the more daunting for some, as they concern God’s redemptive work with Israel.

Then you have a rather large contingent in the church today that bastardizes the Minor Prophets in favor of adopting the ideologies bound up in Critical Race Theory, or the more popular movement concerning social justice. I have it in mind to do a series of posts concerning this very thing, where I give an exegetical treatment of the pertinent passages often quoted by social justicians. However, as this is not the focus of this particular post, I will simply summarize my critique in saying that God’s concern with biblical justice, as portrayed in the Minor Prophets, is primarily seen in terms of His covenant with Israel. Any treatment of our current social milieu that doesn’t place things squarely within this interpretive lens is dangerously myopic, at best. The point being: social justicians tend to place a heavy emphasis on righting perceived societal wrongs, but they do so to the detriment of the main points of these respective texts, which are grounded in Israel’s faithfulness (or faithlessness) to the Mosaic Covenant given in Ex. 19-24 (see also covenantal blessing and cursing in Deut. 28 and Lev. 26).

Yet one reason I believe the Minor Prophets are often neglected the most is that they tend to be rather sober reads. They require careful, personal reflection from the one who wishes to take the words of the apostle Paul seriously. The rather sordid history of Israel serves as an example and a warning to the church, so that the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall (1 Cor. 10:11-12). As with Israel, Paul’s warning is seen in light of covenant faithfulness (1 Cor. 10:14-22). In the same manner, the author of Hebrews challenges the church to see Israel’s apostasy in the wilderness as a profound warning (Heb. 3:7-19). While this theme is not unique to the Minor Prophets, they nonetheless approach this topic from a different vantage point than other biblical authors. Think of it as the turning of a diamond to examine yet another facet of its brilliance.

I think of the book of Amos only because I’m currently preaching through it for my church—but here the prophet portrays God as a ferocious Lion set on devouring His prey, which are the ten tribes of Israel under the reign of Jeroboam II. The first two chapters drill this reality home as the Lion moves from region to region, drawing concentric circles around the Northern Kingdom. While the surrounding, pagan nations and the Kingdom of Judah have likewise drawn God’s ire, it is Israel who finds herself as the true target. In essence, those prior to those ten northern tribes are but the appetizer to the main course.

The reason for Israel’s judgment is bound up, again, in covenant unfaithfulness to the Lord, which plays out in a remarkably twisted manner. Those in power and affluence abuse the weak and the poor. Father and son fornicate with the same cultic prostitute, which indicates the nation is not only knee deep in the sexual perversion of incest, but they are idolatrous to boot. They encourage the breaking of vows for the Nazirites. They reject the prophets. Israel’s women lord over their husbands, and their husbands likewise fail to lead. The sacrificial system is exploited and corrupt in every conceivable way.

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