The End of the Minor Prophets

After nearly a semester of discussion, lecture, and writing on the board (not me, the students) we have reached the prophet Malachi. What an amazing book it is!! The marvelous reward today was that the students paid more attention to the small, apparently insignificant themes in Malachi that were large, very significant themes in the other eleven prophets (that's why it is called the "Book of the Twelve"). That is marvelous because it means they have learned that there are themes in the OT that continue to repeat themselves over and again. That is a valuable lesson.

This blog is designed to relate the past, sometimes dusty and dry, to the future, not always that spotless and pristine. The lesson from Malachi is that the present can learn from the past. If Malachi continues to repeat themes that were introduced by Amos and Hosea 400 years previous (at least by my reckoning), then it is highly likely that those same themes may just be relevant now, a mere 24oo years later. Could that be possible?

Is it possible that the universal sovereignty of this god frequently called by the proper noun, GOD, or G_D, or YHWH, or LORD, or some other proper noun is still a reality?

Is it possible that this deity is concerned more about how we live than how we worship?

Is it possible that the divine figure reported to send prophets who prophesy prophecies is actually concerned about the treatment of the poor, the widow, the stranger and foreigner?

Is it possible that the issues that were stumbling blocks for a people living in the region on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean and their religious perspective could also be the same stumbling blocks for people living there (and elsewhere, especially in places that don't even border the Mediterranean Sea) in this century that is so "modern"?

Is it possible that the result of biblical illiteracy (that's for my friend Nancy deClaisse-Walford) is not merely ignorance but blindness to the whole idea of the divine?

I love the prophets. They provide so few answers and so many unanswered questions.

Have a Major (and not too minor) week.