Minor Prophets

[JohnStevenson]

This board does not seem to get a lot of action and the Minor Prophets seem to be even less represented. Do you find that these books are often ignored from today's pulpits, preaching and Bible study?

What do you think accounts for that?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

When I was pulpit supply (before I was ordained) some years ago, I preached through Hosea. I was rewarding in some ways, but I realized I should not have tried to preach through any minor prophet, let alone the longest one, as such a greenhorn.

Essentially, preaching through a prophetical book is preaching on preaching, or preaching someone else's preaching. I consider it to be one of the most challenging aspects of anyone's preaching ministry.

It wouldn't be bad to preach a short series on a prophet as a young preacher. It would be very good to preach occasional sermons on particular texts, and gain valuabel experience in this kind of exegesis, analysis, and preaching before attempting a major undertaking in this kind of literature.

And then, make a careful selection of what and where to take it up. Much, indeed a tremendous amount of this material, is judgment and condemnation. Most of it was preached to a religiously backsliding people, to a church drifting or plunging into apostasy. There are important words of comfort to the faithful remnant and the repentant. But preaching that powerful judgment to your congregation week after week may be hitting them with something they don't need as much as something else. Then again...

Now, perhaps in a lecture format/Bible study setting, you can be more explanatory, analytical, social-relations oriented, etc., and your hearers will certainly benefit. To directly answer the question, "Why don't we hear more preaching on this material," I would say there is a measure of wariness on the part of many preachers, and perhaps too much of that.

The choice of text (or texts in series) ought to be a careful matter, and very much attuned to a specific congregation's needs. But as a preacher or a teacher, you will miss some of the richness of biblical content if you ignore these books as well.

 

[py3ak]

Obadiah

So far I have only listened to the first one, but it was so good that I plan to finish the entire series on Obadiah by Dr. Bacon which is available here

He suggests a reason why people avoid at least Obadiah among the minor prophets. If the first one is anything to go by, I think this will be a useful series for helping people to preach on the minor prophets.