A simple way to introduce these studies in the Minor Prophets will be to ask and answer these questions about them: Who were they? Why are they known as ‘Minor Prophets? When and where did they live? What was their ministry? What was their message? Once we have answers to these questions we will be in a position to look at the prophets' main themes before focusing on one specific statement made by each one of them.
Not only should we rely wholeheartedly on the faithful exposition of the Bible as the written Word of God, we should not insist on signs and wonders as an authentication of a preacher's ministry. The message is clear: if people will not listen to the Word of God and turn to him in repentance and faith as a result, no ‘signs and wonders' will move them to do so, not even a long-buried friend coming back to life.
The Bible is the only infallible word we have or need, revealing to us that in the Lord Jesus Christ we have the Prophet to end all prophets, the Priest to end all priests and the King to end all kings. Our great need today is not for prophets but for preachers, men who will give themselves sacrificially to the study of the Word of God and to its systematic exegesis and exposition, ‘rightly handling the word of truth' (2 Timothy 2:15) and applying its truth to their hearers.
