An excellent guide to the books of the Minor Prophets, this volume is unique for its theological depth. It was written to provide clergy with the tools to once again preach from these important texts with confidence and relevancy.

The New International Biblical Commentary (NIBC) offers the best of contemporary scholarship in a format that both general readers and serious students can use with profit. Based on the widely used NIV translation, the NIBC presents careful section-by-section exposition with key terms and phrases highlighted and all Hebrew transliterated. A separate section of notes at the close of each chapter provides additional textual and technical comments. Each commentary also includes a selected bibliography as well as Scripture and subject indexes. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah are included in this volume.

The Minor Prophets were the courageous and true spokesmen for God during the time of the great Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires. Joel's prophecy appears to be the first of all the books of prophecy, and Malachi the last. They are called Minor Prophets because they are shorter in length than the Major Prophets. However, their writings are no less important. We will look at the prophets in their chronological order. Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, and Micah prophesied during the Divided Kingdom. Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah were prophets in Judah before the Babylonian Exile. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi prophesied after the return to Jerusalem from the exile. Jonah of Israel and Nahum of Judah prophesied against the city of Nineveh in Assyria. "Before the time of Christ these twelve books were joined together to make one scroll known collectively as "The Twelve."

During the early part of 2019, our Sunday school lessons centered on the Old Testament prophets, particularly the minor prophets. It was a great challenge to understand their messages and the messages' relevancy for our times. It seemed as if there really were no significant differences in these books of prophecy, as the minor prophets all seemed to be saying the same thing. Of course, there are differences in the messages and ministries of the minor prophets, hence, my attempt to show so. My goal was to summarize the writings and ministries of the minor prophets and show their relevancy for today. This I did through a series of sermons that were initially delivered in the Calvary Baptist Church during the winter of 2019. My goal was to make the teachings of the minor prophets understandable to every segment of our membership. The approach was more inspirational than overly scholarly. Each chapter of the book is provocatively titled and begins with a story or illustration that centers on that particular subject. The intent was to reference something that the reader could relate to and see how the prophet addresses that matter. Of course, not every single detail of the prophet's message is included due to the constraints of time, etc. My hope is that the readers of this book will come to know God better and to have a relationship with him. They will see that in spite of people's imperfections, our God is perfect and faithful toward us. The minor prophets challenge us to live faithfully for God. To the extent I have been able to evoke this kind of response from my readers, I give all glory and honor to God.

This book provides theological insights as well as practical sermon suggestions for preachers and seminary students. It treats the reader to a thorough examination of how to approach and interpret any portion of the Old Testament.