God speaks – do we respond?
The holy book for Christians is referred to as the Bible.
This book, however, is a vast library featuring a collection of writings from a variety of authors communicating a wide range of topics using a multitude of writing techniques. These are works to be considered and admired for they reveal God’s relationship with His world.
Anyone suggesting that the Bible is easy to read, obviously has only read key segments of it. There’s so much to understand and at the heart of it is to hear and see who God is and His desire for His creation. That’s why among the most fascinating figures in biblical narrative is the role and character of the prophet.
The prophet expressed the heart of God and gave His word that was pertinent for a certain audience in a given time. There was, however, words that had a bearing on the character of God and His plan that would have effects far beyond the circumstance of that initial time and that audience. To hear and read the prophetic now is an invitation to see the eternal purpose of God and ask questions of Him.
Questions like: What can we learn about you from this? Where are you shining a light on our character and behaviour in this? How can we avoid the failings of those who heard and didn’t take heed?
There are quite a number of prophets throughout the Bible. Among them are a collection of twelve prophets in the last part of the Old Testament. They’re referred to as ‘minor’ prophets only because of the amount that they contribute in comparison to the likes of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
‘Minor’ though they be, they still have something major to say in understanding who God is and how He relates with His people. Thus through March the idea is to explore these minors and get a glimpse of what can be learnt.
This series won’t an in-depth verse by verse study. More a general exploration of each prophet in two parts and hopefully for us to be the better for the experience.
God is speaking, are we listening?
(Photo by Elliot Sloman on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
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