I want to begin today's entry by making a heartfelt apology, because for the past week or so I've botched up the numbers for the days. THIS is the real day 67, not yesterday. I'm afraid I was getting ahead of myself, as I will often do. It's all fixed now, but I once again apologize profusely for the heartache and agony I'm sure it caused, as my readers stared at the screen in bewilderment: "There's day 58," they said to themselves, "and there's day 60, but where is 59? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHERE IS 59?!!"
Anyway, we've got four prophets to cover today, so enough lollygagging. Don't you love the word "lollygagging"? It makes me think of someone choking on a lollypop.
Hosea continues his diatribe against Israel, detailing all the approaching doom. "The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah," he writes, going on to reference Jacob: "In the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God" (Hosea 12:2-3). It's an interesting comparison to make, between Jacob and his namesake Israel. I never thought of Jacob "struggling" with God, but I guess he did -- and likewise, so do the people. Hosea explains that despite the coming hardship, the people must "wait for [their] God always" (Hosea 12:6). Although the people believe that "with all [their] wealth [God] will not find in [them] any iniquity or sin" (Hosea 12:8), the only thing that can save them is good ol' fashioned piety.
The rest of the book basically continues on this note. In chapter 13 God instructs the people that, "You shall acknowledge no other God but me, no Savior except for me" (Hosea 13:4) which is interesting because of all the messianic references we've seen in other prophetic books. Other than that, Hosea concludes with unremarkable praise of God.
Next up is Joel, a rather eschatological tome known for its dramatic flair. Scholars have had difficulty dating the book, with some placing it as early as 600 BCE and some as late as 350 BCE. Joel likes to talk about Judgment Day, which is weird to me because the "end of times" seems so much more deeply embedded in Christian theology than it is in contemporary Judaism. But it originates here, with these wacky prophets! Joel bids, "Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!" (Joel 1:5), then goes on to describe the "day of the Lord" which is "close at hand -- a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness...such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come" (Joel 2:1-2). From what he's told us, it doesn't seem like a very fun day, and Joel warns that only those "who call on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Joel 2:32). The short book wraps up on a positive note, with descriptions of life after the Judgment Day, when "Jerusalem will be holy [and] never again will foreigners invade her" (Joel 3:17). The last line is the jubilant cry, "The Lord dwells in Zion!" (Joel 3:21). Well, cool.
Joel is followed by Amos, which appears to be a much older book; while we are not sure of Joel's date, most scholars place it sometime in the Second Temple Period, whereas Amos takes place during the reign of Jeroboam, before the Babylonian Exile. Most of Amos concerns God's approaching judgment on Israel, since Amos was a farmer from Judah who particularly resented the morally depraved Northern Kingdom. At one point, he commons on his unlikely call to prophethood: "I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophecy to my people Israel'" (Amos 7:14-15).
The majority of Amos consists of dull oracles against Israel and other foreign nations, although chapters 7 through 9 have some interesting moments. At one point Amos interacts directly with God, convincing him not to destroy Israel. God responds by showing Amos a basket of fruit, explaining that, "The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer" (Amos 8:2). Does that qualify as a pun? It's pretty darn clever.
Like almost everyone else, Amos ends with the promise that God will eventually forgive Israel, and the approaching troubles won't last forever.
The last book of the day, Obadiah, is exceptionally brief: it contains only one chapter. Obadiah concerns the relationship between Israel and Edom, its "brother nation"; as you may remember, Edom's people are descended from Esau as Israel's are from Jacob. Because it deals with this theme, scholars usually place it in the late 500s BCE. Obadiah predicts Edom's downfall as punishment for its participation in the ransacking of the Temple in Jerusalem.
And, that's a wrap! Tomorrow we've got five more prophets for you. Almost done! Oh boy.
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