Hosea, A prophetic Book – Andrew

Hosea is the first of 12 minor prophetic books. Unlike many of the other books we have looked at, I found it very interesting that Hosea is actually the author of this one. God tells Hosea that he wants to destroy israel, so he asks them to repent. This has been seen over and over in the Bible, and can be referred back to sues presentation on the cycle of sin. What is different about this case is that god eventually has compassion and decided that he will not destroy them. I found this to be very interesting, because it is almost as if God is learning from his mistakes, sucha s when he destroyed sodom and the world with the flood.

Jonah – Kia

I thought it was interesting how most of the other prophetic books focused on israel and Judah, but the book of Jonah only focuses on a prophet who is sent to the assyrians in nenevah. In addition, while most of the other names in the bible are very strong, Jonah, meaning dove, is unlike the others. In this book, God asks Jonah to make a prophecy in Nenevah, but Jonah refuses. This is unlike anythign we have seen before in the bible. Instead of arguing with God, or just agreeing, Jonah flat out says no. In response, the lord throws jonah into the belly of a whale, where jonah repents and finally preaches gods word in nenevah. Overall, the message from this story is that when god sends you to do something, you do it, because if you dont, you could become fish food.

Amos – Anne

Amos is the first of the prophetic books. It begins with god promising to revoke punishments for the transgressions of a bunch of nations. God declares that samaria is corrupt and will be surrounded and defeated by enemies. The women of samaria will also be punished for social injustice and arrogance. Amos then has a bunch of visions in which god is destructive. When Amos tells God to stop, God actually does! Unlike Abraham, who had to argue continuously with god, Amos was able to get god  to not bring locusts upon the crops and not bring a shower of fire. However, when god orders a total destruction of israel, he does not stop, but instead says that after the jews have been exiled, he will promise to restore david’s kingdom.