mentators. Not only the first coming of the Lord, but His second coming also is foretold; and events connected with the Lord's spiritual kingdom on earth are foreshadowed, from the beginning of Christianity to the very latest ages, yet to come.

XXIV. The Twelve Minor Prophets.

THE remaining books of prophecy, called the twelve Lesser Prophets, are placed in the Hebrew canon as one volume, or book, being written on a single roll or manuscript. This was done for convenience, on account of their brevity; the whole amounting to little more than the contents of a single book of some of the larger prophets, as Isaiah or Ezekiel. Neither the nature of their contents nor the date of the writings furnish a reason for their being classed together. The earliest one probably belongs to the time of Uzziah, eight hundred years B.C.; while the last one may be placed as late as Nehemiah, or 433 B.C. Nor are we certain that the order in which they are placed in our Bible is the exact chronological order in which those prophets lived and wrote, although it is very nearly the same. Their names are, 1. Hosea; 2. Joel; 3. Amos; 4. Obadiah; 5. Jonah ; 6. Micah; 7. Nahum; 8. Habakkuk; 9. Zephaniah; 10. Haggai; 11. Zechariah; 12. Malachi.

I. HOSEA.

The Hebrew name, Hoshea, is the same as the original name of Joshua, the son of Nun (NUMB. xiii. 8), and was also the name of a king of Israel contemporary with the prophet. He was the son of Beeri, a

citizen of the kingdom of Israel, but of whom nothing further is known. He prophesied and wrote in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. His ministrations, commencing in the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam, King of Israel, about 784 B.C., extended well into the reign of Hezekiah, King of Judah, or to B.C. 725, a period of fifty-nine years. In the latter part of his life he was contemporary with Isaiah. He is believed to have lived and prophesied mostly in the kingdom of Israel, but it is highly probable that some portion of his life was spent in the kingdom of Judah.

For convenience of consideration, the book is usually divided into two parts. In the first, the prophet is commanded by the Lord to perform certain symbolical acts, and to give his children certain significative names, in order to represent the profane state of the Church at that time, and its unfaithfulness to Him.

A New Church is therefore foretold,

which should restore the true worship of the Lord and follow Him in faithfulness of life. This is contained in Chaps. i. to iii. Part second, Chaps. iv. to xiv., describes the moral declension of the times, the idolatry of the priests and the people, and the falsifications of the Divine Word; exhorting the people to repentance, and under the figure of Divine judgment, to be visited upon them, are pictured the direful evils. which a course of wrong-doing always produces, and the miseries which the wicked in the end always bring upon themselves. The coming of the Lord into the world is foretold, iii. 5, under the name of David.

That it is a continuous "Word of the Lord," is declared from beginning to end. (See Chaps. i., 1, 2, 9; iii., 1; iv., 1.) There are a number of references to this book in the New Testament. In MATT. ii. 15, to Hos. xi. 1; MATT. ix. 13, to Hos. xii. 7; LUKE. xxiii. 30, and REV. vi. 16, to Hos. x. 8; and other places.

2. JOEL.

Joel, a name formed by contraction from the two Divine names, Jehovah and Elohim, has been by some interpreted to mean the worshipper of God. He was a prophet of the Lord. His birthplace is unknown. He was the son of Pethuel, and lived in Judah, and delivered his prophecy in or near Jerusalem. From all that can be learned, most

commentators agree in placing him in the reign of Uzziah, King of Judah, about 800 B.C., thus making him in part a contemporary of the three prophets, Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos. His book is a single continuous prophecy. Under the figure of an army of locusts, and other destructive insects soon to invade the land, devouring every green thing and leaving the country desolate, he describes the moral desolation of the times, picturing the evil and false things which, creeping into the hearts and minds of men, consume all their good dispositions and true thoughts, leaving only a spiritual waste in the nominal Church. There is an exhortation to repentance, and an assurance that the Lord will come and execute a judgment on all wicked men who thus desolate and destroy the Church, and that He will some day restore genuine fertility by establishing a new church.

It is declared to be a “Word of the Lord" spoken to the prophet from the unseen world. As such, it is quoted in the New Testament. See ACTS ii. 16, Roм. x. 13. Its place in the canon has never been called in question.

3. AMOS.

The name means carried, or a burden. He was a native of Tekoah, a small town in the kingdom of Judah, about six miles south of Bethlehem, inhabited chiefly by

shepherds, to which class he belonged. He says of himself, Chapter vii. 14, 15, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, 'Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.""

From which it appears that he was not educated for a prophet in the prophetic schools, nor prepared for the office by human training, but was a simple shepherd, a keeper of sheep, and a cultivator or dresser, as is commonly supposed, of sycamore trees.

It may mean, however, only that he was a gatherer of the fruit of the wild fig.

Like Samuel, he was called immediately to the prophetic office, and furnished with the suitable gift. His prophecies show an acquaintance with the Law and the early prophets, which would seem to indicate that he was in comfortable circumstances, and had received an education above that of a poor man, when he was Divinely called. From some of the forms of expression in the Hebrew, it has been inferred by some commentators that he was the possessor of large flocks. But such inquiries are not important.

The period during which he filled the prophetic office was of short duration, being in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah, and of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, King of