Messages of hope...

I'm working on a book review of You Are My People: An Introduction to Prophetic Literature by Louis Stulman and Hyun Chul Paul Kim (Nashville: Abindon Press, 2010) for my Book of the Twelve (minor prophets) class. Prior to this class I never gave these prophetic books much thought except for a verse here or there, but something this course has taught me is that these books contain a universal message of hope, even in the midst of destruction and despair which was often the reality out of which the prophets were speaking. Here is a summary of the more pastorally applicable insights, as extracted from Stulman and Kim:

• Hosea: While God does not overlook the social and religious ills of God’s people, “the divine pathos finds expression in God’s deep care and longing for return with God’s people” (190); this is a love that endures all things (191-3). Love is the antidote to a life of fear (192).
• Joel calls for a collective grief over the traumas endured (economic, psychological, social) and points to “divine promises of recovery, reparation, and restoration” (196) in which YHWH’s spirit will be poured out, resulting in dreams, visions and prophesying (2:28-29; p. 197).
• Amos: “Hope becomes possible when the people rediscover the meaning of their election tradition: that their special relationship with God demands they be stringent in their practice of justice as a community. Doing so requires faithful identification with the poor and the needy” (202).
• Obadiah: “…remembering the past, however painful, can lead to hope for the future” (204); “through the lenses of worship the community recognizes the reign of God and the purposes of God in and through the contingencies of history” (206).
• Jonah: Divine grace is “dispensed proportionate to human repentance” (209), therefore repentance is the means to hope (210).
• Micah: More than ritual and sacrifice, YHWH requires, “an ongoing and ardent commitment to ‘do justice, and to love kindness, / and to walk humbly with your God’” (6:8; p. 215), but more than that, we need to focus not just on what YHWH requires but who YHWH is (215-6).
• Nahum: “Divine pathos confirms that God neither ignores nor tolerates the wrongs done by oppressors; …hope ends not in vengeance or victory but in the prospect of spiritual restoration and peace” (218-9).
• Habakkuk: The psalm of Habakkuk (3:1-19) trusts in YHWH’s mysterious ways and exemplifies how to live by faith (222).
• Zephaniah 3:9-20 is a “wondrous liturgical piece (which) celebrates YHWH as Israel’s true king who dwells in their midst, dispels their fears, and revels in Zion. The prophetic word again leads its readers in worship and reenacts an alternative universe anchored to hope, justice, and love” (227).
• Haggai: “Take courage…says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts…My spirit abides among you; do not fear ” (2:4-5).
• “Zechariah’s visions of future hope and deliverance counter the overview of past failure and disaster” (233).
• Malachi: “…the ideal community is a Torah-observant community, one that acknowledges God’s justice and sovereignty and in response lives as a reverential covenantal community” (240)… “reverential obedience is the true key to blessing, happiness, and shalom” (244).