Amos was the first of the prophets to have his words recorded. He was active in God’s service in the northern Kingdom of Israel during a period of great prosperity under King Jeroboam II who ruled from 783 to 743 B.C. Israel was also at peace, for a change, with its southern neighbor, the Kingdom of Judah.

  Amos, a southerner and a shepherd of the village of Tekoa near Bethlehem, was a part-time prophet who answered God’s call,did his preaching, then returned to his flock. As he says of himself, “I was no prophet, neither did I belong to any of the brotherhoods of prophets” (7:14). He certainly would not have left his sheep unless he was certain that God called him for this special task.

  He delivered a number of oracles in the north, probably all at the schismatic shrine of Bethel. Later either Amos himself or a secretary set these down in writing, although not in the order in which they were delivered. They now compose the Book of Amos.

  There is a vivid imagery in the oracles which reflect his background as a shepherd. Amos was a rugged character. His words are stark and vehement. At the same time they are cast in a poetic form which is achieved but rarely by the other prophets. “The lion roars: who can help feeling afraid? The Lord Yahweh speaks; who can refuse to prophecy?” (3:8).

  What need was there for a prophet to speak up in the northern kingdom? Prosperity had led to abuses both social and religious. Traditionally among God’s Chosen People there were no class distinctions; all Israelites were brothers held together by the covenant they had made with God. Social justice was an absolute necessity if the covenant was to be preserved. But now social crimes were being committed with the rich oppressing the poor. A religious decay lay at the root of the social disorder. Amos is often called the prophet of social justice.

  His message was to repent and to return to God. If the people would obey the Word of God, they would be saved; if they did not, the “Day of Yahweh” would be a day of judgment and doom, not light as they expected. The phrase “Day of Yahweh,” Day of the Lord,” appears here for the first time in the Bible. Amos was preparing the northern kingdom for the terrible invasion of the Assyrians when God’s judgment on them would be realized. The call of Amos for pure religion fell on hostile ears. He was expelled and returned to his flock in the south.

  The Book of Obadiah contains only twenty-one verses and is the shortest in the Old Testament. Despite its shortness, scripture scholars find it full of problems. Without entering into these literary problems, one can say that the prophecy is concerned with the punishment of the Edomites in the immediate future and the eventual triumph of Israel on the Day of Yahweh.

  Obadiah, sometimes spelt as Abdia, was either a temple prophet or wrote in that tradition. The first part of the book seems to have been written when the events of the fall of Jerusalem were still fresh in the memories of the Israelites. The Edomites had joined forces with Nebuchadnezzar for the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Afterwards they occupied the southern part setting up a capital at Hebron. The land of Edom was the mountainous district between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aquabah. The people were Semitic and traditionally descended from Esau, the twin brother of Jacob. All the old hatreds between the Israelites and Edomites come out in this book. The message can be summed up: Evil shall be crushed; goodness shall triumph.

   The Book of Jonah might be called in today’s literary world, “The Case of the Reluctant Prophet.”  Not only did Jonah try to evade his divine mission but he complained to God about its eventual success. There was a prophet by the name of Jonah who lived in the reign of Jeroboam II, the king who was severely reprimanded by the prophet Amos, But this book does not claim to be written by Jonah.  Intended to amuse and instruct, it is a story about a prophet of that name rather than a history of a particular man. The book shows that God, despite previous dire threats, is willing to pardon at the first sign of repentance. God is merciful to all the characters in the story, even to the reluctant prophet. The characters are likeable with the exception of Jonah, the only Israelite who appears – quite a change from the usual sorry state allotted to non-Israelites.

  The book was written probably in the fifth century after the Exile. It is a parable like the ones Christ told to the disciples. Christ recalled the Book of Jonah, when He referred to the conversion of the Ninevites as an example of repentance. He compared Himself to Jonah spending three days in the belly of the whale for He would spend three days in the tomb. The book has only four short chapters but it is a story that will never be forgotten. It is easy to identify with Jonah, for reluctance to do God’s will seems to be the initial response in each of us.