The prophet Micah was a Judaean. He lived at the same time as Hosea and Isaiah in the eighth century. His home as Moresheth  to the west of Hebron, the home of  Abraham in ancient times. He was a public figure during the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah – before and after the fall of Samaria in 721.

  Micah, in many respects, was like the prophet Amos who lived a few decades previously nearby at Tekoa. Both were peasants, suspicious of city life, gifted with vivid imaginations, concrete in their use of language, deeply concerned with social and economic abuses, horrified at the external ritualism of religion that covered almost  a complete disregard for ethical observances. 

  He was keenly aware that God had called him to speak out against these abuses which he foresaw as leading to disaster for the nation. For Micah, God had tried the nation and found it guilty of corruption in religion and in morals. The punishment would be the destruction of Samaria, the lowland towns around his own home, and even Jerusalem.

  But all is not gloom and doom for Micah. In Chapters 4 and 5, he develops the messianic doctrine of a remnant which will remain faithful and will see future blessings. And we have the prophecy of Bethlehem as the birthplace of a peaceful king who will pasture the flocks of Yahweh: “But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel” (5:1-2). This prophecy was fulfilled with the birth of Christ at Bethlehem.

  The prophet Nahum followed Micah by about a century and is noted for his very graphic prophecy of the fall of the fabulous city of Nineveh in the year 612. Nothing is known of Nahum outside of this prophecy. However, his words reveal him to be a poet of unmatched style and great power. Through Nahum we learn of the intense hatred, among the peoples subject to their harsh rule, of the Assyrians who had violated every law and instinct of humanity. The northern Kingdom of Israel had been under the heel of the Assyrians since 721, although Jerusalem had not fallen due to the sudden retreat of Sennacherib, the southern Kingdom of Judah also suffered oppression.

  The city of Nineveh on the banks of the Tigris River had been made the capital by Sennacherib. It was a fortress of renown protected by an outer wall eight miles in circumference. Beyond this wall, a double outer wall protected the city to the east. Along the west wall ran the river Tigris. Fresh water came into the city by means of the Kosher torrent which also provided moats between the walls.

  Nahum’s news of the impending downfall of Nineveh brought great joy to his hearers. The prophecy was realised by the assault of the Babylonians. However, the relief from the Assyrian yoke was short-lived. The conquering Babylonians did not stop until Jerusalem was destroyed and its people were taken off into exile.

  Nahum was a violent nationalist but he had much else to offer in his teaching that lasting kingdoms cannot be built on fraud and force, and that God punishes injustice, violence, and worship of false gods.

  The prophet Habakkuk, like Nahum, is known only by what he wrote. Even when he lived is uncertain. However, a good case can be for placing him shortly after Nahum between 607 when Nebuchadnezzar became lord of the Middle East and 597 when Jerusalem was first under siege.

  The Book of Habakkuk is a short one and very carefully constructed. It opens with a dialogue between the prophet and God. The prophet respectfully demands that God explain His strange way of governing the world. On the international level, why do the wicked flourish and the just suffer? This complaint is put twice and God answers twice. In the final chapter which is in the form of a psalm, the prophet celebrates the final triumph of God. The apostle Paul incorporates Habakkuk’s teaching in his own presentation of the place of God in our lives. For example, in writing to the Romans about justification by faith, he quotes Chapter 2, verse 4: The upright man finds life through faith” )1:17).

  The prophet Zephaniah worked in the reign of Josiah, 640-609). Unlike the two previous prophets we have discussed, we know the man for a genealogy of four generations is given. Although he does not give the title “king” to his ancestor Hezekiah, he was probably the great-great-grandson of King Hezekiah.

  The tone of the prophecies indicates that he uttered them during the early years of Josiah’s rule and before the new king undertook his work of reform. Zephaniah felt disgust for much of what he saw at the royal court. He was the first to break the long silence since Isaiah and Micah had spoken up more than two generations previously in the reign of King Hezekiah. Zephaniah announces the coming of the day of the Lord which will be a dread day of catastrophe for all. This passage of Chapter 1, verses 14-18, inspired the prophet Joel. Also, the opening words of the Dies Irae hymn which was written in the Middle  Ages come from Zephaniah’s prophecy.

  Zephaniah is best known for introducing the theology of the poor, the ‘anawim. He condemns the pride of nations and teaches that salvation is possible only to a remnant – those who are imbued with poverty and lowliness of spirit. Poverty here represents the genuine spiritual attitude of those “who take refuge in the name of the Lord.”