Week 8: Prophets — The Minor Prophets (Hosea–Malachi)

1.Hosea is commanded by God to marry an unfaithful wife as a living parable of God's relationship with Israel. How does Hosea's story — loving a wife who keeps running away — affect the way you understand God's relentless love for His people? How does it affect the way you understand yourself as the "unfaithful spouse" in this story?

2.Joel's promise that God will pour out His Spirit on "all flesh" (Joel 2:28–29) is quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. What does it mean to you that one of the earliest books of the Old Testament was pointing toward a day when God's Spirit would dwell inside every believer — not just prophets and kings?

3.Amos thunders against economic injustice and religious hypocrisy — God's people who observe religious rituals while exploiting the poor. Amos 5:24 says, "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." How does this challenge comfortable Christianity that focuses only on private spiritual disciplines without concern for justice and the vulnerable?