Digital Logos Edition
This commentary on the Minor Prophets provides pastors, Sunday school teachers, and students of Scripture with doctrinally sound interpretation that emphasizes the practical application of Bible truth. Working from the King James Version, John Phillips not only provides helpful commentary on the text, but also includes detailed outlines and numerous illustrations and quotations. Anyone wanting to explore the meaning of God’s Word in greater depth—for personal spiritual growth or as a resource for preaching and teaching—will welcome the guidance and insights of this respected series.
“Being of ‘like passions as we are,’ Jonah had problems. He did not know God well enough to grieve over sin the way God grieves. Neither did he know God well enough to rejoice over the repentance of sinners the way God rejoices. Jonah had great difficulty accepting the fact that God loved Gentiles just as much as He loved Jews and the fact that He loved the cruel and oppressive Assyrians just as much as He loved him.” (Jonah 1:1–4:11)
“The word Assyrian became a haunting synonym for war, cruelty, oppression, and terror to the hapless middle eastern countries that fell within the sphere of Assyria’s imperialistic ambitions. So the Old Testament prophets seem to use the word as a title for the antichrist, who will wear Assyria’s mantle of ruthlessness.” (Micah 5:4–6)
“The era of prophecy began with Elijah and ended with John the Baptist, who came in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:17)” (source)
“The woman’s name Gomer means ‘completion’ and is parabolic, as are other names in the book of Hosea. We hear echoes in Gomer of the filling up of the measure of Israel’s idolatries and apostasies. Gomer was the daughter of Diblaim, whose name means ‘a double clump of figs’ and suggests sensual pleasure or the sweetness—the parent of all wrongdoing—that we find in sin. Hosea, a name similar to the one Jesus assumed when He came down to this world of sin, means ‘salvation’ or ‘the Lord saves.’” (Hosea 1:3–11)
“Hosea was a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, and his book teaches us that sin not only breaks God’s law; it also breaks God’s heart.” (Hosea 1:1–14:9)