The Book Of Twelve - List

Hoshea gave his prophecy to the Jews of Israel in the declining years of the first Temple period. His message was a warning to the Jews that their slipping morality would bring destruction and exile. Through the eyes of the prophet we see a vision of the coming destruction and exile, the rebuilding of the Temple 70 years later, and its eventual destruction at the hands of the Romans. We are also shown (by way of what might have been a dream involving Hoshea’s wife) that even in exile, God is still with His people.

The vision of Joel (Yoel) contains good news and bad news: He hints to the four kingdoms under whose cruel rule the Jews would live: Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome. The future path of our nation would be difficult indeed, assuming that they didn’t correct their observance of God's commandments. Joel is also famous for his description of the eventual ingathering of the exiles at the time of the final redemption.

Amos directs a good deal of his eternal prophecy to the Ten Tribes (who would soon be lost from our people as a result of their actions). Aside from the all-important warnings to both those of the northern kingdom and of the south in Jerusalem, Amos points out that Jews have been given an important mission in this world. The Jews were also given great strengths to fulfill their mission. If they don’t do their job, their punishment will be far greater than for others: “The bigger they are the harder they fall.”

Obadiah is noteworthy (aside from being the man who hid and supported 100 prophets in the terrible days of King Ahab), for a prophecy that isn’t directed specifically at the Jews at all, but at the neighbouring nation of Edom. They too, according to Obadiah, are destined to be brought to justice for their actions. Our rabbis often associate the Roman Empire and its intellectual heirs with Edom.

Jonah (Yonah) is probably the most famous of the twelve prophets because his book is read in Synagogue on the afternoon of Yom Kippur. Jonah was ordered by God to go to the Assyrian city of Nineveh (located in today’s northern Iraq, near the Turkish border) and convince the non-Jews there to return from their evil ways. Jonah was afraid that the people of Nineveh would listen to his rebuke and improve themselves, thus casting the Jews (who weren’t listening to their prophets) in a bad light. He therefore tried to avoid the mission, even at the cost of his life.
Escaping in the opposite direction on board a commercial boat, Jonah ran into a fierce storm and allowed himself to be thrown overboard to save the crewmen. Once overboard, he was swallowed by a fish (and then a second, after the first spat him out). Eventually, after doing Teshuva (repentance) he found himself safely on dry land.
Realizing that there is no escaping the will of God, Jonah travelled to Nineveh and spoke to its people. They did indeed change their ways.

Micah also warns the Jews (of both the northern and southern kingdoms) of what continued disregard for the commandments would bring. But much of the book is devoted to the wonders of the third Temple – to be built at the time of the redemption. Perhaps what has kept our interest in this book so strong over the centuries is the clear prediction that at no time in our long, long exile would God ever push us away completely, we will never be totally wiped out.

In Nahum we find an “undoing” of the prophecy of Jonah: The same city that was brought to teshuva by the words of rebuke from Jonah will soon be destroyed: Why? For having become, under the leadership of their king Sancheriv, the empire that swallowed and disrupted most of the known world, including the ten northern tribes of Israel.
As we’ve seen in the words of so many other prophets, a question arises frequently: if the ten northern tribes earned the fate they received by Sancheriv, why should Sancheriv be punished for doing God’s will?

Habakkuk, like Nahum, was sent to speak about the end of an enemy of the Jews, this time Nebuchadnezar, the Babylonian king.
Here too, we are told about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple after just 70 years, this would not be a final redemption.

Notable in the prophecy of Zephaniah is the description of the length and depth of the coming exile, and of the redemption that will follow bringing universal faith in the one true God.

Haggai urged the people to put greater effort into the construction of the city, settlements, and Temple, despite the hardships involved.

Zechariah discussed specific sins that were present in his generation and described the story of Chanukah.

Malachi is a transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “my messenger.”, with the aid of this unusual discussion technique, the prophet defends the justice of God to a community that had begun to doubt that justice because its eschatological (end of the world) expectations were still unfulfilled.