What's a Minor Prophet Anyway?

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us one drive at a time. You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus! In this season, Dannah Gresh, author of Lies Girls Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free and our friend Staci Rudolph are detectives! 

They’re investigating questions people have about the Bible. Maybe you have some questions about the Bible, too. That’s totally okay. This season, we’re grabbing a magnifying glass and heading to some investigation destination to ask hard questions about the Bible. As you understand this magnificent collection of poems, letters, historic documents, and prophecies, you’ll learn to trust your Bible. 

Hey, we keep hearing that word “prophesy” and the name for the people who wrote them, “prophet.” But what is a prophet? 

Grab your parmesan cheese, because Dannah and Staci are headed to a pizza restaurant! Today they investigate this question: what’s a prophet anyway? Let’s dive into episode 6 of Season 6 of the True Girl podcast. Here’s Staci!

Staci Rudolph: Well, Dannah, I did what you said, and I came hungry today!

Dannah Gresh: I’m glad to hear that because this is some of the best pizza you’ll ever have! They specialize in unique pizza toppings here, too!

Staci: I see that—anchovies, prosciutto, burrata, artichokes, calamari—where’s the dictionary on this menu?

Dannah: Ha ha! They also have good old-fashioned pepperoni; that’s what you want!

Staci: Let’s each order a really uniquely flavored personal-sized pizza. 

Dannah: Okay, sounds good to me.

Server: What can I get you today?

Dannah: I’ll take the personal-sized goat cheese. I love goat cheese, roasted red beets, and arugula pizza, please.

Staci: Beets? On a pizza? Interesting! Okay, I’ll get the personal-sized grilled peach, prosciutto pizza with hot honey drizzled on top, please.

Server: Got it. By the way, nice hat. Are you like a detective or something? 

Staci: Ummm, yeah, sort of. 

Server: Cool. You two want anything to drink other than water?

Dannah: Staci: No thank you.

Dannah: Okay, Staci, seriously, is that the same guy that’s been everywhere we’ve gone on the Great Bible Investigation? How many jobs does this guy have?

Staci: He wears many hats, I’ll say that.

Dannah: He wears many hats. Oh, and by the way, that “hot honey” sounds amazing. 

Staci: Yes, it does! While we investigate the Bible, I thought we could investigate some new pizza flavors too!

Dannah: I see what you did there! Great idea. Let’s dive right into our Bibles today.

For today’s focus Scripture, I want us to actually just remember the verse we started with a few weeks ago: 2 Timothy 3:16–17. It reads: 

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

So, what’s the very first word of those verses, Staci?

Staci: All.

Dannah: Bingo! That’s right . . . all. It doesn’t say “some” or even “most.” It says all. Every single word in the Bible is inspired by God.

Staci: And Dannah, that’s a pretty important word. I’ve definitely been hearing about people that kind of pick and choose what they believe is inspired by God from Scripture. They say, “Oh, I want to know about God’s love” so they accept His salvation and use the words in the Bible that make them feel better about themselves. But when it comes to the Ten Commandments, well, they don’t like to obey the words of God.

Dannah: Yeah, it can be tempting to do that. But if we believe Jesus died for us and rose again so we can live eternally with Him in heaven, if we believe that He is God, we have to embrace every word in the Bible. We cannot ignore any of it.

Today I want to focus on some things that get ignored . . . a lot . . . like the minor prophet.

Staci: Hey, True Girl, how about we ask Dannah to break down what a Minor Prophet is? 

Dannah: I would be happy to because today we’re investigating this question: “What’s a Minor Prophet, anyway?” 

First, we keep mentioning the different categories of the books of the Bible. To begin, let’s see if we can list all of them? What are some of the genres that you can think of, Staci?

Staci: Well, like you said, there are Minor Prophet books like Malachi, Amos and maybe the most famous, Jonah! 

Also, there are Major Prophet books like Isaiah and Jeremiah. 

Dannah: That’s right. By the way, Major Prophet books are longer than Minor Prophet books. That’s the main difference between them. 

And, let’s see. Well, the first five books of the Old Testament are often called the Books of the Law. Can you name them, Staci?

Staci: Let’s see . . . Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Dannah: And the first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels. That’s Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We read those a lot! 

Staci: And there are the books that are actually letters written to groups of people like Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians. And the letters Paul wrote to Timothy. We’ve used them a bunch in this season!

Dannah: We can’t forget about the poetry and wisdom books—Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon.

Staci: There are a few history books, too. I’m thinking about Ruth, Ezra, and the book of Acts. Did we name them all?

Dannah: Yep! But I have a trivia question for you. What’s the only prophecy book in the New Testament? 

Staci: That has to be the book of Revelation! The very last book of the Bible.

Dannah: That’s right! The first three verses of Revelation tell us it’s a vision of things to come.

Server: Okay, ladies! Here are your pizzas, fresh from the wood-fired oven. Enjoy!

Staci: Oh man! These look so good! Okay, I’ll pray. “Lord, thank You for providing food for us today, and thank You for Your Word. Amen.”

Dannah: Sometimes I’m grateful when your prayers are brief. I cannot wait to try this. Oh wow, so tasty! What about yours, Staci?

Staci: It’s delicious! And that hot honey is fire . . . in a good way!

Dannah: Okay, let me ask you something, how would the toppings on your pizza taste if you ate them separately?

Staci: I guess they would still be good, but I think I’d prefer them all together like this. They all seem to work really well together, making the pizza extra delicious!

Dannah: That’s totally how I feel about mine. I mean, I like beets, but they’re so much better with goat cheese and arugula. So, we could eat them separately, but we’d be missing out on something amazing.

Staci: Just like the books of the Bible! If I just read the Poetry and Wisdom books, I’d miss out on all the History!

Dannah: And if I just read the Gospels, I’ll never know about the beauty of heaven found in the book of Revelation! 

All of Scripture is inspired by God and useful. It’s all designed to work together. If we just read the parts that seem easiest, we’d never get the whole picture of the story of the Bible. 

Staci: So true! And, you know what? I think it’s so cool that God put all different kinds of categories of writing in the Bible. True Girl, why don’t we list those categories again?

Dannah: Great idea. In the Old Testament we have the Law, History, Poetry and Wisdom, Major Prophets, and Minor Prophets.

Staci: And in the New Testament, we have the Gospels, History, Letters, and Prophecy.

Dannah: Hey, True Girl, how about this week, you read a part of the Bible you wouldn’t typically read? Maybe you could read a Minor Prophet, like Jonah or Malachi. And it’s okay if you don’t understand it all. Just pray that your heart will hear what it needs to hear as you read.

And I’ll you tell something, as I have read those Minor Prophets books over and over, I’ve come to understand them more and more, so give it a try this week. 

Staci: Wait. You’re giving out homework already? We barely got started. This is such a short conversation.

Dannah: Well, the Minor Prophets were short. They got their point across.

Staci: And your point today is . . .

Dannah: Read all of your Bible! Because all Scripture is inspired by God.

Staci: Point made!

Oh no! I didn’t take any voice notes this time! 

Dannah: Well, you could do it right now!

Staci: Start Note: God inspired all of the Bible, so I need to not be afraid to read the parts I think I won’t understand.End Note. 

Dannah: Excellent! Now, let me try some of your pizza.

Staci: Only if I can try some of yours too.

Claire: Beets on pizza? Would you try beets on a pizza? I don’t think I would. But I do know that I feel like I know my Bible a little better after that episode. More importantly, it’s always good to remember that God inspired all of the Bible. Maybe take some time this week to read a part of it that you’ve ignored!

True Girl, I want to invite you to check out our online Bible studies! That’s one way to be sure you’re studying your Bible. You and your mom could register for our Fall 2022 study. It’s based on Dannah Gresh’s book Lies Girls Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free. True Girl lead teachers Shani McKenzie and Janet Mylin who wrote this season of the True Girl podcast will guide you through Dannah’s best-selling book for tweens and their moms. Moms, the study includes a copy of A Mom’s Guide to Lies Girls Believe. Go to MyTrueGirl.com to learn more and register!

If you’ve been around True Girl for a bit, you might know that Staci Rudolph loves tea. But on the next episode of the True Girl podcast, Dannah sees just how far Staci’s love for tea goes! Join us next week!

True Girl is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

 

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.