38. Obadiah.] the name of the seer is given at the commencement; and the prophetical authority is assumed by the writer in these words "Thus saith the Lord God." The greater part of it bears a close resemblance in substance, and very nearly in expression, to certain passages in other prophets-as Jeremiah xlix, and Ezekiel xxxv. It does not seem to be quoted, for the confirmation of any fact or doctrine, in the New Testament-unless its undoubted place in the book of the minor prophets, entitles it to a share of the homage rendered to that book, when referred to as containing words, though not to be found in Obadiah, but in Amos. The sentence in 1 Cor. i. 19, though taken generically from scripture, is considered to be from Isaiah, but finds at least an echo in this kindred verse of Obadiah. "Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau ?" v. 8. The remaining examples of an affinity to other scriptures are given below.* In this "vision of Obadiah," 39. Jonah.] For the existence and character of this most ancient of the prophets, we have the evidence of contemporaneous history in 2 Kings xiv. 25. "According to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher." His name is announced at the commencement of the prophecy, and occurs repeatedly throughout; and our Saviour Himself bears him express testimony in the following words-"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas," Matt. xvi. 4. See also Matt. xii. 39, 40, and Luke xi. 29, 30. Again-" So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even to the least of them," Jonah iii. 5. "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here," Matt. xii. 41.* 66 40. Micah.] There is a very noble contemporaneous, or rather subsquent testimony given to this prophet by Jeremiah (xxvi. 18)—who not only gives his name, the place of his nativity, and the age in which he flourished; but makes an express quotation from his writings. "Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."" "Therefore shall Zion, for your sake, be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house, as the high places of the forest," Micah iii. See further Jonah iii. 5.-Luke xi. 32. Jonah iii. 9.-Joel ii. 14. 12. The following are quotations from Micah in the New Testament-" But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be Ruler in Israel," Micah v. 2. "For thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel,'" Matt. ii. 5, 6. "See also John vii. 42. "For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: a man's enemies are the men of his own house," Micah vii. 6. "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household," Matt. x. 35, 36. The name of the prophet is given at the commencement, and a very express statement is made by him of his own inspiration-" Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin," Micah iii. 8. He was one of the earlier prophets; and, when his writings are compared with the direct history, it will be found that they shed a mutual light and confirmation on each other.* See furtherMicah i. 2.-Is. i. 2. i. 10.-Jer. vi. 26. 11.-Is. xlvii. 3. i. 16. xxii. 12. Micah ii. 2.-Is. v. 8. xxx. 10. iv. 1—3. ii. 2, &c. Zech. viii. 21, &c. iv. 3.-Joel iii. 10. 41. Nahum.] This eloquent and sublime prophecy is ushered in as the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. The first clause of the 15th verse of the first chapter is almost identical with the first clause of Isaiah lii. 7-and the words are quoted as written, or, which is tantamount to this, as scripture, by Paul in Romans x. 15.* 42. Habakkuk.] The name of the prophet is given here also at the outset of the prophecy; and occurs again at the commencement of the sublime prayer in the third chapter. He speaks also in his own person in ii. 1—while in ii. 2, he quotes the express commandment of God for the writing of his prophecy-and this in order that it may be read, "that he may run that readeth it." The following are very striking and satisfactory quotations from this sacred writer. "Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you," Hab. i. 5. "Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you," Micah iv. 6.-Zeph. iii. 19. iv. 7.-Luke i. 33. v. 5.-Eph. v. 14. vi. 2.-Is. i. 2. See Nahum i. 15.-Is. lii. 7. Acts xiii. 40, 41.-" Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry," Hab. ii. 3. "For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry," Heb. x. 37.— "But the just shall live by his faith," Hab. ii. 4. "Now the just shall live by faith," Heb. x. 38. "As it is written, The just shall live by faith," Rom. i. 17. See also Gal. iii. 11.—"For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," Hab. ii. 14. "For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," Isaiah xi. 9.* 43. Zephaniah.] The name of the author is incorporated with the work; and the work itself is announced as "the word that came from the Lord." The references from, or affinities to other scripture are given below.† 44. Haggai.] The existence and character of this prophet are attested in the book of Ezra. Hos. ix. 7. Ezek. xxii. 26. iii. 9.-Matt. xxviii. 19. iii. 12.-1 Cor. i. 26. |