"MINER" PROPHETS?
Me Confudió Los Profetas Menores
By Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Saturday, January 21, 2012
Mary Hunt was seven years old in this Easter photograph. [Photographer: Glenda Hargis]
The other day I had occasion to look up a passage in one of the books in the last part of the Old Testament. As I did, I recalled the occasion when I first learned that those books are called the "Minor Prophets."
I was about seven years old when our Sunday School teacher worked with our class to help us to memorize the books of the Bible. I don't remember her stating the divisions of the earlier books of the Old Testament that we had memorized — the Law, the books of Poetry, or the books of History. However, I do remember that she said we had just memorized the Major Prophets.
I heard her say that our next step was to learn the "Miner Prophets" who wrote the smaller books of prophecy. With a mere seven years of experience behind me, I heard "miner" instead of "minor" because the only use I had heard of that pronunciation was to connect it with mines of coal or gold. Consequently, I envisioned prophets in long robes using shovels to work in dark mines.
Since our class met in the basement beneath a large Quonset hut that had been converted into a church building, I could identify with darkness. After Sunday School was over, there was always a mad rush to the two stalls in the only ladies' restroom in the church before we all went upstairs to the sanctuary for church service. If I did go to the restroom, Mother urged me to hurry because others were waiting. That often meant that I didn't get to attend to my needs adequately before the singing started on the level above.
The light at the head of the stairs lessened as I descended toward the basement. [Photo courtesy of Stockvault.net.]
Inevitably, Nature called during the middle of the pastor's sermon. I hated excusing myself to descend the increasingly dark staircase because someone had always turned out the lights in the basement. The light switch was at the opposite end of the seemingly long basement near the restrooms so that I was unable to turn them on myself.
Oh, yes, I could identify with the darkness in which the "Miner Prophets" worked. After delaying my descent into the basement as long as I could, I walked cautiously past the quiet rooms that had earlier been crowded during Sunday School.
Micah, one of the Minor Prophets", wrote, "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me." (Micah 7:8, New King James Version)
The "Exit" sign, like the one shown here, shone brightly in that dark basement. [Photographer: Mary Hunt Webb.]
I wasn't about to sit in darkness; I moved steadily forward toward the only illumination — that of the glowing "Exit" sign. That was the light that the Lord provided for me in that basement.
Now — several decades later — I am thankful for all my Sunday School teachers, including the one that took the time to help us memorize the Major and Minor Prophets as well as the other books of the Bible. They provided me with the foundation to find the encouragement in God's word that my husband and I share with you because this Webbsite is for you.
Bible Verse for the Week
Micah 7:8 "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me." (New King James Version)
Miqueas 7:8 "Tú, enemiga mía, no te alegres de mí, porque aunque caí, me levantaré; aunque more en tinieblas, Jehová será mi luz." (Reina-Valera 1960)
An Arizona audience listens intently to Mary Hunt Webb as she encourages them. [Photographer: Morris Webb, Jr.]
