Letters from Larry: Twelve

SUNDAY                         January 26, 2020                           Good Sunday Afternoon Everyone: Eloise and I have great neighbors. The other day a couple of the neighborhood children stopped by for a visit. They are very active in their church and Sunday School and were studying the Minor prophets in the Bible.   Very interested in these prophets they wanted to know more. Here   is a portion of our discussion.     TWELVE    The door bell rang. Checking the door it was Caleb and Luke from down the street and whose parents have really got their children interested in the Bible.      "Mr. Perry," said Caleb, the oldest of the two, "we have some questions about the Old Testament that you may be able to help us with."     "I'll try," I said, " come on in!"    "Our Sunday School teacher talked about Minor Prophets in the   Bible last week?   "Who are they?" asked Caleb.   "Well Guys, the last twelve books of the Old Testament are known as Minor Prophets. You remember that a Prophet is someone who predicts the future. In the Bible there are many prophets and in them we see the name and the voice of God and His message to the world," I explained.   "Why are they called 'Minor"? Were they little or something?" asked Luke, the youngest.   "No, not at all, they are called Minor Prophets because unlike Moses and some of the others who wrote a lot, these prophets' books are fairly short and small, but so important to understand what God wants us to know. Remember God teaches us in a lot of different ways."   "Studying names and numbers in the Bible is boring!!" said Caleb.   "Yes, but they are very very important for us to see the whole picture," I explained.     "Have you guys ever put together a large puzzle only to find some   of the small pieces are missing?"   "Uh-huh!"   "Well that is like the minor prophets. They help fill in the missing pieces of our knowledge of the Bible," I said, "for exampledid you ever think about    "Uh-h No," said Caleb.   "The number 12 is called an eternal number. That means that it is good forever. Let me ask you some questions."   "First, how many books in the Old Testament are called Minor   Prophet books?"   "You said 12," said Caleb.    "Yes," I replied, "you are listening!!!"   How many apostles were there in the New Testament?" I asked.   "Oh, I know that, " said Caleb, "12."   "Right,"I said. "How many patriarchs (father leaders) were there in the Old Testament?"   "E-r-r-r 12?" asked Caleb.   'You got it," I replied. "and how many sons did these patriarchs   have?"   " I know, I know," said Luke. "12".   "Right again," I said. "How many tribes of Israel were there?"   "12?" answered Caleb.   "Yep!" How many gates are there to the City of Jerusalem?"   "Uh, 12?" said Luke.   "Right on," I replied.   Continuing I said, "if you read the Bible you will find there were 12 Judges, 12 Stones, 12 angels mentioned, 12 stars, and 12 different fruits all described to name a few."   "Guess how old Jesus was when his first words on earth were   written down?" I asked.   "I'm gonna guess 12, right?" said Caleb.   "You got it," I replied. "Back to the Minor prophets you asked about, they were not so called minor because they are in training or because they are of less value than prophets such as Isaiah or Ezekiel. Nor are the 12 books of less value in the message they teach. They are minor only in the fact that they are fairly short, but again no less important. They are very powerful messages from men whom God appointed and called to deliver his warnings of judgments and His ever-faithful invitation to Israel and its neighbors, saying 'Return to Me.' These minor prophets are very important for everyone to really understand the end times when Jesus comes back to earth."   "Never thought about 'em that way," said Caleb. "Oh wow, wait    till I tell our Sunday School teacher!!"   With that we departed to the kitchen for some cookies and juice.   ******** Much love from the beautiful Smoky Mountains, Larry NOTE: This letter is sent to anyone interested in receiving these inspirational notes. There is no charge and you are encouraged to forward these to anyone you think would benefit from reading them. If you would like to receive them direct, just send an email to me at larryperry@att.net and request to be added to the Letters from Larry list.

Larry Perry, Knoxville, TN USA Used with Permission.