1. Hosea. “Out of Egypt have I called My son” (Hosea 11:1).
2. Joel. “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28).
3. Amos. “I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen” (Amos 9:11).
4. Obadiah. “The Kingdom shall be the Lord’s” (Obadiah 21).
5. Jonah. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).
6. Micah. “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).
7. Nahum. “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).
8. Habakkuk. “The just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4).
9. Zephaniah. “He will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).
10. Haggai. “My Spirit remains among you” (Haggai 2:5).
11. Zechariah. “Shoutings … Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7).
12. Malachi. “The Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Mal. 4:2).
Each of these gems will bear the closest scrutiny; and, while viewed separately and seen in individual and distinct beauty, they may also be strung together.
The first is the Son called out of Egypt; the second, coming as a consequence, is the Spirit poured out; the third is the Tabernacle—God’s dwelling place; the fourth is His Kingdom; the fifth is His Salvation in the power of death and resurrection; the sixth is its blessed result in the sins of His people being completely removed; the seventh announces the trouble that they who trust in Him may expect, even though they find in Him their stronghold; the eighth proclaims the principle on which their life shall be victoriously run; the ninth tells of the pleasure which God finds in His poor and afflicted but faithful people, He “rejoices over them with singing”; the tenth certifies the continuance of His Spirit among them; the eleventh declares that shoutings of grace shall acclaim the bringing forth of the headstone and the finishing touch put upon the structure by Him Who had also laid its foundation; and, finally, the twelfth gives us the rising of the Sun of righteousness over scenes blighted by sin, and nations desolated by war and hatred—rising in light and glory “with healing in His wings!”
The Son, called out of Egypt, to do the will of God at Nazareth; to be acknowledged by Him as “beloved Son” at Jordan and on the Mount; to “learn obedience by the things which He suffered”; to weep over Jerusalem; to witness a good confession before Pilate; to “give His life a ransom” on the cross of Calvary; to ascend, as man, to the right hand of the Father whose will He accomplished, and whom, in every detail of that perfect life, He glorified; He comes forth, eventually, as Sun of righteousness and giver of health, when the long night of this weary scene shall be succeeded by the morning of millennial peace and glory.
Lord, haste the day.