The Shape of the Twelve – Overview

The book of the Minor Prophets is a literary edifice, Jacob’s ziggurat awaiting its “New Testament” capstone from heaven.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Minor Prophets, also referred to as “The Twelve,” comprise a single book. Although the order of these prophets has had some variations, the most common arrangement (as found in the Hebrew Bible and in our English Bibles) is supported by its correspondence to the Bible’s “covenant-literary” pattern. The identification of the logic behind its arrangement is more than an eye-opener. It is utterly spectacular.

This theological construct explains why, although the books are generally in order of composition, they are not strictly so. In a strict chronology, Amos might be first, Obadiah would appear later in The Twelve, and the exact composition dates of Joel and Jonah cannot be determined.

In Bible Matrix terms, The Twelve is a double cycle. However, the book is not a “six-plus-six” but a “seven-plus-five.” The first seven books follow the sevenfold pattern of Creation. The remaining five follow the fivefold pattern of Covenant, as observed in Genesis 1-5 and in the Pentateuch.

The Creation pattern relates to the World and the Covenant pattern relates to the Land. When these two chiastic sequences are combined, the fivefold kingly Land fits inside the sevenfold prophetic World. This leaves room for the threefold priestly Garden of the incarnation—the Son sent by, and returning to, the Father. These three domains are, of course, represented in the three “tiers” of the Tabernacle, a layout that imaged a stepped ascension to heaven through domains of increasing purity. In symbol, the priests were lifted up in a fiery cloud from the altar to the throne room, from the waters below to the crystal sea above. (For more discussion, see Zion as an Ascension.)

This combination of the two patterns occurs elsewhere in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New. A prime example is John’s first epistle, whose twelve-cycle structure is comprised of a fivefold sequence and a sevenfold one. (See the charts in Michael Bull, The Shape of 1-3 John & Jude, 46-47.)

Since the Creation pattern relates to the World and the Covenant pattern relates to the Land, when used in the “seven-plus-five” order the “liturgical” trajectory of the work is towards the Garden. That is what is indicated in the arrangement of The Twelve. In contrast, following the resurrection of Christ in the Garden, John’s first epistle works liturgically outwards from the empty tomb, into the Land and then into the World, as a testimony to the nations. The book of Revelation does the same thing, not in terms of structure but indeed in terms of its architectural orientation. So, in terms of the Temple, we might say that while 1 John and Revelation look “east,” The Twelve are facing “west.” The book begins in the wild “Sea” and ascends to the Land, anticipating the arrival of the “incarnate” glory of God in a cloud on the Edenic mountain. It is not surprising the Jesus’ ministry also began at the sea—“Galilee of the Gentiles.”

The first sequence (World) concerns the testimony of Israel among the nations (looking outwards); the second sequence (Land) concerns the faithfulness of the Jews (looking inwards). Since the prophetic era of Israel would bring an end to the “Day 3” era of world history, this Old Testament finale represents the imagery of Day 3—the sea and the dry land. Those upon the land are the sacramental “fruit bearers,” but despite centuries of struggling with barrenness (toggling under the Law of Moses between the Edenic curses and the Abrahamic promises) the issue begs for resolution with an intensity that leaves us “waiting for God at the altar.” That wait would be four centuries long, time enough for God to lay the groundwork for the Gospel age across the empire. The oikoumene—as an extended Abrahamic tent—was formed that it might be filled.

It makes sense that the capstone of the Old Testament is a book of twelve prophets, since this is a heavenly hybrid of the symbolism of twelve heirs (the three of heaven and the four of earth multiplied rather an added) and the office of the Great Prophet as a Son of God, a legal mediator between heaven and earth. The combination hints at the shift in focus under the New Covenant to the Sons of God rather than the sons of men. As Moses desired, all the Lord’s people are now prophets (Numbers 11:29). Those who believe God are children of Abraham not by generations (the Aaronic order) but by regenerations (the Melchizedekian order). Even under the hereditary order of Israel, God indicated this principle by repeatedly choosing faithful sons as heirs over their unfaithful older brothers.

This assertion regarding the architecture of The Twelve is supported by the (most likely) “matrix” or covenantal order of the Old Testament (See The DNA of the Old Testament.) in which the same logic is apparent. Externally, The Twelve are its collective capstone. Identifying the pattern internally transforms the Minor Prophets from an apparent box of clutter into a glorious three-dimensional, miniature “holy mountain,” a tower-temple awaiting the fire of Yahweh to assess its soundness and pour out His blessings and curses.

Based upon the triune “theoscape” architecture, this capstone is itself missing its capstone. The coming of the Christ and the revelation of the Heavenly Father would tear the veil, open the heavens, and the fire of the Spirit would descend upon the Land and the World, bringing the final day of the Lord upon the Jews who conspired with the Gentiles against the saints.

Israel’s history would climax in the rivalry of Herod and Jesus as Esau and Jacob in the first-century “womb” of the Church age. The lamb of God slaughtered at the top of Jacob’s ziggurat would disinherit the false brothers and their Gentile allies forever, and allow the glorious City of God, not merely a cloud of glory, to descend upon the mountain and clothe it entirely. The naked Adamic order would be transfigured by the light of the Lamb, and the mountain of ascension would itself grow to fill the whole land.

The Bible Matrix legend is included here for reference.

Sevenfold Creation:
Israel among the nations (World)

• HOSEA: The covenant pattern explains the method in God’s madness concerning His command that Hosea marry a prostitute. This Genesis image was a sign that Israel, like Eve, had been led astray by those whom God had commissioned to guard and lead her in worship. As Adam should have done, God would woo her back from the delights of her enslaver, Baal. The vivid language of the fruit of the land and the womb ties the promises of Abraham to the curses of Eden.
• JOEL: As the Exodus step, the allusions to locusts, cattle, thick darkness, the Garden of Eden (as Goshen) as Egyptian plagues make more sense. The language of restoration continues the pattern with allusions to the rain, milk and honey, wine and oil of the Promised Land. The mentions of Egypt and Edom also hark back to the exodus and subsequent attack from Amalek.
• AMOS: This fiery prophecy is all about Ascension. concerning Israel’s breaking of the covenant. Idolatry, extravagance, corruption, and oppression were all the hallmarks of Gentile kingdoms, not the priest-kingdom of Jacob. Because the rulers had lifted themselves up, God would debase them with the curses of Leviticus. As the “Day 3” prophecy, Amos denounces six surrounding Gentile nations (the “Sea”) before targeting Judah and Israel (the “Land”).
• OBADIAH: Testing condemns the sons of Esau for their merciless opportunism after the judgment of Judah, likening it to Edom’s treatment of Israel in the book of Numbers. The theme of humility and exaltation is reprised: kingly Esau, now ascendant, would be the loser in the long term, and priestly Jacob, currently oppressed and homeless under the Law of God, would see his fortunes restored. (See The Shape of Obadiah.)
• JONAH: Day 5 brings us the Trumpets of resurrection via the imagery of birds (“Jonah” means “dove”) and fish. The beast of the sea is not a dragon to be slain but a fish to be caught. For the same reason, the New Testament shifts the focus from the flocks of the land to the schools of the sea. As the Deuteronomy step, the book is about good and bad hosts (armies), plunder and plagues, and the testimony of Isarel to the Gentiles. This supports the assertion that Jonah fled from God because he knew from Deuteronomy that if God was sending prophets to Gentiles it was to provoke Israel to jealousy. In other words, judgment upon his own flock was imminent. This pattern was repeated in the ministry of Paul. (See The Gates of Hell.)
• MICAH: The northern kingdom fell to Assyria during Micah’s ministry, and the southern kingdom was flooded with troops “up to the neck,” that is, up to the very walls of Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah. As seen by Isaiah (who was a contemporary), the Lord comes from His holy temple. This combines various Step 6 images together: the Great Flood, the conquest of Jericho by Joshua, and the Day of Atonement. In this case, the rulers were (metaphorically) tearing the skin and flesh from their own people. In response, God would bring forth another David to be their shepherd.
• NAHUM: Jonah works through Israel’s annual feasts, ending with a play on the Feast of Booths—Israel providing sacramental shelter for believing Gentiles. While the Ninevites repented in Jonah’s day, they had returned to their notorious brutalities a century later. The irony here is that God would not only revoke His previous mercy, but at this Succession step he would cut them off forever. In the pattern, the judgment of the bloody city corresponds to the book of Judges.

Fivefold Covenant:
God in the midst of Israel (Land)

• HABAKKUK: The Genesis markers here are the Transcendence of God as the initiator of the covenant, and the holy irony of Chaldeans coming to take possession of the Promised Land away from the children of Abraham. The book begins with a “covenant lawsuit,” Habakkuk calling upon God to pour out the Sanctions upon his own disobedient people, and it ends with the prophet rejoicing in the terrible majesty of his Creator.
• ZEPHANIAH: Despite the reforms of Josiah after the evil reign of Manasseh, all of Canaan—including Judah—would be judged for their stiffnecked idolatry and the practice of child sacrifice. In relation to the covenant structure, the main theme here is Hierarchy, the rebellion of those whom God had put in charge. The Exodus motif is the “de-creation” of the prosperous land and the plundering of the houses of the idolaters.
• HAGGAI: The subject matter of Haggai—testing the hearts of the returned Jews concerning their commitment to the rebuilt Temple—fits the Levitical spot perfectly. Like Adam, the more they seized the less they possessed. This reminds us that any attempt to obtain God’s promised blessings without obedience to His laws is the covenantal equivalent of sorcery. Obedience comes under the leadership of two human “trees,” the priestly Joshua (“salvation”) and the kingly Zerubbabel (“seed of Babylon/God’s gate”). These two are matched by the two fiery cherubim, Haggai and Zechariah. Haggai deals with the forming of the house; Zechariah deals with the filling of the house.
• ZECHARIAH: Zechariah gives us the bookends of Israel’s latter days, jumping from the establishing of the revived priesthood to its utter destruction in the first-century—from Yeshua the High Priest to Yeshua the Messiah. (See The Shape of Zechariah.) The visions section works through the pattern of the Ten Words. (See Zechariah’s Night Visions.) Tabernacle imagery abounds, including a courtroom scene reminiscent of the covering of Adam in the Garden. As the Oath/Sanctions step, it is about the mitigation of the curses of the Law during this final Old Testament era. The final section (12-14) works through Israel’s annual calendar with a vision of Christ’s ministry upon Olivet splitting the mountain north-south spiritually into blessings (Gerizim) and curses (Ebal) as an entry for the believing Jews into a heavenly country.
• MALACHI: The final prophet rips right into Succession with a reference to “loving” Jacob and “hating” Esau, language used in the choice of a faithful heir. But that is the Genesis step of a sevenfold pattern that recapitulates the seven books that structure the first cycle of The Twelve. This explains the imagery used at each step. (See The Shape of Malachi.) The finale leaves us hanging with promises and warnings that are picked up with Sinaitic authority by John the Baptist.

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