• August 9, 2022 /  Uncategorized

    If you are visiting this page for my summary class on the minor prophets, please know that I also have posted my class notes for Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Here are my lists of the timeline, themes, and literary devices used in the minor prophets as a whole.

    Timeline

    • Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Micah – Prior to the destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Isaiah)
    • Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk – Prior to the destruction of the Southern Kingdom (Jeremiah)
    • Obadiah – Near the beginning of the exile to Babylon (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel)
    • Haggai, Zechariah – early after the initial return from exile.  Ezra and Nehemiah come later.
    • Malachi – last words of the Old Covenant, after Ezra, and probably after Nehemiah and Esther

    Themes

    1. Day of the LORD – Joel 1:15, 2:1, 11, 31, 3:14, Amos 5:18-20, Obadiah 15, Zephaniah 1:8, 14, 18, 2:2-3, Zechariah 14:1, Malachi 4:5
    2. Repentance
      1. Wealthy people who don’t care – Amos 4:1-5, 6:1-8, Zephaniah 1:8-13, Haggai 1:2-6, Mal 1:5-14
      2. Oppression of the poor – Amos 2:6-7, 5:11-13, 8:4-6, Micah 2:1-2, 3:1-5, 6:11-16, Zechariah 7:9-10
      3. Idolatry – Hosea 2:13, Hosea 8, Hosea 13, Amos 2:8, Micah 1:7, Zephaniah 1:3-6,
      4. Utter Corruption – Hosea 4-5, Micah 2:6-11, 3:9-12, 7:1-6, Habakkuk 1:2-4, Zephaniah 3:1-7, Malachi 1:6-2:9,
      5. The righteous will repent, and blessing will come – Hosea 14, Joel 2:18-27, Micah 7:7-20, Haggai 1:12-13, 2:19, Zechariah 8, Malachi 3:16-18
    3. Exile into Assyria – Hosea 9:7-10:6, Amos 5:27, 6:8, 9:4
    4. Exile into Babylon – Micah 3:11-12, Habakkuk  1 (implied), Zephaniah 1 (implied)
    5. Destruction of Assyria – Jonah (suspended), Micah 5:5-6, Nahum, Zephaniah 2:13-15,
    6. Destruction of Edom – Amos 1:11-15, Obadiah 1-16, Malachi 1:2-5
    7. Judgment on the Nations – Joel 3, Amos 1-2, Habakkuk, Zephaniah 2, Haggai 2:22, Zechariah 9:1-7, 14:16-19
    8. The Nature of the Prophetic Office – temporary, often anonymous, few mentioned in the histories (Micah, Haggai, Zechariah)
    9. Coming of the Messiah – Hosea 6:1-3, Joel 2:28-32, Amos 9:11-15, Obadiah 17-21, Micah 2:12-13, 4:1-5:4, Haggai 2:6-9, Zechariah 6:9-15, 8:20-23, 9:9, 11-13, Mal 4:2-6
    10. Life post-exile

    Devices

    • Hosea’s life as an example of Israel’s relationship with God
    • Homely Analogies: Hosea 7 – Baker, Hosea 11 – Israel as a son
    • Using current providence as a warning – Joel (famine), Amos 4 (famine), Haggai (famine)
    • Hebraisms – for three and for four (Amos), Eight repeats of “You should not have…” (Obadiah)
    • Visions – Amos 7:1-9:10, Zechariah 1-6
    • The Prophet as a Counterexample – Jonah
    • Psalm-like passages: Jonah 2, Habakkuk 3,
    • Asking questions: Jonah 4, Habakkuk 1-2, Haggai, Malachi
    • Alliteration – Micah 1:10-16
    • Recalling the Exodus, the Patriarchs
  • May 12, 2019 /  Uncategorized

    My wife wrote this post. I agree with her, but I want to flesh something out first.

    The concept of modesty in the broad sense has been lost to the church in a number of ways. More typically, if someone cares about modesty in the present age, they are usually talking about how women clothe themselves. That’s a reasonable application in many cases, but there is a broader aspect to modesty that needs to be understood.

    Modesty and humility are related concepts. When it comes to adornment of our bodies, it means that we should be limited in what we do, realizing that we have no need to show off to others. Anything we have is God’s gift to us. Thus we adorn ourselves chastely and simply, protecting and honoring what God has given us, recognizing that our bodies are not ours to do whatever we please with them. Among other things, this means that making a permanent change to the way you look is wrong, aside from something like restorative plastic surgery after an accident, or to correct something that is affecting your heath.

    Thus for modesty and humility, avoid doing things to get the attention of others, or, to make yourself look different for reasons of lust, pride, sorrow, anger, or anything else. God made you beautiful; you don’t need more than that. Let your joy be your beauty.

    On to what my wife wrote:

    =========================================

    “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor 6: 19-20

    Our bodies are not ours to do with whatever we want to. Our bodies belong to Christ, who bought us. Since our bodies are His, since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and since we are made in the image of God, we must treat our bodies with honor and respect. We must not deface, mar, disfigure, or mutilate them. Tattoos are a form of defacement. Purposely piercing a hole in a part of the body is a small form of mutilation.

    In the case of tattoos, God has already put an invisible mark on us- the mark of baptism. It is the mark of His ownership of us. We should not allow men to put other marks on us.

    The earrings God’s people had in the Old Testament (Gen 35:4, Ex 32:2, Ex 35:22, Job 42:11, Prov 25:12) may have been worn in imitation of the pagan people they lived among. For example, when they gave their earrings to make the golden calf, they had recently escaped from Egypt. Or they may not have been pierced earrings, but rather looped around the ears. These types of earrings have often been found by archaeologists. As for the nose rings or nose jewels in Gen 24:22 and Ez 16:12, while some commentators say they refer to piercings, others say they refer to pendants which hung from the forehead to the nose, commonly worn by Jews and Arabs. 

    Of particular interest are the passages about Israelite slaves in Ex 21 and Deut 15. Normally, Israelite slaves, typically working to pay off debts, were to be freed after seven years. Occasionally, someone did not want to be set free, but wanted to continue as a slave for the rest of his life. Directions were given about piercing his ear with an awl against a doorpost, to designate his perpetual servitude. This seems to have been a significant ordeal with a crude instrument (they did not have steel needles), perhaps indicating that ear piercings were not commonly done. In any case, Matthew Henry speaks of it as a mark of disgrace, a shameful thing for one of God’s people to choose slavery and not value liberty. “Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it… You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” 1Cor 7: 21, 23

    Of course, there are many marks of a Christian that are far more important than not having a tattoo or piercing, such as love for one another, holy living, zeal for God’s Word and church, and a public confession of Christ. If one already has a tattoo or piercing, it cannot be undone. But we should all strive, from this day forward, to obey and glorify God in the big things and the little things. “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1Cor 10:31

  • May 11, 2019 /  Uncategorized

    My wife wrote this. I agree with her.

    ===========================================

    This paper should be considered only by those who desire to obey God in every detail, no matter what the cost. If you only want to concern yourself with the major commandments, this is not for you. This command is found in only one place in Scripture. And obeying it is costly. If you become convinced about not wearing pants, you have to have the strength of character that is willing to stand alone and obey God, no matter what everyone else thinks.

    We should all come to Scripture with a heart that says to God, “What do You want me to believe and what do You want me to do? I will do it whether I want to or not.”

    “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the Lord your God.” Deut. 22:5

    The plain sense of the verse is straightforward. There are clothes that should be strictly for women, and there are clothes that should be strictly for men. Women should not wear men’s clothes, and men should not wear women’s clothes. If you do, you are an abomination to God.

    When people begin with a mind already made up that they don’t want to hear this or do this, and granted, for women, it is costly to implement, they reach for interpretations to explain it away. But the context gives no reason to interpret it differently. It is in a group of miscellaneous laws. The previous verse deals with helping your brother whose donkey has fallen down. The following verse is about birds’ nests.

    Sometimes we do not interpret a verse according to its plain obvious sense if that does not comport with the rest of Scripture. But maintaining gender distinction in clothing does agree with the rest of Scripture. There is a great emphasis in the Bible on how males and females, though equally precious in God’s sight, have different and distinct roles. This verse echoes that theme by requiring it to be reflected in distinctive dress. Our present culture does not like the idea of distinctive gender roles. It is no surprise that it does not like the idea of distinctive gender dress. In fact, our culture is trying to blur all distinction in gender, and this is reflected in how we dress.

    The two most common interpretations that people use to bypass the plain sense of the verse are that it refers to idolatrous pagan worship or to women wearing armor (meaning women should not be soldiers). Some reputable commentaries, such as John Gill, agree that these are among the many applications of this verse, but they do not exclude the primary basic meaning of the text.

    Some people are wary of applying an Old Testament verse to today. As reformed Christians, we have all been taught that there are three categories of Old Testament laws. The ceremonial law was fulfilled in Christ. This law is clearly not ceremonial. The civil law was for the nation of Israel only. The moral law is binding for all history. Up until the 20th century, this verse has always been interpreted to be part of the moral law. For example, John Calvin, Matthew Poole, and Matthew Henry all considered it grounded in the Creation order (“He created them male and female.” Gen 1:27) and therefore of continuing validity.

    Commentaries of Famous Bible Scholars on Deut 22:5

    • John Gill (1748)

     “Since in nature a difference of sexes is made, it is proper and necessary that this should be known by differences of dress, or otherwise many evils might follow; and this precept is agreeably to the law and light of nature.”

    • Matthew Poole (1853)

     “Now this is forbidden that men might not confound those sexes which God has distinguished.”

    • Keil and Delitzsch, famous Hebrew scholars (1864)

     “As the property of a neighbor was to be sacred in the estimation of an Israelite, so also the divine distinction of the sexes, which was kept sacred in civil life by the clothes peculiar to each sex, was to be not less but even more sacredly observed. There shall not be man’s things upon a woman, and a man shall not put on a woman’s clothes.

    The immediate design of this prohibition was not to prevent licentiousness or to oppose idolatrous practices, but to maintain the sanctity of that distinction of the sexes which was established by the creation of man and woman, and in relation to which Israel was not to sin. Every violation or wiping out of this distinction is unnatural, and therefore an abomination in the sight of God.”

    • Albert Barnes (1870)

    “The distinction between sexes is natural and divinely established and cannot be neglected without indecorum and consequent danger to purity.”

    Until 20th century western civilization, all cultures have had a distinction between male and female dress, from the Hebrews to the Romans to India. And all cultures have been offended when this distinction is breached. A man wearing a skirt still carries some shock value in western society. However, the shock of seeing a woman in pants has long ago disappeared. It is still present in some underdeveloped places in the world, though, which is why some missionary women wear skirts instead of pants.

    It is ironic that everyone brings up the Scots and their kilts. The Scots were proud of being very manly, and if you had told one of them he was wearing women’s clothes, you would probably have ended up in a fistfight. The skirts the Scottish women wore were floor length and were not called kilts.

    Okay, so why isn’t it just enough for women to wear women’s pants and men to wear men’s pant? Well, if this is the best we can do, at least it’s a start. But though our egalitarian culture has had some success at eroding our symbols, skirts and dresses are still almost exclusively for women and are a symbol of women. Pants are a symbol of men. Styles in pants have been rather fluid. What was at one time considered a pants style for women, ten years later is worn by men.

    If you want to pick something other than skirts vs. pants for your distinction in dress, it should be easily recognizable, consistent over at least a generation, and close to universally understood in your culture. Women’s pants and men’s pants are not dramatically different. They are more similar than different. Skirts and pants are dramatically different. They are more different than similar.

    Twenty years ago, when my daughters and I were the only females we knew who never wore pants, some people thought we were crazy. Occasionally, I wondered if we were crazy. I no longer wonder that, in view of the current explosion of confusion about gender in our culture. There are moral implications to our clothing. What we wear makes a statement and has cultural impact. When I wear a dress, I am proclaiming that I am a woman.

    If you want to fight the sin in our culture that stems from gender confusion, here are three things that, without a word, you can do. 

    1. Pray.
    2. If you are a man, wear short hair. If you are a woman, wear long hair. 1Cor 11
    3. If you are a woman, wear skirts and dresses.

  • February 19, 2018 /  Uncategorized

    Malachi means messenger or angel.  Nothing is known about him aside from the Book of Malachi.  He likes to use questions to illustrate his points.

    Main Idea(s)

    The Jews fell into many sins after the Temple was rebuilt, post-exile.  They cheated God in many ways.  They cheated their wives.  Malachi warned against ignoring God’s Law, and ignoring the heart of following God.  Some of this was implicitly a warning against being Sadducees or Pharisees.  The book closes with the repentance of some, and a warning to be ready for the Messiah!

    Target: Judah

    Time Period

    • Perhaps a contemporary of Nehemiah and Esther
    • Perhaps near the middle of the Medo-Persian Empire

    Outline

    1. THE LORD’S CHARGES AGAINST ISRAEL, THEIR REPLIES, AND HIS THREATENED JUDGMENTS (1:1–3:15)
    2. Ingratitude (1:1-5)
    3. Sacrilege by the Priests (1:6-14)
    4. Condemnation of the Priests (2:1-9)
    5. Divorce and Mixed Marriages (2:10-16)
    6. Denial of God’s Holiness and Justice (2:17)
    7. Parenthesis: Messiah’s Coming in Judgment (3:1-6)
    8. The Backsliding of the People (3:7)
    9. Robbing God of Tithes and Offerings (3:8-12)
    10. False Charges Against God (3:13-15)
    11. THE BLESSING OF THE REMNANT AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED (3:16–4:6)
    12. The Restoration of the Faithful Remnant (3:16-18)
    13. The Judgment of the Wicked (4:1)
    14. The Coming of the Messiah to the Remnant (4:2, 3)
    15. Closing Exhortation to Obedience, with Promise of the Coming of Elijah the Prophet (4:4-6)

    Famous verses and fragments

    3:1-3, 3:6-8, 3:10-11, 4:5-6

     

    Questions

    1. How would you feel if someone you have cared for and deeply aided questioned that?
    2. Note on Edom conquered by the Nabateans
    3. What sins did the priests commit against God?
    4. How does Malachi demonstrate the principle that we have to bring God our best?
    5. Is it better to bring a deficient sacrifice or no sacrifice? What does this imply for our worship?
    6. Does God condemn worshipper, priest, or both?
    7. How does God being King over the Nations fit into His complaint against the Jews?
    8. What will God do to disobedient priests? (2:1-3)
    9. What four things should characterize a priest? (2:5-7) Does this compare to any office in the New Covenant?  Did the Jews do this? (2:8-9)
    10. What sin does he address in 2:10-16? Has this been mentioned in any other book of the same era?
    11. What principles of marriage are mentioned here?
    12. What kind of attitude is described in 2:17?
    13. What is the job of the Messenger that God will send?
    14. What sins does he warn Judah of in 3:5? Any theories on why these sins?
    15. What does 3:6 mean?
    16. What does 3:7 tell us about the Old Covenant?
    17. What does 3:8-12 deal with?
    18. What attitude does God criticize in 3:13-15?
    19. What is the response of those who feared God in 3:16? And God in 3:17-4:3? Who is this Sun of Righteousness?
    20. What is the meaning of the final message? (4:4-6)
  • January 22, 2018 /  Uncategorized

    Zechariah is a common Hebrew name in the Old Covenant.  It means “whom Yahweh has remembered.”  We know nothing about him aside from this book, Ezra 5:1, and 6:14, and possibly a bare mention in Neh 12:16.  His prophecies begin in the middle of those of Haggai, and end two years later, seemingly.

    Main Idea(s)

    God conveys His will to restore and establish the returning exiles, and their worship of Him.  The Jews need to repent of their sins in this process, as Haggai told them as well.  This is a shadow of a greater calling to faith and repentance that would come through the Messiah.

    “Genesis, Psalms, and Isaiah are the most quoted books in the NT, which, considering their length and crucial contents, is not surprising. Most would be amazed to learn that Zechariah, with only fourteen chapters, is quoted about forty times in the NT. Doubtless this is due especially to the fact that the book is so Messianic, certainly the most Christ-centered of the Minor Prophets.” – Believers’ Bible Commentary

    Target: Judah

    Time Period

    • Contemporary of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai
    • During the reign of Darius the Mede

    Outline

    1. Introduction, Zec_1:1-6
    2. Eight Visions Concerning Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem, Zechariah 1:7-6:15
      1. The Horses among the Myrtles, Zec_1:7-17
      2. The Four Horns and Four Smiths, Zec_1:18-21
      3. The Man with a Measuring Line, Zec_2:1-13
      4. The High Priest and the Adversary, Zec_3:1-10
      5. The Lampstand and Two Olive Trees, Zec_4:1-14
      6. The Flying Scroll, Zec_5:1-4
      7. The Ephah/Basket, Zec_5:5-11
      8. The Four Chariots, Zec_6:1-8
      9. (The Coronation of Joshua), Zec_6:9-15
    3. Reply to Deputation from Bethel, Zechariah 7-8
      1. God Demands Obedience, Not Fasting, Zec_7:1-7
      2. Warnings from the Past, Zec_7:8-14
      3. God Waiting To Show Mercy, Zec_8:1-17
      4. The Nations to Worship in Jerusalem, Zec_8:18-23
    4. Judgment and Redemption, Zechariah 9-14
      1. Judgments on the Nations; the King of Peace, Zec_9:1-17
      2. Israel to be Saved and Strengthened, Zec_10:1-12
      3. The Parable of the Shepherds, Zec_11:1-17
      4. The Siege and Deliverance of Jerusalem, Zec_12:1-14
      5. The Remnant Purified by Chastisement, Zec_13:1-9
      6. The Exaltation of Jerusalem, Zec_14:1-21

     

    Famous verses and fragments

    2:8, 3:2, 4:6-7, 8:23, 9:9, 11:12-13, 12:10, 13:1, 7,

    Questions

    1. Which of the minor prophets mention the time of any of their prophecies?
    2. Should it be a problem for unitary authorship of the book that it has many different styles of conveying the truth of God? Are any other books in the Bible like this?
    3. What is Zechariah’s point in 1:1-6? What attitude did the people have in response?
    4. What is the main point of the first vision? (1:7-17) Why would this encourage the Jews?
    5. What is the main point of the second vision? (1:18-21) What are the four horns?  Why four?  What do craftsmen do? Any other places in Scripture where you see four horns?
    6. What is the main point of the third vision? (Ch 2) If you were a Jew still living in Babylon, what should you do?  Why might they not have done that?  How encouraging is this vision?
    7. Are these visions simple or complex? Pictures or movies?
    8. What is the main point of the fourth vision? (Ch 3) What would filthy garments do to a priest?
    9. Verse 3:2 – who is saying what about whom?
    10. How often does Satan get mentioned in the Old Covenant?
    11. Where else do you see the Branch mentioned in the Old Covenant? Who is he?
    12. What does 3:9 mean? Does verse 4:10 help?
    13. What is the main point of the fifth vision? (Ch 4) Who was Zerubbabel? What was he supposed to do? Plumb Line?
    14. What are the two olive trees – the two anointed ones, or sons of oil? What sorts of people get anointed?  Why might they be mentioned here?  Where else are they mentioned?  What do they tell us about Jesus?
    15. What is the main point of the sixth vision? (5:1-4) How big was the scroll?  What sins are condemned?
    16. What is the main point of the seventh vision? (5:5-11) Of what might the woman be symbolic?  How might this compare with the third vision?
    17. What is the main point of the eighth vision? (6:1-8) Where else do you see four chariots?  What do you think the north country might be?
    18. What happens to Joshua in 6:9-15? What were priests supposed to wear on their heads?  Did priests typically get thrones?  What does Joshua represent?  Where does the crown go?
    19. What is the main idea of chapter 7? How does the text change in chapter 7 from what went before?
    20. What does chapter 7 teach us about fasting? What would God rather have?
    21. What do verses 11-14 express?
    22. What is the main idea of chapter 8?
    23. What does he call attention to in verses 8-10?
    24. What is the purpose of all of the blessing in verses 11 and after?
    25. Note the opposition of fasting to obedience again (vv 16-19). Why does God do this?
    26. How does the text change in chapter 9 from what went before?
    27. What is the main idea of chapter 9:1-8? 9:9-10? 9:11-17?
    28. Where does 9:9 get fulfilled? What does 9:10 quote?
    29. What is the meaning of Zion vs Greece in v 13? What does this tell us regarding when this was written?
    30. What is the main idea of chapter 10?
    31. What do verses 6-12 promise to the Jews? To the Gentiles?
    32. What is the main idea of chapter 11? What does this imply about those who lead the Jews post-exile?
    33. What is the meaning of 11:12-13? Where is it quoted?  Might that change the view of Chapter 11?
    34. What is the main idea of chapter 12?
    35. Where is verse 10 quoted? Is this entire chapter Messianic?
    36. What is the main idea of chapter 13?
    37. Where is verse 7 quoted? As for verse 8 – where else in the Bible do you see the 2/3 – 1/3 language?
    38. What is the main idea of chapter 14? Note 14:1.
    39. My contention is that all of Chapters 11-13 are fulfilled at the first coming, and Ch 14 expresses Christ ruling over the nations. That doesn’t mean that every detail can be fit together – the commentators are all over the place.
  • January 8, 2018 /  Uncategorized

    Haggai means “festal one.”  We know nothing about him aside from this book and Ezra 5:1, and 6:14.

    Main Idea(s)

    The exiles returned from Babylon, but did not consider it important to rebuild the Temple.  God rebukes then, and they repent and build the Temple.  God tells them that the new Temple would be greater than that of Solomon, much as it would appear otherwise.  This is symbolic of the great things that God would do preparing the way for the Messiah to come.

    Target: Judah

    Time Period

    • Contemporary of Zechariah
    • During the reign of Darius the Mede

    Famous verses and fragments

    2:6-9

    Questions

    1. What is different about the last three books of the Minor Prophets?
    2. How much time elapses during the book?
    3. Why do you suppose they did not think it was time to build the Temple? Is that similar to anything in our lives?
    4. Why does God rebuke them? How does he get their attention?
    5. What effect did his message have?
    6. Why are Zerubbabel and Joshua significant with respect to building the Temple?
    7. What did God want for the materials of his Temple? How is that different than Solomon’s Temple?
    8. Why might the people have been discouraged at the appearance of the Temple? How does God encourage them?
    9. What is the second problem that God has with those in Judah? 2:10-19 What does this imply about our good works?
    10. Does their uncleanness prevent God’s blessing in this case?
    11. How would the glory of this Temple be greater than that of the former?
    12. What is the greater plan of God in the midst of all of this? 2:6-9, 2:20-23?
    13. How is Zerubbabel significant here? What does he prefigure?
  • January 6, 2018 /  Uncategorized

    Zephaniah means one who is hidden (protected) by Yahweh

    Main Idea(s)

    God will judge Judah, and all of the nations around her for their sins.  After that, he will bring Judah back from exile, and call Gentile nations to follow Him.  This is the book of the Day of the LORD.  There are 7 occurrences out of 53 verses.

    Target: Judah, and to a lesser extent the nations around it who would be judged by God using Babylon

    Time Period

    • Contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Nahum
    • During the reign of Josiah
    • Prior to the destruction of Assyria, like Nahum

    Famous verses and fragments

    3:9, 3:14, 3:17

    Questions

    1. During whose reign did Zephaniah prophesy?
    2. During what part of the reign? Does it matter?
    3. What are the two main divisions of the book?
    4. Of what nature is his prophecy and for whom was it intended?
    5. Did God kill everything? (1:2-3) What does He mean?
    6. What particular sorts of people was He going to judge? (1:4-13)
    7. Of what dreadful day does Zephaniah warn Jerusalem? What historical events fulfilled the prophecy?
    8. What should we think about the phrase “The Day of the LORD?” (1:7-2:3)
    9. What things that are commonly relied on would not help them in the Day of the LORD?
    10. Against what nations is judgment pronounced in Zephaniah? (2:4-3:7)
    11. How would Judah fare in the judgment of other nations?
    12. What will be the fate of Nineveh? What vice lay at the root of her evil-doing?
    13. Is Judah much better? Why is judgment coming to them? (3:1-7)
    14. What comforting message does Zephaniah bring? (3:8-13) How will Judah and the nations change?
    15. What are the main emphases of the song of rejoicing at the end? (3:14-20)
  • January 3, 2018 /  Uncategorized

    Habakkuk means embracer – one who comforts.

    Main Idea(s)

    During a time of great evil in Judah, Habakkuk calls out to God.  God tells him that he will use Babylon to purge the evil out of Judah.  This puzzles Habakkuk, who questions God, and gains a greater view of God’s righteousness, and that the Lord is pleased by faith.

    Target: Judah, and to a lesser extent Babylon

    Time Period

    • Contemporary of Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Nahum
    • Possibly during the reign of Manasseh.

    Famous verses and fragments

    1:5, 2:1, 2:4b, 2:20, 3:17-19a

    Questions

    1. How does Habakkuk teach us how to speak with God?
    2. What are the two main divisions of the book?
    3. How does the spirit of the first part differ from that of the second part?
    4. What nation’s rise to power brought about the prophecy of Habakkuk?
    5. What deep question initially troubled Habakkuk?
    6. How are the Chaldeans described in Chapter 1?
    7. What question concerning this nation’s power vexed the prophet?
    8. What answer does the prophet find?
    9. How is the great truth in 2:4 developed – what is it opposed to?
    10. Where is it quoted in the New Covenant? Did anyone notable ever get affected by the verse?
    11. List the five woes Habakkuk gives in Chapter 2? Does the US possess any of these?
    12. How is the judgment of Babylon described in Chapter 2?
    13. In Chapter 3, how does Habakkuk describe the righteousness of God?
    14. Why does he describe God as a warrior? Should that encourage us?
    15. In what words does the prophet express the strength of his faith in God?
    16. What should we, or do you, learn from the book?
  • December 14, 2017 /  Uncategorized

    Nahum

    Name means consolation, comfort, or relief (from what?)  We know nothing about him.

    Main Idea(s)

    The time is full for the destruction of Assyria.  God is done holding back.

    Target: Assyria, and to a lesser extent Judah

    Time Period

    • Contemporary of Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk
    • Occurs between the sack of No-Amon (Thebes, the Egyptian capital at that time) and the destruction of Assyria – puts it around 615 BC, about ten years prior to the first exile.

    Famous verses and fragments

    1:15a

    Questions

    1. What other part(s) of Scripture do verses 1:2-3a remind you of?
    2. What is God saying to us in Chapter 1 regarding his nature and dealings?
    3. Why does He say that – what is the eventual point of it?
    4. If we were just limited to Chapter 1, excluding verse 1, would we know who God is talking about?
    5. What sins are mentioned in Chapter 1?
    6. What should Judah learn from verse 1:15? Is this specific to Assyria, or a general promise?
    7. How should we interpret 2:2?
    8. In Chapter 2, the attack is described. Describe what it might have been like.
    9. How total is the judgment? Is there any hint that repentance could avert it?
    10. How should we interpret 2:11-13?
    11. Chapter 3 – any more sins of Nineveh?
    12. 3:5-7 Why does God humiliate Nineveh?
    13. Why might God compare it to the sack of Thebes? (3:8-13)
    14. Is there any possibility of Nineveh getting out of this alive?
    15. What is the point of the summary in verses 18-19?
    16. Compare Nahum with Jonah.
    17. How is Nahum unique as a book of the Bible?
  • November 28, 2017 /  Uncategorized

    Name means “Who is like Yahweh?”  He gets mentioned in Jeremiah 26:18, which God uses to protect Jeremiah.  He gets quoted in Matthew 2:6 regarding the birth of Christ.

    Main Idea(s)

    The sins of the two kingdoms are great, and there will be judgment, even exile on each.  The Lord will bring repentance and redemption to his people, but has a greater plan to bring it to all nations on Earth.

    Target: Israel and Judah

    Time Period

    • Contemporary of Hosea, Isaiah and Amos, and maybe Joel.
    • The book takes place in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

    Famous verses and fragments

    2:11, 2:12-13, 4:1-5, 5:2, 6:6-8

    Notes

    Chapters 1-3   Sins and Announced Judgment

    • Chapter 1 – Which nations does this prophecy target?
      • Does this prophecy start slowly or quickly?
      • What are the sins? Where are they manifest?
      • What is God going to do as judgments?
      • What does Micah think of this? V 8
      • Is repentance called for yet? What of v 9?
      • Vv 10-16 – note alliteration
    • Chapter 2 – What are the sins?
      • What is God going to do as judgments?
      • What do vv 6-11 tell us about the lives of people in Israel/Judah?
      • Does the Lord offer restoration?
      • What is implied in verse 13?
    • Chapter 3 – What groups of people is God particularly condemning in this chapter?
      • What are their sins?
      • What does he compare these groups to?
      • What is their religion like?

    Chapters 4-5     The Kingdom of God over all Nations and his Messiah

    • Chapter 4 – What part of Scripture does the beginning of this Chapter remind you of?
      • What is promised here?
      • How does it compare with the current situation? Future situation? Vv 9-10
      • Why should it give Judah confidence?
    • Chapter 5 – what do vv 2-4 tell us about the Messiah?
      • What do vv 5-6 tell about how the victory over Assyria would be?
      • What will God do with his people as a result? Vv 7-9
      • What will God do with his people as a result? Vv 10-15
      • What does this point to in God’s future plans?

    Chapters 6-7   A Call to Repentance

    • Chapter 6 – what is the form of the Lord’s complaint? Vv 1-5
      • What does He appeal to?
      • What should the response of the people be? vv 6-8
      • What was their injustice against God? How did He summarize it?
      • What was the punishment?
    • Chapter 7 – What is Micah’s lament at the present situation?
      • What is his consolation? Vv 8-10
      • For the end of the chapter, what will God do with Judah?
      • What will the effect on the nations be?
      • How does this show us God’s covenant faithfulness to his people?