Month: February 2020

Get Ready

This book returns to the more common prophetic format: proclaiming God’s word and judgment on sin and predicting the certain punishment for sin. It also ends with a proclamation of God’s grace and restoration of his people.

Author

Most scholars agree that Zephaniah (the name means “the Lord preserves”) wrote this book. He introduces himself at the beginning [1:1], and, in addition to the usual custom of identifying his father, traces his lineage back four generations to King Hezekiah, one of the few rulers of Judah who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” He prophesied during the reign of Josiah, another of the “good” kings of the southern kingdom (640-609 BCE).

Context

Zephaniah is another of the prophets from the period at the end of Judah’s existence as an independent nation (the others are Jeremiah, Nahum and Habakkuk). He preached that the kingdom would fall just as the northern kingdom of Israel had fallen one hundred years earlier. He also told the people God would judge them for the same reason: idolatry and ignoring God’s commandments.

The recent kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon, had allowed – and in some cases encouraged – the Israelites to worship the false, fertility gods of the surrounding nations. King Josiah led a brief revival when the Law of Moses was rediscovered in the temple, but his son and grandson took the nation back into idolatry. Zephaniah’s prophecy was born out when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 587 BCE and took the captive Jewish leaders to Babylon.

Structure

This book’s organization is straightforward. Zephaniah alternates his focus on Judah and then on Judah’s enemies.

• The first chapter presents God’s judgment on Judah and describes the “Great Day of the Lord,” in which the judgment will take place.
• Chapter 2 opens with a call for the righteous to seek the Lord, so they perhaps “may be hidden on the day of the Lord’s wrath,” [2:3], then presents God’s judgment on Judah’s enemies, including Gaza, Ashkelon, Chereth, Canaan, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia, Assyria (and Nineveh).
• The last chapter describes the sin and wickedness of Jerusalem, followed by God’s punishment of the nations and their eventual restoration.

Zephaniah closes his prophecy with a “Song of Joy” that God “will save the lame and gather the outcast, and will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth,” [3:19].

Major Themes

Zephaniah focuses almost exclusively on God’s judgment. He deals with five primary aspects of judgment in this book:

• Judgment is based on God’s righteousness and humans’ sin. The two are not compatible at all. Therefore the people can not have a relationship with God.
• Judgment is inevitable. Humans’ failure to repent and even attempt to follow God’s law means that judgment will come.
• Judgment is near. Zephaniah says judgment “is near, near and hastening fast,” [1:14]. God had told Habakkuk he was “rousing the Chaldeans” to execute his judgment on the Israelites, which would happen within thirty years of both prophets’ words.
• Judgment will be total. Zephaniah’s prophecy begins with God declaring “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth . . . I will sweep away humans and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,” [1:2-3].
• Judgment will be universal. God “will cut off humanity from the face of the earth,” [1:3]. He will judge all the nations and all people, and “neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath,” [1:18].

As part of this judgment Zephaniah provides a picture of the “Great Day of the Lord,” [for more see Notes on Joel]. Among the images he uses:

• Cries, wailing and crashing from the merchants as they perish.
• Punishment of the complacent who think their wealth and position will protect them.
• “A day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry,” [1:15-16].
• People will walk like they are blind and “their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung,” [1:17].

In the midst of this terrible picture of judgment and destruction
Zephaniah provides two glimpses of God’s grace:

• Those who “seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his commands . . . may be hidden on the day of the Lord’s wrath,” [2:3].
• The promise that “The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more,” [3:15].

Ultimately, Zephaniah gives us a picture of a God of love.

Get into the Word

1. Who wrote this book? What else do we know about the author? What kings was he associated with? Why do you think he included this information when other prophets did not?

2. When did the prophet carry out his ministry? What was the military and political situation at the time? What was the spiritual situation of the nation? Who were the primary leaders of the nation? What type of leaders were they? What did they do?

3. How is this book organized? What are the primary sections of the book? What are the major subjects of the prophecy?

4. What nations are involved with this prophecy? Who is the primary nation in this judgment? What other nations does the prophet identify? What do these nations have in common? 

5. How does the author close this prophecy? Why do you suppose he shifts to this subject at the end? How do you think the readers felt about this ending?

6. What is the major focus of this prophecy? How does the author approach this topic? What aspects of the subject does he deal with? What images does he use to help the reader/listener understand what is about to happen? 

7. How do you respond to these images? Which image had the strongest effect on you? What did it tell you about God’s judgment? How do you think the Israelites responded to this picture of judgment? 

8. When will this judgment be carried out? What phrase does the prophet use for this time? What images does he use to describe this time?

9. What does the prophet focus on at the end of this book? What advice does he give the people? What promise does he relay about the future?

Bible Trivia:
There are many other references to the “Day of the Lord” in both the Old and New Testaments. Here are a few:

• Isaiah 13:6-10
• Jeremiah 46:10
• Joel 1:15-20
• Joel 2:1-2, 31-32
• Joel 3:14-16
• Amos 5:18
• Obadiah 15
• Acts 2:20
• 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3
• 2 Peter 3:10

47: Coming judgment & Day of the Lord — Zephaniah 1:1-18

Get Ready

When you think about the future, do you tend to focus on a big picture (the world, your country, the region in which you live) or do you focus on yourself or your family? Does thinking about the future make you optimistic or apprehensive?

The Word

Notes . . .

Memory Verse
I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth, [Zephaniah 3:19].

Next Lesson
Haggai 1: The command to rebuild the Temple.

Get Ready

This brief book is unusual for an Old Testament prophecy for two reasons: first, it is presented as a dialogue between the prophet and God; second, the prophet is complaining that God is not dealing with the people’s sin – the prophet is calling on God to judge and punish the Israelites.

Author

All we know is the prophet’s name. He provides no details about his life or ministry and there are no references to him in any other Old Testament book.

But there is a significant reference in the New Testament. Paul’s understanding of the Gospel, set out in his letters to the Roman and Galatian churches, that “the righteous will live by faith,” [Romans 1:17, also Gal 3:11], is a direct quote from Habakkuk [2:4]. The writer of Hebrews also quotes this verse [Heb 10:38]. And Paul uses another image from the prophet in his sermon in Antioch of Pisidia: “Look, you scoffers! Be amazed and perish, for in your days I am doing a work, a work that you will never believe, even if someone tells you,” [Acts 13:41, from Hab 1:5].

Context

Most scholars put Habakkuk in the time just before the end of the southern kingdom and destruction of Jerusalem (587 BCE). This makes him a contemporary of three other prophets: Jeremiah, Nahum and Zephaniah.

As the Assyrian Empire declined and the Babylonians (also Chaldeans) took their place, Judah experienced a period of relative security. But the Jewish leaders used this time to enrich their own situation at the expense of the poor. This is the “wrongdoing” that Habakkuk decried in his complaint to God [1:3-4]. In response God tells the prophet he is “rousing the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous nation,” to punish Judah for its sins [1:6]. The Babylonians destroyed the nation and took the Jews into captivity in 587 BCE.

Structure

Unlike the other prophets, Habakkuk gives us a dialogue between himself and God. There are three major parts:

• Chapter 1 opens with Habakkuk’s complaint about the injustice and wickedness he sees in the nation of Judah. God then tells the prophet he will punish the kingdom with the Babylonian army, which leads Habakkuk to question God’s plan to use a more evil power to punish the evil in Judah.
• In Chapter 2 God replies to both aspects of the prophet’s complaint and tells him to “write the vision, make it plain on tablets,” [2:2]. God says that the Babylonians are not his instrument of judgment because they are righteous – in fact they will fall just as surely as Judah, and “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,” [2:14].
• Habakkuk responds to this promise in Chapter 3 with a prayer of praise for God.

Major Themes

At first glance Habakkuk is similar to many other Old Testament prophecies: the people have sinned, God will judge – and punish – the sin.

Indeed, the leaders of Judah did not follow God’s commandments. Habakkuk saw violence, trouble, destruction, strife and contention. “The law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous – therefore judgment comes forth perverted,” [1:3-4]. He wanted to know why God appears to tolerate this sin, or worse, why he seems to ignore it and ignore Habakkuk’s cries for him to act: “How long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen?” [1:2].

So God told the prophet he would punish Judah, using the Babylonian army.

But this raised an even greater question: How can a holy God decide to use such an evil people to judge and punish the Israelites? Does this mean God is actually condoning the Babylonian actions? God replies to the prophet’s question by assuring him that sin – regardless of who commits it – will be punished, but not necessarily as a person expects: “There is a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come and not delay,” [2:3]. God concludes his response by reminding Habakkuk, “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silent before him!” [2:20].

Habakkuk responds to God’s assurance with a prayer of praise for God’s glory and power: “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise,” [3:3]. He ends his prophecy with a declaration of faith: “I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights,” [3:18-19].

Get into the Word

1. Who wrote this book? What do we know about this author? Where else do his writings appear? Why do you suppose he is quoted as he is? Why is this writer important to us today?

2. When did the prophet do his work? Where did he prophesy? Who else was conveying God’s word at this time? What was the political and military situation at the time? Who were the major powers? What effect did this have on the Israelite kingdom?

3. What makes this book unique among the prophets? How do you think his readers responded to this literary approach? Does it make the message easier to understand or more difficult?

4. How is this book organized? What are the primary sections? What subject does each section deal with? What is the common thread through each section?

5. What is the primary message of this book? What kind of sin does this prophecy deal with? How does the prophet describe his situation? What is the major concern the writer has about the situation? What does God seem to be doing about it? Why is this a problem for the prophet?

6. How did God respond to the prophet’s complaint? How was he going to judge the sin of Judah’s leaders? Who was going to be involved? Why did this lead to even more concern about God’s apparent response to sin? How does God answer the prophet on this question? Does this satisfy Habakkuk’s concerns?

7. How does the prophet react to God’s answer about Babylon? Why do you think he responded as he did? How do you think you would respond if you had been the one challenging God? 

Bible Trivia
Some Biblical scholars think that Habakkuk probably was a priest or a temple singer or musician, because the prayer in chapter 3 is, “according to Shigionoth,” [3:1], and it is addressed “To the leader: with stringed instruments,” [3:19.

46: The prophet’s complaint & God’s reply – Habakkuk 1:1- 2:5

Get Ready

How good are you at waiting? Are you the type of person who can relax and let things develop at their own pace, or are you the type who expects things to happen right away? Is it harder to wait for something good to happen or for something bad to stop happening?

The Word

Notes . . .

Memory Verse
The righteous live by their faith, [Habakkuk 2:4].
Memory Verse 2
The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silent before him! [Habakkuk 2:20].

Next Lesson
Zephaniah 1: The Great Day of the Lord.

Get Ready

Nahum is the second of three prophets to focus on Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire and the most powerful city in the world at that time. But Nahum prophesied that Nineveh’s sins brought it under God’s judgment and the city and the empire would disappear.

Author

This prophet identifies himself as “Nahum of Elkosh,” [1:1], which is all the information we have about him. Scholars put his home, Elkosh, in northern Judah, but there is no consensus on its exact location (although Capernaum, the site of Jesus’ ministry activities, does mean “village of Nahum” in Hebrew). Nahum was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah.

Context

Nahum is another of the prophets working near the end of the southern kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians, whose capital was Nineveh, defeated the northern kingdom in 722 BCE. They continued to dominate the region and exact tribute from Judah for another century.

In 612 BCE, the Babylonian armies attacked Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire collapsed. As they had humiliated the smaller nations of the Middle East, the Assyrians were humiliated by Babylon – as Nahum prophesied. Since Nahum refers to the destruction of Thebes (661 BCE) as a past event, he probably wrote this book between 660 and 612 BCE.

Nahum’s prophecy of Nineveh’s destruction because of its sins should have served as a potent warning to the leaders of Judah. But they did not return to following God, and the Babylonians began their attacks on Jerusalem before 600 BCE, and destroyed the city and the temple in 586 BCE.

Structure

Nahum presents his “oracle concerning Nineveh” in three sections:

• The opening is an extended praise of God that describes his power and his “wrath” [see Note under Micah] and judgment of sin [1:2-11].
• In the brief second section Nahum conveys God’s promise of restoration and ultimate victory for Judah [1:12-15a]. The prophet does not follow the usual order, which puts God’s promise to Israel at the end of the prophecy.
• The final section predicts the ultimate destruction of Nineveh, the “city of bloodshed, utterly deceitful, full of booty – no end to the plunder,” [3:1]. The prophet provides quite a bit of detail on Nineveh’s sins as well as the coming ruin: “There is no assuaging your hurt, your wound is mortal,” [3:19].

Major Themes

Nahum focuses almost exclusively on God’s judgment against sin. The judgment is inevitable and the destruction will ultimately be complete. Even though the prophecy is about the coming destruction of a pagan city and empire, Nahum is actually speaking to the Israelites – he wants them to repent and return to God?

This makes the book one of the most negative and pessimistic in the Bible. Except for the four verses of promise to Judah [1:12-15a], the prophet describes God’s overwhelming power over all aspects of creation and then gives us considerable detail – often graphic – about Nineveh’s coming destruction. Among the images he uses:

• Crack of whip and rumble of wheel
• Flashing sword and glittering spear
• Piles of dead, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end
• Infants dashed in pieces at the head of every street
• Devastation, desolation and destruction
• The fire will devour you, the sword will cut you off

Even though God had used the Assyrian Empire to carry out his judgment against the northern kingdom of Israel, this did not excuse that nation from judgment for its own sins – a long history of cruelty and oppression of people throughout region for more than a century.

Nahum underscores the seriousness with which God deals with sin. In this the prophet prepares us for the seriousness of God’s ultimate solution to the problem of sin. We really should not be surprised that Christ went to the cross. For us.

Get into the Word

1. Who wrote this book? Where did the author come from? What other prophets were working at the same time? What else do we know about the prophet?

2. When did this prophet do his work? What was the political and military situation at this time? Who was the major power in the region? What was Judah’s relationship with this nation? 

3. What happened to this empire? Who was involved in this change? How did Judah respond to this situation? What eventually happened to the southern kingdom?

4. How is this book organized? What are the primary sections of the prophecy? In what respect is this book different than other Old Testament prophets?

5. What is this book about? What is the prophet’s primary message? Who is the prophet actually speaking to? Why is he speaking to this group? 

6. What is the overall tone of this book? What images does the prophet use to describe what will happen to Nineveh? How do you think the intended audience responded to these images? How do you feel about them?

7. What does the prophet say about sin? About God’s response to sin? About our response to sin and our relationship with God?

Bible Trivia:
Even though it is a pagan city, Nineveh is the subject of three Old Testament prophecies. Jonah actually (and finally) went and preached to Nineveh, and the people did repent, which led God to defer his judgment. Nahum then preached about the city. And he was followed by Zephaniah, who also predicted the coming destruction [Zeph 2:4-15]. The Israelites ignored the meaning of the three prophecies, as well as the disappearance of the Assyrian Empire.

45: God’s consuming wrath & good news for Judah –Nahum 1:1-15

The Word

Notes . . .

Memory Verse
The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of trouble;
he protects those who take refuge in him,
even in a rushing flood, [Nahum 1:7-8].

Next Lesson
Habakkuk 1: The prophet’s complaint and God’s reply.