Copyright © 2018 by Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries
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Well, it’s not about art, and we don’t ask you to color or draw anything.
It is about listening to God through his Word, being directed by open questions, and responding to what you’ve read and heard by writing your thoughts down.
We’ve divided each week’s study into three parts to make it easy to split it up or not, depending on your preference.
See beyondordinarywomen.org for previews of our other journaling studies or for information on large group downloads.
This study demands your involvement. Although the layout is simple, how deeply you go depends on you. As you spend time talking to God and journaling your thoughts, he may lead you to other cross-references, but he will certainly give you insights into the verses. Don’t stop with initial surface answers, but ask God to clarify and speak to you from it. The time you spend in the scriptures with God gives him space to speak. Listen well, journal your thoughts, share them with your small group, and glean from others’ insights.
If you like doing a little study at a time, each week’s lesson is set up in three parts, but feel free to go through it in any way that works best for you. If you prefer daily time in the Word, consider spending two days on each part, journaling about the optional starred section the second day. You may be amazed at what you see by reading the same passage twice. If you prefer to do the week’s study in one sitting, you may want to read all the passages first and then journal at the end. Of course, it’s great to be in God’s Word each day, but you may have other ways of doing that. Stick to what works for your schedule.
I have inserted background information pertinent to your understanding. Feel free to do your own research when you have interest or questions, but the group conversation will be focused on the passages studied by everyone. You may want to look over the chart “History of Old Testament Israel” as you begin to read each new prophetic book. It is found in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets.”
*** A star identifies optional verses or suggested study for those with time and interest. The additional reading will help you wrestle with deeper insights into the passages.
The verses that begin each week’s lesson are great choices for memorization and/or discussion.
Plan a regular place, time, and leader.
The leader should—
As a group—
Each week’s study includes a true story at the end that relates to the lesson. Some of our journaling studies have such stories on video, but this study includes them in written form in the lessons. The names have been changed in some cases to protect people involved.
To help you remember the message of the various prophets, I have included an icon or image that relates to the primary idea of each book. You will find that many of the same themes are repeated throughout the Minor Prophets—subjects that connect to sin, judgment, and repentance, so it’s difficult to clearly distinguish some of them from others. You may have other ways to help your group remember.
Our world is in turmoil, our country divided by race and politics, and we are more and more burdened by depression and despair. Although Jesus prioritizes our oneness (John 17), many Christians seem more concerned about politics than the unity of the church. The way out of division is to look to Christ and seek him over all other allegiances. After all, we are aliens here, not citizens. The church cannot lead the way when we are embroiled in conflict over what is fading away instead of loving what is forever. To do that we seek God’s worldview.
It’s as if we are living in the Old Testament world. Despite the fact that the Jews of that era had the Scriptures and the temple, etc., their faith was superficial. In their hearts and lives they actually served idols, not God, and put their faith for peace in alliances with ungodly nations instead of trusting the Almighty.
But our great and gracious God is always reaching out to his people, even the disobedient and rebellious. In that day he sent prophets to warn them to return to him and live out their faith by loving others. The prophets speak for God about what doing right looks like.
When we try to understand and apply prophetic messages written to another group of people in a very different culture and time, we must jump into their world. I’ve provided background as we go through the study, but feel free to use commentaries and the notes in your Bible to help you understand what is happening and why. Remember that although God’s Word was not written directly to our generation, God’s character is eternal and what he values is transcultural. I hope that these messages will speak to your heart about our world today, shift our focus to God, and prioritize the unity we have in him over anything that divides us.
Keep in mind that the promises and warnings are specifically written to the Jewish people. But also remember that they are God’s people just as we in the church are. As God’s people, we are judged for our corporate sin although he forgives us as individuals. God doesn’t change. The things that he hates about sin and unfaithfulness to him remain the same. The ultimate promises of a time of complete restoration and peace will include all of God’s people. (There is more explanation in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets.”)
If you want to avoid misinterpretation, keep verses in the context of the original audience. Focus on what you learn about God’s character and what it means to image him to the world.
Kay Daigle
September 2018
You are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment.
Jonah, speaking of God in Jonah 4:2b (NET)
How familiar are you with anchors? I grew up near the Texas Gulf coast and spent many hours there with my friends riding the waves in inner tubes or on floats. We generally paddled out past the breakers and floated back until we got caught in them; then, we pushed back out and started over. Eventually we found ourselves far from “home,” the area of beach where we began and where all our stuff was. I remember one scary day when a strong storm blew in, pushing us far out and way down the beach very quickly and violently.
The only way to prevent items from floating away with the current is to be attached to the ocean floor by an anchor.
Picture your soul anchored well so that you don’t drift away from God—either slowly by simply letting culture carry you away or quickly because of a brewing storm. Although God’s prophets wrote their messages thousands of years ago, they still speak to us today, warning us when we have drifted from God and calling us back home. Often we are unaware of how far from home we’ve gone.
I’ve personally floated away from God by drifting slowly as well as quickly in a violent personal storm. If God had not hung onto me by his Spirit and the truth of his Word, I would still be adrift today. Even now danger looms if I let go of the anchor and listen to other voices.
As you study the Old Testament, keep in mind that God is the same God he has always been. Although the original audience had a different culture, we can apply the message to today.
To understand the Bible, context is crucial. This section provides background to help you understand what you’ll be reading and journaling about. (If you aren’t familiar with journaling or if that sounds hard, read “Journaling 101” in the Appendix.)
Let’s start by putting the prophetic books into the context of the entire Bible.
The Bible is one big story that connects many shorter stories and other writings. (If you have never studied God’s big story, you may want to download our journaling study The ONE Story at https://beyondordinarywomen.org/the-one-story/ which puts the whole Bible in context—a must to understand it.)
I grew up in a Christian home and a Bible-teaching church. I knew all the major Bible stories and understood that Jesus died for me and loves me. But somehow I never grasped the ONE story behind them that brings all the stories together. So to help those of you who have never really studied the big picture of the Bible, here is a quick summary of the parts of the One Story.
Before people rebelled against the God who made and loved them, creation was perfect. It was a time we call Paradise. The first people lived in harmony and unity without sin, disease, or death in perfect relationships with God and one another. But Paradise didn’t last because they rebelled against the God who made and loved them, marring all their descendants and even all creation. Ruin ensued and is characterized by the hatred, disease, and broken relationships we all experience because we align ourselves with other “gods” instead of the Creator, just as our ancestors did. Although creation has been marred, glimpses of what used to be remains because we are all still made in God’s image although it is now distorted.
Since the Ruin, God has been at work to heal broken lives and relationships by realigning people with himself and his great purposes. Although he constantly seeks the best for people, we go our own way instead of loving God—the core issue in the dysfunction of sin.
The meta-narrative (big story) of the Bible tells us that some time after the Ruin occurred, God reached out to Abraham and his descendants, known as the children of Israel and later called Jews. He designated them as his representatives to the world and the people through whom he would send his ultimate agent of restoration. God blessed the Jews with special revelation so that they could know and worship him and experience right relationships with one another. Despite this honor, God’s chosen people rebelled against him over and over, unwilling to worship him alone. But God’s love is persistent, and he continued reaching out to them through the Old Testament prophets. These people who spoke for God provided encouragement to persevere, warning of God’s judgment, and promises of the future King or Messiah.
Eventually the Promised One came to earth as the man Jesus, one with God the Father and the Spirit, and brought Reconciliation between God and mankind by his own death and resurrection. He heals those who follow him from their brokenness with God and gives them power to restore their relationships with one another. His death made the way for all people who align their lives with him to be restored to God’s original purpose. When Jesus left earth and returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to empower and lead the church, which is comprised of all who believe.
Although Reconciliation between humans and God has been made possible, the effects of the Ruin linger. Those who believe in who Jesus is and what he has done for us are now to exhibit a taste of what his kingdom is like to the world around us. This period of time is often called the Already but Not Yet because we enjoy many of the blessings of God’s kingdom, but not its fulness. His kingdom is our real home, and we are aliens in this world. Our loyalty to God alone brings unity among his people.
Thankfully, the story gets even better. Someday Jesus will return and institute a new and perfect world according to all the promises the prophets have spoken. God will fix all that is ruined by sin and recreate paradise. We call this Restoration.
This study’s focus is the books called the Minor Prophets.1 They record the messages of people who spoke for God, known as prophets, as they preached to a world in Ruin in the centuries before Jesus came. Their writing brought God’s people hope of Messiah and a coming Restoration.
All of these prophets lived in the centuries after the Jewish nation was divided into two parts and before Jesus’s birth: Israel in the north (ten tribes) and Judah in the south (two tribes).
Although their messages were initially for a particular people at a specific time long ago, the underlying principles apply to the present time between Reconciliation and the final Restoration, the time of the Already but Not Yet.
We will move somewhat chronologically through the Minor Prophets. The dating comes from clues within the books or educated guesses by scholars. (See the chart “History of Old Testament Israel” in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets.”) After studying Jonah, we will work our way through three periods of prophetic messages: the time preceding the Assyrian Exile of the ten tribes called Israel, the period of Babylonian power and exile of the southern two tribes, and the era after the Jews returned from their Babylonian captivity.
With each book of prophecy, I’ve added an icon/image representing its message.
Although its date isn’t precise. Jonah’s book is likely the earliest of those that we’ll study. He prophesied in the 8th Century B.C. during the reign of King Jeroboam II, who ruled from 793-753 B.C.2 Jonah is very different from the other Minor Prophets. Instead of recording Jonah’s message, it provides a biographical story of the prophet himself. It won’t take you long to figure out why I’ve chosen an image of a backpack for Jonah.
There has been much controversy about the book’s historicity. Many scholars insist that these events are impossible and interpret it as a parable or allegory. Others insist upon a literal meaning, partly in response to those who criticize it on the basis of human reason. Jonah’s literature is similar to the narratives about Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings which are called “prophetic narrative.”
Dr. Robert B. Chisholm, Jr. of Dallas Seminary comments:
Unlike the exodus and the resurrection of Jesus, the historicity of the Book of Jonah is not foundational to redemptive history and the biblical faith. Unfortunately, the debate over the book’s historicity has often distracted interpreters from focusing on its theological message, which is not affected by how one understands the book’s literary genre. Whether the book is labeled historical narrative, legend, parable, or something akin to a historical novella, its themes seem apparent.3
In other words, don’t let your perspective of its historicity prevent you from believing its message. Jesus used stories to teach, and perhaps that is what Jonah did, but God is perfectly capable of bringing these events to pass literally.
*** Search in your Bible for introductory material to the prophets, or use commentaries or resources to discover more about the prophetic books or Jonah specifically.
Now that we have a sense of the historical context for the Minor Prophets and Jonah in particular, let’s dive in. Because it’s Jonah’s story rather than a message from God, it’s a lot easier to understand, and yet, it contains deep truths and timeless principles.
One more background detail that may help you with the story: Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the nation that would eventually conquer Israel, the northern kingdom. At this time the Assyrians were still gaining power and were not yet a direct threat to God’s people.
*** Read Hebrews 12:5-13 and journal about its relationship to Jonah’s story.
*** Tim Keller says that Jonah’s story parallels that of the Prodigal Son in that Jonah is the prodigal in chapters 1 and 2 and the elder brother in 3 and 4.4 Journal your insights.
Years ago while I was living in New York, my pastor called me into his office, along with his assistant pastor. He said that the Bible teacher at the Presbyterian Old People’s Home on Long Island was moving away and they needed someone to take her place. Both of them had prayed and God told them I was to be the new teacher. I said that was impossible because I was just learning the Bible, I didn’t have the gift of teaching, and I’d never been around old people as all of my grandparents had died while I was a baby. They told me to go home and pray about it for a week before giving them my answer. I went home and once again fell to my knees sobbing to God about this impossible situation and as I was praying, God changed my heart and gave me a desire to teach this class.
Our four children were all in grammar school, so I drove out there for my first class and told them that I felt like Moses when God told him to lead His people out of Egypt. I told them that I was just learning myself and would have to use the Living Bible. One of the women raised her hand and said that was fine with them. She said that I had a loud, clear voice and that’s what was most important to them. Every Friday, God kept my children healthy for the next three years while I taught. Then my husband was transferred to Houston and on my final day, they gave me a farewell party. Once again I cried all the way home because I would miss all of these grandparents whom God had given to me.
1 The prophets from Hosea through Malachi are called Minor Prophets, not because their messages were minor but because their books are shorter than those of the Major Prophets.
2 Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., Handbook on the Prophets (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 406.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24 (ESV)
“Gross injustice demonstrates a basic premise: in our world something is terribly wrong and cries out to be made right,” explains Fleming Rutledge in her masterpiece The Crucifixion.1 We all know this in our hearts, but often we don’t concern ourselves with justice until it affects us personally. Note the scales of justice icon for Amos.
You may have already memorized this week’s verse. I learned it in the King James version which translates the Hebrew word in the first line as judgment. The NET version uses “right actions” for the word righteousness, but Amos is actually using synonyms in these two lines.
Sometimes we think of righteousness as a nebulous characteristic of God that Jesus gives us so that we are forgiven in the court of judgment. But that’s only partly true. Rutledge explains what we who read and speak English miss: “. . . the English words ‘righteousness’ and ‘justice’ sound nothing like each other. However, these two words, ‘justice’ and ‘righteousness’ not semantically connected in English, are the same word-group in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and in the Greek of the New . . . . God’s justice and God’s righteousness are essentially the same thing.”2
Rutledge explains: “When we read in the Old Testament that God is just and righteous, this doesn’t refer to a threatening abstract quality that God has over against us. It is much more like a verb than a noun, because it refers to the power of God to make right what has been wrong.”3 (emphasis added)
As we read the prophets, we recognize how important justice is to God. It is a quality of who he is and what he does—right actions. On our behalf, he alone makes what is unjust right by Jesus’s death on the cross. He rectifies all wrongs by paying for our injustices. No, we can’t fix another person’s sin as God did, but we are to be just and do what is right as nations, as the church which represents God on earth, and as individuals.
As we move into the prophets’ messages, it’s important to understand that they were overwhelmingly directed at God’s people. Sometimes they included warnings for other nations, but more often they alerted the Jews that God would judge them corporately.
Although a child of God won’t be judged eternally for her sins for which Jesus paid, the church remains responsible as a body and may face judgment on earth (Revelation 2-3). We Americans are very individualistic, and God does see us as individuals, but God also sees us as part of the corporate church. He purifies us as a group because we all bear responsibility for the whole. “For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?” (1 Peter 4:17, NLT). The prophets not only call us to repent and return home to God, but they also prepare the church to expect God’s judgment on us first if we ignore their messages as the Jews did.
As we interpret and apply the messages of the prophets, we will read announcements of judgment on God’s people (Judah and Israel) and also the nations that surrounded them who did not worship Yahweh God. In the same way, the church and the nations we inhabit are responsible to God the Creator and face his judgment when we refuse to listen to and apply his warnings. (If you haven’t already done so, read “Applying the Prophets’ Messages” under “Understanding the Prophets” in the Appendix.)
Amos was from Judah (the southern kingdom) and yet preached in the northern kingdom of Israel during the days of the divided kingdom, about 750 B.C. or so. Approximately thirty years later in 722 B.C., the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians and its people were taken captive.
James Montgomery Boice says this: “The Book of Amos is one of the most readable, relevant, and moving portions of the Word of God. But in much of church history (until very recent times) little or no attention has been paid to it. Why? It is because the book speaks powerfully against social injustices and religious formalism . . . .”4 In other words we don’t like hearing it.
Amos prophesied in a time of prosperity in the northern kingdom when the rich were treating the poor callously. Consider parallels in today’s early 21st century as you read.
The first six chapters of Amos are structured as oracles, or “oral messages from God.”5
*** Read more about oracles in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets,” and look over the chart “The History of Old Testament Israel.” Note your insights.
Dr. Boice finds the order of the oracles here significant: “Chapters 1 and 2 contain eight oracles: one against each of the six nations that surrounded Judah and Israel . . . and one each against Judah and Israel themselves. These are not a random collection. The list is carefully constructed so that the judgment net slowly and inexorably closes around the very people to whom Amos was speaking.”6
One of our purposes is personal application—making sure we determine how we fall short of what God wants and expects from his people (our sins), so we can return home through confession and repentance from where we have drifted (1 John 1:8-10). It’s not about legalism or trying to make God love us. It’s about the heart’s tendency to drift from God to the point where his own people replace love for him with idols which leads to failure to love others. Each week’s work will include at least one application question. (See the last question in the Part One bullets.) Please don’t skip them. Ask God to reveal the things and people to which your heart is really attached and the ways he wants you to change by the power of the Spirit.
Amos’s message concerning Israel’s judgment (northern kingdom) continues with more details in the oracles in Amos 3:1-6:14. Note that Amos’s primary literary form is satire. (Read the section in the Appendix “Elements of Prophetic Literature.”) His message has been called a “covenant enforcement document” in which God lays out the nature of the Jews’ failure to obey their covenant with God. Don’t feel that you need to understand it all. That would require several weeks of study. Just get a feel for Amos’s message. If there’s something you need to understand in order to answer the questions, do it the easy way with the footnotes in your Bible. If that fails, read from a trustworthy commentary.7
That said, you will notice that Amos mentions the names of a number of places, mainly in the northern kingdom of Israel to which he prophesies. It’s helpful to know that Zion is another name for Jerusalem, the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah, and that Samaria is another name for the northern kingdom. Other cities and sites are often interesting to study, but details about them aren’t necessary to grasp the main ideas of the text.
*** Read all of Amos 3:1-6:14 rather than the more limited verses listed below. Particularly note the Israelites’ actions/activities that have upset God.
*** Rather than oracles, the final section of Amos documents visions he received from God. Read the entire passage from Amos 7:1-9:15.
I grew up in the Jim Crow South where state laws institutionalized racism toward Blacks. As a child, it seemed to just be the way the world worked. But as I grew I wondered. I wondered when my mother drove home the African-American woman who ironed our many cotton dresses in the back seat of our car when white adults always rode in the front. My heart suggested there was something wrong when Mother boiled all the dishes this woman used. My mother’s actions didn’t line up with the way she treated other people. Something inside me felt uncomfortable. Today I know that it was God’s Spirit.
My schools weren’t integrated until high school although the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. the Board of Education declaring segregation illegal came down years before. When I was a senior our schools began competing in sports with all Black schools, and we were instructed not to wander over to their side of the field because we might be harmed. As a drill team officer, I experienced this instruction quite personally when the school administrators ended our tradition of trading sides with the other school’s cheerleaders and drill team officers in third quarter of the football game—but only for these particular games. It taught me to fear African-Americans. And I wondered about it.
My parents hated Martin Luther King, Jr. because they thought he created trouble in our country by speaking out. Although we watched the news each night, I remember nothing of the Selma March, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, or the murders of civil rights workers. I didn’t hate African-Americans, but I feared them as dangerous and different. I lived in a white bubble with no Black friends or even acquaintances.
But at some point after I left home, God got through to me that such prejudice violated his love and character. It was wrong. It was sin. It was a slow revelation, but eventually I knew. Once I saw it, I believed that I had put my heritage of racist attitudes and actions behind me, and I did all I could to reach out with kindness to African-Americans. I thought that I, along with most of the country, had overcome racism. We were now operating colorblind.
The prophets were my wake-up call that colorblindness isn’t enough. In fact, I continue to be very convicted as I hear the prophets’ calls for justice, generosity to the poor (not leftovers or seconds), and following God’s way instead of trusting the powerful. Colorblindness leaves us unable to support victims of injustice and racism because we become so sure it’s not there.
My belief that social justice was a distraction from the gospel itself was wrong. The prophets, just like Jesus, tell us that social justice is the outflow of a people who love and follow God. We as individuals and as the church are responsible to seek and work for it. The prophets taught me that I can’t be complacent because I am accountable as a teacher and leader to speak out and act. True worship involves justice, generosity, and care for the least of these (Isaiah 58:1-59:19).
It’s only by God’s patience and grace that I now recognize my false assumptions that life works the same for us all. I’m still unsure of what to do or say about it. Right now I prioritize listening and seeing, as well as a white woman can, the injustice that people of color experience, the bias that holds them back, the racism in our institutions, and the lack of compassion that abounds for their problems.
I want to trust God no matter what comes, having faith in him for whatever the future brings. My job is not to fear what may happen if I speak out but to be true to the scriptures. Doing that means speaking up about the responsibility we as the majority have to help bring about change and show love to our neighbors.
A few months ago I went to Big Bend National Park where the Rio Grande is barely more than a trickle. But as I picture that in light of this week’s verse, I imagine a river joined by streams of abundant water traveling as one great waterway down the continent to the ocean. What a blessing it would be to the land, animals, and people who live and visit there! And I think, “What if those streams and river overflowed with justice to all the people in the whole land?”
What a beautiful picture of true worship!
1 Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015), 122.
2 Rutledge, 133.
3 Rutledge, 134.
4 James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets: Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary Hosea through Jonah (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 161.
5 “Introduction to Amos” in The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL; Crossway, 2008), 1656.
I will commit myself to you forever; I will commit myself to you in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and tender compassion. I will commit myself to you in faithfulness.
God to Israel in Hosea 2:19-20a (NET)
We all know couples whose marriages and sometimes even their very lives have been destroyed by adultery. Some of you are victims of your spouse’s infidelity, and others of you are guilty yourselves. From experience and/or observation we all know how damaging infidelity is to a relationship.
The Bible often uses the picture of marriage for the relationship between God and his people, and he does so in Hosea; thus, our image for the book is wedding rings. As an extension of that picture, the Bible often speaks of God’s unfaithful people as his “wife.” The Jews made covenant vows to be exclusively related to him as their God, just as we do in wedding vows, but they turned away and worshipped other gods, creating a gulf between themselves and the God who created and loved them. They failed to trust God and instead turned to idols to provide fertility for them and the land. They also trusted other countries to give them protection and peace rather than putting their faith in God to take care of them.
Sadly, we cannot study the entire book of Hosea because of its length, so we will focus on various sections each day.
Often, all we notice in the prophets is God’s judgment, but there is more there if we study carefully. As we saw in our first lesson, our relationships with God are broken, and he is broken-hearted about it. In Jonah’s story we saw God reaching out to a pagan nation. The story of the Bible tells us that God’s heart is to restore our relationship with him. His intention is that restoration spreads out to our relationships with others.
James Montgomery Boice refers to the book of Hosea as the “second greatest story in the Bible” after that of Jesus,1 so look for reasons for his comment as you read.
The prophetic ministry of Hosea is dated from information in the first verse of the book. While the reigns of the listed kings extended from 792 B.C. until 686 B.C., Hosea’s ministry probably began sometime after the first date and ended before the last king died. Hosea, like Amos, prophesied primarily to the kingdom of Israel, which he also calls Ephraim, the name of the largest of its ten northern tribes.2
Hosea has two distinct parts: In the first section “chapters 1 and 3 describe Hosea’s dealings with Gomer which serve as an object lesson of God’s love for Israel (chapter 2).”3 The second section (chapters 4-14) details ways that God’s people have been unfaithful to him.
I used to simply read Hosea and think little of the emotions involved in Hosea and Gomer’s story. As you read, don’t make the same mistake. Although we don’t know how they felt, put yourself in their situation and consider what you may have felt. Empathize with them. They were real people.
Now that you’ve read it, you may be thinking, “What? Did God tell Hosea to marry a prostitute?”
There was purpose in God’s plan. Robert Chisholm points out that “The phrase ‘adulterous wife’ in verse 2, rather than describing Gomer’s status at the time of her marriage to Hosea, more likely anticipates what Gomer will become—an unfaithful wife. The symbolism seems to demand this understanding of the phrase. Gomer’s subsequent unfaithfulness to her husband Hosea became an object lesson of Israel’s lack of commitment to her ‘husband’ the Lord.”5
Various translations use different words for the term describing Gomer in Hosea 1:2: “harlotry” (NASB), “adulterous” (NIV), and “prostitute” (NET).
It’s possible that when Hosea married her, Gomer was either a prostitute in the temple of Baal or a common prostitute. Chisholm says this about the issue: “Gomer’s subsequent unfaithfulness, no matter what her status at the time of the marriage, was enough to satisfy the intended symbolism.”6
Dr. Boice comments on God’s leading Hosea into an adulterous marriage:
God does sometimes lead his children into situations that are parallel if not identical to this. We live in an age where everything good is interpreted in terms of happiness and success. So when we think of spiritual blessing we think of it in these terms. To be led of God and be blessed by God means that we will be ‘happy’ and ‘successful.’ . . . This is shallow thinking and shallow Christianity . . . . God sometimes leads his children to do things that afterward involve them in great distress. But because God does not think as we think or act as we act, it is often in these situations that he accomplishes his greatest victories and brings the greatest blessing to his name.7
The children’s names, of course, are significant as messages of judgment. I found myself reading the names and prophecies several times, and looking up further information.8 Your purpose is simply to grasp God’s main message to Israel, so don’t feel the need to do extra study.
*** Read a commentary or online notes about the children’s names and Gomer’s past.
Now we read the rest of the story of Hosea and Gomer. Keep in mind that it serves as a parable for God’s relationship with Israel. As mentioned in Part One, Hosea 1 and 3 tell Hosea and Gomer’s story and picture God’s relationship with Israel as outlined in Chapter 2. If needed, review Hosea 1.
Hosea and Gomer have divorced by Chapter 3 because Hosea had to purchase her.9
Do you know that God loves you enough to redeem you from the kingdom of darkness and make you his own? When we realize the depth of our sin, it can be difficult to believe that God can love us. The picture of Gomer ending up on the slave block because of her adultery is a picture of us in our natural state—helpless, guilty of rebelling against God by going our own way, and left in the filth of our dysfunction and the consequences of our sins. And yet God himself came to rescue us by becoming a man named Jesus who willingly allowed people to kill him in a horrible death on the cross, rectifying all we had done wrong and bringing us to himself in Reconciliation. On the third day he rose from the dead and lives now in heaven. Someday he will return and bring the time of Restoration to all things. (See Week One Study.)
God loves you that much! Turn to Jesus and follow him if you haven’t done so already. Talk to your small group leader or pastor if you need help in processing what faith in Jesus means.
*** Read the story of Jesus and the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50 and journal your thoughts in light of Hosea’s story.
Now we’ll read several sections from the rest of Hosea to get a taste of Hosea’s message. As you read, consider how the message applies to today’s church (your church, not just someone else’s church.) God’s indictments of Israel (also called Ephraim and referred to by the name of its capital Samaria in some verses) are not judgment of a pagan nation but of God’s people, which means that its principles apply to us as the New Testament church.
*** Read all of Hosea 4-14 instead of merely the assigned verses, keeping the bulleted questions in mind.
(This looks like a lot but it’s shorter than many chapters.)
The need to be loved has been a central theme in my life. When I went away to college, I began to wonder, “Who will love me here?” My family had loved me when I was with them, but I was in Virginia and they were back in Houston. That first year of college I met some nice girls who had very different standards from the ones my parents had taught me. For the first time, I felt challenged as I considered the choices I would make. I knew what my parents would tell me to do, but that was no longer good enough. I needed to decide for myself. That first year I sampled some of what the world had to offer and I was miserable.
One night while I was home on spring break, my younger sister Anne told me what a difference knowing Jesus Christ had made in her life. The difference was apparent too. She had calm confidence and strength of character that was attractive. Over the summer I read some literature she gave me. As I read, I began to feel that before I could come to God I needed to clean up my life. As I kept reading, I realized that the only way I could be clean enough was to let Him clean me up. I could never do a good enough job on my own. I went back to college the fall of my sophomore year, broke up with my boyfriend, and quit hanging out with those girls. One day I saw a notice on our dorm bulletin board about a weekly Bible study being held on campus. “Anne would go to that,” I thought to myself, feeling close to her, and I decided to go.
There I met Evelyn Saunders, who along with her husband had been a missionary in India for many years. The pages of her Bible were worn and the margins were full of her hand-written notes. That particular night we read from Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus said “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden.” How that verse described me! I was worn out from searching for love and not finding it. He went on to say, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” That night I said “Yes” to Jesus’ invitation to come to Him.
That was many years ago, but this verse has become a picture of my life. Being yoked with Jesus. Walking with Him. He satisfied my search for love by giving me His unfailing love. He satisfied my need for guidance in life by giving me a manual, His word, so I would know how to make choices in life. When I try to take the leadership away from Him, as I often do, He reminds me that He knows the way and wants to lead me in it.
1 Boice, 13.
2 Chisholm, 336.
3 Chisholm, 336.
4 For example the NET Bible at lumina.bible.org
5 Chisholm, 337.
6 Chisholm, 337.
7 Boice, 16.
8 Dr. Tom Constable explains the history behind the first-born son’s name Jezreel (http://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/ot/hosea/hosea.htm):
It was at Jezreel that King Jehu of Israel (841-814 B.C.) had massacred many enemies of Israel, including King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, King Jehoram of Israel, and many prophets of Baal, which was good (cf. 2 Kings 9:6-10, 24; 10:18-28, 30). But he also killed King Ahaziah of Judah and 42 of his relatives, which was bad (2 Kings 9:27-28; 10:12-14). Ahaziah and his relatives did not die in Jezreel, but their deaths were part of Jehu's wholesale slaughter at Jezreel. Jehu went too far and thereby demonstrated disrespect for the Lord's commands (cf. 2 Kings 10:29-31).
Because of Jehu's atrocities that overstepped his authority to judge Israel's enemies, God promised to punish his house (dynasty). The fulfillment came when Shallum assassinated King Zechariah, Jeroboam II's son and the fourth king of Jehu's dynasty, in 753-752 B.C. This death ended Jehu's kingdom (dynasty) forever (2 Kings 15:10).
9 Chisholm, 346.
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:6-8 (NIV)
I love the verses above. When I proudly believe that God is pleased with me because of my giving, sacrifices, ministry, or worship, these verses remind me that my actions toward others show what’s really in my heart. Where is my concern for justice in the land? Where is my compassion that leads to mercy even when people are guilty? And how closely am I really walking with God?
God is just, and he expects us to treat people fairly and promote justice for others, particularly those lacking equal voice or opportunity. But our just God wants us to love mercy too. It seems to me that unless we walk humbly with God, that’s impossible because in our pride we lack compassion and unconditional love.
The Old Testament prophets speak a lot about justice and mercy, not because such qualities provide a relationship with God, but because, first, they show God’s love to others and, second, they indicate what’s truly in our hearts. I hate to confess it, but my prideful belief that people get what they deserve and can succeed if they work hard blinded me to the systemic injustice that prevents their success. Opportunity isn’t equal for all. Although I’m not condemned for my lack of compassion because of Christ, this attitude reveals a disconnect with God’s character. He isn’t pleased with my pride and disregard of others, and yet he continues to show me mercy and patience. As a mom, I understand: I experience the same feelings with my own children.
Sometimes in our haste to declare ourselves forgiven and in Christ (and we are if we believe in Jesus), we ignore his call to love others by the power of his Spirit (1 John 4:7-12). We are to continually confess and repent of our sins (1 John 1:8-10), which requires introspection and acceptance of hard truth. My favorite prayer of confession comes from The Book of Common Prayer: “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.”1 God pierces my heart every time I say these words.
As we read Micah, let’s keep in mind that God is in the business of changing us; he loves us too much to leave us where we are. Let’s listen to his voice so we can become more and more like Jesus—brimming with justice and loving mercy.
How does God remain both just and merciful? You likely know the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1-11). It’s one that every non-Christian knows too. Jesus agreed with her accusers that the penalty under the Old Testament Law was to stone her, but he called on the one without sin to go first. One by one all left. Instead of the sinless Son of God condemning her, he gave her mercy, just as he gives us. Was justice done? Absolutely. Because God in Christ died for her sins and ours as well. Justice requires rectification for cheating on a spouse, and Jesus accomplished justice for her sin and all our sins through his own death on the cross. Justice isn’t abandoned to show mercy.
In light of this story, we’re using rocks to symbolize the book of Micah.
Micah 1:1 tells us that Micah spoke for God during the reigns of Jotham (750-731 B.C.), Ahaz (735-715 B.C.), and Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.), kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. He was a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and Hosea.2 Although his primary message focused on the northern kingdom’s destruction, he also warned Judah against following the sins of Israel. In 722 B.C. Micah’s words were fulfilled when Assyria destroyed Israel.
The book of Jeremiah written a hundred years later tells us that Micah’s prediction of the destruction of Israel made a difference. When Jeremiah relayed God’s warning about coming judgment on Jerusalem and the temple, his audience of priests, prophets, and others didn’t like the message and wanted to kill him. Thankfully some of the Judean elders disagreed, using Micah as an example:
Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountains of the house a wooded height.’”
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and did not the LORD relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves (Jeremiah 26:18-19, ESV).
Dr. Chisholm comments: “This demonstrates that Micah’s prophecy, though seemingly unconditional in tone, was implicitly conditional. Because of Hezekiah’s repentance, the prophesied judgment was postponed.”3
Sometimes I get lost in Micah because he uses various names for the two kingdoms. He often refers to the northern kingdom Israel by the name of its capital Samaria. Sometimes he uses the name Jerusalem for the capital of the southern kingdom Judah, but he also calls it Zion. At times he uses the broader term Jacob, who was the father of all the Jews, which ends up confusing me even more.
As you read Micah this week, pay attention to the predictions of judgment and promises of a better future. Judgment and mercy.
*** Read Revelation 19:11-21 and compare its images of the judgment at Christ’s return with those in Micah.
This section’s reading begins with judgment, but it moves to images of eventual restoration. In its promises of the future you will read messianic predictions, so pay close attention. Remember that one prophecy often has multiple fulfillments or includes near (i.e. soon after the time of Micah’s writing) and distant fulfillments side by side. At other times it includes promises that are still future to us today, not to be fulfilled until Christ’s return in the end days. Often it’s hard to tell. Note that the term “the latter days” or “that day” often refers to the end times. Feel free to read the notes in your Bible or a commentary for help.
As you read, also notice the groups of leaders that God calls out and the highly poetic language used to describe their sins. (For example, they aren’t literally tearing the skin of the people, etc.)
*** Reread Micah 5:1-6, and journal about what Jesus’s audience may have understood from his teaching in John 10:1-18 from their familiarity with this passage.
In this last section of Micah, God indicts his people as a group and takes their actions very personally. FYI: Micah refers to Omri and Ahab who were northern kings well-known for their idolatry. Tragically, they influenced the southern kings to follow their counsel rather than seek God (Micah 6:16).
*** Read about King Omri of Israel in 1 Kings 16:25-28. Read about his son King Ahab’s negative influence over Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah who married Ahab’s daughter, in 2 Chronicles 18:1-19:3. Journal your insights.
Being married to a seminary professor has its marvelous benefits, as you can imagine: training godly students for Christian ministry, meeting Christians from all over the world and becoming involved with them and their ministries, being constantly stimulated and challenged by students, and visiting lecturers that we have the privilege of entertaining in our home. But along with all the wonderful things associated with being married to such a man, there is also the heavy side.
Some students can and do idolize various Christian ministers and when one of these people fail in a significant way, these students are devastated. They feel like they will never be able to make it in ministry because their hero has fallen. At times like this my husband and I have had the privilege of reminding them that we all are frail and that there is no substitute for a personal, intimate walk with the Lord, for accountability in our lives, and for committed prayer on our part for each Christian leader ministering to us and our family.
We have seen the Lord’s faithfulness through many of these situations, some after years of heartache, but through it all God has and is revealing Himself to His people in ways we did not expect. He alone is our perfect, Holy, righteous, loving, unfailing God. He wants us to take our eyes off men and place them on Him because He is GOD and there is none other!
1 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer: The Holy Eucharist Rite Two at https://www.bcponline.org accessed 9/11/18.
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NLT)
Our study has moved out of the Assyrian Crisis period now that Assyria has destroyed the Northern Kingdom. We now focus on the Babylonians, the new world power. You may want to review the chart in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets.”
In this section we will study the short book written by the prophet Nahum (meaning comfort). Nahum, like Jonah a century before,1 warns the Assyrians, the conquerers of Israel, that their capital city Nineveh will fall and their empire will be destroyed. We look at history and see that the Babylonians did conquer them. You likely remember that Jonah’s warning resulted in their repentance years before, and God responded in mercy. But now the Assyrians have turned back to their old ways.
“Jesus said that ‘all who take the sword will perish by the sword’ (Matt. 26:52) . . . . In the conquest of the ancient world, the Assyrians were merciless and cruel. Their atrocities included everything from burning children to death and chopping off hands. In many ways, the Book of Nahum is a theology of the maxim of the sword.”2
And that’s why we are using a sword as our icon for this book.
As you read Nahum, think in terms of this short outline —unless you have time to outline it yourself:
The pictures Nahum paints about the coming judgment on Nineveh and all of Assyria are difficult. Nahum made clear that the sentence was just because of their treatment of Israel, which essential disputed God’s rule (Nahum 1:2-3, 8-9,11; 2:2; 3:1). Consider how you might feel if it was your country and family that the Assyrians destroyed. Their destruction would have been very good news to the nations around Assyria—in the same way that the death of Osama Bin Laden was to citizens of the United States—because Judah would be spared. Think about J. Vernon McGee’s point as well: "Earlier, Jonah had brought a message to Nineveh which revealed the love of God, and now the message of the Book of Nahum reveals the justice of God—the two go together.”3
*** Research the Assyrians or their capital Nineveh in your study Bible, commentaries, or in Dr. Constable’s notes.4 Journal your insights.
Just as Nahum predicted, in 612 B.C. Nineveh was destroyed by an alliance of the Medes and Babylonians.5
Our final two parts of this week’s study focus on the book of Habakkuk. We use an ancient watchtower as our image for this book because Habakkuk waited to hear from God in such a place. Although at this time the line of Davidic kings still occupied the throne in Jerusalem, they lived under an increasing threat from Babylon.
Have you ever dealt with a very difficult time when everything seemed to be going wrong, and then it got worse despite your prayers? You may have questioned God about what he was doing. If you’ve ever been in that situation, you have company in the prophet Habakkuk, who had the courage and honesty to ask God what he was doing and why. In the end Habakkuk trusted God as his anchor when he didn’t understand God’s plan.
The message of Habakkuk dates from the seventh century B.C. just as Nahum’s does.6
The book of Habakkuk is unique; rather than relaying God’s messages for the Judeans, it records a series of dialogues between Habakkuk and God, ending with Habakkuk’s declaration of faith. Here is an outline that may help you navigate the book more easily:7
I. Superscription (1:1)
II. First cycle (1:2-11)
A. Habakkuk’s lament (1:2-4)
B. God’s response (1:5-11)
III. Second cycle (1:12-2:20)
A. Habakkuk’s lament (1:12-2:1)
B. God’s response (2:2-20)
IV. Habakkuk’s prayer (3:1-19)
*** Focus specifically on Habakkuk’s comments about God’s character in 1:12-14, journaling your thoughts and feelings.
The verses in our “Words to Anchor your Soul” on the first page of this week’s study come from the final section of Habakkuk. This passage is one of the most beautiful biblical expressions of trust in God during times of trouble. Knowing these verses will help anchor your faith in him when life is confusing.
*** Compare Psalm 46 with Habakkuk 3:17-19, recording the truths about God that anchor the psalmist and the prophet.
I struggle with fear. Because my mother was constantly afraid, I grew up believing that I should worry—about everything. Only as an adult did I learn that fear is the opposite of faith. Acting in fear and acting in faith cannot co-exist. Even today the question for me is whether I trust God or not—no matter what happens, so when faced with a strong fear, it helps me to figure out the worst case scenario. Then I can pray by praising the specific characteristics of God that can handle even that problem—or ask him to use it in ways to achieve his kingdom purposes.
As my mother aged, her habit of watching certain political talk shows increased her fears and worries. The reports on such shows, often loosely based on facts, are designed to create fear and political alliances—and of course ratings. Without stories that appeal to people’s prejudices and fears, such shows would have no audience. Eventually, I suggested that Mother quit watching the shows that multiplied her worry and entrust the situations to God. Blocking out those negative voices made a huge difference in her joy.
I often remind myself that I shouldn’t ever make decisions out of fear. I need to block out those voices because they aren’t of God. God wants us to walk daily by faith and act in love, even when there are risks.
Reading Habakkuk’s words of trust in God whatever his judgment brings (Hab. 3:17-19) helps me trust him and love others when I begin to fear. When I worry about running out of money at the end of my life, I give extra away. When I fear for the future of our nation, I consider why the American church deserves God’s judgment (1 Peter 4:17) and beg for mercy for us all. Even if I lose all that I cherish on earth, I pray for God to give me faith to know that he will hold on to me with his powerful, loving hands.
1 According to internal evidence, the book of Nahum appears to be authored between 663 when the Egyptian city of Thebes fell (Nahum 3:8-10) and the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C.
2 Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary, Eds., Earl Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999),1081.
3 J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, 3:815. Quoted by Dr. Thomas L. Constable’s notes on Nahum at http://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/ot/nahum/nahum.htm#_edn14
4 To remind you, Dr. Thomas L. Constable’s notes on the whole Bible are available without charge for study purposes: http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes.htm
5 John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, Note on Isaiah 7:17. (Downers Grove, IL: 2000), 594.
6 Parts of the book seem to predate the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. when the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians, while others suggest a later date. This battle occurred some 80 years after King Hezekiah, the ruler during the days that Micah prophesied as we studied last week.
7 ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Habakkuk,” 1720.
Seek the Lord’s favor, all you humble people of the land who have obeyed his commands!
Strive to do what is right! Strive to be humble!
Maybe you will be protected on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.
Zephaniah 2:3 (NET)
Read the first verse of Zephaniah’s book where he identifies himself and provides his genealogy including Hezekiah. It’s uncertain whether this refers to King Hezekiah or a different Hezekiah. This verse also establishes the timing of Zephaniah’s message as the days of Josiah, the great king of the Southern Kingdom. Josiah rose to the throne at the age of eight in 640 B.C., eventually bringing spiritual renewal and reform to Judah.
If you’ve lost track of how Zephaniah fits into the history of Israel, the Assyrian crisis had passed now that they had destroyed the Northern Kingdom. Although Assyria remained a threat, Babylon was on the rise and would conquer Judah fully in 586 B.C., as predicted by Nahum (Week Five). Review the chart in the section “Understanding the Prophets” for a visual picture.
Zephaniah speaks to other nations as well as to the kingdom of Judah. His theme? God as the sovereign judge of all nations will soon act. This message runs through Zephaniah’s prophecies to both audiences—God’s people and other nations. The image of a gavel represents God as Judge.
Remember that prophecy is full of poetic language; that means you need to be aware that some language uses metaphor, simile, and other images with non-literal meanings.
*** Hundreds of years before God sent first Israel and then Judah into exile, he warned his people through Moses that this would happen if they forsook and disobeyed him. Read Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15, 45-51, 64-68; 30:1-14. How do these warnings compare to Zephaniah’s predictions of the Day of the Lord in 1:7-18?
I am so thankful to God for the hope he provides in 2:3—our Words to Anchor your Soul—hope desperately needed in our own day.
If it’s been a day or more since you did Part One of this study, you may want to review Zephaniah 1:1-2:3 before moving on. Even better, read the whole book again.
*** Read about King Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27. From God’s perspective, he was among the few faithful kings over Judah because he “did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2, ESV). Journal your insights.
The middle chapter of Zephaniah announces God’s judgment on other nations. Remember, the theme of Zephaniah is God as Judge of all. God turns his attention back to Judah and in particular its capital city Jerusalem in 3:1.
Although the end of Zephaniah’s message provides hope and promise, we can look back at history and know that it wasn’t fulfilled in Zephaniah’s day. Within about 40 years after he penned this book, God fulfilled his prophesied judgment when Judah was destroyed.
Zephaniah is the last minor prophet in the canon preceding Judah’s destruction by the Babylonians (Chaldeans) in 586 B.C. Here is God’s explanation of that judgment on his own people (2 Chronicles 36:15-21, ESV):
The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.
*** Richard D. Patterson is one of many scholars who have pointed out how Zephaniah’s structure involves two sections that parallel. Browse through it with this structure1 in mind:
Declaration of the Day of the Lord’s Judgment (1:1-2:3) |
Details concerning the Day of the Lord’s Judgment (2:4-3:20) |
Pronouncements |
Pronouncements |
On the earth (1:2-3) |
On the nations (2:4-15) |
On Judah/Jerusalem (1:4-6) |
On Jerusalem (3:1-7) |
Exhortation (1:7-13) |
Exhortation (3:8) |
Teachings |
Teachings |
Information (1:14-18) |
Information (3:9-13) |
Instruction (2:1-3) |
Instruction (3:14-20) |
This week’s story reminds me of the warning to those who mixed idolatry with worship of the true God: “I will cut off from this place . . . those who bow down and swear to the LORD and yet swear by Milcom, those who have turned back from following the LORD, who do not seek the LORD or inquire of him” (Zephaniah 1:4-6, ESV).
My husband and I were both Christians when we began dating and actually grew up in the same church. When we were in college, our church attendance began to slip. Most Sundays I found it more convenient to sleep or study for the next day’s class. God had slipped down my priority list behind academia and fun.
After we graduated and got married, my negligence only worsened. We were so busy with our careers that we couldn’t fit God in anymore. We both worked long hours including most weekends. My husband went to school at night to get an MBA. Then I did the same. About this time our marriage, weak from little time with God or each other, began to unravel. This was the wake-up call we needed to see that major changes were necessary. I am happy to report that through much prayer and putting God first in our lives we were able to turn our marriage around.
It was really only after having children and quitting work that I realized that during all those years I had been worshipping the idols of education, career, and money.
1 Chart from Richard D. Patterson, Nahum, Habukkuk, Zephaniah: An Exegetical Commentary (Biblical Studies Press, 2003), 256. It can be accessed online at https://bible.org/seriespage/3-zephaniah.
“Yet even now,” the Lord says,
“return to me with all your heart –
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts,
not just your garments!”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and boundless in loyal love – often relenting from calamitous punishment.
Who knows?
Perhaps he will be compassionate and grant a reprieve,
and leave blessing in his wake –
a meal offering and a drink offering for you to offer to the Lord your God!
Joel 2:12-14
Both Obadiah and Joel focus on the Day of the Lord or Day of Yahweh. What is it?
Dr. Robert Chisholm explains, “. . . the expression itself is ultimately derived from the idea, prevalent in the ancient Near East, that a mighty warrior-king could consummate an entire military campaign in a single day. . . . So generally speaking, ‘the day of the LORD’ is an idiom used to emphasize the swift and decisive nature of the Lord’s victory over His enemies on any given occasion.”1
Victory implies a bad day for the losers and at the same time a good day for the winners. We will see both as we look at Joel.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary provides more detail to the ancient terminology mentioned by Chisholm:
Each year in Mesopotamia . . . there was an enthronement festival for the king of the gods. During the course of this akitu festival, the deity determined the destiny of his subjects and reestablished order, as he had done long ago when he defeated the forces of chaos. . . . Though the texts never refer to the akitu festival as the “Day of Marduk” there were some similarities. The Day of Yahweh2 refers to the occasion on which Yahweh will ascend to his throne with the purpose of binding chaos and bringing justice to the world order. The destinies of his subjects will be determined as the righteous are rewarded and the wicked suffer the consequences of their rebellion and sin. . . . Israel appears to have historicized that which elsewhere was in the realm of myth and ritual. The Day of the Lord also has elements of theophany, usually connected with the divine warrior who defeats the disruptive powers . . . . Such theophanies often are accompanied by cosmic effects. . . . . The cosmic effects often depict a world upside down . . . . All of this helps our understanding of the Day of Yahweh by showing us that Israelite thinking and the prophets’ communication intersected with a wide spectrum of ideas current in the culture. The originality in the Israelite literature is not that whole new matrices are being created but that known ideas are being combined and applied in unique ways.3
The Bible often uses cultural symbols in unique ways to speak to its audience.
My seminary eschatology professor helped me understand that the Day of the Lord isn’t only in the end times. Throughout the Bible earlier events referred to by that name are seed forms of the ultimate, final, and still future Day of the Lord. This helps our understanding as to how parts, or even all, of a prophecy were fulfilled in the time of the prophet while a future and greater fulfillment was yet to come in their future—or still lies ahead of us today.
The Jews’ final exile of three from Judah took place when the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Obadiah likely wrote his book early in the exile period. His contemporaries Ezekiel and Daniel were among the people exiled in Babylon. (See the chart in the Appendix section “Understanding the Prophets.”)
Obadiah’s message of a coming day of judgment (Day of the LORD, that day) is addressed to the people of Edom who were the descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. (The ancient city of Petra, which was built much later, is within the boundaries of ancient Edom (modern-day Jordan) so we are using an image of it as a symbol to remind us of this book. You will note that Obadiah refers to this nation as both Edom and Esau.
Obadiah is the shortest Old Testament book and one of only two prophetic books entirely devoted to a message to a nation other than Israel. (Nahum is the other.)
*** Use any commentaries or resources you have to read more about the background of Obadiah or information about the Day of the Lord.
Although Joel is not specifically dated, many scholars believe that it was written after the exile ended (post-exilic) for two reasons: (1) no king is mentioned and (2) Joel 2:2-3 refers to God’s gathering his people, which would have been after the Jews were dispersed among other nations through captivity. John Calvin, however, provides this caution about a date: ". . . as there is no certainty, it is better to leave the time in which [Joel] taught undecided. . . .”4
After approximately 70 years in Babylon and according to Jeremiah’s prediction, many of the next generation of Jews whose parents were exiled from Judah returned to the homeland which God gave Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. Their return began in 538 B.C. after King Cyrus of Persia ordered it by decree (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4) under the leadership of Zerubbabel (Ezra 1-6). A second group arrived with Ezra, the priest in 458 B.C. (Ezra 7-10), and then Nehemiah led the third return in 444 B.C. (Nehemiah). Although the Jews repopulated the land and rebuilt Jerusalem and its temple, their hearts weren’t loyal to God. Yet, God in his mercy continued to send prophets to warn them and other nations of the consequences of their sins.
Joel can be confusing. As a prophetic book, it contains some poetic imagery which symbolizes an actual event. Although there are differences of opinion about which passages in Joel are symbolic and which are literal, many conservative scholars understand the locust invasion of chapter one to be a literal past event that Joel uses to picture a future military invasion in that time period. Again, the future Day of the Lord will come at the end of days, and this Day of the Lord in Joel is a small taste of that future time.
It seems best to read all three chapters of Joel first to focus on its two themes separately. We begin with the Day of the Lord passages and end the week with a more positive outlook in the prophecies of Restoration.
This outline from Dr. Thomas Constable may be helpful as you read. The time perspective is from Joel’s writing:5
I. Introduction 1:1
II. A past day of the Lord: a locust invasion 1:2-20
III. A near future day of the Lord: a human invasion 2:1-27
VI. A far future day of the Lord: another human invasion and deliverance 2:28-3:21
*** Read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 and compare it to Joel. Read also Revelation 20:11-15 to understand the wrath that Paul mentions in 1 Thessalonians. Add your insights to your journal.
You’ll have one more question below before the story, so don’t miss it.
One main idea stands out to me from Joel, but it’s not his emphasis on judgment or the Day of the Lord. It’s his call to his people to lament, to grieve over their sins and the judgment to come, and to turn their lives around and move toward God. (Note the repetition throughout Joel 1 and then in 2:1-2, 12-17.)
Reread the verses which begin this lesson. God asks his people to be sorrowful, not outwardly by tearing their garments as an expression of grief, but within their hearts. That’s why I chose a U-ie as our icon for Joel. When faced with our sins, we aren’t to defend them, explain them, or blame others for them. Instead, God wants us to see them, take responsibility for them by confessing them, and grieve them before him. Yes, Jesus has paid the penalty for those sins, but we need to sorrow over what we have done and how it has hurt God and others. Only when we see the depth of our sins can we truly embrace the forgiveness and unconditional love of God as a true gift. And we need to trust that he has forgiven it all whether we feel it or not. We prove our grief by acts of repentance, a change of mind that results in a U-ie in our actions. (Amos 5:21-24 says the same thing.)
*** Write down your thoughts after you review other passages that we previously studied on the Day of the LORD: Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:7-2:3; 3:8-20; Obadiah 15-21.
I was feeling pretty good about myself. Proud, even. My self-awareness and empathy had reached new heights. I had been “woke” enough to lead a small group of Christian women through a book on racism this summer. I was well on my way to becoming a social justice champion.
But then I met Robin DiAngelo. And while I didn’t meet her in person, the forcefulness and impact of her words as they streamed across the podcast to my ears felt as if she was sitting next to me in my office. Krys Boyd had asked her why she believes that white progressives (a group I like to identify with) pose such a great threat. Here’s DiAngelo:
I define a white progressive as any white person who thinks they’re not racist or less racist…or who’s listening right now thinking of all the other white people they wish were listening…whose number one question is, ‘How do I tell so-and-so about their racism?’ I think [white progressives] are the most challenging for a couple reasons. We are more likely to be in the lives of people of color and our certitude that all our learning is finished, that we’re not in any way a part of the problem, sets us up to be rather arrogant, not open, and not [able] to listen. So if the topic of racism comes up and I see myself as absolutely having no issues at all, generally what I’m going to put my energy [into] is making sure you know that I’m good to go…This is the most complex, nuanced, layered, sensitive, charged social dilemma since the beginning of this country and my learning will never be finished. I will never be free of my conditioning because every moment that I push against these relentless messages of white superiority that are coming at me from every possible place… they’re coming back at me.6
I was crushed. In my faith tradition, we do not often use or hear the words, “God have mercy.” (That’s reserved for “high church” denominations.) And, yet, these became the words that were reverberating through my heart and mind. “God have mercy.” Have mercy on me, an arrogant person who thinks that she should be proud of herself for (finally) engaging the topic of racism. Have mercy on me, a sinner who thinks she’s learned enough and grown enough to be free of the sin that still entangles “others.” Have mercy on me, a person whose first reaction to DiAngelo’s words literally were “___________________ should be listening to this.” Have mercy on me, a person who will never be free (on this side of heaven) of my conditioning to think that whiteness is superior.
This fall our women’s Bible study will plunge head-first into the book of Ecclesiastes. One of the reasons I love this Old Testament wisdom book is because it reminds me that emotional sobriety is of paramount importance in self-assessment. On my own I will vacillate between pride and despair, victory and defeat. I will gloat in my “wokeness” one day and then follow that with a day of self-flagellation.
Ecclesiastes forces the issue. The author does not let us sit too long in our own glory without reminding us that “all is vanity” (a phrase used 38 times). Yet he offers glimpses of hope as well, urging his readers to “eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart [while you] enjoy life…” (Ecclesiastes 9:7-9). In this sin-soaked world “under the sun,” one of the greatest gifts you and I can take hold of is emotional sobriety, a state in which we assess ourselves in a balanced, levelheaded, controlled way. When we think soberly of ourselves, our world, and our systems of thought, we are able to start the journey toward change.
When I apply this to the topic of racism, I challenge myself to stop pendulum swinging. The world does not need another white person who is proud of herself for being so enlightened. But the world also does not need another white person who sorrows in her own defensiveness and wrongness. God is calling me to live the life of a reader of Ecclesiastes – emotionally sober. He is calling me to a humble and serious assessment of myself, my world, and my impact in it. He is calling me to follow him in engaging the “evil days” while also finding joy in “[my] Creator” (Ecclesiastes 12:1). The question is if I will have the humility to embrace this calling.
1 Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Joel,” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985) 1412.
2 Yahweh is the Hebrew name for God which is generally translated into English as LORD in all caps. So the Day of Yahweh = the Day of the LORD.
3 IVP Commentary: Old Testament, 761. FYI: You need not understand all of the references in this commentary to realize his parallel about the Day of the LORD. Leaders do not attempt to explain the references but stress the point of the comments if they come up. Someone interested can do further research on her own.
4 John Calvin, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, 2:xv quoted in Constable, Thomas L., Notes on Joel: 2017 Edition “Date.” Accessed at http://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/ot/joel/joel.htm.
Rejoice, O people of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
riding on a donkey’s colt.
Zechariah 9:9 (NLT)
A mulligan! Sometimes golfers get to re-hit errant shots without being penalized when playing with gracious people. But life doesn’t afford us do-overs. How I long to be able to go into the past and fix my mistakes! Incredibly, God graciously makes provision for our mistakes. He totally forgives our sins and uses even the worst of life experiences for the good of his children (Romans 8:28-29) and his glory as King. Although he doesn’t generally erase the consequences in this life, he always redeems them.
Despite the grave sins of the Jews that resulted in their exile to foreign countries, God gave them hope and the chance to learn and begin again. He reminded them that his promises to David given long, long before would last forever because their fulfillment depended on God’s faithfulness rather than their own. He promised that one would come whom he had anointed to rule the house of David in glory, whom we now know is Jesus. He promised a future day when justice would prevail and all wrongs would be made right.
This week we will read sections of scripture from two prophets who prophesied in Jerusalem after the Judeans returned from exile: Haggai and Zechariah. Following King Cyrus of Persia’s decree for the Jews to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4), a group of Jews returned to their homeland in 538 B.C. The ministries of Haggai and Zechariah date to 520 B.C., a mere 18 years after that return.1 The initial group included Zerubbabel and Joshua, the priest. Zerubbabel “who was a grandson of King Jehoiachin and therefore the legitimate heir of the Davidic throne”2 became governor of the reclaimed land.
The first six chapters of the historical book of Ezra provide the background for both Haggai and Zechariah’s messages.
*** Read Ezra 1:1-7 and 3:1-4:23 for background about the situation when Haggai and Zechariah begin prophesying.
Ezra 4:1-16 tells us that the enemies of the Jews opposed their rebuilding the temple by using tactics of discouragement and accusation. As a result, the work stopped entirely in 535 B.C. Fifteen years later God spoke to his people in Jerusalem through his prophet Haggai.
The book of Haggai records five different messages given by Haggai. Four of them begin with a date and a note that the word of the LORD came to Haggai. The other address is in 1:13-15. All of these date to one single year, 520 B.C.
You may have noted that Haggai’s last message in 2:20-23 refers to the ultimate time of Restoration when God judges the nations and restores the Davidic kingdom, referring to it as “that day,” the Day of the Lord.
I chose a to-do list to represent Haggai’s message to prioritize God over all other things. After all, as Zechariah is about to tell us, God is the true King.
Now we turn our attention to the prophecies of Zechariah, Haggai’s contemporary. According to Zechariah 1:1, God first spoke to the prophet two months after Haggai gave his initial prophecy. Ezra 5:1-2 tells us that it was the words of Haggai and Zechariah that resulted in the resumption of work on the temple. Neither prophet warned of judgment, but they did challenge the people.
The first major section of Zechariah includes chapters 1-8, which records three messages: 1:1-6 (1st message), 1:7-6:15 (2nd message); and 7:1-8:23 (3rd message). I’ve given you sections to read because of the length of the book, but it’s so worth reading the whole.
Dr. Eugene Merrill says this about Zechariah’s message:
The prophet is concerned to comfort his discouraged and pessimistic compatriots, who are in the process of rebuilding their Temple and restructuring their community but who view their efforts as making little difference in the present and offering no hope for the future. . . He challenges members of the restored remnant to go to work with the full understanding that what they do, feeble as it appears, will be crowned with success when YHWH, true to His covenant word, will bring to pass the fulfillment of His ancient promises to the fathers.3
We will skip most of Zechariah because of its length. Your optional study is to read and comment on it all.
*** Read all of Zechariah 1-8.
FYI: In Zechariah 7:2-3 the people ask the priests whether they should continue fasting during the fifth month. This yearly fast was a memorial for and lament over the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians on August 14, 586 B.C.4 The fast in the seventh month (7:5) “apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jeremiah 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 B.C.”5
The final four chapters of Zechariah contain two oracles found in chapters 9-11 and then in chapters 12-14. Your journaling is based on only the second oracle, but read it all if you can.
Highlights of this book include its promise of the coming King and descriptions of his kingdom. This section it makes clear that the promises are in large part unfulfilled. That will occur ultimately when Jesus returns as King (Revelation 19:11-22:5)—thus a crown represents this book.
*** Read the remainder of Zechariah, chapters 9-14, considering the questions below.
You may have read verses in Zechariah that seem familiar. That’s probably because Zechariah is quoted and alluded to many times in the New Testament. “One estimate finds about 54 passages from Zechariah echoed in about 67 different places in the NT, with the lion’s share of these found in the book of Revelation.”6
In her story Dixie shares how she realized that God was not really her King. It’s a story all too familiar because when we let God speak into our lives, we begin to see areas where we sit on the throne instead.
My favorite thing to do is nest. Fixing up my home and making it warm and inviting brings me great joy. In 26 years of marriage, we have lived in eight cities. Moving meant new decorating! Let the fun begin!
With each move, I would become consumed with getting the house “done.” I would wake up thinking about it, and after getting the kids off to school the car, seemed to go straight to the shops. Yes, I had quiet times, attended Bible study, and went to church on Wednesday nights and Sundays, but the thing that brought me the greatest satisfaction was decorating.
In 1990, we made a move from Nashville to Baltimore. This was one move I did not want to make, but God put it on my heart to trust Him and to move, looking for ways to serve Him in Baltimore.
Shortly after moving in, the phone rang. The wife of the president of my husband’s company explained that God had put it on her heart to gather a group of women together weekly in her home for prayer and study, and to seek the Lord about starting a city-wide Bible study class for women and their children in Baltimore. I said I’d come, but with hesitation. I had a house to fix up, kids to get settled, and new neighbors to meet.
About ten of us met for several months in prayer. The Lord raised up small group leaders, a teacher, and a church. No one was stepping up to be the Children’s Director. It was surely not to be me because I had three children, ages three, six and nine. I had things to do. But of course, God kept urging me, telling me this was my ministry to women. This was the way I was going to serve Him in this new town.
My three-year-old was in Mother’s Day Out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the only time to run errands. Those times were spent, instead, preparing for the upcoming Bible study. The summer was then spent recruiting teachers and gathering supplies for the nursery and preschool children’s classes, putting together arts and crafts projects, and planning little teaching sessions for the older kids. I even attended a leaders’ retreat to learn my role as the children’s director, using my decorating money to pay for a baby sitter.
A great number of women and children signed up for the class, which started in September. In late August I was getting weary and selfish, tired of planning and preparing. One day I was driving from the host church, after having dropped off a carload of supplies, and I started complaining. “Lord, I don’t want to be doing this! Why did I sign up for this? Two days every week for the next nine months will be consumed with this. I will have to get there early and stay late! Poor, pitiful me!” And very clearly and silently, the Lord impressed on my heart, “My child, on what better thing could you be spending your time?”
And I knew then that I would choose God over things. I knew there was not one single thing that would be better than serving these little children, teaching them about Jesus, singing praise songs with them, presiding over their selfless teachers, serving them crackers and juice, and letting their mothers have precious needed time in Bible study and fellowship with other women.
The first year of this study God provided for every need. I don’t think I ever missed a day. If one of my own children got sick, I don’t remember. They must have been taken care of somehow. I made a multitude of new friends in the faith. I served on a leadership team of older, wiser women who impacted my life forever as I observed their Christ-centered lives. I soaked up truth as we met together. These were just some of the benefits to me from choosing God over things.
Young mothers got to be refreshed by being with other women and sharing God’s Word, which hopefully brought transformed lives. Perhaps these women who were served are serving others today. Perhaps these little children are now shining examples of Christ-centered youth. I will never know the full impact of making this one decision to put God before things, but I do know that God showed me that life is not about me. It’s about Him.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33.
1 Merrill, Eugene H., Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Exegetical Commentary (Biblical Studies Press, 2003), 9.
2 Merrill, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 13.
3 Merrill, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 82.
4 Note on Zechariah 7:2-3, ESV Study Bible, 1759.
“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Malachi 3:5-7 (NLT)
“A bunch of hypocrites” is a common criticism of the church, and rightly so. We often answer that charge by explaining that we are sinners, just forgiven. But I wonder how often we deserve the label because we aren’t confessing and repenting of our sins but defending ourselves instead. While we worship, we often miss the heart of worship, humility. We proudly believe our lives please God, but in reality we’re blind to the truth of our own hypocrisy. I know I’m guilty, especially of not loving God before all else or failing to love my neighbor as myself.
The Jews of Malachi’s day were very religious, but their actions didn’t fit their worship. Malachi reveals that their hearts were far from God through their responses to his accusations.
Dr. Boice says,
Perhaps more than any other Old Testament book, Malachi describes that modern attitude of mind that considers man superior to God and that has the audacity to attempt to bring God down to earth and measure him by the yardstick of human morality.
This attitude is a recurring theme in Malachi, and it is expressed by a recurring word. The word is “how,” as in “How have you loved us?” (1:2). This word appears seven times in this last of the Old Testament books, and in every case it expresses a state of mind that challenges God’s statements, demanding that he give an account of himself in human terms.1
G. Campbell Morgan describes the problem this way: “And when the prophet tells them what God thinks of them, they, with astonishment and impertinence, look into his face and say, ‘We don’t see this at all!’”2 That’s why I’ve chosen the image of a blindfolded woman for Malachi.
Dr. Boice says, “The book of Malachi is located at a point of transition, too. It comes at the end of the Old Testament, but it anticipates the New Testament.”3 Although it is difficult to date, Malachi likely prophesied between 480-470 B.C.4
Malachi’s message contains six disputations, meaning arguments or debates. Each one follows this pattern: 1. God speaks a truth; 2. The people dispute it (“but you say”) demanding proof usually with a “how question”; and 3. God or the prophet answers by pointing to their actions or God’s character and work.
I found it helpful to mark “but you say” and the “how,” “what,” and “why” words that begin the people’s denials. It helped me follow God’s answers more easily. You may want to try it. If you don’t like marking your Bible, print it from a Bible app or net.bible.org.
As you read the people’s “how” responses to God in 1:2, 6, 7; 2:17; 3:7, 8, 13, meditate on the blindness to themselves they exhibit and how we may be doing the same today.
FYI: When God says that he loved Jacob and hated Esau, the twin sons of Isaac, it isn’t about feelings but about a choice that God made to bless Jacob and make him the heir of his covenant with Abraham.
*** The #metoo and #churchtoo movements have uncovered sexual abuse that has gone on for years. Consider the abuse in the church in light of the empty religious works that Malachi condemns. Also consider all of Malachi 2:15-16. As Dr. Sandra Glahn points out, “Many people know the ‘I hate divorce’ line from Malachi 2:16, but far fewer know the rest of the sentence: ‘and him who covers himself and his garment with violence,’ says the LORD of Hosts.”5 Journal your thoughts about or experiences with sexual of physical abuse if you can, or read stories tagged with these movements.
The “Words to Anchor your Soul” this week confirm that whatever we’ve done, however we have tossed aside God’s Word and approved of what he disapproves, God is there when we return to him in repentance. (The context of these verses makes the need for repentance clear.)
*** Malachi prophesies of the Coming One and his forerunner in 3:1-5 and 4:1-6. Some of his words were fulfilled as the New Testament opens while others are still future. Read Matthew 3:1-17 and journal about its relationship to Malachi’s prophecy OR read about these prophecies in a commentary.6
Four hundred years of God’s silence followed Malachi’s message. Then one day Zechariah the priest received an angelic visitor with God’s message that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth would have a son named John, often known as John the Baptist. (Luke 1:5-24). Perhaps you would like to read about Jesus as your next study. Beyond Ordinary Women’s study Who is This Jesus?7 on the gospel of John would be a great follow-up to the promises of the prophets.
Although the prophets’ messages warned his people, they always held out hope through God’s mercy and loyal love to bring a future Restoration. Never forget that God’s judgment is part of his love, just as a dad and mom loves their child enough to discipline and teach her.
Part Three will be a review, but before we get there, read Krista’s story in light of the message of Malachi.
I cannot speak for every survivor of sexual abuse within the church, but over the last year, the #MeToo #ChurchToo movement has left me, personally, drowning in emotion. As I have read story after story and response after response, I have remembered anew, and with precise clarity, details of my own abuse from years ago. I have felt the paralyzing fear of being exposed, mocked, or not believed, as I have seen and experienced how churches handle these exposures with horrific levels of denial and a lack of compassion for the brave souls willing to share their stories. With inflamed anger, I have sat horrified, as victims have been blamed because an entrusted minster assaulted their body, soul, and mind, leaving them isolated to deal with the aftermath alone.
My abuser was a senior level minister. He served forty years within the same congregation, until he recently retired to standing applause. He was in his thirties and married with children when my abuse began. I was around four years old. The abuse lasted until my family moved away when I was twelve years old. He sexually assaulted me in every way imaginable, both in his home and on church property, including raping me in the sanctuary itself. He not only defiled my body, but the church building and what it represented, as well as the position of a trusted minister of the Gospel.
As a survivor, I rest on passages of scripture found in Malachi, as he addresses those who have been given authority to guide God’s children and then abuse that authority (Malachi 2:1-2, 7-9, ESV):
“And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart . . . . For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”
I realize it is difficult for church members and their leadership to hear, believe, and comprehend the horrific details of abuse that took advantage not just of the victim, but also of the congregation. Most likely, the minister is/was a charismatic, beloved, and trusted member of the church community he served. But let’s be clear: what is difficult for man to reconcile is NOT difficult for God. God is clear. His expectations are clear, and so are the ways He defends the defenseless.
It is estimated that one out of every four to one out of every three individuals reading this study have been a victim of sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Therefore, the survivors coming forward are not liars intent on smearing a minister or the church's name. Rather they are women (or men) who have sat silently beside you for years, suffering alone.
I can personally attest to the lingering effects of sexual abuse that last years beyond the horrendous acts of abuse themselves. Abuse within church is uniquely difficult for survivors to process as they must differentiate between the evil that was perpetrated upon their body by a representative of God, in a place designed for worship, from God Himself. Because of this, the very places where healing can be found are also, at times, agony to enter—a church service, a Christian community, a mentoring relationship, reading the bible, or even prayer itself. The survivor cannot escape the painful memories of abuse when they enter these arenas, and even worse is the inevitable and inescapable thought that maybe God did not care or that the abuse was not actually sin because it was inflicted by one appointed to serve and reflect God’s nature.
But then, I continue reading and take heart (Malachi 3:1-2, 5, NLT):
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me,” says the Lord of hosts.
What a reminder. God is coming. He sees the evil done to you. He knows how they misused you and their position under the guise of His holy name. Oh, sweet survivor, HE WILL purify that which was not of Him and He will MAKE ALL THINGS RIGHT in the end.
If you have experienced any type of abuse (sexual or otherwise) and have never discussed your experience, OR are in need of continued care, consider the footnoted resources as a help.8
Thank you, Krista, for sharing your heart-breaking story. We grieve with you and all others who have experienced similar abuse.
This is the last section of the final week of our study. Before we leave the prophets behind, spend time remembering how God has used the Minor Prophets in your life. It’s always encouraging to look back and see how God has been at work. Plan to share one thing from your journal with your small group this week as an encouragement to them as well.
1 Boice, James Montgomery. The Minor Prophets: Volume 2: An Expositional Commentary: Micah through Malachi, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 573-574.
2 Quoted in Boice, Micah through Malachi, 576.
3 Boice, Micah through Malachi, 579.
4 Merrill, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 329.
5 Sandra Glahn, “Organizations and Abuse: What You Can Do,” Engage blog, 6/19/2018 at https://blogs.bible.org/organizations-and-abuse-what-you-can-do
6 For an online option, link to Constable, Notes on Malachi. http://planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/pdf/malachi.pdf
7 https://beyondordinarywomen.org/who-is-this-jesus/
8 Helpful links:
If you are in danger or in need of immediate assistance - https://www.rainn.org or https://www.thehotline.org
Find a counselor within your local area to help - https://www.emdria.org or https://www.psychologytoday.com/us
Interview a potential counselor using these questions - 10 Questions to Ask When Looking For a Doctor – The Second Pilgrimage (thereseborchard.com)
Consider attending a Wounded Heart support group in your area. The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Dan Allender
Find and connect with a local Celebrate Recovery community - https://www.celebraterecovery.com/crgroups
There are six Old Testament terms used to refer to prophets:
God gave Israel specific tests for true prophets, knowing that others would claim to speak for him. He wanted them to be able to discern the true prophet from the false.
By the end of the Old Testament era, the prophetic books that we have in our Old Testament were those tested by the Jews through time and determined to be written by genuine prophets.
The prophets are often difficult to understand. They wrote so long ago in a foreign culture; they often used figurative language dealing with countries, people, and situations we know nothing about; and some of them had visions that are strange, very strange.
I will give you some explanations with each lesson as well as cross-references, particularly in your starred optional study.
The messages of the prophetic books were primarily aimed at the Jews as a group. Sometimes the prophet spoke to a specific sub-group, usually leaders: the governmental leaders/kings, the priests, or even other prophets. At times they gave warnings to other nations as well.
God’s people, the Jews, are the primary audience for the prophets, and the church is the clearest parallel for application. Although the church is comprised of individuals, the most basic application is to the local or universal church as a group of people accountable as a whole.
Our individualistic American thinking makes it difficult for us to grasp that God holds groups of people responsible, including individuals who weren’t involved in the problem. (Examples: Ezekiel and Daniel were exiled and Jeremiah was tortured because the Jews worshipped idols and lived in ways that dishonored God, who judged the group.) We are part of the whole, for both good and bad. That’s why we are wise to speak out in a godly way when we see the church go off course on a major issue (not petty things like style of worship or paint color).
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus tells the apostle John to write his message to seven churches in Asia. His message is very similar to the prophetic messages of the Old Testament: identifying their sins and warning them to either repent or face consequences of his judgment on the church. Judgment begins with the family of God (1 Peter 4:17). Today the church is the embodiment of Christ, and he expects us to act like it. So we read the Prophets to find out what acting like God’s people looks like.
As members of a local and universal church, we are part of the solution. The prophets show us a lot about the attitudes and actions that he wants from his people who are purposed to image him to the world. They show us that God refuses to be replaced by idols in the hearts of his people. So as we read these books, we must consider where we have strayed from complete loyalty and love of God in a personal way. Yes, God will forgive us individually, but we need to repent of our sins. If not, he may discipline us for them, especially when we have been warned (Hebrews 12:5-13).
God has always held leaders to a higher accountability for the acts of his people. Why? Because their influence affects everyone else. As the Jewish kings went, so did the people (1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles). The kings who faithfully followed God led the people to do so, but those who worshipped idols drew the people into idolatry. The priests who failed to faithfully teach God’s Word led the people astray. The prophets who weren’t speaking God’s words gave approval to what God disapproved, giving the people license to sin.
The greater your influence and voice in the church, the more you are held accountable and the greater your need to heed the prophets and apply what is said to leaders (for example, James 3:1).
Finally, the prophets address warnings of judgment to nations other than Israel. When they do, we need to consider how their message parallels our own nations.
“The Hebrews used parallelism in poetry and prophecy as a literary technique to emphasize a particular thought.”2 These provide comparisons and contrasts that make a point.
“Unlike prose, which addresses historical realities more directly, poetry draws its readers and listeners into spiritual realities with the use of evocative language.”
The IVP Bible Background Commentary provides four categories:
The ESV Study Bible describes this as “the exposure of human vice or folly” and its elements as 1. an object of attack, 2. a satiric vehicle, 3. a satiric norm, and 4. a satiric tone.4
The books of prophecy were written by those sometimes called the Classical Prophets. Other prophets like Elijah, Elisha, and Nathan, along with others less well-known, are mentioned in the historical books, but no written collection of their messages exists.
Although we often think of the prophets as common figures in the Old Testament, there were specific periods of time during the classical period when their messages were clustered as outlined in the IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament:5
1. the Assyrian crisis that brought the fall of the northern kingdom and the siege of Jerusalem (760-700: Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah)
2. the Babylonian crisis that brought the fall of Assyria and the fall of Judah and Jerusalem (650-580: Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Nahum, Jeremiah, Ezekiel)
3. the postexilic period with its Persian rule and identity crisis (530-480: Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Obadiah, Malachi; Daniel could be counted among these, although he served during the exile)
FYI: Jonah is a precursor to the Assyrian Crisis, so our study considers it first.
The chart on the following page will help you keep the prophets’ messages in context.
1 Summarized from Bramer, Stephen J. “Prophetic Office and Roles” from Class notes in Prophets.
2 Earl Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 803.
3 John H. Walton, Victor H Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: 2000), 583.
4 ESV Study Bible, “Introduction to Jonah,” (Wheaton, IL.: Crossway, 2008), 1685.
It’s NOT drawing and coloring. (I call that drawing and coloring.) Journaling is recording your thoughts. That’s it. Nothing special or difficult. When we journal, we simply write down how we interacted with God’s Word. We pen our thoughts and impressions as we read and ask God for insights. (For a sample journal entry, see the section entitled “What kind of things should I write?”)
I learned late to journal. I began because I had a hard time concentrating during what was supposed to be my time with God. Do you relate? Instead of focusing on the verses that I was reading or the prayers that I needed to say, my mind was wandering to my to-do list, my conversation with a friend, a problem I had to handle, or any number of other things. Once I lost focus, it was difficult to get it back.
My goals were worthy, but I was struggling with how to get there.
So I began writing out my prayers. I wrote out word for word what I wanted to pray, as well as the thoughts that came to me while I wrote, believing that it was highly possible that God was guiding those. I began my time with God by reading some scriptures and usually a short devotional, and then I began to write.
Easy journaling.
The term Bible study can be scary. We often think that God’s Word is hard to understand, requiring a great deal of intelligence and/or education to navigate, so we stay away from anything other than a favorite verse or two scattered throughout its pages.
We forget that God wants us to know him. We do that through the pages of his Word, his revelation of himself to ordinary people like you and me. Remember this is his story, not the story of people. God is the main character. People are in the story as they interact with him and his work on earth in reconciling them to himself and restoring creation to its perfection. If we replace time listening and seeking God with a “study” that tells us what to think and believe (true of some but not all studies), we bypass the relationship and knowledge that God gives us directly when we go to his Word instead of to other people to be spiritually nourished.
Imagine sitting down with the author of a book you love rather than going to a book review of it. That’s the opportunity you have with God. He has made himself available to those who seek him through the Scriptures. But there’s a caution here—he doesn’t tell us everything because he is so beyond us—incomprehensible. But he does unfold truth, insight, encouragement, challenge, and conviction into our hearts when we seek him. In the end there is a certain amount of mystery that we must learn to live with when we approach God. We are mere humans after all.
Throughout this study, I have kept my thoughts, insights, and guidance to a minimum so that you can talk about the scriptures with the true Teacher.
Journaling with only general questions to guide you allows your study to be what you make it. This is your study. Your time. Your relationship with God. Your journal is your own. Use it in your own way that works for you.
Is your time scattered and often absent? Read the story once in the morning, maybe to your kids, with your roommate or husband during breakfast, or alone as you enjoy an early cup of coffee before work. Think about it as you drive carpool, eat lunch at work, or make your commute. Write in your journal at lunch or before you head to bed in the evening, noting the insights that occurred to you during the day.
Do you want a deep study? Spend time every day reading and rereading the stories of the week. Ask God for insights and applications. Since each week’s study has three sections, spend two days on each section. Read the verses again the second day, and ask God for new insights. Read some of the cross references in the margins of your Bible. With your journal beside you, note all of your thoughts as they come. You may be very surprised at how often your mind goes in a new direction.
Make the schedule your own. Spend little or much time on it. It is your record of how you and God interact as you read his Word.
Absolutely not. They are merely there to launch your thinking, not to determine the path of your thoughts. The questions are to help, not hinder. If something else is on your mind when you begin journaling, skip them entirely. Listen to God’s Spirit as he gives you insight into the scriptures you read.
Here are some general questions that you can use with any passage as you begin to journal:
If you are a seasoned student of the Bible, you may want to look for other stories or verses that relate to what you read and journal about how they connect to each other and to you. Use the cross-references in your Bible to help you.
What follows is a journal entry that I wrote from a Bible story that is not part of this study. Just so you don’t think this is too hard, you need to know that I added paragraphs so it would be easier for you to read. I don’t write in my journal that way. Because I write only for me, not an audience, I normally abbreviate a number of words and phrases that are common in my journal, but I have written them out for you so they make sense.
I also deleted the names of people that I am praying for, but I left the prayer itself so you could see how the story became the basis of my prayer, which included confession and intercession. I don’t normally pray through a format like PRAY (praise, repent, ask, and yield), but over a few days of journaling as I read the Word, God leads me to all kinds of prayers. You can journal with that kind of format for your prayers if you prefer.
June 17
Mark 4:35-41
Although I’ve heard, read, and taught this story many times, it still overwhelms me. God, you are so great and powerful! Why do I doubt that you can handle my small problems when Jesus speaks and immediately the wind and the waves obey? Why do I make you too small to handle problems faced by people I love? Why do I wonder deep in my heart if you care when I’m struggling? I’m just like the disciples, ridiculously asking, “Don’t you care?”
I am amazed that as the boat was filling with water and winds were whipping around, Jesus was lying in the boat asleep with his head on a cushion, perfectly at peace. They had to wake him up! That’s a deep and restful sleep! You know how storms wake me up pretty quickly.
Jesus pointed to the disciples’ fear, suggesting it was caused by lack of faith. Father God, forgive me for making you too small in my imagination, so small that you lack the power to keep me despite the storms that swirl around me. Forgive my fear that comes from lack of faith. Forgive me for fearing that you won’t take care of those whom I love. Forgive me for fearing for my grandchildren’s future. Forgive my lack of faith.
You sent your followers straight into the storm, and they learned about your great power. I know your power and protection because of previous storms. Help me remember them when I’m caught up in a new sudden storm.
I lift up my friends and family who are now in storms . . . . Give them grace and faith. Make them stronger in faith. Help them persevere and bring you glory. Bring comfort to . . . . In the storms’ wake, I pray they all know your power and grace in a deeper way. Amen.
Let me simply encourage you—you can do this. It allows God to move in your heart and mind in a way that specific questions may not allow for. Just read the verses, and write down what God brings to your mind. Refer back to the questions in the study, answering those that you want to answer and thinking about the others. Some wonderful insight may come to mind if you do.
I am praying that God will so encourage and speak to you through this format that you will continue to journal, never settling for fill-in-the blank Bible studies. (And I know God uses them in a mighty way sometimes, but consider journaling through the verses instead.)
It seems simple, but it can be oh, so difficult, to listen to God as you lead a group. Our fears tell us not to sit in silence. Our hearts suggest that we should give solutions or even verses to fix problems or questions. The clock indicates that we should cut others off as quickly as possible. And I have been there and done them all!
If we as leaders come to the group time doing what feels comfortable, we may miss the fullness of what God wants to do. So pray well before you go. Pray as you lead the group time. Don’t speak in response to the comments of others until you are sensitive to the movement of the Spirit as to what to say, if anything.
And what may be even more difficult is to encourage the same kinds of listening skills with the others in the group. Listening to God before answering someone’s comments or intervening in what God may want to say to her about her problems is very difficult. I feel that way and likely you do too:) Many in the group will struggle, but we can all improve if you remind yourself and the group each week to pause and listen to God before speaking.
If you want the group to be in the Word for themselves, start the discussion by letting them share what excited them. Stay away from your own thoughts and listen to them. To involve them, ask very general open questions, such as those in the lesson. Choose questions from the lesson, use some from the list given in tip #3 Ask Open Questions, or write your own questions.
Because the group will journal as they study, see which way the discussion goes before inserting your own direction to the lesson. That said, don’t let it linger on speculation about things the Bible doesn’t reveal. It’s okay for a few minutes, but refocus the conversation to what God has made clear, not what he chose not to tell us.
What do you want to accomplish in your discussion? If you randomly ask questions, you may enjoy a good discussion, but it may not move the group closer to Jesus. Your goal should not be simply getting people to talk but to encourage spiritual growth in the group.
See yourself as the leader, not a teacher or a facilitator. What is your goal? What do you want the group to leave with that will help them grow as believers? It could be a deeper faith through a better understanding of who God is and how he works. It could be a principle that helps them live out genuine faith in a culture that is looking for what is real.
For most lessons, consider these questions as you review the lesson:
Wait to discuss these areas by providing opportunity for the group to bring up the topic before you simply move toward your goals. Make sure you listen first. Many of the questions you want to ask will come up more naturally from within the group. If no one brings it up, then do so with a question to the group.
You don’t necessarily have to write your own questions. Use those within the lesson to launch into an area you want to cover. The lesson questions are open-ended and broad. You can have a great discussion using them. If you listen well, you can follow up with a question that clarifies or expands on their comments to move them further toward your goals.
If you want to write a few questions to summarize the material covered rather than going through those in the lesson, write open questions from the material they studied and read. Or use some of the questions in the next section.
You may be used to reading a set of questions to the group and having them read back their answers. I have written many Bible studies that have that type of structure. It’s easy for the leader to follow and makes it simple for the group to provide answers.
Instead, this study is based on journaling, which isn’t comprised of answers to a number of very specific questions but rather uses open questions, meaning not yes/no or narrow answers. (See BOW’s free downloadable resource at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Asking-Open-Questions.pdf.)
When the lesson is comprised of one long story or section, it will likely work best to let the group know that they can talk about any part of the lesson instead of a specific section of the story. Your questions should allow a response on anything they want to discuss from the lesson. It’s alright if no one brings up a certain section of the story at all.
Allow the Holy Spirit to use the discussion to take the group where he wants it to go, but also keep in mind your goals and move them into those topics if they don’t go there themselves.
Here are examples of open questions that you might use:
These questions are all very general and open. As you work toward your goals, your questions may be more specific. What often happens, however, is that some of the questions you have prepared will be answered before you ask them. So be aware enough to skip as needed.
A quiet group or a group that is new to one another may not talk quite as readily. Allow them a time of silence to consider their answers before rewording it or sharing your own answer. The Holy Spirit will lead you.
We love your questions or feedback. Contact me at [email protected].
For additional help go to beyondordinarywomen.org at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/leading-small-groups/ and watch our free short 5 - 10 minute training videos for small group leaders.
Boice, James Montgomery. The Minor Prophets: Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary: Hosea through Jonah. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002.
____. The Minor Prophets: Volume 2: An Expositional Commentary: Micah through Malachi. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002.
Chisholm, Jr., Robert B. Handbook on the Prophets. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.
Constable, Thomas L. Notes. http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes.htm.
Episcopal Book of Common Prayer: The Holy Eucharist Rite Two at https://www.bcponline.org.
The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL; Crossway, 2008.
Glahn, Sandra.“Organizations and Abuse: What You Can Do,” Engage, 6/19/2018. https://blogs.bible.org/organizations-and-abuse-what-you-can-do.
Johnston, Dr. Gordon. Class notes from “Hebrews 104” at Dallas Theological Seminary, Fall 2001.
Keller, Timothy. The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy. New York: Viking, 2018.
Merrill, Eugene H. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: An Exegetical Commentary. Biblical Studies Press, 2003.
NET Bible. lumina.bible.org.
Patterson, Richard D. Nahum, Habukkuk, Zephaniah: An Exegetical Commentary. Biblical Studies Press, 2003. https://bible.org/seriespage/3-zephaniah.
Radmacher, Earl, Ronald B. Allen, and H. Wayne House, eds. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers,1999.
Rutledge, Fleming. The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015.
Walton, John H, Victor H Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: 2000).
Walvord, John F. and Roy B. Zuck, Eds. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1412.
I know how it feels to be a leader with little experience and no training. I learned by trial and error—mostly error. That is why I have spent so much time preparing training for leaders. BOW wants to help you with your role as a small group leader if you feel inadequate or just want more training. I never quit learning as a leader.
(beyondordinarywomen.org)
At BOW we plan to continually add to our articles and video training library. So rather than provide a specific list, I encourage you to look over our resources for leading small groups at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/leading-small-groups/ and watch some of our free video training for your area of need. You can also browse our blog at http://beyondordinarywomen.org/blog-standard/ by topic to find posts of interest.
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