Answer

Dear *****,

Thanks for your question.

As you know, Paul speaks of the law in two ways. On the one hand, he (along with Old Testament writers) speaks of the Law of Moses as something wonderful and glorious:

5 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? 8 “Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8, NAU)

O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97, see also verses 113, 163).

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12).

He also speaks of the law as a system of keeping the Old Testament Law of Moses, in order to earn God’s blessings. (The expression, “the works of the Law” is often associated with this negative outlook on law-keeping.) The problem is that law-keeping cannot save, but will only condemn one as a guilty sinner:

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20 NAU).

1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness (Romans 10:1-5).

This “works of the law” salvation was certainly something which unbelieving Jews sought to accomplish, but seeking to do so only led to their rejection of God’s provision of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ:

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED” (Romans 9:30-33).

A major problem, frequently addressed in the New Testament, was that “law-works” Jews sought to compel Gentile believers to keep the Old Testament law, just as they sought to keep it themselves. We see this very clearly in Acts chapter 15:

Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue . . . . 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses” (Acts 15:4-5).

At the Jerusalem Council the apostles made it very clear that it was folly for these Jews to require law-keeping of the Gentiles when they could not keep the law themselves:

“Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:10-11).

As I understand the Scriptures, the Jewish legalists first insisted that Gentiles must become Jewish proselytes (be circumcised and submit to the Old Testament law) in order to be saved (Acts 15:1-4ff.), but then, having been disapproved by the apostles at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), they proceeded to insist that law-keeping was essential for sanctification. I believe this is apparent in the Book of Galatians.

The Judaizers infiltrated the churches with their distorted emphasis on keeping the Old Testament Law as a means of earning God’s favor. We see this error frequently addressed in the epistles (see Philippians 3:2ff.; Colossians 2; 1 Timothy 1:3-11; Titus 1:14; 3:9).

Thus, when Paul condemns and forbids law-keeping as a means of salvation and sanctification, he is condemning this for both Jews and Gentiles. That this applies equally to Gentiles is clear in Galatians chapter 5:

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:1-6).

I believe it is clear that in the New Testament “the works of the Law” referrs to man’s efforts at keeping the Old Testament law in order to attain righteousness and salvation, whether this be by Jews or Gentiles.

Having said this, we should also note that Paul applied the Scriptures beyond their immediate, direct, application. An example of this is found in 1 Corinthians 9:

I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. 11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:8-12).

The law which instructed ox owners to allow their animals to partake of the fruits of their labors taught the principle that the laborer was worthy of his wages. Thus Paul had no difficulty applying the law beyond the specific applications spelled out by the law.

In doing so, Paul applied the Old Testament Law in the same way that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount:

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:27-30).

Jewish legalism (well, really any brand of legalism) seeks to narrow the focus and application of a particular principle, law, or rule, so that it wouldn’t really apply generally, and thus it could be avoided (disobeyed) or disregarded. For example,

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17 “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 “You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 “And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (Matthew 23:16-24)

Legalism strives to appear to be zealous about keeping the law, but in reality, it works hard at narrowing the application of the law (“straining the gnat”?) to the point where it no longer applies. So, when one swears by the temple, he or she is not obligated to keep their vow. They are only bound to keep their oath when they swear by the gold of the temple.

Legalistic Jews also found ways to use their traditions to overrule the clear commands of the Law:

8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 “For Moses said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that” (Mark 7:8-13).

So, when interpreted and applied legalistically, the command, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14; Matthew 5:27), was understood to forbid a literal act of adultery. So, one kept this law so long as they did not literally commit adultery. While legalistic Jews narrowed the law to the point where they could pride themselves for keeping (or, in some cases, avoiding) it, Jesus extended the application of this law: Since it is wrong to commit adultery, lusting after a woman (which leads to adultery) is also wrong. If murder is wrong, then so is hatred, and thus one should pursue forgiveness and reconciliation.

So, let’s apply this way of interpreting and applying Scripture to “the works of the law.” If it is wrong to pursue law-keeping as the means by which a person can earn righteousness and God’s favor, then it is also wrong to seek to earn God’s favor by keeping any set of rules and regulations. This is not to cast aside rules and regulations (including speed limits, etc.), but rather to avoid seeking to keep the rules (whichever they might be) in order to earn God’s favor and blessing.

Thus, I believe that preachers who use Paul’s teaching on “the works of the law” to condemn any legalistic system of rule-making and rule-keeping are right in doing so. They are extending the application of the literal teaching of Paul to other, yet related, evils.

Blessings

Bob

Words to Anchor your Soul

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.)

Part One Study

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.

Read Amos 1:1-2:16. (1.1-2.3 are oracles for neighboring countries; 2:4-5 is for Judah; and the rest is directed toward Israel.)

Journal as you consider the following:

• Discuss how the oracles for Judah and Israel differ from those to other nations and any significance you see in the differences.
• What do you learn about God from these oracles?
• How is God speaking to you from his Word today?

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.

Part Two Study

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.

Read and journal about Amos 3:9-5:27 in light of these questions:

• What actions by the people of Israel have upset God? Focus on one that catches your attention in light of present day Christianity and journal your thoughts.
• Comment on the ways that God has warned his people and their response (4:6-13).
• What is God saying to you about your own life today?

Part Three Study

*** Rather than oracles, the final section of Amos documents visions he received from God. Read the entire passage from Amos 7:1-9:15.

Read Amos 7:1-17; 8:1–9:15.

Journal your insights from these questions:

• Review Amos 1:1 in light of 7:1-17, considering what it meant for Amos to do God’s work.
• What does God reveal about himself and his relationship with his people in this passage?
• What description of God’s judgment strikes you most and why?
• As you look at our world today, what hope does the end of Amos give concerning the time of Restoration? (If needed, refer back to Week One Part One to understand the Restoration.)

My Story

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!

Words to Anchor your Soul

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.

Part One Study

If you have time, read the entire book of Zephaniah first to get a sense of its flow and message.

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.

Read Zephaniah 1:1-2:3, noting phrases referring to God, such as “I will.” Journal your insights as you consider these questions:

• From what God says he will do (the “I will” statements and others), what do you learn about the extent of God’s power and judgment?
• What sins caused God to punish Judah?
• Zephaniah introduces the topic of the Day of the Lord (1:7-18), a term also used by other prophets. (We will study it further in the next lesson.) How would you summarize the Day of the Lord from this passage?
• How is God speaking through Zephaniah?

*** 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?

• What is the basis of Zephaniah’s hope as expressed in 2:1-3?

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.

Part Two Study

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.

Read Zephaniah 2:4-3:8, journaling about these questions:

• What stands out to you from God’s words to the nations and why (Chapter 2)?
• Why is God justly upset with Judah, his own people (3:1-5)?
• Review our verse of the week, Zephaniah 2:3, to keep your eyes on the whole picture of God’s character. In light of all that God has said about his people’s sins, journal what you learn about his grace and mercy.
• How do you respond to God’s message today and why?

Part Three Study

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.

Read Zephaniah 3:9-20 and journal your thoughts:

• Which promises to Judah (3:9-20) stand out to you, and what do you feel about them?
• How do you see God’s promises fit into God’s big story or ONE story summarized here? (Review Paradise, Ruin, Reconciliation, and Restoration in Week One, Part One if you need to.) Remember that some predictions involve multiple fulfillments while others won’t be fulfilled until the final Restoration after Jesus returns.

Before you journal your thoughts on one final question, read the 2 Chronicles passage below.

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.

• How is God speaking through his Word today?

*** 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:

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).

Michelle’s Story

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.

What is a prophet?¹

There are six Old Testament terms used to refer to prophets:

• The first term nabi´ refers to the word prophet, meaning an “authoritative spokesman, one who proclaims divine revelation.” It is used the most of the six terms (approximately 300 times in the OT). God directly gave them his messages, often in tandem with authenticating signs that we refer to as miracles.
• “The next two terms are translated seer: ro´eh and hozeh. Both literally refer to one who “sees,” the recipient of divine revelation.”
• Man of God (ish elohim) describes “one who knew God and who was sent by God on mission.”
• Servant of the LORD (ebed Yahweh) highlights “the relationship between God and his faithful messengers.”
• Messenger of the LORD (mal´ak Yahweh) “focuses more on the mission and message” rather than the messenger.

How did people recognize a prophet?

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.

1. Their predictions happened (Deut. 18:20-22). God made it clear that the words of the true prophet would always be fulfilled—after all, they are God’s words. If the prophet’s predictions did not come true, the prophet was false.
2. A true prophet’s messages also drew people to the true God, not away from him (Deut. 13:1-5). Even if the prophet performed miracles, that wasn’t enough. The test was that the message he gave pointed to the true God.

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.

Understanding the Messages of the 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.

• First, don’t obsess over what you may not understand. Accept the fact that you won’t grasp everything because of the nature of prophecy. Feel free to read the footnotes in your Bibles to help clarify places, people, and situations.
• Second, realize that prophecy is not always chronological. One prophecy can even have multiple fulfillments. The same prophecy may speak of both Jesus’s first and second comings. Isaiah includes a prophecy referring to both the birth of Isaiah’s son as well and Jesus’s virgin birth.
• Third, focus on what you learn about God’s character and on the character that God desires for you as you note the actions and attitudes he values. God’s Spirit wants you to consider how your heart, attitudes, and actions align with his.

I will give you some explanations with each lesson as well as cross-references, particularly in your starred optional study.

Applying the Prophets’ Messages

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.

So how do we apply their messages to our day and culture?

1. Corporately to the church

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.

2. To individual believers

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).

3. To church leaders

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).

4. To nations

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.

Elements of prophetic literature

Parallelism

“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.

Poetic imagery

“Unlike prose, which addresses historical realities more directly, poetry draws its readers and listeners into spiritual realities with the use of evocative language.”

Oracles

The IVP Bible Background Commentary provides four categories:

• “Indictment oracles notified the people of what they had done wrong.
• Judgment oracles described God’s intended response to their offenses.
• Instruction oracles (which are relatively rare until the postexilic period) told the people what they needed to do and how they needed to act and think.
• Aftermath oracles informed the people about God’s plans after the judgment had come.”³

Satire

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

When did the Prophets write?

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.

Putting the Prophets’ Messages into Historical Context⁶