Aleethia!

Micah marks the half-way point in our journey through the minor prophets. It is the sixth book of the twelve. It also marks the end of a section. We’ll talk more about that in a minute First let’s talk about the book itself, the man who wrote it, and its place in history.

Micah, the prophet, is from the town of Moresheth, located in NorthWestern Judah, 22 miles SouthWest of Jerusalem, and only 5 miles from the border with Philistia.

Micah prophesied during the reigns of three kings of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. During this same time in the Northern Kingdom, there are 5 or 6 kings in quick succession and then the Assyrian captivity.

You’ll remember that the prophet Isaiah prophesied during the reign of king Hezekiah and interacted with him directly. Micah has no direct interaction with the king, although his prophecy does influence Hezekiah, as we’ll see in a minute. › Continue reading

As we move through the minor prophets, we’re noting the progression from one book to the next.

Hosea accused the people of unfaithfulness to the covenant. Joel accused them of indifference and apathy. Amos accused them of injustice, of acting just like the unbelievers around them.

Now, along comes Obadiah. How will his message fit with the theme and direction of the other prophets? What is his message?

His book is the shortest in the Old Testament. Only 21 verses.

We don’t know much about the prophet Obadiah. We can surmise an approximate date for his writing. Since he refers to the fall of Jerusalem, to the Babylonians, as a past tense event, we can assume he wrote sometime after 586 BC. And since he mentions the fall of Edom as a something yet to come, we can assume he wrote before 553 BC. So sometime during this 33 year span, the book of Obadiah was written.

It appears to have been written in Jerusalem shortly after the Babylonian destruction of 586 BC.

Let’s read the book and see if we can figure out what this prophet’s message is.

Read Obadiah

This prophecy is mainly concerned with the nation of Edom. Edom is located SouthEast of Israel, beyond the Dead Sea. The people of Edom are the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob.

Edom was a vassal state of Israel since the expansion under king David. › Continue reading

So far in our study of the Minor Prophets we’ve seen Hosea indict the people for breaking the covenant between themselves and Yahweh by worshiping idols, and we saw Joel accuse the people of indifference and spiritual apathy, issuing a wake up call to the nation.

Now we’re going to look at the third Minor Prophet, Amos.

Background

So we know right from the start that Amos was a shepherd. He’s not a priest, or a member of the social elite, he’s a working class shepherd. Furthermore, he’s from Tekoa, about 10 miles south of Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom. Yet his ministry takes place in the Northern Kingdom. In chapter 7 we learn a little more about him.

The priest calls Amos a “seer” or one who sees visions. They know that Amos is having visions from the Lord, but they don’t want to hear it because it’s uncomfortable.

Our task for this time together, is to discover what this uncomfortable message was that Amos delivered, and determine its application to our lives. › Continue reading

This message was preached on Sunday morning July 12, 2009 at Pulaski Presbyterian. It was part one of a three part series on Christian Love. You can listen/download the audio of the sermon here. You can find the entire series by searching the archives, for July 2009.

Introduction

“Jesus I believe in you, and I would go, to the ends…of…the…earth”

“I would give the world to tell your story, because I know that you’ve called me…”

We just sang those words, but I wonder how many of us really meant them. Do we know that we’ve been called? Are we that eager to share his story, the gospel, with the world? Would we really go to the ends of the earth? Would we go to our enemies even?

How would you respond if God called you to go to Afghanistan, find Al-Qaeda, and share the gospel with them? Would you go eagerly, hoping they would repent and be saved?

Perhaps more difficult. How would you respond if God called you to go to the neighbor or coworker or classmate that you don’t like and don’t get along with? Would you eagerly share the gospel, hoping for their salvation? Or would you look for excuses not to start that conversation? Would you say something halfhearted and secretly hope they reject God?

This morning I want us to look at the story of a man in Scripture who behaved much like we do.

Background

On Wednesday nights we’ve been working our way through the Old Testament one book each week. We’re currently in the Minor Prophets. This morning I’m bringing that study to you as we look at the book of Jonah. › Continue reading

Background

We don’t know much about the prophet Joel. We do know he was located in the Southern Kingdom of Judah because his prophecy is aimed at Judah and Jerusalem. Debate exists over exactly when to date his ministry, but the best arguments seem to be for dating it sometime in the mid 9th century BC. This would make Joel a contemporary with Obadiah and Elisha.

We don’t know anything about Joel’s background, other than his dad’s name, Pethuel.

Overview

Unlike the other prophets we’ve looked at so far, Joel doesn’t call the people out for idolatry. Instead he calls them out for apathy. He announces God’s coming judgment vividly. The Day of the Lord, the day on which God will judge the nations, is the main theme of Joel. This day also includes a message of hope for those who belong to the Lord. So like the other prophets Joel exposes sin, announces judgment, and gives hope of redemption. His focus is the coming judgment.

Outline

Judgment of Judah, Day of the Lord (1:1-2:17)
Mercy of the Lord, Judgment of nations (2:18-3:21)

Apathy and Repentance

Joel’s exposure of the people’s sin isn’t as obvious as Hosea or the other prophets. The prophet is addressing the people’s apathy and complacency. The people just aren’t concerned with their sin, or with God’s anger over it. Joel issues a wake up call.

The prophet begins by pointing out a natural disaster, an infestation of locusts that has resulted in the destruction of all crops.

It seems this is the worst locust plague in generations. › Continue reading

Hosea is the first in a series of books we call the Minor Prophets. These book are not of lesser value or importance than the major prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, they are just shorter works.

We’ve said that prophets have three jobs: expose idolatry, announce judgment, give hope. Each of the prophets mentions all three of these things, but each of them focuses on one as his main message. The Jews view them as a unified whole, comprising only one book in the Jewish Scriptures. We will take them one at a time as they appear in our English Bibles.

Hosea’s main focus is going to be on the nation’s idolatry. The question we need to ask is, “What does Israel’s idolatry 2500 years ago have to do with us today?”

Let’s get a little perspective on this book of Hosea.

Hosea the prophet appears on the scene roughly 170 years after the division of the kingdom. Hosea ministered in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, although he consistently refers to it as Ephraim. Ephraim was the largest of the tribes that made up the northern kingdom, and was probably representative of them all.

Hosea’s ministry takes place during a period of political upheaval. The Northern Kingdom will experience 6 kings in only 30 years, while living under the constant threat of invasion and exile from the kingdom of Assyria.

Hosea prophecies from about 755-753BC to 727-722BC.

The religious context of Hosea is the idolatry of the Northern Kingdom, centered around the worship of Baal. Baal was a canaanite god said to control the weather and fertility. The worship of Baal involved much sexual sin, including temple prostitution.

So Hosea is called as a prophet during a time when the northern part of the nation has fallen into gross idolatry and has been very unfaithful to God. › Continue reading

This week we’re looking at the prophet Ezekiel. To understand the prophet, it will help us to understand the times in which he lives. Last week Rusty taught us from the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was located in Jerusalem, and prophesied concerning the imminent Babylonian exile.

Jeremiah predicted the exile and even gave some advice to the future captives on how they ought to live their lives in exile. In chapter 29 of Jeremiah he tells the captives to seek the welfare of the city into which they have been taken as captives. Their own welfare is so closely tied to that of the city that they are to want the best for their new home.

There are actually three Babylonian exiles. The first happened in 605 BC. It was at this time that Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon. The second occurred in 597 BC. At this time Ezekiel was taken, along with many others. The final and last captivity occurred in 586 BC with the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

Ezekiel is taken captive during the second deportation, along with 10,000 other Jews.

Ezekiel’s ministry begins roughly 5 years later in 593 BC. He continues to minister to the exiles, and act as a prophet, until about 571 BC.

Ezekiel himself was a priest (1:3), he was well respected by the community and leaders of the exiles (8:1), and he had a family including a wife he loved very dearly (24:16).

Like the other prophets, Ezekiel has three main themes to his writing: › Continue reading

This week we begin our journey through the later prophets. Before we get started with Isaiah, I’d like to take a brief moment to introduce the prophets, discuss the prophets’ function in Scripture, and the type of literature we’re dealing with as we read their writings.

First, the prophets.

Remember, we are looking at the Old Testament as it is arranged in the Jewish tradition. So technically, we’ve already been in the prophets for some time. Joshua, Judges, Samuel & Kings are all considered the “Former Prophets.” Now we are ready to begin the Latter prophets, beginning with Isaiah. But first, let’s take a look at the chronological order of the latter prophets.

Here’s the order we’ll be looking at them in.

Isaiah – Jeremiah – Ezekiel – Hosea – Joel – Amos – Obadiah – Jonah – Micah – Nahum – Habakkuk – Zephaniah – Haggai – Zechariah – Malachi

As you can see we’re not taking them in exact chronological order. And we’ve left out two books that are normally included with the prophets in our modern order, Lamentations and Daniel. These will be covered later, in the group called “the writings.”

So, these are the prophets. But what exactly, is a prophet? What does the prophet do? › Continue reading

This week we look at 2 Kings. This is the concluding book in the history of the nation of Israel. Last week, looking at 1 Kings, we saw the decline of the nation from its heights of glory under King Solomon, to the depths of idolatry under the kings who followed him.

We saw the division of the kingdom into two halves. The Northern Kingdom, Israel, is compromised of 10 tribes, with headquarters in Samaria. The Southern Kingdom, Judah, consists of Judah and Benjamin, with headquarters in Jerusalem.

The decedents of King David still sit on the throne of Judah. The throne of Israel has been passed from one man to another, mostly through treachery, murder, and military coup.

1 Kings revolved around Solomon and Elijah. Solomon made small compromises with the surrounding culture. Overlooked “small” sin, disobedience to God, and ended in idolatry.

Elijah, however, stood resolutely against the idolatrous practices of the prevailing culture. He refused to compromise or dilute his worship of Yahweh. He stands as a shining example to us of what it looks like to stand alone against a hostile culture.

As we look at 2 Kings we will, sadly, see the fall of both Northern and Southern Kingdoms, as they give way to the culture and end in captivity to it.

Along the way, we will learn two important ideas.

1. You become what you worship
2. God is God everywhere
3. God controls history

As we study 2 Kings, we’ll see all of these truths demonstrated and learn what they mean to us, and how we are to live our lives in light of them. › Continue reading

Coming into 1 Kings, we have behind us the background of the nation of Israel. From the creation to the call of Abraham, from the increase of the peoples in Egypt to the exodus, from the giving of the Law to the conquest of the Land, from rule by Judges to rule by Monarchy, we’ve seen the nation of Israel come into being.

At the end of 2 Samuel, Israel was ruled by King David, whom Jews now look back on as the best earthly king the nation ever had. Yet David’s rule was not the apex of the nation’s glory. It is under the rule of David’s son Solomon that the nation will reach the zenith of it’s splendor. It is also under Solomon that decline from that high point will begin.

We know there must be decline for in the time of Jesus, Israel is a nation occupied by a foreign power, Rome. How did that happen? What happened to the nation that was to be an example to the world of what it looked like to worship Yahweh? 1&2 Kings will tell us that story.

A brief outline of 1 Kings will look like this.

• Solomon’s reign (1-11)
• Division of Kingdom (12-14)
• Decline of Israel (15-16)
• Elijah (17-22)

There is a lot of history here, and many lessons worth learning. In many ways the book is the story of the decline of a nation. What I want us to focus on will involve that decline, but I want to primarily focus on the two main characters, Solomon and Elijah, and the contrasts between them.

These last several books have been stories of contrast between different characters. We saw most vividly the contrast between Saul and David.

Saul’s heart was concerned with what people thought, concerned with himself and his standing in the eyes of men. This led to arrogance and pride on his part.

David’s heart was humble before God. He was concerned with what God thought, not what man thought. He was concerned with his standing before God, not men.

As we look at 1 Kings, and the stories of Solomon and Elijah, we’ll contrast the two men’s responses to the surrounding culture. › Continue reading