Have you ever had a strange dream?  One filled with images that were maybe startling or disturbing?  Zechariah is a book that has several night visions filled with images that are strange and similar to other apocalyptic imagery in books like Ezekiel and Revelation.   In Ezra 5:1-2, we are told that both Zechariah and Haggai were prophets who helped push the people to complete the work on the temple.  Their visions had important messages to share about either the current state of the people or a future promise. 

The book of Malachi is the last of the 12 minor prophets as well as the last book of the Old Testament.  This prophet ends the Old Testament with a clear warning about apathy and ethical compromise.  Malachi means “my messenger,” and he did have a very clear message to give the Israelites.  Interestingly, the phrase “Lord of Hosts” or “Lord of Armies” occurs in this book more than in any other Old Testament book.  At this time in Israel’s history, they had returned from captivity but were still under foreign rule and had no real military of their own.  God is reminding them that they need no military protection if they will put their faith in Him.  The book is unique in that it uses a didactic-dialectic method where a charge is made, an objection is raised, and then a refutation is given to the objection.  It has a very conversational tone and method of teaching

With the study of Haggai, we are jumping forward in the timeline of the Bible now to after the captivity of Judah and the remnant has returned to Jerusalem. Haggai was a contemporary of Zechariah and Ezra. The remnant returned after the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC and although they initially had been zealous and eager to rebuild, soon they became discouraged and distracted by their day-to-day lives. 18 years have now passed, and Haggai begins to prophesy in 520 BC.

The genealogy of Zephaniah is traced back at the beginning of the book to Hezekiah, and Zephaniah appears to be of royal descent. Zephaniah received the word of the Lord during the reign of Josiah (Zeph 1:1), most likely between 640-609 BC. Zephaniah’s name means “Jehovah hides.”

Habakkuk is one of the most applicable books in the Bible. It is common for us to question the evil in the world around us and wonder about the justice of God. Habakkuk had these same questions, and the answer from God may be surprising.

It has been said that the 20th century was the bloodiest in human history. With two World Wars and countless other smaller wars, millions of human beings were killed. However, history is filled with cruel empires, and Nahum was prophesying to one such kingdom – Assyria. As many would feel some level of hope in hearing of the fall of the Axis powers, likewise, those who had been victims of the Assyrians held out hope that Assyria would fall. The Assyrians were cruel and advertised freely on tablets and palace walls the different forms of torture they would inflict on their conquered. A quick internet search or visiting some of the museums that have archeological finds from this empire can show you exactly how cruel the Assyrians were. Nahum the Elkoshite delivered his message after the fall of Thebes occurred in 663 BC (Nah. 3:8) but while Assyria was still in a dominant position – so most likely, Nahum prophesied sometime between 630 – 612 BC. His poetry is quite powerful and expressive and includes a chiasm in chapters 2-3 centered on the “Woe” speech in 3:1-4.

Joel is a difficult book to date and, depending on the scholar, can be placed as early as 900 BC to as late as 400 BC. In addition, there is not much information about the prophet himself. His name means “Jehovah is God,” and we do know from the book that he is “the son of Pethuel.” Although we aren’t given enough details to know the date for certain or very much about Joel, his message remains as timely today as to his audience at the time.

Micah was a younger contemporary of Amos and Hosea (in Israel) and Isaiah (in Judah) and was from the town of Moresheth-Gath in Judah. Interestingly, this town was near the fortress town of Lachish which was besieged by the Assyrian empire. He prophesied from approximately 740-690 BC, and his name means “Who is like Yahweh?”

Hosea prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam II, most likely after Amos had prophesied to Israel, around 750 B.C.  His name means “salvation” or “deliverance,” and although we don’t know exactly where he was from, it appears that he was originally from the northern kingdom of Israel.  Knowing he was sent to Israel in a similar timeframe as Amos is interesting as these men appear to be very different.  Whereas Amos is stern, and his language emphasizes justice, Hosea seems to be focused on mercy and filled with more emotion.  Hosea is still bringing a message of judgment against the Israelites, but the tone is very different from that found in Amos.

Amos was not your typical prophet. He was a herdsman from the small village of Tekoa. This blunt and direct outdoorsman was sent to the northern kingdom of Israel to preach to a complacent, corrupt, and wealthy upper-class citizenry.

Jonah was written in approximately 780 BC and appears to be about the same prophet mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. Jonah prophesied to Israel for a king who is said to be evil, and we have no record of his prophecies in 2 Kings other than they seem to center on the restoration of Israel’s borders due to God’s mercy. Keep this in mind as we now get a detailed snapshot of a story in Jonah’s life.

Obadiah is one of the prophets of uncertain dates. It could be that it was the very first of the “minor” prophets written, but it also could have been written later during the fall of Jerusalem around the time of Jeremiah. I won’t go into the different theories on the different dates but have personally accepted the earlier date. In this article, I will just give some general context that we can determine from the book and important lessons to learn.

I wanted to begin a series of articles on the prophets but thought an introduction to prophets may be helpful. I know in my youth I had very little detailed knowledge of the prophets. I knew the children’s story about Jonah and knew the names, but I only had a vague awareness at best of the topics.

There is a man that is part of David’s life that I find a little confusing - Joab. 

After recently wrapping up the story of David in my daily Bible reading, I started to really ponder the long-term consequences of our decisions. In 2 Samuel 11, we are introduced to a story that will change David’s life forever. It all starts with one little decision to stay home from war. In fairness, David had seen his fair share of battle and I am sure he was ready for some rest from war – but this one decision of choosing leisure will lead to a long list of consequences.

In Galatians 6:1-5, Paul states: 

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load.”

I am one of those weird people who really look forward to making New Year’s Resolutions. I create a document of goals I want to accomplish in each area of my life and try to reflect on how I did for the prior year’s resolutions. However, goals and resolutions are pretty useless without a plan to accomplish them. If you read goal setting books, you will eventually get to a section about breaking them down into much smaller steps which usually break down to create a new habit. Habit is defined as “a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” We can create good habits, and we most certainly can create bad habits as well. When we set goals, the key is to work on developing GOOD habits so that a habit does eventually become a tendency that is hard to give up.

My children attend a school that uses a classical model of education. Although this entails many different things, one point that is emphasized is the classics in literature. They read ancient literature including Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, and the Epic of Gilgamesh. A few years ago, my sister and I, in hopes of trying to understand some of what our children are learning, joined a book study led by one of the teachers at the school and read some of these books. There are many things I learned in this study, but one I was pondering on again today was centered on what Paul meant when he wrote the following in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25:

The other day at work, I was listening to a “fireside chat” between one of the executives where I work and an author. The author was sharing some interesting statistics that his think tank had pulled on the surprising similarities of priorities between political parties in the United States, even though most of us would feel as though the divide has never been greater. He ended up sharing that this is because humans apparently are notoriously bad at determining what the majority of people believe, and this is typically due to the inputs that are in our lives. We base many of our views around what others believe on the loudest and most frequent inputs in our lives. His application was to question the audience on what the loudest and most frequent inputs in their lives are – social media? the news? etc.? He then questioned if any of those inputs may have ulterior motives.