Covering a few books today. Small ones, but lots in them! There is a bit of a gap between Micah (contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah) and the next three - the rest are all speaking at a time when only Judah is left in the land - Israel (Northern Kingdom) has already been taken by Assyria. Broadly speaking, we see in these four judgement coming on Israel and Judah for rejection of God - later Judah repents and reforms somewhat but it is not enough to influence the whole nation and the judgement is simply delayed rather than prevented. We see judgement against Ninevah also, a foreign nation that earlier repented and turned to God, but returned to its wicked ways. And we see a prophet discussing the judgement of God, seeking to understand why God acts the way He does.
So Micah - what do we see here?
We see the prediction of the catastrophe arriving on both the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah. For their rejection of God, He will lead them into captivity. We see themes come through noted elsewhere - the desire for heart worship and obedience rather than multitude of sacrifices - the idolatry present, and the witchcraft - the cheating and deceit of the rich for unjust gain.
One statement stood out to me - I think I might have mentioned something similar in a previous prophecy - "Then they will cry unto Him, but He will not hear them... there is no answer God" Chapter 3.
Yet through it all are messages of hope. There will be a remnant left in the land, and there is a prophecy regarding the coming kingdom of the Messiah - which we also look forward to. And the beautiful conclusion:
"7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."
Moving on to Zephaniah:
Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah. It is interesting to note that there is no prophecy recorded for us during the reign of Manasseh of Ammon (two wicked kings between Hezekiah and Josiah). Quite possibly there were prophets in that time, but God chose not to record their exhortations in the Bible for us - perhaps because it was a repetition of messages heard often before, or many other reasons. We do have htis enlightening prophecy in the reign of Josiah though. Josiah reigned from the young age of eight years (2 Kings 22), and as he grew older, he instigated a number of reforms, such as destroying idolatrous places of worship, casting the idols out of the Temple, rebuilding the Temple, and reading the book of the law to the people. Zephaniah was likely a large part responsible (as a mouthpiece of God) for some of of the reform of Josiah, as we can see in Zephaniah that this prophecy takes places when these places of worship still are present.
Quoting a few key verses:
1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
3:7 I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.
3:12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
3:17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Again we see this message of hope coming through in the remnant - their own wealth or strength cannot save them, but God will save them once again, purifying to Himself a holy people that turn back to following Him with pure hearts.
Zephaniah also includes a prophecy about Ninevah's destruction, a theme that is the focus of the next book, Nahum:
It is provoking to think of this book in the light of what we know from Jonah, that we recently read, and in light of Isaiah, knowing the conquest of Israel and attempted conquest of Judah that Assyria undertook some time after their repentance (a generation or two later). Like Israel, their memory only seems to last a generation before the unrighteousness and therefore judgement return. The verses that stood out to me in this passage are all in the beginning description of the Lord:
1:2 God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
3 The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
...
7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
9 What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
How great is our God, and how fearful when He says 'I am against thee'! Assyria was one of the great powers in the time - and the prophecy goes through describing aspects of that power that shall become as nothing. All the power in the world does not hold out against our Lord, for He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
In Habbakuk we have a slightly different form of prophecy - more similar to Job in that we see a conversation between Habbakuk and God as he wrestles with the message God is asking him to preach. Very useful to have heading sin your Bible for reading this section, as it helps to clarify who is speaking (always check for yourself, but I think most versions split this book up well, the divisions are quite evident once you start looking closely).
1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
The sticking point seems to be God's use of judgement via a nation that is (to outward appearance at least) more evil than Judah. It is good to see the humility of Habakkuk in phrasing his argument and questions to God - very respectful, and expecting to be reproved (have his questions refuted for good reasons). Indeed, the Lord impresses upon Habakkuk how far above He is from men, and how His ways are beyond our ways, and sometimes beyond our understanding. Habakkuk responds appropriately in trusting the Lord to work out his plans, and whether good or suffering, he would rejoice in the Lord.
Habakkuk always makes me think of how we respond to God doing something we don't understand. Yes, the suffering here described is on a human level, but it always makes me think about who we are in God's sight, and what we deserve and what He deserves compared to the reality of the blessings He has granted us and the feebleness of our current response to Him. Thought experiment for meditation: would I still worship God and seek to obey Him if there was no path of salvation and I knew I was going to Hell (as I deserved for my sin) - He is still the righteous just God Who deserves honour, glory and praise - He is still the Creator and Sustainer of all the world and our individual lives - and as we know the deserved punishment for our sin is hell eternally. Would we still praise Him? I hope so, but fortunately we are not in that situation and can never know for sure. Praise God we know Him as Just, Righteous, Creator and Sustainer! Praise God we know Him also as Saviour and Merciful Redeemer! He deserves our praise for ALL that He is, for He is our Holy God!
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