"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him" Nahum 1:7.
About 150 years after Jonah had been sent to Nineveh, Nahum delivered "a burden against Nineveh" (about 660 B.C.). In the Book of Jonah we see that God controls the forces of nature (the storm, the whale and the worm). In the Book of Nahum, we see that God controls the forces of history (the rise and fall of nations). Understand the Times This often neglected and disparaged Book of Nahum provides us with a vital key for understanding past, present and future history. Events do not occur as random happenings. Every particular aspect and direction of history is determined by the will, purpose and power of God. Everything has consequences. God is Sovereign The Lord, the incomparable and all-powerful Creator God, is the Eternal Judge. He holds universal dominion over every state and nation. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. As a holy, covenant keeping God, He deserves, desires and demands undivided loyalty and complete obedience from everyone, everywhere, at all times. Rejection of Almighty God and violation of His Laws inevitably lead not only to serious consequences in society and nature, but inevitably evoke His wrath and judgment.
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"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Habakkuk 2:14
Habakkuk is of great relevance to us today. It deals with difficult questions: Why do the innocent suffer? Why do the guilty go free? Why doesn't God punish the wicked? How can a Holy God overlook the wickedness all around us? Who was Habakkuk? Habakkuk means one who embraces, it is a wrestling term. Habakkuk worked in the Temple in Jerusalem. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Zephaniah. When Did Habakkuk Minister? Habakkuk prophesied during the final days of the Assyrian Empire and at the beginning of the rise of Babylon. Habakkuk had lived through the Reforms of king Josiah (2 Kings 22 & 23), who had abolished many of the idolatrous practices of his father, Amon, and grandfather, Manasseh (2 Kings 21:11-22). The Empire of Assyria had fallen, just as Nahum had prophesied. Egypt and Babylon were contending for dominance. In 605 B.C., the good king Josiah had been killed at the battle of Carchemish. The burden of Habakkuk was published during the early years of the reign of king Jehoiakim (609 – 598 B.C.). "Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness
seek humility..." Zephaniah 2:3 Who was Zephaniah? Zephaniah was the first of the 7th Century B.C. prophets, beginning his ministry earlier than Jeremiah and Nahum. The prophecies of Zephaniah come after 70 years of silence. Since the murder of the prophet Isaiah there had been no Word from God until Zephaniah delivered these prophecies in the days of King Josiah. Zephaniah is the only prophet whose descent is traced back four generations. Zephaniah 1:1 makes clear that the prophet was a direct descendant of King Hezekiah, his great, great grandfather. Therefore Zephaniah was a cousin of the reigning King Josiah. Hidden by God Hezekiah was the last good king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Isaiah 36-39). During the reign of king Manasseh, who reigned for 55 years, royal offspring were sacrificed to the god Molech, under the king's direction. The name Zephaniah means "hidden by God". The fact that Zephaniah survived the slaughter under the wicked king Manasseh is a testimony to the truth of his name. God had hidden and preserved Zephaniah to be a prophet for His people. "And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to The Desire of all Nations, and I will fill this Temple with glory, says The Lord of Hosts." Haggai 2:7
Who was Haggai? Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi are the last of the prophetic books. They are the post-exilic prophets. Of the sixteen OT prophets, eleven prophesied before the Exile, two prophesied during the exile and three prophesied after the Exile. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi ministered in the same time period as Ezra, Nehemiah and Queen Esther. Haggai is the first prophetic voice to be heard after the Exile to Babylon. The name Haggai means "festal one". It is suggested that Haggai was born on a feast day. As Haggai referred to the glory of the first Temple (2:3), he may have been alive to see the first Temple before it was destroyed. In that case he would be an old man in his eighties. Historic Background The Persian king, Cyrus, conquered Babylon in 538BC. He permitted the displaced peoples to return to their homelands, provided that they build a temple in which they would pray to their God on his behalf. 50 000 Judean exiles responded and seized this opportunity to return to Judea. As they retraced the route that would have been followed by their father Abraham, they were led by Zerubbabel (seed of Babylon) and Joshua, the High Priest. Zerubbabel had been born in exile and had never seen the Promised Land. He was a surviving member of the royal line of king David. Zerubbabel was the grandson to the last king of Judah, Jehoiachin. The name Joshua means "God our Saviour". Zerubbabel became governor in Judea and Joshua became the High Priest. “…Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." Zechariah 4:6
Who was Zechariah? Zechariah was a young priest who was also a prophet. He was the son of Berachiah, the son of Iddo. Zechariah was the grandson of Iddo, who had returned to Jerusalem from Exile sixteen years previously (Nehemiah 12:4-16). Zechariah was a contemporary with the prophet Haggai. When Haggai had been preaching for two months, and the work on rebuilding the Temple had already started, Zechariah began his ministry. Historic Background Judah had been conquered. Jerusalem burned. The Temple demolished. The people led away into captivity to Babylon (2 Kings 24-25). In 538BC, Cyrus, the king of Persia, freed the captives from Judah to return to their land and resettle in the land surrounding Jerusalem, to rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-4 and 3:1-4:5). After seventy years of Babylonian captivity, about 50,000 exiles were permitted by king Cyrus to return to their land to rebuild the Temple. After Cyrus, king Darius ascended the throne of Persia. However, despite his kindly disposition toward the people in Judah, the work on the Temple ceased. Opposition, indifference and apathy caused the work of rebuilding the Temple to be abandoned (Ezra 4:24). Sixteen years later (Ezra 5:1-2), Haggai, and later Zechariah, were commissioned by the Lord to command the people to rebuild the Temple. As a result the Temple was completed four years later, in 516BC (Ezra 6:15). "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, even 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…"
Malachi 3:1-2 God's Messenger Malachi is the last Book of the Old Testament. Malachi is the last of the twelve minor prophets. Malachi is God's messenger, who presents God's last Word to the people of the Old Covenant. For the next 400 years, there would be no further Word from God, until the coming of John the Baptist, who was a voice crying in the wilderness "Prepare the way for the Lord." Malachi is the bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. God's Last Word There is more of God's speech in Malachi than in any other of the prophetic books. Of its 55 verses, 47 (that is 85%) are direct Words of God. The Book of Malachi is unusual because of its dialogue style, responding to cynical heckling with counter charges. Malachi is given in prose, not poetry, indicating that the Lord's love for His people was wearing thin, exhausted by their faithlessness and backslidings. This was to be God's last Word to the people of Judah and the last Word in the last Book of the Old Testament is: curse. |
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