Immersion Bible Studies: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
112
Immersion Bible Studies: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
112Paperback
-
SHIP THIS ITEMShips in 1-2 daysPICK UP IN STORE
Your local store may have stock of this item.
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781426716409 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Abingdon Press |
| Publication date: | 08/20/2013 |
| Series: | Immersion Bible Studies |
| Pages: | 112 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.50(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Immersion Bible Studies: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
By Linda B. Hinton, Jan Turrentine
Abingdon Press
Copyright © 2013 Abingdon PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-1640-9
CHAPTER 1
The Minor Prophets: Noise, Light, and Hope
Micah—Malachi
Claim Your Story
Global Positioning System (GPS) devices are great tools. They can show you where you are and what's ahead, behind, and to the side. They even talk! The information you get from them, however, is only as good as what's in them. On a recent trip, my GPS was on target most of the way. Unfortunately, close to the destination, it ran out of information. The map had not been updated, and while I was seeing streets and houses in front of me, the GPS showed only blank space.
Scripture can function like a GPS device for our lives, providing guidance as we navigate day-to-day life. Bible study keeps our scriptural GPS up to date, but sometimes it's hard to understand what we are reading and how it can help. Does Scripture seem like a blank to you, with nothing that applies to your situation? Or is there so much information that you get confused and disoriented, not sure where to turn?
The Minor Prophets of the Old Testament can present some challenges in these ways. Their combined ministries cover over two hundred years of complex history. Their words are often forceful, blunt, and confrontational. Some of the violent imagery can make us wince and want to turn away. Their visions and dreams may seem too far removed from reality to be useful.
So, what is in their stories for us to claim as our story? First, they tell us what God is like. We see what God does and what God says in the very bad times as well as in the good times for God's people. Knowing and understanding God better is the first priority.
Next, we are told explicitly what God expects of us and the consequences of disobedience. The Minor Prophets tell us over and over again that God is committed to revealing God's will for us and for the world. Each prophet also tells us that there is hope, always hope.
They show us what it's like to answer God's call even when it's hard and to trust God even when the next step isn't clear. They have much to teach us about our own hard calls and uncertainty about our own next steps.
Enter the Bible Story
Called for Hard Times
God tends to call prophets for hard times. Prophets don't usually show up just to tell us that we're doing great. They rebuke, challenge, guide, and hold up a not-so-comfortable mirror in which we see ourselves. Prophets offer us a chance to update our internal GPS, to find our spiritual road map, and to get back on the road to our true destination. They do offer hope and reassurance, but there's some harsh truth to face in the meantime. The Minor Prophets were called for such times.
They were faithful, obedient, and passionate, sometimes angry or even fearful. They were stubborn and stood their ground when people did not like what they said. They held onto their mission to tell the truth so that those receiving their messages could live a better life full of righteousness and blessing.
Their books are labeled "minor" not because their messages are less important than others, but because of their length in relation to other prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. The Minor Prophets are sometimes referred to as the Latter Prophets because of their place at the end of the Old Testament era and Old Testament Scriptures. The Minor Prophets are also grouped with five other prophetic books to make up the Book of the Twelve: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. These prophets had many of the same concerns and messages as the Major Prophets. They all confronted the community of faith with their lack of respect for God, their moral and ethical failures, their tolerance of polluted worship, and the horrendous consequences of their sin.
The ministries of many of these prophets, both major and minor, overlap one another. Beginning in the mid-eighth century B.C., they worked and spoke for over two hundred years during some of the most turbulent times that God's people ever faced. When the first ones answered God's call to prophesy, Israel and Judah were independent nations. By the end, the state of Israel was no more, and Judah was controlled by foreigners.
We are not told much about these men who were called by God to be God's spokesmen. Some, like Zephaniah, were prominent in their community. He was a descendant of King Hezekiah of Judah. Zechariah was connected to the Temple and may have been a priest. Many prophets, however, were like Micah, who was called from his ordinary life in a small village to enter the larger arena of prophecy and power. The Minor Prophets' importance lies in their willingness to be at God's disposal. They heard, saw, and spoke both the hard and the soft words to their people on God's behalf.
The Minor Prophets lived through sad and dangerous days, and they shared the suffering of their people. As God's messengers, the prophets helped the community of faith move from being a political and military power to living more as a spiritual force in the world. By the time of Malachi, the Israelites no longer had complete control of their government, but they still had the covenant. They still had God's promises and God's presence, whether they lived in Judah or never returned from exile.
Called to Speak
"In the beginning," God spoke the created order into existence. God was also straightforward in his expectations for humankind and about the consequences of disobedience. We are to take care of our world on God's behalf, live in harmony with one another and with God, and respect the limits God puts on our lives (Genesis 1–3).
The prophetic word is also straightforward. It always rests on what God says at Creation and on God's instructions to his people since then. It grows out of the long relationship between God and the chosen people, out of their history together in all the big events and small details. The prophetic word rests on Law, covenant, and God's faithfulness.
What the prophets say is backed by the creative power of God's word, which "is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12). Their messages convey God's will and help set into motion the process of making God's intentions real. The prophets do not speak mere words; their words are a creative force. The circumstances and content may vary, but every prophetic message holds the past, the present, and the future within itself. Each message rests on the foundation of God's history with God's people. Each speaks to the present moment. Each participates in and proclaims what's to come.
The prophets call their messages "the Lord's word," a "burden" (KJV), or an "oracle." Each term means essentially the same thing: It's a direct message from God to be lifted up to God's people. How the prophet originally received the message is not explained in detail. Sometimes they saw (for example, Micah 1:1; Zechariah 1:7-8) as well as heard with prophetic clarity. It was a spiritual, mental, and, sometimes, physical communication from God. It was also not just for the prophets' benefit. These extraordinary experiences must be passed on as the revealed word for God's people.
Because the prophet's voice was God's voice when the message was delivered, the nouns and pronouns sometimes shift quickly. The first chapter of Micah holds a good example. Micah begins by referring to "the LORD" in the third-person: "The Lord is coming out from his place" (verse 3). Micah then changes to the first person: "I [the Lord] will make Samaria a pile of rubble" (verse 6). Then, he shifts again, so that the "I" is now Micah: "I will cry out and howl" (verse 8). Though the nouns and pronouns may change unexpectedly, God is the true speaker and source of the message.
Receiving a word from God can be an overwhelming experience for the prophet. His heart, mind, spirit, voice—everything about him is caught up in being God's spokesman. It is similar to the way the apostle Paul described his new life in Christ: "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith" (Galatians 2:20). The prophets did indeed live by faith. They offered their whole selves in service to God for as long as God needed them.
God's word that was revealed to the prophets has special impact and creative force beyond ordinary speech. Even so, the prophets' vocabulary and the way they shaped their messages were familiar to their listeners. There is no "speaking in tongues" as our saying goes, as if it was a foreign language needing translation. For example,
• The Minor Prophets offer prayers and praise to God like people are used to hearing in worship. Habakkuk sings, "LORD, I have heard your reputation, / I have seen your work.... The Lord God is my strength" (3:2a, 19a).
• They lament their own fates and that of their people. Habakkuk asks, "LORD, how long will I call for help and you not listen?" (1:2). "I [the LORD] will stretch out my hand against Judah / and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem," declares Zephaniah (1:4).
• They remind people of God's power over creation. Haggai proclaims, "I [the LORD] have called for drought on the earth" (1:11).
• They recount God's goodness to God's chosen people in the past: "You will know that I [the Lord] have sent this command to you / so that my covenant with Levi can continue.... My covenant with him involved life and peace" (Malachi 2:4-5).
• They remind their listeners that God's expectations of them are no big surprise: "He has told you, human one, what is good and / what the LORD requires from you" (Micah 6:8).
Two other types of prophetic messages may not be quite as familiar. Vision reports tell of extraordinary "seeing" by the prophet (for example, Zechariah 1:7–6:15). In these messages, the prophet may see heavenly beings as well as human beings and familiar objects. The meaning of each visionary detail may not be clear to the prophet or his listeners, but the larger point is still made: God is at work and in charge, in both the heavenly realm and in human history.
Sign acts are another out-of-the-ordinary form of prophetic communication. These are demonstrations or the symbolic acting out of a truth that God wants people to know. For example, Micah stripped off his clothes and walked around howling with grief over the destruction coming to his people (1:8). Habakkuk was told to write his vision on a tablet so that it was plain even to someone hurrying by (2:2).
Many of the Minor Prophets' messages are announcements of judgment. Some are structured like lawsuits, with which people are familiar. All emphasize the logic and justice of God's case against his people. Micah 3:9-12 is a classic example:
• call to pay attention: "Hear this" (verse 9)
• who is being judged: "leaders of the house of Jacob" (verse 9)
• description of sins: "who reject justice" (verse 9)
• connection between sin and punishment: "Therefore, because of you" (verse 12)
• declaration of punishment: "Jerusalem will become piles of rubble" (verse 12)
Prophetic announcements of hope balance the ones of judgment and give people a haven against total despair. For example, Nahum 1:12-13 proclaims Assyria's doom and Zion's rescue:
• call to attention: "The LORD proclaims" (verse 12)
• who is addressed: "Zion" (verse 12)
• reason for hope: "They [the Assyrians] have been cut off" (verse 12)
• promise of relief: "I [the Lord] won't afflict you further" (verse 12)
The prophets loved God and loved their people, but they did not live above frustration or even anger with those who had hard heads and hard hearts. Some of their messages have a satirical tone and ask of their listeners, "Are you really that out of touch with reality?" Habakkuk asks bluntly, "Of what value is an idol?" (2:18). He then drives home the point that idol worship is nonsensical, saying, "The potter trusts the pottery, / though it is incapable of speaking. / Doom to the one saying to the tree, 'Wake up!' / or 'Get up' to the silent stone" (Habakkuk 2:18-19). All of the prophets show their feelings and do not shy away from the fallen state of their community.
Being called and set apart in God's service does not protect us from the reality of sin. On the contrary, it can force us to confront the sad state of humankind in ways we never before imagined. While the prophets had great spiritual gifts and exceptional relationships with God, they still lived in the down-and-dirty world of war, sin, grief, and foolishness.
Called to Care
The Minor Prophets loved and cared about God, who was the Lord and Master of their lives. They also cared about their brothers and sisters in the community of faith. They cared about the survival of God's chosen people. That being said, it is not easy to tell people you love that they are wrong and that something terrible is coming. No wonder the prophets' messages are called "a burden."
As God's messengers, the prophets were also intercessors, seeking reconciliation between God and God's people. They wanted the people to be reconciled to their destiny. They explained that what was happening to them all went back to their lack of faithfulness to God. The Minor Prophets reconciled the present with the past, always coming back to the consequences of breaking the covenant and not listening to God. They knew God's punishment to be reasonable and just. The people could and must accept that before things could get better. The Minor Prophets also sought to reconcile what people were seeing in the present to what was coming, whether it was punishment or redemption. They said, in effect, "Expand your vision. Get out of your limited way of living. See and hear what the living God has for you. Come back to the true God and to your true selves as God's people."
Called to Teach
Whenever God speaks, we can know God better. The Minor Prophets told the Israelites and tell us what God is up to and what it means for us. The Minor Prophets remind their listeners and readers about what God says and does in the past in order to make the present clear. We all need to know God better. We all need to listen for God's voice and look at ourselves in the light of God's word.
The Minor Prophets say that God is always interested in our good. God is all about life, peace, wholeness, righteousness, and justice. How we treat God and one another matters. God has high standards, and we suffer when we let those standards lapse. The Minor Prophets do not hide our ugliness and sin. They mince no words when confronting us with that part of our nature.
However, the Minor Prophets never leave us without hope. They say over and over again that God moves through history and through our lives with the ultimate goal of salvation and redemption for God's people.
Live the Story
Abraham Lincoln was a renowned storyteller. He once recounted the tale of a traveler on the frontier who found himself in rough terrain one night. A terrific thunderstorm broke out. His horse refused to go on, and so the man had to proceed on foot in the dark and lead the animal as best he could. The peals of thunder were frightful, and only the lightning afforded him clues to find his way. One bolt, which seemed to shatter the earth beneath him, brought the man to his knees. He wasn't a praying man, but he issued a short and clear petition: "Oh Lord! If it's all the same to you, give us a little more light and a little less noise!"
We might often join the Minor Prophets to utter a similar prayer. While the Minor Prophets are certainly about shedding light on the way for God's people, they also lived in mighty "noisy" times. We may also live in such times, whether personally or as a community of faith. The Minor Prophets show us that it is both possible and absolutely necessary for us to live by the light God sends us, even in stormy times when we are scared and uncertain.
They show us that fidelity to God's way and God's call is essential. They kept the faith even when the call was to a difficult task, even when they were angry or afraid. Can we say "OK" to God when the call is ours to speak and act for God?
Perhaps even harder, can we be good listeners? Can we willingly be on the receiving end of a prophetic word? Our own hard call might be to hear, to truly hear, instead of to speak. The Minor Prophets asked their listeners to be open to hearing an old truth in a new light. They ask the same thing of us because our spiritual "GPS units" need regular updating.
The Minor Prophets rely on our God-given ability to choose. In the midst of our sometimes stormy, sinful lives, do we choose God's light and God's way?
CHAPTER 2Micah: A Regular Guy "Who Is Like the Lord"
Micah
Claim Your Story
Staunton Harold Church stands amidst beautiful parkland in Leicestershire, England. Its impressive Gothic-style stonework, stainedglass windows, and richly decorated interior attest to its builder's commitment to his faith and his church. Seeing it today, in such a peaceful setting, you might not guess that it was built in very tumultuous times that were unfriendly to the established church.
Sir Robert Shirley founded Staunton Harold Church in 1653, between England's civil war and the restoration of the monarchy. Also known as the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, Staunton Harold is literally Shirley's home church in that it stands next to his house. He committed his time, money, and, as it turned out, his life to this outward and visible sign of his faith in God.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Immersion Bible Studies: Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi by Linda B. Hinton, Jan Turrentine. Copyright © 2013 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Immersion Bible Studies 7
1 The Minor Prophets: Noise, Light, and Hope 9
2 Micah: A Regular Guy "Who Is Like the Lord" 19
3 Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: The Perils of Power and Pride 29
4 Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: Hope for Castoffs 39
5 Haggai and Zechariah: Confronting Situational Blindness 49
6 Haggai and Zechariah: Profound Possibilities 59
7 Malachi: Calling for a Spiritual Makeover 69
8 The Minor Prophets: Information, Inspiration, Blessing, and Change 79
Leader Guide 91