Bible 101: Lesson 36

Zechariah

Zechariah was the other prophet who, with Haggai, preached to the first generation who returned from the Babylonian exile to Jerusalem. The first eight chapters relate to the years between 520 and 518 B.C. when the temple restoration was underway. The message supports the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest. At times, however, the message seems to drift into descriptions of the future and it’s hard to tell whether he is speaking of the future Messiah or of his contemporary leaders.

Chapters 9-14 are very different. They deal exclusively with the future beyond Zechariah’s day. Some of those prophecies were remarkably fulfilled by Jesus at his first coming, and some remain to be fulfilled at his second coming. Overall, Zechariah is a book rich with imagery surrounding Jesus and has some very important Messianic prophecies.

Messianic prophecies in Zechariah

God living among his people
OT References: Zech 2:10-13
NT Fulfillment: Rev 21:3,24

A new priesthood
OT References: Zech 3:8
NT Fulfillment: Eph 2:20-21; 1 Pet 2:5

Enthroned high priest
OT References: Zech 6:12-13
NT Fulfillment: Heb. 5:5-10; 7:11-28; 8:1-2

Triumphal entry
OT References: Zech 9:9-10
NT Fulfillment: Matt 21:4-5; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:13-15

Sold for thirty pieces of silver
OT References: Zech 11:12-13
NT Fulfillment: Matt 26:14-15

Money buys the potter’s field
OT References: Zech 11:12-13
NT Fulfillment: Matt 27:9-10

Piercing of his body
OT References: Zech 12:10
NT Fulfillment: John 19:34,37

Shepherd smitten – sheep scattered
OT References: Zech 13:1,6-7
NT Fulfillment: Matt 26:31; John 16:32

Bible 101: Lesson 35

Haggai

In 539 B.C., the kingdom of Babylon fell to the invading Medo-Persian Empire. A year later, King Cyrus issued a decree that the Jews taken into captivity 70 years ago be allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Interestingly, he was moved to do this by prophecies in Jeremiah which predicted the date of the downfall of Babylon, and one in Isaiah in which the prophet calls him by name almost 200 years before he came to power (Jer. 25:12, 29:10; Is. 44:28). So restoration work began on the temple, but the Jews faced strong opposition from neighboring peoples and the work was halted for sixteen years until God raised up Haggai and Zechariah to preach to the people. Haggai stressed the need to complete the reconstruction and explained that the recent bad harvests were a result of the temple still lying in ruins, keeping the land unclean. But he also stressed God’s support for the project and His plans to bring the Israelites a new prosperity.

The book of Haggai is a rebuttal to everyone who’s ever said, “God’s not interested in buildings - it’s people who make up the church”. Or “I can worship God better outdoors than in a church full of hypocrites.” Haggai makes it plain that, for what ever reason, God is interested in having His people gather together in sacred spaces to worship Him as a group, and in order to do that, someone must have the very ordinary task of actually building that space. There are times when the obedience God expects of us is very material, and the work of building the house of prayer is as important in God’s sight as going there to pray. Through the book of Haggai we come to understand that God regards all work as spiritual, whether we see it that way or not.

There are no Messianic prophecies in Haggai.

Bible 101: Lesson 34

Zephaniah

The book of Zephaniah was written to the kingdom of Judah during the reign of Josiah who initiated spiritual reforms in 621 B.C. It is addressed to a people who are not sure God exists or notices what is going on in the world. To hedge their bets, they worship a few other gods on the side. To them the prophet brings a thundering reminder of the Day of Judgment, the day when all the consequences of man’s sins will be brought together for a final reckoning. Zephaniah paints a grim picture of what that will be like. But God is also painted as a God of hope and mercy. The prophet goes on to assure the people that God will call their enemies to account and restore them to a future of security, peace, and right relationship with Him.

A very interesting prophecy is found Zephaniah 3:9, where God promises that a “pure language” will be restored to them, and they will use it to worship God. It is interesting to note that Hebrew had largely died out as a spoken language by the time of Christ, and was only used for religious services. After the sack of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the people of Israel were scattered around the face of the earth in what is called the diaspora. For 1900 years they continued to retain their identity as a people, though they spoke the language of whatever country they settled in. When Israel was miraculously reborn in 1948 as a sovereign nation, in fulfillment of ancient prophecy, the Hebrew language was restored to use and is spoken today in the streets of Jerusalem.

God is trustworthy! He brings all His promises to pass.

There are no Messianic prophecies in Zephaniah.

Bible 101: Lesson 33

Habakkuk

This Old Testament book contains the verse that reoriented Martin Luther’s thinking about the role of faith in salvation and contributed to the Protestant Reformation. Paul used the same verse (Hab. 2:4) to introduce the principle of justification by faith rather than works in Rom. 1:17. The commentary on Habakkuk is the most well preserved Old Testament commentary in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and has contributed much to our understanding of the use of quotes from the Old Testament in the New. So this small book has had a disproportionate influence on the development of theology. Interesting, in light of the fact that it is the 33rd book of the Bible.

We don’t know much about the prophet himself, but the book seems to have been written shortly before 605 B.C. when the Babylonians became the superpower of the ancient world. Habakkuk is struggling with understanding God’s justice. He saw all kinds of moral wrongs around him going on without seeming consequence, so he asked God about it. God first gave an answer that bothered him, so he asked again. At that point, God challenged him to wait and trust that everything would become clear over time. Habakkuk accepted this answer and concluded that, given God’s holiness and the requirement of faith (or trust) from us, his questions had been unjustified.

Messianic prophecies in Habakkuk

Earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
OT References: Hab. 2:14
NT Fulfillment: Rev. 21:23-26

Bible 101: Lesson 31

Micah

Micah was active during the last third of the eighth century B.C. He preached to a nation that had gone wrong in many ways. The rich were oppressing the poor, merchants were cheating their customers, the religious and judicial leaders were corrupt, and the true prophets were being told to keep quiet. (Isaiah and Hosea were active at the same time.) But people still believed God was with them and would defend them. Micah’s ministry was to warn the people of the consequences of national sin.

Two verses in Micah stand out above the rest: Micah 5:2 which predicts the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, and Micah 6:8 - one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

“He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”

Messianic prophecies in Micah

Born in Bethlehem
OT References: Micah 5:2-4
NT Fulfillment: Matt 2:1-6; Luke 2:4, 10-11

Bible 101: Lesson 30

Jonah

The book of Jonah is unique among the books of the prophets because it doesn’t contain any prophecies or visions. Instead it tells about a period of time in the life of the prophet Jonah. He is mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25, so the period of time discussed in the book is the early eighth century B.C.

The story is simple, but very profound in its lessons about God. He called Jonah to preach a message of warning to the city of Nineveh, telling them that God was about to destroy it in forty days. Jonah ran in the opposite direction though, because he was afraid that the success of his preaching would cause God to show mercy. Basically, Jonah was prejudiced against the people of Nineveh and didn’t want them to be saved. Even though he had good reasons for his dislike, Jonah needed to learn a lesson about how God’s mercy extends even to the wicked. Jonah didn’t let go of his prejudice until he had literally sunk to the lowest depths in the belly of a “great fish” who swallowed him after he had been thrown out of a boat into the Mediterranean during the middle of a severe storm.

Several important themes come out of the book of Jonah. One is it shows that, while God had a special relationship with Israel, he did not lose his compassion and concern for other nations. Another is God’s compassion for children and animals. When He chides Jonah for his sinful prejudice, God says, “And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right hand and left hand, as well as many animals?” Finally, although there are no direct Messianic prophecies in the book, Jesus saw Jonah’s experience in the belly of the whale as a prophetic picture of what he would go through during his three day interval of death. He also used the repentance of the Ninevites after Jonah’s preaching to chide his unrepentant contemporaries (Matt. 12:39-41).

There are no messianic prophecies in Jonah.

Bible 101: Lesson 29

Obadiah

The shortest book in the Old Testament, Obadiah means “servant of Yahweh (GOD)”. The book is a short prophecy about the downfall and destruction of Edom, also called Esau for the brother of Jacob who founded the kingdom. The Edomites were traditionally enemies of Israel, and when the deportation of Babylon occurred, they filtered into the land to take possession of the empty houses and towns. The exact dating of the book is unknown, but it must have been written sometime after the deportation.

This prophecy was fulfilled in stages. By 400 B.C. the Nabatean Arabs had defeated Edom and occupied their territory, which came to be called Idumea. The Herods of the New Testament were the last of the Edomite remnant. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. the Edomites finally passed from the pages of history.

Contains no messianic prophecies.

Bible 101: Lesson 28

Amos

Amos was a shepherd – a country boy whom God called to preach for just a few days around 750B.C. His time was a lot like ours. There were great extremes between the rich and the poor. Amos brought a message of judgment to the wealthy who were exploiting and cheating the poor. Shopkeepers were being dishonest, judges were taking bribes, and the religious leaders were corrupt.

To the northern kingdom of Israel, Amos delivered a message of impending punishment at the hands of the Assyrians and Egyptians. His message must have seemed all the more ridiculous, because Israel was enjoying peace, and Assyria had been declining for a long time. As always, though, we find a message of mercy and restoration following judgment. Once again we see that God has the last word, and His word is Good.

Messianic prophecies in Amos

The sun darkened
OT References: Amos 8:9
NT Fulfillment: Matt 24:29; Acts 2:20; Rev. 6:12

Restoration of David’s house
OT References: Amos 9:11-12
NT Fulfillment: Acts 15:16-18

Bible 101: Lesson 27

Joel

Joel means “Yahweh is God” and is named as the son of Pethuel. Because nothing is known about the man, who is not mentioned elsewhere in the scriptures, it is impossible to date the book with certainty. It was probably written around 900 years before the coming of Christ, because the enemies mentioned, the Philistines, Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Edomites, were the enemies of an earlier period as contrast to the Assyrians and Babylonians who defeated the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Joel is divided into two parts. In 1:1 – 2:17 Joel addresses a condition of locust-plague and drought to call the people to repentance. In 2:18 – 3:21 God’s mercy heals the land and brings blessing to his people and punishment to their enemies. A major theme of the book is “the Day of the Lord” – a prophetic picture of God’s judgment coming upon the earth. Jesus made many references to the day of God’s judging, and other references to the “day of the Lord” are scattered throughout the epistles of Paul and Peter. Peter also refers to the verse cited below to explain what had happened on the day of Pentecost. Note that all people are included in the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Messianic prophecies in Joel

Promise of the Spirit
OT References: Joel 2:28-32
NT Fulfillment: Acts 2:17-21

Bible 101: Lesson 26

Hosea

Hosea was the last prophet God raised up in Israel to try to get the people to repent. He warned them of the disastrous consequences of their sins, and lived to see the fulfillment of his warnings in the exile to Assyria.

God used Hosea’s life as a parable to show Israel that he was like a loving husband who longed to have a faithful wife. He directed Hosea to marry a prostitute and have children with her. Gomer proved to be an unfaithful wife, and out of three children born in their marriage, only one was Hosea’s. After she had left Hosea and gotten into trouble, he purchased her back again a second time. All of this was an object lesson to Israel, who had been just as faithless to God, but who longed to show them His love and compassion despite their treatment of Him.

Messianic prophecies in Hosea

Israel restored
OT References: Hos 3:5
NT Fulfillment: Rom 11:25-27

Flight into Egypt
OT References: Hos 11:1
NT Fulfillment: Matt 2:15