40-Hosea 7 – Habakkuk 3
Sept. 26, 2009
We will begin our study this week in the Book of Hosea in Chapter 7. Last week we discussed the Book of Daniel and also began the Book of Hosea. This week we will continue in Hosea and also look through several other Minor Prophet books. In Chapter 7 of Hosea, the Lord spoke about the sins of the Northern Tribes. These Northern Tribes, known as Israel in those days were here referred to by the name of their largest tribe, Ephraim. In verse 8 God referred to them as a cake that was baked without turning, that is, burned on one side and raw on the other. Instead of looking to the Lord for help they turned to Assyria, and Egypt. In Chapter 8 the Lord said to Israel that their enemies would defeat them. The words of verse 1 “Like an eagle the enemy comes against the house of the Lord.” literally translate as the enemies were like a vulture coming down on a dead thing. Their calf god would be destroyed and in verse 7 “For they sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.” Ephraim’s punishment would come in Chapter 9. The Lord said in verse 15-17 “All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; all their princes are rebels. Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even though they bear children, I will slay the precious ones of their womb. My God will cast them away because they have not listened to Him; and they will be wanderers among the nations.” In Chapter 10 the Lord said the people of Israel will face retribution for their sin. They would be chastised and bound with their guilt. The Lord did though, give them advice in verse 12 “Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.” The Lord had compassion on His lost people in Chapter 11, and desired they had never turned from Him. He said in verse 9 “I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” The Lord reminded Himself that He is God, and does not hold grudges like man. The people of Israel were reminded of their past in Chapter 12. They had continued in the ways of Jacob, except to return to the Lord. Then, in Chapter 13 they are told of their idolatry. The Book of Hosea finishes with Chapter 14 which spoke of a future blessing on Israel from the Lord. We will now move on to the Book of Joel. It is believed the Book of Joel was written during the late ninth century BC, while Joash was on the throne of Judah. The prophet Joel’s theme for his book is the “day of the Lord”. In the first chapter Joel describes the current day of the Lord that was occurring in Palestine during his life. At the end of the book he turns to the future second coming of Christ in the last days. In Chapter 1 Joel spoke of a plague of locusts that devastated the land and stripped it of all vegetation. Joel equates the swarms of locusts to a great army with teeth like lions. The devastation would cause a severe famine in the land. The Lord in judgement would also bring a drought. The people were told to cry out in verse 15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” Joel again warns that the day of the Lord is near in Chapter 2. The locusts are described as a consuming fire and an unstoppable army marching across the land. Even as the people faced destruction, the Lord encouraged them with these words in verse 11-13 “The Lord utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it? “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving-kindness and relenting of evil.” When the people repent the Lord will have pity on them and restore His people. He gave His people a promise in verse 25 “Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” The end of Chapter 2 also holds a prophecy that concerns us, the Lord’s church. This is verse 28-32 “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.” These words were also spoken by Peter in the Book of Acts on the day of Pentecost during the birth of the church. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit to the church was just a preview of what is to come during the second coming of Jesus and His reign on earth. In Chapter 3 the Lord declares that during the coming day of the Lord the nations of the earth will be judged, not His people Israel like before. The nations will be gathered up in the valley of Jehoshaphat and judged. The Lord will prepare the earth for His kingdom during this time. In the end Judah will be blessed. This ends the Book of Joel. We will now move on to the Book of Amos. The next book of the Minor Prophets, Amos was written during the days of Uzziah in Judah, and Jeroboam II in Israel. Amos was a sheepherder from Judah who was called to prophesy to the Northern Tribes of Israel. He prophesied during the same time as Isaiah, Jonah, and Hosea. Amos spoke the words of the Lord to Israel against the wicked and corrupt leaders of the land. In Chapters 1 and 2 Amos gives a series of eight messages to the nations and people of the land. God is spoken of as a lion roaring out judgement on the people from Jerusalem. Amos began each message with the words “For three transgressions of …… and for four” This phrase meant that the people’s iniquity was so great that they had passed the point of escaping judgement. The people of Israel listened to Amos as he spoke against the nations, but rejected him when he turned to Israel and Judah. In Chapter 3 Amos takes on the women of Samaria. They had grown lazy and spoiled and had neglected their proper duties. Amos called them “cows of Bashan.” Instead of managing their homes for their husbands they had turned around God’s order and demanded service from them. The Lord said in Chapter 5:6 “Seek the Lord that you may live” He repeats these words throughout the chapter. The people had so corrupted themselves the Lord said in verse 21-25 “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.“Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? “You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. “Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.” In Chapter 6 the Lord spoke to the lazy people in the land. They acted like everything would be good for them and remain the same. They had no fear of the Lord or His judgement. Amos was given a vision in Chapter 7 of a plumb line that the Lord would use to judge Israel on how true they were to His words. Today we can also tell how close we are to the Lord by our obedience to His Word, the Bible. Jeroboam II told Amos to go home and prophesy to his brothers in Judah and leave Israel alone. By Chapter 9 things had become so corrupt in Israel that in verse 6 “So as to buy the helpless for money and the needy for a pair of sandals, and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?” The Lord said in the end of the chapter that a famine was coming to judge the people. In Chapter 9 the people are told that the judgement of God cannot be avoided. No one will escape the judgement, but as with many of the prophetic books, there is a promise of restoration in the end. This ends the Book of Amos. We will now open the Book of Obadiah. The Book of Obadiah is a short prophetic book directed to the people of Edom. The book is hard to date, but it is believed to have been written during the days of Elijah and Elisha. The Edomites were descended from Jacob’s brother Esau and had been against Israel from their beginnings. In the only chapter of the Book of Obadiah the prophet told the Edomites they would be made small for their arrogance and pride. They were told they came from a man who allowed his inheritance to be taken without a care. They were told not to gloat over Jacob’s son’s distress because they would prevail over the Edomites in the day of the Lord. We will now move on to the well-known Book of Jonah. The Book of Jonah was written about the prophet’s reluctance to prophesy to the city and people of Nineveh. It was written during the days of Isaiah when the Lord was preparing Assyria to take the disobedient Northern Tribes of Israel into captivity. The Lord wanted to strengthen them and bring them to repentance before He could use them to judge His people. The book begins with Jonah’s passage on a boat in the opposite direction from Nineveh where the Lord called him to go. To get Jonah’s attention the Lord caused a great storm to form on the sea that threatened to sink the craft. The passengers and crew were frightened and prayed that they could find out who caused this trouble to come upon them. They decided to draw lots to see who was guilty of angering the Lord. The lot fell on Jonah and the men tried to row to the shore. The storm was too fierce so Jonah told them to cast him into the sea to save themselves. The men cast Jonah over the side where the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow him from the sea. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Jesus used this account to describe His time in the grave between His crucifixion and resurrection in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke. In Chapter 2 from the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord and repented. Some believe Jonah was actually dead inside the fish and brought back to life when the fish was commanded to spit him out on dry land. In Chapter 3 the Lord again told Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophesy to the city and its people. This time Jonah did as he was told and traveled through the city and spoke God’s words. Jonah told them their city would be overthrown in forty days. The king listened to the prophecy and put on sackcloth with the people and repented before the Lord. In Chapter 4 the response of the people of Nineveh to the Lord’s words angered Jonah. He did not want the people of Nineveh to obey the Lord and be blessed over his Jewish brothers. He pleaded to the Lord for death. Jonah left the city and made a shelter in the east to see what would happen. The Lord appointed a plant to grow over his head to provide shade. During the night the Lord appointed a worm to kill the plant. In the morning when the sun came up the Lord appointed a scorching east wind to torment Jonah along with the hot sun. Jonah again asked the Lord for death. He was angry about the plant. The Lord used these things to teach Jonah. He said that Jonah had compassion on the plant that he did not work for, so why should He, the Lord not have compassion on the one hundred twenty thousand people of Nineveh who did not know any better and also their many animals? We will now move on to the Book of Micah. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied to the people of Judah after the fall of the Northern Tribes of Israel to Assyria. This was during the reign of Ahaz and Hezekiah over Judah. Micah’s prophecy was against the increasing corruption in Judah. In Chapters 1 and 2 Micah spoke about the destruction that was to come upon Judah soon and how the Lord said woe to those in Judah who oppressed His people. The Lord said in Chapter 2:7 “Is it being said, O house of Jacob: ‘Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient? Are these His doings?’ Do not My words do good to the one walking uprightly?” The wicked and corrupt rulers were denounced by the Lord in Chapter 3. Because of their evil ways the Lord pronounced in verse 12 “Therefore, on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest.” In Chapter 4 Micah spoke about the peace that will exist during the last days. Here he is referring to the Millennium when Jesus will rule over the earth. During that time of peace the Lord will be our teacher and the weak, outcast, and lame will prosper. Chapter 5 contains the Old Testament prophecy on the location of the Messiah’s birth. In verse 2 the location is revealed “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” No one could be found in the land to shepherd the people so God decided to come Himself to lead in the future. In Chapter 6 the Lord gave the people His evidence for why they deserve judgement. Along with the evidence the Lord told the people what He required of them. Then in Chapter 7 Micah acknowledges what the Lord had said. He understood the justification for punishment, but as for himself he said in verse 7-9 “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness.” This ends the Book of Micah. We will now go on to the Book of Nahum. The Book of Nahum was most likely written during the reign of Manasseh in Judah towards the city of Nineveh. At this time Assyria was at the height of their power after falling again into idolatry after the time of Jonah. Nineveh would soon fall from power to Babylon. In Chapter 1 Nahum spoke about the Lord and His power and character. This set up the justification on why He would have Nineveh overthrown. Chapter 2 spoke of the overthrow of Nineveh and the Assyrians that were removed from power because the Lord was against them. The Assyrians were used by God to scatter disobedient Israel, but they did not continue in repentance after their turn around by the words of Jonah. Chapter 3 told of the complete ruin of the city by their enemies. Because of the wickedness of the city and its people the Lord promised to make of them an example to the other nations. This ends the Book of Nahum. We will finish up this week with the Book of Habakkuk. The book is believed to have been written in the final days of Assyria during and after the reign of Josiah in Judah. In Chapter 1 Habakkuk is told by the Lord that He is going to raise up the Chaldeans to punish Judah. Habakkuk questions the Lord on why He chose a people so fierce to punish Judah He said in verse 12 “Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge; and You, O Rock, have established them to correct.” The Lord answers Habakkuk in Chapter 2. He said in verse 2-3 “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets that the one who reads it may run. “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.” He also said in verse 14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The people chose to put their trust and worship on idols instead of their God. The final chapter of Habakkuk, Chapter 3 is a prayer that speaks of the Lords deliverance of His people. The beginning of the prayer addresses the Lord’s power and might against His enemies. It also says in verse 13 what the Lord will do “You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for the salvation of Your anointed. You struck the head of the house of the evil to lay him open from thigh to neck.” Habakkuk gives his response in verse 18-19 “Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places.”
This ends the Book of Habakkuk, and also our study for this week. Next week we will finish up the Old Testament, then Begin the New Testament with the first chapters of the Gospel of Matthew.