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Home , Book of Jonah, Book of Nahum, Book of Obadiah, Habakkuk, Habakkuk 1, Habakkuk 3

Assyrian soldiers

This lesson examines the books of a vision of Obadiah, but it gives no histori­ Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and cal context and no biographical informa­ Habakkuk, which are part of the Minor tion. The name Obadiah means "servant of . ." This name was fairly common in ancient . Thilteen Obadiahs appear in OBADliUI the . The is primarily a The first of these five books is Obadiah. denunciation of the state of . It It is the shortest book in the Old describes the calamities that the Testament, having only one chapter. We sees befalling the Edomites, who are related know nothing about the prophet Obadiah. to the . The Edomites traced their The opening verse tells us that the book is lineage back to , the twin brother of

BOOKS OF THE 110 . Thus the Edomites and the Israelites JONAH claim the sanle ancestors. Tum now to the , which Much of the Old Testament expresses a contains a familiar story. The Book of great hostility toward the Edonlites. Psalm Jonah differs from all the other prophetic 137 speaks of the Edomites and declares as books because it is really a narrative about blessed anyone who takes their little ones a prophet and contains almost nothing of and dashes them against the rock. his preaching. Jonah's one proclamation in Why did such harsh feelings exist :4 contains, in Hebrew, only five between Edom and Israel? The answer words. probably lies in the fact that the Edomites In Chapter 1 calls Jonah to preach fought together with the Babylonians when to , the ancient capital of the the Babylonians took and destroyed Assyrians. But Jonah tries to flee. He in 586 B.C. Edom, rather than boards a ship. A great storm arises, and the aiding Jerusalem, proved to be an enenlY. nlariners finally throw Jonah overboard. A Obadiah proclaims that the coming devas­ great then swallows Jonah. tation of Edom is its reward for its role in Chapter 2 is Jonah's prayer that he offers Jerusalem's fall. Verses 10 to 14 clearly to God while in the belly of the fish. It is describe Edom's action in the day of actually a thanksgiving psalm similar to Jerusalem's trouble: she would not aid nlany of the poems in the Book of Psalnls. Jerusalem, she rejoiced when fell, After being vomited out of the fish, Jonah, she helped loot the city after its fall, and in Chapter 3, hastens to Nineveh and pro­ she killed Judean fugitives trying to flee claims the destruction of the city. To his from the Babylonian army. Read Obadiah surprise the people and even the animals 8-10. repent and wear sackcloth, and God spares them. In Chapter 4 Jonah sulks because Read Obadiah 1-4, and answer the follow­ God spared the city. He sits above the city, ing questions. awaiting the destruction he hopes will still come. While Jonah waits, God supplies a a. What has deceived the Edomites? plant to shade him fronl the sun. After a time God has a worm destroy the plant. Jonah becomes angry over the loss of his plant. When Jonah has pity for the plant, God questions Jonah. Read :9-11. The Book of Jonah is fascinating and b. Where do the Edomites live? appealing. But what is its message? Certainly it is not merely a fish story. One can argue that it sets out to show that a prophet cannot escape his call. The book also stresses that God will save whomever God will---even non-Israelites-if they c. What will God do to them? genuinely repent. One may view the book as a protest against any narrow Jewish that stressed one people's elec­ tion over all others. It is interesting to notice that the strongly anti-Edomite Book of Obadiah and the pro-Assyrian Book of Jonah follow each other. This placement

OBADIAH/HABAKKUK III seems to indicate that persons must hold the of one's own child. Read the sentiments of nationalism and those of :8 for Micah's own answer to his universalisn1 in tension. question. Micah is the first prophet to preach Chapter 2 of Jonah is his prayer to God. about Jerusalem's destruction. In Micah Read :4-9, and answer these ques­ 3: 12 he predicts that Jerusalen1 will be tions. plowed like a field and become a heap of ruins, and that the will a. Jonah fled from God's calling and was become a wooded height. cast into the sea. How did he feel about usually recall one particular God then? passage from Micah. This passage is his prophecy of the coming ruler from the house of and the town of . Read this prediction in :2. b. When his soul fainted within him, what Micah 6:7-8 gives us a simple definition of did Jonah do? true religion. Answer the questions after reading these verses.

a. What does God require?

1. c. Why did Jonah give thanks to God?

2.

3. MICAH When we move to the , we again encounter a prophetic book simi­ b. With what other things have people lar to , , An10s, and . thought to please God, but in vain? The opening verse tells us something about the prophet and his historical context. From 1. the introduction, we know that Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah who prophesied during the days of the Assyrian Empire. Micah is from a small village called 2. Moresheth. In many ways his preaching parallels that of his urban contemporary, Isaiah. Micah says a great deal about the perversion of justice by the leaders of 3. Judah. Read :9-11. In one of the most perceptive passages of the Old Testament, Micah tries to define what religion is all about. He asks whether 4. God will be pleased with sacrifice---even

BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 112 NAHUM c. (1:6) The fourth book in this lesson is the . All three chapters in this book proclaim and celebrate the fall of Nineveh. The city of Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Enlpire, fell to invaders in d. (1:7) 612 B.C. The Book of Nahum originated shortly before or just after the fall of the city. It was probably preserved in the because it graphically depicts the end of one of Judah's great enemies. Although the celebration of the fall of e. (1:8-10) Nineveh may strike us as odd, we nlight remember the joyful celebration that occurred in the Western world with the capture of Berlin and the end of World War II. With the fall of Nineveh an oppressive power that had ruled and plun­ HABAKKUK dered the Near East for over a century finally came to an end. 's destruc­ The final book for today's consideration tion meant others' salvation. is the . This prophetic Sense the joy of the news of Nineveh's book of three chapters is interesting in that fall as you read : 15. it contains dialogues between the prophet At the same time, the prophet presents and God. In : 1-4 the prophet the fall of the city in dramatic detail. Read complains to God, who answers him in :1-3. verses 5 to 11. The prophet then responds to God in Habakkuk 1:12-2:1. God then The subject of the Book of Nahum is the answers the prophet in :2-5. destruction of Nineveh. However, Nahum Habakkuk complains that he cannot starts with a description of God who will understand the events of his day and why bring about the fall of the city. Read the things are as they are. The prophet wonders following passages, and summarize the why the Chaldeans, or Babylonians, go on main idea about the Lord contained in plundering, and God does not intervene. In each. Habakkuk 1: 17 he asks, "Is he then to keep on emptying his net, / and destroying a. (1 :2-3) nations without mercy?" God answers the prophet by stating that the end awaits its time. In 2:6-20 Habakkuk proclaims a number of woes upon various types of sinful behavior-especially the acquisition of b. (1 :4-5) extravagant wealth and property and deceitfully acquired gain. The book con­ cludes with a poem or psalm, which is pri­ marily a hymn of praise. Read :17-19. The introduction in Habakkuk 3: 1 and

OBADIAH/HABAKKUK 113 the final line of the last verse suggest that Jonah 2:4 and 2:8. Discuss what these this psalm once existed as an independent verses reveal about Jonah's idea of where writing. Perhaps the prophet offered the God was. Do we tend to identify a specific psalm in worship, and it was later incorpo­ place with the presence of God? Why is or rated into his book. is not such identification appropriate?

Read Habakkuk 2: 1. Write in your own 3. We studied the n1emorable passage in words what the prophet did before he Micah 6:6-8. Look at these verses again, received the answer to his complaint. noting the seventh verse: "Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, / the fruit of my body for the sin of n1Y soul?" This is a reference to human sacrifice in the Canaanite religion. See :26-27; SUMMARY 21:6; and Leviticus 18:21. That a man The books we studied in this lesson are would pennit the slaughter of his first-born some of the lesser-known books in the son in an effort to make payment for the Bible. Try to remember at least one fact sin of his soul is an indication of his sense about each of these books. of the importance of sin. In ancient Israel, sin was a major problem to be redeemed (1) Obadiah denounces the country of through blood sacrifice. Discuss how this Edom. verse provides an insight into the thinking (2) Jonah, after being in1prisoned within a of ancient people about the problem of sin. great fish, proclaims the destruction of How do we look upon the problem of sin Nineveh. today? (3) The prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, proclaims the defeat of 4. Habakkuk 2:4 states: "Look at the Jerusalem by the Assyrians. proud! / Their spirit is not right in them, / (4) Nahum celebrates the fall of Nineveh in but the righteous live by their " (italics 612 B.C. added). The last half of the verse is quoted (5) Habakkuk warns of the impending fall several times in the . What of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. does the phrase n1ean to you? Discuss the way the quotation is used in the following qUESTIONS FOR passages: Romans 1:16-17; Galatians 3:10­ DISCUSSION 14; and 10:32-39. 1. There are three alternatives for the mes­ sage of Jonah: a prophet cannot escape his DAILY READINGS FOR commission; God could save non­ ZEPIlANIAH~~ Israelites, even Assyrians, if they repent; and must not think of themselves as ZECHARIAH~AND chosen by God over all others. What do Day 1: 1: 1-9 you think is the message of Jonah? If you Day 2: : 14-20 do not agree with any of these possibilities, Day 3: Haggai 1:1-11 what other or others can you suggest? Day 4: Zechariah 1:7-17 Day 5: Zechariah 9:1-10 2. We noted Jonah's prayer in the work­ Day 6: Malachi 1:1-14 book questions on page 112. Look again at Day 7: :1-6

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