THE TWELVE

In this sermon, we unpack Haggai 2, a book filled with hope and encouragement for God's people. Explore the prophet's call to rebuild the temple and the incredible promises God makes to those who obey. Discover how the "latter glory" of the second temple foreshadows an even greater glory to come – the arrival of the Messiah!

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As we begin this journey through the book of Habakkuk, let’s examine some key elements that will help us set this book in its context.

To review, the book of Zephaniah was written sometime between 640 and 587 BC, about fifty years before the beginning of the fall of Judah...the prophet was a contemporary of Nahum, Habbakkuk, and Jeremiah, and he was an intelligent and devout believer in Yahweh

Today we begin our study of a rather short book, the book of Zephaniah...this is one of the books that even some long-time Christians might not recognize as a book of the Bible.

As we begin the second and third chapters, the focus of the prophecy changes from the promise of God to judge the city of Nineveh and the Assyrian empire, to a vision of the prophecy fully coming to pass.

As we turn to Judah, you’ll see Nahum as the second green bar above the timeline, about halfway between 700 BC and 600 BC...let’s dive into this book...what do we know about it? Let’s look at verse 1...

As chapter 7 concludes, Micah presents one of the most vexing problems in Scripture...how can the thrice-holy God forgive sin and pardon transgressions, without compromising His holy character? We find the answer here described in outline in the conclusion of Micah’s prophecy...

As chapter 7 opens, the style of writing changes, from a structured covenant lawsuit to a style of writing with which we are probably more familiar: a lament...if I were to put a title on this passage, it would be this: “From Lament to Praise”....

Now as we return to chapter 6, let’s review for a moment the framework of the chapter...it takes the form of a covenant lawsuit oracle, as God takes the roles of both judge and plaintiff, calling His people to account for their abandonment of the covenant and their rejection of His covenant faithfulness and love...creation is the witness and the people of Jerusalem and Judah are the defendants.

Now as we turn to chapter 6, the beginning of Micah’s third and final oracle...this week we find ourselves in a court room, listening to a case being argued...but it’s not a criminal case, or even a civil case, it’s what today we would call a family law case.

Now we turn to chapter 5, the end of the second oracle... and the most famous passage in the book, which I suggest is the theological center of Micah’s prophecy: verse 2

The book of Micah is the transitional prophecy of the Twelve...he’s the prophet that God raised up to speak to both Israel and Judah...at different times in their national lives, but to both kingdoms nevertheless...content certainly reflects that...including him on both timeline slides to reflect that distinctive ministry.

Now in chapters 4 and 5 we turn from the “rebuke” portion of the second oracle to the “restoration” portion...

Last week we began our journey through the book of Micah with a look at the background, themes, date, author, et al, to set everything in context...today we continue with a look at the completion of the first judgment oracle (1-2) and the beginning of the second (3-5)...

Last week we completed our study of the book of Hosea...today we begin our study of the fourth book in the series “The Twelve”, the book of Micah...it’s the last book of the prophets to the northern kingdom of Israel.

God’s final word on Israel’s sins of idolatry and pride and forgetfulness of their God and His promise to bring judgment on the nation through the Assyrian Empire, compared to a scorching east wind and vicious attacks by wild beasts...this week we will look back at the major lessons of this prophet, then cover a much brighter final chapter, chapter 14

now, as we near the end of this prophetic book, we look today to chapters 12 and 13 to continue the oracle of Hosea...then next week, we’ll cover the final chapter, chapter 14, and we’ll do a quick review of the book to reinforce the major lessons we learned...

This passage is more encouraging than some of the rest of the book...even in the midst of the coming judgment that Israel certainly deserved, we’ll see today that the heart and mind of our covenant God is still for us...and while there will be times of discipline, He will not utterly destroy His people

Now we return to Hosea to see the continued decline of Israel and the judgment God would bring upon them...we’ll pick up the text in chapter 8 verse 1...and I want us to look at this question

Last time, we examined chapters four and five, as God took up a controversy with His people, particularly with the priests and prophets, for their failure to demonstrate the faithfulness, steadfast love, and knowledge of God that He expected...instead, they had committed heinous sins against each other as well as against their covenant God.

Last time, we looked carefully at the text from the end of chapter one through chapter three...in this important passage, the speaker changes from Hosea to God and back again, and we see the sudden shift from the bleak judgment in chapter one to the promise of redemption in chapters two and three, both of the nation of Israel and of Gomer, the wife and mother in the story.

Today we move forward into chapter two and chapter three, having looked last week at some background information, including who Hosea was; the religious, political, and social setting of the final years before the fall of the northern kingdom in the middle of the eighth century BC; the challenges we face in understanding this moving yet complex book...again, be aware of the content of this book, parents...today is a reason for my disclaimer...

As we begin, we’ll consider this prophecy in the context of the time and space of the nation of Israel, their kings, the spiritual condition and the political upheaval of the nation in the period just prior to the Assyrian conquest and the deportation of a great majority of the people to the most distant reaches of the Assyrian Empire...

We recall last week from chapters six and seven that Israel had rejected God’s final offer of “Seek Me and live” as well as His commands to live according to the covenant...God responds with both oracles and visions of judgment delivered through Amos...and today we reach the end of this prophecy from the herdsman of Tekoa...

Let’s dive into the text...today we’ll be covering chapters six and seven, both of which are fairly short, but important in the way they add to the prophetic message...we’ll begin at chapter six verse one

As Amos begins this judgment speech, he uses a literary tool that frequently appears in Scripture, and in other ancient writings as well, called a chiasm, named for the Greek letter chi, which is shaped like our letter X -- the symmetry of the structure serves to focus the reader’s attention toward the center, the most significant point of the passage...here’s how verses 1 through 17 are arranged...

This week we continue our study of the oracles of Amos, the bivocational prophet...we find him on the timeline just to the right of Jonah, also serving during the almost forty-one year reign of Jeroboam II, 793 BC to 743 BC...

This week we turn to the next prophet in the order of the prophets to Israel -- Amos -- we find him on the timeline just to the right of Jonah, also serving during the almost forty-one year reign of Jeroboam II, 793 BC to 743 BC...this book will take a few weeks, due both to its length -- nine chapters -- and its content, which is a wide-ranging and comprehensive look at conditions in the northern kingdom and the surrounding nations as well

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Welcome back as we continue our study of The Twelve, the collection of prophetic books that closes the Old Testament…