Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah: Quick Summary

Whew! I've made it to the "minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament! Hopefully, I'll be in the New Testament some time on Thursday.

Joel - Joel starts off with a description of a plague of locusts and then goes into a discussion of the "Day of the Lord" - a time of judgment for the nations but restoration for God's people. Considering the time the book was likely written, I felt myself conflicted on whether the "Day of the Lord" was reaching to foretell of the return of a healthy Israel after the exile or if Joel intended his vision to be further in the future and discussing the Messiah or the end of time. I'll have to give the scholars the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Amos - There was a folksiness to Amos that I liked. The book isn't all that different from other books by prophets. Amos announces God's wraith on several of Israel's neighbors and then what punishment God has set for Israel itself. The end of the book combines visions he has of plagues and of God's justice along with a sprinkling of narrative about reaction to Amos's prophesies. As with Joel and others, Amos discusses a restoration of Israel after the punishment.

Obadiah - If you flip through the Bible, you are likely not going to see Obadiah. The introduction to the book in my Bible is actually longer than the book itself...which is a single chapter. There's an odd twist to what Obadiah has to say here. The bulk of the book discusses Edom (The traditional homeland of Jacob's brother, Esau's, offspring. Thus, these people are a "brother" of Israel.). The book warns Edom that they are not free from God's actions and that Edomites shouldn't gloat on the downfall of Israel/Judah. In the end, Obadiah says, Israel will be restored and they will occupy much of the neighboring territory at that time, so Edom better be nice and await what will happen on the Day of the Lord.

Jonah - Is Jonah historical or just an allegory? In the book, God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh (located in present day northern Iraq, near Mosul) and minister to those people. God told Jonah those people had sinned greatly and he was going to smite them unless they repented. Jonah, daunted by the task decides to go the opposite direction and heads for the Mediterranean Sea. While at sea, God causes a storm. Those on board find out God is after Jonah, so they throw him overboard and Jonah is eaten by a great fish. Jonah prays while inside the fish and is vomited out three days later. Jonah then goes to Nineveh and successfully converts the people there. God decides not to smite them.

Jonah gets mad that God decided to be merciful to the people of Nineveh and claims he'd rather die now than to continue living. Jonah sets up a shelter east of the city and sits there waiting for God to strike the city after all. That doesn't happen. What does happen is that God caused a tree to grow to shade Jonah (which it does and Jonah is pleased). The next day, God has a worm attack the tree and it withers. Finally, God has a hot wind blow on Jonah all the next day. Jonah is upset that God destroyed the plant and God uses this as a lesson on why he didn't destroy Nineveh. All of that in just a few pages in the Bible. On the action:page ratio, Jonah certainly delivers better than most of the other books.

Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi: Quick Summary

Huzzah! I finished the Old Testament today! Here are the last books of the OT:

Micah - Most of the other prophets stated that God was going to punish Judah/Israel because of unfaithfulness, immorality, and general sin. I found it interesting that Micah also mentions crimes against the poor as a reason for God's wraith. There are lots of passages here that could be in reference to Jesus, too.

Nahum - Apparently Jonah's work in Nineveh didn't stick (God's Plan or not?) and Nahum was sent a generation later. Like Obadiah spent his book targeting a neighbor with prophesies, this book is spent telling Nineveh what the future holds for them. It isn't a pretty picture. Eventually, he gets back to the fact that Israel isn't immune from God's justice and there will be a price to be paid for the sins of the Jewish people.

Habakkuk - This book is a bit closer to Job in form than to the other prophet books. Habakkuk asked God why sinful people seem to take forever to be punished and why God uses "more sinful" people (such as the Assyrians) to punish the "less sinful" people (such as Judah). God issues his replies that he takes care of all sinners in His own time.

Zephaniah - OK, back to the predictions of destruction and restoration. Zephaniah's prophesies are fierce with punishment but also jubilant about how God will rejoice when His people are reunited and restored.

Haggai - Overlapping the period discussed in Ezra, Haggai was in Jerusalem as the exiles returned. Alas, they busied themselves rebuilding their own homes and yet ignored working on the temple. Haggai passed along a message from God that the people needed to rebuild the temple now. No, it wouldn't look as glorious as it did before its destruction, but God said that it would return to glory. God was taking all of the defiled things in His eyes and making them into blessings.

Zechariah - I've got the feeling that I'll be revisiting this book a little when I am going through the New Testament. There is a good chunk of this book that prophesizes many of the things that Jesus did.

Malachi - This, the last book of the Old Testament, is both a reminder to those living in Jerusalem after returning from exile in Babylon to not be complacent with their relationship with God. I like how the book is formatted in a quick back-and-forth dialogue between God and his wayward people. The people are criticized for their sacrificing of maimed animals instead of the healthy, of not tithing 10%, and of marrying foreigners. Malachi does talk about a messenger that will come that will clear the way for the Lord in the future.