Week 35, August 24–30: Micah 1–7; Nahum 1–3; Habakkuk 1–3; Zephaniah 1–3; Haggai 1–2; Zechariah 1–3

• Sun      Aug 24 Mic. 1–3
• Mon     Aug 25 Mic. 4–7
• Tue      Aug 26 Nah. 1–3
• Wed     Aug 27 Hab. 1–3
• Thu      Aug 28 Zeph. 1–3
• Fri        Aug 29 Hag. 1–2
• Sat       Aug 30 Zech. 1–3

We come to Micah next in our reading through the Minor Prophets. This sixth entry in the Book of the Twelve alternates between warnings of judgment on the one hand, and messages of salvation on the other hand. It is here that we learn of a coming royal Savior from Bethlehem. The book is named for the prophet Micah of Moresheth, who is listed at the beginning of the book. His name means “Who is like you, Lord (Yahweh)?” (see Mic. 7:18).

Micah prophesied during the time of the Judahite kings Jotham (2 Kgs 15:32-38), Ahaz (2 Kgs 16), and Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18–20), making him a contemporary of Isaiah (see Isa. 1:1). In Micah, we see again the theme of God’s concern for justice, mercy, and humility more than with sacrifices and offerings. Micah 6:6–8 is one of the most familiar passages from the Minor Prophets, and even though all Scripture is both timeless and timely in what it proclaims, the message of these verses is a particularly poignant reminder for us today:

"With what shall I come before the Lord,

     and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

     with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

     with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

     the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

He has told you, O man, what is good;

     and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

     and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic. 6:6–8)

Nahum is a prophetic oracle against Assyria and its capital city Nineveh. This continues the theme of God’s judgement against his enemies and the enemies of Israel and Judah. A day is coming when God will bring about his justice, and those nations he has used to judge his own people will themselves face the righteous justice of the Lord. Nahum has connections to other parts of the Book of the Twelve, but the most obvious is its link to Jonah, which also focuses on the city of Nineveh. Nahum prophesied after Jonah preached against Nineveh and the Assyrian city repented. Clearly, Nineveh repentance was short lived. Assyria would be defeated, and their capital city overthrown, by the Babylonians shortly after Nahum’s prophetic prediction these events.

The prophet’s name, Nahum, means “comfort,” an interesting and meaningful detail given the theme of his prophetic message. God’s people will be saved and comforted by the eventual destruction of those who are oppressing them. The Lord, the almighty and good Divine Warrior, will come and defeat the wicked. The main message of the book is captured well in verses 7–8 of chapter 1.

"The Lord is good,

     a stronghold in the day of trouble;

he knows those who take refuge in him.

     But with an overflowing flood

he will make a complete end of the adversaries,

     and will pursue his enemies into darkness." (Nah. 1:7–8)

Next in the sequence is the short book of Habakkuk. We are not given much information about the prophet for whom the book is named. We are simply told that this is the oracle Habakkuk the prophet saw (1:1). We can discern a little about the historical context from verse 6 of chapter 1. There it says God is raising up the Chaldeans, another name for the Babylonians, who will come through the land and wipe out all in their path. This suggests Habakkuk was prophesying against Judah and looking ahead to the time when they would be judged by God through the wicked nation of Babylon.

Habakkuk is framed in large part as a personal lament over his circumstances and the circumstances of his people. The prophet wrestles with God and invites readers to ponder the question, How can the Lord allow the wicked (Babylon in this case) to prosper? Why would he use them to accomplish his divine purposes, even judgement against his own people? And the answer given in the book is an answer that reiterates a thread that echoes consistently through all Scripture. Just like Abraham was counted righteous because he believed God and his promises, so too the prophet Habakkuk simply and famously states, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Hab. 2:4) This verse is quoted at key points in some of the most profound expressions of the gospel in the NT (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38).

The next short entry in the Book of the Twelve is Zephaniah. This may not be the most familiar book in the Bible, but it is packed with wonderful truths for us today. It could be argued that these three chapters give the most succinct summary statement of the prophetic message in all the OT.

Zephaniah prophesied in the time of king Josiah, one of Judah’s good kings (1:1; See 2 Kgs. 22:1–23:30). He tells of the coming Day of the Lord, when God will punish his people for their wickedness. Things are going to get really bad for the people of Judah. However, as we are seeing all throughout the OT prophets, there is also a time coming when things are going to get much better. Zephaniah’s message captures this dichotomy between the Lord’s righteous judgement and his coming salvation and restoration as clearly and concisely as anywhere else in the Major or Minor Prophets.

We also see here the idea of a righteous remnant, those who remain faithful even when all others go down the path of sin and rebellion.

“On that day you shall not be put to shame

     because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;

for then I will remove from your midst

     your proudly exultant ones,

and you shall no longer be haughty

     in my holy mountain.

But I will leave in your midst

     a people humble and lowly.

They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord,

     those who are left in Israel;

they shall do no injustice

     and speak no lies,

nor shall there be found in their mouth

     a deceitful tongue.

For they shall graze and lie down,

     and none shall make them afraid.” (Zeph. 3:11–13)

The next of the Minor Prophets is Haggai. He was a prophet who spoke for God in the time after the exile. Haggai was among the first wave of those who had returned from Babylon to begin trying to reestablish themselves and the temple in Jerusalem. Babylon had fallen to the Persian king Cyrus, and now Cyrus’s son Darius is the Persian king ruling in Babylon (Hag. 1:1). The timing of Haggai’s prophetic ministry overlapped with Zechariah’s (Zech. 1:1, 7) and with the activities recounted in Ezra and Nehemiah (See Ezra 4:24).

Haggai consists of a series of four oracles, with narrative interwoven between the prophetic oracles. The first oracle rebukes the returnees for continuing in the unfaithful ways of earlier generations. As an indicator of the problem of misaligned hearts, they are prioritizing their own “paneled houses” instead of rebuilding the Lord’s house (Hag. 1:4). Under the leadership of Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua, the faithful remnant responds obediently to Haggai’s first oracle and begin rebuilding the temple (1:12–15).

In the second oracle, Haggai looks ahead with anticipation to a future temple that will be better than Solomon’s, and the third oracle makes it clear that the temple they are working on in is not the glorious temple anticipated in the second oracle, but rather a sign of the future temple to come. In a similar way, the fourth oracle then focuses on Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, who is in the line of David. Through Haggai the Lord says Zerubbabel is the one who carries along the promise of a coming Messiah from David’s line. This message renews hope in another descendent of David, a seed of the promise who will be the Lord’s servant and in whose time God will shake the heavens and the earth and overthrow the kingdoms of the earth (Hag. 2:20–23).