Week 51, December 15–21: Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Haggai; Zechariah 1–10; Psalms 143–148

• Sun      12/15   Nah 1–3         
• Mon     12/16   Hab 1–3          Psalm 143
• Tue      12/17   Zeph 1–3         Psalm 144
• Wed     12/18   Haggai 1–2      Psalm 145
• Thu      12/19   Zech 1–4         Psalm 146
• Fri        12/20   Zech 5–7         Psalm 147
• Sat       12/21   Zech 8–10       Psalm 148

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 Nineveh repented. Clearly, their repentance was short lived. Assyria would be defeated by the Babylonians shortly after Nahum’s prophetic prediction of Assyria’s fall.

Nahum’s name 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)

 

Habakkuk is the next in this section of Minor Prophets, and 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).

Zephaniah is another short entry in the Book of the Twelve, and it may not be the most familiar book in the Bible, but it is packed with wonderful truths for us today. It contains perhaps 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 he 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 be really good. Zephaniah’s message captures this dichotomy between the Lord’s righteous judgement and his coming salvation and restoration more clearly and concisely than 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. And in a similar way, the fourth oracle focuses on Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, who is in the line of David. Through Haggai the Lord says he 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)

We also begin reading Zechariah this week, and will finish it with next week’s reading. As mentioned above, Zechariah prophesied during a similar time period to that of Haggai, in the time of the Persian king Darius when some exiled Judahites were returning and seeking to rebuild Jerusalem. Zechariah’s name means “the Lord (Yahweh) remembers,” and his message is more hopeful than some of the other Minor Prophets.

There is a two-part structure to the book, with chapters 1–8 focusing on issues that relate to the current generation of those seeking to restore the community in Jerusalem. Specific historical figures from that time period are mentioned, like Joshua and Zerubbabel. This first “half” of Zechariah consists of Zechariah’s night visions. The second part of the book, chapters 9–14, is more apocalyptic and eschatological, envisioning the more distant future from Zechariah’s time. The oracles of these latter chapters speaks of coming judgement (and salvation) for the nations, and salvation for Israel.

The overall message is an encouragement to repent and turn back to the Lord, and an encouragement to those who do repent. God’s promises are sure and he will look with favor on his people if they turn back to him. This book is a book of hope, and it is fitting that we are reading it the week before Christmas. In Christ, God has delivered on his promises through the prophets. And as we await Christ’s second coming, we wait with certainty and hope in anticipation that he will again bring all peoples to himself. He will be our God and we will be his people.

The Christmas hymn “Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” captures the wonder and awe of the Incarnation, and its title reflects the language of Zech. 2:13 and Hab. 2:20.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence

and with fear and trembling stand

Ponder nothing earthly minded

for with blessing in His hand

Christ our God to earth descending

comes our homage to demand

 

King of kings yet born of Mary

as of old on earth He stood

Lord of heaven now incarnate

in the body and the blood

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heav’nly food

 

Rank on rank the host of heaven

Spreads its vanguard on the way

As the Light of light descending

From the realms of endless day

That the pow'rs of hell may vanish

As the darkness clears away

 

At His feet the six-winged seraph

Cherubim with sleepless eye

Veil their faces to the presence

As with ceaseless voice they cry

Alleluia Alleluia

Alleluia Lord Most High