The final prophet before Jesus, Malachi, is speaking to a people who have yet again drifted away from God. Repent and return, for His glory and for your good! 

Zechariah is written to the faithful remnant of Israel, just as Haggai was. And he, too, is writing to keep the people’s focus on the Lord. The LORD is faithful. A king is coming, with a new and eternal kingdom. Keep your focus ahead; stay the course. 

It happens. We all drift and get distracted from what matters most. The problem with that, though, is that when we get our priorities out of order, our lives get out of order. So what matters most? Seeking first the kingdom of God! 

As long as there is time, God is working to transfer people from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His Son. And sometimes He will use the wrath of His just judgement to wake us up and see our need for Him. This is the message of Zephaniah - while there is time, repent and return to the Lord. 

“Where are you, God? I feel like you’ve forgotten me! How can this be right? Good?” These are common heart prayers of lament, prayers we have all prayed, prayers Habakkuk prayed. Yet still Habakkuk rejoiced in God. How? How can we rejoice even when suffering and hurt surrounds?

Within a few Generations of Nineveh repenting of their sins in the book of Jonah, the book of Nahum tells us they have gone right back to their sinful ways. We must NOT forget the work of God to save us. He takes sin VERY seriously.

God is perfectly just and must punish the guilty. But God is also full of mercy and offers forgiveness to all who repent and turn to Him with their sins. But how? How does get “get away” with that behavior? Chapter 5 tells of a Shepherd-King who is the answer to how God both executes justice and provides mercy.

Jonah is written to tell the story of God’s radical and relentless love and mercy for all people; both the irreligious (Nineveh) and the religious (Jonah). The interesting twist in Jonah is that it’s Jonah, the “God worshipper”, whose heart is harder towards God than Nineveh. 

Amos confronts us with an uncomfortable truth: religious activity without genuine heart transformation is detestable to God. Through the prophet Amos, we witness God's judgment falling heaviest not on the pagan nations, but on His own covenant people Israel. Why? Because they honored God with their lips while their hearts remained far from Him.

In the marriage of Hosea with Gomer, we see a picture of God’s relentless and forgiving love. Hosea is called to marry Gomer, a woman of promiscuity, who will not keep her covenant with Hosea. Yet, Hosea will still pursue her in relentless and forgiving love, just as God has done for Israel, and us.