The Amazing Bible. Book Club

The Minor Prophet of Habakkuk is unlike the other prophets, where he hears a word from the Lord and proclaims it to the people, but instead it is a theodicy - a defense of God. Habakkuk questions the Lord and asks, "How long must I call for help in this place of no justice?" The Lord tells him He is doing something, "I am raising up the Babylonians." Habakkuk did not like that answer because why would a pure God use them for this issue? The Lord's answer was He had a plan and a time, and Habakkuk was to wait for it, because the Lord's plan will come to pass. One of the key verses is 2:4, "See, he is puffed up, his desires are not upright - but the righteous will live by faith." Then there are woes toward the unrighteous and verse 20 is a transition verse, "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him." In the silence before the Lord, Habakkuk learned to trust the Lord. Chapter 3 is a song he wrote, and in it, he saw the wonders that the Lord had done, and he saw what the Lord was going to do, and it scared him. Verse 19, "I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. The Lord will punish Judah for their sin, and He will punish Babylon for their sin, but those with faith, the Lord will strengthen. "He will make my feet like the feet of a deer. He will enable me to go on the heights."

The oracle of Nahum begins with a description of God. He is jealous, avenging, and wrathful - against His enemies, and yet He is good, He cares, and He is slow to anger towards those who trust in Him. The rest of chapter one lets Nineveh know that His wrath is coming, and to Judah that He will fight for them.  The Lord tells Nineveh that He is against them (2:13 & 3:5), and that an attacker is coming. We know that attacker will be Babylon. The book ends with news to the king of Assyria, "Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?" The fall of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, fell in 612 BC.

The prophecy of Joel describes the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. It begins with a description of three swarms of locust, the second swarm is great, and the third swarm are young, but afterwards there is nothing left. This is also a call for the priests and the elders to mourn, and to call for a holy fast and a sacred assembly to call the people back to the Lord. Even though judgment is coming, the Lord also promised in 2:25, "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten - the great locust and the young locust, the other locust and the locust swam - My great army that I sent among you." The purpose for the pain is told us in verse 27, "Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God." The most familiar verses of Joel are found in 2:28-32, because the Apostle Peter quoted these verses in Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of the Lord came down upon all people. The Apostle Paul also quoted verse 32 in Romans 10:13, saying that people from every nation who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Destruction is coming, but the Lord has a plan through it all. His hope is that people will repent and turn to Him before it is too late.

The greatest king of Judah since King David has died, King Hezekiah, and his son, Manasseh reigned. He did more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord cleared out of the way before Israel took the land. He did more evil than the kings of Israel, who were wiped out because of their sin. He rebuilt the high places, brought back polytheism with Baal and Asherah poles. He worshipped the starry hosts. He placed pagan altars into the temple of the Lord. He sacrificed his own son to the gods, practiced sorcery, divination, and even consulted mediums and spiritists. All these actions brought forth the Lord's anger. The king's sin brought the nation of Judah to also do evil in the eyes of the Lord, even worse than the pagan nations. The Lord brought forth His prophets to proclaim to the king and to the people that judgment was coming, and Jerusalem will be wiped out. Verse 16 says that "Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end." The commentators think it was the blood of the prophets, and it could have been anyone who stood in his way. Tradition, not Scripture, says that Manasseh sawed Isaiah in two. After he died, his son Amon became king of Judah, and he too did evil in the eyes of the Lord like his father. His reign only lasted two years, and he was assassinated. The people made Josiah, his son, king in his place.

Chapters 38-39 end section one of Isaiah, and it sets the stage for the second half, chapters 40-66. The Lord defended Judah from the attack by Assyria because they defamed the name of the Lord, and King Hezekiah humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord. Following that, he became ill, but again because of his prayers, the Lord healed him, and allowed him to live fifteen more years. A group from Babylon came and heard about his sickness and healing, and the Hezekiah was so pleased, that he showed them all the treasuries and everything in his kingdom. Isaiah proclaimed the word of the Lord, that because the king did that, Babylon would come and take it all away, as well as exile, even the king's descendants. With this looming over their head, the message of Isaiah makes it clear that the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, is the only true God, and He has all of this planned. We also find out that Babylon is coming, but there will be a day when Babylon is also defeated by Cyrus, the Lord's anointed. Cyrus will be the king of Persia, and in 538 BC, he will declare a proclamation that the Jews can come back to Jerusalem and rebuilt their temple. Another theme throughout this section of Scripture, is that the Lord will inflict the Jews for a short time, but He still loves them, and the purpose is to bring His people back to Himself, purified from the fire, and more like the Lord. We also learn from the Suffering Servant Songs, that the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, did not spare the Lord Jesus Christ from suffering also. He was pure, but His suffering on the cross took our sin and placed it upon Him (53:6). Lastly, we learned that it was not just the Jews who could partake of this salvation, but believers from every nation. One of the reasons for the exile was while the Jews were in the distant lands, they would declare the Lord's glory among the nations (66:19), and when they come back, they would not come back alone, but brothers from all the nations would come to the Lord's holy mountain in Jerusalem.

In this chapter, King Hezekiah became ill. Isaiah the prophet came and told him that he will die and he needs to put his affairs in order. Hezekiah did what he was great at, he immediately cried out to the Lord. He pleaded his case of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord, and he wept bitterly. Before Isaiah left the middle court, the word of the Lord came again to Isaiah, who went back and told him that the Lord would heal him, and that he was given 15 more years. The servants made a paste of figs, which Isaiah told them to do, and three days later he was healed. Hezekiah asked for a sign, and the Lord made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairway of Ahaz. 
The last story had to do with and envoy from the king of Babylon came to check on King Hezekiah, and he was so enthralled with them that he showed them all his wealth and grandeur. When they left, Isaiah came and told them that since he showed them everything, there will be a day that Babylon comes and takes everything he showed them, plus they would take his descendants and they would become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. Unlike Hezekiah, he did not pray, he did not plead for the Lord, instead he said, "Good." He thought, "At least it won't be in my lifetime." The writer reminded us that one of the great achievements of Hezekiah is that he made a tunnel through a mountain in order to bring water to Jerusalem. Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

Proverbs 25-29 start by saying, "These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah." He reigned around 716-687 BC. He was a godly king who sought the Lord and brought a revival to the land. He would reach out to Isaiah especially during difficult times, as he sought the Lord. One of those times was when Assyria came to attack Jerusalem. One of the men that Hezekiah sent out was Shebna, the scribe, and it could be that he was one of those men who copied the proverbs of Solomon. Various topics that are covered in these proverbs are about kings and leadership, and how one should conduct himself before the king. There are a lot on the repercussions of our words. There are two categories in the proverbs, those of the foolish and the wise, and how their behaviors are very different. There are also proverbs on the sluggard, the busybody, and the malicious person. There are some about keeping our affairs in order, the importance of justice, law and wise leadership. As C. Hassell Bullock said, "At the very heart of wisdom literature is the motive to hold up before youth these two models for life and to show how the advantages of the righteous life FAR outweigh those of the wicked." Proverbs are not "Thus says the Lord," but they are words from  people to people. They are not necessarily promises from God, but time tested truths which when we ponder, and allow the Lord to apply them to our lives will make us wise and righteous.

King Hezekiah did right in the eyes of the Lord, just as King David had done. He tore down the high places, the sacred stones and Asherah poles which were for other gods, he followed the word of the Lord, and he stopped his allegiance to Assyria. Assyria had demolished the ten northern tribes of Israel and exported all the Jews to other lands and brought people from other nations to inhabit Samaria and Israel.  Sennacherib is now king of Assyria, and he attacked all of Judah's fortified cities, and now Jerusalem is next. King Hezekiah sent word that he had done wrong, and asked to be left alone for a price, which was 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. Hezekiah took all that was from the temple and the palace, he even stripped the gold from the temple doors and posts in an attempt to appease, but it was not enough. Assyria came. Round one he sent three messengers and an army, who told them to surrender because even their king and their god could not defend them, but the Lord fought for them. Hezekiah went before the Lord and inquired of Isaiah the prophet, who told them not to be afraid. That group of Assyrians left, and then a second group came. This time, the king of Assyria sent a letter, and King Hezekiah laid it down before the Lord in the temple. The word of the Lord came to the king through Isaiah, and said to not be afraid. Since they had defied the name of the Lord Almighty, 19:34 says, "I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant." That night an angel of the Lord came and killed 185,000 men from the Assyrian camp, and the next morning they broke camp and headed home to Nineveh. One day, while the king was worshipping his god in his temple, two of his sons came and killed him, and his other son succeeded him as king. 

In chapters 13-23, there are prophecies against the nations which include: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Syria and Israel, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ethiopia and Egypt, Babylon, Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem, Shebna, and Tyre. Here we see that the Lord had His hand over all the nations, and yes, these nations are used to bring judgment on Israel and Judah because of their sin, but these nations will also bring judgment upon themselves. Judgment comes upon Judah and Israel because they placed their hope in these other nations instead of on God, the Holy One of Israel. There will be devastation upon the earth (chapter 24), yet in that there is hope that the remnant will once again come to Mount Zion, and they will rejoice. That leads to chapters 25 & 26 which are songs of praise, and then chapter 27 tells us that Israel will be delivered. Chapters 28-31, there are "woes" declared on those who do not seek the Lord. Chapter 32 gives us a picture of what the kingdom of the Lord will look like, and it is characterized by justice, righteousness, and peace. Chapter 33 talks of "Woe to you, O destroyer," and it is probably referencing Assyria, who will be destroyed, and we know that will be by Babylon. Chapter 34 are more judgments against nations, but for the redeemed, those who seek the Lord, there is joy. Chapters 36-37 tell the story of Assyria approaching Judah. They declare that even the God of Judah can not save them from Assyria. King Hezekiah prays before the Lord, and sends word to Isaiah, but the Lord sends word that they will not attack. The commander got word of an attack, so they left Judah and went elsewhere. Then the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, approached Judah, sent a note that their God could not save them, and the Lord sent word that again, Assyria will not attack. The angel of the Lord came in the night and killed 185,000 soldiers. That next morning, they retreated and went home to Nineveh, and chapter 37 ended with Sennacherib was killed while worshiping his god, and his son succeeded him as king.

In chapter 17 of 2 Kings, we have the destruction of the 10 northern tribes of Israel in 722 BC. Israel's king was Hoshea, and he decided to stop sending his yearly tribute money to the new king of Assyria, Shalmaneser, and instead decided to join forces with Egypt. To this act, Shalmaneser came and took Hoshea and placed him in prison, and then laid siege to Samaria, the capital. It took about three years, but Assyria captured it, and exiled the Israelites to various places in Assyria, then the king brought people into Assyria from other countries and religions to inhabit their land. Verses 7-23, the writer makes it clear that Israel was in this mess because they disobeyed the Lord and served other gods, like their very first king, Jeroboam. The new people in the land were attacked by lions which the Lord brought upon them, and they cried out to Shalmaneser, for wisdom as to how to worship the God of this land, so he sent some priests who were in exile, and they came and lived in Bethel, nevertheless, the people worshiped the Lord AND their gods. Plus they called anyone they wanted to be priests instead of following the ways of the Lord. The last verse says, "Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did."