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Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.  Israel is doing valiantly.  And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”  - Numbers 24:18-19

Date unknown, probably sometime after the exile.

Though Obadiah is a fairly common name in the genealogies, this Obadiah is probably unknown to us outside of this book.  He has just one recorded oracle, against the kingdom of Edom. 

You’ll remember that Edom was another name for Esau, Jacob’s older brother who traded his birthright and thus forfeited the promises of his grandfather Abraham.  Esau’s descendants settled land south of the Dead Sea, and had maintained a fairly stable kingdom for over a thousand years.  They had refused passage to Israel during the Exodus (which contributed to the above judgment), had paid tribute to David and Solomon, and, as we learned in Amos, had profited from foreign raids on Judah and Israel. 

But the greatest charge brought against Edom, and the one for which they will be ultimately destroyed, is found in verses 10 through 14: “Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you…”  Edom, we know from Ezekiel, had rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem and taken advantage of Babylon’s advance against it.  But whereas Nebuchadnezzar had been promised God’s land and people, Edom had not. 

Also remember that in the midst of God’s judgment upon Israel and Judah the executioners – Assyria and Babylon – were not exempt from condemnation.  If those nations would be judged for their violence against Israel, how much more would it be with Edom? “As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return upon your own head.” 

Many times you’ve seen the prophets conclude with a promise of the future restoration of Israel.  Listen right up to the end today, as Obadiah looks into Edom’s future, and hear what’s in store for Jacob’s older brother.

Our verse for this week is Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

The Prophet Obadiah.  Now let’s read it!

Jeroboam II was the fourth king of the Jehu dynasty, which ruled Israel for over 80 years.  This was an era of unprecedented stability in the Northern Kingdom, and Jeroboam reaped the benefits of stable successions and instability in his neighbors – most notably Assyria.  2 Kings 14 tells us that under Jeroboam Israel’s territory was expanded to it greatest extent since the kingdom split. 

But the author of Kings whittles the longest and most prosperous reign in Israel’s three-century story down to just seven sentences.  The LORD saved Israel through him, he recovered Damascus and Hamath for Judah, and he …did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin.  The prophets who were sent to Jeroboam receive much more airplay than the king himself.

And this prophet’s charge reaches a climax in chapters 5 through 7.  The word “justice” appears four times in general terms: establish it at the gate, let it roll down like waters.  And what does this look like?  Amos is very specific: “…you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine… Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall… who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate..”

There is a transition in chapter 7, folding around a confrontation with one of Jeroboam’s priests.  Given Amos’s heritage in Judah, he would naturally have been viewed with suspicion in Samaria.  His response is faithful and powerful, evident of His respect for the LORD himself, who touches the earth and it melts, who builds His upper chambers in the heavens… who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the surface of the earth.  By His command He will “shake the house of Israel as one shakes a sieve…”

Our verse for this week is Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Amos 5 through 9.  Now let’s read it!

Around 760 B.C.

This book opens with very precise markers for both time and place.  Amos ministers during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam, an almost 40-year span of prosperity for the region, when the northern kingdom of Israel was at the zenith of its influence.  Amos says he lived among the shepherds of Tekoa, a Judahite village south of Jerusalem. 

The first two chapters follow a defined rhythm of condemnation against the nations for their treachery.  Assyria is not mentioned – it is, in fact, in a period of decline – and in this vacuum the smaller nations around Israel have been flexing their muscles.  Notice that the LORD’s condemnation is impartial: Edom is condemned for buying slaves from Philistia and Tyre, and Moab is condemned for its treachery against that same Edom.

The only departure from the formula comes when attention is directed toward Judah and especially Israel.  Listen to the charges that the LORD levies against them, and listen as He grounds those charges against their unique status: “…It was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite… You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

The focus remains on Israel through the following chapters.  Amos transitions with the call, “Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you…,” in chapter 3 addressing the whole nation and in chapter 4 the women of Samaria specifically.   The exact charges are latent – looking back to warnings the LORD has given them, to how He’s chastised them in hope of repentance – and looking forward to the complete indictment that is to come. 

As you read this first half of the book, listen for how the LORD communicates with His people: what has He done, what will He do, and what does He expects.  “For,” He proclaims, “the LORD GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Our verses for this week are Psalm 37:4-5: Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.

Amos 1 through 4.  Now let’s read it!

Unknown date, possibly after the Fall of Samaria, or even of Jerusalem. 

What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten.  What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.   – Joel 1:4

The book of Joel’s prophecies breaks neatly into three parts.  In chapter 1 he acknowledges the devastation of a recent locust plague – described as a nation powerful and beyond number – but keeps a cool distance from it.  Joel’s concern is that his hearers will understand the power behind the locusts: For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

The book pivots in the middle of chapter 2: “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster. Joel plants his call in a logical consideration: Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?  In other words, what does Israel have to lose?  Perhaps the LORD won’t relent; but if He might, doesn’t it make sense to return?

In the final act Joel looks forward – beyond the present plague, to a new beginning for his nation and for the earth.  A day when not only will the LORD restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, and when He will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, and when the LORD brings Judah’s enemies together in the Valley of Decision, but when it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. 

Our verse for this week is Psalm 37:4-5: Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.

Joel 1 through 3.  Now let’s read it!

Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”  One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.  And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.  – 1 Kings 12:26-30

Today the title character and his story drop completely into the background to focus entirely on Israel and its idolatry.  This slide had begun over 200 years before, under the first Jeroboam, and Hosea reiterates the assurance that “Samaria will be held guilty, for she has rebelled against her God…Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me.”

Perhaps you’ve noticed how Hosea jumps around a lot, feeling a bit chaotic.  There are many changes of tense and person – ranging through first, second, and third person, even in consecutive verses.  Moods change rapidly as well, from warning to wrath to compassion.  Remember the LORD’s purpose: that Israel would not look to other gods, or to Assyria, for salvation, but would return to Him.  Hosea seems designed to get their attention.

While the LORD wants Israel to acknowledge its recent history of rebellion, there is a deeper history of the LORD’s goodness that Hosea wants them to remember.  “When Israel was a child,” the LORD says, “ I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son… it was I who taught Israel to walk…”  And should they turn, he promises: “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them.” 

Our verses for this week are Psalm 37:4-5: Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.

Hosea 9 through 14.  Now let’s read it!

Sometime after 750 B.C.

I mentioned yesterday that most of these twelve prophets have a specific issue with which to contend.  I hope you noticed that Hosea’s concern isn’t prostitution but in fact, is idolatry: “…And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD.”  Today the LORD mockingly laments that “My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.” 

Along with the sweeping indictment notice the little details: “Ephraim” as the name for the northern kingdom; the first mention of Adam – except for genealogies – since Genesis; and the distinction between Israel’s fortunes and those of Judah.  Remember in 2 Kings when Israel turned to Assyria for help, but Judah stood alone.  Notice the shape that hope takes: a healed, faithful, united kingdom, under a monarch of the line of David.  And listen as the LORD takes the story back to the beginning: “Now the LORD will remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt.”

This metaphor of adultery has frequently been employed to express the LORD’s determination that Israel be singularly and exclusively faithful to Him: “No other gods before Me…”  Let’s not forget, though, what has been asked of Hosea himself.  At the beginning, he was asked to marry Gomer, a woman who was known to be a prostitute.  Then in chapter 3, it appears that Gomer had left him for another and he was commissioned by the LORD to retrieve her.  Not only would Hosea preach the LORD’s grief over Israel’s adultery, but he would feel the grief of a jealous husband, and bear the cost of redeeming a wife who was unfaithful. 

Our verses for this week are Psalm 37:4-5: Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act.

Hosea 4 through 8.  Now let’s read it!