Zephaniah

The book begins and ends with the same phrase, repeated 6 times: “I will…”

In the beginning, the Lord is promising “I will…” in regards to destruction. In the end, the Lord is promising “I will…” in regards to restoration.

In 1:12, the Lord punishes complacency. That’s one reason I’m so fearful of growing complacent. See also Matthew 25 and the parable of the unfaithful steward.

In 1:15-16 we see the day of the Lord again (as in Joel). Again, it is not a pretty day. No sunshine and roses.

In 2:11, it is worth noting that everyone from every nation bows down to Him. So does every god. Perhaps it would be good to do before you see His mighty destruction as 2:1-3 suggests.

A good verse to memorize would be 3:17. It’s comforting really.

Note: I remember reading this book back in Bible college about 6 years ago, and I remember circling all those “I will”s at the beginning and end. I also remember memorizing 3:17. I’m glad the Holy Spirit aids our memory.

 

Joel

Joel means “the Lord is God.” Pethuel means “open heartedness toward God.” Interesting because much of the book revolves around these two ideas. The Lord shows He is God over all things. These demonstrations of His power create open heartedness toward God in some people and resentment in others.

Chapter 1 starts with a listen-up; something big is happening here. Sheer destruction and desolation are on the agenda. “What action can we take?” the people ask. “Fast,” says the prophet, as in don’t eat food and pray.

Chapter 2 begins with an alarm sounding because the day of the Lord is coming. This day is not pretty. Yet, the Lord gives a chance for repentance. “Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Rend your hearts and not your garment.” Note that a blessing follows repentance. It’s wise to follow the Lord’s call to repentance.

Chapter 3 tells of the nations gathering against the Lord and His people in the valley of decision. The Lord shows Himself victorious and reaffirms that Israel’s people are His people.

Special note: “The day of the Lord” is mentioned 19x in Scripture; 5 of those are here in Joel.

 

Work & The Mind

This week is a big week at work. Four days worth of meetings. Middle-aged men from around the world discussing big problems. Men who make big decisions and big money.

The purpose of the meetings: to reduce flash in tires.

Funny, eh? I thought so too. But then you consider that every vehicle around the world has four tires, and all four tires need to be in good, working condition, otherwise someone is going to be stranded or hurt in a crash.

Oddly, I have to sit in these meetings. I’m not a middle-aged man, and I’m not making big decisions or big money. As for the meetings though, parts of it are enjoyable; parts of it are not. What I enjoy most is when the day ends, and I can resume life in my mind. What I mean is that my mind is working while I’m in the meetings–working on understanding thick accents, working on finding solutions to problems, working on figuring out why it takes so many men so long to get down to the root of the problem–allocation of money.

But when I leave work for the day, I have the opportunity to turn my mind to more important things–things like the Bible, writing, reading, and relationships with family and with friends.

These things are the things that matter. Really matter.

Of course, work matters too. Whether I give it my all or not is very important, both to God and to man. But these other things are what make me tick. They keep me going, keep my soul and spirit alive. Flash in tires? Not so much.

Habakkuk

I’ve always loved this book. It’s probably my favorite prophetic book.

Habakkuk starts off with a complaint, directed right at the Lord Himself. Some people think you have to watch your words around the Lord, that if you say something wrong you’ll offend Him. And maybe in some small way, these people are right. But, I’m persuaded that the Lord would rather you be honest with Him. Tell Him what’s chapping you, tell Him why you’re angry, frustrated, tired, doubtful, etc. The Psalmist does. Habakkuk does. God is big enough. He can handle you. The only caution I would give is that you don’t want to be dishonoring or full of pride–or else the Lord will swiftly deal with you.

Habakkuk’s complaint is about the injustices he sees, the violence that’s before him, the wickedness that seems to be prevailing. (Things aren’t much different in our country today if you just read the headlines.) But rather than the Lord smiting him dead, He answers him. The Lord says something to the effect of, “Habakkuk, listen up. I’m going to do the unbelievable. I’m going to raise up an even more wicked nation against your nation. I’m going to let these Babylonians wipe you out, and these Babylonians will be more confident in their own strength than ever before.”

To which Habakkuk replies, “Are You sure about that? I thought You were a just God who punishes wickedness. And You’re just going to let it reign and grow worse?!” Habakkuk resolves to keep an eye on this one.

To which God replies, “Write it down! I’m going to do it. And I want everyone to know about it. And just you watch Habakkuk. I’m going to judge the Babylonians shortly after I judge you in Judah. I will deal with ALL of this wickedness. Now everyone be quiet.”

And what do you know? History plays out exactly like the Lord said it would.

So Habakkuk and all the rest of us drop onto our knees, with our face to the ground, and worship Him, for He is powerful…and He is good…and He accomplishes all His plans…and He is our Savior and Strength.

Haggai – v1

This little book boils down to one thing: the rebuilding of the temple after Babylonian captivity.

The Lord really comes down on the people thru Haggai, His prophet, because they have been rebuilding their own homes, while neglecting His. He asks them to consider why all these bad things are happening to them, why their harvest is low, why they aren’t satisfied with their food and drink, etc.

It’s like He’s saying, “Hey…yo…are you paying any attention? Can’t you figure out there’s a cause and effect relationship here?”

So, the Lord stirs up the leaders and the people to get to work. He promises He will be with them. And work on the temple continues, as we know from Ezra and Nehemiah. The people listen to the prophet’s message and act. This is good, because often times in biblical history, the Israelites do not listen to their prophets.

But before we get on our high horse and start criticizing them, let us look at our own hearts and our own nation and see if there’s a cause and effect relationship.

Sidenote: On two occasions, the Lord tells them He will shake the heavens and the earth. Why? I don’t know. I guess just to warn everybody.

Titus

Sidenote: I have a brother-in-law named Titus. Every time I read this book I pray for him. It’s good practice.

The Apostle Paul mentions Titus 9x in the book of 2 Corinthians. That gives you an idea of how much Paul liked this guy and how much work they did together.

In this letter to Titus, Paul reminds him that his testimony and the church’s testimony would be their best witness in the land of liars, evil beasts, and lazy gluttons. Also helping their witness would be their response to those in government and authority. If Paul was writing to a pastor in America, I think he would say the exact same things. Ironically, these two areas seem to be where Christians in America fall the most. They either get caught up in sin, looking just like the world, or they criticize the government and show disrespect toward leaders.

May God give us more men like those in 1:6-9. I sure hope for more 2:7 pastors too.

Throughout the letter we see key words and phrases like, “self-control” and “devote yourselves to good works.” Surely these things were repeated for a reason. Paul knew how necessary self-control and good works were for the Gospel to thrive in a place like Crete. Again, same for us.

Overall, the letter is short and sweet, but full of good nuggets. Sermons could be crafted from anywhere, just like the ESV Study Bible gives one on effective evangelism from Titus 3:1-11. Someday, I hope I too can craft a sermon from this letter.

Obadiah

There are only a handful of one chapter books in the Bible. Obadiah is one of them.

When the book is so short, it’s tough to find much to write about. So, I’ll provide a summary and thoughts on one specific idea.

In a nutshell, Obadiah’s prophecy is about curses and blessings.

  • Curses on Edom via God’s judgment.
  • Curses on the nations at large via God’s judgment.
  • Blessings on Israel via God’s restoration.

Why is Edom judged? Two reasons: 1) For not helping their brother out, aka standing aloof. 2) For pride.

Its easy to point the finger at the nation of Edom and say, “Man, you guys suck.”

But it is much harder to ask the person in the mirror, “How many times have you seen someone in need and not taken action to help? How often have you been in too much of a hurry, or justified not stopping to help someone in need?”

And what if you ask yourself the pride question, “How many times have I looked down on someone else for any number of reasons? How many times have I thought I was a bigger deal than I actually am? How many times have I thought of myself first, at the expense of others?”

It’s painful. Trust me, I get it. Self-reflection is tough.

But don’t let it end there. Don’t stop at beating up yourself (or Edom).

The book ends with a vision of the end, saying “The Kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” Now that’s good stuff. I look forward to that day. He’ll set things right.

Interesting random side-note: The first nine verses of Obadiah can be found in Jeremiah 49:7-22.

**Originally published in April 2013. Updated in November 2021.**