The Bible Book by Book, Josiah Blake Tidwell [best beach reads of all time .TXT] 📗
- Author: Josiah Blake Tidwell
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3. God's love restores Israel as Hosea does his wife, Ch. 3.
II. The Prophetic Discourses, Chs. 4-14.
1. Israel's sin, Chs. 4-8.
2. Israel's coming punishment, Chs. 9-11.
3. Israel's repentance and restoration, Chs. 12-14.
For Study and Discussion. (1) Make a list of all the exhortations to penitence and reformation and study them. (2) Point out the different utterances of judgment upon the people. (3) Make a list of all the different sins condemned. (4) Make a list of the expressions of tender love for the wayward and backsliding one. (5) Make a list of all passages indicating grief and suffering because of the sin and danger of the one loved. (6) Political and religious apostacy. (7) Sin as infidelity to love-as spiritual adultery. (8) The invitations of the book.
Joel.
The Prophet. His name means "Jehovah is God," but his birth-place and conditions of life are unknown. He very probably prophesied in Judah (2:15-17) and the time of his ministry is commonly thought to have been during the reign of Joash, king of Israel, and Amaziah, king of Judah. It seems certain his is one of the earliest (some think the very earliest) of the prophetic books, and his references to the temple and its services have caused some to conclude he was a priest.
The Prophecy. (1) The occasion of the prophecy was four successive plagues of insects, particularly the locusts (2:25) and a drouth (2:23) which had been unprecedented. These calamities the prophet declares are the results of their sins and should call them to repentance, that God may bless instead of curse their land. (2) The people repent and the calamity is removed. This is used by the prophet to foreshadow the coming destruction and restoration of Israel and this restoration is also doubtless used to prefigure Christian church and its triumph on earth. (3) The great subject is the terrible judgments of God which were to come upon the people because of their sins. (4) His great distinctive prophecy is 2;28-32 which was fulfilled on the day of pentecost, Acts 2:16-21. (B) In it all, he is emphasizing the rewards of the righteous and certain punishment of the wicked and thus he appealed to both the hopes and the fears of men. But the relief value of the book is its optimism. There was victory ahead, the righteous would finally triumph and be saved and God's enemies will be destroyed. The conflict of good and evil and of Israel and her enemies will end in entire and glorious triumph for Israel and right.
Analysis.
I. The Call to Repentance, Chs. 1:1-2:17.
1. By the past scourge of locusts and drought, Ch. 1.
2. By the scourge to come, 2:1-17.
II. Israel's Repentance and Jehovah's Promised Blessing, 2:18-3:21.
1. Material blessing, 2:18-27.
2. In the world Judgment, Ch. 3.
For Study and Discussion. (1) Point out the different statements about the drouth and locusts that indicate their severity and ruinous effects. (2) Collect the passages referring to the Messianic age and try to see how or what each foretells of that age. (3) Point out all references to the sins of Israel. (4) Collect evidences of the divine control of the universe as seen in the book.
Amos and Obadiah.
Amos.
The Prophet. His name means "Burden," and he is called the prophet of righteousness. His home was at Tokea, a small town of Judea about twelve miles south of Jerusalem, where he acted as herdsman and as dresser of sycamore trees. He was very humble, not being of the prophetic line, nor educated in the schools of the prophets for the prophetic office. God called him to go out from Judah, his native country, as a prophet to Israel, the Northern Kingdom. In obedience to this call he went to Bethel, where the sanctuary was, and delivered his bold prophecy. His bold preaching against the land Of Israel while at Bethel aroused Amaziah the leading idolatrous priest, who complained of him to the king. He was expelled from the kingdom, after he had denounced Amaziah who had perhaps accused him of preaching as a trade, 7:10-14, but we know nothing more of him except what is in this book, which he perhaps wrote after he returned from Tekoa.
The Time of the Prophecy. It was during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah and of Jereboam II, king of Israel, and was outwardly a very prosperous time in Northern Israel. But social evils were everywhere manifest, especially the sins that grow out of a separation between the rich and poor, 2:6-8, etc. Religion was of a low and formal kind, very much of the heathen worship having been adopted.
The Significance of the Prophecy. One need but read the book of Amos to see that he expects doom to come upon foreign nations, that he foretells the wickedness of the Jews and their coming doom, showing how the nation is to be dissolved and sold into captivity and that he predicts the glory and greatness of the Messianic kingdom. He thinks of Jehovah as the one true God, an a11 wise, all-powerful, omnipresent, merciful and righteous person whose favor can only be secured by a life of righteousness. He sees that justice between men is the foundation of society, that men are responsible for their acts, that punishment will follow failure to measure up to our responsibility, that worship is an insult to God, unless the worshiper tries to conform to divine demands.
I. The Condemnation of the Nations. Chs. 1-2.
1. Introduction, 1:1-2.
2. Israel's neighbors shall be punished for their sins. 1:3-2:5.
3. Israel's sins shall he punished, 2:6-16.
II. The Condemnation of Israel, Chs. 3-6.
1. For civil iniquities, Ch. 3.
2. For oppression of the poor and for idolatry, Ch. 4.
3. Repeated announcements of judgment with appeals to return and do good, Chs. 5-6.
III. Five Visions Concerning Israel, Chs. 7:1-9:10.
1. The locusts, 7:1-3.
2. The fire, 7:4-6.
3. The plumb line (a testing), 7:7-9, a historical interlude (the conflict with Amaziah), 7:10-17.
4. A basket of summer fruit (iniquity ripe for punishment), Ch. 8.
5. The destruction of the altar (No more services), 9:1-10.
IV. Promised Restoration and Messianic Kingdom, 9;11-15.
For Study mid Discussion, (1) Gather from the book a list of illustrations, sayings, etc., that are taken from the rustic or agricultural usages. (2) Make a list of the different nations against which he prophesies and point out the sin of each and the nature of the punishment threatened. (3) Make a list of the different illustrations used to show the greatness and power of God. (4) The sin of wrong inter-relation of nations. (5) The responsibility of national enlightenment. (6) Repentance as seen in this book. (7) The book's evidence of the luxury of the time.
Obadiah.
The Prophet. His name means "servant of the Lord," but we know nothing of him except what we can gather from his prophecy.
The Time. It was doubtless written after the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar, 587 B. C. and before the destruction of Edom, five years later, which would make the date about 585 B. C. This would make him a contemporary of Jeremiah.
The Occasion of the prophecy is the cruelty of the Edomites in rejoicing over the fall of Judah.
The Jews. It is said to be a favorite book with the Jews because of the vengeance which it pronounces upon Edom, their brother. Its chief importance lies in its predictions of doom upon Edom the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob and the type of the unchangeable hostility of the flesh to that which is born of the spirit.
The Teachings. (1) Jehovah is especially interested in Israel. (2) He will establish a new kingdom, with Judea and Jerusalem as the center and with holiness as the chief characteristic.
Analysis.
I. Edom's punishment, 1-9.
1. She must fall, 1-4.
2. Her allies will desert her, 5-7.
3. Her wisdom will fail her, 8-9.
II. Edom's sin, 10-14
III. Guilt of the nations, 15-16.
IV. Judah shall be restored,
For Study and Discussion. (1) The sin of pride. (2) The sin of rejoicing in another's misfortune. (3) Punishment according to our sin and of the same kind as was our sin.
Jonah and Micah..
Jonah.
The Prophet. His name means "done," and he is the son of Amittai. His home was Gath-hepher, a village of Zebulun, and he, therefore, belonged to the ten tribes and not to Judah. He is first mentioned in 2 Kings 14:28, where he prophesied the success of Jeroboam II, in his war with Syria, by which he would restore the territory that other nations had wrested from Israel. He very likely prophesied at an early date, though all attempts to determine the time of his prophecy or the time and place of his death have failed.
The Prophecy. It differs from all the other prophecies in that it is a narrative and more "the history of a prophecy than prophecy itself". All the others are taken up chiefly with prophetic utterances, while this book records the experiences and work of Jonah, but tells us little of his utterances. The story of Jonah has been compared to those of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17-19, and 2 Kings 4-6).
Although full of the miraculous element, the evident purpose is to teach great moral and spiritual lessons, and it is unfortunate that its supernatural element has made this book the subject of infidel attack. But the facts, though extraordinary, are in no way contradictory or inconsistent. Indeed, Mr. Driver has well said that "no doubt the outlines of the narrative are historical." Christ spoke of Jonah and accredited it by likening his own death for three days to Jonah's three days in the fish's belly.
It is the most "Christian" of all the Old Testament books, its central truth being the universality of the divine plan of redemption. Nowhere else in the Old Testament is such stress laid upon the love of God as embracing in its scope the whole human race.
Analysis.
I. Jonah's First Call and Flight from Duty, Chs. 1-2.
1. The call, flight and punishment, 1:1-16.
2. The repentance and rescue, 1:17-2:10 (end).
II. Jonah's Second Call and Preaching at Nineveh, Ch. 3.
1. His second call. 1-2.
2. His preaching against Nineveh. 2-4.
3. Nineveh repents, 5-9.
4. Nineveh is spared, 10.
III. Jonah's Anger and God's Mercy, Ch. 4.
1. Jonah's anger, 1-4.
2. The lessons of the gourd. 5-11.
For Study and Discussion. (1) The different elements of character noticeable in Jonah. (2) The dangers of disobedience, to self and to others. (3) The possibilities of influence for the man commissioned of God. Jonah's influence on the sailors and on Nineveh. (4) God's care for heathen nations (4-11), and its bearing upon the Foreign Mission enterprise. (5) The nature of true repentance and God's forgiveness. (6) The prophet, or preacher-his call, his message and place of service.
Micah.
The Prophet. His name means "who is the Lord?" and he was Moresheth. a small town of Gath. He was a younger contemporary of Isaiah and prophesied to both Israel and Judah during the time of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; and of Pekah and Hoshea, the last two kings of Israel. He sympathized deeply with the common people, being moved by the social wrongs of his time (Ch. 2-3), and became the people's advocate and defender as well as their accuser. He clearly sets forth the wickedness of Judah and Israel, their punishment, their restoration and the coming Christ. As compared with Isaiah, he was a simple countryman, born of obscure parentage and recognized as one of the peasant classes, while Isaiah was a city prophet of high social standing and a counselor of kings.
The Great Truths of the Prophecy Are: (1) The destruction of Israel (1:6-7) (2) The desolation of Jerusalem and the temple (3:12 and 7:13). (3) The carrying off of the Jews to Babylon (4:10). (4) The return from captivity with peace and prosperity and with spiritual blessing (4:1-8 and 7:11-17). (5) The ruler in Zion (Messiah) (4:8). (6) Where and when he should
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