Prophecy – Page 3 – Michelle Lesley

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Nahum 1

An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

²The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
    the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
    and keeps wrath for his enemies.
³The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,
    and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.
His way is in whirlwind and storm,
    and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
⁴He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
    he dries up all the rivers;
Bashan and Carmel wither;
    the bloom of Lebanon withers.
⁵The mountains quake before him;
    the hills melt;
the earth heaves before him,
    the world and all who dwell in it.

⁶Who can stand before his indignation?
    Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
    and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
⁷The Lord is good,
    a stronghold in the day of trouble;
he knows those who take refuge in him.
⁸    But with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,
    and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
⁹What do you plot against the Lord?
    He will make a complete end;
    trouble will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰For they are like entangled thorns,
    like drunkards as they drink;
    they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
¹¹From you came one
    who plotted evil against the Lord,
    a worthless counselor.

¹²Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
    they will be cut down and pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,
    I will afflict you no more.
¹³And now I will break his yoke from off you
    and will burst your bonds apart.”

¹⁴The Lord has given commandment about you:
“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from the house of your gods I will cut off
the carved image and the metal image.
I will make your grave, for you are vile.”

¹⁵Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him
    who brings good news,
    who publishes peace!
Keep your feasts, O Judah;
    fulfill your vows,
for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
    he is utterly cut off.

Questions to Consider:

1. Which genre of biblical literature (epistle, wisdom, prophecy, historical narrative, etc.) is the book of Nahum? The theme of Nahum is God’s judgment against which people? (1) Which book of the Bible would you read to find out more about God’s dealings with Nineveh?

2. Why was God going to execute judgment on Nineveh? (8,11,14) How and why would God’s judgment of Nineveh have been a comfort to Judah? (12-13,15)

3. Verses 1-3a and 6 highlight which attribute of God’s nature? Verses 3b-5 showcase His power over what? What emotion and response are these verses designed to evoke from the enemies of God? From God’s people, Judah? How can it be a comfort to Christians to know that God will one day judge His enemies?

4. What does verse 7 say about the nature and character of God? Does this contradict the previous six verses showcasing His wrath and power? Why not? How can God be simultaneously good and wrathful? Would it be right to say that God’s wrath against sin demonstrates His goodness?

5. Compare verse 3 to Jonah 3 and 2 Peter 3:9. What do all of these passages teach us about God’s patience towards sinners and His desire for them to repent? Is God’s patience ever an excuse to put off salvation or obedience to Him?

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Micah 7

April 20, 2016April 5, 2019 Michelle Lesley

Micah 7Woe is me! For I have become

    as when the summer fruit has been gathered,

    as when the grapes have been gleaned:

there is no cluster to eat,

    no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.

2 The godly has perished from the earth,

    and there is no one upright among mankind;

they all lie in wait for blood,

    and each hunts the other with a net.

3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;

    the prince and the judge ask for a bribe,

and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;

    thus they weave it together.

4 The best of them is like a brier,

    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;

    now their confusion is at hand.

5 Put no trust in a neighbor;

    have no confidence in a friend;

guard the doors of your mouth

    from her who lies in your arms;

6 for the son treats the father with contempt,

    the daughter rises up against her mother,

the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

    a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;

    I will wait for the God of my salvation;

    my God will hear me.

⁸Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
    when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
⁹I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
¹⁰Then my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    like the mire of the streets.

¹¹A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
¹²In that day they will come to you,
    from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
    from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
¹³But the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴Shepherd your people with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
    in the midst of a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
    as in the days of old.
¹⁵As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
    I will show them marvelous things.
¹⁶The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
    their ears shall be deaf;
¹⁷they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth;
they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
    they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
    and they shall be in fear of you.

¹⁸Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
¹⁹He will again have compassion on us;
    he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
    into the depths of the sea.
²⁰You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

Questions to Consider:

1. Who wrote the book of Micah? (1:1) What is the purpose or theme of the book? Which literary genre (historical narrative, wisdom, epistle, prophecy, etc.) is the book of Micah?

2. In verses 1-6, as Micah recounts the woes of his society, how would you characterize his outlook (hope, anger, joy, zeal, etc.)? What are some of the specific problems Micah lists in this section? What are some specific problems you see in the church and/or society that might leave you with feelings of hopelessness and despair?

3. How does verse 7 serve as a pivot point in this chapter? To whom does Micah turn as the solution? (7-8) List the attributes of God and actions He will take that are discussed in verses 7-9. Take a moment to pray about the problems you listed in #2, thanking God that He is the solution, hope, and salvation in each of them.

4. What are some names, places, and incidents in this chapter that remind us that it was written to and for a specific people (Judah) about their unique situation? Examine verses 11-17, 20. Knowing that these specific details were for Judah, what are some general biblical principles we can glean from this passage that apply to Christians today? Can you think of New Testament verses that support these principles?

5. What do verses 7-9 and 18-19 teach us about sin, repentance, God’s mercy, forgiveness and salvation? How do they point ahead to Christ as our ultimate forgiveness and salvation?

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Jonah 3

April 13, 2016June 23, 2021 Michelle Lesley

For further study on the book of Jonah, try my study, Jonah.

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Jonah 3

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ²“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” ³So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. ⁴Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

⁶The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, ⁸but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. ⁹Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”

¹⁰When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Questions to Consider:

1. Jonah is officially considered a book of prophecy, but what other category of biblical literature (apocalyptic, epistle, wisdom, historical narrative, etc.) does it seem to fit into? What is the theme or purpose of the book of Jonah? Who are the main characters?

2. Verse 1 says this was the second time the word of the Lord came to Jonah. What was His word the first time, and what happened? How was Jonah’s response to God different this time? (3)

3. What was Jonah’s message to Ninevah? (4) Who were first to hear and respond to Jonah’s message, the people or the king? (5-6) Who initiated the fasting, sackcloth, and repentance? (5-6) Whom does verse 5 say the people believed?

4. What does verse 9 seem to indicate was the king’s primary motive for repentance, at least initially- avoiding the consequences of sin, or sorrow that he and his people had grieved God? Compare the king’s words with these passages. Explain the Bible’s emphasis on repentance from the heart.

5. In what ways does Jonah prefigure Christ? How was Jonah’s ministry in this passage similar to Jesus’ ministry? Compare the people they preached to and the message they preached. How does the mercy God showed the Ninevites (10) point ahead to His mercy toward us, through the cross, when we repent and place our faith in Christ?

Jonah is a fantastic little book. If you’d like to check out my 12 lesson, on line study of Jonah, click here.

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Obadiah

March 30, 2016March 29, 2016 Michelle Lesley

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Obadiah

The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
    and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
²Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
    you shall be utterly despised.
³The pride of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rock,
    in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
    “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
⁴Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
    though your nest is set among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.

⁵If thieves came to you,
    if plunderers came by night—
    how you have been destroyed!—
    would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
⁶How Esau has been pillaged,
    his treasures sought out!
⁷All your allies have driven you to your border;
    those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
    those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you—
    you have no understanding.

⁸Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
    destroy the wise men out of Edom,
    and understanding out of Mount Esau?
⁹And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
    so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

¹⁰Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
    shame shall cover you,
    and you shall be cut off forever.
¹¹On the day that you stood aloof,
    on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
    and cast lots for Jerusalem,
    you were like one of them.
¹²But do not gloat over the day of your brother
    in the day of his misfortune;
do not rejoice over the people of Judah
    in the day of their ruin;
do not boast
    in the day of distress.
¹³Do not enter the gate of my people
    in the day of their calamity;
do not gloat over his disaster
    in the day of his calamity;
do not loot his wealth
    in the day of his calamity.
¹⁴Do not stand at the crossroads
    to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
    in the day of distress.

¹⁵For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
    your deeds shall return on your own head.
¹⁶For as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
    so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
    and shall be as though they had never been.
¹⁷But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
    and it shall be holy,
and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
¹⁸The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
    and the house of Joseph a flame,
    and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
    and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.

¹⁹Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
    and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria,
    and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
²⁰The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
    shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
    shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
²¹Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
    to rule Mount Esau,
    and the kingdom shall be the Lord‘s.

Questions to Consider:

1. What is the theme or purpose of the book of Obadiah? What is the historical backdrop of this book? Why is it important to understand Scripture in light of its historical and cultural setting?

2. Which nation is God speaking directly to in this book? (Who is “you” in verses 1-4?) But which nation would have been the one to receive this book of prophecy? (20) Where do the terms “Jacob” (10, 18) and “Edom/Esau” (1, 6, 18) come from originally, and why are these men’s names used to refer to two nations in this passage? “Jacob” refers to which nation? “Edom/Esau” refers to which nation?

3. Why is God bringing judgment upon Edom? (15, 10) What can we learn from this passage about God’s judgment upon the enemies of His people both in this immediate situation with Israel, and in the future final day of judgment? How does the message of Obadiah work hand in hand with the message of these passages?

4. The theme of most of the Old Testament prophetic books is a warning to God’s people, Israel, to repent of their sin before God judges them. In Obadiah, we see God’s promise of judgment for the sin of a pagan nation. What does this teach us about God’s view of sin and repentance? How do Obadiah, God’s judgment on Israel, and Romans 2:1-11 show that God is “no respecter of persons” when it comes to judging sin?

5. How does knowing that God is a righteous and just judge impact your prayer life, your worship, your sense of urgency in sharing the gospel, and your desire to take vengeance on others?

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Amos 7

March 23, 2016April 5, 2019 Michelle Lesley

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Amos 7

This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. ²When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!
    How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
³The Lord relented concerning this:
    “It shall not be,” said the Lord.

⁴This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!
    How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
⁶The Lord relented concerning this:
    “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

⁷This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel;
    I will never again pass by them;
⁹the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
    and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For thus Amos has said,

“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”

¹²And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, ¹³but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

¹⁴Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. ¹⁵But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

¹⁷Therefore thus says the Lord:

“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
    and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
    and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

Questions to Consider:

1. Which genre of biblical literature (epistle, gospel, history, prophecy, etc.) is the book of Amos? To whom was the book written? (16) What was the purpose or theme of the book of Amos? Why is this book relevant to us as Christians today?

2. In verses 1-2 and 4, what actions did God show Amos He would potentially take against Israel (“Jacob”)? What was the reason for these actions? Which attribute(s) of God’s nature do these verses showcase?

3. Why did God relent from these actions? (2-3, 5-6) Which attribute(s) of God’s nature is showcased in these verses? What do these verses teach us about prayer and God’s response to it? Does God always prevent trials in answer to prayer? What was the plumb line God measured Israel against? (7-8) What was His judgment? (8-9)

4. Who were Amaziah and Jeroboam? (10) Why would Amaziah, a priest, oppose Amos, a prophet of God? (10, 12-13, 16) Shouldn’t they have been on the same side? How do verses 10-17 compare with Isaiah 30:8-14? Why did Israel – even the priests and other religious leaders – refuse to listen to the prophets and repent?

5. The main message Amos and other Old Testament prophets preached was for God’s people to repent of their sin and turn back to Him before God judged them. Today, there are many so-called prophets in the visible church. How would you characterize their main message? Can you think of any who preach repentance and the gospel? Did Amos meet God’s requirements for a true prophet? Do today’s “prophets”?