(The Book of Nahum was the seventh of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Nahum was a prophet about fifty to seventy years after Jonah. This book can be seen as a complement to the Book of Jonah. While Nineveh avoided the judgment Jonah spoke of, the judgment did come about 100 years after Jonah at the hands of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar. Decades before this judgment, Nahum explained that Ninevites would be judged because they had returned to their sinful ways.)
Nahum 1
1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
(The burden (a weighty or mournful prophecy) of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. The name Nahum meant "comfort.")
2 Jehovah is a jealous God and avengeth; Jehovah avengeth and is full of wrath; Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
(God was Just.)
3 Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
(God was longsuffering (merciful) but always remained Just.)
4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel; and the flower of Lebanon languisheth.
5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
(God was powerful. He had complete control over things without a will: inanimate objects (sea, rivers, mountains, etc.), animals, and the weather.)
6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him.
7 Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him.
(God was good (Right and Just), a stronghold (place or means of safety, protection, refuge) during trouble, and He knew those that trusted Him.)
8 But with an over-running flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
9 What do ye devise against Jehovah? he will make a full end; affliction shall not rise up the second time.
(The Ninevites devised against God: they had returned to being in rebellion towards God.)
10 For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.
11 There is one gone forth out of thee, that deviseth evil against Jehovah, that counselleth wickedness.
(From within Nineveh was the source of evil which caused its ruin. In the Book of Jonah, we saw Nineveh avoided judgment by addressing three (and possibly all four) of the causes of judgment:
1) pride,
2) fulness of bread,
3) idleness of time, and
4) not strengthening the hand of the poor.
What were the causes of this judgment?)
12 Thus saith Jehovah: Though they be in full strength, and likewise many, even so shall they be cut down, and he shall pass away. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more.
(Here God was speaking to Judah. God had afflicted Judah but would no more. Judah had been afflicted by Nineveh and Nineveh was about to be judged.)
13 And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.
14 And Jehovah hath given commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image; I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.
15 Behold, upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! Keep thy feasts, O Judah, perform thy vows; for the wicked one shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
(Verse 15 referred to the Millennium.)
Nahum 2
1 He that dasheth in pieces is come up against thee: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
2 For Jehovah restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches.
(God turned away from judging Israel and was at that time turning towards Nineveh.)
3 The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished.
4 The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings.
(There would be war in the streets of Nineveh.)
5 He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared.
6 The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.
7 And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
(The KJV translated verse 7 as "And Huzzab shall be led away captive…" Huzzab was the name of the Queen of Nineveh and she would be led away captive.)
8 But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back.
9 Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture.
10 She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.
(Nineveh was empty, void, and waste: unprofitable.)
11 Where is the den of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions, where the lion and the lioness walked, the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid?
12 The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his dens with ravin.
13 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions; and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
(God was against Nineveh.)
Nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not.
(Nineveh was referred to as a "bloody city.")
2 The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
3 the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies;-
4 because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.
(The cause of Nineveh's ruin: whoredom and witchcraft. Was there anything Nineveh could do to reverse the two causes of this judgment?)
5 Behold, I am against thee, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will uncover thy skirts upon thy face; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
(Again, God was against Nineveh.)
6 And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing-stock.
(God would set Nineveh as a "gazing-stock." She would be in plain sight as an example to other people.)
7 And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
8 Art thou better than No-amon, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea?
9 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers.
10 Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity; her young children also were dashed in pieces at the head of all the streets; and they cast lots for her honorable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.
(Ethiopia and Egypt were Nineveh's strength but that was not enough for Nineveh to escape judgment from God.)
11 Thou also shalt be drunken; thou shalt be hid; thou also shalt seek a stronghold because of the enemy.
12 All thy fortresses shall be like fig-trees with the first-ripe figs: if they be shaken, they fall into the mouth of the eater.
(Fruit of wickedness had no roots just as Nineveh's strongholds were weak and would fall.)
13 Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars.
14 Draw thee water for the siege; strengthen thy fortresses; go into the clay, and tread the mortar; make strong the brickkiln.
15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it shall devour thee like the canker-worm: make thyself many as the canker-worm; make thyself many as the locust.
16 Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the canker-worm ravageth, and fleeth away.
17 Thy princes are as the locusts, and thy marshals as the swarms of grasshoppers, which encamp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.
18 Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; thy nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.
19 There is no assuaging of thy hurt: thy wound is grievous: all that hear the report of thee clap their hands over thee; for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
(Other people would clap with gladness over Nineveh's ruin because Nineveh had been continually wicked to others. Unlike during Jonah's prophecy, this time it was too late for Nineveh, their judgment was imminent. They would not be able to reverse the two causes of this judgment: whoredom and witchcraft.)
(The Book of Nahum was the seventh of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Nahum was a prophet about fifty to seventy years after Jonah. This book can be seen as a complement to the Book of Jonah. While Nineveh avoided the judgment Jonah spoke of, the judgment did come about 100 years after Jonah at the hands of Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar. Decades before this judgment, Nahum explained that Ninevites would be judged because they had returned to their sinful ways.)
Day 274
Day 272: Micah 5-7
(The previous post covered three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. It also covered one chapter focused on the events leading up to the Millennium. The next chapter continued the focus on events leading up to and including the Millennium...)
Micah 5
1 Now shalt thou gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
(Messianic prophecy referenced by the scribes to Herod in Matthew 2:6: "Beth-lehem" would be the birthplace of the Messiah Jesus Christ. John 7:42 also referenced this verse when people were trying to figure out if Jesus was the Messiah during the final six months of His three year public ministry.)
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
(Verse 4 transitioned all the way to Christ delivering Israel from the Antichrist.)
5 And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
(Micah still referred to Christ. The "peace" meant Christ will bring harmony to the people. The "seven shepherds" and "eight principal men" were unknown at this point. This will be fulfilled after the second coming of Christ.)
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our border.
(Verses 7-15: Israel's restoration at the second coming of Christ.)
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy thy chariots:
11 and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and will throw down all thy strongholds.
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
13 and I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands;
14 and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy cities.
(Asherim was another name for "groves": idols/high places.)
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearkened not.
(The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)
Micah 6
1 Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Hear, O ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.
(God had a controversy (dispute) with the people and was asking for them to testify (answer, respond) against Him. God was being contrastive.)
4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.
(God reminded the people of the Exodus and of Balaam that they would know the Righteousness of God.)
6 Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?
7 will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
(God showed that what was good and only required of man was to "do justly, and to love kindness (mercy), and to walk humbly with thy God.")
9 The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable?
11 Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins.
(Verses 14-15: the punishments listed in Leviticus 26.)
14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
(Even with the warnings of forsaking God, the people chose to walk in wickedness.)
Micah 7
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig.
2 The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
(The best of the men was compared to a brier. A brier was a "thorn.")
5 Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
(Trust not in man for he brings destruction and division…)
6 For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth 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 unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
(…but trust in the Lord for He heard and brought salvation.)
8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me.
(God is light and in Him is no darkness at all: 1 John 1:5.)
9 I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
10 Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall see my desire upon her; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
11 A day for building thy walls! in that day shall the decree be far removed.
12 In that day shall they come unto thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
(The land would become desolate because of the people and their wicked works.)
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.
(Eventually, Israel would put their trust back in God during the battle of Armageddon and the Millennial Reign of Christ.)
19 He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
(The Book of Micah was the sixth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Micah was a prophet during the same time as Hosea. Micah was a prophet of Judah, however, the first three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. Chapters 4 and 5 focused on the events leading up to and including the Millennium. The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)
Day 273
Micah 5
1 Now shalt thou gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us; they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.
(Messianic prophecy referenced by the scribes to Herod in Matthew 2:6: "Beth-lehem" would be the birthplace of the Messiah Jesus Christ. John 7:42 also referenced this verse when people were trying to figure out if Jesus was the Messiah during the final six months of His three year public ministry.)
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth: then the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand, and shall feed his flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God: and they shall abide; for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
(Verse 4 transitioned all the way to Christ delivering Israel from the Antichrist.)
5 And this man shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
(Micah still referred to Christ. The "peace" meant Christ will bring harmony to the people. The "seven shepherds" and "eight principal men" were unknown at this point. This will be fulfilled after the second coming of Christ.)
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our border.
(Verses 7-15: Israel's restoration at the second coming of Christ.)
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass, that tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he go through, treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Let thy hand be lifted up above thine adversaries, and let all thine enemies be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy thy chariots:
11 and I will cut off the cities of thy land, and will throw down all thy strongholds.
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
13 and I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands;
14 and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy cities.
(Asherim was another name for "groves": idols/high places.)
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations which hearkened not.
(The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)
Micah 6
1 Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Hear, O ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.
(God had a controversy (dispute) with the people and was asking for them to testify (answer, respond) against Him. God was being contrastive.)
4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.
(God reminded the people of the Exodus and of Balaam that they would know the Righteousness of God.)
6 Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?
7 will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
(God showed that what was good and only required of man was to "do justly, and to love kindness (mercy), and to walk humbly with thy God.")
9 The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable?
11 Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins.
(Verses 14-15: the punishments listed in Leviticus 26.)
14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
(Even with the warnings of forsaking God, the people chose to walk in wickedness.)
Micah 7
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat; my soul desireth the first-ripe fig.
2 The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.
(The best of the men was compared to a brier. A brier was a "thorn.")
5 Trust ye not in a neighbor; put ye not confidence in a friend; keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
(Trust not in man for he brings destruction and division…)
6 For the son dishonoreth the father, the daughter riseth 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 unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
(…but trust in the Lord for He heard and brought salvation.)
8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah will be a light unto me.
(God is light and in Him is no darkness at all: 1 John 1:5.)
9 I will bear the indignation of Jehovah, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
10 Then mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall see my desire upon her; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
11 A day for building thy walls! in that day shall the decree be far removed.
12 In that day shall they come unto thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
(The land would become desolate because of the people and their wicked works.)
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell solitarily, in the forest in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt will I show unto them marvellous things.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth; their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.
(Eventually, Israel would put their trust back in God during the battle of Armageddon and the Millennial Reign of Christ.)
19 He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
(The Book of Micah was the sixth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Micah was a prophet during the same time as Hosea. Micah was a prophet of Judah, however, the first three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. Chapters 4 and 5 focused on the events leading up to and including the Millennium. The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)
Day 273
Day 271: Micah 1-4
(The Book of Micah was the sixth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Micah was a prophet during the same time as Hosea. Micah was a prophet of Judah, however, the first three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. Chapters 4 and 5 focused on the events leading up to and including the Millennium. The final two chapters focused again on Israel's causes for the coming judgment and the eventual blessings during end times.)
Micah 1
1 The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
(This book's prophecy was focused on Samaria and Jerusalem: the capital cities of Israel and Jerusalem respectively.)
2 Hear, ye peoples, all of you: hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
(Messianic prophecy: Jehovah (Christ) will come down from heaven.)
4 And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.
(This Messianic prophecy was concerning the second coming of Christ at the battle of Armageddon and the beginning of the Millennium.)
5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
(Verses 6-7: judgment against Samaria.)
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will uncover the foundations thereof.
7 And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and unto the hire of a harlot shall they return.
(The judgment against Samaria (Israel), in large part, came from the Assyrians.)
8 For this will I lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a lamentation like the ostriches.
(The rest of this chapter was a lamentation for Israel.)
9 For her wounds are incurable; for it is come even unto Judah; it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
(Israel was beyond repair.)
10 Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all: at Beth-le-aphrah have I rolled myself in the dust.
11 Pass away, O inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame: the inhabitant of Zaanan is not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ezel shall take from you the stay thereof.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waiteth anxiously for good, because evil is come down from Jehovah unto the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitant of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing unto the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah, him that shall possess thee: the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam.
16 Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
(Micah was speaking to Judah about Israel. Israel was going to be taken captive, leaving Judah behind. This ought to have caused Judah to focus more on God.)
Micah 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
(Judgment would be against those that oppressed other men.)
3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
(Against this family (Israel), God would devise an evil. Judgment was upon Israel.)
4 In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the line by lot in the assembly of Jehovah.
6 Prophesy ye not, thus they prophesy. They shall not prophesy to these: reproaches shall not depart.
(The people and false prophets had forbidden Micah from prophesying.)
7 Shall it be said, O house of Jacob, Is the Spirit of Jehovah straitened? are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
(The words of the prophets were not threatening to those who walked uprightly.)
8 But of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye strip the robe from off the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children ye take away my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place; because of uncleanness that destroyeth, even with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
(The prophets of "this people" (not of God) would be self proclaimed prophets who prophesied of wine and strong drink: a comfortable message of good times.)
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is gone up before them: they have broken forth and passed on to the gate, and are gone out thereat; and their king is passed on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.
(Israel will be restored. Notice, within four verses, the focus of the prophecy moved from their current circumstances to the Millennium.)
Micah 3
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
(God (through Micah) got the attention of the leaders. These leaders ought to have known Justice...)
2 ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
(...instead, they hated good and loved evil.)
3 who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
(During judgment, the people would cry out to God but He would not hear them. God would hide His Face (presence) from them. This was documented in the Book of Jeremiah. God did tell His people not to pray because he would not hear it: Jeremiah 11:14; 14:10-12. God also said in Jeremiah 15:1 that even if Moses and Samuel were present, they could not turn God's Mind towards His people.)
5 Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him:
6 Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
(The false prophets would have no vision. They would be in darkness. The judgment would be so bad that they would stop trying to "divine," which was "to practice divination.")
7 And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8 But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
(Micah was full of power, judgment, and might from the Holy Spirit.)
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
(Another proclamation from God (through Micah) for the leaders of Israel to listen.)
10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
(Judgment against Jerusalem. See Jeremiah 26:18. We have seen the first three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. The next two chapters focused on the events leading up to and including the Millennium.)
Micah 4
1 But in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it.
(In the last days (Millennium), the mountain of the house of God will be set up and people will flow unto it.)
2 And many nations shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem;
(The word (Christ) will go forth from Jerusalem.)
3 and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(There will be peace in the Millennium.)
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all the peoples walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted;
7 and I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and Jehovah will reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever.
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
(Israel will be restored under Messiah.)
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee, is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail?
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and shalt dwell in the field, and shalt come even unto Babylon: there shalt thou be rescued; there will Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
(Long before the Millennium, Judah would be taken captive by the Babylonians.)
11 And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion.
(The nations against Israel/Judah would be the nations under the authority of the Antichrist.)
12 But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel; for he hath gathered them as the sheaves to the threshing-floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain unto Jehovah, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
(Israel was encouraged to rise up against the Antichrist when Messiah comes back at the battle of Armageddon.)
(This post covered three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. It also covered one chapter focused on the events leading up to the Millennium.)
Day 272
Micah 1
1 The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
(This book's prophecy was focused on Samaria and Jerusalem: the capital cities of Israel and Jerusalem respectively.)
2 Hear, ye peoples, all of you: hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
(Messianic prophecy: Jehovah (Christ) will come down from heaven.)
4 And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.
(This Messianic prophecy was concerning the second coming of Christ at the battle of Armageddon and the beginning of the Millennium.)
5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
(Verses 6-7: judgment against Samaria.)
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will uncover the foundations thereof.
7 And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and unto the hire of a harlot shall they return.
(The judgment against Samaria (Israel), in large part, came from the Assyrians.)
8 For this will I lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a lamentation like the ostriches.
(The rest of this chapter was a lamentation for Israel.)
9 For her wounds are incurable; for it is come even unto Judah; it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
(Israel was beyond repair.)
10 Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all: at Beth-le-aphrah have I rolled myself in the dust.
11 Pass away, O inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame: the inhabitant of Zaanan is not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ezel shall take from you the stay thereof.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waiteth anxiously for good, because evil is come down from Jehovah unto the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitant of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing unto the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah, him that shall possess thee: the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam.
16 Make thee bald, and cut off thy hair for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
(Micah was speaking to Judah about Israel. Israel was going to be taken captive, leaving Judah behind. This ought to have caused Judah to focus more on God.)
Micah 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
(Judgment would be against those that oppressed other men.)
3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
(Against this family (Israel), God would devise an evil. Judgment was upon Israel.)
4 In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields.
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the line by lot in the assembly of Jehovah.
6 Prophesy ye not, thus they prophesy. They shall not prophesy to these: reproaches shall not depart.
(The people and false prophets had forbidden Micah from prophesying.)
7 Shall it be said, O house of Jacob, Is the Spirit of Jehovah straitened? are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
(The words of the prophets were not threatening to those who walked uprightly.)
8 But of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye strip the robe from off the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children ye take away my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place; because of uncleanness that destroyeth, even with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
(The prophets of "this people" (not of God) would be self proclaimed prophets who prophesied of wine and strong drink: a comfortable message of good times.)
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is gone up before them: they have broken forth and passed on to the gate, and are gone out thereat; and their king is passed on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.
(Israel will be restored. Notice, within four verses, the focus of the prophecy moved from their current circumstances to the Millennium.)
Micah 3
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
(God (through Micah) got the attention of the leaders. These leaders ought to have known Justice...)
2 ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
(...instead, they hated good and loved evil.)
3 who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
(During judgment, the people would cry out to God but He would not hear them. God would hide His Face (presence) from them. This was documented in the Book of Jeremiah. God did tell His people not to pray because he would not hear it: Jeremiah 11:14; 14:10-12. God also said in Jeremiah 15:1 that even if Moses and Samuel were present, they could not turn God's Mind towards His people.)
5 Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him:
6 Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
(The false prophets would have no vision. They would be in darkness. The judgment would be so bad that they would stop trying to "divine," which was "to practice divination.")
7 And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8 But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
(Micah was full of power, judgment, and might from the Holy Spirit.)
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
(Another proclamation from God (through Micah) for the leaders of Israel to listen.)
10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
(Judgment against Jerusalem. See Jeremiah 26:18. We have seen the first three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. The next two chapters focused on the events leading up to and including the Millennium.)
Micah 4
1 But in the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it.
(In the last days (Millennium), the mountain of the house of God will be set up and people will flow unto it.)
2 And many nations shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem;
(The word (Christ) will go forth from Jerusalem.)
3 and he will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
(There will be peace in the Millennium.)
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all the peoples walk every one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble that which is lame, and I will gather that which is driven away, and that which I have afflicted;
7 and I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and Jehovah will reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth even for ever.
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
(Israel will be restored under Messiah.)
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee, is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have taken hold of thee as of a woman in travail?
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and shalt dwell in the field, and shalt come even unto Babylon: there shalt thou be rescued; there will Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
(Long before the Millennium, Judah would be taken captive by the Babylonians.)
11 And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye see our desire upon Zion.
(The nations against Israel/Judah would be the nations under the authority of the Antichrist.)
12 But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel; for he hath gathered them as the sheaves to the threshing-floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples: and I will devote their gain unto Jehovah, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
(Israel was encouraged to rise up against the Antichrist when Messiah comes back at the battle of Armageddon.)
(This post covered three chapters focused on Israel's coming captivity. It also covered one chapter focused on the events leading up to the Millennium.)
Day 272
Day 270: The Book of Jonah
(The Book of Jonah was the fifth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Jonah was a prophet that, along with Obadiah, preceded all of the books in the major prophet section of the Old Testament. Jonah's message focused on how and why Assyria averted punishment for over one hundred years. Although this book was relatively short, it contained a lot of critical Doctrine.)
Jonah 1
1 Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
(God told Jonah to go to Nineveh because their wickedness had come up before God. The angels had said the same thing about Sodom ("the cry of them has waxed great before Jehovah...") in Genesis 19:13. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. Notice, God told Jonah to cry against Nineveh. God was giving Nineveh a warning before He would judge them, even though they were a heathen nation.)
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.
(Jonah ran from the presence of Jehovah by taking a ship to Tarshish. Was Jonah afraid of the Ninevites? Did he really think he could run away from God?)
4 But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
(God caused a mighty tempest (storm, whirlwind) in the sea so strong that the ship was likely to be broken. God had complete control over inanimate objects, the weather, and animals. Here, God took control over the weather, and possibly the ship in making sure it did not break.)
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
(Jonah was asleep in the bottom of the ship during the storm. Perhaps Jonah was more comfortable losing his life than speaking against the Ninevites.)
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
(The sailors wanted Jonah to join them in praying to his God to save the men from death.)
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
(The men on ship "cast lots" to find out who caused the tempest. They knew that a person was the cause of this storm. The lot fell on Jonah.)
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
(The sailors did not immediately judge Jonah, they asked Jonah a series of questions. They wanted to know who he was and where he came from.)
9 And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.
(Jonah answered all their questions except "for whose cause this evil is upon us.")
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.
(The men knew Jonah was running from Jehovah and asked why he was running.)
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
(Jonah confessed that he was the cause of the storm and suggested they throw him overboard. Again, Jonah appeared to be more comfortable dying than facing the Ninevites.)
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not: for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
(The men first tried to get to shore in their own power. The storm grew. Since we know the storm was from God, it was possible that God caused the storm to increase.)
14 Wherefore they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for thou, O Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.
(Jonah prayed and the men threw him overboard, and the storm ceased.)
16 Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows.
(The storm stopped after Jonah was thrown out. This built the faith of the men to the point they made vows to Jonah's God.)
17 And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
(God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. God had complete control over animals. This passage did not say "whale." Jonah was there three days and three nights. Jesus referenced this verse when He prophesied of His death and resurrection (Matthew 12:39-41). Notice, Jonah was in the belly of the fish three nights. Actually, contrary to man-made tradition, Jesus was also in the belly of the earth for three nights.)
Jonah 2
1 Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish's belly.
(Jonah prayed while inside the fish. Whatever kind of fish this was, apparently it made enough oxygen for Jonah to be conscious while inside its belly. This verse appeared to state it took Jonah three days and three nights for his heart to soften enough to obey God. Whatever the reason Jonah had for not wanting to speak to the Ninevites, it was a strong enough reason in Jonah's heart that it took three nights in the belly of a fish to soften. Our short term memory only lasts two to three days. Whatever strong emotion we feel in the moment concerning an event will lessen when it gets removed from the short term memory in two to three days.)
2 And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, And thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
4 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
(Jonah confessed to God.)
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head.
(The waters surrounded Jonah "even to the soul.")
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.
(When Jonah's "soul fainted" he remembered God. Jonah had to learn through experience.)
8 They that regard lying vanities Forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.
(Repentance: Jonah stated what he would do.)
10 And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
(Again, God was in complete control of the animals. The fish vomited Jonah onto dry land because God spoke to the fish.)
Jonah 3
1 And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
(For the second time, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach (to call out, proclaim) the preaching that God commanded of him.)
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey.
(Jonah was repentant. Jonah followed God's command.)
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
(Jonah proclaimed that Nineveh would be overthrown in forty days. God had declared judgment upon Nineveh through Jonah. What was the cause of Nineveh's judgment? From this book, all we know was the similarity between Sodom and Nineveh: their wickedness had come up to God (1:2). What was the cause of Sodom's judgment? Ezekiel 16:49 stated four causes:
1) pride,
2) fulness of bread,
3) prosperous ease (idleness of time), and
4) failed to strengthen the arm of the poor.)
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
(The Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and everyone humbled themselves by putting on sackcloth. The Ninevites immediately addressed the first two causes of the judgment on Sodom: pride and fulness of bread by humbling themselves and fasting.)
6 And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
(A fast was proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the king.)
8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
(Notice, this decree from the king told people what to do: pray to God and turn from the violence in their hands. Ceasing from work and praying to God definitely addressed cause #3: prosperous ease (idleness of time). It was a call to repentance to turn from the evil way. Ceasing from the violence that was in their hands could have addressed cause #4: strengthening the hand of the poor. There were at least two other references in the Old Testament that showed dealing with the poor affected judgment:
-In Daniel 4:27, Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar the following ways to delay the judgment that was prophesied in the king's dream: "...break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor..."
-In Amos 8:4, God stated the following about Israel when He was declaring judgment: "Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail."
Also, God had stated to Solomon, in 2 Chronicles 7:14, how to avoid judgment: "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.")
9 Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
(The people did not expect God to turn away from His anger, they hoped He would. Regardless, the Ninevites addressed at least three (and possibly all four) of the causes for Sodom's judgment. How did God respond to this?)
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.
(The Ninevites were repentant and God saw their works and repented of the evil He was going to do to them. It appeared that Nineveh's response to do the opposite of the causes of Sodom's judgment caused God to not follow through on what was prophesied through Jonah. Notice, God stated He would have spared Sodom for ten righteous people. As far as we know only three made it out: Lot and his two daughters. Also, God did not spare the world from the Flood for the sake of eight people: Noah, three sons and all four wives. Clearly, more than ten Ninevites confessed and repented. Would God had spared Nineveh if only ten people had addressed the four causes of judgment?)
Jonah 4
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
(The mercy given to Nineveh made Jonah exceedingly displeased and angry. Why?)
2 And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
(Jonah prayed. He stated that he knew God was merciful, slow to anger, and repented of evil but he still got upset that God actually followed through with these attributes towards Nineveh. Jonah gave the reason why he ran from God: Jonah did not believe the prophecy would come to pass. He did not want to be publicly "wrong.")
3 Therefore now, O Jehovah, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
(Jonah would rather die than continue to live with being publicly wrong. Notice, Jesus called Jonah a prophet in Matthew 12:39. However, what Jonah prophesied did not happen. Another example of this was when Isaiah had prophesied to Hezekiah about his illness ending in death (2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 38), and that did not happen. Jesus also called Isaiah a prophet in Matthew 3:3. In the Bible, a prophet did not just state the effects (what), he also stated the causes (why) so that people could affect the what. Both Jonah and Isaiah stated the causes and the effects, and people altered the results (effects) by addressing the causes.
Truth is a right what with a right why/how. Deception is a right what with a wrong (or no) why/how. Jonah and Isaiah spoke truth even though peoples' responses altered the what that the prophets stated. What this also meant was that even if a person was able to state the right what and it came to pass, it did not mean they were a prophet unless they could also state the right why/how.)
4 And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry?
(God asked Jonah if his anger was doing him any good. Notice, God continued to deal with people through questions...just like He did with Adam, Eve, Cain, etc.)
5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
(Jonah did not respond to God. Instead, Jonah went away from the city...just like he did the first time God told Jonah to speak to the city. Jonah returned to his former thought process. Would God need to have him be "swallowed by another fish"?)
6 And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd.
(Again, God had complete control over inanimate objects...like plants. God prepared a gourd (large plant/bush) to give Jonah shade from the sun. This made Jonah "exceeding glad." In effect, Jonah was "in the belly of this bush"...but this time he was glad.)
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.
(Again, God had complete control over animals. God destroyed the gourd by a worm.)
8 And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
(Again, God had complete control over the weather. Jonah was now in the same frame of mind as he was when he was first in the belly of the fish. If God had complete control over people, He would have directly caused Jonah to confess and repent. Instead, we have seen that God was "All Powerful" over everything that did not have a will: inanimate objects, animals, and the weather. In this one chapter, God used all of these things to reach Jonah.)
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
(God asked Jonah a second question. So far, this entire chapter was a mini-version of the previous three chapters. However, this time, Jonah stated his will that he was in the right. Jonah was not going to confess and repent. Notice, the Book of Job ended with God stating He had complete control over everything that did not have a will before He questioned Job. Job's response was to confess and repent for the two things he had wrongly stated after his suffering began. This chapter actually appeared to be a mini-version of the Book of Job. Would Jonah confess and repent for the thing he wrongly stated after his suffering began?)
10 And Jehovah said, Thou hast had regard for the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 and should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
(This book ended with a question from God. We do not know if Jonah responded like Job or not. God asked Jonah if the gourd was greater than Nineveh. God used the gourd as a symbol to Jonah. It was supposed to help him understand that Jonah was not being merciful, slow to anger, etc. towards Nineveh. What is more important: a plant or 120,000 people? How would Jonah have felt if God treated him like he wanted God to treat Nineveh?)
(The Book of Jonah was the fifth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Jonah was a prophet whose warnings were heeded to the extent his prophecy did not occur. The Ninevites responded to Jonah's prophecy by addressing three (and possibly all four) of the causes of judgment God declared concerning Sodom from Ezekiel 16:49. Over a hundred years after these events, Assyria was judged. Although this was a relatively short book, it contained a lot of critical Doctrine. In addition to confessing and repenting to avoid God's judgment, it also showed how God had complete control over inanimate objects, animals, and the weather to influence man.)
Day 271
Jonah 1
1 Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
(God told Jonah to go to Nineveh because their wickedness had come up before God. The angels had said the same thing about Sodom ("the cry of them has waxed great before Jehovah...") in Genesis 19:13. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. Notice, God told Jonah to cry against Nineveh. God was giving Nineveh a warning before He would judge them, even though they were a heathen nation.)
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.
(Jonah ran from the presence of Jehovah by taking a ship to Tarshish. Was Jonah afraid of the Ninevites? Did he really think he could run away from God?)
4 But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
(God caused a mighty tempest (storm, whirlwind) in the sea so strong that the ship was likely to be broken. God had complete control over inanimate objects, the weather, and animals. Here, God took control over the weather, and possibly the ship in making sure it did not break.)
5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
(Jonah was asleep in the bottom of the ship during the storm. Perhaps Jonah was more comfortable losing his life than speaking against the Ninevites.)
6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
(The sailors wanted Jonah to join them in praying to his God to save the men from death.)
7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.
(The men on ship "cast lots" to find out who caused the tempest. They knew that a person was the cause of this storm. The lot fell on Jonah.)
8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; what is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
(The sailors did not immediately judge Jonah, they asked Jonah a series of questions. They wanted to know who he was and where he came from.)
9 And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land.
(Jonah answered all their questions except "for whose cause this evil is upon us.")
10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, What is this that thou hast done? For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, because he had told them.
(The men knew Jonah was running from Jehovah and asked why he was running.)
11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.
(Jonah confessed that he was the cause of the storm and suggested they throw him overboard. Again, Jonah appeared to be more comfortable dying than facing the Ninevites.)
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to get them back to the land; but they could not: for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.
(The men first tried to get to shore in their own power. The storm grew. Since we know the storm was from God, it was possible that God caused the storm to increase.)
14 Wherefore they cried unto Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood; for thou, O Jehovah, hast done as it pleased thee.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging.
(Jonah prayed and the men threw him overboard, and the storm ceased.)
16 Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice unto Jehovah, and made vows.
(The storm stopped after Jonah was thrown out. This built the faith of the men to the point they made vows to Jonah's God.)
17 And Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
(God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. God had complete control over animals. This passage did not say "whale." Jonah was there three days and three nights. Jesus referenced this verse when He prophesied of His death and resurrection (Matthew 12:39-41). Notice, Jonah was in the belly of the fish three nights. Actually, contrary to man-made tradition, Jesus was also in the belly of the earth for three nights.)
Jonah 2
1 Then Jonah prayed unto Jehovah his God out of the fish's belly.
(Jonah prayed while inside the fish. Whatever kind of fish this was, apparently it made enough oxygen for Jonah to be conscious while inside its belly. This verse appeared to state it took Jonah three days and three nights for his heart to soften enough to obey God. Whatever the reason Jonah had for not wanting to speak to the Ninevites, it was a strong enough reason in Jonah's heart that it took three nights in the belly of a fish to soften. Our short term memory only lasts two to three days. Whatever strong emotion we feel in the moment concerning an event will lessen when it gets removed from the short term memory in two to three days.)
2 And he said, I called by reason of mine affliction unto Jehovah, And he answered me; Out of the belly of Sheol cried I, And thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou didst cast me into the depth, in the heart of the seas, And the flood was round about me; All thy waves and thy billows passed over me.
4 And I said, I am cast out from before thine eyes; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
(Jonah confessed to God.)
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul; The deep was round about me; The weeds were wrapped about my head.
(The waters surrounded Jonah "even to the soul.")
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed upon me for ever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from the pit, O Jehovah my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah; And my prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple.
(When Jonah's "soul fainted" he remembered God. Jonah had to learn through experience.)
8 They that regard lying vanities Forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of Jehovah.
(Repentance: Jonah stated what he would do.)
10 And Jehovah spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
(Again, God was in complete control of the animals. The fish vomited Jonah onto dry land because God spoke to the fish.)
Jonah 3
1 And the word of Jehovah came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
(For the second time, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach (to call out, proclaim) the preaching that God commanded of him.)
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city, of three days' journey.
(Jonah was repentant. Jonah followed God's command.)
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
(Jonah proclaimed that Nineveh would be overthrown in forty days. God had declared judgment upon Nineveh through Jonah. What was the cause of Nineveh's judgment? From this book, all we know was the similarity between Sodom and Nineveh: their wickedness had come up to God (1:2). What was the cause of Sodom's judgment? Ezekiel 16:49 stated four causes:
1) pride,
2) fulness of bread,
3) prosperous ease (idleness of time), and
4) failed to strengthen the arm of the poor.)
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
(The Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and everyone humbled themselves by putting on sackcloth. The Ninevites immediately addressed the first two causes of the judgment on Sodom: pride and fulness of bread by humbling themselves and fasting.)
6 And the tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;
(A fast was proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the king.)
8 but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.
(Notice, this decree from the king told people what to do: pray to God and turn from the violence in their hands. Ceasing from work and praying to God definitely addressed cause #3: prosperous ease (idleness of time). It was a call to repentance to turn from the evil way. Ceasing from the violence that was in their hands could have addressed cause #4: strengthening the hand of the poor. There were at least two other references in the Old Testament that showed dealing with the poor affected judgment:
-In Daniel 4:27, Daniel gave Nebuchadnezzar the following ways to delay the judgment that was prophesied in the king's dream: "...break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor..."
-In Amos 8:4, God stated the following about Israel when He was declaring judgment: "Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail."
Also, God had stated to Solomon, in 2 Chronicles 7:14, how to avoid judgment: "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.")
9 Who knoweth whether God will not turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
(The people did not expect God to turn away from His anger, they hoped He would. Regardless, the Ninevites addressed at least three (and possibly all four) of the causes for Sodom's judgment. How did God respond to this?)
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil which he said he would do unto them; and he did it not.
(The Ninevites were repentant and God saw their works and repented of the evil He was going to do to them. It appeared that Nineveh's response to do the opposite of the causes of Sodom's judgment caused God to not follow through on what was prophesied through Jonah. Notice, God stated He would have spared Sodom for ten righteous people. As far as we know only three made it out: Lot and his two daughters. Also, God did not spare the world from the Flood for the sake of eight people: Noah, three sons and all four wives. Clearly, more than ten Ninevites confessed and repented. Would God had spared Nineveh if only ten people had addressed the four causes of judgment?)
Jonah 4
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
(The mercy given to Nineveh made Jonah exceedingly displeased and angry. Why?)
2 And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
(Jonah prayed. He stated that he knew God was merciful, slow to anger, and repented of evil but he still got upset that God actually followed through with these attributes towards Nineveh. Jonah gave the reason why he ran from God: Jonah did not believe the prophecy would come to pass. He did not want to be publicly "wrong.")
3 Therefore now, O Jehovah, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
(Jonah would rather die than continue to live with being publicly wrong. Notice, Jesus called Jonah a prophet in Matthew 12:39. However, what Jonah prophesied did not happen. Another example of this was when Isaiah had prophesied to Hezekiah about his illness ending in death (2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 38), and that did not happen. Jesus also called Isaiah a prophet in Matthew 3:3. In the Bible, a prophet did not just state the effects (what), he also stated the causes (why) so that people could affect the what. Both Jonah and Isaiah stated the causes and the effects, and people altered the results (effects) by addressing the causes.
Truth is a right what with a right why/how. Deception is a right what with a wrong (or no) why/how. Jonah and Isaiah spoke truth even though peoples' responses altered the what that the prophets stated. What this also meant was that even if a person was able to state the right what and it came to pass, it did not mean they were a prophet unless they could also state the right why/how.)
4 And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry?
(God asked Jonah if his anger was doing him any good. Notice, God continued to deal with people through questions...just like He did with Adam, Eve, Cain, etc.)
5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
(Jonah did not respond to God. Instead, Jonah went away from the city...just like he did the first time God told Jonah to speak to the city. Jonah returned to his former thought process. Would God need to have him be "swallowed by another fish"?)
6 And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd.
(Again, God had complete control over inanimate objects...like plants. God prepared a gourd (large plant/bush) to give Jonah shade from the sun. This made Jonah "exceeding glad." In effect, Jonah was "in the belly of this bush"...but this time he was glad.)
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.
(Again, God had complete control over animals. God destroyed the gourd by a worm.)
8 And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
(Again, God had complete control over the weather. Jonah was now in the same frame of mind as he was when he was first in the belly of the fish. If God had complete control over people, He would have directly caused Jonah to confess and repent. Instead, we have seen that God was "All Powerful" over everything that did not have a will: inanimate objects, animals, and the weather. In this one chapter, God used all of these things to reach Jonah.)
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
(God asked Jonah a second question. So far, this entire chapter was a mini-version of the previous three chapters. However, this time, Jonah stated his will that he was in the right. Jonah was not going to confess and repent. Notice, the Book of Job ended with God stating He had complete control over everything that did not have a will before He questioned Job. Job's response was to confess and repent for the two things he had wrongly stated after his suffering began. This chapter actually appeared to be a mini-version of the Book of Job. Would Jonah confess and repent for the thing he wrongly stated after his suffering began?)
10 And Jehovah said, Thou hast had regard for the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 and should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
(This book ended with a question from God. We do not know if Jonah responded like Job or not. God asked Jonah if the gourd was greater than Nineveh. God used the gourd as a symbol to Jonah. It was supposed to help him understand that Jonah was not being merciful, slow to anger, etc. towards Nineveh. What is more important: a plant or 120,000 people? How would Jonah have felt if God treated him like he wanted God to treat Nineveh?)
(The Book of Jonah was the fifth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Jonah was a prophet whose warnings were heeded to the extent his prophecy did not occur. The Ninevites responded to Jonah's prophecy by addressing three (and possibly all four) of the causes of judgment God declared concerning Sodom from Ezekiel 16:49. Over a hundred years after these events, Assyria was judged. Although this was a relatively short book, it contained a lot of critical Doctrine. In addition to confessing and repenting to avoid God's judgment, it also showed how God had complete control over inanimate objects, animals, and the weather to influence man.)
Day 271
Day 269: The Book of Obadiah
(The Book of Obadiah was the fourth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Obadiah was a prophet that preceded all of the prophetic books we have covered so far including the books of the major prophet section. Obadiah's message focused on Edom being punished for her sins against Israel. At the time of Obadiah's prophecy, Edom had never been bitter towards Israel. Obadiah's prophecy not only predicted the destruction of Edom but also the eternal possession of Edom's land by Israel. To people of the Old Testament, this book reinforced the promised blessings and curses of the Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis 12.)
Obadiah 1
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom: We have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
(This prophecy concerned a vision of Obadiah regarding the destruction of Edom. Edom was from Esau.)
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the nations: thou art greatly despised.
(Edom was humbled.)
3 The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
(Edom's pride of heart deceived him. Edom thought he was too great to be brought down: to be humbled.)
4 Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah.
(Edom exalted himself and God would bring him down. Edom had never been bitter towards Israel, so this verse's ability to become manifested looked unlikely to the Israelites at that time.)
5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night (how art thou cut off!), would they not steal only till they had enough? if grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
6 How are the things of Esau searched! how are his hidden treasures sought out!
(Edom was specifically referred to as Esau.)
7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee: there is no understanding in him.
8 Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
(Edom was known for wisdom and its wise men: Jeremiah 19:7. These wise men and their understanding would be destroyed.)
9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.
(Teman was a clan of the Edomites. Eliphaz, one of Job's comforters, was a Temanite.)
10 For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
(The reason for judgment against Edom was the violence he (Esau) did to Jacob. When God remembered His people and Isaac's son during their rebellious immature years when they did not know better, God referred to them as "Jacob." When God saw them as having matured and responsible for their actions, God referred to them as "Israel." Even though the Edomites had not sinned against Israel, God said they would and then illustrated the issue by referencing "Esau" and "Jacob." This verse began God's explanation for the reason Edom would be judged.)
11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
12 But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress.
(This prophecy predicted that Edom would rejoice over Israel's destruction. Basically, Edom would curse the people of the Abrahamic Covenant, which would bring a curse upon Edom.)
13 Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
14 And stand thou not in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head.
(Justice would be equaled out against Edom to the extent Edom "cursed" Israel. Verse 15 began the transition from God speaking about the curse against Edom that was yet to occur during their time to the curse that has yet to occur during our time.)
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.
17 But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall burn among them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for Jehovah hath spoken it.
(Esau would be utterly destroyed. None will remain of the house of Esau (Edom) after the battle of Armageddon. Again, notice God went to the previous names (Jacob and Esau) to pronounce a prophecy over Edom.)
19 And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
(Judah ("of the South") would possess the mount of Esau eternally.)
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.
21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.
(The "saviours" will be Christ and His resurrected saints at the battle of Armageddon.)
(The Book of Obadiah was the fourth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Obadiah was a prophet that preceded all of the prophetic books we have covered so far including the books of the major prophet section. Obadiah's message focused on Edom being punished for her sins against Israel. At the time of Obadiah's prophecy, Edom had never been bitter towards Israel. Obadiah's prophecy not only predicted the destruction of Edom but also the eternal possession of Edom's land by Israel. To people of the Old Testament, this book reinforced the promised blessings and curses of the Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis 12.)
Day 270
Obadiah 1
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning Edom: We have heard tidings from Jehovah, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
(This prophecy concerned a vision of Obadiah regarding the destruction of Edom. Edom was from Esau.)
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the nations: thou art greatly despised.
(Edom was humbled.)
3 The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
(Edom's pride of heart deceived him. Edom thought he was too great to be brought down: to be humbled.)
4 Though thou mount on high as the eagle, and though thy nest be set among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, saith Jehovah.
(Edom exalted himself and God would bring him down. Edom had never been bitter towards Israel, so this verse's ability to become manifested looked unlikely to the Israelites at that time.)
5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night (how art thou cut off!), would they not steal only till they had enough? if grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?
6 How are the things of Esau searched! how are his hidden treasures sought out!
(Edom was specifically referred to as Esau.)
7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee on thy way, even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee: there is no understanding in him.
8 Shall I not in that day, saith Jehovah, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
(Edom was known for wisdom and its wise men: Jeremiah 19:7. These wise men and their understanding would be destroyed.)
9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.
(Teman was a clan of the Edomites. Eliphaz, one of Job's comforters, was a Temanite.)
10 For the violence done to thy brother Jacob, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
(The reason for judgment against Edom was the violence he (Esau) did to Jacob. When God remembered His people and Isaac's son during their rebellious immature years when they did not know better, God referred to them as "Jacob." When God saw them as having matured and responsible for their actions, God referred to them as "Israel." Even though the Edomites had not sinned against Israel, God said they would and then illustrated the issue by referencing "Esau" and "Jacob." This verse began God's explanation for the reason Edom would be judged.)
11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.
12 But look not thou on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, and rejoice not over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither speak proudly in the day of distress.
(This prophecy predicted that Edom would rejoice over Israel's destruction. Basically, Edom would curse the people of the Abrahamic Covenant, which would bring a curse upon Edom.)
13 Enter not into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, look not thou on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither lay ye hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.
14 And stand thou not in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; and deliver not up those of his that remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of Jehovah is near upon all the nations: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head.
(Justice would be equaled out against Edom to the extent Edom "cursed" Israel. Verse 15 began the transition from God speaking about the curse against Edom that was yet to occur during their time to the curse that has yet to occur during our time.)
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.
17 But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall burn among them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining to the house of Esau; for Jehovah hath spoken it.
(Esau would be utterly destroyed. None will remain of the house of Esau (Edom) after the battle of Armageddon. Again, notice God went to the previous names (Jacob and Esau) to pronounce a prophecy over Edom.)
19 And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
(Judah ("of the South") would possess the mount of Esau eternally.)
20 And the captives of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, shall possess even unto Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, that are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.
21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah's.
(The "saviours" will be Christ and His resurrected saints at the battle of Armageddon.)
(The Book of Obadiah was the fourth of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Obadiah was a prophet that preceded all of the prophetic books we have covered so far including the books of the major prophet section. Obadiah's message focused on Edom being punished for her sins against Israel. At the time of Obadiah's prophecy, Edom had never been bitter towards Israel. Obadiah's prophecy not only predicted the destruction of Edom but also the eternal possession of Edom's land by Israel. To people of the Old Testament, this book reinforced the promised blessings and curses of the Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis 12.)
Day 270
Day 268: Amos 7-9
(The previous post covered God's review of His many overtures to Israel with Israel ignoring everyone of them and Israel eventually going into captivity.)
Amos 7
(Verses 1-3: the locust judgment.)
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.
3 Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith Jehovah.
(Amos prayed and God repented of this judgment.)
(Verses 4-6: the fire judgment.)
4 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to content by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land.
5 Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.
6 Jehovah repented concerning this: this also shall not be, saith the Lord Jehovah.
(Amos prayed and God repented of this judgment.)
(Verses 7-9: the plumb-line judgment (line of judgment).)
7 Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.
8 And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more;
9 and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
(Amaziah the priest sent a message to Jeroboam regarding Amos. Remember, Jeroboam was mentioned as the king of Israel in the first verse of the Book of Hosea.)
11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thou away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house.
(Amaziah, the priest over the idolatrous worship in Beth-el, complained of Amos. Amaziah told Amos to flee to Judah and prophesy there because Beth-el (House of God) was the king's sanctuary and royal house. Amaziah confused the king's authority with God's authority.)
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees:
15 and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
(Amos told Amaziah that he was just a herdsman who God took and said to prophesy to Israel. Remember, true prophets do not assert themselves to be prophets.)
16 Now therefore hear thou the word of Jehovah: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac;
17 therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
(Because Amaziah told Amos not to prophesy, Amos prophesied judgment against Amaziah and his family and that Israel would go into captivity.)
Amos 8
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Jehovah unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
(The summer fruit symbolized Israel's end.)
3 And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many: in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
(Israel was not strengthening the hand of the poor, one of the four causes of God's judgment against Sodom according to Ezekiel 16:49.)
5 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
(This river was the Nile.)
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
(God would send a famine to Israel, a famine of "hearing the words of Jehovah.")
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again.
(These cities (Samaria, Dan, Beer-sheba) were centers of idolatry in Israel.)
Amos 9
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
(Amos saw God standing upon the altar in the idolatrous temple at Beth-el.)
2 Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
(God set His Eyes on Israel for evil and not for good. With God, short term evil brought long term good, which resulted in creation.)
(Verses 5-10: began a prophecy of dispersion.)
5 For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is he that toucheth the land and it melteth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the River, and shall sink again, like the River of Egypt;
6 it is he that buildeth his chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name.
7 Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.
(Verses 11-12: the restoration of David's kingdom under the Messiah.)
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;
(Acts 15:16 recorded that James the Lesser referenced this verse during the council's meeting concerning circumcision.)
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this.
(Verses 13-15: the future restoration of Israel.)
13 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.
(The Book of Amos was the third book of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Amos was a prophet that preceded Joel. Amos' message focused on God's judgment upon all nations. Amos was specific as to why judgment would come upon each nation. While the tone of this book was dire, this book did finish with an encouragement that Israel would be regathered and restored during Christ's Millennial Reign.)
Day 269
Amos 7
(Verses 1-3: the locust judgment.)
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
2 And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.
3 Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, saith Jehovah.
(Amos prayed and God repented of this judgment.)
(Verses 4-6: the fire judgment.)
4 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to content by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land.
5 Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small.
6 Jehovah repented concerning this: this also shall not be, saith the Lord Jehovah.
(Amos prayed and God repented of this judgment.)
(Verses 7-9: the plumb-line judgment (line of judgment).)
7 Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.
8 And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more;
9 and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
(Amaziah the priest sent a message to Jeroboam regarding Amos. Remember, Jeroboam was mentioned as the king of Israel in the first verse of the Book of Hosea.)
11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thou away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a royal house.
(Amaziah, the priest over the idolatrous worship in Beth-el, complained of Amos. Amaziah told Amos to flee to Judah and prophesy there because Beth-el (House of God) was the king's sanctuary and royal house. Amaziah confused the king's authority with God's authority.)
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees:
15 and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
(Amos told Amaziah that he was just a herdsman who God took and said to prophesy to Israel. Remember, true prophets do not assert themselves to be prophets.)
16 Now therefore hear thou the word of Jehovah: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac;
17 therefore thus saith Jehovah: Thy wife shall be a harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou thyself shalt die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.
(Because Amaziah told Amos not to prophesy, Amos prophesied judgment against Amaziah and his family and that Israel would go into captivity.)
Amos 8
1 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Jehovah unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
(The summer fruit symbolized Israel's end.)
3 And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many: in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
(Israel was not strengthening the hand of the poor, one of the four causes of God's judgment against Sodom according to Ezekiel 16:49.)
5 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
(This river was the Nile.)
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
(God would send a famine to Israel, a famine of "hearing the words of Jehovah.")
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again.
(These cities (Samaria, Dan, Beer-sheba) were centers of idolatry in Israel.)
Amos 9
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
(Amos saw God standing upon the altar in the idolatrous temple at Beth-el.)
2 Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
(God set His Eyes on Israel for evil and not for good. With God, short term evil brought long term good, which resulted in creation.)
(Verses 5-10: began a prophecy of dispersion.)
5 For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is he that toucheth the land and it melteth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the River, and shall sink again, like the River of Egypt;
6 it is he that buildeth his chambers in the heavens, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name.
7 Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.
(Verses 11-12: the restoration of David's kingdom under the Messiah.)
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;
(Acts 15:16 recorded that James the Lesser referenced this verse during the council's meeting concerning circumcision.)
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this.
(Verses 13-15: the future restoration of Israel.)
13 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.
(The Book of Amos was the third book of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Amos was a prophet that preceded Joel. Amos' message focused on God's judgment upon all nations. Amos was specific as to why judgment would come upon each nation. While the tone of this book was dire, this book did finish with an encouragement that Israel would be regathered and restored during Christ's Millennial Reign.)
Day 269
Day 267: Amos 4-6
(The previous post covered judgments from God pronounced on various nations.)
Amos 4
1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
(Israel was referred to as kine: cows.)
2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.
3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.
(These breaches were to be made in the city walls by the enemy, and through these the people were to go out, single file like cows.)
4 Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days;
5 and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.
(God gave Israel up to her idolatry so she could see how her gods would not save her from the coming judgment.)
6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
7 And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
11 I have overthrown cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
(God gave details of several of His chastisements against Israel, however, each ended with "yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah." Israel was not learning through experience. It was going to have to get much worse for Israel.)
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
(Since Israel had not responded to the chastisements, she would have to "prepare to meet thy God.")
13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the Earth - Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.
(God knows our thoughts after we choose to think them.)
Amos 5
1 Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
(A word of lamentation toward Israel…)
2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
(Israel fell and there was none to raise her up.)
3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.
4 For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;
(A promise of life to those who sought God.)
5 but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.
6 Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
(…the promise again.)
7 Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
(Israel turned Justice into wormwood (to curse, bitterness) and cast down Righteousness to the earth.)
8 seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);
9 that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
(The Israelites hated those who showed them where they were wrong and abhorred those who spoke uprightly. The Israelites were prideful.)
11 Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins-ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
13 Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.
(Seek good (Right and Just) and not evil. Good creates, evil destroys.)
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
(Love good and hate evil.)
16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.
(The reason for the lamentation…)
17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
(…judgment from God.)
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
24 But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
(Justice flows as water and Righteousness as a mighty stream.)
25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
(Israel forsook God with idolatry…)
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.
(…so, God sent Israel into captivity.)
Amos 6
1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
(A warning…)
2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?
3 -ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
4 that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
5 that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
6 that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore shall they now go captive with the first that go captive; and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.
(The first among Israel in rank would be the first in captivity.)
8 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
10 And when a man's uncle shall take him up, even he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No; then shall he say, Hold thy peace; for we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
11 For, behold, Jehovah commandeth, and the great house shall be smitten with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
(Israel has turned Justice into gall (poison, venom, bitterness) and the fruit of Righteousness into wormwood (to curse, bitterness). The Israelites did not put shoes on horses, so they could not run on rocks.)
13 ye that rejoice in a thing of nought, that say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
(They vainly rejoiced in their riches.)
14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of the Arabah.
(Amos rightly predicted Assyria would be against Israel.)
(This post covered God's review of His many overtures to Israel with Israel ignoring everyone of them and Israel eventually going into captivity.)
Day 268
Amos 4
1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
(Israel was referred to as kine: cows.)
2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.
3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.
(These breaches were to be made in the city walls by the enemy, and through these the people were to go out, single file like cows.)
4 Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days;
5 and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.
(God gave Israel up to her idolatry so she could see how her gods would not save her from the coming judgment.)
6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
7 And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
11 I have overthrown cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
(God gave details of several of His chastisements against Israel, however, each ended with "yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah." Israel was not learning through experience. It was going to have to get much worse for Israel.)
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
(Since Israel had not responded to the chastisements, she would have to "prepare to meet thy God.")
13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the Earth - Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.
(God knows our thoughts after we choose to think them.)
Amos 5
1 Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
(A word of lamentation toward Israel…)
2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
(Israel fell and there was none to raise her up.)
3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.
4 For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;
(A promise of life to those who sought God.)
5 but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.
6 Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
(…the promise again.)
7 Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
(Israel turned Justice into wormwood (to curse, bitterness) and cast down Righteousness to the earth.)
8 seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);
9 that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
(The Israelites hated those who showed them where they were wrong and abhorred those who spoke uprightly. The Israelites were prideful.)
11 Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins-ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
13 Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.
(Seek good (Right and Just) and not evil. Good creates, evil destroys.)
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
(Love good and hate evil.)
16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.
(The reason for the lamentation…)
17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
(…judgment from God.)
18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
24 But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
(Justice flows as water and Righteousness as a mighty stream.)
25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
(Israel forsook God with idolatry…)
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.
(…so, God sent Israel into captivity.)
Amos 6
1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
(A warning…)
2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border?
3 -ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
4 that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
5 that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
6 that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore shall they now go captive with the first that go captive; and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.
(The first among Israel in rank would be the first in captivity.)
8 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
10 And when a man's uncle shall take him up, even he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No; then shall he say, Hold thy peace; for we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
11 For, behold, Jehovah commandeth, and the great house shall be smitten with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood;
(Israel has turned Justice into gall (poison, venom, bitterness) and the fruit of Righteousness into wormwood (to curse, bitterness). The Israelites did not put shoes on horses, so they could not run on rocks.)
13 ye that rejoice in a thing of nought, that say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
(They vainly rejoiced in their riches.)
14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of the Arabah.
(Amos rightly predicted Assyria would be against Israel.)
(This post covered God's review of His many overtures to Israel with Israel ignoring everyone of them and Israel eventually going into captivity.)
Day 268
Day 266: Amos 1-3
(The Book of Amos was the third book of the twelve books that made up the minor prophet section of the Old Testament. Amos was a prophet that chronologically preceded Joel. Amos' message focused on God's judgment upon all nations. Amos was specific as to why judgment would come upon each nation. While the tone of this book was dire, this book did finish with an encouragement that Israel would be regathered and restored during Christ's Millennial Reign.)
Amos 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
(Amos was a herdsman (shepherd) from Tekoa (a town in the hill country of Judah). The "earthquake" mentioned here happened during Uzziah's reign (See Zechariah 14:5). Hosea covered the time from Uzziah through Hezekiah (four kings of Judah). The Book of Joel occurred within Hosea's time-frame. The Book of Amos occurred near the beginning of Hosea's time-frame.)
2 And he said, Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
(Verses 3-5: judgment on Damascus.)
3 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
4 but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Jehovah.
(Verses 6-8: judgment on the Philistines.)
6 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom:
7 but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Jehovah.
(Verses 9-10: judgment on Tyre.)
9 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
(Verses 11-12: judgment on Edom (from Esau).)
11 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
12 but I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
(Verses 13-15: judgment on Ammon (from Lot).)
13 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith Jehovah.
(Rabbah was the capitol of Ammon.)
Amos 2
(Verses 1-3: judgment on Moab (from Lot).)
1 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
2 but I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;
3 and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah.
(Again, the Amalekites were not mentioned.)
(Verses 4-5: judgment on Judah (by Babylon).)
4 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk:
5 but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
(Verses 6-8: judgment on Israel (by Assyria).)
6 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes-
7 they that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father go unto the same maiden, to profane my holy name:
8 and they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined.
(Verses 9-11: some blessings God had done for Israel.)
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
(The Amorites were a people of Canaan, the land God promised to the Israelites.)
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
(God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, the Exodus.)
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah.
12 But ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
(The Israelites hindered God by facilitating the breaking of the Nazarite vow and by telling God's prophets to not prophesy.)
13 Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart presseth that is full of sheaves.
14 And flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
15 neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself;
16 and he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah.
(In the King James Version, verse 13 was interpreted: "Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." The implication being that God was getting weary of the stress and strain of Judah's and Israel's sins.)
Amos 3
1 Hear this word that Jehovah hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,
(This word was spoken against the children of Israel, against the whole family which included Judah.)
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.
3 Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?
(In order to walk (make progress) with God you must be in agreement with God: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. Can Christians be friends with non-Christians? This verse from Amos stated that this could only happen when two were in agreement. The way to determine this is to ask the Christian if they are becoming more like the non-Christian or if the non-Christian is becoming more like them.)
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?
7 Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.
(God revealed His secrets to His prophets before He did anything.)
8 The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy?
9 Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
(Verses 11-15: the captivity of Israel to Assyria.)
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary there shall be, even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be plundered.
12 Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
13 Hear ye, and testify against the house of Jacob, saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts.
14 For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
(Verse 12 showed that a very small remnant would saved.)
(This post covered judgments from God pronounced on various nations.)
Day 267
Amos 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
(Amos was a herdsman (shepherd) from Tekoa (a town in the hill country of Judah). The "earthquake" mentioned here happened during Uzziah's reign (See Zechariah 14:5). Hosea covered the time from Uzziah through Hezekiah (four kings of Judah). The Book of Joel occurred within Hosea's time-frame. The Book of Amos occurred near the beginning of Hosea's time-frame.)
2 And he said, Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
(Verses 3-5: judgment on Damascus.)
3 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
4 but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Jehovah.
(Verses 6-8: judgment on the Philistines.)
6 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom:
7 but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Jehovah.
(Verses 9-10: judgment on Tyre.)
9 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
(Verses 11-12: judgment on Edom (from Esau).)
11 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
12 but I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
(Verses 13-15: judgment on Ammon (from Lot).)
13 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith Jehovah.
(Rabbah was the capitol of Ammon.)
Amos 2
(Verses 1-3: judgment on Moab (from Lot).)
1 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
2 but I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;
3 and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith Jehovah.
(Again, the Amalekites were not mentioned.)
(Verses 4-5: judgment on Judah (by Babylon).)
4 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk:
5 but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
(Verses 6-8: judgment on Israel (by Assyria).)
6 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes-
7 they that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father go unto the same maiden, to profane my holy name:
8 and they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined.
(Verses 9-11: some blessings God had done for Israel.)
9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
(The Amorites were a people of Canaan, the land God promised to the Israelites.)
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
(God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, the Exodus.)
11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah.
12 But ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
(The Israelites hindered God by facilitating the breaking of the Nazarite vow and by telling God's prophets to not prophesy.)
13 Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart presseth that is full of sheaves.
14 And flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
15 neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself;
16 and he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah.
(In the King James Version, verse 13 was interpreted: "Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." The implication being that God was getting weary of the stress and strain of Judah's and Israel's sins.)
Amos 3
1 Hear this word that Jehovah hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,
(This word was spoken against the children of Israel, against the whole family which included Judah.)
2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.
3 Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?
(In order to walk (make progress) with God you must be in agreement with God: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. Can Christians be friends with non-Christians? This verse from Amos stated that this could only happen when two were in agreement. The way to determine this is to ask the Christian if they are becoming more like the non-Christian or if the non-Christian is becoming more like them.)
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?
7 Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets.
(God revealed His secrets to His prophets before He did anything.)
8 The lion hath roared; who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy?
9 Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof.
10 For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
(Verses 11-15: the captivity of Israel to Assyria.)
11 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary there shall be, even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be plundered.
12 Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
13 Hear ye, and testify against the house of Jacob, saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts.
14 For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
(Verse 12 showed that a very small remnant would saved.)
(This post covered judgments from God pronounced on various nations.)
Day 267
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