52 Weeks in the Word - Week 40

   Welcome to Week 40!  

This is our last full week of reading from the Old Testament!  That is a huge accomplishment!

Looking ahead to Week 40:

The reading for Week 40 includes: Nahum 1 - Zechariah 10.

The book of Nahum only consists of 3 chapters.  Its author is Nahum himself, written around 650 B.C.  A little background information to help with understanding: Nahum had a heavy or important message to deliver to the capital of Assyria, which was Nineveh.  Assyria was known as basically the bully of the Middle East.  They concurred many nations, including Israel.  You may remember from last week's reading that Jonah went to Nineveh with another message from the Lord, talking about their destruction if they did not repent.  The nation as a whole did, in fact, repent and turn from their ways.  HOWEVER, it must not have lasted long because 100 years later, Nahum is delivering a similar message from the Lord to the same nation.   A few takeaways: 

  • God's warnings are not to be taken lightly.  Just because one generation turned to God, did not mean that the following generations would obey or even know the warning.  It is vital that we keep sharing the message of the Lord to the following generations.
  • God's more powerful than any nation.
  • God not only deals with individual people, He also deals with entire nations.
  • Don't ignore God's warnings.

The book of Habakkuk was written by Habakkuk between 625 - 575 B.C.  In this book we read Habakkuk's honest questions to the Lord.  One of my favorite passages in Habakkuk is 2: 2 - 3.  Honestly, the verses spoke to me at simple face value.  Without any background reading or studying, I thought these verses were great advice from the Lord for a minister of His World.  After reading through the Bible this year up to this point and reading a commentary for this passage, it makes even more sense.  God wanted Habakkuk to record this for the benefit of others.  What Habakkuk was learning wasn't for him alone.  Others who would read it would make rapid progress (may run), but this wouldn't be possible if Habakkuk didn't write it out and make it plain.  Habakkuk had to first see the vision before he shared it.  Next, he had to share it or make it known in as many ways as possible.  God told him to write the vision, so he had to permanently make it known as well.  Then he had to make a plan that explained the vision as clearly as possible.  He had to make it relatable to the people.  You see, this vision wasn't going to take place at this time, but it was for a future time.  When I read this passage, I apply it for steps for evangelism.

Zephaniah is also only 3 chapters long, written by the prophet Zephaniah between 650 and 600 B.C.  Zephaniah was an unusual prophet in that he was of royal lineage.  He descended from the godly King Hezekiah.  Zephaniah means "Yahweh has hidden."  It is possible that Zephaniah was born during the terrible reign of Manasseh, so Zephaniah could have been hidden for his protection.  King Josiah's reign came after Manasseh, and Josiah's reign saw great revival in the land.  Josiah did reign 10 years before this great revival, so it is possible that Zephaniah helped minister to the people during this time.

This would be a good place to very briefly explain something about the 12 books of the minor prophets that we are reading through now.  The minor prophets are divided into two groups: pre-exilic and post exilic.  The first 9 books are pre-exilic, written before the Babylonians conquered and exiled Judah.  The last 3 are post-exilic, written during or after the return of Israel from Babylon to the Promised Land.  Zephaniah is the last of the pre-exilic books.  His book is somewhat of a summary of the previous 8.

The book of Haggai was written with only 2 chapters by Haggai around 520 B.C.  In fact, opening scripture gives detail about when the prophecy began.  Haggai is also mentioned in the book of Ezra.  God is giving the people instructions to follow to show their worship to Him.

Lastly for this week, we will begin the book of Zechariah.  This book was written between 520 - 480 B.C.  The Lucado Life Study Bible states, "Zechariah, God's prophet in Jerusalem more than five hundred years before Christ, had a series of nighttime experiences that kept him awake for a week.  More than mere dreams, these were visions God's future plans for His people, including a description of the Messiah. Through these visions God gave His message to Zechariah, who then faithfully relayed them to his family, friends, neighbors, countrymen... and us."


We look forward to hearing your comments on this week's reading!  Many blessings to you all this week.

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