The Next Books: What Do They Say?
Obadiah:
Content: Another warning for Edom (Esau) similar to:
(Amos 1:11 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity; His anger tore perpetually, And he kept his wrath forever.
A story we all know: Jonah and the “whale” which wasn’t a whale, “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17 NKJV)
Jonah was an example of one of the worst prophets of all time, I cannot find a shred of hope in his message:
(Jonah 3:4 NKJV) And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
but had one of the greatest revivals of all time.
(Jonah 3:5-10) So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. {6} Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. {7} And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. {8} But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. {9} Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
God was touched! He was moved!
{10} Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
That was what God wanted of His Own people, but they would not do it. Jesus comments:
(Mat 12:41 NKJV) "The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Jonah was angry when the people repented, so how could his heart have been in his message?
(Jonah 4:1-3 NKJV) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. {2} So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country?
Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. {3} "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"
But Jonah doesn’t give up! Maybe, just maybe, the people of Nineveh will mess up, and God will get them!
(Jonah 4:5 NKJV) So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
(Jonah 4:6-11 NKJV) And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Jonah 4:7 “But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. {8} And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." {9} Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" {10} But the LORD said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. {11} "And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left; and much livestock?" -- (The children! Can’t you pity the children?)
So ends the book of Jonah. Nineveh was spared for approximately 120 years after Jonah’s preaching, or should we say, God’s mercy?
Micah
(Micah 1:1 NKJV) The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
These are kings of Judah, but Israel has not yet been taken captive. It will go into captivity during his life time.
(Micah 1:2-3 NKJV) Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple. {3} For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down And tread on the high places of the earth.
(Micah 1:4 NKJV) The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.” -- Is this a reference to volcanoes?
(Micah 2:6 NKJV) "Do not prattle [prophesy]," you say to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you; They shall not return insult for insult.
The problem was that the people did not want to hear the truth! A common problem!
(Micah 2:11 NIV) If a liar and deceiver comes and says, 'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people!
God is Clear on What He wants!
(Micah 6:8 NKJV) He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
These are attitudes of the heart, and actions of the body that go with them.
Israel’s Problems come from a lack of righteous men.
(Micah 7:2-5 NKJV) The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net. {3} That they may successfully do evil with both hands; The prince asks for gifts, The judge seeks a bribe, And the great man utters his evil desire; So they scheme together. {4} The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity. {5} Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom.
During the days of the Soviet Union, I read the story of a man who was converted to Christianity, and lived in Russia. He lived in anguish.
He wanted to share his faith with his wife, but he felt sure she would turn him in to the authorities if he did, so he planned his escape all alone.
This passage should be familiar:
(Micah 7:6 NKJV) For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies are the men of his own household.
(Mat 10:35-36 NKJV) "For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; {36} "and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'
Jesus says nothing about His statement being taken from the prophets, but it appears to me to be a direct quote, and the quotation marks are those of the translators, not mine.
One More Time, Mercy and Hope are extended!
(Micah 7:18-20 NKJV) Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. {19} He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea. {20} You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.
When God make a promise, He never forgets it, changes His mind, or cancels it.
You have to read the contract, but God is a great One with Whom to have a contract!