Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah

 READING FOR DECEMBER 8

Haggi; Zechariah 1-3; 7-14

Jonah—Date: 793-753 BC Audience: Northern kingdom of Israel with a proclamation delivered to the city of Nineveh (capital of Assyria) Theme: Jehovah uses Jonah’s actions and words to communicate the fact that his compassion extends beyond Israel.

Micah—Date: 700-650 BC (contemporary to Isaiah) Audience: Israel and Judah, especially the oppressive land-grabbers who supported Israel’s corrupt political and religious leaders Theme: God would judge Israel for covenant breaking by sending them into exile, yet he would restore a remnant of his people.

Nahum—Date: shortly before 612 BC Audience: Judah Theme: God will judge Nineveh for its endless cruelty

Habakuk—Date: 605-580 BC (contemporary to Lehi) Audience: The people of Judah struggling to comprehend the ways of God Theme: In the midst of the evil that exists within both Judah and their enemies, Habakkuk’s strength and joy are found in God alone

Zephaniah—Date: 640-609 BC Audience: Judah Theme: Announcement of the coming day of the Lord, when God will judge and humble the nations including Judah, but will yet be merciful to His people by fully restoring them

JONAH AND HABAKKUK

Read the following with these questions in mind:

1. How are these prophets similar? Different?
2. How do they misjudge Jehovah at points in their lives?
3. What do we learn about Jehovah from these two accounts?
4. How do these messages translate into our lives and current situations?

Jonah 1:1-3; 3:4-5; 3:10, 4:1-10 Habakkuk 1:1-6; 1:12-13; 2:1; 3:16-19

GRACE AND JUSTICE

“According to the logic of original sin, the purpose of the law is punishment. The law’s purpose is to judge what is deserved. The law is a divine mechanism for judging who deserves to suffer or not and to what degree. The point of the law is accusation.”

“The logic of grace, on the other hand, takes the purpose of the law to be love. The law’s purpose is still to judge, but now judge what is needed. The law is a divine mechanism for judging what is needed to relieve suffering and liberate sinners. The point of the law is grace.”

“The contrast between these two logics is sharp. For sin reasons backwards about whether someone’s suffering is deserved, grace reasons forwards as to how best to respond to that suffering. Where sin understands God’s law as a tool of condemnation, grace understand God’s law as a discipline of compassion. Where sin uses the law to command suffering, graces uses the law to command succoring. Sin begins from the original assumption of guilt and concludes that suffering is deserved. Grace begins from the original reality of suffering and concludes that redemption is needed. Sin uses God’s law to ask what is deserved; grace uses God’s law to ask what is needed.”

“Being a sinner harms others and ourselves. The consequences are real and natural. Those things that follow sin are not a moral obligation required by justice. God is not invested in making sure that we suffer. The law requires that we receive whatever good is needed in order to stop harming ourself and others. What we need may be difficult and painful. That difficult process is God giving us what we need to become good.”

Adam Miller, Faith Matters Podcast, 130

NAHUM

“Though the Lord is said to be good and slow to anger in the first chapter, only unrestrained violence and destruction is shown to Nineveh with no call to repentance or chance at redemption. For many Christians, this doesn’t line up with their New Testament view of deity.

Nahum is a perfect illustration of how prophetic literature is in a large part a reflection of emotion. This will help people cope with the reality of the violence of the book of Nahum. These are not the exact words of God. These are the prophet’s words expressing a revelation he has received by unknown means. We don’t know in what form Nahum received this revelation. We only get how he is expressing it. His expression is going to be colored by his emotions and the general emotion of the people. The brutality of Assyria surpassed that of what any other nation had done or seen up to this point. It was unspeakable. And the prophetic literature is an outlet for the extreme fear and oppression that had been laid upon the people. And it reflects the brutality of Assyria back onto them. Even though the revelation may have been an objective view of the eminent future, a tone of celebration and revenge was added in the delivery of the oracle. The point being that a lot of prophetic literature in the Bible are the words of God combined with the feelings of people.”

Truman Cowans, Maxwell Institute Podcast

Amos; Obidiah

HAPPY THANKSGIVING--No class next week

DECEMBER 1 READING--Jonah; Micah; Nahum; Habakkuk; Zephaniah

OUTWARD MINDSET

“We start by asking questions to help ourselves see others as people, looking at their hearts. If we address behavior through the encouragement of behavior changes, we tend to treat people like objects, problems to be moved out of the way, corrected until they get it right.

Truly seeing a person is something that is taught in our church, especially within the context around our ministering efforts. The ability to see a person as a child of God allows us to look past their shortcomings and love them as the Savior would. When people fail to meet our expectations, however, it can be easy to see them as a problem that is blocking us from meeting our own objectives. The book describes it as seeing someone ‘like an object’.”

“When to a leader a person becomes an object, or a problem to be solved, the leader will invariably do things to treat them like an object. This can be seen in instances where individuals get a calling, but are complaining about one thing or another, are not as responsible as we would like, or seem to be ruffling some peoples’ feathers in the ward. Instead of considering the needs, objectives, and challenges of the individual by establishing a relationship, listening, and spending time with the individual, some leaders turn their focus on finding a solution that involves releasing a person from their calling, or getting them to 'have a talk’ with the bishop where some correction is given.

President Monson said it best, ‘Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved’. When our focus is on seeing the individual, we figure out ways to understand them better and have more of a relationship of trust, thereby helping us better adapt to the needs of the individual and the needs of the calling. This requires us to not only ask questions to get to know them, but when a potential conflict surfaces, or even just a simple difference in preference, we approach it with a focus on putting ourselves in their situation. We begin to ask questions, repeating back our understanding, seeking to understand until we feel like we have come alongside them and are walking with them. It has been my experience that people are more willing to listen to your advice when you have spent some time trying to understand where they are coming from.”

“A quote from the book summarizes this:

‘To be outward does not mean that people should adopt this or that prescribed behavior. Rather, it means that when people see the needs, challenges, desires, and humanity of others, the most effective ways to adjust their efforts occur to them in the moment. ... They naturally adjust what they do in response to the needs they see around them. With an outward mindset, adjusting one’s efforts naturally flows from seeing others in a new way.’”

Cory Shirts, The Outward Mindset—Seeing Beyond Ourselves, https://leadingsaints.org/the-outward- mindset-seeing-beyond-ourselves/

Hosea 1-6; 10-14; Joel

NEXT WEEK'S READING - AMOS & OBADIAH

INTERPRETATIONS

“Verse 23: In the last verses of this chapter, the names of Hosea and Gomer’s 

children are important. For example, verse 19 ends with a reference to mercy or compassion, 

the name of their daughter (Ruhamah, 1:6). As we saw, verse 22 ends with the mention of their 

first son, Jezreel, and if we remember the meaning of the first son’s name, verse 23 begins 

with a mention of him. Then this verse mentions their daughter, Ruhamah, and finally, 

it mentions their second son, Ammi. So if we recognize the connection of the names to 

the meanings of the names, verse 23 mentions each child in order of birth and could be 

translated like this:

Then I will sow her (Jezreel) unto me in the earth and I will have mercy on 

She-Who-Did-Not-ReceiveMercy (Lo-Ruhamah); and I will say to 

He-Who-Is-Not-My-People (Lo-Ammi), Thou art my people; and they shall say, 

Thou art my God.”

Dr. James Faulconer

The Old Testament Made Harder

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=mi

“Those prophets often used literary devices to reach their readers (metaphor, simile, chiasmus, and especially typology). Hosea uses a powerful type to make his point. But his is more than a metaphor. It is a real event that serves as a type or shadow of the Lord’s relation to Israel: Hosea is called to marry an adulterous wife, and then, though she has been unfaithful and even had children by other men, he is commanded to buy her back and to love her. The point of this shocking type is that Israel (like an unfaithful wife) has gone whoring after other lovers (pagan gods), and the Lord, the husband who has entered into a covenant with her, will buy her back and love her and bring her to repentance. Some argue that Hosea did not actually marry the woman he talks about, that she is only a literary device. As with Jonah, it doesn’t matter for our purposes. Since the book of Hosea treats her as real, these notes do too.”

Dr. James Faulconer 

The Old Testament Made Harder

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=mi

Some LDS scholars reject the literal union of Hosea to a wife of whoredoms because it “would be imputing to God a command inconsistent with His holy character.” Brent L. Top cautions against such reasoning, stating, “Rejecting the literal nature of this or any other scriptural episode that we find disturbing, illogical, or at odds with our own finite view of God and his dealings with man opens a Pandora’s box of issues surrounding the historicity of the scriptures” (“The Marriage of Hosea and Gomer: A Symbolic Testament of Messianic Love and Mercy,” in A Witness of Jesus Christ: The 1989 Sperry Symposium on the Old Testament, ed. Richard D. Draper [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989], 227).

Dr. Aaron Schade

"The Imagery of Hosea's Family and the Restoration of Israel"

https://rsc.byu.edu/gospel-jesus-christ-old-testament/imagery-hoseas-family-restoration-israel#_edn37

COVENANTAL LOVE - HESED 

"Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy. In the Hebrew language, that covenantal love is called hesed (חֶסֶד)."

President Russell M. Nelson

"The Everlasting Covenant"

March 31, 2022

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2022/10/04-the-everlasting-covenant?lang=eng

TO KNOW GOD

“Quite obviously since the Israelites have not appropriated these qualities and reproduced them in their lives, it demonstrates that they have no real commitment to God. Nor do they truly know him in a living, experiential knowledge of him. As [Terrence] Fretheim points out, “To know God is to be in a right relationship with him, with characteristics of love, trust, respect, and open communication.” Indeed, a firm reverential trust in God constitutes the basic foundation and fountain of true knowledge. Israel had been schooled in the knowledge of God and his standards as well as his goodness, but alas, they demonstrated no trace of them in their lives. Had they truly known him, it would have been reflected in their appropriation of God’s covenant standards for their lives. Therefore, they must face the consequences of their own actions.” 

Robert Alter

Hosea: An Exegetical Commentary

https://bible.org/seriespage/2-perspectives-unfaithful-israel-hosea-41-19

“The strength of your horizontal relationships is a sign of the strength of your vertical relationship.”

Dr. Kristian Heal

Maxwell Institute Abide Podcast

https://mi.byu.edu/abide-hosea-and-joel/

“Astonishingly, to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!” 

Neal A. Maxwell, “Meek and Lowly” BYU Speeches, 1986

PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES

Elder George Q. Cannon wrote: “The spirit of the Church of God is that manifested by Moses. … The genius of the kingdom with which we are associated is to disseminate knowledge through all the ranks of the people, and to make every man a prophet and every woman a prophetess, that they may understand the plans and purposes of God. For this purpose the gospel has been sent to us, and the humblest may obtain its spirit and testimony” (Journal of Discourses, 12:46).

President Heber C. Kimball stressed the reality that this gift is found in more than the First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve: “There is not a man or woman in this congregation,” he explained, “if they live their religion and have the Holy Ghost upon them, but what are prophets, every one of them. . . . I wish to God you, brethren and sisters, were all prophets and prophetesses; you may be, if you live your religion; you cannot help yourselves” (Journal of Discourses, 5:88).

“Prophets will be the last safe voices on earth.”

Sheri Dew, “Prophets Can See Around Corners,” BYU Hawaii, November 1, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuMlNeinGsc

Daniel

NEXT WEEK READING

Hosea 1-6, 10-14; Joel

 UNDERSTANDING THE VISIONS OF DANIEL

“[There is] perpetual relevance [here]. Any disciple of any age can see the internal conflict of right and wrong, light and darkness; the lamb verses the beast and know the we are caught in an eternal struggle and have eternal choices to make.”

Jared Halverson, Unshaken Podcast #193

BUT IF NOT . . .

“Centuries ago, Daniel and his young associates were suddenly thrust from security into the world—a world foreign and intimidating. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to bow down and worship a golden image set up by the king, a furious Nebuchadnezzar told them that if they would not worship as commanded, they would immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ‘And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?’

The three young men quickly and confidently responded, ‘If it be so [if you cast us into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand.’ They demonstrated that they fully understood what faith is. They continued, ‘But if not, ... we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.’ That is a statement of true faith.

They knew that they could trust God—even if things didn’t turn out the way they hoped. They knew that faith is more than mental assent, more than an acknowledgment that God lives. Faith is total trust in Him. Faith is believing that although we do not understand all things, He does. Faith is knowing that although our power is limited, His is not. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him.”

Dennis E. Simmons, “But If Not,” General Conference April 2004

TEACHINGS OF DANIEL

Sir Isaac Newton said this of Daniel: “Daniel was in the greatest credit amongst the Jews, till the reign of the Roman Emperor. And to reject his prophecies, is to reject the Christian religion. For this religion is founded upon his prophecy concerning the Messiah.”

“The book of Daniel proves two things: God provides and God saves. He not only takes care of his people in their present affliction, but is bringing an everlasting kingdom of peace, which was only prophesied in Daniel’s day, but finds its fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah.”

Levi Bakerink, https://modernreformation.org/resource-library/web-exclusive-articles/the-mod-the-messianic- prophecies-in-the-book-of-daniel/

PROMISES FROM OUR PROPHET

“My dear brothers and sisters, so many wonderful things are ahead. In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns ‘with power and great glory,’ He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.

Nonetheless, we are presently living in what surely is a most complicated time in the history of the world. The complexities and challenges leave many people feeling overwhelmed and exhausted...

The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God.”

President Russell M. Nelson, Overcome the World and Find Rest, October Conference 2022

Ezekiel 1-3; 33-34; 36-37; 47

READINGS FOR NEXT WEEK

Daniel 1-12

Background:

• Audience: Jews who were taken captive to Babylonia in 597 B.C.
• He writes over 22 year period between 593 and 571 B.C.
• Theme: Ezekiel the priest assures his fellow Jews that God will one day return them to Jerusalem and restore the temple.
• Only prophetic book written from exile. 
• The Hebrew translation of his name is God will strengthen or God’s Strength. 
• On August 14, 586 B.C., the city of Jerusalem and the temple were burned.
• The book of Ezekiel contains more dates than any other OT prophetic book—they can date his prophecies with considerable precision.
• Ezekiel was married, a priest, and a prophet. “As a priest-prophet called to minister to the exiles (separated from the temple of the Lord with its symbolism, sacrifices, priestly work and worship rituals), his message had much to do with the temple and its ceremonies. 

Literary features: (major/minor prophets have to do with the length of the scrolls)

The three major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) all have the same basic sequence of messages: 

1. prophecies against Israel
2. prophecies against the nations
3. consolation for Israel. In no other book is this pattern clearer than in Ezekiel. 

Jehovah directed many prophets during this time: Ezekiel prophesied among the exiled community in Babylon, Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem, Daniel prophesied to the king of Babylon, Lehi left Jerusalem with his family and the records

Ezekiel began to prophesy only after arriving in Babylon, so prophets in Jerusalem, like Lehi and Jeremiah, may not even have known about Ezekiel.

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision  - Imagery

“The bible also works on a micro-level. . . often when we read the bible, the thing which strikes us, that moves us, that shapes us is a single verse or a single image that we can carry with us and that can really shape and form our mental framework, our religious world view . . . . Individual verses can sometimes contain individual images that can fire the imagination.”

Dr. Kristian Heal - Abide Podcast - Maxwell Institute 

Consider: As we work through Ezekiel, think about images that resonate with you.

Q: What is the Lord teaching here? How is the command not to mourn Ezekiel’s wife symbolic of the times?

“In chapter 24 we read that Ezekiel’s wife died on the very day Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (see verses 1–2). Here was given the ultimate symbol or type of Jerusalem’s coming destruction. Isn’t that something? The Lord said in essence that the death of Ezekiel’s wife would serve as a type and symbol of Jerusalem’s destruction. When the people saw his wife die and saw that Ezekiel did not mourn, they asked why. In verse 22 the answer was given: “Ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” And then in verse 24, the Lord explained: “Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do.” Jerusalem was the bride of Jehovah, but there could be no mourning, for her tragedy was just and fully deserved.”     

Gerald Lund

Gerald N. Lund, “Ezekiel: Prophet of Judgment, Prophet of Promise,” in Isaiah and the Prophets: Inspired Voices from the Old Testament, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984), 75–88.

Transition Point of Ezekiel’s Prophecies

“As the fall of Jerusalem marked an important transition in the life of the Israelites, it also marked an important transition in Ezekiel’s prophecies. No longer did he call Jews to repentance to avoid being overthrown. He addressed instead the questions that must have been on their minds now that their nation was no more. What future did they have now that they had offended God so grievously that he had allowed them to be driven from their land? Was he still their God? Were they still his chosen people? And even if he were willing, could he gather people so widely dispersed as the Israelites were in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and elsewhere throughout the world?”

Keith H. Meservy

https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/ezekiel-prophet-hope

The River of Life from the Temple - 40-47

“After twenty-five years in captivity, Ezekiel had a homecoming of sorts: the Lord gave him a vision of his native Israel and a glorious, complete temple in the midst of the land (Ezekiel 40–48). [3] In this vision, Ezekiel is not alone—he is guided on a tour of the temple by an angelic figure (Ezekiel 40:3) who measures the temple’s dimensions. Ezekiel then describes in detail the appearance of this temple, as well as its inner workings and its rejuvenating effects on the surrounding land. Finally, his temple vision concludes with the city of Jerusalem receiving the comforting new name of “The LORD is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).” 

Jacob Rennaker

https://rsc.byu.edu/ascending-mountain-lord/approaching-holiness-sacred-space-ezekiel-paper

The Glorious Vision of the Temple and the Waters Flowing Beneath - 47

In a vision, the prophet Ezekiel saw the house of the Lord, and as he approached the door of the temple, “behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward” (Ezekiel 47:1). A heavenly ministrant then brought Ezekiel through the waters until they reached his ankles and then his knees and eventually became “a river that [he] could not pass over” (Ezekiel 47:3–5).

The heavenly ministrant told Ezekiel, “These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that . . . everything shall live wither the river cometh” (Ezekiel 47:8–9).

I testify that this passage, in addition to being a geological prediction, is a sacred, metaphorical, and prophetic promise that all who drink of the living waters which issue from the holy temple can and will be healed. If the living waters issuing from the temple can heal the Dead Sea, the living waters can also heal an unhappy marriage, refresh a parched testimony, restore a broken heart, and mend a strained relationship with neighbors or family members. They can give us all a new heart.

Spencer Condie: Sperry Symposium 2017 - https://rsc.byu.edu/prophets-prophecies-old-testament/i-will-write-my-law-their-hearts

“But when the water departs, the salt is all left, and you still have a desert and you still have a place. So it's fascinating to me that he's not just describing the healing of the sea, but the desert around it, and everything about it, that it needs this healing. It's fun to think about what that water is. I mean there are so many things you could choose. The Word of God, or covenants, or temple relationships, and the eternal families, and the way God heals things.”

Dr. Jan Martin - Follow Him Podcast

Seeking the Presence of the Lord

The book of Ezekiel is full of visions and revelations from Jehovah. Joseph Smith advised we be prepared when encountering messages from God: “. . . because the things of God are of deep import, and time and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out, thy mind O man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto Salvation, must stretch as High as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november-1838-31-july-1842/86

“Our religion is one in which we are preparing to enter into the presence of God. Second, it’s clear that we are also invited to seek the Lord on a personal basis to cultivate our relationship, purify our lives and keep His commandments and as we do we, we are promised that he will appear to us. It seems that these experiences are deeply personal and sacred. As is that personal mystical journey back into the presence of our Heavenly Parents. So we want to cultivate an active spiritual life but I think one of the most wonderful guides and somebody worth spending time on this is Elder Richard G. Scott who really sought to help develop in the saints this experience of communing with God and of learning to receive revelation to act upon revelation and to receive more. Finally, we learn from this that we are not alone in this journey. Many of God’s children hear his voice and seek His face. Many believers desire to taste and see. So we are part of a community of seekers from many different traditions and to learn more about these fellow travelers we can read about their experiences of encountering God and that I think is worth doing.”

Dr. Kristian Heal - Abide Podcast - Maxwell Institute