Obadiah was a prophet who lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. What is interesting about the book is that the focus is the little nation of Edom. This was a neighboring nation to Israel. Edom was more than that! You see, the feud between Edom and Israel went all the way back to Jacob and Esau.
Does God want us to complain? The prophet Habakkuk wrote in grievance down in his prophecy. We hear God’s answer, the prophet’s follow-up, and then God’s reply. Check out this dialogue between a troubled Old Testament Christian and the God who loves him. God’s promises are for you too! The righteous will live by faith.
God takes care of his people. God keeps his promises. That can be a happy thought when God calls for the destruction of one of Israel’s enemies. The Assyrians had terrorized the ancient world for more than a hundred years, but their destruction would happen.
Micah might be the most well known of the Minor Prophets because of his contribution to the Epiphany accounts, pointing out that Bethlehem would be the birth place of Jesus. His words offer very pointed comparisons to modern politics and immorality. He was quoted by Jesus and reminds us that we have a God like no other! Ours is a God who forgives.
Hosea is a Hebrew word that means salvation. The prophet was given a unique ministry because he was told to take an adulterous woman as his wife. This is normally a bad idea, but God was going to use his family as an object lesson. If that sounds horrifying to you, I would agree on a few different levels.
Amos is the first Minor Prophet that we will consider in our new Bible study: Minor Prophets Major Messages. In this book God does not hold back. He unleashes threats that would be made real in just a few years. The economic good times didn’t help Israel as they turned back from our God. Amos has some surprising insights into our culture as well. That days are evil!
Is the Conclusion to the Ten Commandments something new to you? If you have gone through catechism instruction in the Lutheran church as a youth, the chances are extremely high that you covered the Conclusion.
False testimony might be something people do in court when they don’t tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. False testimony, and the 8th Commandment, is actually a little more than that. As Martin Luther explained in his Small Catechism, keeping this commandment is done when we protect our reputation and our neighbor’s reputation. As the thousands of years have gone by since our God gave this commandment, this hasn’t gotten any easier.
What is the best way to protect your possessions? If you’re thinking a moat and a castle, you might be going in the right direction.
We’re going back to the basics with the 6th Commandment. God’s plan isn’t just a nice idea – it’s the best idea – because God is the one who designed love and marriage. His plan will work for you too.
How can you protect life? I suppose God’s admonition against murder in the 5th Commandment is a good place to start, but it goes far deeper. Let’s start in the home.
When our God commanded the world to honor their fathers and mothers, he set the ground rule for order in society. It is obvious for all when this doesn’t happen. Check out this week’s study as we work through some ways we can keep this commandment AND we’ll see how Jesus kept this commandment for us.
Do we have to worship on Saturday? What does physical rest have to do with spiritual rest? Why can’t I eat shrimp? All good question that are addressed in our study of the 3rd Commandment. Our God told his Old Testament people to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy, but what does that mean exactly. With a little help from Luther’s Small Catechism we’ll jump into this topic and see what our God has waiting for us in his word.
