Zephaniah 1 (day 907) 25 June 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1: Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah (641-609 B.C.). He may have been related to Josiah, if the Hezekiah mentioned here was the king of Judah during the time of the prophet Isaiah. Not much more is known of Zephaniah aside from hints within the text… Continue reading Zephaniah (day 907-909)
Category: Chapter a Day
Habakkuk (day 904-906)
Habakkuk 1 (day 904) 22 June 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1: Habakkuk is otherwise unidentified. We can place his writing to the years leading up to the Babylonian conquest of Judah, but no more definite time or place can be discerned. He introduces his book as an oracle, but we shall see that it reads more like… Continue reading Habakkuk (day 904-906)
Nahum (day 901-903)
Nahum 1 (day 901) 19 June 2012 1: Nahum is thought to be a Judean prophet whose oracle was given in the years preceding the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. The Assyrian empire had begun to collapse after the death of Ashurbanipal about 627 B.C., and the prophet gives a word from God during… Continue reading Nahum (day 901-903)
Micah (day 894-900)
Micah 1 (day 894) 12 June 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1: This verse contains all we know about the prophet Micah. Moresheth was a small village southwest of Jerusalem. He claims to have been active during the reigns of three Judean kings; Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, which places him somewhere between 742 — 687 B.C. He is… Continue reading Micah (day 894-900)
Jonah (day 890-893)
Jonah 1 (day 890) 8 June 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-3: There is a reference at 1 Kings 14:25 of a Jonah son of Amittai, a prophet who lived during the reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel. It is tempting to equate him with the main character in the book of Jonah, but scholars don’t generally… Continue reading Jonah (day 890-893)
Obadiah (day 889)
Obadiah (day 889) 7 June 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1-4: Welcome to the shortest book in the Old Testament. Not much is known about Obadiah, but the subject of his book would indicate that he was a prophet in Jerusalem during the time of the Babylonian invasion. The name means “worshiper of God” and some think it… Continue reading Obadiah (day 889)
Amos (day 880 – 888)
Amos 1 (day 880) 29 May 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1: Uzziah was king of Judah from 783 to 742 B.C., and Jeroboam king of Israel from 785 to 745 B.C. Thus we have a fairly narrow date for the prophecies of Amos. He introduces himself as a shepherd from Tekoa, a region 10 or so miles… Continue reading Amos (day 880 – 888)
Joel (day 877-879)
Joel 1 (day 877) 26 May 2012] Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1: “Son of Pethuel” is the only information given about Joel’s identity. We will learn in the course of reading the book that he is likely situated in Jerusalem some time after the return of the exiles as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Many… Continue reading Joel (day 877-879)
Hosea (day 863-876)
Hosea 1 (day 863) 12 May 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1: The period in which Hosea prophesied was a particularly disruptive time in Israel’s history. Most scholars date him from 750-724 B.C. It is not obvious from the opening verse, but Hosea lived and prophesied in the northern kingdom, Israel. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel were all… Continue reading Hosea (day 863-876)
Daniel (day 851-862)
Daniel 1 (day 851) 30 April 2012 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Daniel has to rank as the strangest book in the Old Testament. The first six chapters contain seven stories of the Jewish experience as exiles in Babylon, casting these stories around a small cast among whom the young man Daniel is the primary character. The final six… Continue reading Daniel (day 851-862)