Morning Musing: Zechariah 10:6

“I will strengthen the house of Judah and deliver the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had never rejected them. For I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you even seen someone do a project halfway and then quit? Sometime when you want a chuckle, google “that’s not my job memes.” You’ll be treated to a series of pictures of times when someone obviously did exactly what they were asked to do and not a scintilla more, even though the situation clearly required just a bit more to be made truly right. Well, when it comes to God’s restoration of the people of Israel–and us–He never quits until the job is totally complete.

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Morning Musing: Nahum 3:18-19

“King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together. There is no remedy for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news about you will clap their hands because of you, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Last Friday we ended with a question; a haunting question at that. Who would show some sympathy to Assyria? Who would give her any comfort? This morning we get our answer. No one. No one is available or willing. Actually it’s worse than that. Let’s talk about just how bad it is and what we are to do with this little collection of prophecy.

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Digging in Deeper: Nahum 1:1

“The pronouncement concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We are finally finished with Micah. It’s time for something new. This morning, we are turning to the collection of prophecy we have from a man named Nahum. Nahum’s book is one of the shorter works of the Minor Prophets. It is one of the more focused as well. It is about the downfall of the city of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire. Still, as brief and concentrated on a single subject as it is, there is much for us to learn if we will look closely and pay careful attention. God included and preserved it for a reason. Let’s begin digging in and see what kind of treasures we can uncover.

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Morning Musing: Micah 7:1

“How sad for me! For I am like one who — when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest — finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

If there’s any one word that is most often used to describe the Old Testament prophets, what do you think it would be? For me some words like judgmental and mean come to mind. That’s the kind of characterizations I often see them given in the culture at large. If there was a single word that was most used, though, it would be the word angry. That word is common. But is it right? Maybe not. Let’s talk about it.

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Morning Musing: Malachi 3:6

“Because I, the Lord, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What are some of the things we are taught to think about the God of the Old Testament nowadays? Best selling author and one of the infamous “Four Horsemen” of the New Atheists, Richard Dawkins puts it best in his book, The God Delusion, on page 51: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving, control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” Ouch, right?

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