Old Testament Survey

Lesson 36Obadiah, Joel, and Micah

We continue our survey of the Old Testament and our second lesson looking at the Minor Prophets. In this lesson, we will begin to survey the six prophets of Judah: Obadiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk. This grouping tells us that six of the twelve Minor Prophets ministered to Judah leading up to the time of the Babylonian captivity.

Bible

As a background for this study, you will recall from our brief study of I & II Kings that Judah seemed to vacillate from good and righteous kings to unrighteous and evil kings. Correspondingly, some of the six prophets ministered under good kings, while other prophets ministered during the evil reigns.

In this lesson, we will examine the first three of Judah’s prophets: Obadiah, Joel and Micah. As usual, you will have a lot of reading, but nothing that can’t be accomplished during the week.

Read the books of Obadiah, Joel, and Micah; and consider the following questions:

  1. Obadiah was one of the prophets of Judah that God sent to preach to a foreign Gentile nation. To what nation was Obadiah sent? (see Obadiah 1:1)
  2. Who was the father of the Edomites? (Genesis 25:19-34)
  3. What does God pronounce on Edom, and why? (see Obad. 1:10 and Isa. 34:1-17)
  4. In the book of Joel, what message is God sending to his people? (see Joel 2:1-2, for example)
  5. What does God call his people to do? (Joel 2:12-17)
  6. In return, what will the Lord do if they repent? (Joel 2:18-19)
  7. How will God judge the various nations of the world, and when will He do it? (see Joel 3:1-4 and Matthew 11:21-22)
  8. Following God’s judgment, what will happen to Israel and Jerusalem? (see Joel 3:17-21)
  9. Known for the abundance of prophecy about the coming Messiah, Micah provides great insight into the coming King. Who does he refer to in Micah 2:12-13?
  10. In Micah 3:9-11, what are God’s accusations against the leaders of Judah?
  11. What three things does God say He will do to these leaders, specifically to their city, their country, and the Temple? (see Micah 3:12)
  12. Once God has executed His judgment, then what will He do? What is His plan? Summarize what Micah Chapter 4 tells us about God’s mountain and His plan.

In our study, we continue to see that, through God’s eyes, unrighteous, sin and evil-doing by His chosen people and their leaders will not be tolerated. What a lesson this teaches us for today.

How is the Church today measuring up against these same standards; and how are we, as followers of Christ, measuring up? Would God be pleased with us today, or would He say similar things to us as He said to His chosen people through these prophets?

Thanks for studying with us.

In Christ,

Wes

[2009]

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