70. Beginner Bible Course: The Book of Isaiah, the Book of Zephaniah, and the Book of Habakkuk

EPISODE  70  The simple Bible overview of…ISAIAH, ZEPHANIAH, AND HABAKKUK – THREE MORE ‘STICKY NOTES’ TO JUDAH

Sent the prophet, Joel to the Southern Kings saying, this is your wake-up call. The sinning needs to stop. Judah hit the snooze button. So God send Micah. We looked at Mike his name who is like, God, and that was Micah sticky note message. God saying who is like me, who even comes close. God then sent the third prophet to Judah a contemporary of Micah Isaiah Isaiah is the first major prophet in the old Testament. You'll recall the two categories, major profits were the big scrolls, minor profits, the little ones. It had nothing to do with the importance of their message. Just the size Isaiah comes right after the last poetic book song of Solomon, the first major prophet, it's also the largest major profit, other than the compilation of the sums in the dead center of your Bible.

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It's the largest book in the old Testament. And it was a big scroll. He's a remarkable prophet. Some would say God put in first in the prophecy section of the old Testament, because he wanted to put his best foot forward, but it might also be a sticky note message. Isaiah his name means God saves. And that's essentially the sticky note message he has. Don't miss your savior. I should tell you Isaiah is a battleground for old Testament critics, especially those who don't believe in predictive prophecy, who don't believe that things can be known in advance yet. Isaiah speaks of several critical things in advance. The upcoming captivity in Babylon and the return of some of the people of Judah under a Persian King, yet to be born whom he specifically names Cyrus we've already seen in first Kings King, Josiah was prophesied by name 300 years in advance.

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Isaiah was from an upper-class influential home. He rubbed shoulders with royalty. As we've already seen in Kings of the Hill South, he was the one who advised Hezekiah on snacker ribs, God smack. As he surrounded the walls of Jerusalem. Isaiah his full of warnings of alliances with other nations and an urging to trust in the Lord. Their God. He also hits hard at the culture. It was really messed up. I urge you to read chapter five, step back and ask yourself the question just how much is this? Like our world today? It's almost scary. Isaiah is mostly concerned, not at the ILS themselves, but at the cancer in the nation spirit that would prompt them to commit such things.

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Isaiah sees it coming from spiritual rot. This'll become even more striking when you read Isaiah's text. The key thought about God and Isaiah is his holiness with Isaiah sticky note being don't miss your savior. It shouldn't surprise us. He's called by some, the evangelical prophet. This is because there's more than Isaiah about the person and work of the Stomper than in any other old Testament book. While clues are scattered through other books of the old Testament, you just trip over them constantly. In the book of Isaiah, I'm going to give you a little selection from this marvelous book. If you've been hanging around the Bible at all, or even just go to church on Christmas and Easter, some of these are gonna sound quite familiar.

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The word of the Lord, coming through Isaiah, the prophet, come now let us reason together says the Lord though, your sins are as Scarlet. There'll be white as snow though. They are red as Crimson. They will be like wool. Isaiah repeats the words of Joel, the prophet. Speaking of a King that will come, he will judge between the nations and will render decisions for many peoples. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their Spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not lift up sword against nation and never again, will they learn more about this in the year of King? You XY as death. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted with the train of his robe, filling the temple.

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Sarah fem stood above him and one called out to another and said, Holy Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Or have you heard this prophecy of Isaiah? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a Virgin will conceive and bear a son and she will call his name Emmanuelle. Or how about this for a child will be born to us. A son will be given and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be wonderful. Counselor, mighty God, eternal father, Prince of peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or to peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forever more, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

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Or how about all of chapter 11 about the shoot springing up from the stump of David. Read that for yourself. Then move to all of chapter 53, where Isaiah described someone who is forsaken of men. Scourged silent like a lamb before his shearers pierced through for our transgressions. One on whom the Lord will cause the iniquity of us all to fall upon. And finally, in my sampling, this, the spirit of the Lord, God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim Liberty, to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of our Lord.

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If that sounds familiar, Jesus, the young rabbi was asked to read scripture at his hometown church. He asked for the Isaiah scroll and opened it to this passage and read it. Then when he was finished, he sat down and said, today, this scripture has been in your hearing, Oh my, would you please hover over? Isaiah the first 39 chapters are essentially warnings to Israel, to Judah in the nations of the consequence of sin before a Holy God that their sins have separated them from a Holy God. Then the last 26 chapters are just chock full of consolation and hope that a Holy God would send a servant one like a Lam to bear the iniquity of us all Judah don't miss your savior.

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Don't miss your savior. A little epilogue on this amazing prophet tradition says King Manasseh. The killer King of Jerusalem had him shoved inside of a hollow log inside him in half. Now we fast forward about 65 years in the Southern kingdom of Judah. We get our next prophet Zephaniah it's now about six 25 BC Zephaniah is the great, great grandson of King Hezekiah judgment is the central theme. And his sticky note is this here comes the Judge like Joel Zephaniah speaks of immediate judgment and ultimate judgment.

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Seek the Lord humble yourselves, perhaps just perhaps you'll be hidden from his anger. When I read Zephaniah it reminds me of living in an apartment with somebody, very angry, living above in chapters. One and two, we get to listen in as God in the apartment above sounds like he's kicking furniture around the apartment, angry over his incorrigible kids. We hear stomping over Philistia and Moab and Ammon and Ethiopia in a Syria. Then he starts stomping around about Judah and Jerusalem. They're tyrannical on teachable, corrupt and all of their ways through the ceiling.

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You hear him mumbling about ravenous leaders and priests who are profane and profits who are reckless, who do violence to God's laws. God, up there is really angry. It is incorrigible children, but then you get to chapter three and something changes. Suddenly the stomping around upstairs turns to rhythmic tapping God dances over his kids. After judgment. He dances Zephaniah says there'll be a day when all will call on the Lord and serve shoulder to shoulder, where there will be no shame for all of us. Full deeds will be removed from God's kids a day.

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When the humble will take refuge in the Lord, there'll be no lies, no deceit. Okay. Piece to Judah sinful Judah God gives hope through Zephaniah the Lord. Your God is in your midst. He's a victim, serious warrior. He will exalt over you with joy. He will quiet you. His love. He'll rejoice over you with shouts of joy. I will turn your shame to praise. I will gather you together. I will do this before your eyes says the Lord. How could God do this over incorrigible children? Well, I know how that could happen because I'm a dad of four kids for the last sticky note.

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Prophet of the Southern kingdom. I want to look at today is Habakkuk. Habakkuk the minor prophet with the major question. What do you do? And God doesn't seem to make sense. Habakkuk prophecy comes two years or less from when King Nebuchadnezzar, invades and conquers Jerusalem in Judah and halls. Many of the people off as captives to Babylon they're on the precipice of destruction. And yet they don't seem to act like it. Isaiah told the people of Judah. God is Holy and you must repent. Zephaniah said Here comes your Judge yet two decades later, God's done nothing. Habakkuk wants to know why.

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While most profits in scripture are bold and confront the Kings and culture in the name of God. Habakkuk confronts God with questions. You and I have when God's actions or timing, don't seem to make any sense. Habakkuk asks God two questions. The first is this. Why aren't you doing something about the evil in Judah God answers his question. I am going to do something I'm about to do something. I'm going to bring the Babylonians and they're going to take Judah to the woodshed before taking them to Babel. And Habakkuk wasn't quite ready for that response. So he asked God a second question. Why would you a Holy God use a more dirty instrument, babbling to punish us.

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He reminds God about the Babylonians. They make their own laws. They're drunks. They're as arrogant as you can get. Then Habakkuk gives God his own word picture there, going to capture Judah in a net. Then they're going to drag us to babble in their shore. And you know what they're going to do there going to worship the net. Did you catch that? God, the idolaters are going to worship the net. God replies to Habakkuk second question with this little prelude, the Lord is in his Holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. I remember growing up in a little Baptist church and the choir would sing that as a call to worship on almost every Sunday.

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But this is not a call to worship. This is a call to humbly shut up. Then God describes himself through a vision to Habakkuk in the way that would make anyone speechless by the end of this vision and humbled and informed. Habakkuk says this though, the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines though. The yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food though. The flock should be cut off from the fold and there'd be no cattle in the stalls yet I will exalt in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of myself. Salvation. What is the sticky note of Habakkuk it's simply this just Trust Me Habakkuk just Trust Me if you'd like to memorize a verse in Habakkuk I'd suggest this short one Habakkuk two for the just shall live by faith.

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Just Trust Me Habakkuk and anyone else in Judah fearing God will need to learn to trust him in the coming months as Babel and prepares to attack. But before they do, God has to last voices of warnings for Judah like Hosea and the North. God is going to send two guys, not just to speak warnings, but to live out his message, to be show and tell boys to live it out in front of them. Gerry and Zeke God's odd guys will be looking at Gerry and Zeke in our next word picture.