Chapter 13: The Prophets: Jonah to Habakkuk
The Prophets
Jonah to Habakkuk
Continuing with the Minor Prophets, we discover spiritual truths linked to the New Testament. Jesus used Jonah as a picture of His own death, burial, and resurrection; and Habakkuk teaches us to walk by faith and not by sight. A working knowledge of the Old Testament enables us to more deeply mine the riches of the New Testament.
Jonah
In the Hebrew language, the name “Jonah” means “dove.” In our modern culture, the dove symbolizes peace, but this book doesn’t seem to contain much peace. Jonah had no peace; if he had, he would have obeyed God’s orders. The sailors had no peace because the Lord sent a terrible storm. Jonah then had no peace during those three days and nights inside the great fish, nor was he at peace when the city of Nineveh repented and escaped judgment. The only peace Jonah experienced was when he was taking a nap down in the ship. Let’s trace the stages in Jonah’s experience and learn from them what it means to have peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7).
To begin with, Jonah rejected God’s will (1:1–16), and residing in the will of God is essential if we are to have the peace of God. For a brief time during his nap, Jonah experienced peace, but the storm put an end to that. We can disobey the Lord and still experience peace that is temporary and shallow. The reason God has a will for each of His children is so we might have God’s peace within. He wants us to have the love, joy, and peace the Holy Spirit gives to obedient believers (Gal. 5:22), for the joy of the Lord gives us the strength we need to accomplish His will (Neh. 8:10). The Anglican bishop Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) wrote, “God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.” Why? Because if we are not happy in His will, we will find a false happiness outside His will, and this ultimately leads to sorrow. Jonah was a Jew, and the Jews are supposed to be a blessing to the Gentiles (Gen. 12:1–3). The will of God expresses His love; it is nourishment (John 4:34) and not punishment.
But in spite of his disobedience, Jonah experienced God’s grace (1:17—2:10). It’s hard to believe that Jonah would rather drown than do God’s will! Jonah thought that he was making the decisions, but the Lord was in complete control. God arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And when Jonah repented, the fish vomited him up alive onto dry land. It’s likely that people witnessed this miracle and talked about it, and this helped Jonah get a crowd. The Lord disciplined Jonah and gave him a second chance, just as He did for Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Peter, and you and me! Jonah prayed earnestly, and the Lord answered. His prayer is woven together with quotations from the Psalms: Jonah 2:2 and Psalms 120:1; Jonah 2:3 and Psalms 42:7; Jonah 2:4 and Psalms 31:22; Jonah 2:5–6 and Psalms 9:1; Jonah 2:7 and Psalms 142:3; Jonah 2:8 and Psalms 31:6; Jonah 2:9 and Psalms 3:8. We can at least give the prophet credit for memorizing God’s Word and knowing how to pray the Psalms.
The third stage in Jonah’s experience was to witness God’s power (3:1–10). Even though he had no great love for the people of Nineveh—the Jews feared and despised the Assyrians—Jonah faithfully declared God’s message (eventually), and the people repented. Even the animals repented! God had been merciful to the sailors who threw Jonah into the sea, and now He was merciful to the wicked Assyrians. God in His mercy does not give us what we do deserve, and in His grace, He gives us what we don’t deserve! Jonah was not a perfect servant, yet centuries later, Jesus used him to teach about His resurrection (Matt. 12:39–41; Luke 11:29–32).
That should have been the happy ending, but it is not; for Jonah forfeited the blessing God wanted to give him (4:1–11)! Instead of singing the praises of the Lord and teaching it to the Assyrians, Jonah pouted and asked God to take his life! Jonah had preached one of the greatest evangelistic crusades recorded in the Bible, yet he was angry, bitter, and wanting to die! Why? Jonah had given his body, mind, and will to God and finally gone to Nineveh, but he had not given God his heart! He did not love the Lord for choosing him and using him, nor did he love the people to whom he preached. It isn’t enough just to do God’s will, but we must do “the will of God from the heart” (Eph. 6:6, emphasis added). The Lord not only wants us to be a blessing but also to receive a blessing. Everything and everyone recorded in this book obeyed God and was true to its nature: the wind and the sea, the sailors, the great fish, the plant, and the worm, and even Jonah obeyed—but his heart was not in it! He spoke the truth, and people repented, but he did not speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). Unless we are motivated by love, we will not experience the full blessing of serving the Lord.
Micah
Micah’s name means “Who is like the Lord?” This question (or one similar to it) is asked frequently in the Bible. The people of Israel asked it after they crossed the Red Sea (Exod. 15:11), and Moses asked it before the nation entered Canaan (Deut. 3:24; 1 Kings 8:23; Ps. 35:10; 71:19; 89:5–8; and 113:5–6.) The Israelites were prone to neglect the Lord God and worship the idols made by the neighboring nations. Psalm 115 makes it clear that the worship of idols is empty.
God called Micah, an ordinary farmer from the small town of Moresheth, to give some messages to the people of Judah and the surrounding territory. The word hear is found eight times in this brief book (1:2; 3:1, 9; 5:15; 6:1–2, 9; 7:7). Micah delivered three messages:
Micah opened with a courtroom scene: the Lord came down and announced that His people were now being tried for their sins. He mentioned some of the towns and did some wordplay with their names (1:10–16). Beth Aphrah means “house of dust,” and he told them to “roll in the dust.” Shaphir means “beautiful,” but he saw them in “naked shame.” Zaanan means “going out,” but he said they did not go out. Beth Ezel means “house of nearness,” but he saw their place taken from them. See if you can discover why he used these names: Maroth means “bitterness,” Lachish resembles the word for “a team of horses,” Achzib means “a lie,” and Mareshah means “an inheritance.” The prophet pronounced woes upon the rebellious sinners and the false prophets (2:1–11) but closed with a promise of deliverance and restoration (vv. 12–13).
In 3:1–12, he condemned the rulers, false prophets, and priests for their sins, but in chapter 4 he announced the coming of the promised kingdom (vv. 1–13). The Lord often mingles the light of hope with the clouds of judgment; but at the end times, what means salvation to Israel will mean condemnation for their enemies. Micah 5:2 is a key Messianic verse, quoted in Matthew 2:5–6. Through His prophet, the Lord pleads with His people to repent and return (7:1–13). What are the evidences that they have turned from their sins? The answer is 6:8, one of the key verses in Micah’s prophecy. The prophet closed his third message with a reminder that God forgives and restores His people when they confess their sins and turn to Him. You might want to read the book again and mark the “hope passages” for your own encouragement.
Nahum
Nahum was called “Nahum the Elkoshite.” His name means “comfort,” and his hometown was Elkosh in southern Judah. He did bring comfort to the Jewish people because he announced the defeat of the Assyrians and the destruction of Nineveh, the Assyrian’s capital city. The prophet Jonah had warned the city that the Lord would destroy it if they didn’t repent of their ruthless brutality, and they repented; but the new rulers paid no attention to the past. Nahum didn’t call for repentance; he announced total ruin. He preached about a God who was jealous over His people Israel, whom the Assyrians had brutalized, and that the end of Nineveh had come.
In the first chapter, the book of Nahum describes the character of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is jealous over His people as parents are over their children and would not permit the Assyrians to continue abusing them. Yes, God is long-suffering and slow to get angry (1:2–3), but He is also a holy God whose sovereign will controls the universe. Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC, and it never was rebuilt. As you read chapter 1, notice how the prophet emphasized the attributes of God.
Some people so emphasize God’s love that it upsets them when anyone speaks of God’s anger or justice. “Why do you wash your hands so much?” a child asked the physician, and he replied, “Because I hate germs.” God hates sin, and the Assyrians’ sin record was monumental. In Poor Richard’s Almanack, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden but it is forbidden because it is hurtful.” Read chapter 1 carefully and see what Nahum wrote about God’s war against sin.
Chapter 2 focuses on the destruction of Nineveh and the promise of restoration for the kingdom of Israel while chapter 3 expresses the woes of the people of Nineveh when their city is destroyed. There was no escape because the Lord had spoken. Ponder Romans 11:32.
Habakkuk
Habakkuk is a remarkable book that contains a verse quoted three times in the New Testament, a verse that helped spearhead the Reformation. In the Hebrew language, Habakkuk means “to embrace” or “to wrestle.” The prophet did wrestle with the Lord about His will for His people, and in the end, he learned to cling to the Lord by faith for all he needed in those difficult days. If you have ever wrestled with your heavenly Father about what He is doing and what He wants you to do, Habakkuk is the book for you.
Chapter 1. The book opens with disappointment because the prophet has seen a burden that has disturbed him greatly. He learned that the Lord was permitting the Babylonians to invade Judah, conquer the land, and take many captives away to Babylon. How could a holy God allow His own covenant people to suffer and be defeated by idol-worshipping pagans? “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,” the prophet argued (v. 13). The Lord explained to His servant that what looks like unfaithfulness on His part is really obedience to His own covenant with the nation. The kingdom of Judah had disobeyed the Lord and violated the covenant they promised to keep, and the Lord had to be faithful and chasten His rebellious people.
Even when we have been faithful to the Lord, times come when it seems He has deserted us and we don’t understand why. We are like Joseph in the Egyptian prison or David being threatened by King Saul or the widows Ruth and Naomi in the land of Moab. God took good care of these people and saw them through to victory. Like Habakkuk, we ask God questions: “How long?” (v. 2) and “Why?” (v. 3). God responded to their questions but didn’t give them explanations (vv. 5, 17). God’s people don’t live on explanations; they live on promises. God affirmed that He was at work and that His work was for their good. This reminds us of Romans 8:28 and 2 Corinthians 4:16–18.
Chapter 2. The key word here is discovery. The prophet stopped asking questions and started standing still and listening for God’s voice. He was not disappointed, for the Lord made three statements that gave the prophet courage and comfort.
We begin with God’s grace. “But the just shall live by his faith” (2:4). This is the important verse quoted three times in the New Testament. Romans 1:17 quotes it and explains who “the just” are—sinners who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and received the gift of righteousness. Paul also quotes it in Galatians 3:11 as part of his explanation of how the just shall live. Hebrews 10:38 quotes it as an introduction to the Hebrews 11 “by faith” chapter. In the Christian life, faith, and grace always go together, whether for salvation or service (Eph. 2:8–10). According to Habakkuk 2:4, the proud don’t live by faith because they think they can handle things themselves and don’t need the Lord’s help.
God’s glory—“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (2:14). The defeat of the Jewish nation and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem did not seem glorious to Habakkuk and his people, but the Lord knew what He was doing. Though it may look like God’s people are failing, there is never a hint that God is failing, for He never fails (Zeph. 3:5). Except for the beauties and blessings of nature, which most people ignore, the earth today and most of the people on it are certainly not glorifying God. However, the believing remnant on this earth who are letting their lights shine are bringing glory to the name of the Lord. But even more, when the Lord finally wraps up the works of the earth and human history, God’s glory will be revealed (Rev. 21:11, 23–26).
God’s government—“But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him” (2:20). No matter what the newscasters report about the affairs of state, the debates of world leaders, or even the weather, “God is still on the throne and He will remember His own,” to quote from an old gospel chorus. God is sovereign. He commands His angels—He doesn’t consult them—and they do His will. I confess that I occasionally have been tempted to give my heavenly Father good advice, but I have not, and I’m glad. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). We never negotiate God’s will; we simply accept it as His gift of love (Ps. 33:20–22) and trust and obey, for our Father knows best.
Chapter 3. The prophet has moved from disappointment to discovery, and now he experiences devotion to the Lord. Humble submission and prayer now replace his questions and worries. He begins by accepting God’s Word and trusting that God’s work will go on to the finish (3:2). We don’t always discern God’s plan, nor do we always understand His plan; but knowing that the Lord is in command puts peace and joy in our hearts. Habakkuk listened to God speak, and the word brought a comforting joy to his soul. He not only accepted God’s Word and His work, he also accepted the fact of God’s wrath and prayed that the Lord would be merciful to His people (3:1–2). He knew the nation had sinned and deserved chastening, but like any loving shepherd, he pled for mercy. At the beginning of his meeting with the Lord, Habakkuk wanted God to stop what He was doing; but by the end, he asked God to continue His work and complete it. When the Lord chastens His people, it’s not a stern judge punishing criminals but a loving father maturing His children. I learned early in life that the closer I stood to my father when he was disciplining me, the shorter were the strokes and the softer the blows! When my loving heavenly Father disciplines me, He knows how much is needed and how long it should last (Heb. 12:3–11).
You can be sure that the prophet’s experience was not an easy one, but by waiting before the Lord, pondering His Word, and trusting Him, he moved from being troubled to being triumphant. Why don’t we follow his example?
ADVENTURE ASSIGNMENT #13
Remember: Habakkuk means “to wrestle” or “to embrace.” Read Genesis 32 and see this difference illustrated. Recall other Bible characters and how they illustrate Bible truths.