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Chapter One – The day of the Lord’s Anger,Jerusalem and Judah fall! Judah worships Baaland Molech. Chapter Two – Surroundingnations destroyed – Philistia, Moab, Ammon,Ethiopia, Assyria and Nineveh. Nineveh willBe a ‘habitation of dragons’. Chapter Three1-7 fall of Jerusalem; 14ff. Song of rejoicing.

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Other NationsOther Nations CanaanitesCanaanites HittitesHittites PhilistinesPhilistines PhoeniciansPhoenicians MoabitesMoabites AmmonitesAmmonites EdomitesEdomites MidianitesMidianites

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NASA PHOTO© EBibleTeacher.com

Mediterranean

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Hittite Hittite EmpireEmpire

EdomEdom

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AmmonAmmon

MidianMidian

Nations of Canaan

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1414 "That terrible day of the LORD is near.  "That terrible day of the LORD is near. Swiftly it comes – a day when strong men Swiftly it comes – a day when strong men will cry bitterly. will cry bitterly. 1515 It is a day when the  It is a day when the LORD's anger will be poured out. It is a day LORD's anger will be poured out. It is a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, of clouds, blackness, gloom, of clouds, blackness, 1616 trumpet  trumpet calls, and battle cries. Down go the walled calls, and battle cries. Down go the walled cities and strongest battlements! cities and strongest battlements! 1717 "Because you have sinned against the  "Because you have sinned against the LORD.LORD.

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11 Gather together and pray, you shameless  Gather together and pray, you shameless nation. nation. 22 Gather while there is still time,  Gather while there is still time, before judgment begins and your before judgment begins and your opportunity is blown away like chaff. Act opportunity is blown away like chaff. Act now, before the fierce fury of the LORD now, before the fierce fury of the LORD falls and the terrible day of the LORD's falls and the terrible day of the LORD's anger begins. anger begins. 33 Beg the LORD to save you  Beg the LORD to save you – all you who are humble, all you who – all you who are humble, all you who uphold justice. Walk humbly and do what is uphold justice. Walk humbly and do what is right. Perhaps even yet the LORD will right. Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you from his anger on that day of protect you from his anger on that day of destruction. destruction.

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11 And then you will no longer need to be ashamed of yourselves, for you will no longer be rebels against me. I will remove all the proud and arrogant people from among you. There will be no pride on my holy mountain. 12 Those who are left will be the lowly and the humble, for it is they who trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The people of Israel who survive will do no wrong to each other, never telling lies or deceiving one another. They will live peaceful lives, lying down to sleep in safety; there will be no one to make them afraid."

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1414 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O  Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! O daughter of Jerusalem! 1515 For the LORD  For the LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the disperse the armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will fear disaster no more. and you will fear disaster no more. 1616 On that  On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, "Cheer up, Zion! Don't be afraid! "Cheer up, Zion! Don't be afraid! 1717 For the  For the LORD your God has arrived to live among LORD your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice you. He is a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song." you by singing a happy song." 10

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Developing and Maintainingan Intimate Relationship with our Lord

*Approaching Him(2:1)

"... Gather yourselves together" Realization and confession of sin

**Understanding Him(3:8)

"... My decision is to gather nations"

Acceptance of God’s sovereign and holy plan

***Delighting in Him

(3:18, 20)

"... I will gather you" Joy and confidence of His work in our

lives

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The minor prophets, do not appear to be in strict chronological order. Although we will let each of the writing of the minor prophets give us the time of their prophecies, we can give a rough time-line of their writings. Two prophets, Obadiah and Joel may have preached in the ninth century B.C. (853-796). In the following century, five prophets can be connected to the time of 793-686 B.C.: Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Isaiah, and Micah. Nahum Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah prophecy in the next century: Nahum, around 663 B.C.; Zephaniah probably 640-609 B.C.; Habakkuk, around 612 B.C.; and Jeremiah began in 627 B.C. and continued past the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Daniel and Ezekiel preached the words of the Lord during the Captivity in Babylon. Daniel was taken into Captivity during the first invasion of Judah, 605 B.C. Ezekiel was taken to Babylon in 597 B.C. and continued his prophecies until roughly 571 B.C. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi lived and preached after the Captivity: Haggai, 520 B.C.; Zechariah, about the same time; and Malachi, around 432 B.C.  The minor prophets close out the writings of the Old Testament.

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As Babylonian presure on Judah increased in the 500s BCE, Jeremiah spoke of God's coming judgment. Warning the king not to resist the Babylonians, Jeremiah's message focuses on the destruction to come. Still, he also expresses hope for a new covenant with God which will not be broken. 

Also dating from in the 500s BCE, Ezekiel's message was delivered to the Judean people exiled to Babylon. The stories, parables, and prophetic actions the book relates address the topics of judgment, hope and restoration. 

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Living in Israel (the Northern Nation) in the 700s BCE, Hosea married a prostitute and used her unfaithfulness to illustrate Israel's "adultery" against God. Hosea's own faithfulness toward his wife is used to illustrate God's faithful love toward Israel. 

Joel interpreted a locust plague in Judah as God's judgment against the nation and urged the people to repent. 

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Amos was a Judean prophet who went north to Israel and preached judgment against the rich people there during a time of prosperity in the late 700s BCE. He called on them to practice economic justice toward the poor and oppressed.  Obadiah pronounced judgment on Edom for its role in aiding the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in the 500s BCE.  The book of Jonah presents the story of a prophet who did not want to preach to the people of Ninevah, one of the capitals of the Assyrian Empire. When he finally relented and delivered God's message of judgment, the people repented and Jonah became angry because God decided not to punish them.  Micah delivered words of both judgment and mercy to Judah in the 700s BCE. His brief summary of what God requires (6.8) is one of the most quoted texts in the Hebrew Bible. 

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Shortly before Ninevah, capital of the Assyrian Empire fell (612 BCE), Nahum rejoiced that God was bringing down the once powerful people because of their cruelty in war.  Written shortly before the Babylonians conquered Judah, the book of Habakkuk questions God's fairness, but then asserts that the righteous person must have faith in God's justice. 

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After beginning by announcing the Lord's judgment on Judah and its neighbors, Zephaniah changes tone in chapter three to announce that the judgment has been removed. This change may reflect the religious shift that came in Judah with Josiah's reform.  After the Judean people returned from exile in Babylon, Haggai urged them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.  Like Haggai, Zechariah urged the people to rebuild the Temple. The book also contains later prophecies from the time after the rebuilding was complete.  Malachi criticized the religous apathy of people living in Judah after the return from exile in Babylon.

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By the late 7th century, Babylonia and Egypt were caught up in a power struggle. In 601 B.C.E. Nebuchadnezzar's armies attacked Egypt, an event that led to the revolt of Jehoiakim, king of Judea, against Babylon. The Judean king and his ministers were pro-Egyptian, and against the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, they aligned themselves with Pharaoh Necho of Egypt. In 597 B.C.E., however, Babylonian armies marched into Judea and besieged Jerusalem. Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin became king. Nebuchadnezzar's Chronicles record this siege. Soon thereafter, Babylonian forces entered Jerusalem and the young Jehoiachin was exiled to Babylon with 10,000 subjects. A Babylonian ration list suggests King Jehoiachin and his family were treated well while in captivity. The Babylonians anointed Jehoiachin's uncle Zedekiah, as king. Subsequently, King Zedekiah began to withhold the requisite payments of tribute to the Babylonians, and Nebuchadnezzar sent his forces once more into Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. This time Jerusalem was captured, the Temple was destroyed and large portions of the population were deported to Babylon.

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   By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. And the wicked who carried us away in captivity, required of us a song. How can we sing the Lord¹s song in a strange land?

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- Psalm 137 Countless musicians have made Psalm 137, "By the Rivers of Babylon," an anthem for the oppressed throughout the world. For example, African-American singers used the song to bemoan their experience as slaves and the exile from their African homelands. The Psalm's origins, however, go back to 586 B.C.E. when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed for the first time and thousands of Jews were sent into exile at the hands of the Babylonian ruler, Nebuchadnezzar. The siege of Jerusalem is recorded in detail in the Chronicles of Nebuchadnezzar from ca. 597 B.C.E. as well as in the Bible (2 Kings 24). By the late 7th century B.C.E., Assyrian power was waning and Babylonian power was on the rise. In less than a century, the Babylonians determined the fate of the Near East, including the only remaining autonomous Jewish kingdom Judea. 32

Yehud Coin

           

Coin Symbolizes Jewish Power Under Persians

Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. meant a twofold crisis: not only was Jerusalem destroyed and countless Judeans forced to leave their land, but also they believed that the Divine Presence--the shekhina--departed from Jerusalem. In order to bring back the Divine Presence, the people felt compelled to rebuild the Temple and publicly recite the Torah. During the exile in Babylon, the Jews attempted to return to their laws and cultural practices. It is likely that the Jewish Bible took its final shape and became the central text of the Jewish religion during this period. In 539 B.C.E., the armies of Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon and laid claim to the territories held by the Babylonians. The barrel-shaped cylinder of Cyrus from ca. 538 B.C.E. recorded the conquest of Babylon as well as his decree to rehabilitate desolate lands, cities, and temples. The fervent revival of religious practice by the Babylonian Jews was aided by Cyrus, who decreed that the Jews could return to Jerusalem. More specifically, he ordered that the religious institutions of the Jewish faith be strengthened. The Bible also records the decree of Cyrus in 2 Chronicles 36:22,23; Ezra 1:1-4. The very next year (538 B.C.E.), Zerubbabel led 42,000 repatriates on the "First Return" to Jerusalem. Under his leadership and then under Nehemiah, a Jewish official of the Persian court, the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Ezra, a priest-scribe who led the "Second Return," was authorized by the Persian king, Antaxerxes I, to instruct professing Jews in the laws of Moses and the observance of Jewish laws. The Bible recounts these transformations in Ezra 8. Despite the presence of a Persian governor in Judea, the Jews enjoyed a high degree of autonomy that is demonstrated in silver coins minted in the fourth century with the inscription, "Yehud," the Aramaic name for Judea. The right to mint coins represented the respected political status of a province. The Yehud Coins of ca. 350 B.C.E. attest to Judea's prestige, which was due to its capital, Jerusalem, and the Temple. Nehemiah governed Judea for approximately 12 years. When he died, internal administration passed to the hereditary High Priests, who served first under the Persians and, then, after the invasions of Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.E., under Hellenistic domination.

                 

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The conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the King of Persia, was a turning-point in the history of the Jewish people. Cyrus's policy of religious tolerance was manifested in the restoration of temples in Babylon and in the return of the various people exiled by the Babylonians to the countries of their origin. This was the setting for the policy of Cyrus toward the Jews, which permitted their return from Babylon and the resettlement of Jerusalem. Jews who remained in Babylon were allowed to give silver, gold, and other possessions to the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. At the head of the first wave of returning Jews was Zerubbabel.The decree, which is recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder, permitted the exiles of Judea to return to Jerusalem. Of significant importance, Cyrus' decree gave official status to the Temple that was to be built in the future. The reconstruction of the Temple was completed in 515 B.C.E., with financial aid from Darius I. Darius originated the custom that among the offerings in the Temple, sacrifices should be offered for the life of the king and his sons.

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Cyrus Cylinder Translation

"As to the region from [lacuna] as far as Assur and Susa, Agade, Eshnunna, the towns of Zamban, Me-Turnu, Der as well as the region of the Gutians, I returned to these sanctuaries on the other side of the Tigris, the sanctuaries of which had been ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned to them their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the command of Marduk, the great lord, all the gods of Sumer and Akkad whom Nabonidus had brought into Babylon to the anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former chapels, the places which make them happy."-Translation by A. Leo Oppenheim and copied from James B. Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern Texts. Copyright (c) Ada Yardeni & Carta, Jerusalem 35

Cyrus Cylinder Biblical ReferenceIn the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, when the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah was fulfilled, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia to issue a proclamation throughout his realm by word of mouth and in writing as follows: "Thus said King Cyrus of Persia: The Lord God of Heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has charged me with building Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Anyone of you of all His people--may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem that is in Judah and build the House of the Lord God of Israel, the God that is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:1-3) In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued an order concerning the House of God in Jerusalem: 'Let the house be rebuilt, a place for offering sacrifices, with a base built up high. Let it be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, with a course of unused timber for each three courses of hewn stone. The expenses shall be paid by the palace. And the gold and silver vessels of the House of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from the temple in Jerusalem and transported to Babylon shall be returned, and let each go back to the temple in Jerusalem where it belongs; you shall deposit it in the House of God.' (Ezra 6:3-5) (2 Kings 18:13-14) 36

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