1 00:00:02,008 --> 00:00:09,596 some of the way I've been starting to look at how versus how the. 2 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,511 how the uh Jewish people used to study the Bible. 3 00:00:14,511 --> 00:00:25,515 m If you look at the Bible as a whole, the Jewish people tended to divide it up into three sections, the Old Testament specifically. 4 00:00:25,515 --> 00:00:36,570 um They referred to the sections as the Tanakh, and I've got my Wikipedia reference up here, because I'll never be able to remember the names, but they are the Torah, which I 5 00:00:36,570 --> 00:00:40,161 think we're all familiar with, the Torah meaning the law, 6 00:00:40,513 --> 00:00:43,493 the ah 7 00:00:45,035 --> 00:00:52,427 the neviim, which meant the prophets, and the ketivim, which was the writings. 8 00:00:52,507 --> 00:01:03,950 So where we tend to block it up into five chunks, where we have the major prophets and the minor prophets, you have the uh books of poetry, the books of the law, generally what we 9 00:01:03,950 --> 00:01:09,051 refer to as the first five books of the Old Testament, and then the books of history. 10 00:01:09,051 --> 00:01:12,992 They would group the books of history in with the law. 11 00:01:13,184 --> 00:01:21,969 they would group the prophets all together and then the books of poetry were considered to be the writings. 12 00:01:21,969 --> 00:01:26,744 So when it was the poetry, the... 13 00:01:28,672 --> 00:01:30,693 Lost my word. 14 00:01:30,693 --> 00:01:34,855 Anyway, the books that were collected writings of different authors. 15 00:01:34,995 --> 00:01:42,478 So what I want to look at specifically is one small section that they kept on one scroll. 16 00:01:43,699 --> 00:01:46,132 They referred to it as the 12. 17 00:01:47,220 --> 00:01:55,454 So when the minor prophets were put together, they were put together as a single collection that were meant to be studied together. 18 00:01:56,586 --> 00:02:02,916 So when we look at the minor profits, one thing to keep in mind is the... 19 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:13,586 the Hebrew writers were less concerned about chronology than most of the way we think about it today. 20 00:02:13,606 --> 00:02:20,791 So a great example of that is the last of the major prophets, um Daniel. 21 00:02:21,251 --> 00:02:34,280 There's been a lot of conflict between the way modern scholars look at the book of Daniel saying that Daniel can't be true because it isn't in chronological order. 22 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,261 Daniel was never meant to be in chronological order. 23 00:02:37,521 --> 00:02:41,342 Daniel was meant to be a collection of stories from Daniel's life. 24 00:02:41,342 --> 00:02:53,826 And the order they were put in was an order that was meant to sequence and tell a story as a whole of Daniel's relationship with God and then how Daniel's relationship with God 25 00:02:53,826 --> 00:02:57,546 affected not just Israel, but also Babylon. 26 00:02:57,907 --> 00:03:02,878 In fact, one of the chapters in Daniel isn't even written from Daniel's perspective. 27 00:03:03,436 --> 00:03:06,317 It's Nebuchadnezzar that writes that one. 28 00:03:06,698 --> 00:03:13,741 So when we look at how the minor prophets were put together, also not in chronological order. 29 00:03:14,362 --> 00:03:22,466 So when we look at the way the Hebrews looked at the Tanakh they meant it to be meditation literature. 30 00:03:22,807 --> 00:03:30,311 So they arranged them in a way that helped facilitate you to be able to meditate on the word of God. 31 00:03:30,711 --> 00:03:32,637 So when we look at 32 00:03:32,637 --> 00:03:48,785 the minor prophets as a whole, if you were to put them in chronological order, the chronological order is not necessarily ah well-defined for us. 33 00:03:49,005 --> 00:03:59,561 So there's a little bit of guessing that has to go on with it, specifically the book of Joel, because Joel looks like it was older writing, but then there's references to 34 00:03:59,561 --> 00:04:02,522 scriptures that would have been put in later. 35 00:04:02,726 --> 00:04:07,859 So it looks like some of it was older writing than as it was compiled probably by Ezra. 36 00:04:07,859 --> 00:04:15,103 um It was put together with references to other authors, Isaiah, ah Daniel. 37 00:04:15,103 --> 00:04:18,684 There's references to other prophets in the Book of Joel. 38 00:04:18,684 --> 00:04:23,847 So it looks like when Ezra put those writings together, he included references so it would make sense. 39 00:04:24,008 --> 00:04:31,464 So if you were to look at kind of chronological order, you have Jodah, Amos, and Hosea, which were all 40 00:04:31,464 --> 00:04:32,566 pre-captivity. 41 00:04:32,566 --> 00:04:37,984 ah Then you have during the Israelite, during the uh 42 00:04:39,630 --> 00:04:45,382 Israel captivity, meaning the northern 10 tribes, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. 43 00:04:45,382 --> 00:04:48,904 During the Judean captivity, Obadiah. 44 00:04:49,064 --> 00:04:58,248 And then after the return, have Haggaiah, Zechariah, Malachi, and probably Joel was compiled during that return time frame. 45 00:04:58,608 --> 00:05:08,372 So if we're to look at these kind of in chronological order, you have a story that is hidden in the way these are put together. 46 00:05:08,648 --> 00:05:14,368 that tells the story of Israel as a family. 47 00:05:16,390 --> 00:05:25,548 And it's a story that starts with a unfaithful to each other family and ends with a family that spreads to the whole world. 48 00:05:26,429 --> 00:05:33,013 So if you look at Hosea, Hosea starts with what story? 49 00:05:33,255 --> 00:05:37,018 What's the storyline at the beginning of Hosea? 50 00:05:37,158 --> 00:05:39,640 It's one of the most miserable stories in the Bible. 51 00:05:41,266 --> 00:05:47,321 his wife, who before becoming his wife was a prostitute. 52 00:05:48,102 --> 00:05:55,288 So it is a story that is a reflection of the way God viewed his relationship with Israel. 53 00:05:56,976 --> 00:05:59,017 She was an unfaithful wife. 54 00:05:59,017 --> 00:06:08,824 In fact, if I can remember exactly where the reference is, she was, ah he literally had to pay off her debts as part of the process. 55 00:06:08,824 --> 00:06:15,028 ah The children of the marriage were named terrible things, like unwanted. 56 00:06:15,028 --> 00:06:26,876 ah And so they were, it was a story where the entire story of Hosea's family was a reflection of the way God saw Israel. 57 00:06:28,835 --> 00:06:39,651 And as we keep going through these things, you see similar elements in most of the, uh most of the minor prophets, Jonah being kind of an exception to the rule. 58 00:06:39,651 --> 00:06:51,177 You see a framework in each of the prophets that is a declaration of what the current state is, a condemnation of whatever people they're talking about. 59 00:06:51,177 --> 00:06:58,400 In Obadiah, it's Esau, the nation of Esau, not necessarily the nation of Israel that's been cursed in that one. 60 00:06:58,498 --> 00:07:06,913 and then you see a reconciliation, and then you see through that reconciliation the entire world being blessed. 61 00:07:06,974 --> 00:07:17,000 So it's sort of a similar structure to most of the minor profits, that that's the structure they follow. 62 00:07:17,061 --> 00:07:27,488 But when we go through these and kind of put them in chronological order, they, as they go through and over the course of time, they're describing things that are currently 63 00:07:27,488 --> 00:07:28,438 happening. 64 00:07:28,492 --> 00:07:31,754 and you kind of see the dissolution of a family. 65 00:07:32,215 --> 00:07:41,742 So one of the things, one of the features that is pretty consistent in the Minor Prophets is it isn't referred to as a nation. 66 00:07:42,463 --> 00:07:44,684 It's referred to as a person. 67 00:07:45,605 --> 00:07:49,718 So who would the nation of Judah be referred to? 68 00:07:51,416 --> 00:07:52,979 What historical figure? 69 00:07:59,704 --> 00:08:00,704 Jacob. 70 00:08:01,665 --> 00:08:05,708 It refers to the nation of Judah in the first person as Jacob. 71 00:08:06,329 --> 00:08:12,272 When it's talking about Israel, what's the name that's used when it's referencing Israel? 72 00:08:13,334 --> 00:08:14,614 Any guesses? 73 00:08:15,135 --> 00:08:17,436 Yep, the nation with the lisp. 74 00:08:18,617 --> 00:08:23,280 And when it's referring to Edom, what is it referred to it as? 75 00:08:23,661 --> 00:08:26,843 What nation was Edom descended from? 76 00:08:27,764 --> 00:08:28,674 Esau. 77 00:08:29,260 --> 00:08:34,863 So you have a very personalized structure to the language that's used. 78 00:08:34,863 --> 00:08:44,908 It's very much almost like God is talking to his family as you go through the minor prophets. 79 00:08:45,208 --> 00:08:56,254 going through them as we go through it and chronologically speaking, ah the names of the prophets often have significance ah to who we're talking about. 80 00:08:56,615 --> 00:08:59,136 So when we look at Obadiah, 81 00:08:59,766 --> 00:09:03,600 Obadiah's name literally means slave of Yahweh. 82 00:09:04,261 --> 00:09:10,487 And it is the curse of Esau that is referenced in Obadiah. 83 00:09:11,449 --> 00:09:14,442 Jacob and Esau, did they get along well? 84 00:09:17,763 --> 00:09:18,536 Why? 85 00:09:22,318 --> 00:09:25,370 Jacob was a liar his entire life. 86 00:09:25,370 --> 00:09:28,252 Jacob was a miserable person. 87 00:09:29,374 --> 00:09:38,100 And you see God continually blessing Jacob even though he is this really kind of a terrible human being. 88 00:09:39,736 --> 00:09:44,488 because he's continuing the blessing, the promise that he gave to Abraham. 89 00:09:45,332 --> 00:09:47,316 Let's look at Abraham for a second. 90 00:09:48,990 --> 00:09:52,810 How many times did he fail before he was finally successful? 91 00:09:53,454 --> 00:09:55,739 How many trials did Abraham go through? 92 00:10:01,129 --> 00:10:06,025 twice with his wife, there were nine failures before there was finally a success. 93 00:10:07,408 --> 00:10:16,359 So as Abraham was learning to serve God, even he, who's known as the father of the faithful, had to grow to the point where he had the faith. 94 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,993 What's the one where he was finally successful? 95 00:10:21,331 --> 00:10:29,413 the sacrifice of Isaac, that he was willing to give everything he loved before he was finally successful in his trials. 96 00:10:29,913 --> 00:10:35,015 So Jacob was a failure through all of his trials for the most part. 97 00:10:35,555 --> 00:10:46,498 So you have a nation who was established by a failure of a man, and so they were a failure of a people. 98 00:10:47,678 --> 00:10:50,399 Israel was a nation that struggled. 99 00:10:50,399 --> 00:10:53,600 constantly to be faithful to God. 100 00:10:54,101 --> 00:11:04,867 So when God frames up the minor prophets, he frames them up as this familial relationship that Israel was the unfaithful wife, starting in Hosea. 101 00:11:05,247 --> 00:11:09,650 Who was the most successful of the minor prophets? 102 00:11:10,070 --> 00:11:12,071 There was only one that was successful. 103 00:11:14,995 --> 00:11:15,935 Jonah. 104 00:11:16,916 --> 00:11:18,517 Jonah's a weird book. 105 00:11:19,758 --> 00:11:22,679 It is written not as prophecy. 106 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:28,022 There is very personal prophecy in the book of Jonah. 107 00:11:28,583 --> 00:11:31,084 But the importance of Jonah was what? 108 00:11:31,364 --> 00:11:35,467 What was the purpose that Jonah was meant to serve? 109 00:11:35,467 --> 00:11:37,027 What was he called to do? 110 00:11:37,808 --> 00:11:39,228 Preached to Nineveh. 111 00:11:39,769 --> 00:11:40,769 Why? 112 00:11:41,170 --> 00:11:43,451 Nineveh was not the people of God. 113 00:11:44,905 --> 00:11:47,156 Did Jonah want to go? 114 00:11:48,258 --> 00:11:53,141 He did everything he could think of to avoid it. 115 00:11:53,561 --> 00:12:01,967 When he gets there, when he's finally forced to walk through Nineveh, he's so lazy in his preaching that his sermon is five words long. 116 00:12:02,968 --> 00:12:07,121 In 40 days, Nineveh's overthrown. 117 00:12:09,673 --> 00:12:12,216 They just walk through the city saying that. 118 00:12:14,621 --> 00:12:15,878 and they repented. 119 00:12:17,789 --> 00:12:24,024 So was he successful or was God's words to the Ninevites successful? 120 00:12:25,346 --> 00:12:36,695 God's words to the Ninevites were the only success in all of the minor prophets because we watch over the course of time, we watch Israel go into captivity with Assyria, we watch 121 00:12:36,695 --> 00:12:41,579 Judah go into captivity with Babylon, we watch the people return. 122 00:12:43,475 --> 00:12:46,920 a mere fraction of the people who were taken away. 123 00:12:47,643 --> 00:12:53,131 And we see a nation who is absolutely broken over the course of this. 124 00:12:55,995 --> 00:12:56,899 Amos. 125 00:12:59,697 --> 00:13:01,788 Amos is the burden bearer. 126 00:13:03,069 --> 00:13:10,274 He was told to go to the north and tell people tell them to repent from the worldly things. 127 00:13:10,875 --> 00:13:12,135 In Hosea. 128 00:13:13,712 --> 00:13:19,787 meaning salvation, it starts to describe the divorce of the Northern Kingdom. 129 00:13:21,369 --> 00:13:25,657 Micah, whose name means who is like God, 130 00:13:27,706 --> 00:13:28,843 is a lawyer. 131 00:13:31,247 --> 00:13:35,170 He's the one that handles the case of the divorce. 132 00:13:37,147 --> 00:13:41,288 So this framing narrative, it starts to feel very similar to modern society, right? 133 00:13:41,288 --> 00:13:53,373 The things that we see happen to our friends as they go through divorce, all the terrible things, the accusations, the strife, the struggle that comes with the breakup of a family. 134 00:13:53,593 --> 00:13:58,234 And we see Micah setting up the framework for the case. 135 00:13:58,435 --> 00:14:00,195 What's gonna be argued 136 00:14:02,114 --> 00:14:03,955 in these divorce proceedings? 137 00:14:04,857 --> 00:14:08,640 We see Israel being accused of idolatry. 138 00:14:09,962 --> 00:14:26,026 We see them being accused of evil plans, of covetousness, of materialism, of having leaders who only consider themselves, of witchcraft, of dishonesty, of corruption and 139 00:14:26,026 --> 00:14:27,017 treachery. 140 00:14:30,168 --> 00:14:31,252 We see. 141 00:14:34,441 --> 00:14:48,725 One faithful in this framework that God has always been faithful to his people, but we see the people of Israel described as terrible, as absolutely miserable. 142 00:14:52,109 --> 00:15:00,577 By this time, the people of Israel have been captured and Nahum prophesies about the destruction of Assyria. 143 00:15:02,741 --> 00:15:06,243 in Habakkuk whose name means embrace. 144 00:15:08,045 --> 00:15:10,976 we see Jacob finally being divorced. 145 00:15:14,733 --> 00:15:18,561 Zephaniah, the Lord is my treasure. 146 00:15:19,164 --> 00:15:21,769 So now we're getting into the post-exile. 147 00:15:23,651 --> 00:15:25,942 We're getting into the timeframe where. 148 00:15:28,727 --> 00:15:33,779 Nehemiah and Ezra have started to bring people back. 149 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:45,535 That small group of all the Israelites who were captured and taken away, that small group who comes back and starts the process of rebuilding Jerusalem. 150 00:15:48,077 --> 00:15:54,425 and they start rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, but they're called out for leaving the temple in ruins. 151 00:15:57,399 --> 00:15:58,643 We see. 152 00:16:00,941 --> 00:16:04,408 this nation finally becoming back coming back clean. 153 00:16:06,467 --> 00:16:10,455 finally coming back as a people who are willing to serve God. 154 00:16:12,291 --> 00:16:19,747 I often think of the story of the Old Testament is the story of filtering a people. 155 00:16:21,129 --> 00:16:29,495 And that over the course of time, you're seeing the people get smaller and smaller and smaller as the impurities are taking out. 156 00:16:29,556 --> 00:16:40,685 And then finally you have a people who are willing to serve God, who are willing to throw idols out, who are willing m 157 00:16:40,685 --> 00:16:43,350 to dedicate themselves to the Lord. 158 00:16:44,835 --> 00:16:51,508 But we see a cleansing ritual, and then a hegei, whose name literally means my holiday. 159 00:16:53,527 --> 00:16:57,628 you see the rebuilding of God's home. 160 00:16:59,383 --> 00:17:08,068 than Zachariah, whose name means Yahweh remembers, you see that there's going to be a new head to the house. 161 00:17:09,879 --> 00:17:22,748 And that new head of this household is going to bless everyone, not just the people of Israel, but that the people of Israel are finally ready to fulfill that promise. 162 00:17:25,293 --> 00:17:28,100 What's the promise they were never able to receive? 163 00:17:32,521 --> 00:17:35,022 Were they ever a blessing to all nations? 164 00:17:36,463 --> 00:17:40,325 The closest you could probably point to would be King Solomon, right? 165 00:17:40,886 --> 00:17:43,787 Who was both a blessing and a curse. 166 00:17:44,708 --> 00:17:50,711 What did Solomon bring back and establish firmly in Israel? 167 00:17:51,492 --> 00:17:52,652 Idolatry. 168 00:17:54,033 --> 00:17:56,754 So he could have been a blessing. 169 00:17:57,515 --> 00:18:01,385 At the beginning, he had the right mindset. 170 00:18:01,385 --> 00:18:02,758 What did he ask for? 171 00:18:05,449 --> 00:18:07,435 What's the funny thing about wisdom? 172 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:09,584 How do you gain wisdom? 173 00:18:12,821 --> 00:18:14,754 You gain wisdom through experience. 174 00:18:16,807 --> 00:18:20,378 A thousand significant others is quite a bit of experience. 175 00:18:21,439 --> 00:18:35,865 And all of them bringing their own idols, their own worship, their own gods of other nations into Israel, led Israel down a path that it required captivity to recover from. 176 00:18:40,755 --> 00:18:49,111 And then in Malachi, Malachi, whose name means messenger, was where you see the reconciliation. 177 00:18:49,251 --> 00:19:03,021 It's where you see the wife in this relationship finally coming back, accepting that there's a new head of the household coming, accepting that they are going to be a people. 178 00:19:04,969 --> 00:19:06,701 that are going to serve God. 179 00:19:10,665 --> 00:19:14,756 Now, how worthy is serving God? 180 00:19:18,293 --> 00:19:25,861 If you look at the first century and the negative first century Jews, what was the nation like? 181 00:19:29,823 --> 00:19:31,133 Conflict and war. 182 00:19:32,074 --> 00:19:36,196 You had four main factions inside. 183 00:19:37,697 --> 00:19:43,119 You had the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots. 184 00:19:43,780 --> 00:19:46,921 How were these factions different than previous? 185 00:19:47,402 --> 00:19:48,542 What were the Pharisees? 186 00:19:48,542 --> 00:19:49,702 What were they? 187 00:19:50,603 --> 00:19:53,024 What did they see as in the important thing? 188 00:19:54,145 --> 00:19:55,059 The law. 189 00:19:55,059 --> 00:20:00,873 So much so that they built a framework and a structure beyond the structure that God had put in place. 190 00:20:01,214 --> 00:20:03,875 They wanted to build fences around the wall. 191 00:20:04,476 --> 00:20:17,125 I think a lot of it came with good intentions, but because they built a structure outside of the framework that God established, it became, um it lost its impact. 192 00:20:17,789 --> 00:20:31,028 So Jesus spends a lot of time, the Sermon on the Mount being an example, reframing what God meant when he gave the law, telling them that anger was just as bad as murdering 193 00:20:31,028 --> 00:20:31,889 people. 194 00:20:34,601 --> 00:20:36,417 What do the Sadducees believe? 195 00:20:41,183 --> 00:20:42,939 They didn't believe in the afterlife. 196 00:20:45,775 --> 00:20:51,953 They believed in the very physical nature of the world. 197 00:20:52,716 --> 00:20:58,804 And as such, they were more interested in power than they were in following God. 198 00:20:59,486 --> 00:21:01,228 What did the Zealots believe? 199 00:21:06,628 --> 00:21:12,213 Zealots believed that God would give them the power to become the nation they once were. 200 00:21:13,715 --> 00:21:15,416 And what did the Essenes do? 201 00:21:19,182 --> 00:21:21,427 They're the ones that generally aren't mentioned. 202 00:21:23,610 --> 00:21:27,722 They were like the monks of the Jewish nation. 203 00:21:27,763 --> 00:21:30,104 They were interested in preserving the word. 204 00:21:30,164 --> 00:21:34,126 They were interested in kind of isolating themselves from the rest of the world. 205 00:21:34,607 --> 00:21:36,468 But they were very religious. 206 00:21:39,374 --> 00:21:48,954 The Jews at this point had started establishing things like the Hebrew school, where they would teach you Hebrew. 207 00:21:49,416 --> 00:21:51,217 Why would you need to learn Hebrew? 208 00:21:51,358 --> 00:21:53,340 What language did the Jews speak? 209 00:21:57,976 --> 00:21:59,058 Aramaic. 210 00:21:59,101 --> 00:22:01,427 That's the language that Jesus spoke. 211 00:22:03,108 --> 00:22:06,951 Very similar to Hebrew, but not exactly the same. 212 00:22:07,352 --> 00:22:10,264 It was like a distant dialect of the same language. 213 00:22:10,264 --> 00:22:13,716 It was a Semitic language, but it was not exactly the same. 214 00:22:13,937 --> 00:22:22,484 So they established Hebrew school so that when people went to synagogue, they could read the scripture of God. 215 00:22:23,766 --> 00:22:26,047 They dwelled in the scripture of God. 216 00:22:26,748 --> 00:22:31,732 This was a people that was, for all their faults, the first time 217 00:22:31,876 --> 00:22:36,818 that Israel really cared about their faith to God. 218 00:22:38,139 --> 00:22:42,261 And it was a setup for that new head of the household to come in. 219 00:22:42,722 --> 00:22:54,168 So all this structure, all this framework that the minor prophets established built the path forward that Jesus could come. 220 00:22:55,556 --> 00:23:10,781 So when we look at what was being set up here through this process of filtering out a people who were flawed, a people who were failures, a people who struggled to even 221 00:23:11,342 --> 00:23:17,504 acknowledge God many times, they worship things like Molech and Baal. 222 00:23:19,534 --> 00:23:20,692 or bowl. 223 00:23:22,927 --> 00:23:23,866 Molec. 224 00:23:26,596 --> 00:23:37,347 where as part of establishing a new city wall, you would take your children and set them on fire on top of a statue and then put their corpse into the walls as you built them. 225 00:23:41,818 --> 00:23:44,085 These were terrible things that were done. 226 00:23:46,168 --> 00:24:02,235 And so when we look at what these people were leaving, they were leaving fear, they were leaving behind corruption, they were leaving behind all the things that Micah pointed out, 227 00:24:02,235 --> 00:24:10,940 that they were idolaters, evil plans, covetous, materialist, selfish, witchcraft, dishonesty, corruption, and treachery. 228 00:24:13,332 --> 00:24:18,765 So throughout this structure, throughout what we're seeing here is we're seeing. 229 00:24:21,063 --> 00:24:26,008 a marriage, a divorce, and a reconciliation. 230 00:24:26,950 --> 00:24:39,783 So if you look back at the oldest of the minor prophets, if look back at ah one of the oldest of the minor prophets, you look back at Hosea. 231 00:24:41,631 --> 00:24:49,477 That structure, that framework that's established in Hosea is the structure that all of the other minor prophets follow. 232 00:24:49,958 --> 00:25:04,669 And it was meant to be one continuous story from Hosea that was a framework and narrative of the struggle and the path that Israel went through. 233 00:25:05,210 --> 00:25:07,411 But it was also meant to give hope. 234 00:25:09,995 --> 00:25:20,658 This idea that was a very personal relationship with God is what was being established in the 12 Minor Prophets. 235 00:25:24,143 --> 00:25:31,923 When you look at, let me pull up a passage real quick. 236 00:25:32,303 --> 00:25:36,203 When you look at how this was established in. 237 00:25:39,763 --> 00:25:41,391 Joel chapter three. 238 00:25:57,225 --> 00:26:01,583 You see a promise being delivered by God to his people. 239 00:26:02,587 --> 00:26:08,078 For behold in those days and at that time I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. 240 00:26:08,139 --> 00:26:15,199 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and I will enter into judgment with them there. 241 00:26:15,219 --> 00:26:25,219 On behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered amongst the nations, they have divided up my land, they have also cast lots for my people, traded a 242 00:26:25,219 --> 00:26:28,859 boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine that they may drink. 243 00:26:31,753 --> 00:26:36,024 when we look at this promise that Joel's delivering. 244 00:26:38,143 --> 00:26:47,302 What is the promise that these new people, these negative first and first century Jews were looking at? 245 00:26:55,541 --> 00:26:58,181 was a return to the way they were before. 246 00:27:02,175 --> 00:27:03,182 Or was it? 247 00:27:06,867 --> 00:27:08,098 repentance. 248 00:27:10,879 --> 00:27:17,050 They were looking at a people who were repentant, that were restored. 249 00:27:19,221 --> 00:27:22,205 How long would the restoration of Jerusalem last? 250 00:27:29,895 --> 00:27:37,535 just under 500 years, about 400 years before, or about 500 years before, but it would last until what year? 251 00:27:41,478 --> 00:27:42,738 70 AD. 252 00:27:43,161 --> 00:27:45,478 What happened in 70 AD? 253 00:27:46,478 --> 00:27:47,798 Huh? 254 00:27:52,558 --> 00:27:55,398 Yeah, Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. 255 00:27:56,985 --> 00:28:00,389 So how is this passage fulfilled? 256 00:28:04,922 --> 00:28:07,409 Was it fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem? 257 00:28:17,626 --> 00:28:19,719 What was established in Jerusalem? 258 00:28:22,554 --> 00:28:24,720 The church was established in Jerusalem. 259 00:28:25,245 --> 00:28:27,612 Was Jerusalem needed anymore? 260 00:28:30,202 --> 00:28:32,143 We had started a new kingdom. 261 00:28:32,143 --> 00:28:34,044 There was a new Jerusalem. 262 00:28:34,685 --> 00:28:38,826 A Jerusalem that was finally scattered to the world. 263 00:28:39,647 --> 00:28:48,972 So when we look at that third promise, that third promise that was given to Abraham, that the whole world would be blessed. 264 00:28:50,273 --> 00:28:52,294 That's what's being fulfilled here. 265 00:28:53,835 --> 00:28:56,996 This people had to be purified. 266 00:28:57,377 --> 00:28:59,358 They had to be cleansed. 267 00:28:59,770 --> 00:29:04,453 they had to be purged of their desire to do evil. 268 00:29:05,234 --> 00:29:06,654 Were they perfect? 269 00:29:07,856 --> 00:29:08,436 No. 270 00:29:08,436 --> 00:29:24,707 If you look at the Pharisees, they probably initially started trying, but ultimately ended in failure because they ignored the wisdom of God and tried to apply the wisdom of man. 271 00:29:25,668 --> 00:29:27,529 If you look at the Sadducees, 272 00:29:29,506 --> 00:29:39,829 They were very good at collecting the scripture, at making sure that it was copied, making sure that every synagogue had it because they saw it as a method of control. 273 00:29:40,609 --> 00:29:48,412 But they were a people who was utilizing and being used to save the word of God. 274 00:29:49,292 --> 00:29:56,254 If you look at the zealots, zealots were misguided in their application of the word, but they knew the word. 275 00:29:58,660 --> 00:30:07,095 They lived in Psalms, tainted by human vision of anger and jealousy and vengeance. 276 00:30:07,556 --> 00:30:12,439 But they were a people who were living with God's word. 277 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:19,003 And the Essenes wanted to live with it so much that they put themselves in isolation from the rest of the world. 278 00:30:20,085 --> 00:30:25,448 But this was a people who were finally willing to understand. 279 00:30:26,329 --> 00:30:28,350 And all the people who weren't 280 00:30:28,454 --> 00:30:29,915 part of the faction. 281 00:30:31,399 --> 00:30:37,088 Most of the apostles, one being an exception, which apostle was part of one of these factions? 282 00:30:37,650 --> 00:30:39,271 Simon, he was a what? 283 00:30:39,573 --> 00:30:40,513 Zealot. 284 00:30:42,455 --> 00:30:46,057 But most of the apostles were common people. 285 00:30:47,038 --> 00:30:51,079 Fishermen, a tax collector. 286 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:57,743 Most of the disciples that are mentioned later were pretty common people, business people, physicians. 287 00:30:59,084 --> 00:31:03,166 So all these people who were 288 00:31:06,762 --> 00:31:14,108 selected by Jesus to follow him were people who were used to living in the word. 289 00:31:15,450 --> 00:31:19,433 So they were people who are ripe for the harvest. 290 00:31:20,655 --> 00:31:24,138 And that harvest being when Jesus... 291 00:31:26,102 --> 00:31:29,744 was put on a tree before all the world. 292 00:31:31,468 --> 00:31:35,916 There was a small group of people there in front of him, but the whole world knows the story. 293 00:31:38,334 --> 00:31:55,669 and he was sacrificed for his creation, thereby completing what Zechariah foretold, that there would be a new head of the household, because as Zechariah's name means, Yahweh 294 00:31:55,669 --> 00:31:56,780 remembers. 295 00:31:58,060 --> 00:32:03,802 He remembers the promise that was delivered thousands of years before. 296 00:32:07,218 --> 00:32:10,582 over 1000 years before to Abraham. 297 00:32:12,064 --> 00:32:13,886 And he remembers a promise. 298 00:32:14,607 --> 00:32:16,148 That was delivered. 299 00:32:17,431 --> 00:32:19,032 Long before that. 300 00:32:19,453 --> 00:32:20,434 To who? 301 00:32:27,606 --> 00:32:28,820 Was it the atom? 302 00:32:34,294 --> 00:32:35,736 You had the right family. 303 00:32:35,898 --> 00:32:37,601 What was the promise to Eve? 304 00:32:48,288 --> 00:32:49,118 Yep. 305 00:32:49,778 --> 00:32:58,041 So that promise that was delivered at the very beginning in the garden was finally being fulfilled in here. 306 00:32:58,841 --> 00:33:09,344 So this name of Zachariah Yahweh remembers is a reflection on all the promises God has made throughout history. 307 00:33:10,484 --> 00:33:17,366 That God is always faithful that it doesn't matter how long ago the promise was made. 308 00:33:18,358 --> 00:33:21,441 that he remembers all throughout history. 309 00:33:22,824 --> 00:33:27,991 So when we look at the Minor Prophets as a whole, they're one complete story. 310 00:33:28,893 --> 00:33:32,857 They're the story of a promise broken. 311 00:33:36,384 --> 00:33:39,155 and of a husband with a very long memory. 312 00:33:40,516 --> 00:33:58,673 The head of the household who made promises, who made vows, who made vows to Eve, who made vows to Noah, who made vows to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, who made vows to Judah, who 313 00:33:58,673 --> 00:34:04,966 made vows to David, who made vows to all these minor prophets. 314 00:34:09,148 --> 00:34:11,479 that salvation would be delivered. 315 00:34:12,421 --> 00:34:26,372 And when we look at the history of the Old Testament, it's the story of a people who were unwilling to accept him until they were purged of all the things that were holding him 316 00:34:26,372 --> 00:34:30,054 back, all these evils that were detailed in Micah. 317 00:34:30,975 --> 00:34:38,681 We look at as a people who had to go through a divorce before they were willing to accept the marriage. 318 00:34:40,581 --> 00:34:43,104 And that's the story of all the minor prophets. 319 00:34:43,104 --> 00:34:52,172 When you put them in chronological order, it tells that story as we would think it would look like in a marriage. 320 00:34:53,274 --> 00:35:05,105 Starting with Jose or starting with Josea who goes through terrible, marries a terrible wife who was unfaithful to him. 321 00:35:06,865 --> 00:35:12,276 and yet he pays all of her debts off and accepts her back. 322 00:35:14,107 --> 00:35:24,232 You see in Micah the framework of legal proceedings, setting up the divorce and applying all the reasons for the divorce. 323 00:35:24,613 --> 00:35:29,740 And you see in Zechariah that God remembers. 324 00:35:31,823 --> 00:35:37,698 all the promises he made all throughout the story of God's people. 325 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,762 And in Malachi, you see them finally being reconciled. 326 00:35:42,364 --> 00:35:47,828 So flipping over to Malachi, chapter four. 327 00:35:50,033 --> 00:35:52,243 This is how the Old Testament ends. 328 00:35:55,589 --> 00:36:02,524 Remember the law of Moses, my servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all of Israel. 329 00:36:02,524 --> 00:36:12,240 Behold, I am going to send you Elijah, the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord, and he will restore the hearts of the father and to their 330 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:19,705 children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. 331 00:36:22,141 --> 00:36:27,883 It's a final reminder to this people that not only 332 00:36:30,619 --> 00:36:34,132 Are they being remembered? 333 00:36:34,532 --> 00:36:39,577 And all the promises that were delivered in the law of Moses. 334 00:36:42,503 --> 00:36:46,600 But the same rules apply as they did before. 335 00:36:49,681 --> 00:36:52,748 Who's responsible for holding true to the promises? 336 00:36:57,969 --> 00:37:00,139 who is responsible for breaking them. 337 00:37:02,662 --> 00:37:03,736 It's people. 338 00:37:05,733 --> 00:37:20,607 So he's pointing out that this same promise holds true and it's up to you, a renewed people, a people with a zeal that never existed before, to hold true to these promises. 339 00:37:22,669 --> 00:37:26,273 And historically speaking, it looks like they generally did. 340 00:37:26,273 --> 00:37:31,137 They were a people who were humbled. 341 00:37:33,593 --> 00:37:39,211 If you look at Israel, were they ever known for their humility? 342 00:37:44,918 --> 00:37:46,466 What did Job learn? 343 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:51,700 What was the point of all of his trials? 344 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:54,620 He had to learn humility. 345 00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:00,680 He was generally a good man, but he needed humility. 346 00:38:02,782 --> 00:38:05,394 Israel needed humility. 347 00:38:06,135 --> 00:38:07,956 They were a proud people. 348 00:38:09,057 --> 00:38:13,360 How did they refer to the people around them? 349 00:38:16,076 --> 00:38:18,497 There were Jews and then there were what? 350 00:38:19,698 --> 00:38:21,839 How do they refer to the Samaritans? 351 00:38:22,359 --> 00:38:23,379 Dogs. 352 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:25,781 There were people who lived in. 353 00:38:26,796 --> 00:38:28,382 Way more pride. 354 00:38:29,123 --> 00:38:30,563 Then they deserved. 355 00:38:31,844 --> 00:38:34,425 And so there were people who needed to be humbled. 356 00:38:34,686 --> 00:38:39,548 There were people who had to remember the law and had to remember. 357 00:38:41,548 --> 00:38:43,029 who they were serving. 358 00:38:43,790 --> 00:38:47,794 And what's the promise that God delivers here in verse five? 359 00:38:47,834 --> 00:38:49,628 I'm gonna send you who. 360 00:38:52,716 --> 00:38:53,973 Why Elijah? 361 00:39:04,706 --> 00:39:05,837 So who's that? 362 00:39:06,339 --> 00:39:10,005 John, Jesus' cousin. 363 00:39:10,267 --> 00:39:17,499 He's gonna come and prepare the way for the great and terrible day of the Lord. 364 00:39:19,596 --> 00:39:20,801 What does that mean? 365 00:39:22,978 --> 00:39:24,951 great and terrible day of the Lord. 366 00:39:25,935 --> 00:39:31,305 This is another theme that's all throughout the Minor Prophets, last one for today. 367 00:39:32,309 --> 00:39:33,951 What is the day of the Lord? 368 00:39:39,380 --> 00:39:40,384 It can. 369 00:39:47,008 --> 00:39:48,727 It could be national judgment. 370 00:39:51,788 --> 00:39:53,681 What happens on the Day of the Lord? 371 00:39:56,406 --> 00:39:59,940 What's going to happen on the day of the Lord we're looking forward to today? 372 00:40:01,563 --> 00:40:02,984 It's all going to end. 373 00:40:03,906 --> 00:40:09,653 So when you see this reference, the day of the Lord, it means the world is going to change. 374 00:40:10,835 --> 00:40:14,939 That God is bringing change directly to the world. 375 00:40:16,854 --> 00:40:18,906 So sometimes that's judgment. 376 00:40:18,906 --> 00:40:22,408 Sometimes it's the divorce of Israel. 377 00:40:22,408 --> 00:40:24,789 Sometimes it's the divorce of Judah. 378 00:40:25,170 --> 00:40:27,992 In this case, what is the day of the Lord? 379 00:40:31,072 --> 00:40:34,694 It's the final fulfillment of all of his promises. 380 00:40:35,835 --> 00:40:39,798 So he's sending Elijah to prepare people for the day of the Lord. 381 00:40:40,299 --> 00:40:42,420 What did John the Baptist preach? 382 00:40:44,460 --> 00:40:46,132 that he preached salvation. 383 00:40:53,725 --> 00:40:58,748 He preached coming salvation, but his message itself was repent. 384 00:40:59,209 --> 00:41:01,190 For the kingdom is at hand. 385 00:41:01,850 --> 00:41:04,272 The salvation came with the kingdom. 386 00:41:04,872 --> 00:41:08,875 So he wasn't a preacher who was there to. 387 00:41:09,596 --> 00:41:11,556 Bring about salvation. 388 00:41:11,957 --> 00:41:15,819 He was a preacher that was there to bring about repentance. 389 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,362 Because in the coming day of the Lord. 390 00:41:20,503 --> 00:41:22,744 All salvation would be delivered. 391 00:41:23,986 --> 00:41:27,559 So that's my takes on the themes of the Minor Prophets. 392 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:29,942 It's a very beautiful story. 393 00:41:29,942 --> 00:41:33,425 It took me several months a couple years ago to kind of study through this. 394 00:41:33,425 --> 00:41:45,076 uh But it's a beautiful story when it's framed up as uh almost a family, watching a family, a very personal view. 395 00:41:45,317 --> 00:41:48,099 It frames the... 396 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,642 narrative in a structure that is very personal. 397 00:41:53,702 --> 00:42:05,188 Instead of Israel, instead of Hebrews, instead of Jews, instead of Edomites, it is Jacob, it is Ephraim, it is Esau. 398 00:42:05,368 --> 00:42:09,350 It is very personalized when these prophets deliver God's message. 399 00:42:09,791 --> 00:42:14,413 God wants a personal relationship with his people. 400 00:42:15,134 --> 00:42:19,536 And it's very evident in the structure that is in the Minor Prophets. 401 00:42:19,762 --> 00:42:22,413 That is the way God sees us. 402 00:42:23,194 --> 00:42:25,095 On a very personal level. 403 00:42:25,476 --> 00:42:29,138 He sees us as a people to be loved. 404 00:42:29,499 --> 00:42:31,740 In spite of all of our flaws. 405 00:42:32,661 --> 00:42:38,925 And he sees us as a people who can be worthy of his promise. 406 00:42:40,487 --> 00:42:42,348 And that's the story of the minor prophets. 407 00:42:42,348 --> 00:42:44,549 I think it's very significant that. 408 00:42:44,930 --> 00:42:48,592 When they were put together, they were all put on the same scroll together. 409 00:42:49,562 --> 00:43:04,293 and they were put there through God's guidance so that it would be one story that we could see of this entire relationship that his people had with him and how terrible they were at 410 00:43:04,293 --> 00:43:08,815 it and how much he loved them and how much he was willing to sacrifice. 411 00:43:09,096 --> 00:43:11,517 So that's it for today.