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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Nancy: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 200 and 44
Prophets
introduction to Prophets.
The Bible tells the story of how God
chose the people of Israel for the
sake of restoring the whole world.
He entered into a series of covenants
with Abraham and his descendants
in order to move them closer and
closer to this goal of being a
life-giving blessing to all peoples.
But over and over again, the
ancient Israelites failed to honor
their covenant obligations to God.
The law of Moses insisted that they give
the Lord their exclusive allegiance.
But they repeatedly turned
to worship other gods.
The law provided numerous safeguards
for the poor and vulnerable, but
the people frequently exploited
the weakest of their citizens.
In short, Israel failed to be
the light to the nations that
God was calling them to be.
But God was determined to keep
working with this imperfect
nation to achieve his goal.
So God sent special messengers, the
prophets to call the people back to him.
The messages of many of these prophets
have been collected and preserved for
us, and they now comprise nearly a
third of the Bible's First testament.
The prophets play the role of covenant
mediators calling the people to be
loyal to their covenant with the Lord.
Many of the prophets framed
their arguments as covenant
lawsuits against the people.
The prophet Micah, for example,
announces at one point, listen
to the Lord's complaint.
He has a case against his people.
The prophets established in their
arguments that the people have
become unfaithful to God by failing
to keep their covenant commitments.
This is why the prophets typically
begin their messages with warnings,
followed by the announcement of
necessary consequences for disobedience.
But judgment is never the
lord's final word for Israel.
Difficult messages of correction and
judgment transform into visions of
restoration and flourishing life.
The prophets see a new future
for Israel and the world.
Based solely on God's good promises
and his covenant faithfulness.
The prophets themselves were more street
preachers than the authors of books
normally proclaiming the Lord's messages
at the gates of Jerusalem and the temple
they normally spoke in Oracles, which were
recorded and serve as the basic literary
unit for most of the prophetic books.
Prophetic Oracles are poems that convey
a single idea through several strategies.
The prophets often use visual
metaphors from the natural world
to help their listeners imagine
or picture their messages.
Sometimes the metaphors come
directly from the prophets, dramatic
visions from God, which cannot
easily be described in human terms.
At other times, the metaphors
are drawn from the prophet's own
circumstances or experiences.
Some oracles are based on the repetition
of key ideas, litanies, or lists
that drive home an essential point.
Amos, for example, describes five
different misfortunes that God has brought
upon his people and says, after each one,
but still, you would not return to me.
Prophetic language is typically
strong and evokes powerful emotions
because so much was at stake in
these interventions with Israel.
Some of the prophets set
their oracles to music.
This was another way they
could ensure that their message
would spread and be remembered.
Isaiah, for example, introduces one oracle
with, I will sing for the one I love.
A song about his vineyard.
This particular Oracle presents an
extended metaphor describing Israel as
a well tended vineyard that failed to
produce the fruit the keeper wanted,
the justice and righteousness that
God had been cultivating in them.
We present these books of the
prophets in an order that follows
their general historical sequence.
As Israel journeys from the time of the
Empire of Assyria, through the period of
the rule of Babylon and then Persia to the
return of the people to their homeland.
The prophets are present to speak into
Israel's various historical situations.
The collections cannot
all be dated precisely.
Jonah and Joel are particularly
difficult to locate historically.
They are placed last and can be read in
view of the larger prophetic tradition.
As Israel's wayfaring continues through
the centuries, the prophets relentlessly
remind the people of their true
calling, even through the dark abyss
of exile and the loss of land and home.
Their hope for the future remains.
This story is God's, and at the
end of the day, he will act to
save his people and his world.
Immersed in Amos
in the first half of the eighth
century bc, the Northern Kingdom of
Israel reached its greatest heights
of prosperity and strength under
the long reign of Jira Boem ii.
Israel's leaders and nobles reveled
in the glory and power of their
economic success and military prowess.
They believed that this reflected
God's favor and blessings upon them.
After all, didn't they bring lavish
offerings to their gods at the temple in
Bethel, which was the king's sanctuary and
a national place of worship, as well as
at other shrines such as Gilgal and Dan.
Their self-satisfaction was disturbed
by the words of a shepherd from a
small town in the southern kingdom.
The temples of Israel will be destroyed.
I will bring the dynasty of
King Jira Boem to a sudden end.
Why did the prophet Amos bring these
dire words to the people in the
midst of their comfort and wealth?
The Lord had seen the truth.
They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Israel's brash self-assurance was
built on idolatrous worship, gross
injustice, and mistreatment of the poor.
So God sent his messenger to
warn the northern kingdom of
their coming judgment and demise.
The leaders of Israel gave Amos's warning
all the attention they felt it deserved.
They threw him out of the kingdom
and told him to peal his message
back in Judah, where he'd come from.
So Amos left, but his prophecies were
written down to preserve them as an
ongoing witness against the injustices
that would doom the northern kingdom.
He became the earliest of the
writing prophets whose words have
been collected for us in the Bible.
The book of Amos begins by establishing
the credibility of his warnings.
Its superscription specifies
that he received his message
two years before the earthquake.
Amos had predicted this, the
earth will tremble for your
deeds and everyone will mourn.
The ground will rise like
the Nile River at flood time.
It will heve up then sink again.
And when this earthquake
came, it was devastating.
Geologists have found evidence of
multiple sites of widespread and sudden
destruction consistent with a massive
earthquake late in the rain of Jira.
Bo ii.
After this opening assertion that God
truly is speaking through Amos, the book
relays a cycle of Oracles against the
nations that immediately surround Israel.
The prophet first announces judgment
against these nations, and then in
the seventh, Oracle turns to speak
against the southern kingdom of Judah.
The listeners in the Northern
Kingdom likely would've expected
this to be the final oracle.
They would've cheered the
condemnation of their neighbors
and closest rivals in Judah.
But Amos has been drawing a target
with Israel at the center, and he
delivers his longest denunciation
against the northern kingdom of Israel.
Because of their wanton luxury
oppression of the poor and idolatry,
they will be defeated and destroyed.
The rest of the book
reinforces this message.
It consists of loosely organized
and sometimes interwoven short
oracles that take up the same themes,
idolatry, injustice, oppression, and
debauchery will bring God's judgment
no matter how strong Israel's army or
enthusiastic it's religious services.
As part of this message of judgment,
Amos also relays a series of visions
given to him by God that metaphorically
depict the coming punishment.
These visions are juxtaposed with an
account of the expulsion of Amos from
the Northern Kingdom, showing that
the people have rejected both God's
message and God's genuine messenger.
The final oracle is the most
devastating of all in it.
God dismisses the Israelites as
his covenant people saying that the
Exodus should not make them feel
more special than any other nation.
Are you Israelites more important
to me than the Ethiopians?
Asks the Lord.
I brought Israel out of Egypt, but
I also brought the Philistines from
Crete and led the Ians out of Kiir.
I, the sovereign Lord, am watching
the sinful nation of Israel.
I will destroy it from the face of
the earth, but then in a pattern,
we will see again and again.
The epilogue expresses
renewed hope for the future.
Amos, the earliest of the prophets.
Sets a template that God's later
messengers will also follow.
There will be judgment on God's people
because of injustice and unfaithfulness,
but then a promised restoration will
come through the mercy and love of God.
The covenant will prevail.
God will reinstitute himself
as king and heal his land.
The Prophet Amos.
This message was given to Amos, a
shepherd from the town of Coah and Judah.
He received this message, envisions
two years before the earthquake when
Isaiah was king of Judah and Rebo.
The second, the son of
Jehovah was king of Israel.
This is what he saw and heard.
The Lord's voice will roar from
Zion and thunder from Jerusalem.
The lush pastures of the shepherds
will dry up The grass on Mount
Carmel will wither and die.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Damascus have
sinned again and again, and I
will not let them go unpunished.
They beat down my people in Gilead as
grain is threshed with iron ledges,
so I will send down fire on King
Hazel's palace and the fortresses
of King Bin Hayed will be destroyed.
I will break down the gates
of Damascus and slaughter the
people in the Valley of Aven.
I will destroy the ruler in
Beth Eden and the people of
Arum will go as captives to ki.
Says the Lord.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Gaza have sinned
again and again, and I will
not let them go unpunished.
They sent whole villages into
exile, selling them as slaves to em.
So I will send down fire on
the walls of Gaza and all its
fortresses will be destroyed.
I will slaughter the people of Ashdod
and destroy the king of Ash kalon.
Then I will turn to attack Akron
and the few Philistines still
left, will be killed, says the ign.
Lord, this is what the Lord says.
The people of tire have sinned
again and again, and I will
not let them go unpunished.
They broke their treaty of
Brotherhood with Israel selling
whole villages as slaves to Edam.
So I will send down fire on
the walls of tire and all its
fortresses will be destroyed.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Edam have sinned
again and again, and I will
not let them go unpunished.
They chased down their relatives,
the Israelites, with swords showing
them no mercy in their rage.
They slashed them continually and
were unrelenting in their anger.
So I will send down fire on Teman, and
the fortresses of Basra will be destroyed.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Ammon have sinned
again and again, and I will
not let them go unpunished.
When they attacked Gilead to extend
their borders, they ripped open
pregnant women with their swords.
So I'll send down fire on the
walls of Rabbi and all its
fortresses will be destroyed.
The battle will come upon them with
shouts like a whirlwind in a mighty storm.
And their king and his princes will
go into exile together, says the Lord.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Moab have sinned
again and again, and I will
not let them go unpunished.
They desecrated the bones of
Eden's king, burning them to ashes.
So I will send down fire on the
land of Moab, and all the fortresses
and carry off will be destroyed.
The people will fall in the noise
of battle as the warriors shout in
the ram's horn sounds and I will
destroy their king and slaughter
all their princes, says the Lord.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Judah have
sinned again and again.
And I will not let them go unpunished.
They have rejected the instruction of
the Lord refusing to obey his decrees.
They have been led astray by the same
lies that deceived their ancestors.
So I will send down fire on
Judah and all the fortresses
of Jerusalem will be destroyed.
This is what the Lord says.
The people of Israel have
sinned again and again.
And I will not let them go.
Unpunished, they sell honorable
people for silver and poor
people for a pair of sandals.
They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Both father and son sleep with
the same woman corrupting my holy
name at their religious festivals.
They lounge in clothing, their
debtors put up as security.
The house of their gods.
They drink wine bought with unjust fines.
But as my people watched, I destroyed
the Emirates, though they were as
tall as cedars and as strong as oaks.
I destroyed the fruit on their
branches and dug out their roots.
It was I who rescued you from
Egypt and led you through the
desert for 40 years so you could
possess the land of the Amorites.
I chose some of your sons to be
prophets and others to be nazarites.
Can you deny this?
My people of Israel asks the Lord,
but you caused the nazarites to
sin by making them drink wine and
you commanded the prophets Shut up.
So I will make you groan like a wagon
loaded down with sheaves of grain.
Your fastest runners will not get away.
The strongest among you will become weak.
Even mighty warriors will be
unable to save themselves.
The archers will not stand their ground.
The swiftest runners won't
be fast enough to escape.
Even those riding horses won't be
able to save themselves on that day.
The most courageous of your
fighting men will drop their
weapons and run for their lives.
Says the Lord.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.