The prophet Zephaniah wrote to Judah about 620 B.C. during a time of compromise and faithlessness. In chapter 1, Zephaniah warned that God was angry and His wrath was coming. In chapter 2, he continued by showing that not only was wrath coming, but also redemption. The focus shifts from judgment to salvation. In Zephaniah 3:9-20, that glorious future redemption is promised. We see the recurring phrase “at that time… on that day” five times in this passage, emphasizing that in

Habakkuk is unique among prophetic books. He does not address the nation but instead records his conversation with God and God's reply. Habakkuk was upset that evil was rampant in the land and it didn't seem that the Lord was doing anything about it. God responded, to Habakkuk's surprise, that He was bringing the Babylonians to punish His people. Habakkuk objected that God is too pure to approve of the evil of the Babylonians. God replied that He was bringing judgment on them

The prophecy of Nahum opens by explaining that it is a message of God's judgment against the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. The book first tells us about the Lord: “A jealous and avenging God is the Lord. The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and He reserves wrath for His enemies” (Nah. 1:2). Nahum writes these words against ancient Assyria, yet his words give us great comfort at the same time. While delivering a

Redemption in the book of Micah focuses on the promise of a coming Messiah in chapter 5. There is a shift from fear to hope for the future. Verse 1 tells of the imminent threat of an Assyrian siege. However, hope is found in the following verses in the future Messiah. “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.

Archaeological and inscriptional evidence details the cruelty of ancient Assyrian kings. King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) boasted about how he responded to rebellious cities: "I flayed as many nobles as had revolted against me, and draped their skins over the pile . . . some I impaled on stakes on the pile . . . I cut off the limbs of the officers, of the royal officers" (Grayson, Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Part 2: From Tiglath-pileser I to Ashur-nasir-apli II, 124). We

C. S. Lewis wrote, “There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. . . . The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility” (Mere Christianity, 109-112). The book of Obadiah is about God's wrath against the sin of human pride and th

Like most of the prophetic books of the Hebrew scriptures, the prophecy of Amos contains God's word of judgment. In chapters 1 and 2, Yahweh roars in judgment as a lion. Israel cheered as Amos pronounced woes on the nations surrounding Israel. Aram, Philistia, Phoenicia, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and even Judah all deserved God's wrath because of sin. The bullseye then focused on Israel because of sin. Chapters 3-6 give the reasons for God's judgment. Is there any hope for redempti

Time is one thing all of us have. We all have the same twenty-four hours in each day. Would a thirty-hour day allow us to do all that we need or want to do? We would probably be just as frustrated as we are with twenty-four hours. The apostle Paul commanded the Christians at Colossae to "redeem the time" (Col. 4:5). Paul used a Greek verb in this text that was a commercial term meaning "to buy something out of the marketplace." It is the word used to describe our salvation (G

The book of the prophet Joel begins in a foreboding way. “Hear this, you elders, and listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days, or in your fathers’ days? Tell your sons about it, and have your sons tell their sons, and their sons the next generation” (Joel 1:2-3). What was causing such panic? Joel describes the judgment of the “day of the Lord” (v. 15) coming in a locust plague that, according to some scholars, morphs into invading armi

The life of the prophet Hosea was an object lesson of his message. God told Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman named Gomer who vividly illustrated Israel's unfaithfulness to God. God gave names to the children of Gomer indicating His current relationship with unfaithful Israel. The firstborn son, Jezreel (Hos. 1:4), means “God will sow” warning that God will punish (sow) Israel. The second child, a daughter, was to be named Lo-Ruhamah (v. 6) (“no compassion”) warning that Go

Daniel chapter two tells of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful Babylonian king. After the official “dream interpreters” of his court failed to interpret the dream, Nebuchadnezzar sent for the Hebrew captive, the prophet Daniel. “Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven” (Dan. 2:19). Daniel made very clear that the Babylonian king understood that God was giving the interpretation through him when he said, “There is

The book of Lamentations, evidenced by the English title, is a lament or expression of deep sorrow following a terrible catastrophe. The Hebrew title (Ekah) meaning “How!” or “Alas!” captures the feeling of the book. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC because of the sin of Judah is the disastrous background of Lamentations. The author, thought by many to be Jeremiah, pours out his heart to God. In the longest poem of the book, the suffering writer speak

The exiled nation of Judah shirked personal responsibility for sins by blaming their forefathers. God's answer to the people was, “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them” (Ezek. 18:20). Redemption comes only after acknowledgment and repentance of sin. Th

Many of the prophets record God's threats to bring judgment on His people for sin. However, most of these prophets also have hopeful words. This reflects the theological balance between God's wrath and love. One writer commented, “We need to hear what Jeremiah has to tell us because a gospel emptied of the wrath of God is a gospel emptied of truth and power” (Andrew Shead at thebriefing.com.au). Jeremiah's message is about judgment and redemption. “Then the LORD reached out h

God is called “Redeemer” 13 times in the book of Isaiah. God rescued His people from Babylonian slavery, oppression, and sin. One occurrence is Isaiah 54:5: “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of armies; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.” One of the greatest contributions to the theology of redemption in Isaiah comes from the “Servant Song” passages in the book (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). These

There are two main views of the Song of Songs. A popular view is that it is an allegory about the love between Christ and His Bride (church). Such a view is difficult since the book contains detailed and explicit descriptions of the male and human body. The same objection could be made for the Jewish view as a picture of the covenant relationship between God and Israel. It seems the best view of the book is to see it describing the love between husband and wife. One writer co

I am attempting in these articles to explore the biblical books that we are surveying. I am doing this by focusing on the theme of redemption in each book. We have come in our Bible survey to the book of Ecclesiastes. If you are familiar with this book, you are probably wondering how we see the theme of redemption in this book. Perhaps we see redemption in Ecclesiastes by seeing the futility of lasting satisfaction in anything but God. Ecclesiastes speaks of the reality of hu

Redemption from sin is not necessary apart from the reality of sin. From the introduction to the book of Proverbs (1:1-7), we learn this book teaches practical wisdom. This wisdom is rooted in the proper attitude of reverence toward God (1:7). The opposite of the wise person in Proverbs is the fool. The fool is a fool because of sin and irreverence toward God. Proverbs 24:9 reads, "The devising of foolishness is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to humanity.” Proverbs 20

In the book of Psalms, the Hebrew words for “redemption” are often used to mean save, rescue, or release from physical circumstances or enemies. However, the idea of spiritual redemption or forgiveness is also found in the book. This forgiveness is described with vivid imagery such as sins being "blotted out," "covered," "hidden," or cast away. Redemption comes after confession of sins to God. While not stated in the text, Jewish tradition associates Psalm 32 with David's sin

Job exclaimed, “Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God, Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and Whom my eyes will see, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 25:25-27 NASB). Job states that he is looking for his Redeemer to come in the future. It is not exactly clear in the Hebrew of the passage what Job means and how much he unde