That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
That which the palmer-worm hath left. Heb. The residue of the palmer-worm.
The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
The vine. Dr. Shaw observes, that in Barbary, in the month of June the locusts are no sooner hatched than they collect themselves into compact bodies, each a furlong or more square; and marching directly after they are come to life, make their way towards the sea and let nothing escape them, eating up everything that is green or juicy; not only the lesser vegetables, but the vine likewise, the fig-tree, the pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field.
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
Joe 1:2. Hear this, ye old men- This prophesy begins with threatening the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Judah, with such desolation of their country, by swarms of locusts, as had never happened to them before in the memory of the oldest inhabitants of the land, and as should occasion the utmost distress to all sorts of persons among them. The havock that should be made by these creatures is described in a lively manner. Their corn of all sorts should be devoured, and all their choicest fruit-trees entirely destroyed; so that there should be the greatest scarcity of provision in the land, and not enough to supply the meat and drink-offerings for the altar of God. And what should increase this calamity was, the excessive heat and drought which should happen at the same time, whereby their herds and flocks should be almost ready to perish for want of water. Chandler.
Joe 1:4. That which the palmer-worm hath left, &c.- Bochart has given many probable reasons to believe, that the four Hebrew words here used, חסיל chasil, ילק ielek, ארבה arbeh, גזם gazam, signify four species of locust; which the learned reader will find in his Hieroz. tom. ii. lib. v. c. 1. See also Scheuchzer on the place.
Joe 1:5. Awake, ye drunkards- This character is given to Ephraim, Isa 28:1; Isa 28:3.; and excessive drinking is assigned as a reason of the captivity of Israel, Amo 6:6-7. Kimchi's commentary on the place, is, "You who accustom yourselves to get drunk with wine; awake ye out of your sleep, and weep night and day; for the wine shall fail you, because the locust shall devour the grape." See Chandler, and Sharpe. The author of the Observations thinks that new wine is a faulty translation; and that it should be rendered sweet wine; sweet as the new-trodden juice of grapes, but old. Wines (says he) of this sort were chiefly esteemed in former times, as appears from the Septuagint; for that which our version of Est 1:7 renders, Royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king, they read, Much and sweet wine, such as the king himself drank. Dr. Russel observes of the white wines of Aleppo, that they are palatable, but thin and poor, and seldom keep sound above a year. Now the prophet, in chap. Joe 3:18 describes a state of great prosperity, by the mountains dropping down sweet wine; as much as to say, the mountains of Judaea should not produce wine like that of Aleppo, but that which was rich, and capable of being long kept, and by that means of acquiring the greatest agreeableness. The same word עסיס asiis, is very properly translated sweet wine in Amo 9:13 and the same rendering in this place is confirmed and illustrated by an observation of Dr. Shaw's, concerning the wine of Algiers; which, says he, before the locusts destroyed the vineyards, in 1723 and 1724, was not inferior to the best Hermitage, either in briskness of taste or flavour. But since that time it is much degenerated; having not hitherto (that is, in 1732) recovered its usual qualities, Travels, p. 146. It is a desolation of their vineyards by locusts that Joel threatens, which thus injures their produce for many years as to briskness and flavour; and consequently nothing was more natural than to call the drunkards of Israel to mourn on that account. See Isa 49:26 and the Observations, p. 195.
Joe 1:6. For a nation is come up- A word of consideration concerning the locusts may not be altogether improper, says Dr. Sharpe in his Second Argument, &c. And as the commentators are divided in their opinions, it will be but fair to give a brief view of what has been said on both sides. To begin then with Grotius, Houbigant, Rabbi Tanchum, Abarbanel, &c. they are of opinion, that the prophet has used this image to set forth the multitude of the Chaldean army; but then Bochart and others, on the contrary, assert, that it is an army of real locusts, and not of men. Some, as Cyril and Theodoret, have interpreted it of both. Jerome informs us, that some of the Jews before his time understood this description of the locusts to be figurative, and to mean the most powerful enemies of the Jews: and he himself is forced to confess, that while you read of locusts, you think of the Babylonians. The force of the Chaldeans (says he) is described under the metaphor of locusts. This interpretation is favoured also by the Chaldee. Pocock has, with great learning and diligence, endeavoured to prove, that locusts, not men, are here described by the prophet; and then, after such his literal interpretation, he allows it will be lawful for any to apply them to such things as he pleases. Throughout the prophesies of Daniel, kings, kingdoms, and forces, are represented under the names and parts of animals; the lion, bear, ram, goat, horns, wings. The king of Egypt is represented, Isa 27:1 by leviathan, the crooked serpent; the literal meaning is, "The crocodile of the Nile:" the real import is Psammeticus, king of Egypt, taken prisoner by Cambyses. The army of Nebuchadnezzar is compared to locusts (grasshoppers in our version), Jer 46:23 which is a common metaphor for numerous and destructive armies, as the reader may see by comparing Isa 33:4. Jdg 6:5; Jdg 7:12. It may therefore be presumed, that, under the metaphor of locusts, Joel describes the army of the Chaldeans; and this presumption is moreover favoured by several circumstances in the description. The locusts were of four kinds; and the enemies appointed over the Jews were of four kinds, Jer 15:2-3. Jerome, with other interpreters, suppose the succession of these insects to mean the four several attacks of the Chaldeans: that is to say, first, in the last year of Nabopolassar, and third of Jehoiachim; secondly, when that king was taken prisoner, in the eleventh year of his reign; thirdly, in the ninth of Zedekiah; fourthly, about three years after, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. To conclude, we may with Bishop Warburton regard this as a double prophesy, and consider that Joel in his prediction of an approaching ravage by locusts, foretels likewise, in the same word, a succeeding desolation by the Assyrian army; for we are to observe, that this was God's method both in warning and punishing a sinful people. Thus when the seven nations, for their exceeding wickedness, were to be exterminated, God promises his chosen nation to send hornets before them,&c. See Exo 23:28 and Wis 12:8, &c. Now Joel, under one and the same prediction, contained in this and the following chapter, foretels both these plagues; the locusts in the primary sense, and the Assyrian army in the secondary. See Div. Leg. book 6: sect. 6 and the note on chap. Joe 2:20.
Joe 1:7. My vine- This is the name of Judah, Psa 80:8. Instead of, Cast it away, Houbigant reads, Deprived it of all fruit.
Joe 1:8. Lament like a virgin- A young woman. Houbigant. These words are an apostrophe to the land of Judah; the prophet puts her in mind, that she ought to be deeply affected with the heavy strokes of divine vengeance, and express her inward sense of these calamities, with the same external marks of mourning as a wife who had lost the husband of her youth. See AEneid 4: ver. 1:28 and Calmet.
Joe 1:12. The vine is dried up- In Barbary, in the month of June, the locusts collect themselves into compact bodies, a furlong or more square; and afterwards, marching directly on toward the sea, let nothing escape them; eating up every thing that is green or juicy, not only of the lesser kind of vegetables, but also the trees mentioned in this verse. The author of the
Observations is of opinion, that apple-tree cannot be a proper translation in this place; for the apples which the Arabs of Judea eat at this day, are of foreign growth, and at the same time very indifferent. He is therefore of opinion that the citron-tree is meant. See Observations, p. 199 and Dr. Shaw's Travels.
Joe 1:15. The day of the Lord is at hand- See Jer 46:10 and Eze 30:3.
Joe 1:17. The seed is rotten, &c.- Rotted. Whoever considers the authentic accounts given of the depredations of locusts in the year 1748 in our own country, wherein they were found burrowing under ground, and consequently destroyed the seeds under the clods, thereby rendering the gardens desolate, must own that this part of the description is applicable to the locusts: though Dr. Sharpe observes, "that these calamities are the natural consequence of war, and not the work of locusts; and that the whole is a picture of a country, not only pillaged and laid waste, but also deprived of its inhabitants; which was the truth of the case, they having been carried into captivity." See his Second Argument, p. 333.
Joe 1:18. How do the beasts groan!- That is, "How grievous will be the distress of the beasts of the field! How sadly will they complain, through the vehemency of thirst! How will the herds of cattle be troubled and perplexed! for their verdant pastures shall be all scorched up, and they will have none wherein to feed. The flocks also shall be desolate, and ready to perish." See Jer 14:1-6; Jer 15:2. Instead of, The herds of cattle are perplexed, Houbigant reads, How mournful are the lowings of the herds!
Joe 1:19. For the fire hath devoured, &c.- By the fire, is meant the fiery heat and drought which burned up all the pastures or pleasant places, both in the wilderness and in the valleys.
Joe 1:20. The beasts, &c.-the pastures- Every one of the beasts cries, &c.-the pleasant places.
REFLECTIONS.-1st, The prophet opens his discourse,
1. With an address to all the inhabitants of Judea, old and young, whose attention he demands to the message that he was about to deliver: a message of judgment, such as the oldest could not remember, nor the tradition of former ages produce; and which ought to be handed down to the latest posterity, that, warned by the sufferings of their forefathers, they may avoid their sins.
2. The judgment itself is an invasion from a terrible enemy; and is by many applied to the Assyrians, who ravaged and desolated the country; but may literally be better referred to the armies of locusts and other insects, which, in swarms succeeding each other, devoured all the fruits of the earth, and left the whole land barren as the scorched desert. Despicable as they might seem apart, their multitudes made them formidable: not the ravages of the lions from the forest could be more fatal: not only the vine-leaves are eaten up, but the very fig-trees are barked and destroyed by them. Note; God never wants instruments of vengeance: the most insignificant insect can in his hand be made the severest scourge; and a locust terrible as a lion.
3. The drunkards are admonished to lament the judgment which their sins had provoked, and by which they would be particularly affected, because the new wine is cut off from their mouths. And justly does God punish those who abuse his favours, by depriving them of their good things, and leaving them in want and wretchedness to lament their baseness.
2nd, The whole nation, deeply affected with the calamity, is called upon to mourn in sackcloth, as a virgin who is robbed of her betrothed spouse, on whom her warmest affections were fixed, and whose loss fills her heart with bitterest anguish. Note; They who are wedded to worldly comforts find it death to part from them.
The corn, wine, and oil, are perished; the trees stripped of leaves and fruit, and withered away; the very earth looks dark, and mourneth over the desolations; because joy is withered away from the sons of men; the songs of harvest and the shouting of the vintage are silent, and nothing is heard but howling and groans. Particularly,
1. The husbandmen and vine-dressers are called to bewail the dreadful devastations: their labours are ruined, their hopes disappointed, themselves and families left to pine in want, and perish by famine.
2. The priests of the sanctuary are commanded to join the general cry, and mourn over the deserted altars, where no sacrifice smoked, no oblation was presented. They are called ministers of the altar, as bound to a constant attendance there; and ministers of my God, this being their distinguished honour; and the motive to their indefatigable labour. They would now be peculiar sufferers, and be destitute of that maintenance with which the altar used to supply them; but a nobler concern must fill their minds, and grief to see God's worship neglected must swallow up every other concern which is merely their own. Note; A true minister of the Gospel has God's glory more at heart than every other consideration: compared with this, he counts not even his own life dear unto himself.
3rdly, To avert the heavy wrath upon them, the prophet points out to them the properest means to be pursued. As their sufferings came from God's displeasure, to remove this must be their first concern.
1. Let a solemn fast be proclaimed, a day of deep humiliation sanctified and set apart; that with united supplications they might surround the throne of grace; and while by a strict abstinence from meat and drink they acknowledged themselves unworthy of every mercy, and, prostrate in the courts of the Lord's house, confessed the justice of the judgments that he had inflicted, they might with prayers and tears cry unto a pardoning God, that sin, the cause of their calamity, being forgiven, their sufferings, the dire effects thereof, might be removed, Note; (1.) National judgments call for national humiliation. (2.) When we are found in God's appointed ways, we may humbly hope that he will meet us in mercy. (3.) Affliction then answers the end for which it was sent, when it brings us to our knees, and raises the cry of fervent importunate prayer.
2. Abundant reason there is for this humiliation.
[1.] What they suffered already was grievous. If they looked into their garners, they were empty; if to God's house, no sacrifice or oblation was seen; if to the country, desolate it mourned, the seed under the clod is rotten, and the very beasts groan, perplexed for want of food, and pining away. Note; (1.) How terrible is famine: how thankful ought we to be for the great plenty that we in general enjoy; and how should we fear to provoke God, by our abuse of his mercies to withhold them! (2.) The very earth mourns, the very beasts groan under men's sins; and shall we ourselves be the only insensible beings in the whole creation?
[2.] What they feared was yet more terrible: for the day of the Lord is at hand. What they felt was but the beginning of sorrows, and a foretaste of the greater evil approaching; as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come; which may refer to the ruin of the nation at first by the Chaldeans, or afterwards by the Romans, sent to punish them for their iniquities by Jehovah, whose arm of omnipotence is irresistible. And, more generally, this may be applied to every sinner, whose judgment advances, whose damnation slumbereth not, whose everlasting destruction is at the door; unless he repent without delay, he perishes eternally. Well, therefore, may we cry, Alas for the day!
3. The prophet urges them hereunto by the examples before them.
[1.] His own. O Lord, to thee will I cry: as deeply affected with their sins and their sufferings, he earnestly addresses his prayer to God; to him who wounds, and alone is able to heal; the fire of whose wrath, whatever instruments were employed, had almost consumed them; and He only, who had kindled, could quench it. Note; They who call others to fasting and prayer, must themselves lead the way.
[2.] Of the beasts. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee; with sounds inarticulate indeed, but which the Lord can hear and pity. They are parched with thirst and famished with hunger; for the rivers of water are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, scorched up with the excessive drought. Note; The very lowing of the oxen, yea, the ravens' cries, shall rise up in judgment to reproach the stupidity of the sinner who restrains prayer before God.
Joel was probably the earliest of the prophets whose writings have descended to us. His personal history is unknown further than the bare statement (1:1). His field of labor was presumably Judah rather than Israel, the southern rather than the northern kingdom, because of allusions to the center of public worship which was at Jerusalem (1:9, 13-14; 2:15), and because of non-allusions to Israel distinctively. Such places as 2:27, and 3:16 are thought to mean Israel as inclusive of Judah, i.e., the whole united nation. Although it is assumed that Joel was the earliest of the prophets, the evidence is inferential rather than direct. He is presumably earlier than Amos who is known to have prophesied somewhere about the close of the eighth century B.C., because he seems to be quoted by Amo 5:16-18. He also refers to the same heathen nations as Amo 3:4-6, and to the same physical scourges as prevalent in the land (1:4, 17, 20). (Compare the marginal references to Amos.)
OUTLINE OF JOEL
Joel 1 Introduction (Joe 1:1-3) Announcement of a coming judgment of locusts (Joe 1:4-5) Announcement of the coming judgment from the heathen nations, of which that of the locusts is a type (Joe 1:6-7) A lamentation of sorrow (Joe 1:8-12) A call to repentance (v. 13-20) Joel 2 A recurrence to the same judgments (Joe 2:1-3) A description of their executioners in which there is a blending of the idea of the locusts with that of the warriors. The picture is made vivid by the use of the present tense in the Revised Version (Joe 2:4-11) A call to repentance (Joe 2:12-17) A promise of future blessing (Joe 2:18-32) a. The enemies overthrown (Joe 2:18-20) b. The land blessed (Joe 2:21-27) c. The Holy Spirit poured out (Joe 2:28-32) Joel 3
This chapter returns to the future blessing spoken of in the preceding chapter, for the purpose of amplifying some of its features, a peculiarity of all the prophets, as was indicated in one of our earlier lessons:
The overthrow of the enemy (Joe 3:1-15) The deliverance of Jerusalem (Joe 3:16-17) The blessing on the land (Joe 3:18) The permanency of the restoration (Joe 3:19-20)
QUESTIONS
1. What chronological relation does Joel bear to the other prophets?
2. To which kingdom were his messages sent?
3. What proof is there of this?
4. What future blessings are predicted for Israel?
5. When was the prophecy of 2:28-32 partially fulfilled?
AMOS GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK
The opening verse shows that Amos, like Hosea, was a prophet sent to Israel, though his home, Tekoa, was in Judah. He was contemporary with Hosea for a while, though the latter prophesied longer than he.
After the introduction (Amo 1:1-3) there follows a series of messages concerning Gentile nations (Amo 1:4 to Amo 2:3), each beginning with the words “For three transgressions.., and for four, I will not turn away the punishment,” an orientalism, meaning that it was not for three or four transgressions merely, but an innumerable number, that the judgments predicted were to fall.
These messages are succeeded by one to Judah (Amo 2:4-5) while the remainder of the book is concerned with Israel.
The messages of Amos are more orderly than Hosea, and allow homiletic divisions like the following: The first, beginning at Amo 2:6 and concluding with the chapter, contains an indictment for sin (Amo 2:6-8), aggravated by the divine goodness toward them (Amo 2:9-12); and a declaration of the judgment to follow (Amo 2:13-15). This sin is greed (Amo 2:6), lust (Amo 2:7), and oppression (Amo 2:8). The marginal references frequently give the meaning of expressions in the prophets. Compare Exo 22:26 with Amo 2:8, for example, and Jer 11:21 with Amo 2:12.
God will press them as a cart full of sheaves presseth the ground (Amo 2:13, RV). In other words none shall escape the Assyrian hosts when they come down against them (Amo 2:14-16).
The second discourse is limited to the third chapter, and contains, after the introduction, verses 1-2, (1) the prophet’s justification of his message (Amo 3:3-8); (2) an indictment for sin (Amo 3:9-10); and (3) a declaration of punishment (Amo 3:11-15).
When God says, “You only have I known,” etc., (Amo 3:2), He means what is expressed in Deu 7:6, Psa 147:19-20, and other places. Israel’s punishment is proportioned to her privilege.
Amos prophesied because he could not do otherwise, is practically the interpretation of Amo 3:3-8. As two do not walk together except they are agreed, or have made an appointment; as a lion does not roar when it has no prey, etc., so the fact that Amos prophecies is an evidence that Jehovah hath spoken to him (Amo 3:8).
Notice the suggestion of the preservation of a faithful remnant in the “two legs” or “piece of an ear” of a sheep taken out of the mouth of the lion (Amo 3:12). Messages of this character continue till the seventh chapter when a series of visions begins.
In the first vision (Amo 7:1-3), Jehovah is withholding the coming judgment at the prophet’s intercession, and the same is true of the second (Amo 7:4-6), but not of the rest (Amo 7:7-9; Amo 8:1-3; Amo 9:1-10).
And yet notice the conclusion of the last message growing out of the vision of the Lord beside the altar (Amo 9:8-9). He will not “utterly destroy.” He will sift Israel “among all nations” as He has been doing all these centuries, but only the chaff will be destroyed.
This thought is amplified in the epilogue of the book (Amo 9:11-15), where the prophet definitely reveals the history of Israel in the latter days: (1) the kingdom is to be restored (Amo 9:11); (2) Israel is to be the head of the nations (Amo 9:12); (3) the land of Palestine is to be greatly increased in fruitfulness (Amo 9:13); (4) the cities are to be rebuilt (Amo 9:14); (5) the blessing is to be perpetual (Amo 9:15).
QUESTIONS
1. To which kingdom was Amos sent?
2. What orientalism is employed by him and what is its meaning?
3. How do the messages of Amos differ in form from those of Hosea?
4. Name some of the sins of Israel at this time.
5. Have you examined the marginal references?
6. How would you interpret Amo 2:3-8?
7. What change in the character of Amos’ messages take place at chapter 7?
8. What five promises are given Israel for the latter days?
OBADIAH GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK
This prophet’s period was probably just after Babylon conquered Judah, but before they conquered Edom, a conquest he proclaims (Oba 1:1). Of the nations afflicting the Jews the chief were the Assyrians, the Babylonians and Edomites. Although the Edomites were close relatives to the Jews, they were the greatest enemies of all. They descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob, the ancestor of Israel. Examine a map to become familiar with their territory, and using a concordance or Bible dictionary, refresh your recollection of their relations with Israel in the past. Compare also Jer 49:7-22.
The Edomites were not thought of very highly by their neighbors (Oba 1:2), but were conceited in their own eyes. Why (Oba 1:3)? Would their supposedly impregnable situation save them (Oba 1:4)? What figures of speech show, by contrast, the thoroughness of the destruction to fall upon them (Oba 1:5-6)?
Of what were they proud besides the physical features of their territory (Oba 1:8-9)?
Why is judgment to fall upon them (Oba 1:10)? Note what they did in the case of Judah in her day of need: (1) They stood aloof (Oba 1:11); (2) they rejoiced in her calamity (Oba 1:12); (3) they boasted against her (same verse); (4) they shared in her spoiling (Oba 1:13); (5) they prevented the escape of some of her people (Oba 1:14); and (6) they actually delivered up some of them as prisoners (same verse). No wonder God speaks as He does (Oba 1:15-16)!
And now mark the difference. Judah has been carried into captivity and her land was deserted, but was that condition in her case to continue (Oba 1:17)? On the contrary, what would be true of Edom (Oba 1:18)? In the day to come observe that while she will be swallowed up, Judah and Israel shall arise again, and possess not only their own land but that of Edom and Philistia as well (Oba 1:19-20). It will be the day of the Messiah (Oba 1:21).
QUESTIONS
1. What was Obadiah’s period?
2. What is his mission?
3. What relation existed between the Edomites and Israelites?
4. Have you identified the territory of the first named on the map?
5. How did they show enmity toward Israel?
6. What contrast will be seen in Edom and Israel in the time to come?
7. When will that be?
A MISGUIDED PATRIOT LEARNS OBEDIENCE
There is only one instance of Jonah’s prophesying to his own people of Israel, 2Ki 14:25. There he made a prediction concerning the restoration of the coasts of Israel, which was fulfilled in the reign of Jeroboam 2 about 800 B.C., showing that he lived earlier than that date. Of his personal history nothing further is known than what is found in this book.
Jonah 1
Nineveh (Jon 1:2) was the capital of Assyria, and the reason Jonah sought to avoid the divine command against it (Jon 1:3) arose from his patriotism. As a student of the earlier prophets he knew what was to befall his nation at the hands of Satan, and he shrank from an errand which might result favorably to that people, and spare them to become the scourge of Israel. The contents of the rest of this chapter require no comment till the last verse, where it is interesting to note that it is not said that a whale swallowed Jonah, but “a great fish” which “the Lord had prepared.”
Jonah 2
Is self-explanatory, but it is interesting to observe Jonah’s penitence under chastisement (Jon 2:2), the lively experiences he underwent (Jon 2:3-6), his hope and expectation even in the midst of them (Jon 2:4), his unshaken faith (Jon 2:5), the lessons he learned (Jon 2:8), and the effect of it all on his spiritual life (Jon 2:9). God could not afford to set him at liberty (Jon 2:10).
Is This Historic?
The question “Is this chapter historic?” will not go away. The evidence for it is found:
1. In the way it is recorded, there being not the slightest intimation in the book itself, or anywhere in the Bible, that it is a parable.
2. In the evidence of tradition, the whole of the Jewish nation, 626 practically, accepting it as historic.
3. The reasonableness of it (see the remarks under chapter 3).
4. The testimony of Christ in Mat 12:38, and parallel places. There are those who read these words of the Savior in the light of the argument of which they form a part, and say that they allude only to what He knew to be a parable, or an allegory, but I am not of their number. Jesus would not have used such an illustration in such a connection, in my judgment, if it were not a historic fact.
5. The symbolic or prophetic character of the transaction (see the remarks under chapter 4).
Jonah 3
To grasp the significance of the events in this chapter it is necessary to know that the Ninevites worshiped the fish God, Dagon, part human and part fish. They believed he came up out of the sea and founded their nation, and also that messengers came to them from the sea from time to time. If, therefore, God should send a preacher to them, what more likely than that He should bring His plan down to their level and send a real messenger from the sea? Doubtless great numbers saw Jonah cast up by the fish, and accompanied him to Nineveh as his witnesses and credentials.
There are two side arguments that corroborate the historicity of this event. In the first place, Oannes is the name of one of the latest incarnations of Dagon, but this name with J before it is the spelling for Jonah in the New Testament. In the second place, there was for centuries an Assyria mound named Yunas, a corrupted Assyria form for Jonas, and it was this mound’s name that first gave the suggestion to archeologists that the ancient city of Nineveh might be buried beneath it. Botta associated Yunas with Jonah, and the latter with Nineveh, and so pushed in his spade, and struck the walls of the city.
The Moral Miracle
Before leaving this chapter, observe that the moral miracle was greater than the physical. The sparing of a nation of confessed sinners, simply on their repentance and their giving heed to the message of the prophet, was more astounding than the prophet’s preservation in the fish’s belly (Jon 3:5-10)!
Jonah 4
Especially the opening verse (Jon 4:1-3), corroborates the view that patriotism led Jonah to flee from his divinely-imposed duty. He could not bear to see his enemy spared.
From Jon 4:5 we gather that he waited in the hope of seeing the destruction of the city; and yet how gracious God was to his narrow-minded and revengeful servant (Jon 4:6)!
JONAH A TYPE OF ISRAEL
But we should not conclude this lesson without speaking of the dispensational significance of Jonah and his mission, which is a contribution to its historicity. To illustrate:
Jonah was called to a world mission, and so was Israel.
Jonah at first refused compliance with the divine purpose and plan, and so did Israel.
Jonah was punished by being cast into the sea, and so was Israel by being dispersed among the nations.
Jonah was not lost, but rather especially preserved during this part of his experience, and Israel is not being assimilated by the nations, but being kept for God.
Jonah repentant and cast out by the fish, is restored to life and action again, and Israel repentant and cast out by the nations shall be restored to her former national position.
Jonah, obedient, goes upon his mission to Nineveh, and Israel, obedient, shall ultimately engage in her original mission to the world.
Jonah is successful in that his message is acted upon to the salvation of Nineveh, so Israel shall be blessed in that she shall be used to the conversion of the whole world.
QUESTIONS
1. Have you read 2Ki 14:25?
2. What was the motive for Jonah’s disobedience?
3. Give five reasons for believing the historicity of this book.
4. Can you quote Mat 12:38?
5. What explanation of this miracle is found in the worship of the Ninevites?
6. What two side arguments for the historicity of this event can you name?
7. What second miracle does this book contain?
8. Indicate the sense in which Jonah is a type of Israel.
MICAH INTRODUCTION
The little known of Micah is briefly stated. Calling himself a Morasthite indicates Moresheth, or Mareshah, as his birthplace in southwestern Judah, near Gath. The time of his prophesying is shown in the same verse (by the reference to the kings of Judah) as between 758-700 B.C. He seems to be the writer of his own book, if we may judge from the personal allusions in chapter 3:1, 8, and to have died in peace, judging by Jer 26:18-19. He is frequently referred to as a prophet, and his utterances quoted, not only in the instances above given, but in Isa 2:2-4; Isa 41:15; Eze 22:27; Zep 3:19; Mat 2:5; and Joh 7:42. Jesus quotes him in Mat 10:35-36. For further references to his period, see our lessons on Isaiah.
A DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENT
Chapters 1-3 contain a description of the approaching judgment on both kingdoms Israel and Judah. How does Mic 1:1; Mic 1:5 indicate that both kingdoms are under consideration?
Notice the order in which the three classes of hearers are addressed: (1) The people at large (Mic 1:2) (2) The princes (chap. 3) (3) The false prophets (Mic 3:5) According to Mic 3:11, what seems to have been the most crying sin of all? And yet notwithstanding their covetousness and greed, how did they show either gross hypocrisy or gross ignorance of God (same verse, last part)? It is at this point that the declaration of judgment is expressed, and in language which has been literally fulfilled (Mic 3:12).
A VISION OF HOPE
Chapters 4 and 5 unfold the future and happier, because holier, experience of the nation. Mic 4:1-4 are quoted almost verbatim in Isaiah 2, unless we reverse the order and say that Micah quoted Isaiah.
At what time are these better things to come to pass according to the beginning of this chapter? How are these things figuratively expressed in Mic 4:1? It is not difficult to recognize in these figures of speech the exaltation of Jerusalem and Judah overall the nations in that day. But how does Mic 4:2 show that the exaltation will not be exacting and tyrannous, but the opposite? What language shows that the millennial age is referred to, and no period which has yet appeared in the history of the world? How do Mic 4:3-4 strengthen this conviction? What expression in Mic 4:7 almost directly states this to be the case? In Joel we saw that prior to Israel’s deliverance, and, as incident thereto, the Gentile nations will be besieging Jerusalem and desirous of seizing her, and that Jehovah will interpose on her behalf. How do the closing verses of this chapter parallel that prophecy?
Addressing ourselves to chapter 5, we discover the common teaching of the prophets that these good times coming for Israel and Judah are connected with the person and work of Messiah. How is that led up to in Mic 5:2? These words are quoted in Matthew 2 to apply to the first coming of Christ, but that does not exclude His second coming. Moreover, all the succeeding verses in this chapter point to events which did not occur at His first coming, but will be found to be uniformly predicated of His second coming.
A CONTRAST DRAWN
Chapters 6 and 7 present a contrast between the reasonableness, purity and justice of the divine requirements, and the ingratitude, injustice and superstition of the people which caused their ruin.
The closing chapter is peculiarly affecting, a kind of soliloquy of repentance on Israel’s part. The better element among the people are confessing and lamenting their sinful condition in Mic 6:1-6, but expressing confidence in God’s returning favor (Mic 6:7-8).
There are few verses in the Bible more expressive of quiet hope and trust than these. The spirit of confession and submission (Mic 6:9) is beautiful, as is the certainty of triumph over every foe (Mic 6:10). Note how Jehovah Himself speaks through the prophet (Mic 6:11-13 RV). See the promise of interposition on Israel’s behalf in that day (Mic 6:15); and the confusion of the Gentile nations at their triumph, and their own discomfiture (Mic 6:16-16). Of course, the temporal blessings coming upon Israel are predicated upon their return to the Lord and His forgiveness of their sins (Micah 6:18-19). Nevertheless these things will take place on the grounds of the original promise to Abraham (Micah 6:20).
QUESTIONS
1. What can you say of the history of Micah?
2. Name the three great divisions of the book.
3. Analyze chapters 1-3.
4. With what future event is the deliverance of Israel always associated?
5. What makes the closing chapter particularly affecting?
NAHUM CONSOLATION FOR ISRAEL
Isaiah concludes his work at about the end of Hezekiah’s reign, which synchronizes with the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel by the Assyrians. At this period of perplexity, when the overthrow of Samaria (the capital of Israel) must have suggested to Judah fears for her own safety, when Jerusalem (the capital of Judah) had been drained of its treasure by Hezekiah in the vain hope of turning the fury of the Assyrians from her, and when rumors of the conquest of a part of Egypt by the same great power added still more to the general dismay, Nahum was raised up by Jehovah to reveal His tenderness and power (Nah 1:1-8), to foretell the subversion of the Assyrians (Nah 1:9-12), the death of Sennacherib the Assyrian king and the deliverance of Hezekiah from his toils (1:10-15).
The name of the prophet means consolation.
After the consolatory introduction which covers the whole of chapter 1, the prophet predicts in detail, the destruction of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Properly to grasp Nahum, one needs to compare it with Jonah, of which it is a continuation and supplement. The two prophecies form parts of the same moral history; the remission of God’s judgments being illustrated in Jonah, and the execution of them in Nahum. The city had one denunciation more given a few years later, by Zephaniah (Zep 2:13), and shortly afterwards (606 B.C.), the whole were fulfilled.
QUESTIONS
1. Against what Gentile nation is this prophecy uttered (Nah 1:1)?
2. Indicate the verses in chapter 1 that particularly console Israel.
3. How is Nah 2:2 rendered in the Revised Version?
4. How does Nah 3:7; Nah 3:19 show the ultimate utter destruction of Nineveh?
5. How does Nah 3:16 indicate the commercial greatness of that city?
HABAKKUK THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH
Nothing is known of the personal history of Habakkuk, and little as to the time when he prophesied. He is placed by some successor to Zephaniah, for he makes no mention of Assyria and yet refers to the approach of the Babylonian invasion. See Hab 1:6; Hab 2:3; Hab 3:2; Hab 3:16-19. The book seems to have been written by himself, as we judge from Hab 1:2, and Hab 2:1-2.
His “burden” begins by lamenting the iniquity of his people Hab 1:1-4. He then declares God’s purpose of raising up the Chaldean nation as a scourge against them Hab 1:5-10. The probability is that the Chaldeans (or Babylonians) were still a friendly nation (see 2Ki 20:12-19), but they were soon to march through the land as a ravaging enemy. There were three invasions by the Babylonians, as the second book of Kings showed us; in the reigns of Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, and it is thought Habakkuk alludes to all three. Hab 1:11 of chapter 1 might be taken as a prophecy of the disease that came over Nebuchadnezzar when, as a punishment for his pride, his reason was taken from him for a season. The chapter concludes with an expostulation to the Holy One for inflicting such judgment on Judah and for using a nation to inflict them less righteous, as the prophet thinks, than themselves.
In chapter 2 he awaits God’s answer to this expostulation (Hab 2:1), and receives it (Hab 2:2-4). This is encouraging. “The vision shall surely come and the just shall live by faith and wait for it.” The continuation of the chapter is a prediction of the judgments that shall fall on the Babylonians for their cruelty and idolatry.
The prophet, hearing these promises and threatenings, concludes his book with a song of praise and prayer (chapter 3). He celebrates past displays of the power and grace of Jehovah, supplicates God for the speedy deliverance of His people and closes by expressing a confidence in God which no change can destroy.
Attention is called to the words in Hab 3:2-3, which the writer of Hebrews, according to the law of double reference, applies to the second coming of Christ (Heb 10:37-38).
In the same manner notice Hab 3:4 of the same chapter, “The just shall live by faith,” and the application of it in Rom 1:17; Rom 5:1 and Gal 3:24.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the terms of the indictment against Judah (Hab 1:1-4)?
2. What features of the military power of Babylon are noted (Hab 1:8)?
3. How would you interpret Hab 2:1?
4. Have you identified the New Testament reference in this lesson?
5. What are the terms of indictment against Babylon (Hab 2:5-19)?
6. Memorize Hab 3:17-18.
ZEPHANIAH DIVINE DEVASTATION AND PROMISE
Little is known of the personal history of Zephaniah beyond the two facts in the first verse of his prophecy, the first bearing on his ancestry and the second on the period of his ministry. About fifty years have elapsed since Nahum, and Hezekiah has been succeeded by three of his descendants (see 2 Kings 20-21). Manasseh and Amon were idolatrous and wicked, but Josiah now upon the throne, is righteous and God-fearing. The story of his reign is in the succeeding chapters of 2 Kings and should be read preparatory to Zephaniah, who prophesied in the earlier part of his reign and assisted him in his efforts to restore the worship of the true God.
The first chapter contains a denunciation of vengeance against Judah and those who practiced idolatrous rites; Baal, his black-robed priests (Chemarims), and Malcham (Moloch), being condemned (Zeph. 1-2:3). The second chapter predicts the judgments about to fall on the Philistines, those especially of the sea-coasts (Cherethites), the Moabites, Ammonites, and Ethiopians, and describes the desolation of Nineveh.
In the third chapter, the prophet arraigns Jerusalem, but concludes with promises of her restoration in the latter day (Zep 3:1-20).
Coincidence of expression between Isaiah and Zephaniah are frequent, and still more between Zephaniah and Jeremiah. It may be added that the predictions of Jeremiah complete the view here given of the devastations to be effected by Chaldea in Philistia and Judah.
In Zep 3:8, observe the agreement with Joel concerning the gathering of the Gentile nations to judgment at the end of the present age. In Zep 3:9, we see these nations, or the spared and sifted remnant of them, converted to God and serving Him with a ready will. In Zep 3:10 they are bringing the sons of Israel back to their own land, the second gathering of them as explained in Israel. In Zep 3:11-18, the cleansed, rejoicing, nation of Israel appears, dwelling in their own land. In Zep 3:19-20 we find the restored people a blessing in the whole earth as foretold in the original promise to Abraham, and in the millennial psalms. Zep 3:17 repays careful meditation. The old marriage covenant between Jehovah and Israel is there depicted as gloriously restored (Isa 62:5; Hos 2:19); the husband is rejoicing in His wife, resting in His love and joying over her with singing. “Rest” is translated in the margin “be silent,” and this silence of Jehovah towards His people is no longer the silence arising from forbearance in order to punish at last (Psa 50:21), but because He has nothing more to reprehend.
QUESTIONS
1. Have you reviewed 2 Kings 20, 21?
2. In whose reign did this prophet prophesy?
3. Name the nations denounced in chapters 2-3.
4. How would you interpret Zep 3:8-20 in detail?
5. How would you interpret Zep 3:17 especially?
HAGGAI POST-BABYLONIAN PROPHET
This is the first of the post-Babylonian prophets those who prophesied after the return from the seventy years’ captivity. To be interested in this book therefore, one needs to read Ezra afresh, particularly chapters 4-5, for the mission of Haggai was to stir up the people of that time to rebuild the temple.
What excuse did the people make for not engaging in the work (Hag 1:2)? What showed their selfishness (Hag 1:4)? What showed their moral blindness (Hag 1:6)? What remedy for the material conditions indicated does God propose (Hag 1:7)? How is the divine judgment upon their neglect extended in verses (Hag 1:9-11)? What is the result of the prophet’s indictment against them (Hag 1:12), and its effect in heaven (Hag 1:13)? How shall we explain this result from the spiritual point of view (Hag 1:14)? How much time is covered by the events of this chapter (compare first and last verses)?
Note the date of the second message beginning chapter 2, and compare Ezr 3:8-13. Some were discouraged because of their weakness and poverty, and felt that the temple could never be completed, and that in any event it would be outclassed by that of Solomon (Hag 2:3). How does God inspire them (Hag 2:4-5)? Hag 2:6-10 are messianic, in which the first and second advents of our Lord are blended. The “shaking of the nations” seems future. “The desire of all nations” is taken as a personal designation of Christ, and yet the Revised Version renders it “the desirable things of all nations” which has a millennial flavor. Hag 2:9 is usually considered fulfilled by Christ’s presence in this second temple.
Note the date of the third message (Hag 2:10). For the Levitical bearing of Hag 2:11-13, compare the marginal references, Lev 10:10-11; Deu 33:10; Num 19:11; Mal 2:7, etc. Moral cleanness was not communicated by contact, but the same was not true of uncleanness. Israel was unclean in the spiritual sense, and all that they did in the way of divine service was correspondingly so (Hag 2:14), but in God was their help as the following verses prove.
God did not wait until the outcome of their labors testified to their change of heart, but from the day of that change His blessing began to be visited upon them (Hag 2:19). Previously, as the result of their disobedience, they reaped but ten measures of grain where they expected twenty, and twenty vessels of the fruit of the vine where they expected fifty; they had experienced blasting, and mildew and hail. But now all this would be changed, and the harvest plenteous. Let them take it by faith before the seed was in the barn, or the blossoms had come upon the trees (Hag 2:19).
Note the date of the fourth message (Hag 2:20). This is in the future, and recalls the forthcoming judgments on the Gentile nations of which the pre-exilic prophets have spoken. The period referred to is the end time. There are those who regard Hag 2:23 as a prophecy of Christ of whom Zerubbabel is the type, though others take the words literally as foreshadowing the resurrection of the governor himself.
QUESTIONS
1. To what period does Haggai belong?
2. With what historical book is this contemporaneous?
3. Have you re-read that book?
4. What was Haggai’s mission?
5. How many of the questions on chapter 1 were you able to answer?
6. How would you explain the purpose of the second message?
7. To what period does the fourth message point?
THE PROPHET’S OWN TIME
Zechariah, like Haggai, had a twofold mission, to strengthen the hands of Israel for the rebuilding of the temple, and to quicken their hope as the earlier prophets had done, by painting in glowing colors the coming time of triumph over every foe.
This mission is set before us in a two-fold division of the book. Chapters 1-8 give us a series of prophetic visions bearing primarily, upon the prophet’s own time, while chapters 9-14 deal chiefly with the events culminating at the end of the age and the opening of the millennium.
Part one, after the introduction, Zec 1:7 to Zec 6:8; might be outlined thus:
1. The Prophetic Visions (chaps. 1-6) The man among the myrtle trees The four horns The four smiths The measuring line The high priest in the temple
The golden candlestick
The flyer roll
The woman in the ephah
The four chariots
2. The Symbolic Crowning of the High Priest (6:8-15)
3. The Instruction about Fasting (chaps. 7-8)
THE FIRST FOUR VISIONS (Zechariah 1-2)
To understand the first vision is the key to the rest. When was it received by the prophet (1:7)? Describe what he saw (Zec 1:8). Observe that two persons are referred to, the man upon the red horse, and the angel that talked with Zechariah, sometimes called “interpreting angel.” The man on the horse seems afterward identified with “the angel of the Lord” (Zec 1:11-12), one of the Old Testament names of Christ. It is presumable that the other horses had angelic riders also. Who are these described to be (Zec 1:10)? What report gave they of the earth (Zec 1:11)? Prosperity and peace seem to have been characteristic of all the peoples, while Jerusalem was distressed, the temple unfinished, and the remnant of the Jews there persecuted by enemies. Who now intercedes on behalf of Jerusalem and Judah (Zec 1:12)? Is the answer of Jehovah encouraging or the opposite (Zec 1:13)? What was His answer in detail (Zec 1:14-17)? Was the peace and prosperity of the Gentile nations an evidence of the divine blessing upon them (Zec 1:15)? Jehovah had used them to discipline His people, but what shows their selfish and wicked intent in the premises (same verse)? What does Jehovah promise shall be accomplished by the little remnant at this time (Zec 1:16)? What of the future (Zec 1:17)? This was fulfilled in the history of God’s people at the time, in a measure at least. The temple was built, the cities restored, and Jerusalem and Judah comforted. And yet there is to be grander fulfillment in the days to come.
The two following visions, if we call them two the four horns and four smiths (RV), are closely connected with the one just considered. The four horns are the four world-powers (Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman) who scatter Israel, but the four smiths are four corresponding powers of some sort, not necessarily nations, which shall overcome them at the last and bring deliverance. We are almost necessarily shut up to the conclusion that this prophecy extends to the latter days by its reference to the whole of the four powers.
The next vision, that of the measuring line, presents no serious difficulty. Its significance explained (Zec 2:4-5), is the same practically as that of the man among the myrtles. However it may have had an approximate fulfillment in the prophet’s own time, Zec 2:10-13 indicate that it looks toward the future. What declaration in those verses seem to prove that?
THE HIGH PRIEST AND SATAN (Zechariah 3)
To understand the meaning of the vision now reached, keep in mind that a cause of dejection of the Jews was their consciousness of past sin. They felt that God had forsaken them, and that their present calamities were the result. We see herein, a parallel to the spiritual condition of a true believer in our own day, whom Satan torments with the belief that he cannot be saved on account of his many sins. This is now set before us in symbol, only there is a nation in the case here, and not an individual, for Joshua the high priest represented Israel.
Where is the high priest seen to be (Zec 3:1)? It is thought that he was represented as in the holy place ministering at the altar. Who is seen with him, and for what malign purpose? We have here in symbol, Satan’s temptation of the saint to doubt God’s power to forgive and save. How is this goodness and power shown, in the next verse? On what ground is Jerusalem to be saved, on that of merit or of the divine choice? What does Zec 3:3 teach as to the truth of Satan’s insinuation against Israel as represented by the high priest? Does the imagery indicate the holiness or sinfulness of the people.
Yet how is divine grace illustrated in the next command of Jehovah (Zec 3:4)? What did the removal of his filthy garments signify? What did the changed raiment signify? Compare Rom 3:22. What next was done (Zec 3:5)? By this act the clothing of the high priest was completed and he was fitted for his official service. Who is represented as “standing by” all this time as if interceding for Joshua (and through him for the nation), and to see that these commands were carried out and these benefits conferred? With whom have we identified “the Angel of the Lord”? What charge is now laid upon Joshua, and what privilege is connected with it (Zec 3:7)?
QUESTIONS
1. Name the two-fold mission of this prophet.
2. Name the nine prophetic visions of Part 1.
3. Give some reasons showing the application of these visions in the future.
4. What leads to that conclusion in the case of the four horns and the four smiths?
5. What is necessary to understand the vision of chapter 3?
