Old Testament 302 Day 8

Thought: Money is to life what grammar is to language. One should learn grammar and then speak and write without belaboring it. Likewise one would do well to learn a skill or obtain a training that will enable him to earn an adequate living and give himself and his family a sense of economic security, and then to set his mind and heart on higher values which satisfy the inner man. (Lowell Bennion, "Things That Matter Most" p. 27)

Book of the Week: Simplified Isaiah for the Latter-Day Saints, David Minert.
-A left-handed column showing Isaiah as it appears in the King James Version and a right-handed column that gives a verse-by-verse restatement in today s language; -A comparison between the King James Version of Isaiah and the chapters of Isaiah found in the Book of Mormon text with differences noted in red; -Those changes made by the Joseph Smith Translation to the Book of Isaiah with the changes noted in bold; --Color-illustrated maps showing the land of ancient Israel in Isaiah' s day.

 

ZEPHANIAH  (Jehovah Protects or Hides) 640-609 BC - p. 1162

 

              The 36th book of the Bible - 9th of the minor prophets -              Was a great-great-grandson of grandson of Hezekiah, possibly the same Hezekiah that Josiah was a great grandson of.- Active during the reign of King Josiah of Judah - Declared principles upon which the Deuteronomic reforms may have been based.

              The book has 3 chapters - and tells about the judgments awaiting Judah, the latter-day redemption of Israel and the turbulence that will herald the 2nd Coming.             

Chapter 1 - A dualistic prophecy of destruction for  the time of Zephaniah and events before the 2nd coming. "In that day" in the scriptures usually refers to the second coming.

      1. The “fish gate” (v. 10) was on the north end of the city. People there would be the first to see an enemy invading from the north.       2.  The fish gate opened into the part of the city known as the “second quarter” (v. 10), probably because it was an expansion of the original city of David. This quarter would be the first reached from the north.       3. “Maktesh” (v. 11) was the name of the merchant quarter, which lay in the second quarter; thus, the reference to merchants, “they that bear silver.”        4. To “search with candles” (v. 12) suggests an exhaustive search, since in the poorly lighted houses of those times one would have to use a candle to look for a lost object at night.        5.  “Settled upon their lees” (v. 12) is a figure drawn from wine making. The lees are the thick residue of the pulp of the grapes. “Good wine, when it remains for a long time upon its lees, becomes stronger; but bad wine becomes harsher and thicker” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary, 10:2:134). The interpretation of the symbol is that wicked men, like bad wine, remain apathetic about the true religion and become increasingly harsh and bitter.

Chapter 2 -  A chapter defining other nations and their destruction because of wickedness. Vs. 3 gives a formula for those who would avoid this destruction, for his day and ours.

Chapter 3 - Vs. 1-7- Unkind words to this wicked place.   Vs. 8-20-  “Zephaniah saw our day and beyond. In it he both suffered and rejoiced. He suffered in spirit because of the desolation and destruction which he saw, but he was able to use this as a warning and threat to his own people. In the redemption and final blessings of Israel he saw a ray of hope to extend to Judah. No prophet has written more clearly or vigorously of the Day of the Lord. Zephaniah must be added to the list of prophets who give us a grave warning of disaster.” (Sidney B. Sperry, The Voice of Israel’s Prophets, p. 388.)

 

HABAKKUK   (EMBRACED)

                                                                Contemporary Of Lehi, Jeremiah      605-597 BC

              35th book in the OT - 8th of the Minor Prophets - Native of Judah and probably lived in Jerusalem - Habakkuk observed the injustices in the Israelite society of his time. Most of the prophetic books are addressed to the people. Habakkuk, as a representative of the people, addresses and challenges the Lord.

Chapter One

               1-4 - he questioned the Lord as to why the wicked had power over the righteous and were able to avoid fair judgments. Why don't you answer my prayers? (D&C 121:1-6; Matt. 27:46)

              5-11 - The Lord said that he would raise up the Babylonians against Judah.

              12-2:1 - Habakkuk asked why the Lord would use a bunch of losers to punish his choice children.

Chapter Two

              2-4 - God told Habakkuk and his people to have a little faith in the lord. The Chaldeans would also be punished and five woes were pronounced upon them:

              1. Plundering (5-8)                        2. Selfishness (9-11)                     3. Oppression (12-13)                       4. Drunken behavior (15-17)      5. Idolatry (18-20)

              VS. 14- our day!

Chapter Three -              This chapter is a (musical?)prayer describing a vision that he had of God coming in majesty.           His main message is that we should maintain faith even when things don't go as we would like them to.

"Like Habakkuk of old, we may in our anguish feel that we could bear anything if we could only understand the divine purpose in what is happening. The ancient prophet learned that the righteous live by faith and that faith is not an easy solution to life’s problems. Faith is confidence and trust in the character and purposes of God. Habakkuk declared: “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.  “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.  “The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet … to walk upon mine high places.” (Hab. 3:17–19.)  Our religion is “not weight, it is wings.” It can carry us through the dark times, the bitter cup. It will be with us in the fiery furnace and the deep pit. It will accompany us to the hospital room and to the place of bereavement. It can guarantee us the presence of a Captain on the rough voyage. It is, in short, not the path to easy disposition of problems, but the comforting assurance of the eternal light, by which we may see, and the eternal warmth, which we may feel. “The Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” (Ps. 34:8.) In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. (MDHanks CR, Apr. 1975)

Vs. 17-19- My faith is not dependent on things going well from an earthly point of view.

The Message Has Great Relevance For Us Today