The Day of the LORD

Throughout the Book of the Twelve, the prophets mention the Day of the Lord numerous times. The interpretations they give for the Day of the Lord are different depending on the person’s relationship with God. For some, it will be a day of judgment and destruction, and for others it will be a day of joy and vindication.

In Zephaniah 1:7b, it says, “The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; he has consecrated those he has invited.” This shows that those who hope in God will not have a terrible time on that day. But the next verse, Zeph 1:8, says, “On the day of the LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the princes and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes.” This is a bad sign for anyone who is not on God’s side. Zephaniah has a fairly negative view of this day. “That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness” (Zeph 1:15). For the people that were hearing this prophesy, it would not be a comforting thing to think of. Zephaniah does give hope to the people when he says “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger” (Zeph 2:3). In order for the Day of the LORD to be an encouraging day, the people were told they needed to seek God first, or else they would be destroyed on that day.

Many of the other prophets offer similar views on what the Day of the LORD will be like. In Habakkuk 3:16, the prophet says “Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.” This shows that the prophet saw that day as a time when their enemies would be destroyed, which would save them, because they would no longer be attacked. Malachi has a similar view, where that day will be one of vindication for God’s people, and a day of judgment for their enemies. Malachi says, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble…But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings…Then you will trample down the wicked” (Malachi 4:1-3). Again, for the people who are not on God’s side, the Day of the LORD will be a terrible day, but for those who trust in God and follow God’s ways, that day will be one of hope. They will even help destroy their foes.

The prophets in the Book of the Twelve give different views on the Day of the LORD, but they are all very similar. That day will be a time when their enemies are destroyed, and the people are saved, but only if they follow God’s laws.

Book of the Twelve

Some scholars call the last twelve books of the Old Testament either the Book of the Twelve or the Minor Prophets. These books consist of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

It is called the Book of the Twelve by some scholars because when these oracles were recorded onto scrolls, they were sometimes all grouped together because some are very short. It would be harder to keep track of a scroll that is only two columns, as opposed to a scroll that would have over 100 chapters as we call them today. Some scholars call these books the Minor Prophets. This comes from the division of the Latter Prophets into the Major and Minor Prophets. The Major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. These are all longer oracles, hence why they are called major. Thus, the shorter books are called minor, in comparison with the three longer books. When someone hears the name Minor Prophets, it may give them the idea that these prophets are not as important compared to the Major Prophets, so this is why some scholars call it the Book of the Twelve.

I prefer to call the end of the Old Testament the Book of the Twelve, because it reminds me that they are all shorter oracles, but it does not give me the impression that they are less important, like calling them minor does for me. By calling it the Book of the Twelve, it also reminds me that these were all once written on a single scroll, and it helps me think of the original context of the verses, and that in fact they were not originally divided into chapter and verse. To me, it gives these writings more authority because they are seen as twelve individual prophets, who all had something to say about God and the Israelites.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel did all kinds of wild things that got people’s attention. He did things and he saw things that probably most people thought were crazy. He did them though, and I’m sure that it at least made the Israelites pay a little attention to him.

Ezekiel ate a scroll (Ezekiel 3), which was Ezekiel literally taking in the Word of God so that he could preach it. Ezekiel also made a miniature of Jerusalem, and then was bound up lying on his side for 390 days facing his replica of the city, and then he turned to his other side for 40 days and faced the city again. He was bearing the sins of Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 4).

Ezekiel saw cherubim that had four wheels, and were completely covered in eyes (Ezekiel 10). They departed with the glory of the LORD from the temple. Even reading this passage, it is hard for me to actually get a picture of what it would have looked like. It is a passage that seems completely unrealistic, and I cannot imagine what the Israelites would have thought of it when Ezekiel shared it with them.

He also prophesied and dry bones came alive (Ezekiel 37). He had a vision that he was in a valley full of dry bones, bones that had no life left in them. God told him to prophesy so the bones would live, and he did, and the bones connected to each other, and were covered in flesh, and became a large mass of people. These bones symbolized Israel, and how dead and devoid of hope they were, but how God was going to breathe life into them and bring them back to the promised land.

Ezekiel was really radical, and he stood out. It would be hard to take a person seriously who was that outrageous. Today, that person would most likely get institutionalized because of their “visions.” His messages were probably not the most comforting things to hear either, so it was probably easier to ignore him, and just say that he was crazy, rather than to realize he was speaking the truth of God’s word.