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.

Deuteronomistic History

Why did the two kingdoms go into exile? I believe that the DH explains this to some extent. God made a covenant with Israel. The people did not hold up their end of the relationship. They did not obey God, so God did not protect them from their enemies. Deuteronomistic theology would explain this as blessings and curses. If the people did what was right, and obeyed God, then all would be well with them. If they disobeyed the law, then God would curse them, and things would not be good for the Israelites. The whole nation had gotten so perverse that God sent them out of the land. Even though the Israelites did not hold up their end of the covenant, God still did what God had promised. God had a responsibility. So did the Israelites, even though they did not follow through with it. If they did evil, then they would be punished. This was God’s end of the covenant, and God still chose to hold Godself accountable.

It just seems like the Israelites never learned. They would worship other gods, then, once in a great while, a good judge or king would come along, and they would denounce those other gods. Almost immediately though, they would go back to idol worship. It seems like God would put them out of the land God gave them, just so maybe they would turn back to God. This would maybe remind the Israelites that God was in control.

I understand the concept of Deuteronomistic theology in the context of the Israelites, but it seems like a hard thing to apply to our lives today. After Jesus came, a new covenant was formed. Forgiveness is a part of that. This means that even if/when we displease God, we will be forgiven if we ask. This is comforting, because we all mess up and disobey God at times. We luckily will not be exiled out of our homes because of it.

Samuel

Was it good for the Israelites to ask for a king? God already knew they would ask, and that God would appoint a king for them, so God gave the people rules for how to govern themselves. In this set of rules, God gave instructions for a king (Deut. 17). In 1 Samuel 8, the people ask for a king, and God gives them a warning of what a king will do, but they still demand one.

So is it wrong for them to ask? I can understand reasons why they would want a king. All the nations around them had kings, and they could probably see the positive side of having a king. They did not have many judges that followed God, which meant at times they had a fairly perverse nation. Yet, God chose the Israelites to be a set apart people. They were not supposed to be like the surrounding nations. Knowing all God did for them, by saving them from the Egyptians and helping them conquer their enemies, I would tend to think that they were wrong, and rude, to demand a king when they should have been pleased to have God as their king.

Yet, if the Israelites had not asked for a king, then David may have never become anything more than a shepherd boy. Jesus would not have descended from the royal line of David, because David would not have been royal. Our canon would be missing a lot of what it has today because David’s stories and writings would not be known. Judas was wrong to betray Jesus, but if he would not have done that, then Jesus would not have died on the cross, and we would not be saved. It had to happen. These things are part of God’s plan. The Israelites may have been acting ungratefully toward God, but they were fulfilling God’s plan and purpose.

Joshua

Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. He gave the people instructions on what they were to do once they entered the land. After the LORD dried up the Jordan River in order for God’s people to cross into Canaan, Joshua gave the people the instructions on how they were to take Jericho. The Israelites were to march around Jericho one time each day for six days. Seven priests were to carry seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant. The seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. The seventh time around, the priests would blow their trumpets and everyone would shout, and the city would then be devoted to the LORD. They were not supposed to take anything other than things that were sacred to the LORD.

This event is an example of what scholars would call Holy War. The army had to be pure and holy before they could take Jericho. Each man was circumcised before they were allowed to march around the city. They had to be religiously prepared for battle. The Israelites, in this Holy War, were mostly passive. They did not actually do much fighting, at least in bringing the wall down. The LORD was the one who fought and won the battle. If they had not obeyed God’s instructions, and just tried to take the city on their own, they probably would have lost badly.

The people were instructed that the whole city was to be devoted to God. This meant that everything, “men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys”, were to be “devoted to destruction” (Joshua 6.21). They burned the whole city, but then kept silver, gold, bronze, and iron and gave it to the LORD. Since God fought this battle and won, the whole city belonged to God. The people did not get anything, since they did not help defeat Jericho.

What is the She'ma?

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This passage from Deuteronomy, called the She’ma, is very important. It states the most important commandment that we are given. Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22.37). This is almost identical to the She’ma.

The She’ma teaches us how to live. We are to constantly have God’s word in our heart. We even are supposed to have physical reminders, like attaching them to our bodies, so we do not forget them. These words, and the knowledge that God is the one true God, should not leave our thoughts, and should be with us throughout the day.

By beginning with the word hear, it reminds us that God is a speaking God. In Genesis, God spoke the world into existence. God can change us, and make us new (as God did with the world at the beginning of creation) if only we will hear and listen. This shows us the power of God, and also a characteristic of God.

This passage stated to the Israelites that the LORD was their only God. Many other nations around the Israelites were polytheistic, so this belief in only one God would have been strange to some of their neighbors. It may have even been strange to some of the Israelites. Even Rachel, Jacob’s wife, took the idols of her many gods from her father when they fled. The She’ma would help them remember who they served, and what their God was capable of, because even God’s name, the LORD, was a reminder of what God had done for them.

By remembering the She’ma, whether a Jew or Christian, it can teach us a lot. It shows a characteristic of God, and it reminds us to remember what God has taught us. We owe everything to God, all the love we have. It is the greatest commandment.