Written by E

Deep Immersion in the Bible: Obadiah to Habakkuk

Day 33

Another batch of “minor” prophets. Short little books tacked on to the end of the Hebrew Scriptures. For the most part, they all have a similar tone. Destruction is coming! Don’t bother repenting now, it’s here! And forgiveness will come once judgement is exacted.

These feel like short letters circulated to make sense of a current situation. Why were they in exile? Why was Nineveh going to be judged? What were the sins of the people that caused this misfortune? Here you have human communities trying to make sense — as with all of the prophets, psalmists, and lamentations — of why life is tragic. Why do human beings destroy one another? Why are there droughts? Famines? Locusts? Diseases? Where is the God or goodness or virtues we believe in when life is at its worst?

Tacked in the middle here is Jonah, an odd book. It’s less about what Jonah says and more about getting the prophet to the appropriate location to teach him a valuable lesson about the nature of God. Most people think this story is about the great fish, but, really, this is about God’s character. In his judgement, he cares for the people. Sometimes judgement means care. This is a different take on the often wrathful lamentations we see in the prophets. Instead, here is God caring deeply.

Beyond this, I found Obadiah, Micah, and Nahum to be quite similar. Micah gave us forgiveness in the end (7:18-20). Obadiah was the shortest of them all. Nahum dealt with matters of plague. Habakkuk was another odd one. I found it to be the most hopeful and beautiful of the bunch. I realize that’s my preference, of course. But there it is. There was a gentleness to the judgements of the prophet, as if to say, “Don’t worry, there’s always room for forgiveness.” This is a point often left out of a survey of the Hebrew Scriptures. Yes, God is wrathful. But there is always a way to redemption. Reading this without any intention of finding Universalist theology, it instead presented itself with nearly every book.

One Word for Obadiah: Reciprocity
One Word for Jonah: Worthiness
One Word for Micah: Mercy
One Word for Nahum: Grasshoppers
One Word for Habakkuk: Watchman

Parts of the Text That Stayed With Me:

  1. Ob 1:15, Do Unto Others, etc etc. “As you have done, it shall be done to you…” A different take on the golden rule.
  2. Jon 2, It’s That Bad? Jonah prays in a way that likens his predicament — being thrown overboard and swallowed by a giant fish — to that of emerging from the grave. Paying attention to his prayer gives a whole different tone to this journey.
  3. Jon 4:6-11, God’s Character. God gives Jonah a bush for shade in the desert only to wither it the next day. Jonah is outraged and God uses that as an opportunity to make a point. Just as Jonah is concerned with a bush he did not make that withered, God is concerned with a sinful city — who’s sins are not his doing.
  4. Mic 6:8, Always a Classic. A verse many folks know: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?”
  5. Mic 7:8, Should Be a Classic. I loved this verse and wondered why I haven’t heard it before: “Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”
  6. Nah 2:1, Heard This Before…GIRD YOUR LOINS! Is that where that phrase comes from?
  7. Nah 3:15-17, Bugs. Some strange advice in the middle of this book: “Multiply yourselves like the locust, multiply like the grasshopper!”
  8. Hab 1, No No Not Me! The anguish of the prophet here at being called and seeing visions. I felt for Habakkuk. No one wants to wake up and see destruction.
  9. Hab 2:1-3, Go Set a Watchman. I absolutely loved this. There is a vision still. “I will stand at my watchpost and station myself to the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and doe snot lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.” What is the vision, I wonder, for today?

This post is part of a lager series where I read the entirety of Hebrew & Christian scriptures in 45 days. Take a look a the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.