People who have not yet celebrated their 18th birthday are often referred to as minor because they are underage. We might refer to the minor prophets as minor because they are under-preached. For several years my only exposure to the book of Habakkuk came from... Read More »

How does one preach Nahum? The background context is distant, specific to the Assyrians, and difficult to contextualize. The what of the passage is not difficult to identify: Nahum prophesies the destruction of Ninevah and the Assyrian empire as God’s retrib... Read More »

Preaching from the Minor Prophets is a daunting task. With a limited text before them, the preacher needs to be able to identify the historical setting of the author and book, as well as its place in redemptive history. Added to these tasks is the difficulty o... Read More »

Exegetical Notes on Jonah Outline of the book of Jonah – one popular outline of Jonah, which could be used in a sermon series, is: Running from God (chapter 1) Running to God (chapter 2) Running with God (chapter 3) Running ahead of God (chapter 4) About Jon... Read More »

“Turn to the table of contents,” are likely to be the first words you utter in a sermon dealing with Obadiah. This minor prophet, the shortest in the entire Old Testament, is often relegated to obscurity in the hearts and minds of many preachers. Yet, the ... Read More »

Growing up in eastern Kentucky, tornadoes are all but unheard of. Older generations would profess, “Tornadoes can’t get down in on our mountains… but if they ever did, watch out!” I remember the carnage wrought by the first tornado I ever witnessed “... Read More »

Hosea is a powerful story of love. It’s not a romantic story—there’s no romance in it (which is important to the story). Hosea tells of God’s kesed love for his unlovable people, paralleled by Hosea’s kesed love for his unlovable wife. Both “wives�... Read More »

Author: Solomon Audience: The Jewish Nation Date of Writing: ca. 935 B.C. The Song of Solomon is an unusual but beautiful Old Testament work filled with typology. No book in the Bible presents symbolism more liberally or effectively than The Song of Solomon. T... Read More »

Human beings suffer. There is no way to get around this truth, as the evidence of suffering is all around us. Human beings experience catastrophic loss, devastating and debilitating diseases, oppression, hurt, and pain, among other kinds of suffering. As pasto... Read More »

Esther is a beautiful book, but is often misunderstood. While the basic narrative is well known and the subject of a few different film adaptations, sometimes our familiarity with the story on the surface leads us to miss what’s happening in the details. Bel... Read More »

And all of the people gathered as one to the square which is before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded to Israel. Nehemiah 8:1 The book of Nehemiah describes a transition period for t... Read More »

Ezra is one of the great spiritual leaders of the Old Testament. His name meant, “Yahweh helps.” He was used of God to lead the Israelites back to the Promised Land, much like Moses did previously. In fact, this return to the homeland from Persian captivit... Read More »