Bible Study 241

Malachi 1, 2, 3, 4

Chapter 1: Second Best. God asks for your best and normally the best I ever give Him is second place. Sure I give an offering on Sunday but is that my best? Could I give Him more? Yes. Could I give Him my time and talent? Yes. But because of my selfish ways, I think that I need to budget and not give Him my all.

Chapter 2: Priests. And priests are held accountable but aren’t we all priests once we have His faith. Shouldn’t we all be considered shepherds of His flock if we claim to have His word in our heart?

Chapter 3: Who Can Stand. Who will stand for you? Do you expect to stand in front of God on your own on the judgment day? Won’t He just knock you down with His stare? You know your heart is black compared to His. So how can we stand?

Chapter 4: The End. Again the book ends with the end times. God is coming and He will judge you. Only if you have the cross of Jesus on your heart will He accept you into His eternal family.

Application: This may be the end of the Bible for this study but it is just the beginning of our lives with God. Amen.

End

Bible Study 240

Zechariah 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Chapter 8: Jealous. You wouldn’t think that jealous would be a word that you would use for God. But I think it is the closest emotion that we can use to see how much God really loves us.

Chapter 9: Riding on a Donkey. No war hero wants to come into town on a donkey. They would rather tromp in on a war steed. Not a meek and ornery donkey. But God is our salvation and does not need this world to make Him great.

Chapter 10: Rejection. God rejected His people not because He wanted to but because they did. They rejected Him and He eventually let them turn away. But He loves us so much that He will restore us as if we never rejected Him first.

Chapter 11: Two Shepherds. Oppression will be the name of the game. Neighbors and kings will impress their authority over each other. It doesn’t sound like a good time. But it sounds like it is not too far off from these days and times.

Chapter 12: Pierced. The only Son of God is whom they are talking about. It is amazing that God was willing and able to tell us how He was going to save us.

Chapter 13: One Third. It sounds like the one third that remain will go through a hell on earth but those who survive will be His.

Chapter 14: The End. The last day will be unique. The Lord will fight for us and we will have nothing to fear. The starting of His Royal Reign forever.

Application: God is showing us what the end times will be like. It may seem like a long time away but don’t be so sure about that.

Tomorrow Malachi 1, 2, 3, 4

Bible Study 239

Zechariah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Chapter 1: Prophet.  Zechariah is a prophet that has visions.  Four horns and four craftsmen are one of the visions. This is about the scattering of God’s people but I think unless you know much about the times, it is hard to discern what is meant here.

Chapter 2: Measuring Jerusalem. Is this the real measurements of Jerusalem or the land of heaven? I think it may be the latter because you would think that the people would know how big Jerusalem is.

Chapter 3: Joshua’s New Clothes. Here we see that Joshua is in heaven and getting new clothes. But what does it mean? Can it represent all people and the new clothes we receive when we put our faith in Jesus?

Chapter 4: Anointed. So out of all the earth there are two. I would think that Jesus is one but who is the other? Abraham? Or is there some one else?

Chapter 5: Iniquity. Wickedness is a woman? Maybe Babylonia will set is up and the anti-Christ will come from it.

Chapter 6: Four Chariots. Although this says chariots, is it possible that these are also the four horsemen?

Chapter 7: Feasts for Yourself. All of our holidays focus on objects. From Easter candy to Fourth of July Fireworks, from Thanksgiving gorging to Christmas gifts. We don’t have any holidays that only focus on God. Sure the reason for the seasons is built on God but do you really celebrate God at any of your holidays?

Application: As a prophet Zechariah is seeing a lot that is wrong with the people of Israel. As people studying the Bible we can see what is wrong with our time.

Tomorrow Zechariah 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Bible Study 238

Zephaniah 1, 2, 3; Haggai 1, 2

Chapter 1: Day of the Lord. You would think that this phrase (Day of the Lord) would be a good think. But here it is a terrible day for people. God coming is a day of destruction because He cannot accept evil and must destroy it.

Chapter 2: Woe to Nations. And the Day of the Lord is not only for the Israelites, it is for all peoples. He will not limit His destruction to one people but to all evil.

Chapter 3: Israel. And here is the promise. The people of God will be saved. They didn’t deserve the salvation but God is giving it. We don’t even want it but He is giving it to us and is the best thing for us.

Chapter 1: Rebuild. God tells His people to rebuild His home since they are living in homes and the temple is in ruins.

Chapter 2: Returned Glory. God will shake the heavens and earth and return the glory to the temple.

Application: The promise is all we need to live. Because He will lead us to heaven we never need to worry about this world or what it can do to us.

Tomorrow Zechariah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Bible Study 237

Nahum 1, 2, 3; Habakkuk 1, 2, 3

Chapter 1: Nineveh. It looks like the people of Nineveh are at it again. You would think that people would learn their lessons. Or maybe people should have hired a historian to keep themselves safe from God’s wrath.

Chapter 2: Destruction. God promises destruction this time. And it is not going to be good.

Chapter 3: Woe. It is not good that God is going to attack you and telling you of all your sins.

Chapter 1: Conversation. Habakkuk is talking to God and getting answers. Not many people can say that God spoke directly to you so we should listen to this.

Chapter 2: Answers. God’s answers to Habakkuk’s questions sound good to him. God is promising to bring His people back and punish the unrighteous.

Chapter 3: Prayer. Habakkuk is not getting a response now but he is still talking to God in prayer. How often do we really think that our prayers make to the mind of God? Every single one does and they all matter to Him.

Application: We are all God’s people, it is just a matter if we recognize it or not. Search yourself and tell me that you are not divinely created and you will know that you are God’s child.

Tomorrow Zephaniah 1, 2, 3; Haggai 1, 2

Bible Study 236

Micah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Chapter 1:  Melting Wax. How can we stand before God and not melt? He is so powerful and righteous that we cannot stand on our own.

Chapter 2: Our Plans. Do you plan out your life? Do you plan out your weekend? God’s plans may be very different from yours because our plans are imperfect. Only when we want to complete God’s plan, do we succeed.

Chapter 3: Leaders. We expect leaders to keep us on the right path. But what happens when they don’t? The Lord’s anger will come down hard on them and the people because of their poor leadership.

Chapter 4: Mountain. His temple is a mountain. Any place less would be unsuitable for the God of the universe. Where do you put your temple to God? In your heart front and center, or in the back with the afterthoughts?

Chapter 5: Bethlehem. God calls out the smallest tribe of Judah for the future deliverer. The tribe that was almost wiped out. The one that has the lest significance. Which tribe do you belong to?

Chapter 6: Ruin. It is one thing to be poor and another to be ruined. If you are poor then you can work your way back. But to be ruined means you are no longer any good. If God promises that you will be ruined, how did the people ever get back in good standing?

Chapter 7: Mercy. God is the only one to show true mercy. We give money to church because we want to but God gave us His only Son. How much more is that mercy than the couple of cents we throw in?

Application: God is Aweless. Never should we forget His presence in our lives.

Tomorrow Nahum 1, 2, 3; Habakkuk 1, 2, 3

Bible Study 235

Amos 8, 9; Obadiah 1; Jonah 1, 2, 3, 4

Chapter 8: The Time.  God is perfect in His ways and even in anger and punishment He picks the right time.  We can not even fathom the understanding that He has but He controls it all.

Chapter 9: Destruction and Restoration. God will destroy Israel and restore it. So what is the point in destroying it just to remake it? Because God is holy and can only accept holiness. A speck of dirt and we are worthless to our maker.

Chapter 1: Flee. When Jonah gets his mission, he does not say here I am Lord send me. Instead he says, see you later God. But the waves come a crashing.

Chapter 2: Swallowed. Inside a dark pit there is not much you can do other than pray. And that is what Jonah did. He found God because he couldn’t see anything else.

Chapter 3: Repent. Jonah finally goes to Nineveh and the people repent.

Chapter 4: Anger. Jonah is so focused on himself that he can not see the plan that God has. The plan of saving the large city of Nineveh. And at the same time, God was opening Jonah’s heart to the world.

Application: We are all focused on our lives and how busy we are. But maybe we all need to be swallowed by darkness in order to see our God and the work He has for us.

Sunday Micah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Bible Study 234

Amos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Chapter 1: Evil Nations. God would turn away if they didn’t have more sins but they do. They have a laundry list of sins so He will come in and attack. He will not sit idly by any more.

Chapter 2: Even Israel. God’s chosen people are not exempt from the judgment. They will also be put to the flame of His glory and see if they do not melt. But they will because none of us is good enough.

Chapter 3: Agreement. There was an agreement between Abraham and God. They made a vow that God would be their God and they would be His people. But that promise was broken by us.

Chapter 4: Return.  And the bad part is that the broken promise was made by the people trying to fill the void in their hearts with physical objects (idols).  God is the only thing that can fill that emptiness. Instead we fill it with things.

Chapter 5: Calling Out. We broke the promise and what does God do first? Does He immediately strike us down? No, He reaches out His hand and calls us to repent.

Chapter 6: Complacent.  But next He will bring the pain. And even if you didn’t know anything about it, you will feel it. You will know the pain because we are all a part of His kingdom and there is no room for ignorance.

Chapter 7: Relent. The fate of the people is shown to Amos and he asks that it isn’t done because of the great pain. God concedes but we should have received the worst punishment but were saved by one man.

Application: We all seek God and want to be filled with Him. But it is not until we destroy our selfish ways do we see how much we need to be filled by Him. Do not ask for the ounce of faith but the ocean of faith that will keep you to the end.

Tomorrow Amos 8, 9; Obadiah 1; Jonah 1, 2, 3, 4

Bible Study 233

Hosea 12, 13, 14; Joel 1, 2, 3

Chapter 12: Struggle with God.  How many of us can say that we don’t struggle with God? I doubt many can say this. Why is this so? Why is it that we want to bite the hand that made us?

Chapter 13: God’s Anger.  And because of our sin, God has to punish us. We push Him away and spit in His face by worshiping money or fame and He has to knock some sense into us.

Chapter 14: In the End.  But God’s anger and punishment are not forever. As if as quick as a lightning strike God’s anger burns but is immediately cooled off. What is left is the chard remains of our life but a pure spirit.

Chapter 1: Locusts. I have never seen the swarms of locust that are in many points in the Bible but it sounds scary.  A cloud of bugs descending on you to eat you out of house and food.
Chapter 2: More Locusts.  So what can you do if you see this evil cloud coming at you? You pray. You get down on your knees and pray to the only one who can save you. But do we do that? What clouds are on your horizon that you are praying against?

Chapter 3: The End.  Again we are talking about the end times. God will come to judge us and all of our brothers and sisters. Of all the clouds, this is the most ominous.

Application: We will all come to a demise from one thing or another. All that we can depend on is our Savior and God. Throw yourself down in front of Him and weep.

Tomorrow Amos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Bible Study 232

Hosea 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Chapter 4: Charges. God names the sin of the people. The most dreadful being the worship of false gods.

Chapter 5: Judgment. With the charges laid out, the punishment for the sins is defined. God’s wrath is on the march.

Chapter 6: Unwavering. You might think that as a people it might be beneficial to be persistent or unwavering, but when you cross the Almighty it is the wrong answer.

Chapter 7: Forgetful. And I think what God wants the people to do the most is just lean on Him. He wants Israel to remember Him and call out His name for help. He is always listening but hates to be sitting around and waiting on us.

Chapter 8: Alters for Sinning. How many things do we set up as a gift to God that turns into a sin. We all do it and continue to sin so we will never be able to create an alter that befits our King but we should keep on trying.

Chapter 9: Desert Grapes. God was amazed by the founding fathers of the Israelites. But the people wandered away as soon as they were settled.

Chapter 10: Own Strength. One of our everyday sins is to think that we can do it. That we will be able to conquer something or complete a task under our own strength. But in actuality, it all comes from Him.

Chapter 11: God’s Child. God does love and will always love us. But it is like a child growing up. Initially they can do no wrong because they can’t even move. Soon though, they are throwing things at people and saying bad things. But you still love them because they are your children.

Application: God has put up with a lot of our stuff. We sin and continue to sin and usually show no remorse. But repent and be saved by believing.

Tomorrow Hosea 12, 13, 14; Joel 1, 2, 3