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The two chapters of Haggai place this prophet’s writing among the shortest books of the bible. Haggai focuses on prophecies that relate to the (then) coming Messiah. The prophet himself (whose name means “festive”) was a contemporary of Zechariah, and both men were instrumental in motivating the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem to actually complete the re-building of the temple, about the year 516 B.C. Sixteen years had passed since the foundation had been laid, under the leadership of…

According to the first verse of this short book, Zephaniah prophesied while Josiah, the “boy-king” of Judah, was renewing the nation’s spiritual life following the horrors of Manasseh’s reign. Judah’s spiritual revival would be cut short, however, when the king died in battle (2 Chronicles 35:20ff). Zephaniah denounced his people’s corruption and wickedness, but also emphasized God’s merciful plan to restore them after the captivity and exile in Babylon was finished. The expression “the day of the Lord” forms the…

Habakkuk is one of the most lyrically-beautiful books in all the bible. In Hebrew it is a beautiful poem that records both the prophet’s conversation with God about why evil has been allowed to continue among His people for so long (chapters 1-2), and a glorious description of God’s majesty (chapter 3). The last chapter reads much like a psalm, and forms an acrostic in Hebrew, which aid in memorizing it. The prophet Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah, and…

Nahum’s three short chapters are the “sequel” to the dramatic events recorded in the book of Jonah. In that reluctant prophet’s day (circa 750 B.C.), the Assyrian inhabitants of Nineveh –from the king down to the beggar in the street –had repented because of Jonah’s message of impending judgement. Because they did, God spared them and the Assyrian Empire remained strong for almost another century. At the end of that time God began to raise up the Babylonian Empire, which…