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Nahum is just three chapters in length, and the first describes the LORD as “avenging and wrathful” (Nah 1:2). The second and third chapters focus on Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, and Nahum predicts the destruction of this “city of bloodshed” (Nah 3:1). The first verse of the book identifies it as “an oracle concerning Nineveh” (Nah 1:1) —...
Read MoreThe Book of Micah, named for a prophet from Moresheth in the land of Judah, begins with prophecies of doom directed toward Israel and Judah. Because the leaders of the people “abhor justice and pervert all equity,” Micah says that “Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins” (Mic 3:9, 12). But the book also promises restoration, and the fifth chapter s...
Read MoreThe Book of Jonah is a fish story, the only book among the twelve Minor Prophets that is presented in narrative form, but it is also much more. Although the prophet Jonah is best known for being swallowed by a large sea creature and spit onto land, the central message of the book is repentance. The book begins when “the word of the LORD came to Jon...
Read MoreThe book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament, just a single chapter in length. Because the prophet Obadiah frequently mentions Jerusalem, Judah and Zion, he was probably working in the southern kingdom of Judah (Obad 11, 12-13, 17, 21). His name means “servant of the Lord,” but nothing is known of his personal life and he is never...
Read MoreWe hope you are staying well as our region slowly reopens in this time of pandemic. In our last pastoral letter, we promised to inform you of steps we are taking toward gathering for worship once again. We have learned that National Capital Presbytery is recommending that churches not rush into returning to in-person worship services. In addition,...
Read MoreAmos was a prophet who rose out of “the shepherds of Tekoa,” and he spoke “in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake” (Amos 1:1). His book begins with a series of prophetic judgments against foreign nations, and then offers words against Judah and Israel. The fifth...
Read MoreThe book of the prophet Joel begins by describing a destructive locust attack on the country, one that was connected to the coming of the Day of the Lord. The prophet looked around and saw “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness.” Locusts were covering the land “like blackness spread upon the mountains.” These devouring in...
Read MoreHosea was a prophet during the reigns of five kings, Uzziah through Jeroboam, and his book appears in the Bible as the first of the twelve Minor Prophets. Themes of infidelity and punishment appear throughout the book, including the opening chapter in which Hosea’s marriage and children represent the unfaithfulness of Israel and God’s response. At...
Read MoreThis book is named for the prophet Daniel, who was taken into exile in Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Stress was high for Daniel and his fellow Israelites, and many wondered what it meant to stay true to the God of Israel in a place so far from home. “By the rivers of Babylon,” they lamented in Psalm 137, “there we sat down a...
Read MoreIn 1954, a singer named Big Joe Turner gathered with a group of rhythm-and-blues musicians in New York City. In the offices of Atlantic Records, they pushed the furniture to the walls and recorded a song called “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” It was quickly picked up and recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets, and then by Elvis Presley. The song became H...
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