Deuteronomy 12, first of all. I want to read this because I think it's a good reminder and summary of what Israel was called to do, what Israel was called to be in the presence of God. It's a wonderful scripture to memorize for yourself. And it's really what the 12, the prophets, the 12 particularly, are exegeting and encouraging Israel How they're encouraging Israel how to live and and and what to be by God's grace in Deuteronomy chapter 12 I Said chapter 12. I meant chapter 10. Sorry about that in chapter 10 verse 12 in chapter 10 verse 12 Of Deuteronomy verse 12 Moses says and now Israel what does the Lord your God require of you? You might hear that language of of Micah there, what does the Lord require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I'm commanding you today for your good. That's the reading of God's word. If you look at the verbs there, we see that in reliance upon God's grace, Israel was to first fear the Lord. They were to walk. They were to love. They were to serve. They were to keep. And notice at the end of verse 13, it was for their good. It was not only for God's glory, but it was for their good. And so when the 12 or the prophets in general are referring back or referring Israel to the truths of God's Word, oftentimes they are referring Israel to this passage in Deuteronomy. In many ways, they will use the same verbs. They will say, to turn from your sin in order to fear the Lord, for instance, or in order to serve Him, in order to keep His commandments, or to love Him. They use these verbs, and if you recall, Why? We've looked at it earlier. What was the reason why we can expect Deuteronomy to be referred to often in the prophets? Does someone remember? Why can we expect the prophets to speak with the language? Absolutely. Absolutely. Those are Moses's last words or sermons in Deuteronomy. And the books of the prophets, whether they're former or latter, are orbiting around the sun, which is Deuteronomy. The Deuteronomy being a sort of sun around which the prophets orbit. And so they are referring back to the once and for all truth that's given through Moses in his final words and sermons to Israel. And remember, beloved, it's always in reliance upon God's grace. One of the important parts of the Mosaic covenant was that that was where Moses was instructed how to build a tabernacle so that the people's sins could be forgiven. So grace was central to Israel's life. The ark itself is an indicative, the fact that God would dwell as king in their midst, you know, is a reality and they're to live in light of that reality. So, the commandments begin with, I'm the Lord who brought you out of slavery. So, Israel was to live in reliance upon grace, fearing, serving, keeping, loving, you know, all of those verbs. And those are verbs you will see in the Minor Prophets. And if you've had a chance to look in, dig in a little bit, to three, at least three of the twelve, you'll find those verbs often used. Look at Amos 9 now as another scripture we would like to read, and I'll summarize this in a moment for you, but let me just say before we read it that one of the helpful things about interpreting the book of the twelve that I would like to pass on to you is if you're having a hard time getting into a minor prophet, or one of the 12, And you're reading it from the beginning and you're just, it seems a bit scattered. Maybe you're thinking like Martin Luther said, you know, that they have a queer way of talking. Instead of proceeding in an orderly manner, they ramble off from one thing to the next so you can't make head or tail of them or see what they're getting at. That's what Martin Luther said. And he's quite honest about those kind of things. Well, here's something that might help you is go to the end of that particular prophet. You can do this especially in the book of the 12. Go to the end and you will see usually the primary theme or focus. In fact, they usually end with hope of the gospel. And so this is what we find in Amos. chapter 9. In verse 11, we're taught, in that day, I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen or the tabernacle of David that is fallen and repair its breaches and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name declares the Lord who does this. Now, What's interesting in doing that is that we see that in this prophecy, this is a prophecy given right on the eve of exile, where the Israelites will be going into exile, into Assyria, and Amos is telling the Israelites That there's going to be a day when the king of Israel will be restored that in fact very clearly the booth of David that's fallen, you know So in light of what's about to happen Amos is giving gospel hope for the future for them to believe and trust in God's word to continue to walk by faith No matter what they see around them And interestingly enough, this Booth of David, this scripture, just in verses 11 and 12, we can use our three primary points that we've thought about, king, covenant, and dwelling. And you can see all three in this as you can in all the book of the 12. You can see the king that is coming. It's David. All right. It's one like David. It's David's son. All right. Using other scripture. You can see the covenant that will be fulfilled, that God has promised to the people of God. And you can see that God will dwell in their midst and it will be a blessing for all the world. Look at verse 15. I will plant them on their land. They shall never again be uprooted and out of that land that I've given them. So all of the promises to Abraham that were expanded in Moses that were particularized in David, all of them are going to come to pass. There's going to be a king. The covenant is going to be fulfilled and God will dwell in their midst in the land. Now, does someone have an idea of where this is fulfilled? It's actually taught to us how to understand where the fulfillment of this passage is. Excellent. At the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, the first council of the church, in Acts 15, the Gentiles are coming to faith. The nations are coming to faith in Yahweh. They're submitting themselves through faith in Jesus Christ, the King, all right? And we're told in Acts 15 that James, stands up, who was a pastor in Jerusalem, and he says in verse 13 of Acts 15, brothers, listen to me, Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name. And with this, the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, after this I will return and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen. I will rebuild its ruins. I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord. And all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old." So what we have there is a very helpful pattern of how to interpret the prophets. So there are two things I would say about beginning with the end of the minor prophets when you're reading with them. If you begin with the end of the minor prophets, you're usually, one, given the main theme of the rest of the book. So you can go from the end of the prophet in the book of the 12. You can go to the end, which we'll do in three of them today, Lord willing, in just a moment. You can go to the end and then see their main theme. Then you can go back to the beginning and know where they're going. All right? That's the first thing. The second thing is, because they end on the note of hope, You can also trace it usually to Christ very easily. You can trace it to Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of that passage very easily. Often, in fact, the last words that are spoken in the books of the 12th will be the words that someone in the New Testament will say just as it is written, this has now been fulfilled. That's, when we go to the New Testament class, Lord willing, in the fall, we'll do more of this. We'll look at how the New Testament interprets the Old. But that's just to say that oftentimes, the New Testament does the work for you, but you can keep those two things in mind. So with that, let's pray, and then we'll begin, and we'll talk about a few things today with regard to the Book of the Twelve. Okay. Our Father and our God, we bow before your majesty. We thank you that you are our king. And you are our covenant-making king and our covenant-keeping king. You're a promise-maker, promise-keeper, and you do this for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. We thank you that though we're covenant breakers, you're a covenant maker and a covenant keeper. You are a promise maker and promise keeper, though we break your promises often. Forgive us. As we come to you today through the mediation of Jesus, we thank you for our king, our prophet, our priest. We thank you for our bridegroom who loves us dearly. We thank you for the one who still speaks to us. We thank you for the one who rules and reigns over the world. We thank you for the one whose name is above every name. And at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We pray that you would fill us now with your spirit, keep us from distractions, and help us, Lord, to pay attention to these truths in your word. Highlight them for us. You're our teacher, Holy Spirit. You're our inner teacher. Give us eyes to see the beauty and glory of Christ. Give us hearts that are open to receive and to believe and to serve and to keep and to fear you for your glory and our good. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so we're looking at the book of the 12. And I'm going to say a few things in summary as a bit of a review for you. But the book of the 12 could primarily be understood or summarily be understood as God's prophets who call Israel to turn back to God. and particularly using the word of Moses in the Torah, but more particularly even in the book of Deuteronomy. And their work was preparing Israel for the coming of God's king and kingdom. Their work was primarily involved or focused on preparing God's people for the king and for his people. or for his king and for his kingdom, to have a people prepared. So as we begin and think about, we're going to choose three today of the 12 to look at more in detail. But the first one we'll look at is Micah, the second Zephaniah, and the third Malachi. Let's do a little bit of reminding ourselves of how to read and interpret the 12. When we are interpreting any Bible passage, we want to remember to think retrospectively, to think prospectively, and to look upward, and especially that with the book of the 12. So when you're looking at the book of the 12, just like we did with Deuteronomy, for instance, you can think about that Deuteronomy 10, 12 through 13 that we read, all right? That the 12 are often looking back saying, fear the Lord, love the Lord, serve the Lord, keep the commandments, Israel. They're looking backward, particularly at Moses and more particularly at Deuteronomy. When we are looking forward or prospectively, you're always wanting to see how particularly Christ is being revealed. Because again, Luke 24 teaches us very clearly that the prophets are primarily concerned about preparing the people for Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ and his kingdom. But there's another aspect that you want to remember, and that is not only retrospectively, prospectively, but upward. And upward just reminds us that we're involved, believers are involved, and so you're looking for Christ in us. You're looking for how a believer's union with Jesus Christ will be fulfilled through the Book of the Twelve. So you've got three parts there that you can always remember. When you go to the Book of the Twelve, you're opening them up, And you've got Micah before you. We're going to do a couple practicums in a moment just to kind of sort this through, work this out. But you open Micah and you go, OK, I can't figure this out. I didn't make it through chapter one, chapter two of Micah. Look at the end of Micah. All right. Then go back to the beginning of Micah. And as you're going back, say, how is Micah pointing me back to Moses particularly? All right. And then how would Micah be referring me forward to Jesus Christ? Are there any passages that actually tell me that this prophet is fulfilled in the New Testament? Are there any allusions, anything like that? You're trying to look forward to Christ, and then you're trying to also apply it to yourself, to see how it applies today with the church. And I think a very helpful way to remember in interpreting the prophets. Now, did everyone receive my notes? I've given you the full lecture notes for this class. I think there's 20 plus pages, so it's a lot. We won't, of course, have time today, but I do want to highlight certain things. You may have already read this, but perhaps that would be good for you. It's always good for me to review. I have to review all the time to keep things in my noggin. and especially to push him down by the spirit itself into my heart. But when you're thinking about the prophets, think about the prophet himself, like say Micah, all right? So you're thinking about Micah the prophet, all right? In this part of the prospectively, what he's looking forward to, you're asking yourself, how is Micah, ask yourself this question, how is Micah like Christ? in that Christ will be a prophet. How is Micah himself going to show us? You know, say like Amos being a shepherd. What's Micah like that his office of prophet points me to Jesus Christ? This board is moving a little bit on me here. And then the second thing, look at the content and how that points us to Christ the Gospel and how it relates to us. So here's a key for you to keep in mind. When looking at the book of the 12, I think it's quite helpful. When you're thinking about the message of the prophet, you're thinking about the prophet himself, his person and his content, always look forward to Jesus Christ. Ask the question about how is Jesus Christ revealed. When you see him speaking to Israel, then look forward and see how is he speaking then to the church. How is he speaking to you and I? So when he's speaking to Israel, how is he speaking to true Israel that's fulfilled in the church? How would God's people understand it? When he's talking to the nations, think about how he's addressing unbelievers. So when he's talking to Israel, think about how he's trying, the prophet, I'm using Micah as an example, that Micah is addressing the church ultimately. How? How? That's how you get the application out. How is he doing that? So maybe the church needs to remember the words of the Lord to fear him and to serve him and to love him. And of course, that's true. And then with the nations, when they're addressing the nations, think of unbelievers. Think about the world being preached at, that people are being called to repentance out of the world. They're being warned of the coming of the Lord. Another thing about the exile dates, and I gave you this more in full in the lecture outline that you can read at home, and hopefully you already have, but with the exile dates, it's important to remember that God always reveals himself in real space and time, in real history, okay? And this history is an interpreted history. All history is interpreted, beloved. And I'll say more about that in the class to come in the fall. But just to be reminded, there are no brute facts when it comes to history. Facts all have meaning and significance. And ultimately, it's God who has the last word on what the significance and meaning of those events are. So though the world would say that Israel, if it even recorded this at all, that Israel, the northern kingdom, went into exile in 722 B.C., God says it was to discipline his people and restore a remnant. And that's what you want to get out of it. That's history and it's interpreted history. It's therefore revelation. Remember, revelation is not something just out of the sky that falls into your lap that is privatized and given to you where nobody else can understand it. It's given to you before the world. And so it's history. Revelation is history. We'll talk about more of this. We have a whole section in the class next year. But just to say today, when it's interpreted history, it is significant because God says so. And it always is. I can't go on that one. But I have to just say, with this, this was when the Northern Kingdom went in exile under Assyria. And what God says is that his people are being separated as the wheat from the chaff. Alright, there's a beginning separation between the wheat and the chaff. That's what's going on. There's a judgment and there's a salvation. There's a salvation for believers who repent and believe, and there's a judgment for those who would turn away. The southern kingdom was 586 or so. Some can put it 587 into Babylon. And again, a very significant date because that is what God says it is. It's when Judah, the southern kingdom, went into exile in order for God to separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff. where he would bring, through his word, the double-edged sword, salvation for believers and judgment for others. So with the double-edged sword, he would strike through the prophet. And so, because they went into exile, this was, in the larger picture of the Old Testament, significant because it was death for Israel. And they awaited resurrection. They awaited restoration, resurrection. They awaited restoration, resurrection. So there were always two questions asked, and the prophets were pleased to answer them. The two questions were these. Why the exile? And in so many forms, why'd we have to go into exile, Yahweh? Why the Assyrians? Why Babylonians especially, Habakkuk would ask. They're evil. Why would you use them as an instrument? That's hard for them. So they're saying, why the exile? They need questions. And the prophets, the books of the 12, the book of the 12, I keep saying books of the 12, the minor prophets, book of the 12, it was written to answer that question. They would say, here it is. This is what you did. You've been covenant breaking. You haven't been faithful to your covenant you made with Yahweh in reliance upon his grace. You've become like the world. Israel, repent. The second was, is this the time you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? It's what the apostles are asking in Acts 1-6. Is this the time you will restore kingdom? When will you restore kingdom? When? And so they're pleased to answer those questions. They tell Israel, you've broken the covenant. They tell Israel, prepare for the king is coming. Don't doubt, walk by faith. And so the apostles are still asking this question on the eve of Pentecost. Acts 1.6, is this the time you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? What does the restoration of the kingdom mean? It means all of the promises of the covenant will be fulfilled. It means the king, like David, his son will rule and reign over the world and that nations will come to Mount Zion and God will dwell in the midst of his people. Is that wonderful? And so that's what they're pointing to. One of the things you can do in understanding the prophets that's helpful is look at John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the last of the great prophets. In other words, he's the consummate Old Testament prophet. He is the bridge between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. And you can learn a lot about the Book of the Twelve, about the minor prophets, by reading what John's purpose was. Because all John was doing was he was being another one of the Twelve, so to speak. He was being the last of the prophets to bridge between the Old Covenant time and the Transitional time into the coming of Messiah. So in Luke 1, for instance, In verse 16, listen to how the angel tells Zechariah, describes John's ministry. This helps describe the ministry of the minor prophets. Chapter one, verse 16, I'll begin. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. All right, many, not all. And 17, he will go before them in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. So that's what the prophets are doing. They're preparing true Israel for the coming king and kingdom. I like to contrast it with the apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was like John the Baptist in that he's a bridge person. If you think about it, there were already 12 apostles. So why a 13th with the Apostle Paul? Because he is a significant bridge between the apostles and the church, the primary interpreter of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Well, John the Baptist was the same. There were 12 and he's the 13th. Why the 13th? Because he's a bridge transitional figure like Paul to take everything that the book of the 12th said and manifest it in his prophetic office and in his prophetic word, both in his office and his content. And what was his main message? But to really repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When you get this, it really, you open your New Testament, you say, oh, I see. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is the time it's going to restore Israel. This is the time they're coming back from exile. The beginning of exile spiritually is coming. The restoration, the resurrection is coming. That should have been on all their minds. It was on a few. So that's the first thing, repent. The second is behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That was his job. And that's precisely what the job of Micah or any of the minor prophets, Zephaniah, Malachi, that's all they're doing is two things. They're just saying, they're saying that you need to be prepared through repentance. You've got enough of revelation to work with. Everything that Moses said in reliance upon grace, that's what you need to know. So fear the Lord your God. Serve him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love him. Keep his commandments for his glory and your good. Go back to Deuteronomy 10, 12, and 13. It's all summarized. So the office of the prophet and then the content is, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And what you'll find, beloved, is at the end, you remember I said to think about going from the end of the prophet back to the beginning of the book, what you'll find in the end is often, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. That's what I was saying earlier. That's the point. That's wonderful. It's wonderful. Oh, it's so good. So let's summarize the primary message of the prophets, and then we'll look at three of them together. How about that? So the primary message would be of this of the Book of the Twelve, a king, a king will come. He will come in judgment and salvation. All right, so there's a winnowing that's going to happen. In fact, there's a winnowing fork that will be in his hand to separate sheep from, chaff from wheat. There'll be a shepherd's staff and rod to separate sheep from goats. All right. So there's judgment coming. The wrath of God abides on the world and there's salvation for those who repent and believe and receive the Lamb of God. So through steadfast You could say this in so many ways, but this is my summary that I think will be helpful. A king will come in judgment and salvation through steadfast covenantal love to restore and redeem true Israel to be a blessing. You can keep that in your notes. And write that down and think about it. When you start looking at one of the minor prophets, he can say, okay, let me go back and remind myself what it's about. It's about a king who's gonna come in judgment and salvation through steadfast covenantal love to restore, redeem true Israel, to be a blessing to the world. And do you hear the promise to Abraham in that? Abraham was promised a seed, right? He was promised a land. where God would dwell in the midst, and He was promised to be a blessing to the people. All that's going to take place, all right? And it's fulfilled in Christ. And the three themes that you see, that you want to see here, are King, Covenant, and Dwelling of God. That's the Emmanuel principle, remember? God with us. All right, so a king will come in judgment and salvation through steadfast covenantal love to restore, redeem true Israel to be a blessing to the world. And one thing I would asterisk for you is this redeem, restore. What word could you replace this with so that you might understand it when Jesus says, how slow you are to believe what the prophets have spoken? Did not the Christ have to suffer? And then on the third day, rise from the dead. Restore, redeem. All you have to do is put in this word, resurrection. We'll look at it next week with Ezekiel, the dry bones. It's a spiritual regeneration that's going to happen through the instrumentation of the prophetic word, by the Holy Spirit's power through the word, and there'll be resurrection. and the restoration and redemption of Israel will be a resurrection. And guess who it'll start with? It starts with the pioneer of our faith, the author, the firstborn among the brethren, Jesus Christ, the one to whom all the promises were ultimately made, and the one true Israelite who kept all the words of Moses. who merited eternal life, who died as a substitutionary, atoning, propitiatory sacrifice on behalf of sinners, and was raised on the third day and enthroned at God's right hand as representative of all those who will receive him. And so the resurrection from the dead has begun. So when Jesus walks out of the tomb, beloved, there's the dawn of a new creation, a new humanity, a resurrected people, the restoration, redemption, has begun. In fact, the exile is beginning to be over, but not completely. You find that out next year. There's an already and not yet. The exile was never over until we have complete rest from our sins within, from the threat of death, from our enemies without, from pain and suffering. The exile will not be over. That's why we're called pilgrims. That's why we're called exiles, until we get there and everything will be consummated. But the resurrection, restoration, redemption of Israel has begun in the resurrection, redemption, restoration of Jesus Christ. And that's for all to believe. That's for all who believe. Trust in Him today. Well, let's look then, let's take a few of these things and then look at three of them. Did any of you choose, I ask you to choose Zephaniah, but did any of you choose Micah or Malachi as one of your three that you chose to read? Well, let's do them. Let's do Micah and Malachi. So turn in your Bibles to Micah. Micah's a rich prophecy. And what's wonderful about Micah is that he's giving a lot of hope even before the exile begins. So let's let's put into practice a few things that we talked about. OK, so we're just going to look in our Bibles. I really want you to follow with me in your Bibles on this because I want I want to teach you how to interpret the minor prophets or the books of the 12th so that all of you can leave here by God's grace and say, OK, I got it. I can do this. All right. What a privilege we have to have the word of God in English that we're not trying to translate Hebrew right now, right? I think Hebrew was the only thing that ever caused me to throw a book across the room, all right, out of frustration for trying to understand it in Hebrew two or three, all right? There was this accelerated time period that I had to take in winter in Philadelphia. Oh, and take in Hebrew. Oh, my. Oh, it was sanctifying. Oh, it was sanctifying. Some of you students know what I mean, just this week, right? Real learning is not only fun, it's very sanctifying, all right? If you're really learning, you're being sanctified. All right, so what I'll do is I want to go through a few passages in Micah, Zephaniah, Malachi, plug in what we've learned, and then I'd like to just end today by just doing the primary theme of all of the 12, okay? Sound good? So let's turn to Micah, and as I tried to encourage you, look at the end. Look at the end of Micah. It's one of our favorite scriptures. Sometimes you look at the end and you go, I didn't know that was there. That's one of my favorite scriptures. But notice again, the gospel hope and passage of repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and behold the Lamb of God. All right. So in Micah 7, 18, who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity, passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot You will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old There it is so there's a promise of forgiveness which is behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and There's a continuity with the covenant made with Abraham that God's steadfast love will see it through. That our sins cannot stop God from loving us and seeking us and calling us. And I want you to think, when you think of the prophets in their office, think of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're seeking and they're saving the lost. Think of them. They were sent out with the words of God in their mouth to seek, to call, to invite, to beg, to implore, to plead, to cry, to weep. Israel, listen! And Israel often would stop their ears up and be stiff-necked and hard-hearted in response. But notice Yahweh's steadfast love, seeking, inviting, calling, imploring, pleading. It's everything that you hear in the Lord Jesus. Come to me, all you who labor and have you laden. You'll find shalom. You'll find restoration, redemption, resurrection for your soul, just as the prophets have said. But notice, again, compassion cast all the sins and as it was in the days as it was sworn to the Father, so it will be fulfilled. That's all New Testament. That's basically what the New Testament is about, beloved. And notice, as we then go in another place, I just want to focus on the primary message. A king will come in judgment and salvation through steadfast covenantal love to restore, redeem, resurrect true Israel to be a blessing to the world. All right, now let's go to the beginning of Micah. Let's look at a few things. All right, so in Micah 1, Micah starts by telling that there's a coming destruction, that first of all, there's this exile coming. It's like a death. And verse 3 tells us, or verse 2 tells us, hear you peoples, all of you. He's using the Shema, hear, Shema, just as Moses did in Deuteronomy 6. Hear, O Israel, hear you peoples, all of you. Pay attention on earth, all that is in it. Let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place, will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. So the emphasis is on judgment here. But we know it's going to end on a note of salvation for those who believe. We know that God will still keep his promises. Notice, if you will, then in Micah chapter 3, Micah is addressing particularly the leaders. Again, Micah 3, 1 here. Again, Shema. And any time the prophets would have used Shema, the Israelites who were true Israelites would have remembered Deuteronomy 6. Shema, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Your neighbor is yourself. So Shema had that kind of, was supposed to, by God's Spirit, to have that kind of influence. Shema, oh Israel, Shema, leaders. Here, you heads of Jacob, rulers of households. Is it not for you to know justice, you who hate the good and love the evil? And again, God is coming, verse 8 tells us of chapter 3, one of Micah's important purposes as a prophet, as for me, I'm filled with power with the spirit of Yahweh and with justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. So he's pointing them back to the law. That's how he's declaring the sin. And when he's preaching, he's exegeting the law. So he's saying that you have not been faithful to hear and believe what Moses has taught you, and particularly, you're oppressive to the poor. You don't take care of widows. You don't take care of the weak and the fatherless. And Yahweh has called you to be a compassionate people. And so that's what he would do. Micah will point out those sins. That's what his work is, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin with the eye that they will see their sins and repent because the kingdom of heaven is near. All right. Look at chapter 4. One of my favorite passages in the book of Micah is in chapter 4. We're taught, it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, it shall be lifted above the hills, people shall flow to it, and many nations shall come and say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, or the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. I mean, just in there for a second, let me just pause to comment. I mean, this is before the exile. It's going to look like the nations will demolish Israel and Israel will be dead forever. Israel will not possess Mount Zion for many years. The foreign nations, the Gentile nations will rule over Zion. There won't be a powerful king like David. And so, yet the promise, the hope, what they're to live on is that there will be a day when the mountain of the Lord, Zion, will be the highest of all mountains, and not only Israel will go to the mountain, but the Gentiles, the nations, will be blessed by getting the word of Yahweh. All right? Very important. Verse six of chapter four, notice this. In that day, declares Yahweh, I will assemble the lame and gather those who've been driven away, those whom I've afflicted, and the lame I will make the remnant. And those who were cast off a strong nation and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore. So who is the recipients of God's mercy and love particularly here is he's addressing the lame. those who can't work, those who are outcasts, those who can't, in their own strength, come to Yahweh. But yet His church is going to be made up the weak, the lame, the afflicted. Not many of you were of noble birth, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians. Not many of us were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world, the lame, the afflicted, in order to confound the wise. And so he's saying to them that the Lord King will reign on Zion. So there will be a king and he will rule and reign over Zion. In fact, look at verse 9. He tells Israel before they even go into exile, listen to this, so that they could walk by faith in the light of God's word. He says, now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? In other words, God is promising them as he promised Abraham that a king would come from his family, as Moses promised there would be a king over Israel, as God promised David that one of his sons would rule eternally on the Davidic throne. There is a king in Israel and he will come forth by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. There's a king in Israel. Why do you act as if there's no king in you, Israel? Act as heirs of the covenant. Live as those who are loved by God. And so he tells them through pain and suffering, that king will come. What kind of king? Chapter 5, verse 2. Look at chapter 5, verse 2. Where will the king come from and what kind of king will he be? You, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old. from ancient days. And then verse 4, he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall dwell secure. There's the rest. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be their shalom, their peace. And so we're taught in the New Testament, of course, that he will give people peace with God and with one another through his blood. That's how you want to look at Micah. Those are just highlights from Micah. There's so many more things, but notice again how it ends with the hope. Who is a God like you who is pardoning iniquity, who is kind? And so we see the primary message is a king will come in judgment and salvation. He'll come in judgment for unbelief. He'll come for salvation, those awaiting him through steadfast covenantal love to restore, redeem, resurrect true Israel to be a blessing to the world and Remember that as this King comes in judgment and salvation, it's ultimately speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's how you can see Christ in this and be encouraged and know that you're one of those in Christ who've been restored and redeemed. But there's so much more to come. Let's turn to Zephaniah now. And again, look at the end of Zephaniah. So notice that we're trying to put into practice the end now yes ma'am please yes please that's good but you can't that's excellent amen that's excellent yeah I do too thank you for sharing that Anything else that you saw that you'd like to share? That's the kind of thing you want to be doing, is that when the lame is spoken up there, you think back just like that to Deuteronomy 10. Well, they were to walk. We're called to walk with God, and yet we don't know how to. We can't. We're unable. Thank you. Excellent. You see a foretaste of this with David and Mephibosheth that we'll see in the sermon coming up in a couple of weeks where there's a foretaste of partial fulfillment of this passage. Zephaniah 3, let's turn to Zephaniah 3. So we're looking at the end of Zephaniah, a rather short book of three chapters, one of our favorite passages. At the end of Zephaniah 3, Verse 14, he calls all Israel, and Zephaniah was prophesying, preaching right on the eve of exile. The eve of exile when Judah would go into exile under Babylon. And so Zephaniah is giving hope, saying, Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He's cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. You shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear not, O Zion. Let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exult over you with loud singing. And then verse 20, at that time I will bring you in, at that time when I gather you together, for I'll make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord. Now, if you use the asterisk and you use restore there, how would it sound if you changed it to resurrection? Let's read it. I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth when I resurrect you and thus restore your fortunes before your eyes. And that's what the restoration is going to be ultimately. in Christ. But notice a few things of just this passage, how wonderful it is. We're told to sing aloud, even though we're in the midst of affliction, even though as exile, exilic people, people under exile, we're to walk by faith and rejoice in the Lord always. To rejoice in the Lord always and walk by faith, not by sight. And he says in verse 15, all the judgments will be taken away from you. There will be no condemnation for those who are believers. and that he'll clear away our enemies. And beloved, this is, especially if you're going through Samuel right now as part of our congregation, you'll remember that over and over, one of the things that's promised to David and ultimately to the church is rest from our enemies. And this is the language there. That rest is fully realized in Jesus Christ. There'll be rest. Our enemies will be cleared from us and we shall never again fear evil. Evil within, evil without, pain, suffering. There's a hope to come. And God will gather. Verse 17, the dwelling of God with man, right? The Lord your God is in your midst. He lives in your midst. He's a mighty one to save. He rejoices over you with gladness. He'll quiet you by his love. So again, plug in the primary message. A king will come. And Zephaniah is encouraging people to see it already as a reality now that the king is in your midst. How would he be in the midst if they're going into Babylon, beloved? In the same way he's in our midst now. Though physically absent, he's spiritually present through his word. God is in the midst of his people through his word, through his prophet. through his Bible. And so, a king will come in judgment and salvation through steadfast covenantal love to restore, redeem, resurrect true Israel to be a blessing to the world. He'll restore them. Zephaniah 1 begins with a coming judgment on Judah, a coming judgment, a day of the Lord that is near. And the day of the Lord is the day that comes with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's different. How is that so? And again, we'll learn more about this in the New Testament class, but one of the things about the message, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the book of the 12 uses the language that the day of the Lord is coming, the day of the Lord is near. And the day of the Lord is simply this, it's the day when God comes in final consummate power in salvation and judgment as King. He comes as judge and he comes as savior. Now, what's so beautiful about the gospel is that much of the fulfillment of the day of the Lord happens on the cross. Well, you have the sun, the middle of the day turning to night, so that you can get that all of the book of the 12, that the judgment's coming on Christ first, that God so loved the world that he didn't bring the day of the Lord immediately. But he became a savior, gentle, compassionate savior first. And as compassionate, gentle savior, he'd go to the cross and take upon himself the wrath of God for us. That is expected on the day of the Lord. But then. But then. God will be patient, not wanting any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. And in light of that day of the Lord coming on Christ, he calls all men to believe in Jesus, the way, the truth and the life, the only hope of mankind for salvation, the only hope of peace with God. But when he comes again, as the book of Revelation tells us, he will come with fury and just wrath and with a double edged sword coming out of his mouth and with blood up to his hips. riding on a white charger as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to judge those of the earth on the day of the Lord. So the day of the Lord in the New Testament is an already not yet. And the already part is our hope is it fell on Jesus Christ before it falls on the world. That's really good news. So repent and believe. That's really good news. The day of the Lord came on the day of the cross. The day of the Lord will come again when Jesus comes again. And then finally Malachi, let's look at Malachi. Look at the end of Malachi. We can begin at the end and then go back to the beginning. But in Malachi, this final book of the 12, as you're turning there, let me remind you, the book of the 12 took place over about 400 years. That's a lot of revelation, right? It shows God's graciousness, doesn't it? It shows God's consistency, God's persevering grace toward his people, doesn't it? But then there's a time of silence for 400 years called the intertestamental period that we'll learn more about in the New Testament class next week, Lord willing. But the point is that you've got this silent period, almost as if God says, I gave you 400 years of word. Now take 400 years to prepare yourself. Take 400 years. to meditate on what I've said and prepare your hearts for the coming of the kingdom. In Malachi 4, let's just read all four verses, or all six verses. Verse 1, again, the day, the day of the Lord. The day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. All right? The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the son of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, and you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." So here Malachi ends with this great day of the Lord. And does anyone else hear the language and sermons of John the Baptist in there? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at near. There's one coming who has the threshing fork in his hand, and he will separate the chaff from the wheat. He will baptize with fire. both for purification and for judgment. The day that's coming shall set them ablaze, but you who fear my name, there's hope. And so again, another of the 12 is ending with hope that the people of God will be rejoicing like calves from the stall, that righteousness will... will be given shall rise with healing in its wings. And what better way of looking at the resurrection when Jesus Christ is pronounced not guilty through resurrection, when Jesus Christ is justified through resurrection, when Jesus Christ is vindicated. That is our righteousness with healing in the wings for all believers. Those who look to Him will be saved. He has been pronounced not guilty. And all those who believe in Him can be pronounced not guilty. No condemnation through a righteousness that's freely given in Him. And thus rejoice and be as calves in the stall that we've been made right with God. That we've been justified by faith alone. That's what's here. But remember, remember what Moses has said. Because everything that God wants His people to know ultimately is given in Moses. Yes, it's been expanded. Yes, it's been, by God's grace, more fully advanced and developed. But when our Lord Jesus Christ was asked a question, he would often go back to Moses and say, didn't Moses tell you about marriage? Didn't Moses teach you that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living? He's the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And did he not say when he was asked, what is the greatest commandment? How would you read it? He says, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus was a faithful prophet to preach Moses. So everything we need right there, and everything we need for righteousness is found in the one greater than Moses, the Lord Jesus. So remember the law of Moses. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet. Now, how does this come about? Let's conclude by looking at Matthew 11 for a moment. Matthew 11. As you're turning there, I just want to tell you something that John struggled with, John the Baptist. John was given a lot of information. He was certainly given the power of God's Spirit and Word. But there was something that John couldn't wrap his mind around, just as we can't sometimes. John was preparing the people as the prophets for the day of the Lord. Where was it? He's in prison, about to be beheaded, and he sends messengers to Jesus. Were you the one who was to come? Now, why did he question that? because the day of the Lord had not consummated fully as he thought it would. That's the surprise that's in the New Testament, is that when Jesus gets to the part about himself in Isaiah, he says that I've come to pronounce the day of salvation, not the day of judgment. that I've come the first time, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through me." And John didn't get that, like we don't. There was an already-not-yet element. The day of the Lord would come for John after he died. He wouldn't know it, but he believed it, and it would come fully on the person of Jesus Christ on the cross. the day of God's judgment, the day of God's wrath, the day of God's anger and fury and just wrath against sin would come down on Christ. So he says, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, the man who had known intimately the Spirit beyond measure, and who had known the presence of God, and who had kept the commandments, and who had walked in His ways, and who had served Him, and who had loved Him, and who had loved Him with everything in Him. He was crushed for our iniquity. The day of the Lord came on Him. So you can imagine the fury of God when He's provided such a Savior, and given at least 2,000 years of time to repent, along with all kinds of historical circumstances and pains and sufferings that would lead the wise person to repentance. When He returns, for those who haven't just sinned against Him, but who've rejected His Son and the hope He gave the world by giving a day of the Lord on His Son first to bring judgment on Him. It means a terrible judgment that I don't even want to think about or consider. It will be so terrible, the book of Revelations, that the wicked will cry that instead of facing the judgment of the Lamb, They'll ask for the rocks to fall on them. And so, a king will come in judgment and salvation through steadfast covenantal love to restore, redeem, resurrect true Israel to be a blessing to the world. And I'll do that finally, but let me read Matthew. I didn't forget. So, Jesus is being asked about... about himself and in chapter 11, the disciples of John, they come to him. Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? Verse four, Jesus answered, go and tell John what you hear and see. And he tells him what the prophet said. The blind received their sight. The poor have good news preached to them. That's the summary of the book of the 12 right there, beloved and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. In other words, John, Believe the prophets. You're one of them. Believe the word of God. And blessed is the one who's not offended by my revelation in that the judgment will be steady until my second coming. I'll take the judgment, the first coming. in order to bring salvation. So, he says in verse 11, truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. He's the culminating consummating prophet, the bridge between the old and the new covenant. Yeah, listen to the good news. From the days of John, I mean, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he, beloved. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, you ready? The kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. and the violent take it by force. That's how eager and earnest you wanna pray to be, is do anything you can to get into the kingdom by God's grace. For all the prophets in the law prophesied until John, you see that? And if you're willing to accept it, he's the Elijah who is to come. But we're taught in the minor prophets or the book of the 12, Israel is a covenant breaker like we all. And Jesus suffered the day of the Lord on the cross for us, that cup of wrath for our sins. Yet Yahweh is a faithful covenant maker and a covenant keeper, and that's why Jesus Christ is so important to us all. Because he's the God who made the covenant, and he's the man who kept the covenant in our place. And he's the only God-man One person in two natures who can make the covenant and keep it, who can promise unconditional love, and who can meet all the conditions of the covenant. As God, he can give an unconditional promise to sinners that they'll be saved. As man, he can meet all the conditions in their place and die, taking the wrath of his father upon himself on the cross for sinners. Let us repent and believe, amen? Now we didn't have time today to look at the themes, but I've given you those in your lecture outline. I've laid out for you in summary, maybe one or two pages to summarize every one of the book of the 12. So you have plenty of reading you can do, and I invite you to do that. We just don't have the class time. Next week, Lord willing, we will look at Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all right as the as the what we call the major prophets or the the prophets of The rest of the latter prophets. Okay. All right. So let us pray Our father our God we thank you that you've spoken to us this morning and we thank you that you are always faithful to teach us and And we're grateful for your word. We're grateful for the truths, the gems that we see laid out for us within the pages of scripture. We thank you, ultimately, that we see the beauty and glory of Christ revealed by your spirit. And we pray that you'd work in all of our hearts. We thank you for the seed that was sown this morning through the prophets, that not only are we looking at something just merely intellectually or from the outside, but there's seed that's being sown. There's a real salvation and judgment going on. Anytime we read or teach your word, learn your word, there's a judgment and salvation going on. By the work of your spirit through the instrumentation of your prophets, and so we pray that you'd continue to speak We know that it's not by might nor by power But by your spirit says the Lord that we can believe that we can repent that we can change That we can love and keep your commandments that we can do anything for you It's all of grace and so we pray for that grace today that you would be the God that you've promised to be the king of all who has come in Jesus Christ full of judgment and salvation because of steadfast covenantal love to be with us and dwell with us and make us a blessing to the nations. We pray that now we would see entirely differently where Jesus says that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me that go into all the world and be a blessing to the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and knowing that I am with you always, even to the end of the age. We now understand that so much better, and we praise you for that. Help us to continue to serve you wholeheartedly, to keep your commandments, to rely on your grace, and to love you with everything in us, for the glory of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, and all the church said, amen. All right, so next week, I'll send you a few things in the major prophets, or in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, that you can read ahead of time. Lord willing, we'll look forward to the next class. All right.