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Overview
In this thirty-fifth volume in the Believers Church Bible Commentary series, Old Testament scholar Daniel Epp-Tiessen explores the diverse, yet related content of these three prophetic books, always paying attention to how they might speak words of grace and healing into the disorientation, exile, and challenges of our own time. He also confronts the theologically problematic features of these books, especially their conviction that the salvation of God’s people requires that God obliterate their enemies. This volume explores how we might read Joel, Obadiah, and Micah in light of the larger biblical story of God’s saving purposes that reach their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
About the Believers Church Bible Commentary series
This readable commentary series is for all who seek more fully to understand the original message of Scripture and its meaning for today—Sunday school teachers, members of Bible study groups, students, pastors, and other seekers.
—From the Series Foreword
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781513801445 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Herald Press |
| Publication date: | 08/30/2022 |
| Series: | Believers Church Bible Commentary |
| Pages: | 518 |
| Sales rank: | 752,826 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Abbreviations 10
Pronunciation Guide 10
Series Foreword 17
Author's Preface 19
Joel
Introduction to Joel 23
Overview of the Book and Its Message 23
Structure 25
Historical Context 26
Composition 26
The Prophet Joel 29
Joel and the Book of the Twelve 30
Heading and Prologue, 1:1-3 33
Part 1 (1:4-2:17): Present and Future Catastrophes Call for Lament and Turning to God 35
Calls to Lament the Current Disaster, 1:4-20 36
Multiple Calls to Lament, 1:4-14 36
Lamenting the Day of the Lord, 1:15-20 41
Imminent Day of the Lord Disasters Require Turning to God, 2:1-17 44
God's Unstoppable Day of the Lord Army, 2:1-11 44
Turn to God, Who May Relent, 2:12-17 47
* The Saving Drama That Joel Enacts 51
* Joel's Confession of God's Gracious Character 53
* God's Relenting 55
+ Rituals Keep Us 57
+ The "What Will the Neighbors Say?" Argument 58
+ God's Involvement in Disasters 59
+ Reading Joel on Ash Wednesday 60
Part 2 (2:18-3:21): Images of God's Deliverance 63
Near Future: God Will Reverse Earlier Devastations, 2:18-27 64
Distant Future: Signs of God's Future Intervention, 2:28-32 68
Distant Future: God Will Protect Judah/Jerusalem, 3:1-21 71
God Will Judge Enemy Nations, 3:1-15 71
Blessings from God's Presence on Zion, 3:16-21 77
* Joel 2:28-32 in the New Testament 82
* The End-Times Attack on Zion/Jerusalem 84
+ Reading Joel in the Face of Ecological Crisis 86
+ God as Our Source of Security 88
Outline of Joel 91
Obadiah
Introduction to Obadiah 95
Overview of the Book and Its Message 95
The Prophet and His Historical Context 95
Composition 98
Structure 100
The Challenge of Reading Obadiah as Christian Scripture 100
Heading, la 103
Edom Is Doomed While Israel Will Be Delivered, 1b-21 104
Edom Is Doomed, 1b-14 105
God Will Humble Edom, 1b-4 105
Edom Will Be Pillaged and Abandoned, 5-7 107
God Will Punish Edom for Betraying His Brother, 8-11 109
Edom Should Not Have Taken Advantage of Brother Judah, 12-14 111
The Day of the Lord Means Doom for the Nations but Restoration for Israel, 15-21 113
Retribution upon the Nations Leads to Zion's Restoration, 15-18 113
Israel's Expanded Kingdom Will Be God's Kingdom, 19-21 115
* Reading Obadiah alongside Jonah 116
* Edom as Hostile Enemy 118
* Edom as Long-Lost Brother 120
+ Obadiah's Naming and Narrating of the World 122
+ Re-Narrating the Language of Brotherhood 123
+ Re-Narrating Obadiah's Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing 123
+ Re-Narrating How God Will Deal with Enemies 124
+ Transposing Obadiah 126
Outline of Obadiah 129
Micah
Introduction to Micah 133
Overview of the Book and Its Message 133
Composition 136
Structure 137
Micah the Person 138
Historical Context 140
The Text of Micah 142
Heading, 1:1 143
Cycle 1 (1:2-2:13): God's Judgment Followed by a Hint of Deliverance 147
God's Judgment on Idolatry and Oppression, 1:2-2:11 149
God's Punishment of Israel and Judah, 1:2-16 150
Woe to Oppressors and Silencers of True Prophecy, 2:1-11 157
* The Enduring Relevance of Prophetic Texts 166
* Protecting a Family's Ancestral Land 167
* Attempts to Silence True Prophets 169
+ Prostitution Language 170
+ Resisting True Prophecy Today 172
+ Comfort for the Oppressed 173
+ Benefits and Risks of Worshiping Only One God 174
+ Covetousness and Greed 176
+ Advocacy as a Ministry of the Church 177
+ Exceptionalism 178
The Lord Will Gather the Scattered Sheep, 2:12-13 181
* Alternating Judgment and Deliverance 184
+ Liberation from Contemporary Exile 185
Cycle 2 (3:1-5:15): God Punishes and Restores Israel 189
Judgment on Unjust Leaders and Prophets, 3:1-12 191
Concerning Unjust Leaders, 3:1-4 192
Concerning Prophets, 3:5-8 194
Concerning Unjust Leaders, 3:9-12 196
* Micah 3:12 in the Book of the Twelve 198
* The Calling of Leaders to Enact God's Justice 199
* Judgment Prophecy as a Call to Repentance 200
* Shalom (Salom) versus Judgment Prophecy 201
+ The Importance of Faithful Leadership 202
+ Faithful Piety Requires Justice 204
Images of God's Deliverance, 4:1-5:15 206
God's Dream for Zion and the World, 4:1-5 207
God Will Gather the Remnant to Zion, 4:6-8 212
Zion Is Exiled and Then Rescued, 4:9-10 213
Threatened Zion Will Thresh Many Nations, 4:11-13 215
Zion Will Receive a New Davidic King, 5:1-4 219
The Defeat of "Assyria," 5:5-6 221
The Remnant among the Nations, 5:7-9 222
God Will Purge, 5:10-15 224
* Biblical Hopes for a Messiah 226
+ God's Dream of Peace for the World 229
+ When a Dream Becomes a Nightmare 233
+ Painful Purging 234
+ The Promise and Problems of God's Sovereignty 235
Cycle 3 (6:1-7:20): From Alienation to Reconciliation 239
Alienation Leads to God's Judgment Again, 6:1-7:7 242
A Court Case to Teach Israel What God Demands, 6:1-8 243
Exploitation Leads to Judgment, 6:9-16 249
Lament over Judah's Moral Chaos, 7:1-7 253
* The Ambiguous Portrayal of Miriam 256
* Sacrifice and Obedience 258
* Family Loyalties 260
+ The Story-Based Nature of Faith 261
+ Storehouses of Wickedness and Systems of Violence 263
+ Making a Virtue out of Distrust 265
+ Hesed Today 265
+ Walking Humbly with God 266
+ Promising Neither Too Much nor Too Little of God's Saving Intervention 268
Confessing God's Grace and Deliverance, 7:8-20 270
Israel's Vindication, 7:8-10 271
A New Day of Restoration, 7:11-13 272
A Prayer That God Will Shepherd the Flock, 7:14-17 274
Confessing God's Incomparable Compassion, 7:18-20 276
* Confessions of God's Gracious Nature 279
* The Good Shepherd 281
* Reading Micah 7:18-20 in Light of Jesus 282
+ The Power of Praise 284
+ Living between Promise and Fulfillment 286
Outline of Micah 289
Essays 291
Book of the Twelve 291
Day of the Lord 293
God's Judgment 295
Justice 301
Remnant 302
Salvation and the Destruction of Enemies 304
Strategies for Interpreting Problematic Texts 308
Zion Tradition 315
Map of Palestine for Joel, Obadiah, and Micah 318
Map of the Ancient Near East for Joel, Obadiah, and Micah 319
Bibliography 321
Selected Resources 333
Index of Ancient Sources 335
The Author 351