Zechariah 1-2 Study Guide

God abundantly showed mercy, patience, and forgiveness with His chosen people, the Israelites, under this covenant; but when His were laws were broken repeatedly and without regard God declared that surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom and it will be destroyed from the face of the earth” (Amos 9:8). God made clear He would take away good things He provided, pass judgement, and the sinful nation would be destroyed. God’s judgement was fierce and final for those nations that turned away, rebelled, or were wicked and evil (Deuteronomy 29:24-26).

A modern-day version of Jeremiah in their time, Zephaniah led his ministry during the rule of Josiah, who stressed the annihilation of idolatry. Zephaniah expressed Judah’s resulting penalty after their exercise of idolatry by proclaiming in Zephaniah 1:4, “I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all inhabitants of Jerusalem; I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests” (ESV). With more being said in verse 8, “And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice – ‘I will punish the officials and king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire” (ESV). God did not put up with the Judeans disobeying His second commandment outlined in the book of Exodus. Hindson and Yates add, “They (Judah) were violating their central covenantal responsibility to give the Lord alone their loyalty, worship, and service” (423). This demonstration of God’s rage towards idol worship is crucial in creating a thorough insight of God’s virtuous character. Utilized in a modern perspective, God blatantly opposes to any interference of one’s faith, including: greed, a strong fixation with pop culture, or any immoral acts. Furthermore, failure to disregard these faith obstructions produces negative penalties like social

“Quick, go down, for your people that I brought up from Egypt has acted ruinously… My wrath may flare against them, and I will put an end to them and I will make you a great nation.” (Exodus 32:6) God is quick to say that he will destroy all of them, and build his chosen people back up anew, like he has done before. It’s interesting that God uses the phrase ‘your people’, seemingly distancing himself from his own creation, before he destroys it. Moses is quick to come to the aid of the Israelites and explain why they should be spared. Moses explains that to smite down his people, so soon after liberating them from Egypt would just confirm the thoughts of the Egyptians; that the Israelites are not in fact chosen by God, and that their god is a false one. This liberation of his people is what signified to humanity all over that their god is the most powerful. God used an enslaved people to take on the Egyptians, who were an incredibly powerful people; showing how awe inspiring their god is. Moses then goes on to bring up the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, “You swore by Yourself… ‘I will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I said, I will give to your seed, and they will hold it in estate forever.’” (Exodus 32:13). To destroy their progeny would be to renege on the promise made to them. Moses seems to cater to some

Firstly, I would like to speak of my journey to change, rectify, or should I say modify my behavior. The behavior I wished to modify is the behavior of spending time to grow in the spiritual realm. This is a rather personal subject so I will try to be superficial, but maybe not too superficial. I do not wish to lose the essence or profoundness of the journey.

The sons of Israel must have lived in a constant state of fear ever since Christianity first saw a glimpse of power. Who else could draw the ire of the Christians than those who dare stain their fists with the sanguine blessing of the lord? Following the Catholic reformation of the Roman empire was the immediate vilification of the Jews, whose near constant state of poverty in separate settlements allowed the ruling population to maintain control of them while feigning fear. Medieval anti-Jewish sentiment was used by the leaders of the Christian masses as a mitigating force for their societal aches. The supposed treacheries of the Jews were simply common ailments of most civilizations.

Israel, as the woman in Revelation 12, gives birth to the Messiah as Satan waits to destroy Him, but God protects the child-Messiah and raptures the Church, while protecting the remnant of Israel in the wilderness for 1,260 days during the Great Tribulation. Under the terms of the old covenant, Israel exists as a woman married to God, “For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called” (Isaiah 54:5-6). Jeremiah describes a similar relationship between Israel and God, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you” (Jeremiah 3:14). Hosea 2:16 uses the word “Ishi” which means “my husband” to depict the relationship

5. Probably the most influential theorist to develop a model for the systematic design of

For centuries, Judaism has endured persecution and resentment from the Christian religions. Many anti-Jewish views have stemmed from the idea that God abandoned the covenant with the Jewish people when Jesus, the son of God, was crucified at the hands of the Jewish people. While it was actually the Romans that killed Jesus, the Jews were greatly blamed. With this crucifixion, a new covenant was established that would supposedly make the previous covenant obsolete, as punishment for the Jewish people’s crimes. The belief that the Christian covenant with God superseded the covenant with God’s chosen people has been detrimental to Christian-Jewish relations.

Chapter 1: What are the five foundational principles about the knowledge of God that are vital to this course? What is the definition of God from the Westminster Shorter Catechism?

He does so by giving “them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies” (Judges 2:14). The Israelites fail to adhere to God’s command and only serve Him, and as a result God does not continue assisting them and begins working against them. This is His way of demonstrating to the His people that He is the one and only

God had an unconditional love for his people, but he can still get angry when people oppose his word. He offered forgiveness to the Israelites even when they turned against him to worship a false god. Also, God did not ignore people who rebelled against him. He knew all the actions of everyone. God was angry with the people of Nineveh because they had a strong rebellion against him. There were people in the city who didn’t believe in him and he casted a wrath. God is good to the people who follow him, but he becomes bitter toward people who deliberately deny him as the Father. The time period of Nineveh was a disappointment to God. There has been judged upon nations, but forgiveness was offered. This is a reoccurring theme throughout the Old Testament. It goes to show that God doesn’t like when his people turn their backs against him, but he is willing to forgive them if they

However, it is through the “sword of Yahweh and not Nebuchadnezzar that judgment is cast on Jerusalem. “She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 26:4-6, ESV).

Why would this be the case if Judah was led by the same lies as Israel? Are they getting off the hook easy? It is obvious that Amos, or whoever the author is, is speaking specifically to Israel, though. What I also notice is the amount of anger that both the author seems to be experiencing, as well as God seems to be wanting to unleash on all the unjust. God must be beyond livid if He is wanting to invite enemy nations to witness His administration of justice on the land of Israel and Judah. Honestly, it makes me think of the flood in Genesis 6 or of God’s initial instinct of wiping out the Hebrew people when they were worshiping the golden calf after their liberation from Egypt. Also, the very word choice that the author uses is biting and sometimes full of savage sarcasm (i.e. when he invites the people to worship and offer up sacrifices at Bethel). It is interesting, further still, to see a repetition of certain images or phrases that come from previous books of the Hebrew Bible, but have completely different tone or meaning. For example, “the Day of the Lord” is something that the Israelites claim to desire. That is, as long as it does not apply to them, which Amos states to be the case

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a New Covenant, With the House of Israel and with the House of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their Fathers on the day when I took them by the Hand to lead them out of the Land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those Days, says the Lord; I will put my law in their minds and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God. And they shall be my people. And they shall not teach everyone His fellow citizen, and everyone His brother, saying, “Know the Lord”, For all will know Me, From the Least to the Greatest of them, For I will be merciful to their iniquities. And I will remember their sins no more.”

The song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) contrasts God's faithfulness with Israel's unfaithfulness. b. The psalmist wants to show that God's faithfulness is above the Isreal's. The Israel's turned their faith on God, they bowed down to other Gods, praying to them, knowing that they are false Gods. They made God jealous by what is no god, and and angered him with their worthless idols. They are not the Lord, there is only one God, and he should be feared. God turned away from them, like they did to him. He made deadly plagues, sent them the fangs of wild beasts, their homes terror will reign, young men and woman will perish. The Lord didnt make all those terrfying rules, because he is God and still has faith in