JONAH,

MICAH,

NAHUM,

HABAKKUK and

ZEPHANIAH

John L. MacKay

christian

focus

Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, A member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. “niv” is a registered trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked nasb are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by Permission. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked kjv are taken from the Kig James Version.

Copyright © John L. MacKay

ISBN 978-1-84550-345-1

First published in 1998 Reprinted in 2008 in the

Focus on the Bible Commentary Series

by

Christian Focus Publications Ltd.,

Geanies House, Fearn, Ross-shire,

IV20 1TW, Great Britain

www.christianfocus.com

The sections on Jonah, Micah and Nahum were previously published in 1993 as God’s Just Demands

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the U.K. such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London, EC1 8TS. www.cla.co.uk

Contents

Preface

JONAH

Overview

1. I Must Get Away From This! (Jonah 1:1–3)

2. It’s Not That Simple (Jonah 1:4–6)

3. Found Out (Jonah 1:7–10)

4. The Drastic Solution (Jonah 1:11–16)

5. The Lord’s Salvation (Jonah 1:17)

6. The Grateful Prophet (Jonah 2:1–10)

7. Sent Again (Jonah 3:1–4)

8. Nineveh’s Repentance (Jonah 3:5–10)

9. The Furious Prophet (Jonah 4:1–4)

10. The Lord’s Concern (Jonah 4:5–11)

MICAH

Overview

11. Introductions are important (Micah 1:1)

12. Where Judgment Begins … (Micah 1:2–7)

13. … And Where It Ends (Micah 1:8–16)

14. The Fitting Punishment (Micah 2:1–11)

15. The Lord At Their Head (Micah 2:12–13)

16. Exploitation Denounced (Micah 3:1–12)

17. Zion’s Exaltation (Micah 4:1–8)

18. The Road to Restoration (Micah 4:9–13)

19. The Ruler from Bethlehem (Micah 5:1–6)

20. The Victory of the Remnant (Micah 5:7–15)

21. The Lord’s Indictment (Micah 6:1–8)

22. Curses of the Broken Covenant (Micah 6:9–16)

23. Micah’s Lament (Micah 7:1–7)

24. Zion’s Confidence (Micah 7:8–13)

25. Grace and Truth (Micah 7:14–20)

NAHUM

Overview

26. The Capital of the Empire (Nahum 1:1)

27. The Lord of the Covenant (Nahum 1:2–6)

28. The Kindness and Sternness of the Lord (Nahum 1:7–11)

29. On the Right Hand and on the Left (Nahum 1:12–2:2)

30. “I Am Against You” (Nahum 2:3–13)

31. The City of Blood (Nahum 3:1–7)

32. Learning from History ...