Winter Devotional

Book of Hosea Chapter 4 After the loving words of Chapter 3, we revisit some very strong language in today’s reading. The message that follows is the “charge” that God had against the Israelites; He explained in detail what they…

Book of Hosea Chapter 3 Nice and short, Chapter 3, nevertheless, covers noteworthy items. If we take the end of the chapter first (v. 4, 5), we notice the kind of prophetic elements one would expect in a book like…

Book of Hosea Chapter 2 Today’s reading is a continuation of the images we encountered in Chapter 1. Gomer the prostitute gave birth to three children, each of whose names showed how distant the people had strayed in their relationship…

Book of Hosea Chapter 1 The Book of Hosea begins the section of the Old Testament known as the Minor Prophets. “Minor” indicates “short”; it does not mean they are unimportant. Hosea and Zechariah are the longest books of the…

Book of Haggai Chapter 2 Three weeks earlier, Zerubbabel and the heads of the families continued building the temple. Work progressed until some older people came down to watch the work. They were children when they were carried captive into…

Book of Haggai Chapter 1 Haggai delivers the first message to Zerubbabel, Joshua the high priest, and the heads of the Jewish families. In the opening verse, Haggai repeats the excuse that the people gave when they abandoned work on…

Book of Haggai Introduction In 537 BC, the conqueror of Babylon, Cyrus king of Persia issued a decree permitting the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild Solomon’s Temple (Ezra 1:1-4, 5:1-2). Zerubbabel (Sheshbazzar), Governor of Judah led the Jewish…

Book of Obadiah In Amos chapter 1 we see the prophecy of the Edomite’s judgment for their hostility towards Israel, because they stifled any compassion towards her. Although twin brothers (from a single fertilized egg), there was no love lost…

Book of Joel Chapter 3 The final chapter of Joel anticipates the judgment of the nations particularly against those who have scattered God’s people and divided the Lord’s land. The Lord offers severe judgment against those who hate and destroy…

Book of Joel Chapter 2 This chapter continues to focus on destruction and commences with a cry to blow the trumpet in Zion and to sound the alarm on God’s Holy hill. (Joel 2: 1). There is every indication that…