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Scripture: One Book at a Time

 

The whole of Sacred Scripture is a single narrative that promises and points to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the World. It is an epic story, the greatest ever told, and told "one book at a time." Each book makes it contribution to the narrative as God reveals God's self to us and his desire that all be saved.

Lesson 37: Three Prophets

The Promised Land … lost

Among the “Minor Prophets” these are three relatively short books, each consisting of only three chapters. There are no verses from Nahum that are part of the Sunday lectionaries; only one from Habakkuk and two from Zephaniah. Despite their limited use, these three books form an important “trilogy” about the last days of the Kingdom of Judah and the Word of God that the prophet spoke to the kings, the priests, and people, as well as speaking to us. Nahum-Habakkuk-Zephaniah provides a prophet’s view of the history of the Kingdom of Judah over a narrow segment of history, somewhat less than 40 years leading up to the 587 BC destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Babylon, the banishment of the people from the land, and the loss of the Promised Land.

For those interested in more details, consider reading this Introduction to Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah.

For those who would like to explore details of this book, please consider videos from Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” program. You can find the entire playlist here.

Below is a reflection by Fr. George on these three prophets and the meaning for Israel on possession and loss of the Promised Land