Tuesday 28 February 2012

In Memory of Lovell Cary

Lovell and Jennie Cary
Nothing to Win but the World

  • Lovell R. Cary, 83, veteran missionary and church leader, completed his earthly assignment last night, February 27, and was translated to an eternal home.
  • Dr. Cary accepted his first appointment to missions in 1954, and went to Hawaii.  In 1959, he moved to the Philippines.  He later served as Field Director of Asia Pacific for 20 years and as Assistant Director (8) and General Director (8) of World Missions.  Since 2004, he has served as a Missionary Evangelist.  He also served eight years on the International Executive Council.
  • He has introduced Christ to thousands, and his Christian life and global passion have impacted the world.  He was known as an effective preacher of the Gospel and as "Mr. Missions."  His biography, Nothing to Win but the World, sums up his life as a missionary statesman.
  • Lovell and Ginny were married for 65 years.  They have two daughters - Sharon and Susie - three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Sister Cary has shared his call, commitment, and ministry.Please remember them in your prayers and thoughts.  Funeral arrangements are yet to be determined

.In Memory of Lovell Cary



  • In 1946, Lovell and Virginia Cary embarked on a lifetime journey of missionary service destined to influence hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and at the same time significantly impact the world missions ministry of an entire Pentecostal denomination. From the United States to the territory of Hawaii in 1954, from Hawaii to the Philippines in 1959, from the Philippines to the entire Asia Pacific Region in 1967, and to continents and countries beyond, the Carys have carried the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. 

Their journey has been one of unimaginable challenges and untold sacrifices. It has also been a journey of incomprehensible fulfillment and the miraculous manifestation of God’s amazing grace and power. Unquestionably, they have done their part, and they have done it well. 
Surely, heaven is rejoicing as they welcome a faithful servant of the gospel, Lovell Cary.

In 1946, Lovell and Virginia Cary embarked on a lifetime journey of missionary service destined to influence hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and at the same time significantly impact the world missions ministry of an entire Pentecostal denomination. From the United States to the territory of Hawaii in 1954, from Hawaii to the Philippines in 1959, from the Philippines to the entire Asia Pacific Region in 1967, and to continents and countries beyond, the Carys have carried the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. 

Their journey has been one of unimaginable challenges and untold sacrifices. It has also been a journey of incomprehensible fulfillment and the miraculous manifestation of God’s amazing grace and power. Unquestionably, they have done their part, and they have done it well. 

Surely, heaven is rejoicing as they welcome a faithful servant of the gospel, Lovell Cary.


Cary receives Spirit of Azusa Award
10.15.10 - 10:46 am
Dr. Lovell R. Cary received the Spirit of Azusa Award Tuesday evening as part of the fifth annual Azusa Lecture at the North Cleveland Church of God. The award is given each year to honor a person whose life and ministry reflects the legacy of what is one of the best-known revivals in Christian history. 

A reception in honor of Dr. Cary followed the award presentation. Dr. David Roebuck, director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, and the Rev. Billy Wilson, director of the International Center for Spiritual Renewal, made the award presentation.

Lovell R. Cary was born in Logan, W.Va., and his early ministry was as an evangelist and pastor in West Virginia and Florida. He and his wife, Virginia, began their missionary service in 1954 in Hawaii, which was not yet a state. The Church of God appointed him as overseer of the Philippians in 1959, and superintendent of the Far East in 1967. In 1984 Cary was elevated to assistant general director of World Missions and four years later to general director of the department.
 

Tenure limitations led to a change in 1992, but Cary was returned to the office again in 2000, making him the first person to serve as general director on two different occasions. He served for a total of 16 years as assistant director or general director of the department.
 

Dr. Bill George, in his recently released book, “Until All Have Heard: The Centennial History of Church of God World Missions,” writes that Cary’s “long tenure in the field and as a missions executive earned him the appellation of ‘Mr. Missions’ in many quarters of the Church.” George stated that Cary brought innovation to the World Missions department that greatly expanded the number of missionaries.

And during his time as general director the Church of God entered 25 new fields. Although tenure limitations forced another change in their lives in 2004, Cary and Virginia continue to travel widely as missionary evangelists. A biography titled “Nothing to Win but the World” will be released later this month.

According to Roebuck, the Spirit of Azusa Award is given each year to honor a person who represents the ongoing revival that began in Los Angeles in 1906. He noted, “Among the characteristics of the revival at the Azusa Street Mission was an emphasis on Pentecost, a hunger and expectation for revival in the last days, and a sense of global mission.
 

Participants fully expected God to repeat the Acts 2 Pentecostal outpouring in their day. But the revival was not just a feel-good meeting. Lives and destinies changed. Countless numbers of people looked upon the harvest field and responded, ‘Here am I Lord, send me.’ They went to countries they had only heard about. Believing the Lord would return soon, they often went without expecting to return home. Historian Vinson Synan called them ‘missionaries of the one way ticket.’ Today many scholars believe that the Pentecostal movement has been the greatest missionary movement in the history of Christianity.” In making the presentation Roebuck noted, “Although there are many missionaries worthy of honor, we have chosen Dr. Cary for his missionary zeal, dedication, and sacrificial obedience to Jesus’ Great Commission to ‘go into all the world.’”
 

The Azusa Lecture and Spirit of Azusa Award were in established in 2006 on the occasion of the centennial of the Los Angeles revival.

The Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and the International Center for Spiritual Renewal present the award each year. North Cleveland Church of God hosts the lecture, and the Church of God World Missions Department supported this year’s event, which celebrated the centennial of the denomination’s world missions ministry.



Historically a Missions-Minded Body, the Church Of God Still Gathers the Worldwide Harvest
By Lovell R. Cary, General Director of the Church of God World Missions Department
FROM THE TIME our first missionaries sailed from the shores of America, global evangelization has been a primary focus for the Church of God. World Missions is still focused on that global harvest. More than 1,800 souls are added to the kingdom of God daily through the witness of national workers, missionaries and laity. Yet the task looms large.
Reaping the Harvest
Reaching this harvest demands urgency on our part. All of us must labor faithfully together if we are to reach every nation and people group with the gospel before Christ returns for His church. Recent world events confirm that the end-time harvest must be brought in before it is lost. For this General Assembly period, World Missions has set a goal of 1.5 million souls saved with 1 million of those added to the membership of the Church of God. Stories reach us daily of God's move. In a recent e-mail, missionary Tommy Smith in Indonesia wrote: The nearly 15,000-member Church o f God in Medan has 23 Sunday services in this city of 3 million people (Indonesia's third largest city). Five of them are in a seven-floor mall. The church uses floor six, which seats about 3,000, for worship and floor seven as a prayer center in the Medan Plaza Mall. Four services are also held in the Lake Toba International Hotel ballroom; and two special services, conducted in the Mandarin Chinese language, not Bahasa Indonesia, are held at other locations. The miracle is that the Medan Plaza Mall was about to go out o f business. Stores were closing down and moving out. But after the church moved in, life was given back to this mall and people started to shop here again. Rental rates for shops in this mall have now increased to four times what they were prior to the churches moving in. It reminds us o f the story o f Joseph; wherever he went, God was with him, and others were blessed because of it. The Medan Plaza Mall was blessed because the David's Tabernacle-Bethel Church o f God congregation moved into the building.
Training Laborers
Where we have trained our national leaders, the Church of God flourishes and souls are saved every day. Tommy Smith's story confirms the effectiveness of the Bethel Theological Seminary in Jakarta, Indonesia, where hundreds of pastors have been trained. These pastors in turn mobilize their laity to reach the harvest. This mobilization has now grown to nearly 3 million Church of God members. We have 107 schools and training ministries around the world preparing more than 21,233 workers for the harvest. Our national leaders, missionaries and laity in 161 countries outside the United States and Canada have a passion for global evangelization. Daily they touch millions of lives spiritually and physically through the gospel and life enhancing humanitarian outreaches.
A Part to Play
Every Church of God congregation here in America is also a vital part of reaching the global harvest. Through prayer, financial support and personal involvement, each one impacts the harvest. Stateside churches and individuals have made possible the Eurasian Theological Seminary in Moscow, the Asian Center for Christian Ministries in Manila, and churches in the Ukraine and India, to name just a few. The building for the Eurasian Theological Seminary in Moscow is now complete and equipped. Dozens of students are trained in this new facility to reach the expanding harvest across the former Eastern European and Soviet Union nations. From 16 nations, 230 students gather at the Asian Seminary for Christian Ministries in Manila, preparing to reach the greatest harvest field of souls across Asia. China and a majority of the 10/40 nations, plus most of the unreached people groups of the - world, are located in Asia. Churches reaching their local harvest around the world are so numerous it would take several large books to describe them all. Two examples are the church of Pastor Alex Demidovich in the Ukraine and the church in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. Pastor Alex Demidovich's vision of a thriving church in the city of Slavjansk in his native Ukraine, formerly controlled by the communists, has blossomed into a congregation numbering between 700 and 1,000 members. Their new church building not only houses a worship center and the Ukrainian national offices, it is also the site of a training ministry for reaching their local and national harvest. In the city of Mumbai, India, Overseer A. Mathai has his division offices in the new multistory youth center on the old site of the YWEA center in the city once known as Bombay. Within this building, a growing local congregation meets for worship and another of our 107 Bible schools trains workers for the harvest across India. God works around the world through dedicated, passionate individuals and congregations called and empowered to reap His harvest. Where do you fit in His plan of global evangelization?




“Dr. Grant McClung reminds us in  Globalbeliever.com  that
from the very first verse and chapter in Genesis to the last
chapter and verse in Revelation, world evangelization is at
the heart of God’s revelation of Himself and His Son. I urge
believers to read this book. It will broaden their vision and
increase their burden for the lost of this world, particularly
those in the 10/40 Window who have not yet heard the good
news that Jesus is both Savior and Lord.”
Lovell R. Cary
Church of God World Missions


Lovell and Jennie Cary

Lovell R. Cary was born in Logan, W.Virginia, and his early ministry was as an evangelist and pastor in West Virginia and Florida. He and his wife, Virginia, began their missionary service in 1954 in Hawaii, which was not yet a state. The Church of God appointed him as overseer of the Philippians in 1959, and superintendent of the Far East in 1967. In 1984 Cary was elevated to assistant general director of World Missions and four years later to general director of the department.

Tenure limitations led to a change in 1992, but Cary was returned to the office again in 2000, making him the first person to serve as general director on two different occasions. He served for a total of 16 years as assistant director or general director of the department.

Dr. Cary has given his life to the work of reaching the world, having served as a missionary in Asia/Pacific for over 32 years. As general director of World Missions for four separate terms (1988, 1990 and 2000, 2002), his combined years in World Missions culminated to more than 51 years of fulfilling the Great Commission. In recent years, he and his lovely wife, Ginny, evangelized in Asia, Africa, Mexico, Eastern and Western Europe, and anywhere else the call to share the Gospel might be propagated.

Lovell Cary remains true to his calling – a calling since 1944 that has produced many, many souls for the Kingdom of God. Let each one of us be true to the call to prayer for this beloved leader.



Prophets in the Periods of Babylon and Persia part 2




Prophets in the Time Babylonian period
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. The founder and first king of an independent Babylon was a certain Amorite chieftain named Sumuabum who declared independence from the neighboring city-state of Kazallu in 1894 BC, and was a contemporary of Eris hum I of Assyria. Babylonia emerged as a powerful nation when the Amorite king Hammurabi (fl. c. 1792 – 1750 BC) created a short-lived empire out of the territories of the former Akkadian Empire. Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, and retained the Sumerian language for religious use, which by that time was no longer a spoken language. The Akkadian and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Babylonian culture, and the region would remain an important cultural center, even under outside rule, throughout the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Babylon as an independent state was founded by and rose to prominence under non native Amorites and spent the most part of its history ruled by their fellow Mesopotamians, the Assyrians or by foreign dynasties such as Kassites,Elamites, Hittites, Arameans, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks and Parthians.[1]
The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century BC. Approximately one hundred years after the collapse of the last Sumerian "Ur-III" dynasty at the hands of the Elamites (2002 BC traditional, 1940 BC short), the Amorites gained control over most of Mesopotamia, where they usurped the thrones of Assyria, Mari, Eshnunna, Ur, Isin, Larsa and other already long established states in Mesopotamia and formed a series of small kingdoms. During the first centuries of what is called the "Amorite period", the most powerful city states in the south were the former Sumerian cities of Isin andLarsa, although Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria united the more northern regions around Ashur and Mari. One of these Amorite dynasties established the city-state of Babylonin the 19th century BC, which would over a hundred years later briefly take over the others and form the first Babylonian empire, during what is also called the Old Babylonian Period.[2]

[3]Prophet,
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word profits meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people. The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy.           Claims of prophets have existed in many cultures through history, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Sybil line and the Pythia, known as the Oracle of Delphi, in Ancient Greece, Zoroaster, the Volusia in Old Norse and many others. Traditionally, prophets are regarded as having a role in society that promotes change due to their messages and actions In the late 20th century the appellation of "prophet" has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful at analysis in the field of economics, such as in the derogatory "prophet of greed". Alternatively, social commentators who suggest escalating crisis are often called "prophets of doom."
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET Jeremiah (626- 587 BC)
Author
Jeremiah was born into a priestly family. He was the son of Hilkiah from the village of Anathoth  The Book of Jeremiah says that Jeremiah was called by Yahweh to prophesy Jerusalem’s destruction that would occur by invaders from the North. This was because Israel had been unfaithful to the laws of the covenant and had forsaken God by worshiping the Baals. The people of Israel had even gone as far as building high altars to Baal in order to burn their children in fire as offerings to Baal. This nation had deviated so far from God that they had actually broken the covenant, forcing God to withdraw his blessings. Jeremiah was guided by God to proclaim that the nation of Israel would be faced with famine, be plundered and taken captive by foreigners who would exile them to a foreign land and Jeremiah’s ministry was active from the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah (626 BC), until sometime after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in 587 BC. This period spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.[4]
                               The book of Jeremiah was written by the prophet whose name the book bears (1:1). He was a priest from the village of Anathoth in Benjamin just a few miles northeast of Jerusalem. Jeremiah's prophecies were written down by Baruch, his scribe (36:4, 27-28,32). Perhaps chapter fifty-two was written by Baruch after Jeremiah's death, but at Jeremiah's previous direction.[5]
Jeremiah's Message
                 The Lord's call to make Jeremiah His prophet summarized the message of the man of God:
"See, I have set you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant." (1:10)
                                 It was primarily a message of doom, but it included hope. Jeremiah was the prophet of DOOM. He called Judah to repent (3:1; 7:4-7), but they refused (6:16-17; 20:1-2; 32:2-5; 37:11-21; 38:1-13; 43:1-7). Thus, Jeremiah foretold their destruction (5:9-10, 14-18, 29; 6:22-26; 7:16, 32-34; 14:15-16; 25:8-10). Israel was to be so destroyed as a nation that they could never be made completely again (19:10-11). This forever answers the premillennial claim that national Israel will someday be restored. However, Jeremiah was also the messenger of HOPE. He preached that Israel should place their trust in the Lord (9:23-24). A faithful remnant would be restored (23:3; 31:7-9). Ezra's record of the fulfillment of the restoration promise means this prophecy has been fulfilled, and one should not look for a future restoration of Israel to the land of Canaan. Jeremiah also prophesied salvation in Christ (23:5-6; 33:15-16).
Jeremiah's Message To The Exiles
                         In the year 3327 - eleven years before the Destruction of the (first) BeisHamikdosh - Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty King of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem with a huge army. King Jehoiachin, who had ascended the throne of Judea only 100 days earlier, now surrendered, in order to avoid the destruction of the Holy City.
                   Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive, together with his mother and other members of the royal   family. He also rounded up leading figures in the land of Judea, including many scholars and elders, and led them all to Babylon. Altogether, some 10,000 captives were taken in this First Exile to Babylon. In addition, the Babylonian king ransacked the royal treasury as well as that of the Beis Hamikdosh and took the spoils with him.
                          Before returning to his country, Nebuchadnezzar placed Zedekiah, the uncle of the deposed king and youngest son of the late King Josiah, on the throne of Judea, after taking an oath of loyalty to his Babylonian overlord. The new king, however, did not intend to remain the obedient servant of his Babylonian master, and secretly looked for a way of throwing off the Babylonian yoke. With his chief officers and leaders of his army gone, and the country greatly impoverished, Zedekiah knew that he could not achieve independence without outside help. He turned to Egypt for help, since the ever-growing power of Babylon was a threat to Egypt too. In addition, he looked around for help from neighboring kingdoms. The only real and sure help that was his for the asking - the help of G-d, the king recklessly ignored.
                           In those critical times, as for many years earlier, the great prophet Jeremiah of Anathoth, the Town of Kohanim, was the God-sent messenger to warn the people of the mortal danger hanging over their heads. He did not cease calling on the king and the people to mend their ways and return to God. Only wholehearted repentance and a complete break with the way of idolatry, injustice and immorality, could save the people from doom, he preached. Jeremiah tried to convince the king that it was useless to depend on false   hopes of freeing himself from the Babylonian yoke with the help of Egypt. The prophet sternly warned him, in God's Name, to follow a peaceful path with the mighty Babylonian, who was God's rod to punish the Jewish people if they persisted in their faithlessness.
                 If the memory of the destruction and exile of the Northern Kingdom of the Ten Tribes by King Shalmanesser of Assyria more than a century earlier (in 3205) had faded, the fall of Jehoiachin and First Babylonian captivity should have shaken up the people and the king to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah. However, his words were ignored. The king and the people were more inclined to listen to the false, self-appointed "prophets," who misled them by their predictions of glorious days ahead. These false prophets made them believe that the rise of Babylon's power was only temporary, and that in a couple of years it would break down. The people were inclined to follow the false prophets because this did not call for them to alter their way of living and begin to live the holy and moral life, which G-d's Torah and Mitzvos demanded.
                            There were false prophets not only in Jerusalem, but also among the Jews who had been exiled to Babylon with Jechoniah. These prophets, too, deceived the exiles with false predictions that their exile would soon be over, as the subjugated kingdoms in the Babylonian empire would rebel and topple their overlord. Like their counterparts in Jerusalem, they agitated against the "Prophet of Doom," Jeremiah, and his tragic prophecies. Jeremiah, on his part appealed ever more strongly to the Jews, urging them not to be misled by the false prophets. He also kept in touch with the exiles in Babylon, encouraging them to hold on to their Jewish faith. Indeed, having been driven from their land and forced to live among non-Jews in a foreign land, it was more important than ever that they should keep faith with G-d and the Torah, until the time of salvation, when G-d would return them to their land.
                                              THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET   Zephaniah [6]
Zephaniah or  " is the name of several people in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh. He is also called Sophonias as in the New Catholic Encyclopaedia and in Easton's [Bible] Dictionary. The name might mean "Yah(weh) has concealed", "[he whom] Yah(weh) has hidden", or ""Yah(weh) lies in wait"
The Prophet Zephaniah
The most well known Biblical figure bearing the name Zephaniah is the son of Sushi, and great-grandson of Hezekiah, ninth in the literary order of the minor prophets. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (B.C. 641-610), and was contemporary with Jeremiah, with whom he had much in common. The only primary source from which we obtain our scanty knowledge of the personality and the rhetorical and literary qualities of this individual is the short book of the Old Testament (containing only three chapters), which bears his name. The scene of his activity was the city of Jerusalem. (Zeph 1:4-10; 3:1, 14)[7]The most well known Biblical figure bearing the name Zephaniah is the son of Sushi, and great-grandson of Hezekiah, ninth in the literary order of the minor prophets. He prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah (B.C. 641-610), and was contemporary with Jeremiah, with whom he had much in common. The only primary source from which we obtain our scanty knowledge of the personality and the rhetorical and literary qualities of this individual is the short book of the Old Testament (containing only three chapters), which bears his name. The scene of his activity was the city of Jerusalem. (Zeph 1:4-10; 3:1, 14)
Date of activity
Zephaniah is the only one of the few prophets whose chronology is fixed by a precise date in the introductory verse of the book. Under the two preceding kings,Amon and Manasseh, idolatry had been introduced in the most shameful forms (especially the cult of Baal and Astarte) into the Holy City, and with this foreign cult came a foreign culture and a great corruption of morals. Josiah, a dedicated reformer, wished to put an end to the horrible devastation in the holy places. One of the most zealous champions and advisers of this reform was Zephaniah, and his writing remains one of the most important documents for the understanding of the era of Josiah.[8]The prophet spoke boldly against the religious and moral corruption, when, in view of the idolatry which had penetrated even into the sanctuary, he threatened to "destroy out of this place the remnant of Baal, and the names of the ... priests" (Zeph 1:4), and pleaded for a return to the simplicity of their fathers instead of the luxurious foreign clothing which was worn especially in aristocratic circles (1:8).The age of Zephaniah was also a key historical period, because the lands of Anterior Asia were overrun by foreigners due to the migration of the Scythians in the last decades of the seventh century, and because Jerusalem was only a few decades before its downfall in 586.[4] In light of these events, a message of impending judgment is the primary burden of this figure's preaching (1:7).He is commemorated with the other Minor prophets in the Calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 31. On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is December 3.
The massage of Prophet Zephaniah
The great day of the Lord is near - near and coming quickly" - Zephaniah 1:14 The first prophet in Judah after a gap of more than fifty years, he warns of the coming Day of the Lord, emphasizing that Judah will not be exempt from the judgment due to the surrounding nations merely because of its history: God's people must seek him for themselves, not rely on their ancestors' relationship with him. Predicts the survival of a faithful remnant when God's judgment falls on Jerusalem.

                                                            The Prophet Joel [9]
Joel was a prophet of ancient Israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets and the author of the Book of Joel. He is mentioned by name only once in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, in the introduction to his own brief book, as the son of Pethuel (Joel 1:1). The name Joel combines the covenant name of God,YHWH (sometimes written Jehovah), and el (god), and has been translated as "one to whom Jehovah is God," that is, a worshipper of YHWH.
 The dates of his life are unknown; he may have lived anywhere from the 9th century BCE to the 5th century BCE, depending on the dating of his book. The book's mention of Greeks  has not given scholars any help in dating the text since the Greeks were known to have had access to Judah from Mycenaean times. However, the book's mention of Judah's suffering and to the standing temple  has led some scholars to place the date of the book in the post-exilic period, after the construction of the Second Temple. Joel was originally from Judah/Judea, and, judging from its prominence in his prophecy, was quite possibly a prophet associated with the ritual of the Jerusalem temple. On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is October 19. He is commemorated with the other Minor prophets in the Calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 31. Joel's statement that "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" was applied by St Peter in his sermon at Pentecost to the events of that day. Since then other religious figures have interpreted the words as having special significance for their own time.[10]
The Hope
The prophet’s hope of deliverance The prophet’s hope resided not in the merit of Israel, but in the nature of Israel’s God. God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding loving-kindness and relenting of evil (2:13-14) The priests are urged to appeal to God’s desire to protect His Name from blasphemy among the nations.  God would not want the nations  around Israel to think that He had failed to be with the people He had
Chosen and that their reliance upon false gods had secured better conditions for them than for Israel.  Thus Joel gives a preview of what was possible if only Israel would

The Message of the Joel
Important Lessons From Joel’s Prophecy In Joel we see God’s covenant faithfulness.  He keeps His covenant—bringing both the blessings and punishments, He has promised. We see the nature of repentance. We see that God seeks from His people genuine repentance that grows out of deep heart-felt regret over sin and not mere symbolic gestures.   We see the promise of Pentecost. The day of the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh has come (Ac2:13).  The abundant coming of the Spirit upon both Jews and Gentiles brings the blessings of salvation to those who would hear the Spirit’s message. We see the only hope of deliverance at judgment day. There is hope for deliverance for those who “call upon the name of the Lord” (Rom. 10:13).  It is Joel’s prophecy that is the basis for the statement of Paul that salvation is possible for all who turn to the Lord. We see the ultimate defeat of God’s enemies and the victory of His people over them in the eternal kingdom, the new Jerusalem. Perhaps many of the OT statements concerning the victory of God’s people over their enemies and ideal provisions of will not find their ultimate fulfillment until the end of time when God judges the nations finally and grants His people entrance in the eternal kingdom where all is perfect in every way.
Conclusion:  Joel’s prophecy helps us understand the principles by which God deals with His people—the demands of faithfulness, the need for repentance, the need to trust in God’s grace, and to put our hope in His blessing.

The Changes[11]

                   Much of the book of Joel concerns a terrible locust plague that causes starvation for animals and humans. Joel takes this as a sign that people should lament and repent. God responds positively beginning in 2:18. After 2:29, the book moves from historical events to conjecture about the end-time (the Day of the Lord) when the world will be changed and when strange and frightening signs will appear (2:30-32). In the new age, all people will prophesy (2:28-29). This section of Joel is quoted in the account of the Pentecost experience in Acts 2:17-21.

The Hope
                Joel probably lived during the Persian period of Old Testament history (539-331 B.C.E.) During that time, the Persians allowed some of the Jews to return to Jerusalem and the temple was eventually rebuilt. Joel was familiar with the temple, so he must be dated after its restoration. He knows earlier prophets. No kings of Judah are mentioned (there were none after the defeat by Babylon in 586 B.C.E.). All this points to a period between 400 and 350 B.C.E.
The Book of Nahum
The book of Nahum was written between 633-612 BC and he is cited as the author. His message is to the Assyrians, referred to as those of the land of Nineveh. This is the same Nineveh that Jonah spoke to but the people have reverted to their corrupt and violent ways. The prospect of their rising up puts Israel in fear and it is a word of reassurance and comfort that the Lord gives to Nahum. The prophet encourages the Israelites and reinforces to the Assyrians the certainty of judgment against them.[12]
THE MESSAGE OF NAHUM
The people of Nineveh had quickly reverted to their cruel and heathen practices. "They had not transmitted their knowledge of the true God to their children" [13]They had repented of their repentance! Therefore, God, through Nahum, foretold the complete destruction of this kingdom. He had spared them once (during the time of Jonah), He would not do so again. Unlike Jonah, Nahum does not actually go to the city of Nineveh; rather he declares his oracle from afar. There is no hope of any repentance-taking place, thus no need to go to the city.
Although this book is concerned with the downfall of Assyria, it is nevertheless written for the benefit of Judah. God has demonstrated His patience and long-suffering; now He will demonstrate His wrath! The message of this book is that although God may be slow to wrath, He nevertheless always "settles His accounts in full!" "Though God is slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness (as His action toward Nineveh in the book of Jonah shows), His long-suffering is not to be interpreted as indifference or as lack of power --- Nahum 1:1-6" (Willis).
This is also a message of consolation for the people of Judah who are being oppressed by Assyria. Regardless of how things may seem, God does not forget His people. The book of Revelation is a perfect example of this message. "When the forces opposing God are so firmly ensconced and the flickering lamp of God's people is at the point of extinction, however, it is easy for the remnant to forget. Nahum reminds us, as do the ruins of ancient Nineveh, that God Himself is the ultimate Ruler. HE WILL HAVE THE FINAL WORD!” [14]
"Some have objected to the joyous attitude with which Nahum greets the prospect of the fall of Assyria's capital, and regard it as an exhibition of nationalistic fanaticism and vengeful malice. This, however, is a misunderstanding of the ground, which the prophet occupies. Because he is a man of God, he speaks as one who is wholly preoccupied with the Lord's cause on earth. His earnest desire is to see Jehovah vindicate His holiness in the eyes of the heathen, as over against the inhumane and ruthless tyranny of that God-defying empire which had for such a long time trampled upon all the subject nations with heartless brutality" (Gleason Archer).
J.M.P. Smith describes him as an "enthusiastic, optimistic patriot," but "his book is not the recording of personal glee over the fall of Nineveh, expressing the narrow hatred and prejudice of a single individual; but it is the fervent expression of the outraged conscience of mankind" (Homer Hailey). "It is one great 'At Last'" (G.A. Smith).
"His cry is not only the cry of jubilation at the fall of an oppressive foe, but is also the cry of faith in the sovereign rule of Jehovah and a vindication of confidence that He will avenge His elect when the time is ripe. The lesson of his beautifully worded yet dreadful prophecy is one to which the world could well give heed today. The prophet reveals the eternal principle of the omnipotent God that for a nation to survive it must be established upon and directed by principles of righteousness and truth. Wickedness will eventually turn a nation back to Sheol, the oblivion of the unseen, when it makes cruelty and wickedness the standard by which it lives" (Homer Hailey).
                                   The Book of Habakkuk
Habakkuk is the author and the book was written between 610-605 BC. It is actually a book written to the Lord. Habakkuk is in deep distress over why the people of Judah have been taken captive by Babylon. He asks the Lord to tell him why such suffering is occurring. What is special about this book is that the. Lord answers the prophet and reveals to him the reasons and purposes of His actions. What a refreshing concept to take hold of—that there are times when a sovereign God will respond to our ever-present need to know “why?”
The Message of Habakkuk
            The major theme of Habakkuk is trying to grow from a faith of perplexity and doubt to the height of absolute trust in God. Habakkuk addresses his concerns over the fact that the punishment for Judah's sins is going to be executed by what was thought to be a sinful nation in Habakkuk's eyes. Habakkuk is unique among the prophets in that he openly questions the wisdom of God. In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action. "1:2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you “Violence!” and will you not save?" - In the middle part of Chapter 1, God explains that he will send the Chaldeans to punish his people. 1:5 “Look among the nations, watch, and wonder marvelously; for I am working a work in your days, which you will not believe though it is told you. 1:6 for, behold, I rise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. One of the "Eighteen Emendations to the Hebrew Scriptures" appears at 1:12. (Actually, there were more than eighteen.) According to the professional Jewish scribes, the Sopherim, the text of 1:12 was changed from "You [God] do not die" to "We shall not die." The Sopherim considered it disrespectful of God to say, "You do not die."In the final part of the first chapter, the prophet expresses shock at God's choice of instrument for judgment. 1:13 You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously, and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he[15],
In Chapter 2, he awaits God's response to his challenge. God explains that He will also judge the Chaldeans, and much more harshly. 2:8 because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you, because of men’s blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all who dwell in it. 2:9 Woes to him who gets an evil gain for his house,[16]
Finally, in Chapter 3, Habakkuk expresses his ultimate faith in God, even if he does not fully understand. 3:17 For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls: 3:18 yet I will rejoice in Yahweh. I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
Because of the final chapter of his book, which is a poetic praise of God, it has been assumed that Habakkuk was likely a member of the Leviticus choir in the Temple. Contemporary scholars point out, however, that this chapter is missing from the Dead Sea Scrolls and has some similarities with texts found in the Book of Daniel. They therefore suggest that it is a later interpolation which influenced the authors of Daniel, and that it is impossible to make the assumption of Habakkuk's background based on it.[17]
The Changes
The worship of created things, human inventions, gods of our imaginations, and the worship of our possessions, anything, and us that is not the creator God is a great sin, which lives in the hearts of people.  Idolatry is something Habakkuk speaks about with brutally honest.  Though we may not see ourselves, worshipping statues of gold there are many substitute saviors that populate our hearts and lives.   Find the Source of True Rejoicing and Happiness— that which we all long for in our journeys on the earth can indeed. It is no pipe dream — we were made for joy, even when the darkness falls on our days.  Habakkuk will help us believe this deeply.
The Book of Obadiah
The canonical Book of Obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel.[1] The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible.[18].In Judaism and Christianity, its authorship is attributed to a prophet who lived in the Assyrian Period, Obadiah, whose name means “servant or worshipper of Yahweh”. In Christianity, the book of Obadiah is classified as a minor prophet of the Old Testament, due to its short length.
In Judaism, Obadiah is considered a “later prophet” and this Masoretic Text is chronologically placed in the Tanakh under the section Nevi'im in the last category called The Twelve Prophets. Although there is general agreement that Obadiah is the author, there is a broad speculation on the date the book was written. Some scholars place it near the exile (586 BC) while others place it as far back as[19] 850 BC. As the shortest book in the Old Testament, the twenty-one verses carry a unique message. Obadiah is addressing the Edomites, the descendants of Esau. Edom has refused to allow the children of Israel to cross their land during the exodus and continually turn their backs on them when Israel’s enemies rise up. This has not been forgotten, and will be punished. When our brothers, other believers, are in need, we cannot refuse to help them. We cannot let our pride make their journey longer nor give power to their enemies. This is a lesson that the body of Christ today seems to need to remember
The Message Of Obadiah
The book of Obadiah is based on a prophetic vision concerning the fall of Edoma mountain dwelling nation whose Founding Father was Esau.[v.6] Obadiah describes an encounter with God who addresses Edom’s arrogance and charges them for their violent actions against their brother nation, the House of Jacob. The vision then embraces the fall of Jerusalem to the hands of foreign invaders and God’s anger against Edom for taking advantage of the Jews of Judah during their plight, thus sealing their doom In the final aspect of the vision, Israel’s restoration, as a holy place, is declared in contrast to the Edomites lineage that shall end. Obadiah’s prophecy also includes a reminder that God’s judgment will be upon all nations. “For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near… But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance”
The Hope of Obadiah[20]
Obadiah is a prophetic book, rooted in particular historical circumstances but looking to a future time when God's reign will be established on earth. You should read it, therefore, both with some knowledge of its historical background and with an understanding of its future vision. Obadiah is concerned both with the events of 587 B.C.E. and with a coming age that is in God's hands. Like most prophetic books then, Obadiah calls its readers to have faith in God as they find themselves in an already-and-not-yet time; a time between what has already happened and what God has promised is yet to come.
The Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel is generally held to be the author. The book was composed between 593-565 BC. Ezekiel is a prophet during the Babylonian captivity, and his message to the captives stresses the continual need for repentance while encouraging that a bright future still lay ahead of them. He reminds them of the constancy of God’s promises and that the kingdom will most certainly manifest itself if they are faithful to His word. What is most compelling about the book of Ezekiel is the fact that his incredible vision occurred in a place of captivity. In that place, the sovereignty of God is seen in perhaps a greater splendor than before. Ezekiel makes it known that we need to recognize that sovereignty no matter situation we find ourselves in. In other words, even when things seem so totally out-of-control in our lives, God is still God.
Defining Ezekiel’s Message[21]
Misson is another theme he picks up throughout the book, showing Ezekiel does have a concern that the nations come to know Yahweh in a saving way. His treatment of the final chapters of Ezekiel avoid fanciful speculation and show how the vision primarily is concerned with the return of the presence of God and the restoration of the worship of God. By calling Ezekiel’s Message the Captivity Doctrine, it may be understood by that Unfamiliar with the concept. It also succinctly portrays this truth in a manner easily Grasped. Let us take a brief look at some of the material on the subject and carefully analyse some of the relevant material to assist us to ascertain how they were written which would enable us to write similar articles today.. It may be viewed as the ultimate condensation of the Ezekiel Message. This energetic booklet shocked people out of their complacency.  It’s unfortunate title has been a major reason for derision being brought upon this doctrine from certain quarters. Yet it contains vital information for us in a brazen way  and a style which is becoming more and more acceptable to the community at large today (the type of graphic details portrayed by Basil Wolverton are a part of our mass  culture today).   In many ways, it was a work ahead of its time. Many other booklets have been
The Persian period[22]
For nearly all of their history, the Jewish people were not the political masters of their own destiny, but instead were subject to the control of foreign empires.  In this wiki, we examine the history of Second Temple and pre-Rabbinic Judaism and we start with the Persian period, when the Jewish people were allowed to return to the land of Israel.  Our story begins with the Babylonian exile, where, around 600 BCE, the Babylonian Empire assumed military control over the land of Syria-Palestine, and after the native Jews, under the rule of Zedikiah, organized a brief revolt, which was quickly crushed.  At this time (circa 586-587 BCE) the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple, was destroyed, and the Jews (or at least several thousand of them, it is unclear the full amount) were exiled, mostly to Persia and other geographic areas to the east of Palestine.  Understandably, the exile, and the destruction of the Temple which preceded it were incredibly traumatic to the Jewish population; and while several prophets expected a return to their homeland, and the Jewish population tried to maintain a decree of cultural cohesion (especially though the continued usage of Hebrew names), the loss of the holiest site in their religious constellation caused enormous mental grief and angst within the population.  However, within a generation, (such that some people who had witnessed the destruction of the Temple were still alive), the political winds had changed, and the Persian Empire, led by Cyrus the Great, re-took the Palestinian lands thus beginning the Persian Period in Jewish history.
 King Cyrus the Great was persuaded by several Jewish members of his court to allow the Jews to both return to Israel and to re-build the Temple.  This was done in his Declaration of Cyrus (c538 BCE), which officially allowed Temples to be rebuilt in his newly conquered lands.  This act of religious toleration was probably not directed exclusively at the Jews, but was broadly targeted at all minority groups within the empire, as an olive branch proposal.  Of the Jewish population, many (although probably not most) returned, although a significant proportion chose to remain outside the land of Israel, forming what would later be known as the Diaspora.  Information on this group is sketchy at best, although there was at least a relatively well-established community in Elephantine Egypt. The Jewish people quickly re-established many of their traditions, including sacrifices at the Temple (after they could establish who was properly a Priest), and rebuilt the Temple.  At the same time, Cyrus and some of his descendents began an expansionary program to conquer Greece, which would eventually fail, and cause their eventual retreat from the Palestinian region.
However, the Jews did not appear to have an extremely strong linkage to the Persian authorities, although some, such as Ezra, were confidants (to a degree) of Kings, especially Artaxerxes, and others had relatively senior positions within the Imperial authority.  The High Priests, especially, were considered to have benefitted from the Persian period, as their authority was both re-established and confirmed by external actors, (or at least they wrote as if it did, and they were the main scribes of the period--a potential historiography issue).  Other scholars also note that the Persian Empire was not concerned with interfering in the internal affairs of the Jewish people, and some, including Ezra and Nehemiah, had a very favorable impression of the Persians.  The Persians probably did not care very much about the Palestinian portion of their Empire; it was a small adjunct, and they soon had a far more relevant threat in the form of the Greeks.
The Jewish people used this period as a time to rebuild their political and religious institutions.  The Temple, destroyed, was rebuilt into the arguably more impressive Second Temple, and the Priests assumed their ascendency as the main political and religious leaders of the Jewish Community.  This was, however, done within the broad context of Persian authority, and there were not the outright revolts, which were found in later Hellenistic and Roman eras.  In essence, Jews were content to be autonomous, if not independent.
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET DANIEL
The prophet Daniel is one of four Major Prophets in Hebrew Scripture, along with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The Book of Daniel is followed by the Prophet Hosea. Daniel in the Lions' Den is a favorite Bible story for children. In addition, the captivating prophecy, imagery, and symbolism make the Book of Daniel one of the most read of the Old Testament. The Book of Daniel is unusual in that it takes its name from the hero of the book, Daniel, a young Jewish prophet who lived in Babylon during the Babylonian captivity, which began in 597 BC. The prophet Ezekiel, who wrote his prophecy in Babylon about the same time, mentioned three Biblical figures in a row as men of righteousness, Noah, The Book of Daniel is rich in imagery. Chapters 1-6 refer to the great Kings of Persia. Chapter 6 describes Daniel in the Lions' Den. Chapters 7-12 reveal the angels Gabriel and Michael in the apocalyptic visions. Daniel 12:2 is one of the rare passages in the Old Testament that refers to the Resurrection of the Dead. The Book of Daniel serves as the only apocalyptic Book of the Old Testament, as Chapters 7-12 foretell the End Times. The great nations of the world have risen against Yahweh; but God's Kingdom shall overthrow existing powers and last forever. Jesus, in calling himself the "Son of Man," reminds us that he fulfills the destiny of the mysterious figure in Chapter Seven of the Book of Daniel.
The Message Of The Book Daniel
The Book of Daniel, supposedly written by Daniel himself during the Babylonian Exile, tells of the miracle in which Daniel's friends survived in a furnace so hot that those who threw them in were killed by the heat. It tells the famous story of Daniel surviving a night in a den of lions, protected by an angel. In addition, it tells of prophecies that accurately foretold the future of Judah.  In chapter 2, Daniel prophesied that King Nebuchadnezzar would be followed by an inferior kingdom, then a third and a fourth kingdom. The fourth kingdom would then become divided. In addition, in the days of these kings, God would set up a kingdom that would never be destroyed. Some Christians interpret this as a prophecy that includes the Roman Empire and the advent of Christianity. More objectively, it was simply a prophecy of King Nebuchadnezzar's successor, then the Persian Empire and the kingdom of Alexander, which was divided after Alexander's death.  The author of Daniel knew of the four consecutive kingdoms because he was writing about Daniel from the perspective of the second century, just before the Maccabeus revolt. The book was written during the darkest period since the Exile to give the people a sense of pride and hope for the future. Please note that from the Jewish perspective, Daniel was not a prophet. This book was included in the Tanakh because it was deemed important for future generations; however, it is located in the Writings section, not Prophets.[23]

 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET HAGGAI[24]
Apart from the designation "Haggai the prophet," little is told about this prophet. No record of his family or his prophetic call has been preserved, and even the analysis of his name, which is related to the word for "festival," has produced nothing more than the suggestion that he may have been born on a feast day. His oracles, which because they refer to the prophet in the third person appear to have been gathered by an editor, provide us with a rather precise chronology, indicating that all were given within a four-month period between August and December, 520 B.C., which falls in the second year of Darius I. Unfortunately, some slight disarrangement appears to have occurred in these oracles and although four addresses are listed, some scholars think there are really five. Verse 1:15a seems to stand-alone. By linking it with 2:15-19, the following sequence is obtained:
The Message
Like Haggai, Zechariah provides important information about the struggle of the Jews to form a new state after the Exile and about problems associated with the construction of the second Temple. There can be little doubt that the two prophets were instrumental in bringing the temple to completion. With the new temple, Jewish religion was given a center for worship, an altar for sacrifice and a headquarters for administration and interpretation. In Babylon, Jewish scholars were to continue wrestling with the implications of the faith for centuries, but it was always to Jerusalem that the faithful looked as the center of the religion.
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH[25]

Zechariah prophesied in the same period as the prophet Haggai, and the first eight chapters of Zechariah's work reveal the pressure of problems and issues similar to those found in Haggai's oracles. Chapters 9-14 belong in a different and later context, as we shall see, and represent the work of another person. These later chapters are often labeled Deutero-Zechariah (Chapters 1-8 are, therefore, Proto-Zechariah) and will be considered separately. Like Haggai, Zechariah is mentioned in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 where he is called a prophet, but in Nehemiah 12:16 he is listed among the priests. It is quite possible that, like Ezekiel who appears to have had great influence upon him, he was both. Because he is called "the prophet Zechariah" and is referred to in the third person, his work, like that of Haggai, was compiled by an editor. The edited work may be divided into three major sections, with several subsections:[26]
The Message of Zechariah
The effect of the teachings of the Exilic prophets, particularly Ezekiel, is readily recognizable, and belief was strong that fulfillment of Exilic prophecies of the ideal kingdom was at hand. With Haggai and Zechariah the concept of leadership begins to acquire overtones that later become messianic and eschatological, but it was not until the hopes for the future failed and the possibility of an earthly king ruling an ideal kingdom faded that messianic and eschatological themes developed. Zechariah and Haggai are really not concerned with eschatological (end of time) ideas, but rather with the new tomorrow that was so close that it was to follow the completion of the temple, a new day that was imminent in Zerubbabel, the "servant of Yahweh" (Hag. 2:23; Zech. 3:8), "Yahweh's signet" (Hag. 2:23), "the Branch" and the "Rod" (Zech. 3:8; 6:12 f.) of the root of David. The political ends and the national triumph to be experienced under Zerubbabel came not through the monarch but through mighty acts of Yahweh, and it was the conviction that this new day was at hand that give these prophetic oracles their sense of urgency and of the immediacy, reflections enthusiasm and driving power of the two prophets.
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET MALACHI[27]
The book titled "Malachi" is the last in the prophetic collection known as "The Twelve," or Dodecapropheton. Despite the opening words, the author is unknown, and the superscription was appended by an editor who believed the words "my messenger" (mal’akhi) in 3:1 were a clue to the personal name of the prophet. The term translated "burden" or "oracle" ( massa') in 1:1 appears also in Zechariah 9-14 and it has been suggested that the four chapters of Malachi which are a unity, were at one time gathered in a larger collection incorporating the chapters now appended to the work of Zechariah.
There are indications within Malachi that suggest it was a product of the first half of the fifth century, possibly from the time of Artaxerxes I. The temple had been rebuilt (3:1, 10) and Judah was under a governor (1:8). Complaints about poverty, poor harvests and locust plagues (3:6 ff.) which, according to Haggai, ought to have ceased with the completion of the temple, and inferences of disappointment because of the delay in the coming of the ideal kingdom (2:17 ff.), point to a period after 515. The discussion of "mixed marriages," which were ultimately forbidden by Ezra, suggests that his legislation had not yet been passed.
Malachi's oracles are given in response to a series of questions, perhaps representing the give-and-take situation of the street orator. It appears that there were those who questioned current theological dogma, and in a manner similar to that employed by the wisdom school, argued from experience that prophetic utterances had been inaccurate.

The Message of Malachi
The book appears to begin in the middle of a discussion. The prophet has been asked, "What evidence is there that Yahweh loves his people?" His response drew upon history, past and present. In the choice of Jacob and the rejection of Esau, Yahweh had expressed his love (election). When the Babylonians came, Edom had escaped the devastation that came to Judah by quietly submitting to Nebuchadnezzar and rejoicing in the fall of Jerusalem (cf. Ps. 137:7; Lam. 4:21 f.). Now Edom was tinder pressure from the Nabataea’s, a people that had formerly lived by preying on caravans and was now moving toward a settled mode of life.8 The Edomites, forced out of their homeland, migrated into the territory south of the Persian province of Judah, becoming the people known in later times as Idumeans. The Edomites were, according to Malachi, confident that they would recover, just as the Jews were recovering, but the prophet declares that their efforts would fail. The immediate and future problems confronting the Edomites were, for the prophet, evidence that Yahweh hated the descendants of Esau, just as the reestablishment of the Jews demonstrated divine love.[28]



Bibliography
1.      The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria; its remains, language, history, religion, commerce, law, art, and literature, by Morris Jastrow, Jr. ... with map and 164 illustrations, 1915  (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format or Readable HTML)

2.      Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition, by Leonard W. King, 1918 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)

3.      The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight between Bel and the Dragon, as told by Assyrian Tablets from Nineveh, 1921 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)

4.      Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. (Harlow, England: Longman). entry "Jeremiah"

5.      Jeremiah, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, (Tyndale Press, Wheaton, IL, USA) 1987.
6.       "That day of wrath, that dreadful day," as described in Nelson's Compact Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 283, 283, Thomas Nelson Publishers (1964),

7.      Berlin, Adele. Zephaniah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Bible Volume 25A.( Toronto: Doubleday), 1994.

8.      Faulhaber, M. (1913). "Sophonias (Zephaniah)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.( Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett. 2003).
9.      A-Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, B. M. Wheeler, Joel

10.  Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976),

11. http://www.enterthebible.org/oldtestament.aspx?rid

12. Beit Midarsh( The triumphant church Publications) , USa

13. (Ryrie Study Bible).

14. Expositor's Bible Commentary).


15. Achtemeier, Elizabeth. (1993). "Habbakuk", the Oxford Companion to the Bible,. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5.

16. Bailey, Waylon. Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999.

17. Brownlow, Leroy. (1961). "Habakkuk", the Old Testament Books and their Messages in the Christian Age . Fort Worth: Fort Worth Christian College.

18. Coogan, M. “A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. Oxford University Press, New York (2009)

19. Nelson's Compact Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1978,  ISBN 0840756364

20. R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 585; J. A. Thompson, "The Book of Obadiah: Introduction," The Interpreter's Bible, Vl, 858.

21. [1] http://www.originofnations.org/HRP_Papers/Ezekiel's%20Message.PDF

22. Encyclopaedia Judaica. Eds. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 15. 2nd ed. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007

23. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_message_of_the_prophet_Daniel

24. R. A. Bowman, "Ezra: Exegesis," The Interpreter's Bible, III,

25. John Bright, A History of Israel, p. 343 where the identification is supported, and M. Noth, The History of Israel where the theory is dismissed

26.  article on Sheshbazzar in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible.

27.  article on "Petra" in The Biblical World, C. F. Pfeiffer (ed.) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1966),.



[1] The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria; its remains, language, history, religion, commerce, law, art, and literature, by Morris Jastrow, Jr. ... with map and 164 illustrations, 1915  (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format or Readable HTML)
[2] Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition, by Leonard W. King, 1918 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)
[3] The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight between Bel and the Dragon, as told by Assyrian Tablets from Nineveh, 1921 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries;DjVu & layered PDF format)
[4] Wells, John C. (1990). Longman pronunciation dictionary. (Harlow, England: Longman). p. 383 entry "Jeremiah"
[5] Jeremiah, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, (Tyndale Press, Wheaton, IL, USA) 1987.
[6]  "That day of wrath, that dreadful day," as described in Nelson's Compact Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pp. 283, 283, Thomas Nelson Publishers (1964),
[7] Berlin, Adele. Zephaniah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Bible Volume 25A.( Toronto: Doubleday), 1994.pp 64-66
[8] Faulhaber, M. (1913). "Sophonias (Zephaniah)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.( Transcribed by Thomas M. Barrett. 2003).pp 160-170
[9] A-Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism, B. M. Wheeler, Joel
[10]  Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), p.31
[11] http://www.enterthebible.org/oldtestament.aspx?rid=48
[12] Beit Midarsh( The triumphant church Publications) Page16 , USa
[13] (Ryrie Study Bible).
[14] (Expositor's Bible Commentary).
[15] Achtemeier, Elizabeth. (1993). "Habbakuk", the Oxford Companion to the Bible, pp 265–266. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5.
[16] Bailey, Waylon. Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999.
[17] Brownlow, Leroy. (1961). "Habakkuk", the Old Testament Books and their Messages in the Christian Age, pp 439–453. Fort Worth: Fort Worth Christian College.
[18] Coogan, M. “A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: The Hebrew Bible in its Context. Oxford University Press, New York (2009) p. 315
[19] Nelson's Compact Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1978, p. 191, ISBN 0840756364
[20] R. H. Pfeiffer, Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 585; J. A. Thompson, "The Book of Obadiah: Introduction," The Interpreter's Bible, Vl, 858.
[21] http://www.originofnations.org/HRP_Papers/Ezekiel's%20Message.PDF
[22] Encyclopaedia Judaica. Eds. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 15. 2nd ed. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007). p782-792. 22 vols.    
[23] http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_message_of_the_prophet_Daniel
[24] R. A. Bowman, "Ezra: Exegesis," The Interpreter's Bible, III, 571.
[25] John Bright, A History of Israel, p. 343 where the identification is supported, and M. Noth, The History of Israel, p. 309, where the theory is dismissed
[26]  article on Sheshbazzar in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible.
[27]  article on "Petra" in The Biblical World, C. F. Pfeiffer (ed.) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1966), pp. 443 ff.
[28] article on "Petra" in The Biblical World, C. F. Pfeiffer (ed.) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1966), pp. 443 ff.

Monday 27 February 2012

Effective Leadership in the Old Testament


Contents
1)     Introduction

2)     Biblical Leadership in the Old Testament

3)     Psycho-Cultural leadership

4)     Theological Perspective

i)      Leadership in Eden

ii)   Leadership in Exodus

iii)Leadership in the Promised Land

iv)  Leadership in the Prophets

5)     Personal and Strategic leadership in the Old Testament

6)     Conclusion

7)     Bibliography

Introduction
The Old Testament is the inspired word of God, yet a continuous debate questions its force for deciding religious issues today. (10 particularly with controversial topics the Hebrew Bible lack the decisive strength of the New Testament. In discussing that most unsettled topic of women priests, writers tend to bypass those very scriptures which Jesus and His first disciples relied upon very heavily Moreover, during the early patristic age, the Old Testament style of priesthood sharpened or even imposed some very clear lines upon the Christian image of priest
This chapter avoids the simple route of transferring the qualities of Old Testament priesthood to our own priestly leadership. Nor will we delay over the religious role of women in the centuries before Christ, in order to discover Biblical models for women priests today In fact, a gap so deep and extensive separates the Old Testament from our late twentieth century, that quick, thoughtless leaps from ancient biblical times to our own can be disastrous. For that matter, neither is it wise for us to copy slavishly the religious forms of New Testament times nor to condemn our ways if they do not literally conform to biblical details.[1]
All the chapters of this book study the priesthood as it evolved in its theology and ideals, practice and regulations. The eighteen hundred or more years of Old Testament history provide the ideal setting for investigating the evolution of religion with its slow progress and quick transitions, its confrontation and overreactions, its challenges and responses, its set-backs and collapses, its continual renewal and basic continuity. In the first and somewhat lengthy section of this chapter we present some general but very important data about the origin and development of religious forms in ancient Israel, crucial for theological development of any age and certainly applicable to the question of women priests. The second part of this chapter traces in broad outline the origin and principal stages of Old Testament priesthood under internal and external pressures. Finally, we inquire into the impact of biblical symbolism upon priesthood today.[2]
Biblical Leadership in the Old Testament
In Old Testament times styles of leadership were never revealed directly and immediately by God [3]Every form of exercising authority, be it religious or civil, that is represented in the Hebrew Bible, can also be found in extra-biblical sources where it antedates Abraham (1850 B.C.) and Moses (1240 B.C.). We conclude then that God did not dictate the institutions of judge or king, prophet or elder, priest or sage. Yet, God was directing the process by which Israel was formed into a nation with lines of authority, and led forward in her history. The record of the legislation and history is called the inspired word of God, the Holy Bible. After giving a number of examples how Israel absorbed culture and forms of leadership from her neighbors, we will look into the way such “pagan” material became the word of God. 
Even though Samuel opposed the monarchy, nonetheless, he accepted the action of the elders as indicative of the Lord’s will and arranged a compromise and anointed Saul and later David as a prince or nagid. David later assumed the title of king or melek. Through another prophet, Nathan, God blessed David with extraordinary promises: “Your throne and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever” (2 Sam 7:16). A dynasty, born of political expediency and furthered by military might and charming diplomacy, eventually collapsed under the fierce Babylonian invasion. After August 587 B.C., no king ruled from Jerusalem. The divine promises had to be spiritualized and redirected in a way never anticipated by earlier traditions. Divinely sanctioned institutions could disappear in their original form and surface again in styles never foreseen in their first endorsement.[4]
Two other, very important developments—prophecy and wisdom— were also absorbed into Israelite life from foreign sources. The first extended discourse about a prophet occurs when the Moabite king Balak ben Zippor summoned Balaam ben Beor from Pethor on the Euphrates (Numbers ch 20-24). The origins of wisdom from outside Israeliate religious tradition is disclosed, not only in its almost exclusively secular interests (1 Kings 5:9-14; Prov (10-31) but also in the geographical origin of many of its great patrons: “Agur teen Jakeh the Massaite" (Prov 30:1); “Eliphaz the Temanite” (Job 4:1); “Bildad the Shukite” (Job 8:1); “Zophar the Naamathite” (Job 11:1).

Psycho-Cultural leadership
Israel’s institutions, we say, originated in surrounding polytheistic cultures. At times the Bible openly admits this fact. Several examples will aid our discussion. One of the first historical manifestations of priesthood occurs in Genesis 14: Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram. (Gen 14:18). While this chapter has many difficulties, its significance cannot be overlooked. Centuries before Moses had formally established the Levitical priesthood, a priest from Canaanite stock blessed Moses’ ancestor, Abraham. Later, one of the royal Davidic titles granted to the crown prince on the occasion of his coronation was ‘“priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4). This title, originally of a pagan king, absorbed more and more of Israel’s messianic hopes, especially at Qumran and later in the Epistle to the Hebrews, [5]in each of these cases politics, even at times on an international scale, provided the setting and catalyst for a vigorous religious development of the Melchizedek title. In fact, chapter 14 of Genesis, where the title first appears, opens with a military invasion. Therefore, when priesthood is first introduced, it was already a fully developed institution; worthy of Israel’s chosen ancestors and influential in the long political-religious struggle of God’s people. This interaction of religion and culture in Old Testament times can direct the Church today. Many important movements, like women’s liberation, originate and develops outside the Church, at least outside the Catholic priesthood and episcopacy. As the Church begins to adopt these non-religious movements, we can turn to the Old Testament for guidance and peace. In such a multiple relationship of conflict, challenge and assimilation, the Old Testament indicates how God’s will is learned and implemented.[6]
Another institution which became a carrier of great messianic expectations was the Davidic dynasty. Royalty, however, was not anticipated by Moses, and the first movement towards monarchy admitted its foreign origin.
All the elders came in a body to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, ‘’Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your example appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.’ (l Sam 8:4-5).This interaction of religion and culture in Old Testament times can direct the Church today. Many important movements, like women’s liberation, originate and develop outside the Church, at least outside the Catholic priesthood and episcopacy. As the Church begins to adopt these non-religious movements, we can turn to the Old Testament for guidance and peace. In such a multiple relationship of conflict, challenge and assimilation, the Old Testament indicates how God’s will is learned and implemented.
Another institution which became a carrier of great messianic expectations was the Davidic dynasty. Royalty, however, was not anticipated by Moses, and the first movement towards monarchy admitted its foreign origin.
All the elders came in a body to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, ‘’Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your example appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.’ (l Sam 8:4-5)
The many cultural transitions of Old Testament times took place within a country of only six thousand square miles with no more space than the state of New Jersey and much less arable soil. The church today occupies the globe which may be one world and yet manifests an extraordinary variety of cultures. A world wide church must adapt itself to each situation so that its emphases in doctrine and morals as well as its sty/es of leadership and its prophetic stance for the oppressed will vary greatly. If women have acquired more respectable and productive roles of leadership in some areas of the world than they have in others then the Church is expected to absorb the progress of women according to each country or district where she is present. The Church today has to live at once the many styles of organization spread over a longer period of time in the Old Testament period
Theological Perspective
Leadership in Eden
Biblical leadership is established in Genesis 1:26-28 when man is created in the image of God and is given the task of ruling over God’s creation. The role of image-bearer and the task of exercising dominion are both fundamental to man’s leadership. An essential meaning of bearing the image of God is to “represent the authority of God.”[7]Man serves as vice-regent over the creation. One critical aspect of exercising dominion over the created order is “to lead the creation in worship of the God who had created all things.”[8] It is important to note that this leadership is a leadership by example. Man leads all of creation in worship by being a perfect worshipper of God, and this entails obedience to God’s proscriptive and prohibitive instructions. The order, harmony, and wholeness of God’s design for human leadership can be seen in the fact that God creates man as male and female. While Adam “is the leader in the world which God creates,” Eve “is to help him as he leads.”[9] This one-flesh union of a man and woman is a loving relationship comprised of two unique roles coming together in complementary fashion with singleness of purpose.
This order, harmony, and completeness is tragically disrupted when sin enters the world. When our first parents disobey God’s instruction, “they repudiate their role and task [10]Eve takes the initiative to listen to Satan instead of her husband. Adam, who should have been faithfully leading, instead follows the lead of his wife. The consequences are disastrous. Since “it was his duty as leader to maintain the purity of the garden by ensuring that its inhabitants followed the Word of the Creator,” it is Adam whom God seeks out [11]because the man abdicated his leadership, it is his leadership that is most affected by the curse. While he is still under obligation to be the leader, it is Satan who has been given authority over this fallen world (Mt. 4:8-9; Jn. 12:21; 2Cor. 4:4; 1 Jn. 5:19). Under the curse, man’s leadership over creation is susceptible to being undermined because now the land fights back, the woman fights back, and the serpent is allowed to wreak havoc in the world. Rather than lovingly leading, he is now tempted to selfishly rule as a despot. The rest of the biblical storyline involves the failures of human leadership under the curse and the hope of a restoration of faithful leadership as God takes the initiative to establish a people who will rightly lead his creation.

Leadership in Exodus
Prior to King David, the archetypal leader in the history of Israel was Moses. The derivative nature of leadership is clearly seen in his calling as a leader. Contrary to the view that Moses possessed “unique characteristics … that qualified him to be selected as a leader,” the Bible portrays Moses as initially ungifted as a leader.[12]He had displayed all the effects of the curse; he had lost his temper, killed an Egyptian, hid the body, and fled to Midian when the Lord commissioned him (2:11-15). Moreover, he had “never been eloquent” but was “slow of speech and slow of tongue” (4:10). God first called him as a leader and then graciously equipped him for the task (4:11-12). The life of Moses demonstrates that “a human leader is none other than God leading his own people through an anointed servant.”[13]
Moses also demonstrates leadership that is marked by obedience to God. He leads the people out of Egypt in obedience to God even when the people’s faith in God falters. While the people grumble and doubt God’s provision in the wilderness, Moses trusts the Lord for food and water. The greatest contrast is drawn when Aaron and the people defy Yahweh by worshipping the golden calf while Moses obediently meets with God on Sinai to receive the Law. As obedient a leader as Moses was, however, the fact that he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because he failed to treat God as holy serves as a reminder that a full restoration of proper leadership is still needed. It also introduces a new factor to the leadership quality of love. In the fallen world, loving leadership involves not merely love for those who are led but also sacrifice and suffering. Moses becomes “a type of vicariously suffering servant” who experiences the punishment of the rebellious generation whom he led

Leadership in the Promised Land
Joshua, as a type of second Moses, takes up the mantle and leads the new generation of Israelites into the Promised Land. He leads the people in obedience to God, by calling on them to forsake all idolatry (Josh.24:14) and by modeling true obedience to God (24:15). The death of Joshua ushers in the period of the judges, which is marked by a lack of proper leadership. The book of Judges ends with the comment that “in those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25; cf. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1). This is a repeated refrain in the last half of the book, as it closes out with descriptions of appalling incidents of rebellion and apostasy. The implication seems to be that what was missing during the period of the judges was a righteous ruler on earth who could bring order to the chaos by representing God’s reign over his people as a good shepherd.
God had prescribed just such a king when he established his covenant with Israel at Sinai (Deut. 17:14-20). The first act of a king of Israel upon his coronation was to take from the high priest a copy of the law and to make it his own personal copy to read every day. His obedience was to be representative of the people’s obedience, so that as he prospered in his obedience, God’s people also prospered. It is King David, the man after God’s own heart, who is the most promising character in the Old Testament to fulfill this role and restore proper leadership. Indeed, God promises David an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam. 7). Sadly, while his “early reign over Israel is marked by divine blessing,” the end of his reign is marred by one of the most infamous and egregious abuses of authority in the entire Old Testament. Over the course of their four hundred years of rule over the Southern kingdom of Judah, David’s family fell short of what a true king was supposed to be. David’s son Solomon introduced court-sanctioned idolatry. Manasseh, the most wicked of David’s heirs, actually built altars to pagan gods inside the temple in the very presence of the holy of holies, an act which provokes God to decide to “cast off Jerusalem, the city I have chosen” (2 Kings 23:27) and to send her people and her Davidic king into exile. While the Davidic kings were supposed to be representatives of God’s righteous and compassionate rule to his people and representatives to God of his obedient and worshipful people, what they became, in fact, was a demonstration of the need for a more faithful leader who would truly be a good shepherd and would follow in God’s commands blamelessly.

Leadership in the Prophets
[14]During the darkest years of Israel’s history, when the leaders were evil and the exile was looming, the prophets exhibited true leadership despite the fact that they were often “isolated individuals, rejected by the community and in conflict with it.”The derived nature of their leadership is clearly shown from the prophetic introductory formula: “thus says the Lord.” During rampant apostasy and opposition, the prophets remain obedient to God and warn the people, kings, priests, false prophets, and foreign nations of the consequences of disobedience. While decrying the appalling lack of biblical leadership, the prophets also provide hope by prophesying of the restoration of true leadership through the line of David. Israel’s Messianic hopes were all wrapped up in the anticipated restoration of the leadership of the house of David that they knew would someday come.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Micah, and Zechariah all depend on the promises of 2 Samuel 7 as the source of their hope in a future leader. Amazingly, Isaiah 9:6-7 not only promises a future ideal king who will ultimately be the greatest of David’s line, but it also calls him “mighty God.” Jeremiah 22:30 prophesies against Jehoiakim, declaring that no man of his descendants will sit on the throne of David. With this, “the prophet is calling into question the permanence of the Davidic covenant.”However, the prophet follows this prophesy with the promise that “the days are coming” when “a righteous branch” will be raised up for David who “will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land” (23:5). Ezekiel decries the leaders of Israel who destroy the people “like wolves tearing their pray” (22:27) and highlights the disharmony and chaos created by their lack of biblical leadership by comparing Israel to an unfaithful wife (16:1-59). The prophet goes on to prophesy of the hope of a new age where God will appoint a new Davidic shepherd, so that “a new era of peace, security and blessing will begin with a change in leadership.”Over and over again, the prophets condemn the current leaders for failing to reflect and represent the leadership of God, for disobeying God, for failing to love the people, and for creating disorder. At the same time, the recurring prophetic hope is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant in which the son of David will restore true, biblical leadership that will be characterized by faithfully representing God, obeying God righteously, caring for the people as a shepherd cares for his sheep, and restoring order.

Personal and Strategic leadership in the Old Testament
After Moses’ death and the settlement of the Promised Land, a complementary and sometimes rival form of religious leadership appeared in the charismatic bands or communities, simply called “prophets” in the Bible. These are to be distinguished from the “classical” prophets, individuals like Amos or Jeremiah with books to their name, who at first denied the name “prophet” and were not associated with any band or community.(28)The charismatic groups first show up in 1Sam l0:5-6. Clearly distinguishable in lifestyle and work. Later in 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 6 the characteristics of their organization become still more evident. They shared many qualities with the Canaanite prophets; the two groups, nonetheless, opposed one another, even violently (1 Sam 19:2224; 1 Kings 18). These “charismatic prophets” became ever more popular and powerful. They acquired the right to anoint or depose kings (2 Kings 9) and stood next to the royal throne as advisors directing the wave of the future (2 Sam 7).
Because many abuses surfaced among the charismatic prophets, a change was necessary. God summoned a whole new series of prophets: we give them the name “classical prophets.”[15]The first of them, Amos. Was determined not to be associated even by name with the other group. He even denied being a prophet or a member of any prophetic band (Am 7:10-15). Such was his non-conformity that king and high priest banished him, prodded into action by the ladies and gentlemen whom Amos lashed with his bitter, sarcastic tongue (cf., Amos 4:1-3; 6:1-8).
Although rejected by the institution, Amos developed his preaching within the larger context of Israel’s traditions. At first in angrily championing of the rights of the poor (Amos 4:1; 5:7-15), he seemed to be profaning sacred places and people (4:4-5; 7:16-17) as well as denying sacred traditions (3:2, 12; 5:18; 9:7). Actually, Amos was making the “heart of the matter” more visible as a reforming power in people’s lives and in the institutional forms of religion. To be a chosen people, he insisted, did not consist simply in biological birth from Abraham’s stock (Amos 3:2): one must also manifest Abraham’s justice, humility and kindness, as another prophet Micah declared (Mic 6:8). The promised “Day of the Lord” can turn into darkness if that be the only way to sweep away pride and oppression (Amos 5:18).[16]
If Amos had simply repeated traditional theology by rote, then he would have been, according to a recent work of James A. Sanders among “false prophets [who] invoked an otherwise decently good theology but at the wrong time, supporting leaders and people when they needed a challenge.”[17]Amos’ challenge was remembered. Who could ever forget his sentences, at once brilliant, sarcastic, devastating and crude? They were gathered together into convenient blocks or sermonettes, producing one of the most orderly books of the Bible. The prophet, “excommunicated" by the priest Amaziah, is incorporated within the Bible by postexilic priests at Jerusalem!
Prophecy and priesthood merge in still another way than by priestly editing and accepting of prophet’s words. During the Babylonian exile and particularly in the early postexilic period, between 539 and 400 B.C., the prophets Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah and Joel turned out to be quite different from their predecessors. Some were priests, others preoccupied with priestly matters. The book of this late period closest in form and spirit to pre-exilic prophecy is that of Malachi, yet here again the prerogatives of the levitical priesthood are seriously defended (Mal 2:1-9) and the site of messianic fulfillment, where the prophet Elijah will suddenly appear, is the temple (Mal 3:1).
Looking back on this development, we see that organizational leadership will always need its “’Amos.’’ At first it will usually oppose such spontaneous unconventional leaders, but if the prophet perseveres, remaining in the council of the Lord (Jer 23:18, 22) and within the community of Israel, even through agony and destruction as did Jeremiah (Ch 39-40), then their ministry will be absorbed within the structure of traditional leadership. Charismatic authority will be institutionalized, while more ancient structures will be radically transformed.
The example of Old Testament prophecy, as studied here, has provided us with one example among many how a priestly institution can be challenged and eventually enriched by loyal, prophetic opposition. The steps in biblical times consisted in prophet, disciples, remembered words, accepted tradition, book of prophecy. The movement which began as a bitter challenge and even a condemnation of priesthood eventually produced a prophetic priesthood. For today the steps might be summarized thus: the women movement in society at large; its prophetic challenge to church authority; a growing number of disciples within the movement; articles and books which document the movement and direct its progress; hesitancy, rejection, re-study and gradual acceptance by church authority; incorporation within Church law with an enriched form of priesthood.
Such a new prophetic priesthood does not simply reproduce the former manner of priestly life and activity, but manifests new models within the traditional structures. Women aspiring to ordained priesthood do not want to take over the position of the male priests, robe themselves in the same vestments and function in the same way.[18]Rather, they look towards an enlarged, diversified priesthood. With a particular outreach to minorities.
Up till now we have remained almost exclusively on the historical plane in discussing the interaction of Old Testament religion with surrounding cultures. We now turn the coin to its theological side and seek the religious principle by which Israel discerned what and how to accept from the culture of her neighbors. An intuition about God’s personal love, breathed by divine initiative into Israel, enabled her to choose what was fitting, to purify and even transform it and then to turn it into something quite different from its expression outside of her own community.
Before Israel could react to God’s goodness on her own initiative, she had to be called into existence. It was this part of the Lord’s personal love which gave birth to a people uniquely His own, distinct from all other nations. This idea of a chosen people is expressed with tender eloquence:
Tell the Israelites: You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. That is what you must tell the Israelites. (Ex 19:4-6)
First, we notice that in His goodness God intervened and called Israel in the midst of her history. She was already a part of the ancient Near Eastern Fertile Crescent, manifesting the cultural strengths and weaknesses of its inhabitants. Deuteronomy ch 26 expressed it this way in a very early credal statement: “My father was a wandering Aramean who went down to Egypt , while another credo in Joshua ch 24 admits: ”In times past your fathers, down to Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, dwelt beyond the river and served other gods." With loving concern God then accepted the people as they were not only at the starting point of salvation history, but also at each new transition along the way.
            Israel, as a result, was always conscious of a forward movement in her theology. No matter where she was, God would be there, living among His people, beckoning them onward. Naturally, she looked backward to great moments of salvation, yet the past was not considered the golden model which every subsequent age must reconstruct.(370 Rather, the past was being relived with new and greater possibilities. In historical continuity with her past, Israel was able to fulfill ancient hopes with dramatic leaps forward (cf., Is 43:18-19; 48:3, 6b-S, 11-12)
At the roots of her origin and major developments, Israel was radically different from her neighbors. All other peoples traced their origin to the founding of their city and especially of their temple. Here on great feast days, especially New Years, they celebrated the act of creation, primeval paradise and first innocence. (390 Israel, instead, commemorated her freedom from sin, slavery and oppression and awaited a new creation in the future. With the non-Israelites the gods came to be regarded as omnipotent powers, following the seasons of the year, yet like weather capable of erratic change and uncontrollable violence. Seldom if ever do these gods sustain a prolonged personal interest in the people, and in these cases the object of their divine concern must be of noble, if not of royal blood.[19]
Religion outside the Bible did manifest a limited forward vision, that winter shall be followed by a new spring or that victory shall crown a military expedition. Yet, neither surge of life nor any triumph in battle could ever equal first creation with its explosive energy, its titanic struggle of the gods, and its idyllic first paradise. Non-Israelite religions then sought balance and fertility in nature, victory in war, protection against evil spirits, wisdom to anticipate and control life’s fortunes and misfortunes. Basically, non-Israelite religion attempted to placate divine powers and so to recover as much as was humanly possible of primeval paradise. Israel’s religion, on the contrary, provided the liturgical and moral opportunities to respond to God’s personal love and to await a new paradise beyond human possibilities.
The essential difference between Israel’s religion and that of her neighbors helps to explain Israel’s determination that her future must be far superior to anything experienced in the past and that this mysterious development is to be instilled, furthered and finally accomplished by the Lord’s very personal love for His people. Israel’s normal evolution, therefore, was bound to spring many surprises which only afterwards would be perceived in continuity with the country’s previous history!
At important transitions Israel was often shocked into the reality of what God can do: destroy Jerusalem and wipe out the Davidic dynasty, bring an end to such noble institutions as judgeship and prophecy, build a new people out of the catastrophe of the exile and grant unrivaled authority to priests (Neh 8-13; Zech 6:11) and later to the Maccabean-Hasmoneans, a non-Davidic and non-Zadokite family (1 Mac 10:21). Furthermore, all of Israel’s institutions were seen as absorbed into the mystery of God, the Davidic dynasty acquired such honorific titles as “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, and Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5). Wisdom was the Lord’s “firstborn, poured forth at the first, before the earth’’ (Prov 8:22-23). Prophecy was present, standing “in the council of the Lord” (Jer 23: 18).
            This basic attitude of the devout Israelite—continuity with overwhelming surprise, leading to a future golden age—meant that all institutions, once taken over from their pagan neighbors, were no longer controlled by a past model Ab initio but were open to surprising developments. As we saw earlier, these developments happened within the societal, military and political interlocking of Israel’s life; yet they were interpreted as the mirabilis Dei, God’s wondrous works. Israel, consequently, was able to survive cataclysmic disasters and still trust God.

Conclusion
In the prophetic evolution of symbols and institutions, continuity with tradition is maintained yet a fresh and vigorous form is most of all in evidence. The priest would not simply imitate what the men are doing. They would introduce the priesthood and Eucharistic piety into new areas of ministry, with new styles of action, within neglected and non-evangelized neighborhoods. The priest will call forth a prophetic spirit within priesthood. They will diversify and enrich its ranks. With a new enthusiasm, they will inspire a wide variety of capable people to join the various types of priesthood, be they religious orders or diocesan groups. This Old Testament hope must be tested against the fuller revelation of the light of Christ and the long tradition of the church





Bibliography
D. L. Baker, Two Testaments: One Bible (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1976

Robert, B. Lauren, Contemporary Old Testament Theologians (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1970)

Elizabeth, Achtemeier,  The Old Testament and the Proclamation of the Gospel (Philadelphia: West minster

Clarence J.Vox, Woman in Old Testament Worship (Delft: Judels and Brinkman, 1968

 Lucien, Deiss, God's Word and God's People (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1976).

Edgar, Bruns, God as Woman, Woman as God (New York: Paulist, 1973)

Anthony, A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986),

Noel, Due, Created For Worship (Scotland: Christian Focus, 2005),

David, Lee Talley, “Gender and Sanctification: from Creation to Transformation: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 8 (spring, 2003):

Stephen, G. Dempster, “The Servant of the Lord,” in Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity, ed. Scott J. Hafemann and Paul R. House (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007):

Ari Z, Zivotofsky, “The Leadership Qualities of Moses,” Judaism 43 (1994):

Timothy, S. Laniak Shepherds after My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 2006)

Patrick, D. Miller, “Toward a Theology of Leadership: Some Clues from the Prophets,” The Asbury Theological Journal 47 (spring, 1992)

W.Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961) Vol I, p.

Richard, V. Bergren, the Prophets and the Law (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1974).

James, A. Sanders, "Hermeneutics in True and False Prophecy," Canon and Authority, ed. by G.W. Coats & B.O. Long (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977)

Elizabeth, Carroll, "The Proper Place for Women in the Church,'' Women and Catholic Priesthood, ed. by Anne Marie Gardiner (New York: Paulist, 1976)

R. de, Vaux. Ancient Israel, Vol II




[1] D. L. Baker, Two Testaments: One Bible (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1976 p.68-70
[2] Robert B. Lauren, Contemporary Old Testament Theologians (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1970).p.45-50
[3] Elizabeth Achtemeier, The Old Testament and the Proclamation of the Gospel (Philadelphia: West minster 60-62
[4] Clarence J.Vox, Woman in Old Testament Worship (Delft: Judels and Brinkman, 1968 p 38-42
[5] Lucien Deiss, God's Word and God's People (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1976).p68-72
[6] Edgar Bruns, God as Woman, Woman as God (New York: Paulist, 1973);p 101-104
[7] Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 68.
[8] Noel Due, Created For Worship (Scotland: Christian Focus, 2005), 40.
[9] David Lee Talley, “Gender and Sanctification: from Creation to Transformation: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood 8 (spring, 2003): 7-8.
[10] Stephen G. Dempster, “The Servant of the Lord,” in Central Themes in Biblical Theology: Mapping Unity in Diversity, ed. Scott J. Hafemann and Paul R. House (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007): 137.

[12] Ari Z. Zivotofsky, “The Leadership Qualities of Moses,” Judaism 43 (1994): 258.
[13] Timothy S. Laniak, Shepherds after My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 2006), 92.
[14] Patrick D. Miller, “Toward a Theology of Leadership: Some Clues from the Prophets,” The Asbury Theological Journal 47 (spring, 1992): 43.
[15] W.Eichrodt, Theology of the Old Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961) Vol I, p. 338.
[16] Richard V. Bergren, the Prophets and the Law (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1974).
[17] James A. Sanders, "Hermeneutics in True and False Prophecy," Canon and Authority, ed. by G.W. Coats & B.O. Long (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977) 31.
[18] Elizabeth Carroll, "The Proper Place for Women in the Church,'' Women and Catholic Priesthood, ed. by Anne Marie Gardiner (New York: Paulist, 1976) 21-22.
[19] R. de Vaux. Ancient Israel, Vol II, p 370-1.