Personal Bible Reflections

PERSONAL BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS
Personal Biblical
Reflections 2014

2014
COMPILATION OF BIBLICAL RESEARCH
JOEL JOSOL
Personal Reflections
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Table of Contents

1. GENESIS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. EXODUS .................................................................................................................................................................... 15
3. DEUTERONOMY ........................................................................................................................................................ 16
4. JOSHUA .................................................................................................................................................................... 17
5. JUDGES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 19
6. RUTH ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21
7. FIRST SAMUEL .......................................................................................................................................................... 22
8. SECOND SAMUEL ...................................................................................................................................................... 25
9. FIRST KINGS .............................................................................................................................................................. 28
10. SECOND KINGS ....................................................................................................................................................... 31
12. FIRST AND SECOND CHRONICLES ............................................................................................................................ 38
13. NEHEMIAH .............................................................................................................................................................. 39
14. ESTHER .................................................................................................................................................................. 40
15. JOB ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41
16. PSALMS .................................................................................................................................................................. 43
17. ECCLESIASTES ......................................................................................................................................................... 44
18. SONG OF SOLOMON ............................................................................................................................................... 45
19. ISAIAH .................................................................................................................................................................... 46
20. JEREMIAH .............................................................................................................................................................. 49
21. DANIEL .................................................................................................................................................................... 51
22. HOSEA .................................................................................................................................................................... 53
23. JOEL ........................................................................................................................................................................ 57
24. AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, AND ZEPHANIAH. .......................................................... 60
25. AMOS ..................................................................................................................................................................... 63
26. OBADIAH ................................................................................................................................................................ 67
27. JONAH ................................................................................................................................................................... 70
28. MICAH .................................................................................................................................................................... 72
29. NAHUM .................................................................................................................................................................. 75
30. HABAKKUK ............................................................................................................................................................. 78
31. ZEPHANIAH ............................................................................................................................................................. 81
32. HAGGAI .................................................................................................................................................................. 85
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33. ZECHARIAH ............................................................................................................................................................. 88
34. MALACHI ................................................................................................................................................................ 91

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1. Genesis

1.1
Reading chapter 1 is one of the most controversial chapter in the Bible because it says the following

1. Our material world had a beginning
2. God started the material world
3. The sequence of creation is basically identical to what science has revealed

Just reflecting on chapter 1 opens up a wealth of knowledge of its own category. What were the views on this
account?

1. Moses was rejected as the author and instead it was compiled and edited by so many others
2. Bible critics claimed Genesis could not have been written in the time period claimed because people don't
know how to write at the time
3. There is no God therefore Genesis is a myth

Where would Moses or even the so-called compilers derived the concept of the Genesis beginning of the
universe and the correct sequence of the appearance of life forms? There are many ancient creation myths.

(http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/creationmyths/tp/090808CreationMyths.htm)

But none is as simple as the Genesis story. None comes close with the simplicity Genesis presents. Moses was
schooled by the Egyptians. The Egyptians believed that everything started from an egg from two gods! The
other neighbor, the Babylonians believed that earth and heaven were from a goddess who was killed by
another god and split in two (earth and heaven).

Scientists acknowledge at least the parallelism in Genesis and in science with respect to the appearance of life
forms.

The Genesis story is rejected because it has been popular to claim in the scientific field that there is no God.
Surprisingly, many so-called hard atheists turned to be agnostics at worse. What is the difference? Agnostics
don't care if God exists or not. Atheists are solid in their belief that there is no God.

But the study of DNA and information theory have driven many atheist scientists to tone down their rhetoric. A
very famous atheist, Anthony Flew, made headlines when he announced that DNA study made him renounce
his atheism and published a book about it (http://www.amazon.com/There-Is-God-Notorious-
Atheist/dp/0061335304)

Also, archaeology disclosed that writing was already known at the time Moses is supposed to be writing
Genesis. The document hypothesis has now been shown to be defective in its position that instead of Moses
there were other compilers who wrote the books very much later when supposedly writing has become
known.

For those who would like to investigate further about the reasonableness of Creation based on the Bible, I
invite you to check the two publications

1. The Origin of Life - Five Questions Worth Asking
(http://www.jw.org/download/?output=html&pub=lf&fileformat=EPUB%2CPDF%2CBRL%2CRTF%2CMOBI&alll
angs=0&langwritten=E&txtCMSLang=E&isBible=0)
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2. Was Life Created?
(http://www.jw.org/download/?output=html&pub=lc&fileformat=EPUB%2CPDF%2CBRL%2CRTF%2CMOBI&all
langs=0&langwritten=E&txtCMSLang=E&isBible=0)

But, what about supposed contradictions in Genesis? Let me explore that in the next posting.

1.2

What about supposed contradictions in the book of Genesis? Let us take two examples

1. Critics claim there are two contradicting stories of creation (chapter 1 and chapter 2) to support multiple
compilers rather than Moses
2. Where did Cain get his wife?
3. How could all the animals fit into the ark?

The book, "The Bible- God's Word or Man's?" offer this explanation on item 1:

"Additionally, the way a narrative is constructed can lead to an apparent contradiction. At Genesis 1:24-26, the
Bible indicates that the animals were created before man. But at Genesis 2:7, 19, 20, it seems to say that man
was created before the animals. Why the discrepancy? Because the two accounts of the creation discuss it
from two different viewpoints. The first describes the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in
them. (Genesis 1:12:4) The second concentrates on the creation of the human race and its fall into sin.
Genesis 2:54:26.

18 The first account is constructed chronologically, divided into six consecutive days. The second is written in
order of topical importance. After a short prologue, it logically goes straight to the creation of Adam, since he
and his family are the subject of what follows. (Genesis 2:7) Other information is then introduced as needed.
We learn that after his creation Adam was to live in a garden in Eden. So the planting of the garden of Eden is
now mentioned. (Genesis 2:8, 9, 15) Jehovah tells Adam to name every wild beast of the field and every
flying creature of the heavens. Now, then, is the time to mention that Jehovah God was forming from the
ground all these creatures, although their creation began long before Adam appeared on the scene.Genesis
2:19; 1:20, 24, 26."

On item 2

"Often, apparent inconsistencies can be resolved if we just look at the context. Consider, for example, the
often-raised problem about Cains wife. At Genesis 4:1, 2 we read: In time [Eve] gave birth to Cain and said:
I have produced a man with the aid of Jehovah. Later she again gave birth, to his brother Abel. As is well
known, Cain killed Abel; but after that, we read that Cain had a wife and children. (Genesis 4:17) If Adam and
Eve had only two sons, where did Cain find his wife?

The solution lies in the fact that Adam and Eve had more than two children. According to the context, they had
a large family. At Genesis 5:3 we read that Adam became father to another son named Seth and then, in the
following verse, we read: He became father to sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:4) So Cain could have married
one of his sisters or even one of his nieces. At that early stage of human history, when mankind was so close
to perfection, such a marriage evidently did not pose the risks for the children of the union that it would
today."
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On item 3, one reference work states this

"These estimates may seem too restrictive to some, especially since such sources as The Encyclopedia
Americana indicate that there are upwards of 1,300,000 species of animals. (1977, Vol. 1, pp. 859-873)
However, over 60 percent of these are insects. Breaking these figures down further, of the 24,000 amphibians,
reptiles, birds, and mammals, 10,000 are birds, 9,000 are reptiles and amphibians, many of which could have
survived outside the ark, and only 5,000 are mammals, including whales and porpoises, which would have also
remained outside the ark. Other researchers estimate that there are only about 290 species of land mammals
larger than sheep and about 1,360 smaller than rats. (The Deluge Story in Stone, by B. C. Nelson, 1949, p.
156; The Flood in the Light of the Bible, Geology, and Archaeology, by A. M. Rehwinkel, 1957, p. 69) So, even
if estimates are based on these expanded figures, the ark could easily have accommodated a pair of all these
animals."

1.3

Spiritual treasures I found for Genesis 2: 1.
1. The Hebrew tense indicated in verse 2 shows that Jehovah God has not yet completed the rest for the
7th day - "he proceeded to rest." Many other English Bibles failed to capture this by using "rested" as the
translation. The other supporting references is Genesis not concluding the 7th day by saying, just as in
previous creative days, "there came to be evening and there came to be morning".
2. God making the 7th day sacred or holy carries the meaning of being separated for a purpose and not
purity or holiness as in character or attribute of a person.
3. Verse 4 use of 'a history' or as rendered by other Bibles as 'geneses' (Rotherham), 'births' (Young's
Literal Translation), 'generations' (Bible in Basic English) can be understood simply as a divider between
sections of Genesis the book.
4. Verse 4 use of 'in the day' which summarizes the six days of creation supports the fact that the Bible
offers various meanings based on usage of the word 'day' and not necessarily 24 hour-day.
5. Verse 4 introduces for the first time in the Bible God's holy name - Jehovah.
6. 'Out of dust' in verse 7 is supported by the fact that 41 chemicals found in the human body are found
on the ground. Incidentally, there are 100 trillion cells in the body and 7 octillion atoms.
7. 'Man came to be a living soul' (similar rendering by Bible in Basic English, World English Bible,
Rotherham Emphasised, Darby's). The word 'soul' came from the Hebrew 'nephesh' (a breather).
8. Verse 18 uses 'a complement of him' referring to Eve or literally 'counterpart', to complete what Adam
lacked. So, it came to mind the expression 'you complete me' :-)
9. The first man (Heb. adham), Adam, came from the dust (Heb. adhamah).
10. The sources of Moses for writing Genesis - revelation, oral tradition, and existing documents of his
time.

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1.4

1. Because I am now reading then studying the Bible verse by verse this time around, I discovered
something new to me at least about Genesis 7:2 and how different English Bibles translated the
literal Hebrew expression "seven seven". "seven and seven" (American Standard Version, Douay-
Rheims) "seven pairs" (World English Bible, English Standard Version) The impression which I
even understood before is seven pairs or 14, all in all. Well, if you take time to research this too
you will discover a new gem. The correct understanding is illustrated by the number of 'sheep'
(clean animal) in the Noah's ark illustration in the My Book of Bible Stories. It was there all the
time :-)
2. Genesis tells us that the human race came from one common ancestor- Adam and Eve. Is this idea
scientific? At least the concept is. There is a field of research in fact among evolutionists in this field of
common ancestry of all humans.
3. How about Eve being created from Adam's rib? Humans via cloning technology can actually do
something similar today.

4. A talking serpent? Today ventriloquists do this with their puppets as if those puppets have vocal cords.
The last book of the Bible calls God's chief enemy Satan as the "original serpent". He is the spirit
person doing the talking unseen by Eve.

1.5

What is noteworthy about the size of Noah's ark? It is 300 cubits (length) by 30 cubits (width or beam), a ratio
of 10:1.

A check on wikipedia on the ratio of big ships, it says this measure

"Using the formula beam (width) = square (cube root (length))

For a 741 ft (226 m) long ship: the cube root is 9, and 9 squared is 81, plus 1. The beam will usually be
around 82 ft (25 m), e.g. Seawaymax." That ratio is 9:1.

How about the ship Titanic? 9.5 (c. 882ft (L) and c. 92 ft (W)).

1.6

One important feature to understand with the first chapters of Genesis is the misunderstanding that a creative
day is a 24-hour day. No it is not.

Examine how the word 'day' is used in the first chapters and see how the meaning is different each time

Gen 1: 5 "God called the light Day" - a 12-hour day

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Gen 1: 5 "And there was evening and there was morning, a first day" - the first creative day which let us keep
the meaning undefined for now

Gen 2: 4 "in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven" - Earth was already existing before the six
creative days began (Gen 1:1) and so 'day' here summarizes a long period of time

From just these verses alone, there is no definite or dogmatic assertion that can be made that each Creative
day is a 24-hour day. As a sanity check, the apostle Paul or also known as St. Paul was talking about the 7th
day, in his letter to the Hebrews. The way he explained it, the 7th day has not yet ended in his time. Note his
words

"Therefore, since a promise of entering into his rest remains ..." (Hebrews 4:1)

This would mean the 7th day has been going on almost 4,000 years by St. Paul's time. Therefore, there is no
basis to assert that each Creative day is a 24-hour day.

1.7

Some important highlights in the first chapters of Genesis that is of value to us are

1. Change in human diet from vegetarian to carnivorous with the exclusion of blood as food. Filipinos are
apparently unaware of God's forbidding blood as part of the diet

"Only flesh with its life - its blood - you must not eat." (Gen 9:4)

2. The Lord Jesus pointed to Noah's time as a warning. The people of Noah's time ignored the warning Noah
sounded to them because they were so busy with their ordinary lives. The lesson here is that it will happen
again in our time. "For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be." (Matthew
24: 37) A classic case of history repeating itself.

3. There are about ten instances of the word "this is the history of" in Genesis. In Hebrew, the word used is
toledoth. Bible scholars believe that these might refer to tablets of data passed on to Moses from records of
the patriarchs which he compiled to be part of Genesis.

4. Archaeology has vindicated Genesis a lot. In 1933, in Tell Hariri, 20,000 clay tablets were dug. The details
from the tablets talked about life that covered the time period of the lives of Abraham and his family:

a. adopting sons to be heir in the case of childless couple like Abraham (Eliezer)

b. selling of birthright as in the case of Bible's Esau

c. the keeping of family gods as title deed for property as in the case of the teraphim that Rachel kept hidden
(31: 19)

d. camels were already domesticated at the time of Abraham (12:16)

e. The Egyptian life as depicted in the story of Joseph are all attested to by Egyptian records as accurate as
reported in New Light on Hebrew Origins, by J. G. Duncan (1936), something a writer in a much later period of
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time would find difficulty to present as claimed by believers of documentary hypothesis

This means the Genesis account is truthful and accurate. It is not myth or fairy tales.

5. The most important message from Genesis is how Jehovah God responded to the falling away of man from
him. That set the tone for the story of the entire Bible.

a. God made a promise in chapter 3 verse 15 about the appearance of an "offspring" who will destroy the
enemy, Satan, as represented by the serpent

b. Satan already knew then his future - death

c. What Satan organized was a rebellion against God's sovereignty over man, God permitting his enemy to
expand his authority and rule the world

d. Fallen man chose to be independent of God; God is no longer a factor in their lives or decisions

c. As this promise or prophecy unfolded, God has used Abraham and his family to be the conduit through
whom this "offspring" will appear

d. God repeated this promise to Isaac and then to Jacob

e. We now know today that that "offspring" is the Lord Jesus Christ

f. The Lord Jesus will undo everything that the enemy Satan has built against God and God's sovereignty will
once again dominate the Earth as reflected in the prayer "Thy kingdom come".

6. To comfort us, Genesis offers to us examples of faith from Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and
Joseph. It presented Jehovah God as someone who is always there with us whether in our joys or sorrows. He
is someone who keeps his word and promises. If we wait on God who sees what is happening, in his own
schedule, God will act on our behalf.

Genesis presents to us Jehovah as a communicating God. He is never remote, aloof, nor a snob. During the
days of the patriarch, God used his angels a lot to transmit those messages. Jehovah God dealt with imperfect
men and reading the Bible offers us a glimpse of how God worked out his purpose despite the imperfections of
these men and their families.

But, in all of them, he simply asks what he asks of us today - to obey. God told Abraham to leave Ur, he left Ur
in his old age. Although Isaac preferred Esau, Isaac obeyed God's will that His choice is Jacob. And so Isaac
blessed Jacob. God reassured Jacob that He will bring him back to the land He promised Abraham and Isaac.
And he did. All these men suffered injustice but they waited on God to right things. The most dramatic is
Joseph.

Genesis is a wonderful record of God's loyal love to his loyal servants. It is a comfort to us in these difficult
times that although life sometimes throw at us a curve ball, making obeying God a difficult thing, God takes
notice and those of us who persevere in obeying, receives the blessing of God's loving care.

Isn't that what Jehovah God wanted to bring across to us?

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1.8

These are some technical notes on my readings of Genesis comparing the changes across 1984 NWT and
2013 NWT versions.

Verse_1984 NWT____2013 NWT_________Hebrew (English)

3:15__seed_________offspring__________zera (seed, offspring)
4:1___intercourse___sexual relations_____yada (to know, know carnally)
6:2___good-looking__beautiful__________towb (good, beautiful)
6:6___hurt_________saddened_________atsab (hurt, grieve)
6:17__deluge_______floodwaters_______mabbool (deluge, flood)
21:9__poking_______mocking__________tsachaq (mock, make sport)
21:15_child_________boy_____________yalad (child, boy)

It is evident to us as readers why the 2013 NWT was revised with these changes. The effort is to make the
Bible easier to understand and more accurate in its rendition.
Take the case of Ishmael who was 19 years old at the time of 21:9, 15. He was no longer a child. He was a
teen-ager. So a boy is more appropriate. And what Ishmael was doing to Isaac is no child's play. It was
mean. He was mocking.

'Offspring' is definitely easier to grasp than 'seed' because the reference is to a son. Other English Bibles
already use that word in that verse.

I am already enjoying this new journey.

1.9
"The idea that the bible is a divine revelation and authentic record must go."

Thus claims one reference work in the field of Higher Criticism. It claims that the work of historical
criticism by the exponents of HC (higher criticism) has proven that the Bible is not God's Word but rather
a product of human activity in history. It is claimed that this has been successfully demonstrated by
proving that the first five books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy - were not
really written by Moses, were not really written on the time frame claimed, and the things written on it are
myth. Instead of Moses, it was written by several hands, compiled and edited during the 6th century BC
rather than on the 15th century BC (as the Bible claims to be).

And the mass media is now the main vehicle that the higher critics are targeting to get this message
through. That explains the appearance and hyped discussions of other books that are not originally part
of the Bible but are claimed to be parts of the Bible but were arbitrarily removed by men controlling the
content of the Bible. They have destroyed Moses as a historical person o so they claimed. Their next
project is to destroy Jesus as a historical person. The root of this development started from the days of
Enlightenment when Reason became the chief lens in examining things and displaced God out of the
picture.

In the field of archaeology, the camp of the so-called "minimalists" are of the same principle- these
archaeologists do not believe that the Bible is divine and that it is fiction. The history in the Bible is not
really history but "historiography" based on religious projections.
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There used to be a time when their position appeared to be unassailable. But times have changed. This
position is not as solid as its advocates claim to be. On the history front, several references have cited
archaeology as going against the HC position.

An often cited discovery at Nuzi (or Nuzu) excavated in 1925 threw light on the culture narrated in the
book of Genesis about the patriarchs. The Nuzi tablets disclosed the culture of the times (2nd millenium
BC) so close to the period referred to in Genesis as patriarchal times.

Kenneth A. Kitchen, in his book Ancient Orient and Old Testament cited this discovery and he writes

Patriarchal customs of inheritance find close parallels in the Nuzi archives from the Mesopotamia, c.
1500 BC.

Important details in Genesis are also corroborated by the practices of Near Eastern cultures at the time
contemporaneous with Genesis, says Kitchen.

Finally, the price of twenty shekels paid for Joseph in Genesis 37:28 is the correct average price for a
slave in about the eighteenth century BC: earlier than this, slaves were cheaper (average, ten to fifteen
shekels, and later became steadily dearer. This is one more little detail true to its period in cultural
history.

Garnett Reid in his article Minimalism and Biblical History writes

Minimalists claim that no "conquest" of Canaan ever occurred. However, Kitchen has demonstrated that
the archaeological support for such a conclusion is shaky at best and that archaeological evidence
actually fits the Conquest model quite well. Theories that presume a peasant revolt or infiltration instead
of the biblical conquest find little support from the "objective" data of archaeology or sociology. Similarly,
a minimalist view of the pre- and early monarchy in Israel and the figures of David and Solomon as pure
fantasy hardly squares with evidence outside the biblical text.

In fact, as recent as the 1980s, more diggings in Palestine showed the name of a Bible personality, king
David who is supposedly a myth, in two different tablets found in different places. The discovery became
controversial because it supports the authenticity of the Biblical record.

I can understand this from the statement below by Reid

Another reason for minimalists' discounting of the biblical text is their conjecture that the documents
themselves originated in the fifth century B.C. or later; therefore they cannot speak with accuracy about
a period several centuries earlier.

But the facts speak otherwise as illustrated.

But, the most damaging data against HC is the theorys evolutionary development of religion from
simplistic form of worship (animism) to a more complex form of worship (monotheism, temples, laws).
Here again, archaeology threw the light on facts.

Colin Smith in A Critical Assessment of the Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis writes about this
theory of evolution of religion

It is also evident from archaeological discoveries that it was entirely possible for monotheism to exist in
the time of Moses, and even before that time. Evidence for this can be seen in the practice of
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contemporary pagan religions of the same time. For example, a Babylonian find from around 1500-1200
B.C. identifies all the major Babylonian gods as Marduk.

Today, even the scholars in the HC camp are divided in their interpretations. Wellhausen started with the
theory that the books of Moses were written by four editors (code-named J, E, D and P). Today, his
followers believed there are more writers than this four. How did they arrive with that idea? When the
writing style changes, they conclude it must be a different author assuming that the same author is so
rigid in style and diction.

The sad fact is that literary criticism has abandoned this approach with respect to other works of
literature. But the HC chose to champion it.

In conclusion, Bernhard Anderson sums up the two contrasting positions today, in his article The
Problem of Old Testament History believed history and factual history. The HC rejects the history in
the Bible as manufactured history (believed history). Their task, they claim, is to unravel the real history
(factual history). But, their approach is shown to be inadequate and wanting. They have not proven as
claimed boldly in the introductory quote that the Bible is neither divine nor authentic.

Jehovah God is glorified in this reversal of things. The Bible has stood the attack of secular biblical
scholars as it survived the atheism of modern science.

In the beginning God words that has been vindicated by modern scientific discoveries.

I will make all things new- words that will vindicate Jehovah God as a loving Sovereign as He asserts
his rule on this Earth and transform this into a global Paradise. We are now into the 100th year of the
reign of his Messianic Son, Lord Jesus.

More on http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102004242?q=Wellhausen&p=par

1.10

I have seen in the popular media books that are easy to read about the Bible but promote the theory of
Documentary Hypothesis or the thinking of critical scholars which deny the role of God in history as recorded in
the Bible.

However, I do not find as much material in the mass media that are easy to read that opposes such
viewpoints. Apparently, the more controversial it is, the more appealing to read.

One such book that I got hold of is the Isaac Asimov volumes, "Asimov's Guide to the Bible- The Old and New
Testaments". Although in his introduction, Asimov writes

"I cannot pretend that in writing this book I am making any significant original contributions to Biblical
scholarship; indeed, I am not competent to do so."

but in its pages he echoed in the 1960's and in this 1981 combined volumes, then mainstream scholarly view
of the Bible's history. However, he did so along with the traditional scholarship view.

For example, with respect to Moses as author of the first five books of the Bible, he writes

"By ancient tradition, the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses."
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Then, he adds

"Modern scholars are convinced that this theory of authorship is not tenable and that the early books of the
Bible are not the single work of any man. Rather, they are combined and carefully edited version of a number
of sources."

The paragraph above is in layman's terms what the DH is all about. It is an important note that up to this day
these theoretical "number of sources" that was supposedly later compiled by an editor are nowhere to be
found.

That Asimov is well versed in DH theory, is demonstrated by another comment in the book of Genesis when he
writes about the Hebrew word for God, "Elohim" (literally when translated is "gods")

"It is possible that in the very earliest traditions on which the Bible is based, the creation was indeed the work
of a plurality of gods."

Does the Hebrew language support this idea?

The online Jewish Encyclopedia writes

"The most common of the originally appellative names of God is Elohim, plural in form though commonly
construed with a singular verb or adjective. This is, most probably, to be explained as the plural of majesty or
excellence, expressing high dignity or greatness."

Note that when "Elohim" is used the verb is singular although the word in Hebrew is plural because as the
encyclopedia notes it denotes majesty or excellence. Filipinos have an identical concept when using the plural
pronoun "kayo" or "niyo" to express respect to a single individual.

So, what "very earliest traditions" was Asimov referring to? The DH promoted the idea of the evolution of
religion as first simple (animism) then developed into more complex religion (monotheism). In this view the
Bible was written not in the 15th century BC as claimed by the Bible. The DH is convinced that the five books
were written a thousand years later, in the 5th century BC.

It is a good thing that Asimov offers another view about "Elohim" and other references to Genesis about God
talking about "us" or with someone else in heaven

"It is possible to argue that this is not true evidence of early polytheism. God might be viewed as using the
royal "we"; or as speaking to an angelic audience".

However, Asimov came back strongly to endorse this theory when discussing the Creation story in Genesis.
He writes

"It is widely accepted these days that the creation tale received its present shape after the Babylonian creation
myth, purified of polytheism and grossness, and put into the loftiest and most abstract terms of which the
Jewish priesthood was capable."

He then adds

"the first few books of the Bible that were put into final form by priestly hands soon after the time of the Exile.
Such portions are part of the "Priestly document" and are usually designated as P by Biblical scholars."

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When I reached his commentary on chapter 2 of Genesis, he writes

"The use of the term "the Lord God" ("Yahveh Elohim") in place of God ("Elohim") is characteristic of a
particular early strand of tradition which was incorporated into the Hexateuch. This strand is known as the "J
document" because of its characteristic use of "Jehovah" ("Yahveh") in connection with God."

What is the state of this scholarly view today? One article written by Baden who himself wrote a book about the
subject writes

"Moreover, the shift in European scholarship away from the Documentary Hypothesis happened very quickly:
one can almost draw a line at the publication of Rendtorffs Problem of the Process of Transmission in the
Pentateuch in 1977, with pre-Rendtorff scholarship being largely documentary and post-Rendtorff scholarship
being almost entirely non-documentary."

He further adds

"The result is that, for many, what is known is that the documentary model we learned in school has been
discarded, but we have not accepted its ostensible replacement."

But, Baden is trying to revive this theory with his book. No wonder, articles have been written claiming this
once popular theory is now in crisis.

One article sums up the development this way, written by David Stern

"The mid-eighties and the early nineties witnessed a resurgence of biblical scholars challenging, revising, and
even rejecting the documentary hypothesis. First and foremost, scholars relinquished claims to a scientific
methodology. In Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism, Jeffery Tigay insists that "The degree of subjectivity
which such hypothetical [source critical] procedures permit is notorious." In fact, Tigay characterizes these
procedures as "reading between the lines." Moreover, Edward Greenstein maintains that source critical
analysis is analogous to the blind men and the elephant: "each of five blind men approaches a different part of
an elephant's anatomy. Perceiving only part of the elephant, each man draws a different conclusion as to the
identity of what he encounters." According to the preceding remarks, not only are source critical methods
subjective, they also account for only a fraction of the total evidence. Especially when analyzing a literary
corpus "as bulky and complex as an elephant," a system which fails to consider all the evidence and wherein
"scholars shape the data into the configurations of their own imagination" hardly warrants the label scientific.

While surveying many conflicting proposals for the nature of the hypothetical sources, Gerhard Larsson gives a
more specific account of the methodological shortcomings. He says that "there is no sound objective method
for recognizing the different sources, there is also no real consensus about the character and extant of sources
like J and E, [and] no unity concerning limits between original sources and the insertions made by redactors."
Rather as Greenstein says: "each scholar defines and adapts the evidence according to his own point of view."
Such an approach not only yields results which are, as Tigay highlights, "hypothetical (witness the term
'documentary hypothesis')," but, as David Noel Freedman declares, allows and encourages, "the pages of our
literature [to be] filled with endless arguments between scholars who simply reiterate their prejudices."

The lack of a sound and rigorous methodology leads scholars to produce varying and even contradictory
theories, which ultimately undermine the enterprise as a whole."

JW.org has published online articles that discuss the above issues in an easy-to-read article that present both
sides and defends the Bible's authenticity. Anyone who believes in the God of the Bible and trusts God's
Words needs to know the answers.

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The Bible offers hope of a better future in an Earth turned into a global Paradise. The hope was opened up for
us through the death of God's own Son, the Lord Jesus, which the Bible calls a ransom to neutralize the effects
of human sin originating from Adam. Finding the truth glorifies the true author of the Bible, Jehovah God.

One such article can be found here under the article "When Was the Bible Written?"

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011410?q=bible+scholars&p=par

1.11

Joseph, son of Jacob, was described in the Bible as "well-built and handsome". Turns out it runs in the family.
Her mother, Rachel, grandma Rebekah and grand-grandma Sarah are all described as pretty. But, it's not the
physical appearance that made him special to Jehovah God. It's his courage to stand for righteous principles
while isolated from family in Egypt.
Biblical Joseph is a role model for me. He is no complainer. When his Dad sent him out for an errand, in behalf
of his brothers, from Hebron to Shechem, on foot, that is about 80 km, he went, knowing he is going to meet
hostile territory. When Joseph got sold, at 17 years old, to an Egyptian equivalent of the head of the PSG,
separated from his brother and father, in a foreign land, he did not whine his life away. He adapted to the new
circumstances. When his life got better, he extended forgiveness to the ones who caused him all that pain.

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2. EXODUS

2.1
This time, of the many English Bible versions, King James Version got it right on Exodus 12:40 and is in
harmony with Galatians 3: 16-18. Other English Bible versions translate it as if the time spent by the sons of
Israel in Egypt was 430 years, when in fact, it was only 215 years. The apostle Paul made it clear that 430
years counted from Abraham entering Canaan (1943 BCE) to the Exodus (1513 BCE).
The New World Translation has the same translation
"And the dwelling of the sons of Israel, who had dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." (NWT)
The King James Version "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred
and thirty years." (KJV)

2.2

Reading the details of the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness and the materials used with the
help of WOL, gave me insight on how useful it turned out to be for Israelites to be 'stripping the Egyptians' of
what they have when they left Egypt. The tabernacle eventually costed $13M in today's values for all the gold,
silver, copper, animal skins, acacia wood and other materials used to to build it.

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3. DEUTERONOMY

3.1

When I was reading Deuteronomy chapter 24, I wondered how was it possible for the Israelites to hear
Joshua speaking from the valley when half of them were in Mt. Gerizim and half of them were in Mt. Ebal.
A practical test was done on location (see link below). The valley where Joshua stood and the
surroundings offered a natural amphitheater. Plus with the repetition of the Levites of what Joshua said
(Deut 27:14), Joshua's words of blessing and malediction would be distinctly heard. This feature of the
place was recognized in "Insight on the Scriptures" encyclopaedia, discussed in the June 15, 1993 issue of
"The Watchtower" magazine, and in the "Benefit" book in chapter 17.

http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2008/12/acoustics-of-mounts-gerizim-and-ebal.html

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4. JOSHUA

4.1

We take for granted that what we read in the Bible book of Joshua is true history. Yet, in the field of
Biblical archaeology, there are two camps that opposed each other with respect to the historicity of Biblical
accounts such as the one we read in Joshua.

One camp is called Minimalist. They belong to the group that believe in the Documentary Hypothesis. They
believe that the Bible was written during the time the Greeks were the world power, long after the events
it narrates. Hence, they conclude it is not true history but a literary invention.

The other camp is called Maximalist. These are Bible believing archaeologists.

The differences lie in how they date what they find in the places the Bible book of Joshua said things happened.
Minimalist promote the "Low Chronology" theory while the Maximalist promote the "High Chronology" theory.
The difference in their dating is about 200 years. And that is a wide gap.

For a while, for lack of data, the Minimalist have had a good time trouncing the Bible especially the fall of
Jericho and Ai, and the claim that Joshua and the Israelites conquered Canaan. Their position was that no such
event happened. No such places existed at the time the Bible said it did.
^^^^^^^
If you search the Internet that is what you will find. Their glory days peaked during the 1980's. But, new finds
raised issues against what seemed to be a very strong position. It now appears that Maximalists have the upper
hand with the archaeological discoveries supporting the existence of King David on the time the Bible said it did.
The Bible is proven to be true after all.

The question is not whether what the Bible describes ever happened. The sites of Jericho reflect the kind of
destruction mentioned in the Bible. The issue is the timing of the event. How did they determine that? By
looking at surviving potteries and other artifacts.

What is a Christian to do with these competing positions and developments? The research web site WOL.jw.org
has this to say on the subject of Jericho:

"For this reason numerous scholars date the fall of Jericho on circumstantial evidence, and suggested dates
span a period of about 200 years. In view of such uncertainty, Professor Merrill F. Unger fittingly observes:
Scholars also must be extremely wary of attaching undue authority to archaeologists estimates of dates and
interpretation of data. That the fixing of dates and the conclusions drawn from archaeological findings often
depend on subjective factors is amply demonstrated by the wide divergences between competent authorities on
these matters.Archaeology and the Old Testament, 1964, p. 164

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002426#h=13:0-16:441

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4.2
As I completed the book of Joshua, the 48 cities for the Levites and the 6 cities of refuge were finally
awarded to the Levites. I noted that Anathoth, where the prophet Jeremiah came from, was one of the 48
Levite cities. However, the city where David fled and met Ahimelech, the high priest, the city of Nob, was
not listed among the 48. So, I wondered why was Nob called a city of priests when it was not listed. I
checked Insight from the Scriptures :-) I found out that probably says the reference, that the sanctuary
originally at Shiloh was moved to Nob after Jehovah God condemned the sons of Eli. Hence, the high
priest would be at the city of Nob where the sanctuary was relocated.

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5. JUDGES

5.1

How long was the history recorded in the book of the Judges? According to one reference, this is how it is
calculated

"How long a period does Judges cover? This can be calculated from 1 Kings 6:1, which shows that Solomon
began to build the house of Jehovah in the fourth year of his reign, which was also the four hundred and
eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out from the land of Egypt. (Four hundred and eightieth being
an ordinal number, it represents 479 full years.) The known time periods included in the 479 years are 40
years under Moses in the wilderness (Deut. 8:2), 40 years of Sauls reign (Acts 13:21), 40 years of Davids
reign (2 Sam. 5:4, 5), and the first 3 full years of Solomons reign. Subtracting this total of 123 years from the
479 years of 1 Kings 6:1, there remain 356 years for the period between the entry of Israel into Canaan and
the start of Sauls reign. The events recorded in the book of Judges, extending largely from the death of
Joshua down to the time of Samuel, cover about 330 years of this 356-year period."
^^^^^^
Archaeologists divide the timeline where the Bible events have happened from the time of Moses to the period
of the Judges to be in the Bronze Age period, followed by the establishment of the kingship with David in the
Iron Age period. The on-going debate is whether Joshua and the Judges record took place in the Middle
Bronze age or in the Late Bronze age. This is where the term "High Chronology" and "Low Chronology" is
derived.

Since the period of Joshua and the Judges introduced a change of culture in Canaan by the wiping of the
existing Baal culture with the Israelite culture, archaeology should be able to show through their diggings and
the artifacts excavated (pottery for example) that there was indeed a transition in culture.

Several reports found on the internet show this transition.

http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2008/04/02/from-ramesses-to-shiloh-archaeological-discoveries-
bearing-on-the-exodus-judges-period.aspx#Article

5.2

The book is rich with examples of men who made themselves available in the service of their God Jehovah.
Each men, despite their frailties and imperfection, were used by Jehovah God to accomplish his purpose.

Of all the judges, the most poignant story is with Samson. Judges 16: 20 reports

"But he didnt realize that the Lord had left him" (The Living Bible)
"But he did not know that Jehovah had left him." (The New World Translation)
"But he did not know that Yahweh had left him." (Lexham English Bible)

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With his hair cut off, his Naziriteship was defiled. His love for Delilah who was willing to sold him for 1,100
silver pieces or for USD 1,000 ruined him spiritually. That must have been a painful realization for Samson and
he suffered the unhappy consequences. Not only did he lose his super-human strength. But that he lost his
precious relationship with God.

But, knowing the kind of God Jehovah is, Samson worked on recovering his relationship with God. He prayed
for Jehovah to remember him who gave him once more the super-human strength he once had.

We can picture Jehovah as described in the book of the Judges his feelings for his repentant servants, Judges
2: 18

"for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors" (Lexham English Bible)
"for Jehovah was moved to pity over their groaning caused by those who oppressed them" (New World
Translation)

Samson must have groaned to Jehovah with his broken heart. And Jehovah who loved Samson from infancy
responded.

5.3

The book ended with an extra-ordinary story that inspires reflections at many layers. This was the case of
mass rape in the city of Gibeah. The punitive action taken by the rest of the Israelites met defeat twice, with
the loss of 40,000 faithful Israelites, apparently without getting any blessing from Jehovah God, despite
seeking His guidance. Finally, Jehovah granted them victory against the perpetrators of the crime, leading to
the burning of the city of Gibeah.

Sometimes, we don't understand how God acts in certain instances and they don't map neatly with our
understanding of justice. With our limited knowledge and insight, we are perplexed by such developments.

Was it truly just to allow the loss of 40,000 faithful Israelites to the wicked of Gibeah? I can relate to the
weeping that took place among the faithful Israelites for their loss. The loss is actually temporary if we recall
God has the power of resurrection.

But the loss did not discourage the Israelites to pursue justice and righteousness. Though the wicked were
more capable warriors than they are, Jehovah finally blessed their zeal and led to the burning of Gibeah.

To do the right thing sometimes incur cost, great cost to ourselves. But just like the Israelites, on the book of
the Judges, there is no turning back. In the end, God sees everything. He steps in to do what we cannot do
ourselves.

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6. Ruth

This is indeed one of the shortest books in the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible). I also agree that as Bible
scholars noted that it deviates from the format of story telling of the history of Israel. From stories of powerful
leaders like Moses, Joshua, and then the Judges, I encounter a sweet story of love and loyalty.

But, others look to the book of Ruth as a book of fiction. Just like their position with the books of Moses,
Joshua and the Judges, these scholars believe that the book was written after the Babylonian exile. Hence, in
their explanation of its content they position it with the inter-marriage episode in the days of Ezra and
Nehemiah.

But their position is problematic. A line of reasoning is mentioned in the encyclopaedia, "Insight on the
Scriptures",

"Moreover, it is inconceivable that a Hebrew writer would have deliberately invented a foreign maternal
ancestry for David, the first king in the royal line of Judah."

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200003777

There are other sources that think exactly in the same way. For example, in the book "An Introduction to the
Old Testament", page 340, we find

"The very fact that Ruth, the ancestress of David, was a Moabitess, is in itself an argument for the historicity of
the book."

This book debunked the position of the other critical scholars that the book was written after the Babylonian
exile, in the 5th century, based on two words that are supposedly Aramaic. (Daniel, a Bible book written after
the Babylonian exile, was written in Aramaic.)

It is true that the style of writing between Judges and Ruth are different. But style alone is not sufficient ground
to discredit the recognition that Samuel wrote the two books.

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7. First SAMUEL

7.1

Bible critics consider the two books of Samuel as part and parcel of the same author/redactor who
wrote/compiled the books from Genesis-Joshua-Judges up to this book after the Babylonian exile. Bible
critics call this author/redactor a Deuteronomist.

My previous note showed the weaknesses of this theory and variations of this theory have already been
abandoned.

Textual analysis in the body cited by these critics as proof are commented by this online Bible-based
encyclopaedia

"The fact that Hannah and an unnamed man of God used the expressions king and anointed one
years before a king actually ruled over Israel does not support the argument of some that these passages
date from a period later than indicated in the book. (1Sa 2:10, 35) The idea of a future king was by no
means foreign to the Hebrews. Gods promise concerning Sarah, the ancestress of the Israelites, was that
kings of peoples would come from her. (Ge 17:16) Also, Jacobs deathbed prophecy (Ge 49:10), the
prophetic words of Balaam (Nu 24:17), and the Mosaic Law (De 17:14-18) pointed to the time when the
Israelites would have a king."


7.2

The characters in the first book of Samuel offer lots to reflect on - their lot in life, how they coped with it,
how their relationship with God played a role in their success or failure as individuals, and puts divine action
in a context that we can relate to.

Take the couple Elkanah and Hanna. Hanna remained childless, a very negative and painful lot in Israelite
culture. Add to that the maltreatment she gets from Peninnah, the other wife. It went on for years but that
has not stopped Hanna from performing her obligations to Jehovah her God by joining the entire family
when going to Shiloh. Worse was, when she arrived in Shiloh, the high priest there, Eli, mistook her for a
drunkard while praying. Think of adding insult to injury.

Would your sad lot in life stop you from clinging to God and His people because some of your peers are
discouraging you? Would you consider God has left you in your sad plight? Would you think that God is the
source of your problem? That's where we are encouraged by the example of Hannah. She brought her
problem to Jehovah God and offered God a deal. Once she gave the problem to Jehovah, she was no longer
sad.

How Jehovah God must have appreciated from the heavens how loyal Hannah was. And when she prayed,
it must have warmed Jehovah's heart. Here is someone He loves to help. And so God did.

How about me? What if a similar painful lot falls on my lap down the road? How will I handle it? What if the
source of that pain are from my fellow worshipers of Jehovah? How will I cope? It is a good thing to reflect
on the example of Hannah because folks like her gets Jehovah's favor.
23 | P a g e

7.3

If you want to get to know God with clarity, you have to reflect on how Samuel, Saul and David interacted
with Jehovah God and how God interacted with them.

Jehovah is an appreciative God. We saw this in his choice of Samuel to be his prophet or representative.
God has seen how as a young boy, separated from his parents at an early age, without the nurturing of
loving parents, and surrounded by evil adult examples right in the holy place, Samuel was strong and whole
enough not to absorb the evil around him. Unlike other adults, he did not say that when he arrived at the
sanctuary this is the way it is and that everybody's doing it. He stood his ground and God took noticed.
When he grew up, he maintained that devotion to God's righteous standards and was no respecter of
persons in that regard.

Jehovah God does not practice favoritism. We saw this in how he interacted with Saul and David. In the
beginning, Saul has positive qualities of humility, diligence and industriousness. Physically, he was like no
other in appearance - height, build, and attractiveness. Yet, he did not manifest any conceit for having such
gifted physical appearance. God chose him as the first king of Israel. (My initial curiosity here the first time
I read the Bible was why God chose someone from the tribe of Benjamin rather than someone from the
tribe of Judah as first king when it is clearly the prophetic line of kings.)

Saul's serious flaw was that he lost his humility when he became king. When he made a mistake, he could
have ask God's forgiveness. Instead, he tried his very best to excuse himself, minimizing the mistake, blame
others for it, but not him making the mistake. For an imperfect human, pride has replaced humility and Saul
should have known God hates proud folks. And in the end, Saul was more concerned what people would
thought of him rather than how he stands before God over the mistake. Jehovah God saw no further reason
to continue supporting King Saul. All that physical attractiveness did nothing to appease God. And how sad
it is that Saul never worked back to regain that friendship.

In contrast was a young, equally good-looking man, David. David showed how strong his relationship is
with God and how much he appreciated it. It was very customary for David to inquire of God before taking
any actions on matters. He was zealous for his God Jehovah, unwilling to bring reproach to the name of his
God, and not even from someone like Goliath.

David's humility is astounding considering how many times he had the opportunity to kill King Saul who
chased after him, to have him killed, but he recognized that King Saul's is God's responsibility. He deferred
to God's time table when to remove King Saul. He patiently worked with his Jehovah God and took evasive
measures to avoid confronting the king. And God blessed David's humble efforts.

David was also open to corrections. When a woman met up with him to expose his error, giving way to
anger, to do a violent act, David allowed himself to be corrected by a woman at that. David praised Abigail,
in fact, for taking such bold action. He listened to the counsel of a woman.

David's strong relationship with his God prevented him to blame God for having the city of Ziklag burned
down and his family and the family of his fellow 600 soldiers kidnapped. Of course, David and his men wept
out of frustration. They lost everything - their properties, their family, and the city where they lived. David
accepted what God permitted and inquired from God of his next steps or actions to take. Jehovah God must
have appreciated David's reactions that Jehovah restored to David and his 600 men everything that was
lost to them and more.

24 | P a g e

Yes, in the lives of these three men we see a God who cares, who watches over, who takes notice of our
reactions, decisions, and flaws. He is also a God who sticks to us if we stick to him and who will abandon us
if we choose to leave him. We need God and not the other way around. We cannot be like Saul who after
losing God's friendship, pride stood in the way to his reconciliation. We should be more like David, always
dependent on God, humble and open to correction, and trusting that his God although He permits bad
things to happen, He is always there to help out.

For some of us, especially, the young folks, there is Samuel to emulate who started young in serving God
and maintained loyalty to his old age. His service record is possibly one of the longest service record in the
Bible.

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8. Second SAMUEL

8.1
Reflections on the second book of Samuel. Part 1.

Many supposedly intellectual folks sneer at reading the Bible, dismissing it as a book of myths and legends.
Many of these so-called intellectuals simply parrot what others say and has never read the Bible for
themselves. They presume that these Bible critics know what they speak of. Unfortunately for them, relying
on human wisdom, they deny to themselves the better wisdom of God.

For years, personalities in the book of Samuel has been considered legends and myths. Archaeologists who
have never believed the Bible has jumped to the conclusion that there never was a king called David. He
was legend like king Arthur.

Then, in the late 1980's, two different stone fragments of monuments were dug by archaeologists (these
are called stela), containing the name of a Jewish king, David. All of a sudden, what was myth and legend
was true after all!

Regarding the role of archaeology with respect to affirming or denying the truthfulness of the Bible as the
content of the books of Samuel, an article from the New York Times writes

"The foregoing discussion shows that archaeological evidence is subject to interpretation just as the Bible is.
Archaeology has not yet proved David's historical existence. But it has not disproved it either. The evidence
is interpreted differently by different people. The assumption that David was a real person remains a viable
and defensible one. The references to his name in inscriptions add some weight to this assumption."

"http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/mckenzie-david.html

8.2

Since David is an important personality whose examples Christians today can learn a lot from, this book is
an important read. It also teaches us about how Jehovah God interacts with individuals like David.

What did I personally learn from David?

1. Jehovah does not always intervene to stop or prevent us from suffering. He certainly DOES NOT cause
human suffering to force us to cling to Him. That is completely opposite to His personality. God is love, the
Bible says.

Although David was chosen by Jehovah God as the successor king to King Saul, God did not prevent King
Saul from hunting down David his enemy and designated successor. This made life difficult for David. He
has to hide in the Judean wilderness, in caves, in mountains, always on the run.

The patience that David exercised all this time, waiting for God to act in His appointed time, and asking
God's blessing for his creative ways to evade his enemy, is something I can learn from. David knew and
26 | P a g e

believed that God cares for him.

At one point in his life, when they left their families and properties in the city of Ziklag, and were some
place else, marauder bands of Amalekites attacked the city of Ziklag. When David and his 600 men
returned, the city was burned down. All their family were missing. No dead bodies around either of humans
or animals. Their families were kidnapped and their flock of cows, goats and sheep were taken away.

David must have felt disappointed with Jehovah God that He allowed such a thing to happen. His men were
so mad that they wanted to punish David for this tragedy.

In this lowest point in his life, David knowing Jehovah God more intimately, knew that it was not the worse.
Their families are still alive. That is the best news. He sought God's help. For his unwavering faith, God
rewarded him that he will be able to recover not just their families but their properties and more.

As a Christian, we must think like David. But to think like David, we need to improve our knowledge of God,
and dismiss lies that even religious leaders promote about God, such as suffering is from God.

2. Jehovah knowing that we are sinners can quickly distinguish genuine repentance from one that is
feigned.

King Saul was rejected by Jehovah for disobedience. King David was not rejected by Jehovah for
disobedience. What made the difference?

King Saul when he was confronted for his error, did what most of us imperfect individuals would commonly
mistakenly do - minimize our mistake, deny responsibility for the mistake, and save face. Jehovah was not
pleased by the failure of Saul to come to true repentance, that is, humbly acknowledge that he made a
mistake, not someone else, and is willing to face the consequences of the mistake.

King David was different. The moment he realized the error - he did three things that were completely
opposite of Saul. He admitted the error, took the responsibility for the error, and was not concerned about
his personal reputation over the mistake but instead, how it impacted his relationship with God.

Jehovah God, who can read human hearts, quickly saw in David genuine repentance. And God forgave him
for his grievous error. But, God did not prevent or protected David from the consequences of his mistakes.
He suffered from his error until his death.

8.3


Besides David, there are many personalities whose conduct we can learn a lot from - either to avoid their
mistakes and the attitude that led to such mistakes or copy their positive examples and the reward they got
for such examples.

In the second book, we are introduced to the prophets Nathan and Gad. We are introduced to the other
women in David's life, primarily Bathsheba, Michal, and her daughter Tamar. We are introduced to sons
who perished in his lifetime - Amnon and Absalom. We are introduced to his cousins, the brothers Joab,
Abishai and Asahel and their cousin Amasa. These personalities were introduced to us at a time when David
27 | P a g e

was reaping what he has sown - for temporary enjoyment of sin, David paid dearly with turmoil and
confusion, not only in his family but in his kingdom as well.

We are introduced to examples of loyalty and betrayal as well. There were loyal Hushai and Ittai the Gittite.
The old but wealthy man Barzillai. There was humble Jonathan. Then there is the traitor Ahithopel, David's
former adviser.

Notably, in the coup d'etat that Absalom his son orchestrated, David's original 600 men stayed loyal to him.

This was not just a simple issue of political intrigue. The kingship of Israel is not a human kingship. Human
kings sit on God's throne in Jerusalem according to the Bible. David was a messiah, God's appointed human
representative. Anyone who would de-throne him without Jehovah God's permission is rising up against God
himself. This explains why David did not organize a coup d'etat against King Saul. He waited for God to de-
throne Saul.

All these personalities teach Christians about loyalty and obedience to theocracy or God's rule.

This is an important point of reflections by Bible readers because the Lord Jesus is also called in the Bible,
as son of David. This is significant because Jehovah God designated the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, or the
successor to the dynasty of King David. Jesus has royal blood. But Jesus will not sit on an earthly throne in
Jerusalem. His kingdom will be from heaven and it's rule will soon dominate the earth. As its future king,
the Lord taught us all to pray, Thy kingdom come.

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9. First KINGS

9.1
Reflections on the first book of Kings. Part 1.

Just like the other books of the Bible, Bible critics have never accepted this book as containing true history.
They dismissed the first five books of Moses as never written in the time it was supposed to be written. The
popular view is that the books were produced much later by others and those others promoted the claim
that it was from Moses. One of the key proof claimed is as below

"Not only is it true that the Hebrew language did not exist, but it is urged by critics that no written
language, as we understand it, existed in Western Asia in the time of Moses. Prof. Andrew Norton says:
"For a long time after the supposed date of the Pentateuch we find no proof of the existence of a book or
even an inscription in proper alphabetical characters among the nations by whom the Hebrews were
surrounded." (The Pentateuch, p. 44) Hieroglyphs were then in use, and it cannot be imagined that a work
as large as the Pentateuch was written or engraved in hieroglyphics and carried about by this wandering
tribe of ignorant Israelites."

But are the assertions above still holds with contemporary archaeological discoveries related to the Hebrew
language and its script? The book, "A History of Hebrew: Its Language and Philosophy" by Jeff Benner has
this to say about the origin of writing related to Hebrew:

"The early Semitic alphabet existed between the 20th and 12th centuries B.C. However, note that the 20th
century date is based on the oldest inscriptions found thus far and it is possible that future discoveries may
push the date of the Semitic alphabet back even farther into history. To date, the Wadi El-Hhol inscriptions
found in southern Egypt, are the oldest Semitic inscriptions found and date to between the 19th and 20th
centuries B.C. The Sinaitic inscriptions from the Sinai peninsula date to about the 15th century B.C.

The middle Semitic alphabet, the Phoenician and old Hebrew, was in use between the 12th and 4th century
B.C. The Gezer calendar, Mesha Stele, Siloam inscription, the Lachish inscription and the Phoenician
sarcophagus date to this time period.

The late Semitic alphabet, the square Aramaic script, was in use between 4th century BC and into modern
times with the modern Hebrew alphabet that is used to this day."

How do Bible critics react to this development? This news report captures the prevailing attitude.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/07/31/3000-year-old-inscription-translated-biblical-history/

The Bible wins while the Bible critics wobble into a "maybe or maybe not". Why is this important to reflect
on? Every time the Bible is vindicated, the stronger the value it has for us as God's communication to
mankind. You can study the Bible and learn more about what it says on the more important things in life.

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9.2


This book is controversial because it tells the story of a united kingdom under David and Solomon. To Bible
critics these are legends and mythical personalities. So what happens when archaeology finds some
artifacts that bolster the Bible story? Furious debate.

One such archaeological find is the Ophel Inscription. The dating and implication of the find help establish
that there was an existing kingdom as the Bible narrated. The report below illustrates the kind of
controversy it can generate.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-isaacs/the-ophel-inscription-deb_b_4922401.html

Other discoveries tend to validate pieces of information recorded in this Bible book

King Solomon's mines
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130903141356.htm

King Solomon's temple
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/khirbet-qeiyafa-archaeology_n_1504722.html

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2013/June/Did-David-Solomon-Exist-Dig-Refutes-Naysayers/

9.3


King Solomon was loved by Jehovah God, enough to give him the wisdom that made him famous, famous
enough to attract 1,000 women. And that's his fall from grace. He allowed his love for women to be more
than his love for his God. There are only 365 days in a year and Solomon has 1,000 women!

His story demonstrates how deceptive our hearts can be. It has powerful motivations that can override our
minds. Christians should learn from his fall. We cannot allow our hearts to dictate what we should follow.
"Sundin mo ang sinasabi ng puso mo" or "kung saan ka maligaya doon ka" are recipes for disaster.

All the kings that followed King Solomon followed their hearts. And they brought national disaster to Israel.

The book also highlighted that Jehovah God will not allow himself to be disrespected. Those He chose to be
kings when they became disloyal to him, He deposed. He gave them the opportunity to be loyal, a privilege
that an imperfect man should have valued. But they allowed personal ambitions to cloud their decisions.

Just as Jehovah God was loyal to David because David was loyal to God, Jehovah God did the same for the
kings who chose to be loyal to him. This is an important lesson for Christians. God reciprocates our loyalty
to him.

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The book also introduces us to a powerful prophet Elijah. His life story demonstrated that Jehovah God
supports, protects and takes care of His loyal servants. He takes notice of our emotional state, and acts to
encourage and strengthen us. What a powerful testimony it was when in the contest between Baal, an idol
god, and Jehovah, He demonstrated that He is the only true God.

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10. Second KINGS

11.1

The books of Kings mention many international personalities from then world powers - Egypt, Assyria, and
Babylon. And the concurrence of archaeology, history and the records of these other powers confirm that the
Bible is not a book of legend or myths.

It reports real people, places and events. Here are the names of these personalities

1. Pharaoh So
2. Pharaoh Shishak
3. Pharaoh Necho
4. Assyrian Shalmaneser
5. Assyrian Tiglath-Pileser
6. Assyrian Sennacherib
7. Assyrian Esarhaddon
8. Babylonian Berodach-Baladan
9. Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar
10. Babylonian Evil-merodach

Archaeologist has this to say regarding Pharaoh Shishak

"Levin points out that if the Egyptian Pharaohs records on the Bubastite Portal match those from 1 Kings,
this would be the earliest event in Biblical history for which we have a contemporaneous reference in an
extrabiblical source. Moreover, Egyptian records of Sheshonqs rule between 945 and 925 B.C.E. could be
used to date the reigns of Rehoboams father, Solomon, and his grandfather, David."

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/hebrew-bible/did-pharaoh-sheshonq-attack-jerusalem/

Scholars have found corroborating evidence in the land of Israel of this conquest that led them to conclude
that the this pharaoh's attack in Judah is "beyond reasonable doubt."

Regarding the other names, the web site Biblical Archaeology Review, has the archaelogical proof points that
history validates the truthfulness of the Bible record

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/50-people-in-the-
bible-confirmed-archaeologically

One of the dramatic discoveries in modern times to support the Bible record is the archaeological finds in the
land of Nineveh of Assyria which showed many corroborating data on the Sennacherib campaign in the land
of Israel.

One source reports

"Layard found the walls of this room covered with limestone 8 feet tall and 80 feet long wrapping around all
four walls. Every inch of the rooms walls powerfully depicted only one scene in history, Sennacheribs defeat
of the southern kingdom city of Lachish. Remember in 2 Kings 18:17, The king of Assyria sent his supreme
commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at
Jerusalem."
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http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2010/07/top-ten-biblical-discoveries-in-archaeology-10-assyrian-
lachish-reliefs/

One publication listed the top ten archaeological finds that support Bible history. One can browse the PDF
version here

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AgcYgFsT-em-68ATObk3Rd-
1zSBABIDGosX6opBniLSrI3ghIYAsQ0i4AofX/edit?usp=sharing

11.2

The leadership of the kings of Judah were mostly by faithless men. Their history is both a blessing and a
warning example of how Jehovah responds to our effort to be close to Him.

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11.3

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11.4

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11.5

There are many rich experiences in this book that demonstrated the truthfulness of the words of our Lord
Jesus that when we put God's kingdom interest and his righteousness first, God will add or provide for the
things that we need.

Take the case of several women whom Jehovah God blessed and supplied for their needs:

1. The mother at Zarepath
2. The wife of the dead prophet
3. The rich but childless wife at Shunem

In each instance, Jehovah had ask for a demonstration of faith before the actual blessing was given.

In the case of the mother at Zarepath who was down to the last meal with her child, Elijah asked her to feed
him first. Only then will Jehovah God take care of her. That was certainly not looking logical nor reasonable.
The mother had to choose between what is practical or faith in God's ability to provide. This mom decided to
put her faith in Jehovah God and fed Elijah with their last meal. The Bible reports, "the large jar of flour did
not run out, and the small jar of oil did not run dry" all the time the famine was going on around her.

In the case of the dead prophet's wife, she appealed to the prophet Elisha to help her financially, particularly
paying off the family's debt. Instead of just granting her wish, Jehovah God asked her to do a practical
gesture. She was asked to collect jars from everyone she knew. Then, she started pouring oil from her own
jar to the collected jars. Finally, she filled up all the jars that she collected and there were no more empty
jars. Her own source jar did not run empty as she used it to fill up the rest. The Bible reports, "Go sell the oil
and pay off your debts, and you and your sons can live from what is left."

In the case of the rich wife at Shunem, her generosity was rewarded. The prophet Elisha used to frequent
Shunem. This rich wife offered her home as a base for the prophet whenever he visits. She even made an
additional room built complete with furnishings for the prophet for his privacy. Jehovah took notice of her
hospitality and blessed her with a son.

The experiences of Elijah and Elisha demonstrated God's ability to provide. He knows how to take care of
people who serve Him sincerely and with dedication.

One interesting experience that pre-dated the miracle of Jesus feeding thousands, is the feeding of 100
prophets with only 20 loaves. The man who brought the loaves knew that he cannot feed 100 men with 20
loaves. But the prophet Elisha instructed him just to feed them with the 20 loaves and that there will be even
leftovers. And that exactly happened. The Bible reports, "and they ate and they had some leftover, according
to the word of Jehovah."

That is why I find the books of Kings such a faith strengthening read. In times when the economy appears to
tank, the equivalent of famine in Bible times, God knows how to provide for those who trust in Him for as
long as we put God's kingdom interest first. How much more will Jehovah God provide for those who make
self-sacrifices in behalf of the ministry of the good news of God's kingdom!

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11.6

What have I learned about Jehovah from these two books? I learned that Jehovah God, our heavenly Father,
is an appreciative God but He does not tolerate disrespect.

Take a look at how much support he gave King Solomon. He granted Solomon's wish for wisdom. Being
appreciative, God did more than that. He was willing to give Solomon more. However, it was not a sky's the
limit thing. It was tied to Solomon's continued loyalty through obedience to His laws. But Solomon, despite
being a wise man, chose to belittle God's laws. He started to disobey them, one by one. It became a habit
until it reached a point, obedience no longer mattered. So, Jehovah's feelings changed towards Solomon. He
cannot tolerate disrespect.

Jeroboam was a skilled organizer. Jehovah being an appreciative God, He chose him to be the king of the
separate kingdom of Israel. God offered to sustain his kingdom if Jeroboam sticks to God's laws through
obedience. Jeroboam though once he became king, completely abandoned Jehovah God. He misused his free
will to promote apostasy for political reason - ensure the continuity of his kingdom. It was something that
Jehovah already promised but he had no faith in God. So, Jehovah declared that he would abort the kingship
of Jeroboam.

Jehovah God offered the kingship of Israel to other men. He also offered them continuity for as long as they
comply and obey with God's laws. Nearly all of them took the path of Jeroboam. They did what they thought
would ensure their continuity. And so Jehovah aborted the kingship of such men.

There was only one special guy, Jehu, who Jehovah rewarded with four generations of kings under him for
being obedient to Him initially. Again, being an appreciative God, Jehovah rewarded Jehu generously by
allowing four generations of his line to sit as kings of Israel. But his son and grandsons chose the path of
Jeroboam. Once His promise was completed, Jehovah aborted the kingship from the family of Jehu.

These books offered us the insight that Jehovah God does not pre-judge a man. He allows individuals to show
what was in their heart. Only when they have demonstrated who they really were does God react to remove
them or keep them in his favor.

The case of Ahab is an interesting one. Ahab had the baddest reputation of all the kings of Israel. Once
Jehovah God sent his prophet to rebuke Ahab for his bad activities. Ahab took the rebuke seriously and
repented. Jehovah God recognizing that it was a genuine act of repentance, He was quick to forgive Ahab -
despite being the baddest king of the kings of Israel! However, Ahab reverted back to his bad ways. This time
around, Jehovah allowed Ahab to be killed during a battle.

A similar case but with a different ending is Manasseh, a king of the kingdom of Judah. Manasseh is the
baddest of all kings both from Judah and from Israel. He has no equal in badness. He installed inside Jehovah
God's temple idols of different sorts. He caused the death of so many people even his own children. Jehovah
allowed Manasseh's kingdom to be defeated by foreigners and he was captured and brought to Babylon.
There Manasseh humbled himself before Jehovah. Again, Jehovah seeing the genuineness of his repentance,
forgave freely. Manasseh never returned to his former bad ways. But his damage was so extensive that
Jehovah required an accounting from the kingdom of Judah. In time, Jerusalem was burned down by
Babylonians.

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How do we want Jehovah God to treat us? That depends a lot on what we do with Jehovah God's laws. He
entrusts to us privileges and work because He saw in us the will and capability to execute. If we do right with
Jehovah, He will reward us generously being an appreciative God that He is.

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12. First and Second CHRONICLES

Note the comparative accounts between the Kings and Chronicles in a separate chart.

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13. NEHEMIAH

Of all the books of the Old Testament, the easily accepted as historical are the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
According to references, originally, they were just one scroll. Why are these books easily accepted as
historical? Because Bible critics assert that Bible writing only began after the exile from Babylon.

Both books wrote about Persian rulers when the Persian empire dominate the Middle East. All the
personalities, policies, laws and decrees mentioned in those Bible books agree with what has been found
about the Persians.

An archaeological find, the Cyrus Cylinder, confirm the Bible references by several prophets that there really
was a Persian king with that name and that he restored peoples into their homelands and help re-establish
their worship. (http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/persia/cyrus-cylinder-photo1.jpg)

All other Persian kings mentioned in the book of Nehemiah are all confirmed. They were not myths nor
legends.

But, as I have previously found by works of other Bible scholars, all the other books leading to the book
Nehemiah have been validated as historical via the archaeological discoveries. This encompasses all the way
back to Genesis.

Why is this important to me? Because the Bible claims to be God's Word. For such an important extraterrestrial
communication from the spirit world, the book deserves our attention and time.

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14. ESTHER

Bible scholars have the opinion that the details in this book are historically accurate. But the story itself is not
real history. So, what do they call such a book that is historically accurate but is not itself true history? A
historical novella!

Another criticism they find in the book is that not once is God's divine name "JEHOVAH" ever mentioned. And
it was never quoted by any of the writers of the New Testament.

However, a closer examination of the book of Esther shows that it is in harmony with the entire Bible. What
lessons do we learn from the book that is echoed in the entire Bible?

1. God's requirements and standards are higher than man's, superceding any human law and its requirements
for obedience

2. Trusting in God to bless our individual efforts

3. Using human agencies to overcome legal obstacles

From the loyal example of Puah and the other Hebrew midwives who chose God as authority first rather than a
man like Pharaoh down to the apostles who defied the Sanhedrin authorities in stopping their preaching work,
the example of Mordecai in defying the Persian law to bow to Haman is clearly consistent with this pattern.

Our loyalty to God demands our complete obedience. We will not allow any human authority to impose their
will on us when it comes in conflict to God's will. No parent, husband, or civil authority can demand our
obedience at the expense of obedience to God. Mordecai showed a fine example in this regard.

The pattern of trusting in God when taking the initiative to do His will is a familiar pattern in the Bible - from
Noah, with his ark-building, to the patriarchs who left Ur and dwelt as nomads in Canaan, to the apostles who
traveled the ancient world in preaching the good news of the Kingdom.

Servants of God used human agencies and its legal system to try to overcome legal obstacles thrown their
way hampering their service. We saw this in the rebuilding effort of the Second Temple. We also saw this in
the effort of the early Christians to spread the good news of God's Kingdom.

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15. JOB

I am now reading the book of Job. I cannot help wonder why our religious leaders - ministers, pastors and
priests- fail to articulate the message of this book about the behind-the-scenes story on human suffering. The
book crystallizes the fact that human suffering is not caused by God, nor willed by God.

Job is caught up between a debate (Jehovah God versus Satan) on the issue of the nature of human loyalty to
God. Satan asserts that Jehovah God is bribing humans to stay loyal by blessing them so much materially. In
the case of Job, he was a multi-millionaire, perhaps a billionaire by our standards. Just for the 3,000 camels
alone that costs around $1,000-$ 2,000 each today, he is worth $6M, besides his cows, sheep, goats, staff,
real estate, etc.

I get the picture that God is generous. But, Satan twisted God's generosity to make it look like that He is
bribing humans like Job to stay with Him. The only way to disprove this is for God to allow Satan to inflict
suffering by withholding His blessings for a short time. Job, or for that matter, any human must prove his case
before God's enemy.

I also get the picture of how cruel and evil Satan is. I also get the picture how much patience God has to even
allow his presence in the heavens when God calls for a meeting of his angels. In the book of Job, I read how
determined Satan is to make suffering the reason a human will leave God. Job felt let down, he was
depressed, in pain, grieving for his children who died, for the bankruptcy of his livelihood, while enduring
criticisms from so-called friends who were forcing him to confess some secret evil he was accused of to have
done.

Anyone can empathize with Job's words below

"For sighing has become my daily food;
my groans pour out like water.
What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.

It must have pained God in the heavens to see someone loyal suffer this way. It was not God testing his faith.
It was Satan. Job was seeking audience with God to understand why he feels abandoned, why God has made
him suffer despite his integrity

"If only there were someone to mediate between us,
someone to bring us together,
someone to remove Gods rod from me,
so that his terror would frighten me no more."

While still reading through the book of Job, I am encouraged and comforted with the thought found in the Bible
book of James, regarding the conclusion of the story of Job, that gives me an accurate picture about God and
about human suffering

"You have heard about Jobs patience. You know that after all his troubles, the Lord helped him. This shows
that the Lord is full of mercy and is kind.." (James 5:11)

I prefer the rendering of the 2013 New World Translation Bible
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"You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome Jehovah gave, that Jehovah is very
tender in affection and merciful."

And with respect to Satan, the last book of the Bible is accurate to describe him after his eviction from heaven
(where he stayed for a long time)

"For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth
the one who accuses them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:10)

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16. PSALMS

One of the longest book ever to complete in the Bible, if not the longest, is the book of Psalms. It took
according to one reference 1,000 years to complete. How is that? Well, Moses contributed to the book. Most
are of David. And it contained psalms about the Exile in Babylon. That's a period that ran from 1513-537 BCE
approximately.

According to the Masoretic Text (MT), the Psalms follows it five divisions or books. The 2013 NWT in its
appendix talks about the Masoretes. If you have a copy of that Bible, it is good information.

To appreciate the format of the chapters in this book, it is useful to review the section of Hebrew poetry under
the subject Hebrew, in references like "Insight on the Scriptures" Vol. 1, an encyclopedia which has an online
version available in JW.org (http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001953)

In that reference you will be able to identify synonymous, antithetic, synthetic, emblematic, stairlike, and
introverted parallelism. Getting a background on these poetic parallelisms help you understand how the format
reinforces the message.

A prominent feature of the book is the superscription. Some scholars question the authenticity of these
superscriptions, thinking these are late additions to the book. But, the fact is that the superscriptions are
ancient, given that the book is a 1,000 years old in the making.

The book celebrates the blessings of nurturing one's relationship with Jehovah God (Hebrew Yahweh). Unlike
the previous historical books, I have to read the chapters slowly to capture the ambiance, the context, the
spirit, and the feelings of the inspired writer for God.

It highlights love for the Bible, even though at that time, it only consisted of some books of Moses, and the
other historical books. The book encourages me to read the Bible every day. It encourages communion with
Jehovah God through prayers. It invites readers to find time to praise God publicly and in the congregation. It
offers hope of forgiveness from Jehovah God when we make mistakes or sins against God. It makes our faith
strong by reading the many prophecies that would later be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. It celebrates faith
that Jehovah God will not forget our works of faith and devotion, even when we have grown old and weak. It
provides the promise that God will end wickedness and evil and usher in a new world of a global earthly
Paradise.

What a treasure the book of Psalms is for the one who values his relationship with God. It does not just move
his emotions. It moves him to act with faith. And it does these using beautiful poetry full of images and
parallelisms.

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17. ECCLESIASTES

Bible critics have never for one moment accepted that any of the books of the Bible are really from God.
Hence, just like other books, they deny Solomon as its author. And just like the other OT books, this book must
have been written after the Babylonian exile.

Others criticized the book for not mentioning God's name not even once, for being too cynical about life. Even
the Jewish authorities were reportedly took a while to accept the book as part of the Hebrew canon of the Old
Testament.

However, there are now many research published on the language, grammar and style of the book that refutes
the claim that it was written after the Babylonian exile. The research deals with specific phrases and words
common with the Phoenicians during the time of Solomon. The form of the hand-written copies of the book
also shows its age. Scholars note that written Hebrew with vowels are late books while written Hebrew without
vowels are earlier Hebrew. Ecclesiastes fall in the latter category.

The report, "The Linguistic Evidence for the Date of 'Ecclesiastes'", summarized the various positions for and
against the dating of the book. The favored one is post-Babylonian Exile. However, the report notes in page
167, "It is not true that the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes has been universally abandoned, at least in
some Conservative circles... There are very solid linguistic grounds for rejecting the verdict of spuriousness.
This evidence is abundantly available even from the writings of some scholars who reject Solomonic
authorship."

The reference book "Insight on the Scriptures", available online, shows that its contents are in harmony with
the rest of the Bible.


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18. SONG OF SOLOMON

Bible Textual Critics investigate a Bible book to establish the date of the book, its author, its authenticity. They
look at the language it was written, the words used, whether there are foreign words used from the same era
or another era, the phrases employed, whether those phrases are similarly used by neighboring countries, and
other small details.

In that respect, the Song of Solomon is problematic for many Bible scholars because their theories don't
exactly fit to define the features of the book. Although some Textual Critics claim that most if not all Bible
scholars have rejected Solomon to be its author, this is not truly the case.

An example of this debate is the abundance of so-called Aramaisms in the book. The Old Testament was first
written in Hebrew, later parts with Aramaic. Hence, some textual critics are inclined to believe that it could not
have been Solomon as author if there was an abundance of Aramaic since this language was used by Bible
writers during the Exile or post-Exile (when the Jews finally returned to Jerusalem from Babylon).

Another issue is the presence of foreign words or "loan words" supposedly of Persian origins.

Other scholars in their published work has this to say about the issue: "Their analysis leads them to conclude
that there is no necessity for a late dating of the Song of Songs. The apparently late features are not
indicative of chronology but rather regional particularity. As such, Noegel and Rendsburg see the Song of
Songs as a literary work written in northern Israel."

Getting into the content, scholars are divided on what the book is all about. Some textual critics see in the
book, sensual and erotic love. They don't see the book as an allegory about God and Israel or about Christ and
his congregation.

The online encyclopedia, "Insight on the Scriptures", hints at an allegorical application as well
(http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200004181)

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19. ISAIAH

19.1

Another set of Bible books that Bible critics, the secular textual critics, are hard pressed to destroy the
authenticity are the prophetic books. Books that foretell the future hundreds of years in advance. Bible critics
say that that is just impossible.

So, how do Bible critics go about disproving that the Bible book of Isaiah is just an ordinary human book? The
core reasoning of Bible critics is that most of the Bible was written after the Jews were exiled in Babylon
around the sixth century BCE. But Isaiah's book was attested to have been written in the eight century BCE!
So, they came up with this theory that the book was actually authored by more than one Isaiah. The chapters
1-39 was penned by the original Isaiah and the latter 40-66 were penned by others. The first set was written in
the 8th century BCE and the other set after the Babylonian exile. But why? Precisely because the second so-
called set is full of prophecies that actually happened. To the Bible critics, it was actually a record of real
events that was made to appear as prophecy.

However, literary textual criticism, the main tool, to support this theory is challenged by the single theme or
unity of language across the entire book. In all the old hand-written copies (manuscripts) there is only one book
and not two. The NT writers who quote from the book do not suggest that they are quoting several Isaiahs.

These same Bible critics, or secular scholars, have tried to address this challenge. The essay "How Many
Isaiahs" recognized this shift: "Those familiar with the legacy of Duhm in Isaianic studies may be surprised to
learn that, for nearly two decades the dominant emphasis in the historical-critical study of Isaiah has been on
the "unity" of the book. Marvin Tate calls this the new "one book interpretation in contrast to the older "one
author interpretation. In the past, critical scholars have largely overlooked or undervalued the numerous
intertextual connections and thematic continuities between Isaiah 139 and Isaiah 4066 . Recently,
however, these striking features have led a growing number of scholars to posit an intentional relationship,
even an interdependence or a mutual influence between what is popularly known as First and Second Isaiah."

The Insight on the Scriptures, an online bible encyclopedia, lays out the issues and proofs in an easy to read
language - http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002205:

"Those who would credit the book to more than one writer do not feel that it was possible for Isaiah to have
foretold nearly two centuries in advance that a ruler named Cyrus would liberate the exiled Jews; consequently
they speculate that this was written at a later time, at least after Cyrus began his conquests. (Isa 44:28; 45:1)
But they fail to grasp the import of this entire portion of the book, because the material specifically deals with
foreknowledge, with the ability of God to tell in advance what would happen to his people. Nearly 200 years in
advance this prophecy recorded the name of one not yet born who would conquer Babylon and liberate the
Jews. Its fulfillment would definitely prove that it was of divine origin. It was not Isaiahs estimate of the future,
but, as he himself wrote, this is what Jehovah has said. (Isa 45:1) Ascribing the writing of this portion of
Isaiah to a writer in Cyrus time would still not solve the problem for the critics. Why not? Because this portion
of the book also foretold in detail events in the earthly life and ministry of the Messiah, Jesus Christthings
even farther in the future. The fulfillment of these prophecies seals the prophecy of Isaiah as divinely inspired
and not a collection of the works of impostors."

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19.2

This prophetic Bible book offers hope of a better future. It is full of the promise of a restored Paradise and
restored mankind made possible by the sacrificial death of the future Messiah.

The fact that many of the prophecies in the book saw fulfillment, despite efforts of the followers of
Documentary Hypotheses to discredit its divine inspiration, makes my faith stronger that a God exists in the
invisible heavens that declares his name to be Jehovah, and is interested to restore mankind to a better life.

Who will not be encouraged to read the following prophecies of better times, or what the Bible calls Paradise
Earth restored

"And no resident will say, I am sick". (Isaiah 33: 24 New American Standard Bible)

"Then the eyes of the blind will be opened so that they can see, and the ears of the deaf will be opened so that
they can hear. Crippled people will dance like deer, and those who cannot speak now will use their voices to
sing happy songs." (Isaiah 35: 5,6 Easy to Read Version Bible)

"Then wolves will live at peace with lambs, and leopards will lie down in peace with young goats. Calves, lions,
and bulls will all live together in peace. A little child will lead them. Bears and cattle will eat together in peace,
and all their young will lie down together and will not hurt each other. Lions will eat hay like cattle." (Isaiah 11:
6,7 Easy to Read Version Bible)

"They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build
and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My
people." (Isaiah 65: 21,22 New American Standard Bible)

These promises run across the so-called three books of Isaiah (1-39), (40-55) and (56-66). Bible critical
scholars recognize this unity of theme despite their insistence in three authors for the book. They invent
theories to explain their disparities and contradictions.

How can we trust that these prophecies will come true? Because other prophecies from the book of Isaiah has
already saw fulfillment. This is one reason why critical Bible scholars wanted to divide the book into three and
penned by three authors. They made it appear that the prophecy was actually real history given a spin as
prophecy, or a so-called prophecy after the fact.

But they are dead wrong. When Isaiah prophesied that the city of Babylon will no longer be inhabited ever, the
prophecy was fulfilled long after the writer disappeared from the earth. Today, the city is still in ruins,
completely uninhabited. (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-
DSw9sx025MA/UTsAoz9EyQI/AAAAAAAAAs8/M5L2rdQ0bs0/s1600/1James+Gordon+Flickr+CC+COM.jpg)

There is no way this could be discredited. It is a clear proof of prophecy fulfilled:

"Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation." (Isaiah 13: 20 New
Living Translation Bible)

The prophet also prophesied of the sufferings of the Messiah when he arrives. And it happened exactly as he
prophesied about it

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"People made fun of him, and even his friends left him. He was a man who suffered a lot of pain and sickness.
We treated him like someone of no importance, like someone people will not even look at but turn away from in
disgust.

The fact is, it was our suffering he took on himself; he bore our pain. But we thought that God was punishing
him, that God was beating him for something he did. But he was being punished for what we did. He was
crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were
healed because of his pain." (Isaiah 53: 3-5)

The book of Isaiah provides us solid reason to believe in God's prophecies of better times ahead, a time when
the planet Earth is restored back to Paradise.

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20. JEREMIAH

Jeremiah is personally the most intriguing book I ever did research on so far of the books of the Old Testament
or the Hebrew Scriptures. Why? For one, I noticed that there is little information presented on the book "All
Scriptures" on the introduction compared to other books. But, the "Insight" book provided the new information
perhaps not available to the authors of the "All Scriptures" book at the time.

What are these new information? A key characteristic of the book is that it was not written in chronological
order. The kings covered by the book were Josiah and his three sons (Jehoahaz, deposed by Pharaoh and
replaced by his brother Jehoiakim who was deposed by Nebuchadnezzar who installed Jehoiakim's son
Jehoiachin who also rebelled, and was replaced by Nebuchadnezzar by another son of Josiah, uncle of
Jehoiachin, Zedekiah). This is evident if one reviews the outline from the "All Scriptures" book which presents
the book chapter-by-chapter.

However, the "Insight" presents the outline differently, sticking to what the reference identified as the topics of
Jeremiah.

Another key characteristic brought up by "Insight" is that two copies of the same book, one in Hebrew
(Masoretic Text) and one in Greek (Septuagint LXX), differed by 2,700 words. One article I found on the Net
covered this topic and identified those portion as the Jeremiah prophecies against the nations. The article
concluded this way

"To summarize: The case has been made that most of the differences between the MT and the LXX's Vorlage
of Jeremiah are best explained as the work of a single individual, because they fall into a limited number of
categories and are applied with considerable regularity, if not complete consistency. This conclusion is
supported by the above analysis of the OAN (oracles against the nations) in relation to chap. Since a single
scribe with identifiable interests was responsible for the changes, these differences between the LXX's Vorlage
and the MT can legitimately be labeled "redactional." This description of the order and position of the MT's
OAN as redactional in nature does more than simply require modern scholars to make an editorial choice
between rival editions regarding their placement in modern Jeremiah commentaries and translations; it carries
with it an enhanced evaluation of the OAN's role within the book. The OAN should no longer be dismissed as a
secondary scribal addition, but should be taken into account in descriptions of the composition and editing of
Jeremiah as an integral part of the book's second edition, and perhaps its first. This, in turn, means that these
oracles should also be integrated into interpretations of the message of the book as a whole and given the
attention which their prominent positions in both the LXX and MT suggest they deserve."

"Insight" offers this explanation regarding the position of Bible scholars on this matter:

"The majority of scholars agree that the Greek translation of this book is defective, but that does not lessen the
reliability of the Hebrew text. It has been suggested that the translator may have had a Hebrew manuscript of a
different family, a special recension, but critical study reveals that this apparently was not the case."

I found another Net material that followed this thought process cited from "Insight":

"Since the Qumran text of Jeremiah was parallel in content and organization to the Septuagint version, here
was tangible evidence that at one time, for at least two centuries, a shorter, differently arranged version of the
book existed. Hence, variations from the Masoretic text in the Septuagint version of Jeremiah resulted not from
careless translation but from a radically different Hebrew text that the translators had before them. More
interested in scholarship than the defense of pet theories, Fitzmyer said this about the Cave Four discoveries:
Such ancient recensional forms of Old Testament books bear witness to an unsuspected textual diversity that
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once existed; these texts merit far greater study and attention than they have been accorded till now. Thus, the
differences in the Septuagint are no longer considered the result of a poor or tendentious attempt to translate
the Hebrew into the Greek; rather they testify to a different pre-Christian form of the Hebrew text, (Ibid., p. 302,
emphasis added)."

Does this detract from the message of Jeremiah as a whole? Certainly not. The fulfillment of his divinely
inspired prophecies attest its authenticity.

The Appendix A3 of the 2013 New World Translation Bible brings up this fact - "While the Dead Sea Scrolls
contain some variations in wording, none of those variations affect the message itself." Then, it lays out the
process in layman's terms how textual criticism reconstructed and traced the original words of the Bible from
the many manuscript copies available.

The faithful and discreet slave has delivered in simple English to ordinary Bible readers what thousands of
scholars are doing in their work in textual criticism in figuring out the original words of the Bible by comparing
the variations across the ages, flushing out what turned out to be additions, spurious texts and keeping the
authentic.

For those who had the patience and interest to explore this tract, an often quoted book is available on the Net,
Sir Frederic Kenyon's "The Story of the Bible".

http://www.bible-researcher.com/kenyon/sotb.html

JW.org has an article from a February 15, 2001 The Watchtower magazine article that explains what this
development means (the Dead Sea Qumran Cave 4 scrolls made available publicly after several decades)

"Although the scrolls demonstrate that the Bible has not undergone fundamental changes, they also reveal that
to some extent there were different versions of Hebrew Bible texts used by Jews in the Second Temple period,
each with its own variations. Not all the scrolls are identical to the Masoretic text in spelling or wording. Some
are closer to the Greek Septuagint. Previously, scholars thought that the Septuagints differences might be the
result of mistakes or even deliberate inventions by the translator. Now the scrolls reveal that many of these
differences were actually due to variations in the Hebrew text. This may explain some cases in which early
Christians quoted Hebrew Scripture texts using wording different from the Masoretic text.Exodus 1:5; Acts
7:14.

Thus, this treasure trove of Biblical scrolls and fragments provides an excellent basis for studying the
transmission of the Hebrew Bible text. The Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed the value of both the Septuagint
and the Samaritan Pentateuch for textual comparison. They provide an additional source for Bible translators
to consider for possible emendations to the Masoretic text. In a number of cases, they confirm decisions by the
New World Bible Translation Committee to restore Jehovahs name to places where it had been removed from
the Masoretic text."

The complete list can be found in the 1984 New World Translation Reference Bible in Appendix 1B.

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21. DANIEL

And one of the exciting fields of study is the book of Daniel. After reading both sides of the debate, I re-visit
chapter 2 of the book "Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy". The chapter is aptly titled, "Daniel- A Book on
Trial". It was an easy-to-absorb presentation of the current scholarly positions and why the camp of biblical
higher critics are wrong. It is also a sort of compilation of materials and updated information from the
discussion on the book of Daniel in "All Scriptures" and "Insight".

Many individuals who took the side of the higher critics were basically just repeating the arguments, citing on
the strength of the scholars as authority rather than on evidence.

How did the enemies of the Bible got their pet theories overthrown? Archaeology and Bible manuscripts.

The critics claim that Daniel was completed about 164 BC during the Maccabean period, a time when
Alexander the Great's Greek empire was already reduced to two competing kingdoms, one based in Syria,
north of Israel, and the the other based in Egypt, south of Israel.

However, Bible believing scholars accept at face value that the book was written in the 6th century as the book
claims.

21.1
One important bombshell against the Bible critics was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The manuscripts
were dated as far back as 250 BC. In an article entitled "New Light on the Book of Daniel from the Dead Sea
Scrolls", the author, Dr. Gerhard Hasel writes

"For those supporting the historical-critical date of the book of Daniel new issues are being raised. Since there
is a manuscript of Daniel that supposedly dates within 50 years of the autograph, is there enough time for the
supposed traditio-historical and redaction-critical developments allegedly needed for the growth of the book?
Supporters of the Maccabean dating hypothesis of Daniel will be hard put to explain all of this in their
reconstructions. To express it differently, do the early dates of the fragments from Cave 4 leave enough room
for the developments, editorial and redactional as well as others, that are so often proposed (e.g., Koch
1986:2024)? The verdict seems to be negative, and an earlier date for Daniel than the second century is
unavoidable."

21.2
Another point is that the book of Daniel was already in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures
(commonly known as Old Testament) known as the Septuagint LXX. When was the LXX produced? In the third
century! How can Jews translate a book that was yet to be produced in the 2nd century?

However, the critics would not accept defeat. Their revised position is that chapters 1-6 were written much
earlier (6th century) but the prophetic content (their main target to discredit) was later put in during the 2nd
century.

This theory of multiple authors and editors fall apart with the unity of the book of Daniel recognized by most
scholars, even bible critics.

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21.3
The other bombshell was the rejection of critics of the existence of Belshazzar, who according to the book of
Daniel was the last king of Babylon.

Archaeology came to the rescue of the book of Daniel. What is amazing about this discovery is that Greek
historians who lived so close to the time of Belshazzar - Herodotus (5th century) and Xenophon (4th century) -
don't know him. If the Jewish writer of the book of Daniel wrote it in the 2nd century, 400 years away, as
claimed, how come he knew Belshazzar but historians who are just 100 years away did not?

But the critics won't accept defeat. They still maintain that Daniel was wrong in two counts - describing
Belshazzar as the "last king" and the "son of" Nebuchadnezzar. They claim the truth was he was just a "crown
prince" and was really son of Nabonidus, not Nebuchadnezzar.

The book "Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy" easily discounted this desperate position

"Neither the Hebrew nor the Aramaic language has words for grandfather or grandson; son of can mean
grandson of or even descendant of."

How about the position that Belshazzar was never king as claimed in the book of Daniel? The online resource,
JW.org, has this to say about an archaeological discovery under the subject "BELSHAZZAR"

"An archaeological discovery in northern Syria suggests why this may be the case. In 1979, a life-sized statue
of a ruler of ancient Gozan was unearthed. On its skirt were two inscriptions, one in Assyrian and the other in
Aramaicthe language of the Belshazzar account in Daniel. The two almost identical inscriptions had one
outstanding difference. The text in the imperial Assyrian language says that the statue was of the governor of
Gozan. The text in Aramaic, the language of the local people, describes him as king."

In the book "Pay Attention to Daniel's Prophecy", there is a picture of what is known as "The Verse Account of
Nabonidus" (there is a translation in Wikipedia for this cylinder) where Nabonidus, the father, entrusted the
kingship to his son, Belshazzar.

These alone are very strong defense that the book of Daniel is inspired by Jehovah God. Other online sources
have listed nearly a 100 minor details that bible critics continue to hold on to to discredit the book but were
shown to be baseless.

What does this mean for Bible readers? It means that the future that was revealed to Daniel is sure of
fulfillment.

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22. HOSEA

22.1

As my research into the Bible's story of its production, transmission, translation, and textual criticism, I have
learned many things from many references that enhanced greatly my appreciation for God's Word.
For example, only now did I appreciate why the English Bible's table of content is the way it is. When I open
my Bible, the Hebrew Scripture books (or popularly known as Old Testament) are grouped into the following

1. The Pentateuch (the five books of Moses)
2. Some historical books (from Joshua-Nehemiah)
3. Poetry books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Eccelsiastes, Song of Solomon)
4. The Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah/Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel)
5. The 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea-Malachi)

I found out that the original grouping was not like this. This grouping was based from the Greek translation of
the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) known as Septuagint (LXX). This translation was completed in the 2nd
century BC in Alexandria, Egypt.
In Palestine, the original Hebrew Bible was grouped differently. This is how the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old
Testament in original Hebrew) was grouped

1. The Law or in Hebrew Torah (or the Pentateuch)
2. The Prophets or Nevim (with thre sub-divisions)
a. The Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuels and Kings)
b. The Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel)
c. The 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea-Malachi)
3. The Writings or Ketuvim
a. Psalms, Proverbs and Job
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b. The Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther)
c. Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles

In our present Bibles, our last OT book is Malachi (based on the Septuagint). In the Jewish Hebrew Bible, the
last book is Chronicles. I also noticed that Daniel was not in the list of the Prophets but in the Writings. As a
scroll, the 1 and 2 Samuels were one book, just like the 1 and 2 Kings were one book, as the 1 and 2
Chronicles were.
This is an important context to understand Jesus' statement in Luke 11: 50 where he mentioned from Abel to
Zechariah. Abel is from the book of Genesis and Zechariah is from the book of Chronicles (2 Ch 24:20-22).
This context also helps understand another Jesus' statement in Luke 24:44 where he mentions the grouping
as the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (first book in Writings).
Howevers, most Bibles today has dropped another set of books that were not recognized as originally part of
the Bible. These books are known as apocryphal books. The Hebrew Scriptures in original Hebrew does NOT
have them but the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (or Septuagint) does.
There were several apocryphal books some of which were added to the books of Jeremiah and Daniel. The
Christian Greek Scriptures (or New Testament) also has its own apocryphal books - Gospel of Thomas, Gospel
of Judas, and others.
These apocryphal books were recently hyped in the media as though they contain special messages and
knowledge that were arbitrarily removed from the Bible. But the fact is these books have literally removed
themselves out of the Bible because their content are inferior to the 66 books already accepted, recognized
and used by both the Jewish and Christian communities. This special discipline of determining what is and
what is not part of the Bible is called canon study.
Without a doubt, the 66 books we read from our Bible are the inspired ones because of their content,
accuracy, authenticity and truthfulness. And in my BIble reading, I have begun the last part of the Old
Testament (based from the Septuagint model), with the book of Hosea.

22.2

What stands out with me from reading the book of Hosea are two things which have been highlighted by
many references
1. Jehovah God's love for his people Israel
2. Worship acceptable to God is not based on rituals
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In Hosea 2: 14, I was touched by the inspired expression Jehovah used to decribe his effort to regain
disobedient Israel
"But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there." (New Living Translation)

Here God is describing himself as a suitor and Israel the maiden whose favors he is trying to secure. God
contnues in verse 19
"I will make you my wife forever,
showing you righteousness and justice,
unfailing love and compassion."

How tender is the heavenly Father's love for humans, like the love of a future husband to his future wife! But,
alas, God's love was not returned. This was demonstrated by God using Hosea the prophet as a life drama.
Hosea's wife is Gomer who bore to him one son, Jezreel. But the next children were children out of adultery -
Loruhamah and Lo-ammi. Despite this, to demonstrate the Father's love to Israel, Jehovah God instructed the
prophet in 3: 1
"Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. "
That must be a painful thing to do for Hosea. So it was to Jehovah God.
God told Israel what he wanted to happen (6:6)
"This is because I want faithful love,
not sacrifice.
I want people to know God,
not to bring burnt offerings." (Easy to Read Version)

The form of the verse above is an example of poetry often used by the prophets not just Hosea. It is a form of
parallelism where the two parallels are
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This is because I want faithful love I want people to know God
not sacrifice not to bring burnt offerings

This declaration of Jehovah God belies the claim of the Northern Israelites (8:2)
"They yell out at me, My God, we in Israel know you!" (Easy to Read Version)

In another verse, God continues his counsel not to focus on rituals of worship (10:12)
"f you plant goodness, you will harvest faithful love.
Plow your ground, and you will harvest with the Lord.
He will come, and he will make goodness fall on you like rain." (Easy to Read Version)

In this other verse, Jehovah God let us feel his compassion and love (11:8) in a burst of poetry
"Ephraim, I dont want to give you up.
Israel, I want to protect you.
I dont want to make you like Admah.
I dont want to make you like Zeboiim.
I am changing my mind.
My love for you is too strong."

The Hebrew word used here for "love" is "nichumim". It also denotes compassion or mercy.
But, as we know despite the efforts of a loving God, Israel stood rebellious and experienced the day of
retribution. Admah and Zeboiim were cities that were destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah.
I learned a lot about Jehovah God, our loving heavenly Father, from Hosea.

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23. JOEL

23.1

This time around when I read the Bible, I pay attention to what textual critics call formula or phrases often
used and associated with specific Bible writer. Since I have now been reading into the section of the
prophets, I took notice of the formula or phrase the word of Jehovah that occurred.
I first saw this in Jeremiah (1:2) where it says the word of Jehovah occurred.
Again in Ezekiel (1:3) where it says the word of Jehovah occurred.
Again in Hosea (1:1) where it says the word of Jehovah occurred.
And so again in Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai and Zechariah. It is a formula associated with the prophets.
This tells me that what they are about to write are not their thoughts but Gods.
Based on Appendix A6 of the 2013 New World Translation Bible, the prophet Joel, serving in the South
(Judah) is contemporaneous with the prophets Jonah, who was in Nineveh, and Amos, as prophet in the
North (Israel). This is an important detail because the online encyclopedia Insight on the Scriptures has this
to say about the date that the book was completed
A date after the Babylonian exile would be indicated if Joel (2:32) quoted Obadiah (17). On the other hand,
not only Obadiah but even the much earlier prophet Amos (compare Joe 3:16 with Am 1:2) may have quoted
from Joel.
What struck me from my Bible reading of Joel are the following
1. The imagery of the locust attack
2. The day of Jehovah as illustrated by the valley of Jehoshaphat
The prophet Joel announces the day of Jehovah this way (1: 15)
Woe because of the day!
For the day of Jehovah is
near,
And it will come like a
destruction from the
Almighty!
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And he repeats this in (2:1)
Let all the inhabitants of the
land tremble,
coming! It is near!

These proclamations were finalized at the last chapter with the valley of Jehoshaphat message
Crowds, crowds are in the
valley of the decision,
near in the valley of the
decision.

According to the book Keep Jehovahs Day in Mind, published by Jehovahs Witnesses, regarding this theme
and the prophets
In reading the 12 prophets, you will find that they all, directly or indirectly, spoke of the day of
Jehovah. Thus, before considering in the following chapters the valuable information that these
prophets delivered, think of the recurring theme: the day of Jehovah. Six of the prophets directly
used that expression or similar terms. Joel graphically described the great and fear-inspiring day of
Jehovah. (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2, 30-32) Amos told the Israelites to get ready to meet their God, for the
day of Jehovah would be one of darkness. (Amos 4:12; 5:18) Later, Zephaniah spoke the words
quoted in paragraph 1. And near the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, Obadiah warned: The
day of Jehovah against all the nations is near.Obadiah 15.

One imagery that reminds of another prophets work is found in (3: 18)
Out of the house of Jehovah
a spring will flow

Joels vision predates that of Ezekiel and later in the book of the Apocalypse.
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A language similar to Hosea can be found in this verse where the prophet promotes spirituality rather than
just ritual of worship (2: 13)
Rip apart your hearts,
and not your garments,
And return to Jehovah
your God.
For he is compassionate
and merciful, slow to
anger and abundant in
loyal love.
And he will reconsider the
calamity.

Ripping apart the garment is an ancient custom of expressing sadness and grief. Here the prophet Joel is
emphasizing the spiritual rather than the physical expression of grief.
In the Christian Greek Scriptures (or New Testament), this theme recurs again the proclamation that the
day of the Lord is near. More information can be gleaned from this source about this topic in the New
Testament http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/are-we-living-in-the-last-
days/#?insight[search_id]=452ec8ea-9854-461b-9961-ee6e001a4430&insight[search_result_index]=0

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24. Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah.

24.1

A common formula or phrase found in the books of the prophets is "this is what Jehovah says". This formula
appears in various forms, as illustrated by the following examples

"this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says" (Amos 3:8; 5:3; Obadiah 1:1; Isaiah 49: 22; Ezekiel 3:27; 5:7;
6:11; 7:5; 11:16, 17; 12:10, 28; 13:8, 20; 14:6)

"this is what Jehovah the God of armies, Jehovah says" (Amos 5: 16)

"this is what the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, says" (Isaiah 22: 15)

"this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, says" (Isaiah 30: 15)

"this is what Jehovah the God of Israel says" (Isaiah 37:21; 25: 15; Jeremiah 32: 36; 33: 4; 34: 2, 13; 42: 9; 45:
2)

"this is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel says" (Jeremiah 7:3, 21; 16: 9; 19:3; 27:4; 29:4; 31: 12; 35:
19; 39: 16; 44: 11)

"this is what Jehovah of armies says" (Jeremiah 9: 17; 23: 15, 16; 25: 32; 27: 19; 33: 12)

"this is what Jehovah, the God of armies, the God of Israel, says" (Jeremiah 35: 17)

The list below reflect the titles accompanying God's pronouncements, identifying a specific aspect of Himself

1. Sovereign Lord
2. Holy One of Israel
3. God of Israel
4. God of armies

The theme of God being chief sovereign is common among all the prophets but notably Ezekiel was consistent
in associating this with God. Only Isaiah up to this point identifies Jehovah as Holy One of Israel. And
Jeremiah was consistent in addressing Jehovah as God of armies or Jehovah of armies.

I will make it a further assignment to explore the significance of such associations with respect to the message
they deliver. Jehovah God has chosen to identify himself with specific aspect of his personality for a reason to
each prophet and with a specific message and a specific reaction or reception is expected by God.

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24.2

1. The expression "Sovereign Lord Jehovah" is a translation from the Hebrew of "Adhonai Yehwih". In the Old
Testament, it appears 285 times according to the online encyclopedia "Insight". That reference talks about
God's supreme authority "Jehovah God is the Sovereign of the universe (sovereign of the world, Ps 47:9, Mo)
by reason of his Creatorship, his Godship, and his supremacy as the Almighty. (Ge 17:1; Ex 6:3; Re 16:14) He
is the Owner of all things and the Source of all authority and power, the Supreme Ruler in government. (Ps
24:1; Isa 40:21-23; Re 4:11; 11:15) The psalmist sang of him: Jehovah himself has firmly established his
throne in the very heavens; and over everything his own kingship has held domination. (Ps 103:19; 145:13) "

And with respect to the Hebrew word, the same reference writes

"The ending ai added to the Hebrew word adhohn is a different form of the plural of excellence. When
Adhonai appears without an additional suffix in Hebrew, it is used exclusively of Jehovah and indicates that
he is the Sovereign Lord. According to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1986, Vol. 3, p. 157),
the form highlights the power and sovereignty of Yahweh as Lord. Its use by men in addressing him
suggests submissive acknowledgment of that great fact.Ge 15:2, 8; De 3:24; Jos 7:7."

2. The expression "Holy One of Israel" is used 25 times by the prophet Isaiah to Jehovah God. It was in the
writings of Isaiah that one reads the vision extolling Jehovah as holy three times.

3. The reference to Jehovah as the "God of Israel" have been taken by some Bible scholars as an indication
that Jehovah is a tribal god. In May 2001 issue of the Awake! magazine, the following was cited

"This expression has led some to believe that he was merely a local tribal god whom the Hebrews either
borrowed from another culture or invented for themselves. [Jehovah] began life as a very aggressive tribal
deity of the Israelites, claims Karen Armstrong, writer of the book A History of God. Later, the prophets of
Israel . . . , in about the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., made this tribal God a symbol for the absolutely
indescribable reality."

It continues the point

"The Bible acknowledges the intimate association of Jehovah with the Israelite nation. But this is no reason to
consider him a mere tribal god. The Christian apostle Paul asked: Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not
also of people of the nations? Pauls clear answer? Yes, of people of the nations also. (Romans 3:29) Who
was the God that Paul referred to? Well, in this same letter to the Romans, the name Jehovah appears 19
times. The apostle, quoting the ancient Hebrew prophet Joel, noted that not just the Jews but everyone who
calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.Romans 10:13; Joel 2:32.

4. The expression "God of armies" is expounded on by the same reference

"Jehovah is a manly person of war, the God of armies, and mighty in battle. (Ex 15:3; 2Sa 5:10; Ps 24:8,
10; Isa 42:13) Not only has he the right as Creator and Supreme Sovereign of the universe but he is also
obligated by justice to execute or authorize execution of the lawless, to war against all obstinate ones who
refuse to obey his righteous laws. Jehovah was therefore just in wiping out the wicked at the time of the Flood,
in destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, and in bringing destruction upon Pharaohs forces.Ge 6:5-7, 13, 17;
19:24; Ex 15:4, 5; compare 2Pe 2:5-10; Jude 7."

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From the book "Draw Closer to Jehovah" it writes about this title

"Nearly three hundred times in the Hebrew Scriptures and twice in the Christian Greek Scriptures, God is given
the title Jehovah of armies. (1 Samuel 1:11) As Sovereign Ruler, Jehovah commands a vast army of angelic
forces. (Joshua 5:13-15; 1 Kings 22:19) The destructive potential of this army is awesome."

When Isaiah identified God as the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, God was declaring a judgment against
Shebna,

"I will depose you from your position and throw you out of your service."

Compare with Jeremiah, the judgment pronouncement from God who identified himself as "Jehovah of armies,
the God of Israel" with

"Reform your ways and your actions, and I will allow you to keep residing in this place."

In another strong condemnation, Jeremiah introduces God's judgment as coming from "Jehovah of armies"
these words

"Here I am making them (the false prophets) eat wormwood, and giving them poisoned water to drink. For from
the prophets of Jerusalem apostasy has spread throughout the land."

Most of the prophets have proclaimed condemnation against several nations, Bible scholars call this "oracles
to the nations".

Of the prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Amos were the main prophets. They delivered condemnation against
many nations and peoples - Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Syria, Tyre (Phoenicia), Edom, Ammon, Moab, Israel
(North) and Judah (South).

Other prophets were more focused on their judgment proclamations. Obadiah prophesied only against Edom.
Nahum, Zephaniah and Micah mainly against Assyria and Judah/Israel.

Today, the fulfillment of their prophecies are testified by archaeology of the long gone, disappeared
civilizations.

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25. AMOS

In my effort to understand the prophecies and judgments in Amos, I consulted for background the Appendix
A6 of the 2013 NWT Bible and saw that his prophesying was way before the fall of Samaria and Judah or pre-
exilic.
Yet, in 1:6, Amos passed judgment on Gaza for turning over a group of exiles over to Edom. A check on the
JW.org web site yielded this information, citing the online encyclopedia, "Insight"
"Although the exiles are not specifically identified as Hebrews, likely the allusion is to captives taken by the
Philistines in raids on Judah.Compare 2Ch 21:16, 17; Joe 3:4-6."
The Chronicles account reports the incursions of Philistines into Israelite territory and Joel, a contemporary
prophet of Amos, reports judgments against the Philistines invasions into Israelite territory. That makes
sense.
In 1:9, Tyre was chastised for "not remembering the covenant of brothers". A check again on the JW.org web
site yielded for me this information
"Why was Tyre destroyed? On account of three revolts of Tyre, . . . on account of their handing over a
complete body of exiles to Edom, and because they did not remember the covenant of brothers. And I will
send a fire onto the wall of Tyre. (Amos 1:9, 10) In earlier times, King Hiram of Tyre showed goodwill toward
David and supplied materials for Solomons temple. Solomon made a covenant with Hiram and gave him
cities in Galilee. Hiram called Solomon my brother. (1 Kings 5:1-18; 9:10-13, 26-28; 2 Samuel 5:11) When
Tyre did not remember the covenant of brothers and sold some of Gods people into slavery, Jehovah took
note of Tyres dealings."
This was citing the information from the book "Keep Jehovah's Day in Mind".
Many of his other prophetic declarations are not yet confirmed today from the point of view of archaeology
such as the reference to Moab burning "the bones of the kings of Edom for lime" (2:1)
I found the judgments on parents against their attitude towards the choice of their sons to be Nazirites and
prophets illustrative of similar attitudes today. Amos wrote that Jehovah God raised up some of the sons to
be Nazirites and prophets but it was the parents who kept the sons from taking up the call. Amos writes
(2:11,12)
"But you kept giving the
Nazirites wine to drink.
And you commanded the
prophets: "You must not
prophesy."
Apparently materialism has captured the hearts of the prosperous Israelites, enjoying what Amos referred to
as "houses of hewn stone" and "beds of ivory". JW.org pointed me to an article on the Highlights of Amos,
and commented on this verse
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"We should not discourage hardworking pioneers, traveling overseers, missionaries, or members of the
Bethel family by urging them to give up their full-time service for a so-called normal way of life. On the
contrary, we should encourage them to keep up their good work."
This comment was actually sourced from a previous study article of the Watchtower dated Nov. 15, 2004.
Another important verse familiar to me is in (3:7) where Jehovah God does not go ahead and does whatever
He wanted without first coordinating with his prophets. This has been God's pattern since the days of
Abraham. In Genesis, Moses wrote about Jehovah (18:17)
"Am I keeping hidden from Abraham what I am going to do?"
Then, later, Jehovah discloses his purposes regarding Sodom and Gomorrah.
The messages of Amos are just like his contemporary, the prophet Joel, in encouraging the Israelites to return
to Jehovah (5:6)
"Search for Jehovah, and
keep living,
So that he does not burst
out like a fire on the house
of Joseph."

The same global educational work today is carried out by Jehovah's Witnesses voluntarily in various ways to
help bring back people back to God.
Otherwise, the day of Jehovah will be upon them. Amos describes the day of Jehovah this way (5:18, 19)
"It will be darkness, and not
light.
It will be like a man who
flees from a lion and is
confronted by a bear.
And when he enters his
house and leans his hand
against the wall, a snake
bites him."

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Just like other prophets, Amos faced opposition. This is the only portion that contained prose in his prophetic
book. Most are in poetic format which is presented in the 2013 NWT Bible, a major change from the 1984
NWT edition.
Amos said that he was not a prophet or a son of a prophet.
One article made this commentary on the different English translations and what they imply
That raises a translation question. The question has to do with what Amos is saying here and how are we to
understand what he is saying, which brings up an ambiguity in the Hebrew text. Theres no verb there. Amos
answered and said to Amaziah, lo nabi anni. Literally, Not prophet I. Not prophet I and not son of a
prophet I. Now if you look at translations of that, you have to supply the verb to be. Do you supply the
verb to be in the present tense or the past tense? The New American Standard is present tense. I am no
prophet, neither am I a prophets son, but I am a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. But if you look
at the King James and the NIV they translate it past tense with the verb to be. For the supplied verb I was
no prophet, neither was I a prophets son, but I was a herdsman, a gatherer of sycamore fruit. The Berkley
Version has both there. I am neither a prophet nor a son of a prophet but I was a herdsman, a gatherer of a
sycamore tree. Whats the difference in meaning in what Amos is saying if you translate it with the present
tense or the past tense? That may appear to be inconsequential in what they were saying. I think it makes a
significant difference in meaning. Those who suggest a past tense like King James and NIV understand Amos
to be saying he has not made himself a prophet, but God called him to the task. I was not a prophet, I
wasnt a prophets son, I was a herdsman, and then you go down to verse 15, But the LORD took me from
tending the flock and the LORD said to me, Go, prophesy. So I wasnt a prophet but the Lord called me and
I became a prophet. Thats basically what he says. So Amos is not denying hes a prophet, hes only saying I
wasnt that originally. Originally I was a farmer.
But if you translate it present tense that puts a different meaning on what Amos is saying.
Remember, Amos is really responding to that statement of the priest in verse 12: Earn your bread there. Go
back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Amos isnt receiving
anything, and hes responding to that. If you translate it in the present tense sense, I am not a prophet, I am
not a prophets son I think then what Amos is saying to Amaziah is, I am not a prophet in the sense that you
understand. That is I am not a prophet in the sense that I am somebody who prophesies in order to earn
my livelihood. As far as Amaziah is concerned, thats what a prophet is: somebody whos in it for what he
can get from it. But Amos responds I think by saying, I am not that kind of, prophet, and Im not the son of
a prophet. Im not the member of one of these prophetic companies. Because I dont need to do that for my
livelihood. I am a herdsman. Im a gatherer or grower of sycamore figs; I can sustain myself. I dont prophesy
for material advantage. But the Lord came to me and said, Go take this message up there, go prophesy.
Now if you translate it like that then in that present tense I think what is going on here is Amaziah has made
this statement that clearly presupposes that prophets are in the business for money. Go back to the land of
Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. And Amos responds, Im not that. Im a
herdsman, I dont need to earn my living by prophesying. I dont prophesy for monetary gain.
Now if thats the way you read this it suggests a couple of things. I think it suggests that in those days
prophesying had come to be understood as a certain type of profession or livelihoodseems to me thats
what Amaziah understood there. Secondly, I think its suggesting that Amos wanted to make it very clear:
Im not that kind of a prophet. Amos is not denying hes a prophet in the proper sense of the word, but
what he is saying is, I have nothing to do with the prophets with which both he and Amaziah were familiar
with: these kinds of people that prophesied what the king or somebody else wanted to hear in order to get
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whatever benefit they could derive from that.
Here the NIV uses the past tense. There is whats called the TNIV out now if any of you are familiar
with thatthat is a revision of the NIV. It still is past, but the TNIV reads, I was neither a prophet, nor the
disciple of a prophet. In other words I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, the prophets son.
It now says, I was neither a prophet nor the disciple of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I took care of
sycamore fig trees. So theyre still in the past tense with the TNIV.
The Jewish Publication Society version is present tense. Its like the NASB. And I think thats to be
preferred. It says, I am not a prophet and I am not a prophets disciplethey use that same expression,
prophets disciple. I am a cattle breeder. There ishave any of you ever come across the Oxford
University Press Jewish Study Bible? Theres a Jewish Study Bible out much like the NIV Study Bible but from
a Jewish perspective published by Oxford Press. The note in the Jewish Study Bible which uses the Jewish
Publication Society Version for the translation says, Amos maintains he is not a professional prophet that he
may be hired for his services and thus bought. Now I think they got it right. In verse 12 when he says, I am
not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, Amos maintains he is not a professional prophet who may be hired
for his services and thus bought. So the canonical prophets are distinguished from these companies. You
have no reference of any of the canonical prophets being a part of one of these companies and it seems to
me that Amos is making this explicit. He does not want to be a family with the company of the prophets or
with a kind of prophet who was in it for profit.

And just like the other prophets that will follow after him, his prophecy ended with promise of restoration,
the bringing together again of the captives back into Israel.
An earthquake was mentioned by Amos before he started prophesying. An online article, "The Scientific and
Scriptural Impact of Amos' Earthquake" by Steven Austin, Ph. D, says about this earthquake
"Earthquake evidence is seen prominently at Hazor, Israel's largest ancient city. In excavations beginning in
1955 by archaeologist Yigael Yadin, twenty-two successive cities were discovered to have been built on top of
each other. Excavations in Hazor's Stratum VI revealed tilted walls, inclined pillars, and collapsed houses. In
the Iron Age building called "Ya'el's House" within Stratum VI, objects of daily use were found beneath the
fallen ceiling. General southward collapse within Stratum VI argues that the earthquake waves were
propagated from the north. After more than 50 years of excavations at Hazor, earthquake damage continues
to be revealed in even some of the strongest architecture."
The earthquake is estimated to be intensity 7.8 or more likely 8.2 citing the International Geology Review
article.

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26. OBADIAH

Obadiah was a prophet during the fall of Jerusalem. Samaria has already fallen and is already history. His is
one of the shortest prophetic writing with one chapter and focused only on the judgment on Edom. Many
other prophets before him, already prophesied against Edom - contemporaries Joel and Amos, and Obadiah
contemporaries Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
He writes about Edom (1:3)
"The presumptuousness of
your heart has deceived
you,
You who reside in the
retreats of the crag.
Dwelling in the height,
saying in your heart,
'Who will bring me down to
the earth?"

And Obadiah writes about the reason (1:10)
"Because of the violence done
to your brother Jacob."

Amos wrote about this too (1: 11, 12)
"Because he pursued his own
brother with the sword,
And because he refused to
show mercy."

Obadiah details some of the things that Edomites did against the Israelites during the fall of Jerusalem - they
gloated over the fall, they participated in ransacking the wealth, he slaughtered the escapees, and handed
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over some of them to the Babylonians.
The judgment has been passed for Edom (1: 18)
"And there will be no survivor
of the house of Esau."
Just like the other prophets, restoration prophecy is also included for Judah.

Edom is an important study and their historical confirmation is a source of conflict between the Minimalist
archaeologists (like Israel Finkelstein) and the Maximalists (Bible believing) archaeologists. Just as the Graf-
Wellhausen critical scholars found their theory lost its shine, the Minimalists continue to face refutations
from new finds.
One archaeological discovery reported in 2009 was hailed as a milestone in proving the Bible's authenticity
and historicity with respect to Edom. In one news report from The Globe and Mail, it says about the discovery
in the site Khirbat en-Nahas
"They firmly established that occupation of the site began in the 11th century BC and a monumental fortress
was built in the 10th century BC, supporting the argument for existence of an Edomite state at least 200
years earlier than had been assumed.
What is particularly exciting about their find is that it implies the existence of an Edomite state at the time
the Bible says King David and his son Solomon ruled over a powerful united kingdom of Israel and Judah."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/archeologist-unearths-biblical-controversy/article868167/
In another report, the Minimalist reponse was given
"Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University and a leading proponent of the low-chronology
model, has said the new research does "not shed new light on the question of state formation in Edom." He
argues that perhaps the copper operations were controlled by chieftains in Beersheba, to the west, and
supplied material for urban centers west and north of Edom.
Levy and Najjar said their excavations showed that "this image of external control is not convincing."
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/21_edom.html
Thomas Levy, the lead archaeologist of the site Khirbat en-Nahas (KEN) responded to criticisms against his
work
"From our understanding, this single seal impression (referring to the basis for the likes of Finkeltein to claim
that Edom does not exist on the time the Bible says they did-comment mine), which can apparently be dated
absolutely based on Assyrian epigraphic data, served as the single chronological anchor for dating the Iron
Age pottery of Edom. We would suggest that one anchor is not sufficient and that radiocarbon dating
projects, like the one at KEN can provide a more objective framework for establishing the much needed
chronological ladder to test theories about history and anthropology in Edom."
http://www.wadiarabahproject.man.ac.uk/titlepage/news/Antiquity/Response-KEN.pdf
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That was the source of the controversy here, the use of radiocarbon dating. Levy cited this in his technical
report
"The excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas, the largest Iron Age copper production centre in the southern Levant,
have provided the first stratified radiocarbon dates from the Biblical region of Edom. "

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27. JONAH

According to historical timeline as listed in the Appendix A6 of the 2013 NWT, Jonah appeared as a prophet
just after the lifetime services of Elijah and Elishah. He is one of the first prophets to write his "book" of all
the prophets after Moses in the Bible.
For some readers, the book of Jonah is an incredible story that it is easy to dismiss it as fiction rather than a
true story. The key issues are
1. Nineveh repenting on the call of a foreign prophet
2. The dimension of the city of Nineveh is exaggerated by Jonah
3. Jonah surviving inside a great fish

1. On Ninevites repenting, the JW.org has this to say
"Some critics think it incredible that the Ninevites, including the king, responded to Jonahs preaching. (Jon
3:5-9) In this regard the remarks of commentator C. F. Keil are of interest: The powerful impression made
upon the Ninevites by Jonahs preaching, so that the whole city repented in sackcloth and ashes, is quite
intelligible, if we simply bear in mind the great susceptibility of Oriental races to emotion, the awe of one
Supreme Being which is peculiar to all the heathen religions of Asia, and the great esteem in which
soothsaying and oracles were held in Assyria from the very earliest times . . . ; and if we also take into
calculation the circumstance that the appearance of a foreigner, who, without any conceivable personal
interest, and with the most fearless boldness, disclosed to the great royal city its godless ways, and
announced its destruction within a very short period with the confidence so characteristic of the God-sent
prophets, could not fail to make a powerful impression upon the minds of the people, which would be all the
stronger if the report of the miraculous working of the prophets of Israel had penetrated to Nineveh.
Commentary on the Old Testament, 1973, Vol. X, Jonah 3:9, pp. 407, 408."
2. On Jonah walking for three days across Nineveh, the JW.org has this to say
"This Biblical description is not controverted by archaeological evidence. Observed Andr Parrot, Curator-in-
Chief of the French National Museums:
Just as today, that part of London which lies within its ancient boundary is very different from what is called
greater Londona term which includes the suburbs and denotes a much larger areaso it may be that
people who lived far away from Assyria understood by the word Nineveh what is now known as the
Assyrian triangle . . . , which stretches from Khorsabad in the north to Nimrud in the south, and, with an
almost unbroken string of settlements, covers a distance of some twenty-six miles. . . .
Felix Jones estimated that the population of Nineveh might have numbered 174,000 persons, and quite
recently, in his excavations at Nimrud, M. E. L. Mallowan discovered a stele of Ashurnazirpal on which it is
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recorded that he invited to a banquet the fabulous number of 69,574 guests. Mallowan considers that,
allowing for foreigners, the population of Kalakh (Nimrud) might have been 65,000. But Nineveh is twice the
area of Nimrud, and thus it may be reckoned that the figure in Jonah 4.11 is indirectly confirmed.Nineveh
and the Old Testament, 1955, pp. 85, 86; see JONAH No. 1; JONAH, BOOK OF.
3. On Jonah getting swallowed by a "great fish", JW. org web site has this to say citing the online
encyclopedia, "Insight"
"Of course, it should be remembered that the Bible simply states that Jehovah appointed a great fish to
swallow Jonah, the kind of fish not being named. (Jon 1:17) There definitely are sea creatures capable of
swallowing a man, among them being the white shark and the sperm whale."
Another reference cited in the site said this
"Its mouth can be up to four feet [1.4 m] wide, easily capable of swallowing a man. But far from being a
ferocious predator of other large sea creatures, this gentle giant feeds on tiny plankton and small fish.
The whale sharks unusual digestive anatomy, reported National Geographic magazine, lends itself to
Jonah stories, referring to the Biblical incident about the prophet Jonah being swallowed by a great fish.
Whale sharks have a nonviolent way of getting rid of large objects of dubious digestibility they swallow
accidentally.Jonah 1:17; 2:10
The story of Jonah shows the merciful and compassionate aspect of Jehovah God's personality. He was willing
to continue using a prophet that went away from before him instead of doing the task he assigns, even
teaching him to be merciful as well.
It also illustrates how Jehovah God is not a tribal god, god only of the Israelites. He is the Sovereign Lord of
all.
I also noticed that Jonah used the barest form of formula using "the word of Jehovah came to", without
combining it with other titles as the other prophets do. He uses the very basic "Jehovah said".

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28. MICAH

The prophet Micah was contemporary of the prophets Hosea and Isaiah.
His prophecy opens with a judgment against Samaria (1:6)
"I will make Samaria a heap
of ruins in the field."

But the problem is not Israel (North) exclusively, Micah writes (1:9)
"The plague has spread to
the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem."

So the judgments were to both Israel (North) and Judah (South).
He prophesied during the reign of one of the wicked kings of Judah, Ahaz. JW.org citing an online
encyclopedia, "Insight", writes about Ahaz
"Despite the fact that Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah all actively prophesied during Ahaz time, rank idolatry
marked his reign. He not only allowed it among his subjects but also personally and regularly engaged in
pagan sacrificing, to the extent of offering up his own son(s) in fire in the Valley of Hinnom. (2Ki 16:3, 4; 2Ch
28:3, 4)"

The leaders of Israel and Judah were described by Micah as (3:11)
"Her leaders judge for a
bribe,
Her priests instruct for a
price,
And her prophets practice
divination for money."

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Thus, the resulting judgment (3:12)
"Zion will be plowed up as
a field,
Jerusalem will become
heaps of ruins."

But, Micah has beautiful prophecies too about restoration of worship "in the final part of the days". He
shares with his contemporary Isaiah the words below
"They will beat their swords
into plowshares
And their spears into
pruning shears.
Nation will not lift up sword
against nation.
Nor will they learn war
anymore."

It is heart-warming to see this prophecy fulfilled today with lovers of Jehovah from various nations.
Micah also contributed to one of the many Messianic prophecy. His was the prophecy of the birthplace of the
Messiah, in Bethlehem.
Just like the other prophets, Micah promoted spirituality over rituals. It was his words (6: 8) we find the
following
"He has told you, O man,
what is good.
And what is Jehovah
requiring of you?
Only to exercise justice,
to cherish loyalty,
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And to walk in modestly
with your God!"

His words are also alluded to by Jesus when he later spoke about "a man's enemies are the men of his own
household" (7:6).
Micah also owned the powerful picture of God's forgiveness in his words (7:19)
"He will again show us
mercy; he will conquer
our errors.
You will throw all their
sins into the depths of
the sea."

One article citing an archaeological study of the city of Hazor, citing "Socioeconomic stratification in an
Israelite city: Hazor VI as a test case", Levant 31, no. 1 (1999) pages 179-190, writes
"Avraham Faust believes that archeological evidence found at Hazor Stratum VI indicates that there was
socioeconomic stratification in 8th Century BCE Israel. By analyzing houses using various criteria, such as area
of the houses, quality of construction, use of common walls, and location of the dwellings, Faust is able to
identify three types of structures that existed in this village. The first is the luxurious buildings that were
inhabited by the rich. The second type is the typical Israelite four room structure, which were likely the
houses of the bourgeois. The last type is the small, poorly constructed houses, built without any cohesive
construction plan, and maximizing the use of every single wall and room, likely inhabited by a poor class.
Faust proposes the existence of three social classes in Hazor, each living in their own area with their own
type of house."

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29. NAHUM

Nahum would be remembered most for his prophecy against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.
Samaria has long fallen at the hands of the Assyrians. Judah is experiencing the dominance of this powerful
empire with Manasseh even captured and brought to Babylon.
Nahum has internal data to based the date of his writing although the Graf-Wellhausen scholars would like to
put him just like the others in post-exilic time. Regarding this data, JW.org cites this
"Sometime after the Egyptian city of No-amon (Thebes) suffered humiliating defeat in the seventh century
B.C.E. (3:8-10), the book of Nahum was committed to writing, being completed before Ninevehs foretold
destruction came in 632 B.C.E."
It would have been comforting to hear from Nahum at this time word like the ones below (1:7)
"Jehovah is good, a strong-
hold in the day of distress.
He is mindful of those
seeking refuge in him."

And with the reassuring words below (1: 15) regarding their future relative to Assyria
"Look! On the mountains are
the feet of one bringing
good news,
The one proclaiming peace.
Celebrate your festivals,
O Judah, pay your vows,
For the worthless one wo;;
never pass through you
again.
He will utterly be destroyed."

Nahum described some of the ways Nineveh will be destroyed (3: 13, 15)
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"Fire will consume the bars
of your gates...
Even there fire will consume
you."
JW.org adds this detail about the fulfillment of Nahum's prophecy
"Their prophecies were fulfilled when the combined forces of Nabopolassar the king of Babylon and of
Cyaxares the Mede besieged and captured Nineveh. The city was evidently subjected to burning, for many
Assyrian reliefs show damage or stain from fire and accompanying smoke. With reference to Nineveh, a
Babylonian chronicle reports: They carried off the vast booty of the city and the temple (and) *turned+ the
city into a ruin heap. (Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, by A. Grayson, 1975, p. 94; PICTURE, Vol. 1, p.
958) "
But the words of Nahum are bold in an era when the Assyrians don't take lightly blasphemy against their gods
and themselves. One article about them refers to an inscription on the palace walls
"One Particular relief would have caught his attention. On it, Elamite captives are shown being tortured. The
caption above stated, Mr. (blank) and Mr. (blank) spoke great insults against Assur, the god, my creator.
Their tongues I tore out, their skins I flayed (Russell 1999:180; Gerardi 1988:31). These two individuals are
identified in Ashurbanipals annals as Mannu-ki-ahhe and Nabuusalli (Russell 1999:163)."
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/05/28/nahum2c-nineveh-and-those-nasty-
assyrians.aspx#Article
Regarding their wealth this same site writes
"Nineveh was the Fort Knox of mid-seventh century BC Mesopotamia. On every Assyrian campaign they
removed the silver, gold and precious stones and other items from the cities they sacked. When they bragged
about the booty that was taken, silver and gold always topped the list. As an example, after the fall of No-
Amon (Thebes), Ashurbanipal bragged that he took:
Silver, gold, precious stones, the goods of his palace, all there was, brightly colored and linen garments, great
horses, the people, male and female, two tall obelisks...I removed from their positions and carried them off
to Assyria. Heavy plunder, and countless, I carried away from Ni *Thebes+ (Luckenbill 1989, 2:296, 778)."
This reminds us of the word of Nahum (2: 9)
"Plunder silver, plunder gold!
There is no end to the
treasures.
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It is stocked with all sorts
of precious things."
Regarding lions and the mention of them in Nahum, the site comments
"The book of Nahum sets forth an ironic reversal of the Assyrian usage of the lion motif. Gordon Johnston has
observed.
"The extended lion metaphor in Nahum 2:1113 includes the two major varieties of the Neo-Assyrian lion
motif: the depiction of the Assyrian king and his warriors as mighty lions, and the royal lion hunt theme.
While the Assyrians kept these two motifs separate, Nahum dovetailed the two, but in doing so he also
reversed their original significance. While the Assyrian warriors loved to depict themselves as mighty lions
hunting their prey, Nahum pictured them as lions that would be hunted down. The Assyrian kings also
boasted that they were mighty hunters in royal lion hunts; Nahum pictured them as the lions being hunted in
the lion hunt. By these reversals Nahum created an unexpected twist on Assyrian usage. According to Nahum
the Assyrians were like lions, to be sure; however, not in the way that they depicted themselves; rather than
being like lions on the prowl for prey, the hunters would become the hunted! (2001:304)."

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30. HABAKKUK

Habakkuk is one of those prophets that have freely asked Jehovah God a series of 'Why' questions. And
JW.org site infers from the internal text of the book of Habakkuk that the book was written before the fall of
Jerusalem in this way
"The statement Jehovah is in his holy temple (Hab 2:20) and the note that follows Habakkuk 3:19 (To the
director on my stringed instruments) indicate that Habakkuk prophesied before the temple built by Solomon in
Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 B.C.E. "
A key prophecy of Habakkuk begins with his mention of Chaldeans (1:6)
"For here I am raising up
the Chaldeans,
The ruthless and impetuous
nation.
They sweep through vasts
stretch of the earth
To seize home not theirs."
It is interesting to note that the Graf-Wellhausen scholars think the word "Chaldeans" is really a corruption and
some scholars from that camp think it should be the "Greeks" precisely because to them all OT books were
written during the Greek's domination of Palestine. But this has no evidence to back it up. This position was
criticized in one article in Biblica Vol. 8 No. 2 under the title "Chaldeans or Macedonians?: A Recent Theory on
the Prophecy of Habakkuk".
But before Habakkuk mentioned this, he already got a preview of how his countrymen will receive this, so
(1:5)
"For something will happen
in your days
That you will not believe
even if it is told to you."

Jw.org citing the online encyclopedia, "Insight", has this to say
"On the other hand, in the early part of Jehoiakims reign, Judah was within the Egyptian sphere of influence
(2Ki 23:34, 35), and this could also be a time when Gods raising up of the Chaldeans to punish the wayward
inhabitants of Judah would be to them an activity they would not believe, though it was related. (Hab 1:5, 6)
Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Necho at Carchemish in 625 B.C.E., in the fourth year of
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King Jehoiakims reign. (Jer 46:2) So, Habakkuk may have prophesied and recorded the prophecy before that
event, possibly completing the writing thereof about 628 B.C.E. in Judah. The use of the future tense regarding
the Chaldean threat evidently indicates a date earlier than Jehoiakims vassalship to Babylon (620-
618 B.C.E.).2Ki 24:1."
One reference work, Expositor's Bible Commentary agrees
"Kleinert and Von Orelli date it before the battle of Carchemish, 605, in which the Chaldean Nebuchadrezzar
wrested from Egypt the Empire of the Western Asia, on the ground that after that Habakkuk could not have
called a Chaldean invasion of Judah incredible. [Habakkuk 1:5] But Kuenen, Driver, Kirkpatrick, Wildeboer,
and Davidson date it after Carchemish. To Driver it must be immediately after, and before Judah became
alarmed at the consequences to herself."

Habakkuk waited on Jehovah like a watchman for he says (2:1)
"And I will station myself
on the rampart.
I will keep watch to see
what he will speak by
means of me
And what I will reply when
I am reproved."

This is just before Jehovah God responded back on the vision of the Chaldeans (2:3)
"For the vision is yet for its
appointed time,
And it is rushing toward its
end, and it will not lie.
Even if it should delay,
keep in expectation of it!
For it will without fail come
true.
It will not be late!"

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And as we know by 607 BC, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians (Chaldeans). A 1977 Watchtower
article comments
"There was no question about the fact that the Chaldeans would be the means for executing judgment upon
unfaithful Judah. What had been revealed to Habakkuk was panting or eagerly moving forward to its
fulfillment."

There are many important Bible truths found in his book
1. Jehovah does not die (1:12)
2. The righteous will live by his faithfulness (2:4)
3. He shares the word of Isaiah (2:14)

And despite fearing the approaching trouble, Habakkuk who lives byhis faith, resolved to trust in Jehovah no
matter what. This is an important attitude that Christians today needs to learn to adopt as per biblical
prophecies we are already living in a period of time the Bible calls "the last days". When this "last days" end,
the "day of Jehovah" begins. Just like in Habakkuk, the vision of the "day of Jehovah" will without fail come
true.

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31. ZEPHANIAH

Zephaniah and Nahum were probably contemporaries at a time when the Assyrians are declining from the
world scene and before King Josiah has started his reform. At this time, the kingdom of Israel (North) is
already gone, destroyed by the Assyrians.
Of all the prophets, Zephaniah traces his lineage from the royal family of Judah.
His pronouncement of judgments exposes the spiritual condition in Judah (1:4)
"And I will wipe out from
this place every vestige
of Baal,
The name of the foreign-god
priests along with the
priests."

Zephaniah then declares the "day of Jehovah" (1:7)
"Be silent before the Sover-
eign Lord Jehovah, for the
day of Jehovah is near."

and he adds (1:12)
"At that time I will carefully
search Jerusalem with
lamps,
And I will call to account
the complacent ones,
who say in their heart,
'Jehovah will not do good.,
and he will not do bad.'"
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Towards the end of his book, Zephaniah lists some of the evil things, Judean leaders are doing against
Jehovah (3:3, 4)
"Her princes within her are
roaring lions.
Her judges are wolves in the
night;
They do not leave even a bone
to gnaw until morning.
Her prophets are insolent,
treacherous men.
Her priests defile what is
holy.
They do violence to the law."

Zephaniah describes what the "day of Jehovah" will mean for those who rebel against God (1: 15)
"That day is a day of fury,
A day of distress and
anguish,
A day of storm and
desolation.
A day of darkness and
gloom,
A day of clouds, and thick
gloom."

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Zephaniah noted Judean wealth, silver and gold, will not save them in that day. What then is the safe way?
He writes (2: 3)
"Seek Jehovah, all you meek
ones of the earth,
Who observe his righteous
decrees,
Seek righteousness, seek
meekness.
Probably you will be
concealed on the day
of Jehovah's anger."

Zephaniah also prophesied against specific peoples, including Moab, Ammon,Philistines, Ethiopians, and
Assyria. With respect to Assyria, he writes (2:13)
"He will stretch out his hand
toward the north and
destroy Assyria,
And he will make Nineveh
desolate, as dry as a
desert."

His book ends with restoration prophecies just like the other prophets.
One of the most beautiful prophecy in his book is as follows (3:9)
"For then I will change the
language of the peoples
to a pure language,
So that all of them may call
on the name of Jehovah,
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To serve him shoulder to
shoulder."

Some scholars, like Susan Pearson who wrote the article, "Zephaniah: A Plagiarist or a Skilled Orator?,
commented about the prophet
"What he lacked in grace and charm, he in some measure atoned for by the vigour and clarity of his speech.
He realized the approaching terror so keenly that he was able to present it vividly and convincingly to his
hearers. No prophet has made the picture of the day of Yahweh more real."
Her objective for writing this article was
"We will attempt to show that Zephaniah borrowed from other sources for legitimate reasons, not because
he did not know how to produce an original piece of effective communication, and that precisely by
borrowing, he succeeded in producing a masterful piece of communication."
At JW.org, citing the online encyclopedia, "Insight", this feature of Zephaniah's material was noted
"Often the thoughts expressed in this book find a parallel in other parts of the Bible. (Compare Zep 1:3 with Ho
4:3; Zep 1:7 with Hab 2:20 and Zec 2:13; Zep 1:13 with De 28:30, 39 and Am 5:11; Zep 1:14 with Joe 1:15;
and Zep 3:19 with Mic 4:6, 7.) It harmonizes completely with the rest of the Scriptures in emphasizing vital
truths. For example: Jehovah is a God of righteousness. (Zep 3:5; De 32:4) Although providing opportunity for
repentance, he does not indefinitely allow transgression to go unpunished. (Zep 2:1-3; Jer 18:7-11; 2Pe
3:9, 10) Neither silver nor gold can deliver wicked persons in the day of Jehovahs fury. (Zep 1:18; Pr 11:4; Eze
7:19) To be favored with divine protection, a person must conduct himself in harmony with Gods righteous
judgments.Zep 2:3; Am 5:15."

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32. HAGGAI

Haggai was the first of the last three prophets of the Bible period, post-exilic, that is after the Jews returned
to Judea from Babylon under the program of Cyrus of Persia.
His prophesying began in 520 BC, "the second year of King Darius" per Haggai 1:1.
According to some references, before Darius Hystaspis came to the throne, the Persian empire was in trouble
due to the "chaotic reign of Cambyses", the son of Cyrus. That reference wrote regarding the ascension of
Darius
"His mysterious death was followed by an attempted usurpation of the Persian throne by Gaumata, an
official who claimed to be a brother of Cambyses hitherto thought to be dead. Before Gaumata could seize
control he was assassinated by Darius Hystaspes and some collaborators, and Darius placed himself in power
on September 29, 522."

According to the reference, Darius enforced a Pax Persiaca (Persian Peace), across the empire. This provided
an opportunity for the rebuilding of the temple.
This same reference questions the Graf-Wellhausen approach in sub-dividing the text and attributing it to
many "hands" (or editors or redactors that compiled the book)
"His (Wolff) efforts to isolate its stages and the specific contributions of each hand smack of the kind of
special pleading inherent in source analysis of any kind. There is nothing in the style, form, vocabulary, and
content of the book of Haggai that precludes it from having come entirely as it stands from the prophet
himself."

In terms of the content ever changing over time because of the numerous copying across centuries, the
reference says
"The study of Haggai is largely unencumbered by the problem of textual variation since the ancient
manuscripts and versions differ little from the Masoretic tradition."

The prophet Haggai frequently uses the formula "Jehovah of armies" just like the other prophets before him.
In fact, he uses it 12X in his book and as well as using God's name "Jehovah" 35X.
His four messages (as explained in the online reference at JW.org, "Insight") begins with (1:2)
"This is what Jehovah of armies says, "These people say,"The time has not yet come for the house of Jehovah
to be built".

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The 2013 NWT edition showed that Haggai did not use poetic form in his writings but were all in prose.
Haggai is noted to be precise on dating his prophecies. This pattens appears to be true for most Persian-time
prophets. As to why this is the case, another reference "Notes on Haggai" wrote
"The precision in dating prophecies that marks Haggai and Zechariah reflects the annalistic style of history
writing that distinguished Neo-Babylonian and Persian times. Ezekiel, who was probably an older
contemporary of these prophets, was the third most precise in dating his prophecies, and Daniel, another
contemporary, also was precise but not as detailed. Likewise Ezra and Nehemiah, who wrote after Haggai and
Zechariah, showed the same interest in chronological precision. "

Haggai specifically assigned dates on the prophecies (1:1, 15; 2:1, 10, 20) I went back to check on Ezra (3:1, 8;
6:15; 7:8,9; 10:9, 16,17) and Nehemiah (1:1; 2:1; 5:14; 6:15).
The sense I get from Haggai is the urgency to get up and build the temple of Jehovah. His insistence in his
prophesying to get this done is felt strongly in his book (1:8)
"'Go up to the mountain and bring in lumber. And build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and I may
be glorified,' Jehovah says."

While this work resumes, Jehovah assured them of his blessing and loyalty to the covenant (2:4)
"'For I am with you', declares Jehovah of armies."

Jehovah repeatedly told the returned Jews through Haggai these words (1:7; 2: 15, 18)
"Set your heart on this"

These words have raised to the consciousness of the Jews who were busy building their own homes and
settling in them and neglecting why they were allowed to return to their homeland. The Cyrus decree
specifically mentioned to "rebuild the house of Jehovah the God of Israel." (Ezra 1: 2)
In the same spirit, there is a parallel in Christian times, on the urgency of completing the global preaching
work versus focusing on our personal goals in life.
An interesting verse refers to Zerubabbel, the governor of Judea, as a "seal ring". JW.org using the online
encyclopedia writes about this
"In ancient times a signet ring seems to have become proverbial of a valued object or person. Jeremiahs
prophecy indicated that Judean King Coniah (Jehoiachin) would not be spared calamity even if he were a seal
ring on Jehovahs right hand. Jehoiachin was dethroned after a very brief rule. (Jer 22:24; 2Ki 24:8-15) Also,
Jehovah said with respect to faithful Zerubbabel: I shall take you, . . . and I shall certainly set you as a seal
ring, because you are the one whom I have chosen. (Hag 2:23) Zerubbabel, who was serving Jehovah in an
official capacity in connection with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, was precious to Jehovah, like a
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signet ring on Gods own hand. Zerubbabel had fearlessly obeyed Jehovahs encouragement through the
prophets Haggai and Zechariah and had taken up the temple-building work in spite of a ban by a misinformed
king of Persia. (Ezr 4:245:2) Jehovah would continue to use Zerubbabel to fulfill His declared purpose, and
no human ruler would be able to remove him from that honored service."

Haggai is often quoted for the words in (2:7) of Jehovah shaking all the nations (2013 NWT) so that the
precious things of the nations will come in. But, there is a different kind of shaking Jehovah will do (2: 22) and
this is definitely connected to the "day of Jehovah".

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33. ZECHARIAH

An obvious thing that one would notice when reading the book of Zechariah is when you reach chapter 9 and
onwards. This is evident visually because of the differences in form. But this is true of content as well. The
online encyclopedia in JW.org, "Insight" has this to say

"From chapter 9 onward the subject matter found in the book of Zechariah appears to differ considerably
from the earlier section. No further reference is made to angels and visions or to Governor Zerubbabel and
High Priest Joshua. There is no mention of the temple-rebuilding work, and not even the name of Zechariah
appears. In view of this and the nature of the prophecies contained in the latter chapters of the book, a number
of critics maintain that this section could not have been written by Zechariah. However, it should be noted that
Zechariah, like other prophets, wrote according to divine inspiration and did not receive all revelations at the
same time or in the same manner."

Just like in the book of the other prophets, the prophecy of Zechariah is introduced as "the word of Jehovah
came to the prophet Zechariah."

Of all the prophetic books, this is one tough book for me to consume. There are many symbolisms in the book.
I also quickly noticed that many things from his book have been quoted in the Christian Greek Scriptures.
Regarding this feature of internal harmony of the book with the rest of the Bible, the same reference says

"The book of Zechariah is in complete harmony with the rest of the Scriptures in identifying Jehovah as the
Protector of his people. (Zec 2:5; compare De 33:27; Ps 46:11; 125:2.) He rewards or punishes individuals or
nations according to their dealings and returns to those who repentantly return to him. (Zec 1:2-6; 7:11-14;
compare Isa 55:6, 7; Jer 25:4-11; Eze 33:11; Mal 3:7; 2Pe 3:9.) Jehovah requires that those who desire his
favor must speak truth and manifest obedience, justice, loving-kindness, and mercy. (Zec 7:7-10; 8:16, 17;
compare De 24:17; Ps 15:1, 2; 82:3, 4; Pr 12:19; Jer 7:5, 6; Eph 4:25.) He does not respond to calls for aid
from those who do not obey him.Zec 7:13; compare Isa 1:15; La 3:42-44."

Just as is true with prophet Haggai, another post-exilic prophet, Zechariah is precise in his timing of events
following the format of day, month, and year as in "on the 24th day of the 11th month, that is, the month of
Shebat, in the second year of Darius" (1:7).

One curiosity I had was with (1:12)

"O Jehovah of armies, how long will you withhold your mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with
whom you have been indignant these seventy years?"

The mention of 70 years indeed brings back to me the fall of Jerusalem in 607 BC, where the 70 years began
and ended in 537 BC when the Jews were allowed to return to Judah by Cyrus the Persian. At the time of
Zechariah, in the second year of Darius, that was already about 519 BC. So, what was the angel talking about
in referring to "these 70 years"?

The online index at JW.org pointed to this

"Be it remembered, also, that those unforgettable seventy years were the first seventy years of the Gentile
Times, the appointed times of the nations. So, when those seventy years ended in 537 B.C.E., the Gentile
Times still continued on for Jerusalem to be trampled on by the Gentile nations. (Luke 21:24) Apparently, then,
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the angel who cried out, O Jehovah of armies, how long? was referring back to that former period of seventy
years as an illustration of Jehovahs denunciation of his chosen people. He was asking whether Jehovahs
denunciation of them was being renewed because of their long neglect toward His temple. And so the angel
was asking how long it would yet be before Jehovah would show mercy to Jerusalem and the other cities of
Judah. The prophet Zechariah was also interested in knowing this. We, also!"

Another document by scholar wrote about this

"Stop and think about this statement. Doesn't it seem odd that the angel would ask Jehovah how long, when
the exact length of time had already been determined, namely 70 years? The only possible reason to ask such
a rhetorical question is because the 70 years had already ended. Yet, by all appearances Jerusalem was still
in a partially desolated and ruined place in desperate need of rebuilding, indeed the temple was still not
completed!

In other words, were the 70 years of desolation not enough? Will Jehovah continue withholding his favor, just
as he did during the 70 years of desolation? Indeed, O Jehovah, how long...?"

With the mention again of 70 years in (7:5), the footnote form the book "Paradise Restored" says this

"The seventy years of observing fasts could not have begun after the first deportation of the Jews by the
Babylonians in the year 617 B.C.E., for that would have been about nine years before King Nebuchadnezzar
began the final siege of Jerusalem and also about eleven years before the breaching of the walls of the city (on
Tammuz 9) and the destruction of the city (on Ab 10) and the assassination of Governor Gedaliah in the
seventh month (Tishri), these mournful events being observed by the fast periods. Hence the seventy years
of fasting began after these last three mournful calamities had taken place, in the year 607 B.C.E. This proves
that the desolation of the land lasted for seventy years and that these seventy years began in 607 B.C.E. and
ended in 537 B.C.E.See Flavius Josephus book Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, chapter 9, paragraph 7."

It is noteworthy that Jehovah God calls the Judean cities, now under Persian rule, "my cities" (1: 17), he being
the Sovereign Lord.

Another important feature of the prophecy, is the used of number "four" in verses 18 and 20. The book
"Paradise Restored" explains (this will be the primary source for helping me understand the prophetic book of
Zechariah)

"These craftsmen or artisans by being four in number offset the four horns. Their number would have the same
significance as that in the case of the four horns. They would picture all the craftsmen involved in the matter
and organized in a balanced, fully adequate way. Being craftsmen or artisans, they were not destructionists.
Primarily they were constructionists. But they could be used in an operation of destruction, and they could use
their working utensils to that end. This was their mission in the vision. But whose craftsmen were they, or who
sent them? Evidently Jehovah of armies, for they came to destroy the power of the four horns that had
dispersed Jehovahs people, Judah, Israel and Jerusalem. What they used in order to do this were doubtless
the hammers of their trade. Woe, then, to the persecuting horns! There was to be divine judgment executed
against those persecutors."

What is the significance of the number? The book explains

"The prophet Zechariah knew that in the inspired Hebrew Scriptures a horn is used to symbolize a
governmental power of a nation or empire. Those four symbolic horns would not necessarily picture four
individual nations or empires that had till then dispersed the peoples of Judah, Israel and Jerusalem and ruined
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their cities.... So not just Egypt, Assyria and Babylon as world powers had been implicated with dispersing
Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, but others like the nation of Edom and other national allies or collaborators in
such wicked nation against Jehovah's people."

This insightful explanation differs greatly from published commentaries who are having a hard time figuring this
out. The book adds

"In Scripture, the number four has a symbolic meaning. For example, in using four with respect to the winds,
the four winds of the heavens would refer to all parts or quarters of the heavens. Or just the four winds would
refer to all directions of the earth. (Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 7:2) The four wheels belonging to Jehovahs celestial
chariot as seen by the prophet Ezekiel would suggest a well-balanced riding base for the divine chariot.
(Ezekiel 1:15, 21) Four horns could accordingly mean all the governmental powers that were concerned or
involved, and not just a literal four of such, operating from all directions and leaving no imbalance because of
having omitted any quarter."

One of the frequently quoted verses in his book is in (2:8)

"Whoever touches you touches the pupil of my eye"

A footnote in this verse can be alternatively translated "touches my eyeball". It is a powerful expression from
God to indicate his care for His chosen people.

The book is also full of other symbolisms - horses of various colors, the befouled appearance of the High Priest
Joshua, the Sprout, the lampstand and the two olive trees, flying scroll, the woman named "Wickedness"
sealed inside a container, copper mountains, and crowned Priest-King Joshua.

The book ends the same way as other prophetic books with restoration prophecies and the "day of Jehovah".
Zechariah writes (14:3)

"Jehovah will go out and war against those nations as when he fights in the day of a battle."

Zechariah also echoes other visual prophecies similar with other prophets here (14: 8)

"In that day living waters will flow out from Jerusalem"

This reminds us of the vision of Ezekiel (47:1) and Joel (3:18) before him and is also echoed in the last book of
the Bible.
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34. MALACHI

His is the last book in the set of the 12 Minor Prophets, and the last book of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old
Testament in modern English Bibles. (The last book of the Old Testament in the Hebrew Bible is the
Chronicles).
The Graf-Wellhausen critical scholars believe that Malachi is not really a name, hence his book is anonymous.
In Hebrew, Malachi means "my messenger". Hence, some scholars promote the idea that it was a title rather
than a personal name. These scholars also claim that this book is part of other materials, the other material
going to the book of Zechariah starting from chapter 9 based on the similarity of Malachi 1:1 and Zechariah
9:1 using the common phrase "the word of Jehovah".
In a 1987 paper by Klein, he wrote about the lack of ancestry and birth place of Malachi
"For instance, Obadiah's lineage and Habakkuk's place of birth are unknown, with both of these books
mentioning the name of the prophet only in the superscription."
He goes on to address the key issues of the Graf-Wellhausen critical scholars and their position that this book
has an anonymous writer.
Malachi's book wrote about worship on the temple and sacrifices made in the temple. This means the temple
has already been rebuilt. The JW.org online encyclopedia has this to say
"Israels neglect of true worship and its failure to adhere to Gods law appear to fit conditions existing when
Nehemiah again arrived at Jerusalem sometime after the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes (c. 443 B.C.E.).
(Compare Mal 1:6-8; 2:7, 8, 11, 14-16; Ne 13:6-31.) Therefore, like the book of Nehemiah, the book of
Malachi may well have been committed to writing after 443 B.C.E."
It is notable that God complained about the failure of the priests to uphold true worship using a dialogue
format on the poor quality of their sacrifices, non-compliant to the requirements of the Law of Moses.
Malachi declares Jehovah God's judgment (1: 14)
"Cursed is the cunning one who has a sound male animal in his flock, but he makes a vow and sacrifices a
blemished one to Jehovah."
Malachi declares Jehovah God's expectation of the priests (2:7)
"For the lips of a priest should safeguard knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth,
because he is the messenger of Jehovah of armies."
In addition, Jehovah was complaining about the practice of divorce in the returned exiles as a form of
treachery (2: 14)
"It is because Jehovah has acted as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have
dealt treacherously, although she is your partner and your wife by covenant."
Then Jehovah God declares (2:16)
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"For I hate divorce."
The book ends with a prophecy about a future cleansing of God's people and God's willingness to bless those
who respond positively to promote true worship.
It also contains an important prophecy that during the time of Jesus, people awaited its fulfillment (4:5)
"Look! I am sending to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awe-inspiring day of
Jehovah."

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