Hosea Micah Zephaniah

One of the themes we will encounter again and again in the minor prophets is that of God's justice and his mercy.  God's justice requires that sin be punished.  If God didn't punish ALL sin (i.e. overlooking the sin of "good" people), he would no longer be a just God.  But God is also merciful and he longs for his people to be forgiven and to experience his grace and love.  

In our human existence we see people as EITHER just OR merciful.  A judge might show mercy by letting someone go free after committing a crime but would prove to be unjust when the next person gets put in jail for the same crime.  Parents wrestle with this.  They think that punishment isn't showing love/mercy because you can either be just or merciful.  But God is those two things together.  Only in his divinity can he told those seemingly opposite characteristics in a perfect tension.  That tension is resolved, of course, through Jesus Christ.

As you read Hosea, Micah, and Zephaniah this week, you will hear God's words of judgment against his people (both long ago and today).  But I hope you also hear his words of grace, forgiveness, and love.  It's those words that give us hope for the future.

Enjoy your reading!  Please share your reflections and questions.  Be sure to use the guiding questions as you read.

Our guiding questions are these: 

• What stood out to you in the reading?
• Was there anything confusing or troubling?
• Did anything make you think differently about God?
• How might what you read change the way you live?