Malachi

Theme 1: (1-2) : The Lord is faithful to his covenant and shows love to his people. We must be faithful to the Lord and keep his law. Our relationship with the Lord must not be taken lightly for we will be punished for our unfaithfulness to him. The Lord is faithful to his covenant with Israel for he showed his love to her constantly. ( 1: 2-5). The Lord desires our best and we must not short change him by offering him defective goods or work which is not our best. ( 1:6-13). The Lord must be shown honour for he is the great King over all. (1:14). As people who follow the Lord, we must be faithful to him in our role as mediators and not corrupt his commands by showing favortism to certain people. ( 2:1-9). Unfaithfulness to the Lord's commands is not tolerated. In particular unfaithfulness to the marriage covenant which represents our relationship with the Lord. Thus marriage must not be treated lightly. ( 2: 10-17).

Theme 2; ( 3-4): The Lord longs to restore the broken relationship between himself and humanity. Therefore he promised to send a savior who would act as a mediator between the Lord and people. ( 3:1-4). The Lord does not change and thus unfaithfulness to his covenant will be judged. Thus injustice to the alien , the poor and the widow will be judged. (3:5-12). Those who obey the covenant will be spared from the Lord 's judgement and will act as a witness to how the Lord treats the wicked who disobey and the righteous who obey him. ( 3:13-17). Those whom obeyed the Law of Moses will be perserved by the Lord. ( 4:1-3). The Lord longs to restore the broken relationships between people and himself and between people and people. Therefore he sends Christ as a mediator of a new covenant relationship in which we can know the Lord intamently. ( 4:4).

Zechariah

Theme 1: (1-4): The Lord desires to restore the relationship he had with humanity from the start in which he knew them well. Our sin can be forgiven and blessing will return when we turn to him. Upon hearing the word of the Lord from Zechariah the people of Israel responded by turning to the Lord. ( 1:1-6). The Lord then promised to bless the people and gave the nation of Israel , peace and prosperity. ( 1:7-17). The Lord promised to dwell with the people and to shield them from harm ( 2:1-5). He promised to take people from other nations and bring them to himself as well. ( 2: 6-13). The Lord restored and protected the High Priest Joshau from Satan ( 3:1-5). He promised to remove the shame from the people as he removed the shame from Joshau the High Priest. Everyone in the land will experience peace and prosperity. ( 3:6-13). The Lord promised to empower the governor Zeurababel and use everyone in the process of restoring Jerusalem. ( 4:6-10).


Theme 2: (5-8) : Obedience to the word of the Lord and devotion to him is key in the process of restoration. Without faithfulness to the Lord our relationship with him will die. The Lord gave his people the commands they were to follow and they were judged on their obedience to them. ( 5:1-4). Everyone had been given the commands they must follow and had a knowledge of the Lord. ( 6:1-8). The Lord must be at the centre of our worship, for we worship to show our love to him. ( 7:1-6). Seeking to be joyful , peaceful and truthful in the Lord are key to living in a close relationship with him. ( 8:16-20).


Theme 3: (9-14): Those who follow the Lord will be blessed by his guidance as they experience peace. The Lord promised to be with the people when they followed him. He said that he would lead ,guide and comfort them. (9:11-17). He promised to gather the people back to himself from the nations they had been scattered in and to be with them. ( 10: 8-12). When we disobey the Lord he will raise up people to perform his judgement through. ( 11: 7-17). The Lord promised to restore the relationship he had with Israel to what it had been during the reign of David. ( 12: 1-9). The Lord promised to call out people who would love and obey him and experience intamacy with him. (13:9). The Lord would be the focus in his coming kingdom ( 14:1-9) and all who followed him in his kingdom would be blessed. ( 14: 16-20).

Haggai

Theme 1: The Lord must be our central focus and the purpose on which we focus our work and energy. Haggai preached a message of rebuke to the Jewish people who had come back from the exile for ignoring the Lord. They were rebuked for enriching themselves and building fine houses while ignoring the Temple or house of the Lord. (1:2-4). They are told that the challenges they face are a result of ignoring the Lord's House. These challenges were hunger ( 1:5), nakedness( 1:6), not being productive ( 1:7), drought ( 1:8), famine (1:9)and poor quality livestock (1:10-11). Once they turned their focus to the Lord and his plan , after hearing the message of Haggai , prosperity and blessing came when the people began to obey the Lord by working on the Temple restoration. Haggai preached a message of encouragement stating that the Lord was with them and would bless their labour from that time onward. (1:12-15).

Theme 2: when we diligently obey the Lord and make him the focus of our lives, great things will be accomplished as he works through us. Some of the people who returned from the exile had remembered the splendor of the former Temple and become discouraged by their work. However the Lord told them that he would bless their work and that the new Temple would be more spectacular than the former one. (2:1-9). Prosperity and blessing come to the people when they obeyed the Lord. Once again they enjoyed bountiful harvests and the Lord's blessing on their livestock and work. ( 2:10-19). The prophetic message of Haggai concluded with a message of encouragement ,hope and salvation. A time was coming when the High Priest Zerubabel would be used to restore the fortunes of Israel and bring back the Lord's blessing. ( 2: 20-23).

Zepheniah

Theme 1: The Lord is sovereign and in control of all things , ordering the events of human history.He rebukes his people for not honoring the covenant he made with their ancestors and worshiping Baal. (1:4). Judgment is uttered against the people for not turning to the Lord and showing him honor.( 1:5-6). The power of the all existing one ( Yahweh) over the kingdoms of the world is noted and the people are warned that their wealth and prosperity will be of no value when they face his judgment. ( 1:7-13). The Lord's power will be enforced against the nation of Judah and none of the wealth of the people will be able to help them. ( 1:14-18).

Theme 2 : The Lord in his sovereign role as King over the universe responds to the actions of people. A warning is given to the people that if they repent of their sins, seek the Lord, are obedient to his Law and live righteous and humble lives, they might be spared calamity.(2:3).The nations surrounding Judah are also held accountable for their actions and judgment is made against the Philistines (2:8-11), Ammonites (2:8-11), Ethiopians (2:12) and Assyrians (2:13-14). In each case taunting against the Lord and holding his people in contempt is judged. ( 2:8&2:10). In his sovereign role , the Lord is also faithful to his covenant with Israel as he promises to restore the nation after the time of judgment. (2:7).


Theme 3: The Lord treats all people equally and does not hold anyone to a different standard. All those who disobey his commands even his chosen people Israel face his judgment. (3:1-8). The Lord promised to transform and shape the peoples of the world through the events he was orchestrating. They would become people with a new attitude and mindset .(3:9-15). The Lord's desire is to bring peace to all people and allow them to get to know him intimately. (3:16-20).

Habukuk

The central theme of the book is that of the Lord's sovereignty. He is in control of all and must be worshiped. The Lord used the Bablyonians to execute his judgement against his people for not following him. ( 1: 1-11). Those who do not follow the Lord will perish , but those who do follow him will be spared calamity and destruction.(2:1-4). In his sovereign role as judge over the world , he judges and punishes violence and injustice.( 2:5-17). Idols are worthless to do anything and the Lord alone is to be worshipped . ( 2:18-20). He rules the world ( 3:1-12) and in his sovereignty he is faithful to his covenant with Israel and promises to restore her after the exile. ( 3:13-16). A key insight I gain from Habukuk is that despite our cirumstances the Lord is to be worshipped. ( 3:17-19).

Nahum

The central theme of Nahum is that the Lord is sovereign over all and must be worshiped and obeyed. Niveah , the capital of the Assryian empire is condemned for their not seeking the Lord and making their own plans. (1: 1-11). The things they worshiped will be made useless( 1:12-15) and those who follow their example will be punished like the Assryians were for not following the Lord and worshiping him. ( 2: 3-9). The symbol of the Lion central to them is used against the Assryians as they are compared to an animal being devoured by a lion, when they are judged by the Lord. ( 2: 10-13). Empires like the Assryian empire who do not follow the Lord will be judged and brought down as the Lord harshly punished them. ( 3:11-19).

Micah

Theme 1: (1-3): Following the Lord involves being just and our relationship with the Lord involves caring for others and treating them right. A vital aspect of following the Lord is not following other gods and worshiping other than the Lord. ( 1: 1-9). Violence and injustice against the poor is punished by the Lord and all acts of violence and injustice will be judged by him. ( 2: 1-11). The Lord condemed the corrupt judges whom are portrayed as vicious beasts. ( 3:1-4). Leadership based on greed and corruption is rebuked and judged . Jerusalem is told that it will become a ruin because of these acts. ( 3:9-12)

Theme 2: (4-5): The Lord plan for the world involves building a kingdom based on peace. In this perfect time , the world will cease from war and people will walk in the Lord's ways. ( 4:1-5). The Lord's plan to restore Israel involved all of his people being included in the kingdom , even the weak and needy. ( 4: 6-10). The Lord planned to send a Savior into the world from Bethleham to establish his kingdom. ( 5:1-4). The Lord will harshly judge those who refuse to follow him after seeing his power. ( 5 :9-15).

Theme 3: (6-7): The Lord requires us to worship him and part of worship involves justice and right living in which we care for other people. The people of Jerusalem are told that the Lord required them to love mercy, seek justice and walk humbly with him. ( 6:8). Prosperity based on corruption , violence and lies will perish. Those who gain prosperity from these methods will be judged harshly. ( 6:9-16). Security is found in the Lord and obeying his commands ( 7:7).