Gary Gleans

A saying that I have used repeatedly is: “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  The book of Malachi is a very clear indication of the truth of that quote.  This final book of the Old Testament was most likely written about one-hundred years after Haggai and Zechariah.  The temple had been rebuilt, Nehemiah had rebuilt the walls and the hand of God had clearly moved in a supernatural way to restore Israel to the land God had promised to Abraham.  God had used powerful leaders like Ezra and Nehemiah to provide for the physical needs as well as spiritual instruction of the people.  It seems most likely that Malachi was written during the time that Nehemiah was back in Persia before his second return as governor when he came and had to deal with the sins Malachi describes.  God has faithfully demonstrated His hatred of sin and His willingness to judge.  The exiles who returned to Israel accomplished a great deal of rebuilding but...

The writings of Zechariah coincide almost perfectly with those of Haggai.  His original message is dated exactly two months after that of Haggai.  The second half of the book was written in a different style and at a later date.  This multiple messenger approach of prophecy seems to have been a common method that God used repeatedly.  In order to establish a truth in court multiple witnesses are required.  It seems that God is demonstrating His commitment to affirm the message of the prophets through the combination of these multiple witnesses.  It must have been an encouragement to the individual prophets to have another man sent from God that was confirming their message.  Like Haggai, Zechariah writes to the returned exiles in Jerusalem.  They had grown complacent in their mission to rebuild the temple; but more distressing than that, they had become spiritually indifferent.  Haggai’s message is focused on demonstrating trust in God by re...

Haggai was written to Israel after they had been permitted to return to Jerusalem by their Persian rulers.  They had been taken captive by the Babylonians who were later defeated by the Persians.  About 50 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple and the deportation of the vast majority of the nation; the Persian King Cyrus authorizes them to return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.  Only a small group of about 50,000 people choose to return and they begin to rebuild the temple but become discouraged and distracted because of opposition as well as their own discomfort.  A decade and a half passed and the temple construction had been abandoned.  God raised up Haggai to call the people back to the task they had so quickly abandoned.  It seems very likely that Haggai was one of only a few people who survived the entire captivity and had seen the original temple.  This means that he was likely very old when he writes this book.  He was...

God’s judgment has been the constant message of the prophets to whatever generation they ministered.  Zephaniah ministered during the days of Josiah in the nation of Judah.  He identifies himself as a descendant of King Hezekiah, which would make him a cousin of King Josiah.  Perhaps this family tie allowed him to have greater access to the king.  It seems that Zephaniah writes prior to Josiah’s massive reforms in Judah because his message includes a warning against the idolatry of the nation.  It seems possible that Zephaniah’s influence may have contributed to the spiritual revival in Judah during Josiah’s reign.  Unfortunately, these reforms were all undone by the kings who followed him.  It seems that Zephaniah’s message of judgment is, like many Old Testament prophecies, one of dual fulfillment.  The generations immediately following his ministry experienced many of the judgments that were prophesied.  However, there also seems to be se...

There are many questions all of us have in life, especially about God and His ways of dealing with men.  The justice of God does not always make sense to us and there are certainly times where we would do things differently or at least expect God to do things differently.  Habakkuk has these same questions and was not afraid to ask them.  He lived during a troubling time in the history of Judah.  Israel had been taken captive by the Assyrians many years ago.  Judah had recently enjoyed a time of spiritual revival under the leadership of Josiah, but now Judah is under the leadership of a series of kings who were undoing all of the good that Josiah had accomplished.  Idolatry, oppression of the poor and violence were all on the rise in Judah.  In light of these facts, it should not have been a surprise that God would judge the nation.  Habakkuk’s problem is not with the fact of Gods judgment on Judah but on how He would bring this about.  It i...

Nahum is written about the same city in which Jonah ministered.  Jonah had hoped that this city would be destroyed, but God spared the city due to the repentance Jonah’s preaching caused.  One-hundred years later, Nahum receives a prophecy from God that the city of Nineveh would fall.  When Jonah preached in Nineveh the nation was facing hardship and was in danger of falling.  Jonah’s preaching helped the nation to recover and become powerful once again.  However, that power led to pride and the following generations began to practice all kinds of cruelties.  Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria who conquered the ten northern tribes of Israel as so many prophets had warned.  However, Assyria was especially cruel to her victims and mutilated their bodies and tortured their captives.  God makes it clear that He will not tolerate this kind of disregard for people created in His image and especially not for his chosen people.  The book was li...

Micah, like so many of the prophets writes during the period right before Israel would fall to Assyria and during a time of prosperity in Judah.  Micah’s main message is to Judah where he lived but he also has a brief message to Israel about what will happen to them very shortly.  The book is divided into three sections that all start with the command to “hear” the word that God was about to reveal.  Each section is directed at a different group of people.  He speaks to his generation, the generation to come and finally to a generation far in the future.  His message to each generation is very similar.  He begins by pointing out their disobedience and warning them of the consequences of this disobedience but he always closes each section with a work of hope for the people.  God will judge just as He has promised, but He will also forgive and restore just as He has promised.  We can trust God to keep His Word but we must also recognize that He is ...

The story of Jonah is one of the most famous in all of Scripture.  The image of Jonah being swallowed by a great fish is etched in the minds of every Sunday school student.  However, there is much more to this book than the fish.  Those who spend their lives debating about the possibility of surviving three days in the belly of a fish are missing the point of the entire book.  Of course God can create a fish in which Jonah could survive for three days just like He can cause a plant to grow tall enough to provide shade over one night and then have a worm kill it even faster.  The many miracles described in the book demonstrate God’s sovereignty and power through His ability to control the seas, rescue Jonah in a fish, grow and destroy a plant.  These miracles are only a backdrop to the real story of Jonah that reveals God’s grace, His willingness to forgive and His love for all the nations of the world.  God’s original call of Israel through Abraham wa...

Obadiah is not only the shortest book in the Old Testament; it is also one of the hardest to determine exactly who the author was and when the book was written.  We know it was written by Obadiah, but we don’t know who he was because he gives us know information about who his father was, where he was from, who was king when he wrote.  There are many men named Obadiah referred to in Scripture but we cannot know which, if any, of them might be the author of this book.  It seems that the best option is to place the time of his writings at an early date; more or less 850 years before Christ during the reign of Jehoram where we find indications that Edom might have participated in an invasion of Israel (2 Chron. 21:16-17).  What is significant to notice is that God has never just been the God of Israel.  He has always been involved in the lives of all the nations of the world.  The history of His involvement with Israel is recorded for us in more detail in the ...

Amos was a farmer from Judah and lived in a town near Jerusalem.  He was called by God to deliver a message of judgment primarily to the nation of Israel.  He writes during the same basic time period as Hosea as can be identified through his mention of the king of Judah when he writes.  This was a time of peace and prosperity in both Judah and Israel.  Egypt had been subdued.  Assyria’s power was not in full bloom and her capitol city, Nineveh, had recently experienced spiritual revival under the ministry of Jonah.  Judah and Israel had been separated long enough that they too were at peace with one another.  Unfortunately, this reality did not fill their hearts with gratitude and worship towards God.  Instead, the leadership and the people became corrupt and filled with pride.  Amos is called to warn them that God will judge them and bring all of this prosperity into poverty and turn the peace into a time of great conflict.  The struct...

The Day of the Lord is a phrase that Joel uses repeatedly in his message to the nation of Judah.  This phrase is often misunderstood in Scripture because we have a tendency to try to make it refer to only one event or period of time.  In some passages interpreters try to make it refer to the single event of the rapture.  In other passages it is taken to mean the seven year Tribulation that we see being discussed in Daniel and Revelation.  Still other instances it seems to be describing a current or recently experienced event.  I believe it is best to interpret the phrase “Day of the Lord” as simply a time of judgment in which the Lord interrupts the course of history to judge the sins of men in such a way that He intends to bring sinning men to repentance.  This interpretation allows the phrase to refer to a great multitude of events in the past, future and in certain respects to the present.  Since Joel does not mention the name of the king or make r...

Hosea was a prophet primarily to the ten northern tribes of Israel.  His ministry began during a time of transition in world powers where Egypt was falling away and Assyria was on the rise.  This made for a time of relative peace and prosperity in both Israel and Judah.  Unfortunately, instead of this peace fostering great gratitude towards God in the hearts of the people it resulted in pride and spiritual rebellion.  They were idolatrous in their worship and immoral in their actions.  They drifted farther and farther away from God so when Hosea comes on the scene he is sent to give a very clear object lesson to the people about how God viewed them as well as about God’s faithfulness and love.  God wants to show Israel just how deeply they were hurting and embarrassing Him through Hosea’s ministry and life illustration. HOSEA’S MARRIAGE AND RECONCILIATION TO AN ADULTERESS WOMAN: Hosea is called of God to marry a woman of harlotry.  More than likel...