The Gospel According to Haggai. “Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Take courage! Do not fear.” (Haggai 2:4-5). The first …
The Gospel According to Gideon. “Then Yahweh turned to Gideon and said, ‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ ‘But Lord, Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my …
The Gospel According to Aaron. “… But Moses pleaded with the Lord, ‘O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied and my words get tangled.’ Then the Lord asked Moses, ‘Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides …
The Gospel According to Miriam. “Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the …
The Gospel According to Hannah. Hannah’s song of triumphant praise, her version of the gospel story, was written around 1170 BC. She was in many ways the epitome of the faithful prayer warrior. This was an important time in Israel’s history, the end of the period of judges. In fact, the last judge was Samuel, …
The Gospel According to David. “The historical David was a living prophecy of the true King yet to come. The divine promises made with respect to David’s messianic throne are fulfilled in the kingdom of Jesus, at once David’s descendant and his Lord.” (Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms). “The David story anticipates the Jesus story. …
The Gospel According to Elisha. Prophets. Some of the biblical prophets performed miracles, but most did not. Sometimes they reenacted, or mimed ahead of time, God’s messages in real time, pure street theater and performance art. These particular prophets were asked to demonstrate an object lesson, and they ended up being visual aids to illustrate …
The Gospel According to Ezekiel. While Isaiah is the prophet of God the Son, and Jeremiah is the prophet of God the Father, Ezekiel is known as the prophet of the Holy Spirit. He repeatedly reports that “the Spirit entered me,” or “the Spirit lifted me up,” or “the Spirit of the Lord fell on …
The Gospel According to Isaiah. WANTED: An imaginative scribe who can write exquisite poetry. A faithful, articulate believer in Yahweh who can switch from one extreme to another at the Lord’s command… from a sublime vision of God’s glory to a ridiculous demonstration of shameful nakedness; from confronting the people over their sinfulness to comforting …
The Gospel According to Hosea. If the biblical world was a classroom, God’s prophets were the visual aids. As the Lord’s mouthpieces, they were often called upon to be symbols of His messages. Since they were instructed to be dramatic illustrations of the word of the Lord, the people not only heard the word, they literally saw the word. …
The Gospel According to Micah. The prophetic ministries of Micah and Isaiah occurred at the same time, and it appears that some of their prophecies even overlapped. Micah was a prophet to both Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Both nations had totally lost their moral compass and spiritual vision, and so …
The Gospel According to Zechariah. Zechariah was a prophet in Jerusalem around 520 BC, after the Jews were allowed to return to their homeland. Back home after 70 years in exile, the people were harassed by neighboring countries, and discouraged at their small numbers. A majority of the Jews in exile decided to remain in …