Minor Prophets

He Is Like A Refiners Fire

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“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come,” saith the LORD of hosts.  “But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.  Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me,” saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1-5

The words of John the Baptist tell us of the One who was to come, and He came just as John said,

“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:10-12

Living Life In The LORD

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And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, ‘Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.  But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.  Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in His spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.  Therefore it is come to pass, that as He cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear,’ saith the LORD of hosts: ‘but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.’ ”
Zechariah 7:8-14

Before they had gone into captivity the people of Israel/Judah had turned the backs on the LORD, and served other gods which were no gods, but demons.

When they turned their backs on GOD they had no desire to love their neighbor, not even their own family.  So the prophets had warned them of their undoing.

For the follower of Jesus Christ today one way to tell that we are  right with the LORD is by the way we love our neighbor; whether it be the orphan, the widow, the stranger,  and/or the poor.

Jesus Christ, as Chief Ruler of your life is the best life to live; and that will have the above justness toward all people, and we will treat them rightly..

People Need The LORD

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“Therefore also now,” saith the LORD, “turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil.  Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, ‘Spare Thy people, O LORD, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?’ ”
Joel 2:12-17

Our own nation (United States of America) needs the LORD now just as much as any other time.  Why?  Because even here lines are hard to see and confusing.  Even professing Christians are turning their backs on the LORD, not their face.  When you turn your backs on God’s word, no longer believing it is the holy, inspired of God, and infallible word of God; they have turned their backs on God.

When you have more confidence in science of men, or more confidence in your own abilities, than in God then You have shunned the LORD.

It is time for the LORD to work a work like Adam’s race has never seen.  We must be ready. Return to the LORD.

I need the LORD to continue to work in me.  You need the LORD as well.  All the people on earth need the LORD.

Come to the One who died on that old rugged cross, judged by His Father for our sins.  He was buried.  He rose up again, from the grave in which  He had been laid.  His return is imminent,  Are you ready.

Refiners Fire

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“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.  But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.  Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me,” saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1-5

“My messenger” mentioned in our text today was spoken of four hundred years before he came. His name is John, known as John the baptizer of the Baptist. The One that shall suddenly come to His temple is Jesus the Christ who sets up a New Covenant for His kingdom. That makes that same Jesus the Messenger of the covenant.

Malachi says that the messenger who is John is the one who is to get the people ready for the coming of Messiah,  and that the Lord is coming suddenly to His temple. “He shall come,”  saith the LORD of hosts.

John the Baptist is born to Zechariah and Elisabeth though they were of a great age, really a miraculous birth (Luke 1). It is marvelous and amazing and spectacular that God shows up in a place that the people have prayed for, yet many miss out on the events.  Six months after Elisabeth conceives John, a young family member of Elisabeth’s, by the name of Mary who is betrothed to Joseph, is confronted by Gabriel an angel of the Lord, and is told that she will have a Son, and that He is the Son of God, Most High. Mary is a virgin, she has never been with a man, and tells the angel so. The Holy Spirit of God comes on her, and she conceives, and about six months after John’s birth, Jesus is born.

John and Jesus may have played together as children. John was a sinner. Jesus was without sin. John preached along the Jordan River, and many people heard His words of warning and great promise of One who was coming that was greater than he. Jesus came walking to see John, and as he saw Jesus coming he says, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36).

The religious leaders, most of them, hated Jesus and all that He taught the people. Much of their hatred for Him was envy, because He could draw a crowd, with signs and wonders, miracles of healing, and healing lepers, casting out demons, ever raising the dead to life. He did no evil. He is the Son of God and He  is God the Son. One with the Father (John 14:9-11).

Herod killed the Baptist by beheading him, and Jesus Christ died on a cross, becoming sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He was buried, and He rose from the grave proving that all that He taught, all that He said was truth. Without the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, without the burial, and without the resurrection of Jesus Christ there is no hope for Adam’s race (mankind).

Will you make a one hundred eighty degree turn from your broken, sin filled life to Jesus. He will comfort, encourage and strength you, your life will change for the good, and you will have eternal life. Will you call on His name today?

Dwelling In The Midst Of His People

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Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.  And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent Me unto thee.  And the LORD shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.  Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for He is raised up out of his holy habitation.
Zechariah 2:10-13

In these verses the LORD, speaking to the prophet Zechariah is speaking of a day that has yet to occur. It will be a day of rejoicing in the LORD. Judah will have returned to the LORD, through the recognition of Jesus their Messiah, when He comes again to fight against the one’s who have harmed God’s people.

We have the words written that “Many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall be My people; and I will dwell in your midst…” The only way God will dwell in the midst of His people is that each on has come to Him through Christ Jesus, and His finished work of the cross of Calvary dying, buried, and risen from the dead.

Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and you will have eternal life.

The King of Israel; Considerations

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Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, He hath cast out thine enemy: the King of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.   In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, “Fear thou not:” and to Zion, “Let not thine hands be slack.”   The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.
Zephaniah 3:14-17

“And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:  since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to Me,” saith the LORD.
“Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it.  Is the seed yet in the barn? Yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.”
Haggai 2:15-19

Asking The LORD God Questions

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A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.
“O LORD, I have heard Thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise.  And His brightness was as the light; He had horns coming out of His hand: and there was the hiding of His power. Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at His feet.
Habakkuk 3:1-5

Most of the prophecy of Habakkuk is the prophet asking questions about why He is using an evil people like Babylon to judge or chastise His own people! “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil; and You cannot look on iniquity” 1:13

We all have questions we ask God about, and if we are not careful we can begin to question God. It is one thing to ask Him a honest question, as Habakkuk has done, but when you begin questioning Him that comes from doubt and leads to unbelief.

In the prophet’s prayer, which all of chapter 3 of Habakkuk is; the prophet has heard God, and believed Him. He came to the end of his prayer, and gives a praise to the LORD, and a strong word  of faith. It is similar to Job’s expression of faith when he said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15). In the beginning of the prophet’s prayer he says, “In wrath remember mercy,” and God does show mercy through His longsuffering  – His patience. He showed no mercy when He smote His own Son cursed by hanging on that tree; so that He could be merciful and gracious to us.

That kind of faith comes from a heart devoted to God, and trusting His word. We can have that kind of faith only through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God,  the Lord Jesus Christ.

Call on Him today. You may not have tomorrow.

Into the depths of the sea

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The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.  They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of Thee.
Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.  He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.  Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Micah 7:16-20

Micah began his prophecy warning Jacob [Israel] of their transgression; and also warning the nations coming against them.

He ends the prophecy by giving us the prophecy of the confounded nations fearing the LORD, because of His mighty works He has done.

He proceeds to tell Israel that the LORD will not retain anger; hold on to anger, forever, because He delights in mercy. He has compassion on us, and subdues our iniquities, by casting them (our sins) into the depths of the sea. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us because He took our sin and the wrath of God for sin dying for us, He was buried for three days, having carried our sins away never to be seen again. (Read about the scapegoat in Leviticus). When the three days had passed Jesus rose from the grave victorious over sin, over death, and over Hell.

The LORD God will perform every promise He has promised to Jacob, and to Abraham.

God’s answer for the salvation of our race is only found in Jesus Christ. He has subdued our iniquities – our sins – and cast them into the depths of the sea. That is good news for all to hear. Will you believe and receive that good news, that Christ Jesus has died for  our sins, was buried, and He rose again three days later; and that same Jesus is returning someday.

The Flight of Jonah

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There seems to be a few people, maybe many more than a few who do not believe the account of the book of Jonah. They say no one could be swallowed by a great fish and survive. I say since God can do whatever He desires, and if it says that God prepared  great fish to swallow Jonah, then that was a special fish made for Jonah.

Jesus said that Jonah was swallowed by  a great fish, “But He answered and said unto them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” Matthew 12:39-41

Jonah is mentioned as a prophet in Second Kings 14:25. If you cannot believe the simplest account of Scripture then, you are going to have a problem accepting any of Scriptures.

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Jonah 1:1-3

Now about “The Flight of Jonah” it crashed 🙂 . God called the prophet to go to a distant city, a Gentile city, because of the evil within that place. When Jonah heard the word of the LORD, he apparently says nothing, just packs a travel bag and goes out from the presence of the LORD. Every step he took was downward from that time until he prayed for deliverance.

He went down to Joppa. He went down into the ship going to Tarshish. When the LORD loved that generation of Gentiles in Nineveh so much that He was not finished with Jonah He sent a storm. Where was Jonah? Down in the lowest part of the ship. He was eventually thrown overboard, and went down into the belly of the fish.

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of that prepared by God fish, which seems to have been specially prepared for Jonah.

God loves Jonah. He prays from the belly of the fish and despite his rebellion, and his hatred for these Gentiles whom God loves, God  delivers Jonah, by having the great fish vomit him out on the shore (2:10). Then the LORD calls Jonah again (3:1), and evidently with much angst he obeys the LORD reluctantly. When he arrives in Nineveh he warns them of approaching judgment from God, and the whole city repents, and the city is delivered for a few more years. About one generation was delivered from the judgment of the LORD, by His mercy and grace.

The flight of Jonah may have been his national hatred for the enemy nation. Jonah needed to learn love and compassion for others. I pray that he did, and that I do as well.

The love, mercy, and grace of God is clearly seen through the cross of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son. There He took, willingly, our sins upon Himself to die for our sins; He was buried and He rose from the grave. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so was the Son of Man three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Do not take flight away from God, but flee from sin, to Jesus Christ, and live.

Planted and Assured

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When a tree has been planted it grows where it is planted. As long as all goes well, the plant has water, the right kind of soil, and nourishment it will grow right where  it is, and become a tree planted for sure.

“Behold, the days come,” saith the LORD, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.  And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.  And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them,” saith the LORD thy God.
Amos 9:13-15

There are several sections of verses in the prophecy of Amos that are words of promise and hope for the people of God, the remnant He will save. Words of promise and hope are needed by Christians today, and rejoicing toward Israel, praying for them, loving them, and believing that God still loves and cares tremendously for them.

The above prophecy has yet to see its fulfillment in full.  The LORD says, “Behold the day is coming…” and we can rest assured that since it is the word of the LORD, that it shall come.  After the Babylonian captivity and their return to  their Promised Land they did not remain planted there because many years later they were scattered over the globe, and returned to the Land in 1948, and were recognized by the United Nations as a Nation, on May 14, 1948.

It appears that this promise of being planted in their Land is now, and yet there is more to come. Lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near.

It will happen when they see their Messiah, who is Jesus Christ, who was the fulfillment of the GOD’S promise of One who was to come. He is their Savior as well as for all Gentiles who call on the name of the LORD God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus became sin for us, that we ( that is all who will believe), that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The full weight, and judgment for our sin was on Jesus as He died on the cross, He was buried carrying our sin, shame, and condemnation, away, then He rose up alive from that grave, giving all who will believe eternal life.

When you trust in Him, then you will be Planted and Assured.

The Holy One in the midst…

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“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, My repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.  They shall walk after the LORD: He shall roar like a lion: when He shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.  They shall tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria: and I will place them in their houses,” saith the LORD.
Hosea 11:8-11

I try to be a promoter of God’s amazing love, mercy, and grace. The above verses tell us just how loving, merciful and gracious He is.

While the LORD has spoken through Hosea of His anger, because of the iniquities of Ephraim; which is also called Samaria, and Israel – the Northern kingdom; God now reveals that He cannot, and will not destroy her. He will instead will be fully merciful, and gracious. He will not pour out all His wrath on Ephraim, but will continue to discipline her, and draw her to Himself. “They shall walk aft the LORD” is the evidence of that. God knows that one day all those taken captive will return to their “Glorious Land,” (Daniel 11:16, 41), and they will walk after Him.

The LORD God says through the prophet Ezekiel, “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (18:23), and in verse 32 of that chapter, God says, “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” The more I learn about God my conviction of His great love grows stronger, and it is the testimony of my life too. He has never forsaken me, and I know He never will.

God is offended by our sins and iniquities. The cross where the Son of God died for our sins was the answer for Adam kind, and our redemption. Jesus Christ took our place, becoming our sin, and taking the wrath of Holy God on Himself, so that we might be with Him eternally. In the death of Christ, His burial, and resurrection He redeemed all of Israel as well; and when they look upon the One whom they pierced, believing Him they too shall live with Him eternally.

Have you called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, believing Him? Will you do so now?

GOD Loves His People

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Anyone who has read the Bible, and studied it, can clearly see that God loves His people. Though Israel had departed from Him many times, and the LORD chastened them, because He saw  them destroying themselves. He always calls His straying people to return to Him.

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.  After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
Hosea 6:1-3

Many people who do not know God believe Him to be a harsh and cruel God; but He is actually very loving, merciful and gracious One. Someone has said, “God loves us the way we are; but He loves us too much to leave us the way we are.” Another said, “God will not allow His children to sin successfully.”

When the LORD tells us we have sinned, then we better listen, and fall on our faces before Him and ask forgiveness for our sin(s). We ought to always keep our account with GOD short.  That when we realize our sin, we immediately go to the throne of grace and plead forgiveness. Guess what? He forgive us our sin (1 John 1:9). If you say that you have no sin then, hear this. “He that says he has no sin, deceives himself, and the truth is not in him” 1 John 1:8.  Lost and in the darkness of sin and death.

When one or many of God’s children return to Him it is like healing from being torn, and binding or wounds after being smitten. Even though GOD disciplines His wayward children we can be assured through and by the chastening that we are His; for He has said in Hebrews 12:5-8, ” And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, ‘My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord,’ nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”

Now, if you are a child of God and you have the assurance of that salvation, but you have gone astray He is calling you back to Himself. He is calling you back. Hear Him and run back to Him. He will be running to you to welcome you home (Luke 15:20).

For those who read this and are not a child of God, and you want to be. Know this that you need to know God’s Son who is Jesus Christ. He took your place and mine on the cross, taking the full wrath of God for our sins, He was buried taking away our sins casting them into the very depths of the sea, and as far away as east is from west.  He did not stay dead, but arose from that tomb, alive forever more. When you call out to Him He will hear you.

Discern Between The Righteous And The Wicked

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Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. And “They shall be Mine,” saith the LORD of hosts, “in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.
Malachi 3:16-18

Many Nations Shall Come

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But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  And many nations shall come, and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.  For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
Micah 4:1-5

Seek Good, Not Evil

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Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:14-15

Like A Refiners Fire

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“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come,” saith the LORD of hosts.  “But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.  Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me,” saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:1-5

The LORD is my God

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“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is My Fellow,” saith the LORD of hosts: “Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn Mine hand upon the little ones.  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land,” saith the LORD, “two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, ‘It is My people:’ and they shall say, ‘The LORD is my God.’ ”
Zechariah 13:7-9

Let Your Hands Be Strong

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Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.’
“Thus saith the LORD; ‘I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the Mountain of the LORD of hosts the Holy Mountain.’
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; ‘There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.  And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.’
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; ‘If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in Mine eyes?’ saith the LORD of hosts.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; ‘Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.’
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; ‘Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.’ ”
Zechariah 8:1-9

Many Nations Will Be Joined to the LORD

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“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee,” saith the LORD.
“And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent Me unto thee.  And the LORD shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for He is raised up out of His holy habitation.”
Zechariah 2:10-13

The LORD Their God Shall Visit Them

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Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you.  Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.  For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.
Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.  And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.  And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
Zephaniah 2:1-7

Though It Tarry, Wait For It

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I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the LORD answered me, and said,

“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.  Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.  Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people…”

Habakkuk 2:1-5

The LORD is good…

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The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.  But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.
What do ye imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.  For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry. There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.
Nahum 1:7-11

The Mountain of the House of the LORD Shall Be Established

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But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  And many nations shall come, and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths:” for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.  For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
Micah 4:1-5

Need For Repentance

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But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Obadiah 1:17

For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.  And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
“Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?”
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not.
Jonah 3:6-10

A Famine In The Land

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Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.  They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, “Thy god, O Dan, liveth;” and, “The manner of Beersheba liveth;” even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
Amos 8:11-14