Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi Twenty Questions

 1. What is the Lord’s complaint against the people in Haggai 1?

2. How did the people and their leaders respond?

3. According to the Law cited in Haggai 2, which spreads when it touches other items – consecration or contamination?

4. What kind of punishment had the people been suffering because of their lack of concern for the Temple being left in ruins?

5. Who does God say will be like His signet ring?

6. In Zechariah 1, what does the Lord promise the people if they return to Him?

7. Does Zechariah 1 and 2 contain good news or bad news for Judah?

8. In Zechariah 3, who is described as a burning stick snatched from a fire? 

9. How would you interpret Zechariah 3:6 – “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty”?

10. What two groups of people did the flying scroll curse with banishment?

11. What comparison and contrasts do you see between Zechariah 6:1-8 and Revelation 6:1-8?

12. According to Zechariah 7:9-10, what does the Lord prefer to ritualistic mourning and fasting?

13. How do Christians think Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled?

14. What do you find in Zechariah 10 and 11 that echoes in the life of Jesus?

15. What do you think Zechariah 12:10-14 is looking forward to?

16. What clues about the future do we find in Zechariah 14?

17. What was wrong with the animals being brought for sacrifice in Malachi 1?

18. Who do Christians think Malachi is foreseeing in 3:1?

19. What kind of test does God invite His people to put Him to?

20. How would you respond to a Christian who says that the Old Testament is antithetical (or at least unnecessary) to the practice of our faith?

Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah Twenty Questions

 1. What nation is the prophet Micah from, and which nations is he prophesying against?

2. How does the punishment of Micah 2:3-5 fit the crime described in 2:1-2?

3. Based on Micah 2:6-11, why do you suppose true prophets are usually persecuted in their lifetimes while false prophets are often celebrated?

4. What is Micah’s vision of the last days as recorded in 4:1-8?

5. What do Christians see in Micah 5:2 as a prophecy of Jesus Christ?

6. According to Micah 6:6-8, what is God really looking for on the part of His people?

7. With what kind of hope does the book of Micah end in 7:18-20?

8. What nation does Nahum primarily prophesy against? 

9. How do we reconcile Nahum 1:2 with our understanding of God?

10. Why is Nahum’s prophecy of judgment upon Nineveh simultaneously a message of peace and hope for Judah?

11. Why do you suppose God’s people often feel impatient with God, as expressed in Habakkuk 1:2?  Have you ever felt that way?

12. What contrasts do you see between false idols and the Lord God in Habakkuk 2:18-20?

13. From what nation does Zephaniah come, and who does he prophesy against in chapter 1?

14. How does Zephaniah picture the “Day of the Lord?”

15. What is Zephaniah’s advice in 2:3 to those who would prepare for this Day?

16. According to Zephaniah 2, will any of the other nations (Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Cush, Assyria) be spared?

17. What will those with purified lips do, according to Zephaniah 3:9?

18. What are the characteristics of those the Lord removes from Jerusalem, and those who remain, in Zephaniah 3:11-13?

19. With what kind of hope does the book of Zephaniah end in 3:14-20?

20. Do you think God continues to appoint prophets to deliver His message today?  Why or why not?

Joel, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah Twenty Questions

 1. Using your imagination, what kinds of catastrophic natural disasters might occur that could bring our nation to its knees?

2. How devastating would it be for a nation in Bible times to have their agriculture completely devoured by swarms of locusts?

3. In chapter one, what does the prophet Joel recommend as the response to the calamity of the invasion of locusts upon the land?

4. When you hear the phrase, “the day of the Lord”, what emotions are stirred up within you?  How do you think the prophet Joel would have us feel about that day?

5. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32) appears several times in the Bible.  Why is this important?  What hope does it give you?

6. What was Amos’ profession?

7. You can imagine the people of Israel cheering Amos’ thundering pronouncements against their neighboring rivals in Amos 1:3-2:5.  How do you think they would have felt about his message in 2:6 through the rest of the book?

8. How does Amos refer to the rich, privileged women of Israel in 4:1? 

9. What are some ways the Lord tried to get Israel to return to Him?

10. How does Amos portray “the day of the Lord” (Amos 5:18-20)?

11. What are some of the specific sins that Amos charges Israel with?

12. What does the vision of a basket of ripe fruit in Amos 8:1 represent?

13. What nation does Obadiah proclaim judgment against?

14. What does Obadiah say about “the day of the Lord” in verse 15?

15. Have you ever run away from a calling or direction that the Lord has given you?  If so, what happened?

16. How did Jonah’s rebellion against the Lord end up serving as a witness to the sailors on the ship bound for Tarshish?

17. What would you say to someone who objects that Jonah’s experience of surviving three days in the belly of a fish is a physical impossibility?

18. What effect did Jonah’s preaching against Nineveh have on the city and its residents?

19. Was Jonah justified in his anger that God did not bring on Nineveh the destruction he had prophesied?  Why or why not?

20. Can you find at least four things that the Lord “provides” or “sends” in the book of Jonah?