Book Summaries

Question 1

Isaiah

Answer 1

Demonstrates God’s plan of judgment, grace and redemption for his rebellious people and the world through His Messiah (Suffering Servant).

Question 2

Jeremiah

Answer 2

Demonstrates God’s judgment on covenant infidelity (Judah) and world-wide sin (nations) but also God’s gracious plan to restore both Jews and Gentiles through a New Covenant.

Question 3

Lamentations

Answer 3

Through the horrors of Jerusalem’s fall, it demonstrates that God is faithful and merciful in our suffering and calls us to return to God and covenant faithfulness.

Question 4

Ezekiel

Answer 4

Speaking to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, Ezekiel demonstrates God’s vindication of his holy name through judgment and ultimate restoration of his covenant people.

Question 5

Hosea

Answer 5

Demonstrates God’s redeeming love for his people in spite of his hatred of their sin and spiritual adultery. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom (Israel) who was instructed to marry an unfaithful wife (Gomer).

Question 6

Joel

Answer 6

Joel uses the image of a locust plague which devastates the land as a foreshadowing of the coming day of the Lord, calling people to repentance and hope in God’s covenant mercy (pouring out of God’s Spirit).

Question 7

Amos

Answer 7

Speaking to the northern kingdom (Israel), Amos declares God’s universal justice not only on the nations, but on Israel for her pursuit of luxury, self-indulgence and oppression of the poor.

Question 8

Obadiah

Answer 8

Edom (and all Israel’s oppressors) is condemned for its cruelty toward Judah during her humiliation. Shortest book in the OT.

Question 9

Jonah

Answer 9

God has compassion on all people (godless Nineveh and hard-hearted Jonah) and accomplishes his redemptive purposes despite the defects of his servants.

Question 10

Micah

Answer 10

Micah brings God’s “lawsuit” against the people of Israel and Judah for their covenant unfaithfulness in the form of idolatry, abuse of the poor, and using social status for personal gain. Yet he ends with hope for God’s mercy, forgiveness and restoration.

Question 11

Nahum

Answer 11

Nahum proclaims God’s irrevocable judgment on the Assyrian capital of Nineveh for its bloodshed and wickedness, which is a comfort to Judah.

Question 12

Habakkuk

Answer 12

Habakkuk struggles to understand God’s justice in using the wicked Babylonians to punish his disobedient people but learns to live by faith.

Question 13

Zephaniah

Answer 13

Zephaniah declares that the Day of the Lord is a day of judgment for all nations and for his disobedient people - but also a day of deliverance for those who remain faithful to his covenant.

Question 14

Haggai

Answer 14

Haggai confronts those who are busy building their own houses while the temple lies in ruin. God has withheld his blessing on the land until the temple and worship are again the priority.

Question 15

Zechariah

Answer 15

Zechariah speaks to the discouraged remnant and encourages them to remain diligent in rebuilding the temple which will one day be home to the Messiah who is to come.

Question 16

Malachi

Answer 16

Malachi is God’s Messenger to rebuke his rebellious people for their corruption, divorce, lack of tithing, and hypocrisy through 6 disputations. God will send “his messenger” to prepare the people for the coming Messiah.