Holy Scripture Flashcards
One of the greatest writers in the Bible, Isaiah proclaims the need for the Chosen People to have faith. He constantly calls his people back to a reliance on God’s promises and away from vain attempts to find security in human plans and intrigues. The vision also leads him to insist on the ethical behavior that is required of human beings who wish to live in the presence of such a holy God.
Isaiah
A harsh messenger for penance, Jeremiah predicted the divine castigation of Israel and witnessed the destruction of the holy city of Jerusalem. Arrest, imprisonment, and public disgrace were his lot. In the nation’s apostasy Jeremiah saw the sealing of its doom. He gave voice to the suffering and the hope of the Chosen People.
Jeremiah
The Book of Lamentations is a collection of five poems that serve as an anguished response to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC, after a long siege by the invading Babylonian army. With its unsparing focus on destruction, pain, and suffering, the book serves an invaluable function as part of Scripture, witnessing to a biblical faith determined to express honestly the harsh realities of a violent world and providing contemporary readers with the language to do the same.
Lamentation
This book, set during the exile in Babylon, attempts to explain the trauma of the exile in terms of a cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, and return. The prayer of the exiles is a confession of sin and a request for mercy. Following a hymn in praise of Wisdom, a poetic text offers encouragement to the exiles in view of their eventual return. The book concludes with a polemic against idolatry.
Baruch
The famous vision of the dry bones in chapter 37 expresses his firm belief in a forthcoming restoration. Ultimately, whatever God does to or for us is motivated by zeal for his own holy name. The new heart and the new spirit that must exist under the New Covenant cannot be the work of man; they too must be the work of God. It also contains the vision of the four living creatures.
Ezekiel
After Ezekiel was sent into exile, his first prophetic task was to prepare his fellow countrymen in Babylon for the final destruction of Jerusalem. Accordingly, the first part of the book reproaches Israel for past and present sins and predicts further devastation and a more general exile. After the destruction, Ezekiel’s prophecy is characterized by the promise of salvation in a New Covenant.
Ezekiel
This book takes its name not from the author, but from its hero, among the first Jews deported to Babylon. This work was composed during the bitter persecution carried on by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (167-164 BC) and was written to strengthen and comfort the Jewish people in their ordeal. The book contains traditional stories (chapters 1-6) that tell of the trials and triumphs of the wise Daniel and his three companions.
The moral is that people of faith can resist temptation and conquer adversity. The Book of Daniel includes such well-known episodes as the writing on the wall, Daniel in the lion’s den, and the story of Susanna, who was freed from the false accusations of the wicked elders.
Daniel
The main theme of this book is the infidelity of Israel, who adores false gods, with consequent moral and political disorder. The prophet describes his marriage as a symbol of the covenant between the Lord and Israel, comparing the infidelity of Israel with that of his adulterous wife. Writing approximately two hundred years before the Song of Songs, Hosea began the Old Testament tradition of describing the relation between the Lord and Israel in terms of marriage.
Hosea
This prophecy is rich in apocalyptic imagery and strongly eschatological in tone. It was composed about 400 BC. Its prevailing theme is the day of the Lord
Joek
A man of the desert, Amos stigmatized the solely external worship of the Jewish people, who were living in social and religious corruption. He calls the people back to the high moral and religious demands of the Lord’s Revelation. Amos’s message stands as one of the most powerful voices ever to challenge hypocrisy and injustice.
Amos
This is the shortest book of the entire Old Testament. The prophecy is a bitter cry for vengeance against Edom for its pride and its crimes. Mount Esau in Edom will be occupied and ravaged by the enemy, while through the might of the Lord, Mount Zion will be restored to its former sanctity and security.
Obadiah
This account tells the story of the disobedient prophet Jonah, who remains three days and three nights in the belly of a large fish before accepting the task of calling Nineveh, the capital of Assyrian empire, to conversion. This fascinating story caricatures a narrow mentality that would see God’s interest extending only to Israel, whereas God is presented as concerned with and merciful to even the inhabitants of Nineveh.
Jonah
A contemporary of Isaiah, Micah attacked rich exploiters of the poor, fraudulent merchants, venal judges, and corrupt priests and prophets. Through the prophet, the Lord announces the impending punishment of God’s people, by means of military defeat and exile, because of their failure to establish justice. After that punishment, God will bring the people back to their land and establish perpetual peace. This prophecy foretells the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem.
Micah
This book prophesies the destruction of Nineveh by the Babylonians. Nahum asserts God’s moral government of the world. Nineveh’s doom is evidence that God stands against oppression and the abuse of power. Thus, Nineveh’s demise is viewed as an act of divine justice.
Nahum
A contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk is the only prophet to devote his entire work to the question of the justice of God’s government of the world. Habakkuk’s challenge is set up as a dialogue between the prophet and God, in which Habakkuk’s complaints about injustices are followed by God’s promises that the perpetrators will be punished, assuring the prophet of the reliability of God’s rule and calling for human faithfulness.
Habakkuk
