1-Page Book Intro: Joel [Blog]

by Rev. Nicole Henry (DCXA at GU)

The book of Joel is a short collection of prophetic poems. Like many of the other prophets, Joel writes to warn the Israelites (specifically those living in Judah) of God’s impending judgment.  However, unlike the other prophets, he doesn’t specially name the sin that they are going to be judged for. This is likely because he assumes that his audience, like him, is well versed in the other books of the prophets so the rebellion of Israel is familiar to them from there.

The main theme in this book is the “Day of the Lord” which refers to a time of God’s wrath and judgment. There are three main sections in the book, as well as three chapters. The first section focuses on what is happening in Judah at the time that Joel writes the letter. A locust swarm had destroyed the land as a judgment from the Lord. The people were to view this judgment as a call to repentance to God. It also specifically notes that the repentance should begin with the priests, and that they were to call a fast and a solemn assembly. Joel also indicates here that the day of the Lord is near.

 The second section addresses more spiritual themes, but Joel uses the physical circumstances of the locust plague as a metaphor for them. An army was soon to invade, just as the locusts invaded the land, and because the day of the Lord was near the people were to repent. Their repentance should include weeping, fasting, and mourning as well as consecrating themselves to God, as it did in the first section.

 The third section looks ahead to the future and brings hope that even though these terrible things are being brought upon the nation because of God’s judgment, that God will make everything right again. This includes restoring physical blessings, spiritual blessings, and blessings upon the people of God. God’s spirit will be poured out, Israel’s enemies will be judged, and Judah and Jerusalem will have a glorious future.

1-Page Book Intro: Hosea [Blog]

by Rev. Natalie Hill (DCXA at AU)

Throughout scripture, we see that God used prophets to do some pretty extreme things in order to communicate something to His people (for example, one time Ezekiel could only eat food cooked over human dung…).  This is what we see with the prophet Hosea.

The book of Hosea is a collection of poems written by, you guessed it, Hosea who was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Jeroboam II, one of Israel’s most evil kings.  Assyria had just conquered Israel, and the book addresses God’s people’s sin and unfaithfulness to Him.  God commanded Hosea to share a message with the people by marrying a woman, Gomer, who both God and Hosea knew from the start would never be faithful.  As soon as Hosea and his wife had children, she prostituted herself and eventually ended up enslaved.  God called Hosea to redeem Gomer from slavery and restore her to the family, even in the midst of her deep unfaithfulness.  The restoration of this marriage served as a comparison to the relationship between God and His people Israel:  although they were deeply unfaithful and had given themselves over to their sinful desires, resulting in their capture and slavery, God in His mercy would redeem them and restore His covenant with them.

We see through the story of Hosea and Gomer that there are consequences for sin, but in God’s love and mercy, He will rescue His people.  Although God was angered by the unfaithfulness of Israel, He never stopped loving them and He never rejected them completely.  However, He also didn’t enable their sins by extending to them unqualified mercy.  The people of Israel had to suffer the consequences of their disobedience by enduring a long period of capture and exile.

This book is composed of poems broken into three sections about Hosea’s marriage and a series of accusations and warnings specifically written to Israel.  It addresses their unfaithfulness, the hypocrisy of their worship, and their trusting in political alliances.  But then it ends with hope for the future.  It paints God as a loving Father whose heart is to heal and to save His people.  And although this book wasn’t written to us, these are long lasting truths that apply to us today.

A Helpful Companion to the Lent Journal [PDF]

Paul: A Brief Introduction — His Life & Key Writings

By: Rev. Blane Young

It’s been said that Paul might be the most influential Christian figure, outside of Christ and the disciples, in all of human history. Indeed, as the author of 2/3 of the New Testament, his influence is felt today. Additionally, his radical story of transformation along with his personal zeal for missionary travels make him worthy of study. However, it is important to remember that it would be his desire (and mine!) that any study of Paul would lead to a deeper love and knowledge of Christ. Or as it has been famously said, ‘Theology should lead to doxology.” In plain language, the study of God should lead to (greater) worship of God.

PAUL: HIS LIFE STORY
Basic Timeline (biblestudy.org)

PAUL: HIS INFLUENCE

Jack Wellman’s Summary Article (patheos.com)

PAUL: HIS KEY WRITINGS (LETTERS TO THE CHURCH AT CORINTH)

Part 1 (theologyofwork.com)

Part 2 (theologyofwork.com)

Meaning to the Maxims

By: Rev. Natalie Hill

The problem with maxims or common phrases we use to define our community is that they get cliché quick. Am I the only one who gets a bit nauseated using the same pithy statements over and over? It’s not that they’re not meaningful; on the contrary, we’ve said them repeatedly because they’re meaningful. But often when we say them so much, it’s easy for them to lose their impact and for us to get annoyed at the sound of them (or maybe I’m being too honest…).

But the fact is, these phrases were created because they’re true. In this series of devotionals, I want to unpack a few of the maxims we have here in DC Chi Alpha so that they’re not just clichés but real statements of our theology, our worship, and how we express those things in our community.