In true prophetic fashion, Micah takes our imagination, what we consider to be possible, and stretches it – not to its limits, but far past its limits. In Micah’s day, there is immense corruption among Israel’s power structures. The monarchy, the priesthood, the royally appointed prophets (of which Micah is not one) – they all carry out their work for the highest bidder. “Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob… who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with…

In the story of Jonah, we meet our most reluctant prophet – so reluctant that he hops on a boat and sails across the sea in the opposite direction of what God is calling him to do. Jonah is called to go to Nineveh and declare to them that their abundant wickedness has gotten God’s attention. Nineveh is the capital city of Assyria, a monstrous empire who is a plague to the Israelites. Jonah is appointed by God to bring…

The prophet Obadiah has some harsh words for the nation of Edom, an ancient people we may not be familiar with, although they are actually mentioned a great deal throughout the Old Testament. Israel and Edom both have their roots in the same family, the twin brothers Jacob and Esau. These brothers’ relationship to each other is wrought from the beginning (literally before they’re even born!) with conflict, deception and resentment. Their mother, Rebekah, is told by God in her…

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (1 Kings 17:1) If you work your way through Israel’s story in the Old Testament, you eventually get to know Elijah. He’s impossible to miss. So important to Israel is Elijah that the prophet Malachi sees him returning in the future to prepare Israel…