Habakkuk means “embraced” or “attached.” When he had problems or when he sought for the interest of his fellow people, he embraced God and attached himself to God, asking questions repeatedly and not relaxing at all. The book of Habakkuk is very similar to the book of Nahum, both being concerned with God’s judgment upon the enemies of God’s people. The latter prophesied the end of Assyria, while the former predicted the end of Chaldea. Habakkuk also prophesied that the just shall live by his faith (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17).
Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah (Zeph. 1:1), was a prince in the royal house of Judah. His name means “Jehovah hides.” A contemporary of Habakkuk and Jeremiah, Zephaniah prophesied in the days of Josiah, king of Judah. During his reign Josiah began to remove the idols but did not do it thoroughly; thus, some idols still remained. Therefore, Zephaniah spoke the word of God, saying, “I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarim with the priests; and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops” (1:4-5). He was in the imperial court assisting and guiding the young king Josiah to seek God. He prophesied that God would punish the nations, cause the people to call upon Him and serve Him, and bring restoration to the nation of Israel (3:8-20).
Haggai, who lived at the same time as Zechariah (Ezra 5:1), spoke for God in the second year of Darius the king. His name means “my feasts” or “Jehovah’s feasts.” This shows how much he longed for an early return to his homeland to restore God’s feasts. For the rest concerning Haggai, see Lesson Thirteen in this volume.
Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo (Zech. 1:1), was born in the land of captivity; he returned to the homeland with Zerubbabel. Iddo was one among the first group of priests to return (Neh. 12:4, 16); hence, Zechariah was both a prophet and a priest (Zech. 7:3-4), like Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Iddo means “an appointed time”; Berechiah means “blessed of Jehovah”; Zechariah means “remembered of Jehovah.” These three names taken together mean “at the appointed time Jehovah blesses and remembers.” Surely, at an appointed day, God will bless and remember His people. For the rest concerning Zechariah, see Lesson Thirteen in this volume.
Malachi, whose name means “my messenger,” was the last of the prophets. His message terminated the age of law of the Old Testament and introduced the greatest messenger, the messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1), the Lord Jesus who gives grace. However, he could only introduce the Lord Jesus and could not bring Him in. Therefore, his concluding word was still on the curse (4:6), which was the terrible result of the age of law. For the rest concerning Malachi, see Lesson Thirteen in this volume.
Between the book of Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew there was a space and silence of about four centuries. Bible readers can see, however, that a wonderful connection and correspondence definitely exist between the two books. The things that were mentioned at the end of Malachi are also at the beginning of Matthew—the Messenger of the covenant and His forerunner (3:1; 4:2, 5; Matt. 1—3).
The function of the prophets is to speak for God. God’s original intention was to have the whole house of Israel be a kingdom of priests, to have every one of them serving God as a priest. But because of the failure of Israel, God chose out of the tribe of Levi the house of Aaron to be His priests. Thus the priesthood commenced. When the priestly office of the house of Aaron deteriorated, God raised up the kingship, and thus the age of the kings began. When the kingship also deteriorated, God raised up the prophets to assist the kings and the priests. Thus the age of the prophets also started. The prophets supported the kings and priests, rebuked and guided the people of Israel, and spoke concerning the Gentile nations who ruled over the nation of Israel. In addition, in their speaking for God, they prophesied extensively concerning the coming Christ. The themes of their prophecies include His being the eternal God, His being both the Son and the Father, His being both the Angel of Jehovah and Jehovah who sent the Angel, and His being the Lord who created the heaven and the earth. Furthermore, they include: His becoming a man; His human living on earth; His being anointed by God; His being filled with the Spirit; His preaching the good news; His proclaiming the jubilee; and eventually His being betrayed; His being wounded on the cross; His bearing man’s sin; His being buried with the rich; His resurrection to be the foundation stone and cornerstone set up by God that His disciples might become His brothers to be His church, in whose midst He sings praise to God; His being ascended to the height; His sitting at the right hand of God; His being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchisedec; and His waiting for God to make His enemies His footstool. Finally, they include His receiving the kingdom and His coming back with His saints, His defeating the nations, His saving the whole house of Israel, the setting up of His kingdom which will fill the earth, His reigning as King over the nations, and His bringing about the restoration and harmony of all things, thus ushering in the new heaven and new earth.
The Lord Jesus said, “All the things must be fulfilled which have been written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44; cf. John 1:45). The purpose of this lesson is to point out in detail all the prophecies concerning Christ spoken by the prophets in the Old Testament, that based upon them, we may have a deeper knowledge of Christ. Both the teachers and the readers should try to mark out every prophecy concerning Christ that is contained in this lesson and study it in detail, that they may be deeply impressed.