Not Marriage Material Gomer (2) is a prostitute. We can assume she offers her body to other men to ensure her survival: food, water, and clothes. Or perhaps she’s merely promiscuous. Either way, she isn’t marriage material. Yet, God’s prophet Hosea marries her anyway. Gomer and Hosea have a son, Jezreel. Then she has two […]
The Prophet Who Marries a Prostitute God speaks to Hosea, son of Beeri. The Almighty calls the young man to be his prophet. In a shocking move, however, God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute. God doesn’t tell Hosea which prostitute to marry. Hosea gets to choose. We don’t know his selection criteria, but he […]
A Shepherd and a Prophet Chronologically, Amos (1) follows Jonah and slightly overlaps with Hosea. He’s also a contemporary of Isaiah. Occupationally he works as a shepherd and doesn’t think of himself as a prophet. In fact, he confirms to the priest Amaziah that he isn’t a prophet nor the son of a prophet. Yet […]
The Child King Josiah is a child when he becomes king, a mere eight years old. He rules for thirty-one years and does right in God’s eyes, just as his ancestor King David had done. Eight years into his reign, which makes him sixteen, he seeks God, just like David. Four years later, he purges […]
Evil King of Israel We find many men throughout Scripture named Zechariah. The Bible may have more Zechariahs in it than any other name. With many obscure mentions throughout the Bible—fifty-nine times in nine books—it’s impossible to determine accurately how many there are, but there are perhaps as many as twenty-two men named Zechariah in […]
A Wise Woman Abigail is an intelligent and beautiful woman. In contrast, her husband, Nabal, is surly and mean; his servants call him wicked and she confirms his name means fool. Nabal is wealthy, with thousands of livestock. David and his men protect Nabel’s herdsmen and flocks, anticipating he will appreciate their efforts and one […]
A Greedy Servant Gets Leprosy Gehazi is the servant of Elisha. The first time we encounter Gehazi is in the story about the Shunammite woman. When her only son dies, she seeks Elisha. Elisha gives his staff to Gehazi and dispatches him. He instructs his servant to rush to the boy and lay the staff […]
Hannah longs to have children but is childless. Adding to her misery, she’s harassed by everyone around her. Though, she is her husband’s (Elkanah) favorite wife he dismisses her infertility and fails to protect her from verbal assaults from his other wife, Peninnah, who endlessly torments her. Then, when she prays in earnest, Eli, the […]
A Devout Believer Obadiah (4) is a devout believer of God. (He is not the prophet by the same name, who lives much later.) The Bible contains only one story about this Obadiah, who serves as palace administrator for the evil King Ahab. During the time of Ahab, king of Israel, there’s a three-year drought, […]
A Good King Asa is the king of Judah. He’s the son of Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the son of David. This means Asa is King David’s great-great-grandson. He reigns for forty-one years. Scripture says he does what is right in God’s eyes. And he remains fully committed to the […]