Post Easter Prophets

I trust that you will agree that our Easter morning together was a great celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord. We were blessed in music and song, transported by prayer and the Word, and assured through the sacrament that In Christ we meet the perfect Love that casts out fear. It was a little taste of heaven! ... and now we move forward into the rest of the year.

While it may be true that we will not greet the sunrise in the columbarium with the expectation of the resurrection this week, nor will we assemble another orchestra to lead us in song, we will gather on the first day of the week with the knowledge that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and that Christ will come again. It is the impetus that has gathered Christians together now for millennia and will continue to do so until our Lord comes again.  

So where do you turn with the glow of Easter still upon us? Believe it or not, we are going to turn to a couple of 7th century BC prophets, Zephaniah and Habakkuk. While these two are grouped with what is known as the minor prophets, their message is majorly important for God's people in every generation. Zephaniah and Habakkuk are ministering in a time when Israel, the northern kingdom has already fallen to Assyria, and Judah, the southern kingdom is failing to learn from her fallen sisters and brothers. From corrupt top officials, to faithless prophets and priests, Judah is in shambles pursuing other gods. The message of these two faithful prophets seeks to call the nation back to right relationship with a holy God, while at the same time leaving hints that God will not abandon his people.

In many ways, Zephaniah and Habakkuk pick up the themes that we have just walked through with Good Friday and Easter. In Good Friday we see the just demands of a holy God being met, while in Easter we hear the joy of our Savior as he sings a song of redemption and love over his people (cf. Zeph 3:17).