Immersed in Zephaniah and Nahum: The Prophets' Urgent Call for Justice

Welcome to immerse: the daily Bible reading experience, where on day 259, we delve into the prophecies of Zephaniah and Nahum. Zephaniah's oracles, delivered nearly three quarters of a century after Micah and Isaiah, urge the complacent people of Judah to return to God as the day of the Lord approaches—a day that promises judgment and eventual restoration. Meanwhile, Nahum, who lived in Osh and prophesied the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC, highlights God's justice against Assyrian oppression. Both prophets emphasize the necessity for humility, righteousness, and fidelity to God. Their messages are a poignant reminder that the flourishing of creation requires the destruction of evil and that God's judgment is inescapable for those who persist in wickedness.

00:00 Introduction to Zephaniah
00:08 Historical Context and Zephaniah's Prophecies
01:01 The Day of the Lord: Judgment and Restoration
01:48 Josiah's Reforms and Zephaniah's Influence
02:48 Structure and Themes of Zephaniah's Oracles
03:38 Zephaniah's Vision of Future Restoration
04:21 Zephaniah's Call to Repentance
08:43 Judgment on Nations and Final Restoration
15:59 Introduction to Nahum
16:29 Nahum's Oracles Against Nineveh
18:13 The Fall of Nineveh: A Poetic Depiction
19:44 Nahum's Final Warnings and Reflections
29:47 Conclusion and Reflections

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Volume 4

Immerse: Prophets is the fourth of six volumes of the Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience program. Prophets presents the First Testament prophets in groupings that represent four historical periods, beginning with the prophets who spoke before the fall of Israel’s northern kingdom (Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah), then before the fall of the southern kingdom (Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk), around the time of Jerusalem’s destruction (Jeremiah, Obadiah, Ezekiel), and after the return from exile (Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Malachi).

4 Questions to get your conversations started:
1. What stood out to you this week?
2. Was there anything confusing or troubling?
3. Did anything make you think differently about God?
4. How might this change the way we live?

QUICK START GUIDE
3 ways to get the most out of your experience

1. Use Immerse: Beginnings instead of your regular chapter and verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book.
2. Commit to making this a community experience. Immerse is designed for groups to encounter large portions of the Bible together
   for 8 weeks–more like a book club, less like a Bible study. By meeting every week in small groups and discussing what you read in open,
   honest conversations, you and your community can come together to be transformed through an authentic experience with the Scriptures.
3. Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” (p. 483) to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Beginnings, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”