John Mark Hicks

Hosea, as Yahweh’s prophet, takes on the role of a prosecutor. He serves the indictment against Israel in Hosea 4:1. There is no faithfulness, love, or intimacy with God in the land. The next message from Hosea (5:1-15) renders a verdict. Verdict Announced Hosea delivers the verdict to the leaders of Israel and reminds them […]

Despite Israel’s adulteries and idolatries, Yahweh makes a surprising announcement. “Behold,” Yahweh says, I will renew my relationship with Israel as in the day when I brought her out of Egypt, loved her in the wilderness, and gave her prosperity in the land. A day is coming when Yahweh covenant with Israel in justice and […]

Hosea 1:1 and 14:9 The first line of the book of Hosea identifies the author as a prophet, the time of his ministry, and the social setting in which he lives. The last verse of Hosea invites hearers to discern the ways of the Yahweh and walk in them. This video introduces the prophet and […]

The sermon begins at the 42 minute mark. Delivered on June 19, 2022 at the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ. Obadiah is the shortest book of the Hebrew Bible. It is a word of judgment against Edom who has mistreated, throughout its history, Israel and Judah. What might such a brief ancient and situated address […]

The fate of Samaria is reason enough to weep (Micah 1:6-7), but Micah’s symbolic act of lament is because Samaria’s incurable wound has come to Judah, even to the gate of Jerusalem itself (Micah 1:9). Micah laments the future of Judah, especially the towns in the southwestern region. This is the region of Micah’s own hometown, […]

The small-town prophet receives a big-time message from Yahweh. Micah announces that Yahweh is coming to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom Israel. This, however, is about more than Israel. It is  Yahweh’s witness against the nations even though it is the nations who devastate Israel. The opening address functions as a lawsuit where […]

Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah, was from a small town 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem called Moresheth near the Philistine city of Gath. Micah was a rural prophet while Isaiah was close to the seat of power in Jerusalem. Ministering during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (ca. 750-686 B.C.), he lived in momentous […]

This is the second of two woe oracles in Amos. The first (5:18-20) was followed by a legal indictment (5:21-27). The second (6:1-7) is followed by a judgment pronouncement (6:8-14). Together, as the third major section of Amos, they lament Israel’s sin and warn the nation about impending doom. The woe oracle in Amos 6 itself falls […]

The first major section of Amos addresses the nations, including Judah and Israel (Amos 1:3-2:16). The writer begins with Damascus (Syria) in the north, then moves southwest to Philistia. Afterwards, the text moves due north to Tyre and then southwest to Edom. This is followed by Ammon in the north and then Moab south of […]

The “behold” of Zechariah 14:1 (untranslated by the NIV) begins the second section of Zechariah’s second “oracle” (Zechariah 12-14). The first Section (Zechariah 12-13) was structured around the “day of the Lord” when God will renew covenant with Israel, defend Jerusalem, pour out the divine Spirit of grace, and cleanse the house of David from […]