28. Nahum, Jonah, and the God Who Won't Give Up on Nineveh

28. Nahum, Jonah, and the God Who Won't Give Up on Nineveh

Most people know Jonah as the guy who got swallowed by a whale, but this book of Jonah summary reveals a much stranger and funnier story than that. In this episode of the Bible in a Year podcast, hosts Katie Langston and Kathryn Schifferdecker are joined by Rolf Jacobson, Dean of the Faculty at Luther Seminary, to explore the books of Jonah and Nahum. Rolf walks through Jonah's reluctant call to preach against Nineveh, his flight in the opposite direction, the storm, the big fish, and the five word sermon that somehow converts an entire city from the king down to the animals. He also unpacks the book of Nahum, which pronounces God's judgment on Assyria for its brutality against Israel and sets the stage for everything Jonah wrestles with. At the heart of the conversation is the Hebrew word hesed, God's steadfast loving mercy, and the uncomfortable question Jonah leaves us with. If you want mercy for yourself, can you also want it for the people who hurt you or the people you hate? Along the way, Rolf and the hosts play a round of Bible Bingo covering Nineveh, providence, nature, and obedience, and dig into some strange details in the Hebrew text that even seasoned scholars find surprising. Whether you are new to the minor prophets or have read Jonah a dozen times, this conversation offers a fresh way into a small book with a lot to say.

27. The Book of Micah: Justice, Mercy, and God's Emotions with Dr. Cory Driver

In this episode of the Bible in a Year podcast, hosts Kathryn Schifferdecker and Kristofer Phan Coffman welcome back Old Testament scholar Dr. Cory Driver to dig into the Book of Micah. This short but powerful minor prophet speaks into the eighth century BCE, addressing both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms as Assyria threatens on the horizon. Dr. Driver explains why prophecy isn't primarily about predicting the future but about communicating how God feels, and he shows how Micah brings that message home with striking specificity, naming small towns and villages to make clear that everyone, not just the powerful, is caught up in the story. The conversation moves through the "Bible Bingo" terms of nations, place, injustice, hope, and repetition, then lands on the courtroom scene of Micah 6, where God calls creation itself as a witness against the people's injustice. That scene sets up the well-known words of Micah 6:8, to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, which Dr. Driver unpacks in its full context. He also shares a personal story about how Micah 7:5-6 unsettled and ultimately shaped his own faith, offering listeners a moving picture of how this ancient text still speaks to real life today.

26. The Verse on Dr. King's Wall, and the Book Most People Never Read

In this book of Amos overview, hosts Kristofer Phan Coffman and Jennifer Wojciechowski welcome back Cory Driver, Director of Research at the Center for Life at Miami University and author of God, Gender and Family Trauma [https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9798889832201/God-Gender-and-Family-Trauma], to explore one of the Old Testament's most pointed minor prophets. Cory explains how Amos draws Israel in with a "tour of sinfulness" against their neighbors, building confidence and comfort, before turning that same judgment back on Israel itself. The conversation digs into prophecy as a window into God's emotional life: God's love, disappointment, and frustration, expressed through a farmer turned reluctant messenger. Cory and the hosts also explore the agricultural language that runs through Amos, Jeroboam II's prosperous but unjust reign, and the famous Amos 5:24, the verse Dr. King made iconic on the walls of his memorial. They draw a surprising connection between Amos and the prophet Jonah, two prophets sent to people who weren't their own, with very different responses.

25. The Day of the Lord: What Joel and Obadiah Teach About Judgment and Hope

The Day of the Lord connects two of the Bible's shortest and least familiar prophetic books. In this episode, Dr. Kathryn Schifferdecker and Katie Langston welcome Dr. Tyler Mayfield to explore Joel and Obadiah. Joel reads a catastrophic locust plague as a sign from God, calling the people to lament and repent before delivering a tender promise of restoration and a vision of a far-off day of divine judgment. It is the same passage about God pouring out the Spirit on all flesh that the book of Acts would later draw upon. Obadiah turns its gaze toward Edom, the sibling nation whose story reaches back to Jacob and Esau and whose betrayal after the fall of Jerusalem turned the people's lament into righteous anger. Dr. Mayfield helps us see how both books wrestle with judgment, hope, and the very human desire for vengeance, and why the Day of the Lord ultimately points toward God's longing to set things right. * Father Abraham’s Many Children [https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802879455/father-abrahams-many-children/]

24. What the Book of Hosea Reveals About the Heart of God

What is the Book of Hosea really about? In this episode, Old Testament scholar Dr. Brad Kelle joins hosts Katie Langston and Dr. Kathryn Schifferdecker to get the book of Hosea explained from the ground up. Dr. Kelle walks listeners through the book's three major sections, the famous and often misread story of Hosea and Gomer, and why the rich web of metaphors at the heart of this prophetic book points to something far bigger than one man's unusual marriage. Set against the backdrop of rising Assyrian imperialism and communal trauma in the eighth-century northern kingdom of Israel, Hosea's message is ultimately about identity, faithfulness, and what it means to be the people of God under pressure. The conversation moves through Hosea's Bible Bingo words, including metaphor, marriage and family, the Exodus tradition, politics, and divine love, before landing on the book's breathtaking arc from human unfaithfulness to the transforming love of God. Dr. Kelle highlights key passages including Hosea 6:6, the stunning parent-child portrait of God in chapter 11, and the promise of healing and new future in chapter 14. Whether you are reading Hosea for the first time or returning to it with fresh eyes, this episode offers three guiding questions that will open the book in a whole new way. * The Bible and Moral Injury: Reading Scripture Alongside War's Unseen Wounds by Brad Kelle [https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Moral-Injury-Scripture-Alongside/dp/1501876287] * Telling the Old Testament Story: God's Mission and God's People by Brad Kelle [https://www.amazon.com/Telling-Old-Testament-Story-Mission/dp/1426793049] * Ezekiel: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (New Beacon Bible Commentary) by Brad Kelle [https://www.amazon.com/NBBC-Ezekiel-Commentary-Wesleyan-Tradition/dp/0834129450]