Examining The Scripture CXL: Contrasting Attributes Toward Man

Its 3:01 am in the morning and I can't sleep. So what does a normal person do? Drink a glass of milk or herbal tea, right? What does a man do that is being inexorably drawn and called by the Lord towards some currently unseen goal in ministry? He sits here and does Bible study and types on his laptop. It is now 3:03 am. Nahum Nahum ahum...ahahumummmmzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz "hmmphh"..."ahem"

Ah yes, now I remember.

We get into a little bit of Theology in Nahum. Two different aspects of Holy God are described in a contrasting manner. The attributes of His character contrasted between how a righteous man would experience God in their lives and how an unrighteous or wicked man would experience Him. There is a distinct dividing line. The distinctions will become brutally evident in my next post when I describe Assryia's treatment of their Jewish captives as these will be the unrighteous that are being punished.

Context:

Jonah had pronounced Nineveh’s doom over a century before this episode if they did not repent and turn from their wicked ways. God relented because the people of Nineveh repented. God was long suffering and full of grace when it came to Nineveh as wee will soon see again in this passage. The Assyrians had again turned to their evil ways. While this oracle is primarily direct at impending judgment of Assyria if they don’t “get their act together”, there is also a vicarious element in this oracle directed at Judah to learn from Assyria’s poor example. Chapter 1 is a descriptive psalm of God about Himself as this is coming through one of His prophets. God is making statements about Himself though Nahum.

God’s Character:

From the outset we see the Lord’s wrath personified and His anger against Nineveh is on full display. We also see His jealousy and wrath and they are constant until the other side blinks. God is unchanging so this can only mean one thing about God’s enemies. If you have managed to become his enemy or He seeks vengeance on you it is because you are diametrically opposed to him as a sinner either in righteousness, holiness, etc. How do we know that God is not capricious in his use of the attributes like jealousy and anger? First off, if anyone has read the Bible from Genesis to Nahum that would understand why. Secondly as outlined in Chapter 1, the LORD is slow to anger and great in power. Because He is just He has to judge and because of this the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.

God’s Power:

We then see a shift of description of His actions being like things of nature such as a whirlwind, a storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. This is symbolic of the fact that God is about us and above earth (creation). He is omnipotent and sovereign over all He has created and can rebuke the sea and dry it up, he can make all the rivers run dry. Areas known to men such as Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. Even the mighty mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. No one can endure His righteous and fierce anger. His wrath is poured out like fire and it seems to burn until the fuel for it (sin & evil) is completely consumed. Wow…rocks shatter before Him (cool visual).

God’s Character Realized By Man

In contrast, the Lord is also good and a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. We then see a jump right back to the idea of not trifling with God because with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh (disobedient sinful people) he will pursue his foes into darkness. Whatever plans or evil plotted against the Lord He will bring to an end. As if to put a finer point on this it additionally says that “trouble will not come a second time”.
God’s Verdicts (Judah & Assyria)

The wicked will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine…and will be consumed like dry stubble. We then have a direct quote verbatim from the Lord, “Although they have allies and are numerous, they will be cut off and pass away. Although I have afflicted you, O Judah , I will afflict you no more. Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away." Neither numbers or strength will allow Assyria to prevail against Judah and eventually Assyria will pass from the “scene”. In the end Assyria will cease to exist because of a lack of descendants. The Assyrian practice of destroying conquered peoples places of worship will be turned on them in the form of destruction of their idols. The chapter closes with an ever-present promise of either restoration or renewal as opposed to the present or impending situation. It is a message of peace being proclaimed. A promise of a time when they will fulfill their vows and they will never be invaded and those that oppose them will be destroyed completely.

What is really being driven home in this chapter/oracle is that God is ever full of grace. The Lord always leaves the option for repentance right to the bitter end. Until the dying breath…and I imagine many may be saved on their death bed (no atheists in foxholes). This chapter also delivers alternating verdicts for her acquittal and hope and of Assyria’s destruction because of their wickedness.

Baker, David W.. "A Psalm to Yahweh." Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah.. Downers Grove: Inter-Varisty Press, 1988. 27-32. Print.

Wiersbe, Warren. "The City Is No More" Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament: The Prophets (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 2003. 406-407. Print.

Examining The Scripture CXXXIX: Stepping On The Backs Of The Poor

Indictments are leveled by Micah against Judah’s spiritual and political leaders in Micah 3 and boy are they uncompromising and abrasive. The second message at the heart of Micah is a message of Israel’s future and future Ruler that is coming...but it starts out pretty caustic. The abrasiveness is directed at the political leaders of Judah and they are called to listen and hear.

The civil authorities were allowing the wealthy to exploit the poor. Worse yet the authorities themselves were doing the same thing! This is a big NO in a world controlled by God and obviously could not stand without being judged. Leaders by their nature are appointed by God. They are to do what is to the benefit of the Lord’s people (our current leaders could learn a lesson here too). The description of these people make them sound like ravenous wolves and predatory beasts “who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces”. They are not protectors of the “little man” or a people looking out for the “little man’s” interest. They were only looking to their own interests, greed and evil (why does this sound so much like our government? I digress again). They are perpetrating injustice after injustice and subjugating the poor in the process. In the end they will cry out to the Lord but they will be ignored because of the evil they have committed. It is an ancient example of the rich standing on the poor. To elevate themselves financially and increase their prestige. A proverbial glass ceiling for those that are poor or destitute.

Micah then turns to hammer the living daylights out of the false prophets again whose lies made it easier for corrupt authorities to carry out their evil deeds in an atmosphere of “tolerance” and “illusionary political correctness”. They are wantonly leading people/constituents astray. Because they have done this "night will cover them, no visions, darkness, no divination". Their time will be done. It is clear these prophets didn’t want to rock the boat and maintain the status quo. It helped keep them employed and probably wealthy even though they shouldn’t have been collecting monetary reward as supposed “prophets of God”. In reality they were hucksters trying to make a buck giving messages from a god (in actuality demons probably). They will be exposed for what they really are, a sham and they will be ashamed of themselves and disgraced. There is nothing more pitiful and reprehensible than a man that claims to be “of God” and is nothing more than a charlatan of the first degree. On the other hand, a true man of God and God Himself are not pretenders and anyone with enough spiritual discernment and tact will recognize a true man of God in a heartbeat. A true man of God will stand out like a light in the darkness and will have authority from the Lord.


Micah again bounces back to blasting the leaders of the land including rulers, priests and prophets who perpetrate injustice, distort all that is right, who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with wickedness. The leaders who pass fake/false judgments for bribes, priests that get fees for teaching what they are obligated to disseminate freely, Prophets that are nothing more than paid fortunetellers. They fraudulently believe because they are Jews and God’s chosen that they will remain within God’s good grace even while they horrendously abuse God’s true people (spiritual) and basically abuse God’s law and patience.

It is because of these repulsive and reprehensible people that Zion will be plowed like a field. Turned into a heap of rubble. Even the temple will fall into ruins. If we continue to read into chapter 4 we see God’s promise of hope and a promised Kingdom unfold in the text…but I guess that can be saved for another day.

We as Americans should take note of this narrative in Micah. We are currently living in a time where our political and economic systems are being supported by taxpayers who are becoming more and more suppressed by the slavery that oppressive taxation and over-litigious regulation imposes on a population. Taxes that are going to support the whims of a majority of leaders who are detached from those they are suppose to be representing. Leaders who continue take imaginary money from our children that hasn't even been printed yet to spend irresponibly and enslave us to debt. The past four or five generations have enslaved or detroyed the next four or five generations with what has mostly been reprehensible and irresponsible godless behavior.

Instead of being elected to positions to be servants to the people, they have taken power from the people and given it to themselves. They now expect the people to serve them and support their godless ideas and ideals. We see this on nearly every side and at every level of government now: left, right, center, federal, state and local. For goodness sakes people, godless and apostate agendas have even infiltrated our courts, media and public elemnetary and junior high schools. If God would punish His own chosen people to eventually get them to turn back to Him, what do you suppose He will do to a country that is not His chosen? We need only see the past to know that this pattern is repeating and our judgment already came due. It is my belief that we are already beginning to see God's judgment because of our reprobate minds and darkened hearts.

Examining The Scripture CXXXVIII: Man's Plans & God's Plans

Micah 2 speaks of short-term judgments of the near future for Israel and it also speaks of long-term distant future promises for Israel.


Near Future Judgments

We see condemnation and judgment coming and it begins with what appear to be land barons or people coveting land. Those who have succeed in the earthly realm with earthly things are about to forfeit their heavenly spare of things because of their iniquity and evil plots seizing lands and property that are not theirs and defrauding men of their homes and hard-earned inheritances. Sadly, we see the verse state that they will commit their deeds in “morning's light”. You get the sense that these thieves are brazen and shameless in what they are doing. Most thieves do their dirty work in the dark where they can stay hidden.

Therefore the time is coming for their judgment, a time of calamity. At the time of judgment men will ridicule and taunt them with mournful songs in retribution for their shameful deeds. These disasters and judgments will be a the hands of the Assyrians when they come. Without land, land barons have nothing. They will be destitute…they will be ruined. (v. 5) says: “Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord to divide the land by lot.” Because of the blatant disregard of covenantal obligations these people have removed themselves from any potential participation in the covenant community.

There are also mentions of false prophets. They are incensed by Micah’s prediction of judgment and disaster so they join together in requesting that he not even prophesy. I guess they were hoping if Micah stopped prophesying the judgment would not come. It was a case of “out of sight out of mind”. Of course Micah responds to this in the way you would expect from a prophet of God. He continues by describing the fallen backslidden condition of the nation at that time. He specifically says, “Do not my words do good to him whose ways are upright?” Translation: If you are not doing anything wrong then you have no worries. Conversely, those who worry are clearly in the wrong as is the case of the false prophets. We see here God basically stating that His assessments of humanity are never wrong. His people had risen up against Him like and enemy (v.8). False prophets were robbing people of their possessions as a soldier being stripped of the spoils of war. False prophets were dividing homes from God (v.9). Because of false prophets perverted twisted teachings Israel was being defiled so the people would have to be exiled. Micah’s statement ends in sarcasm. If a liar came and told them what they wanted to hear he would be the prophet for those people. This has sad and strange parallels to some of today’s teachers and leaders in the church and it is regrettable (Martin 1481).


The Distant Promises of God

Deliverance is promised through His prophet Micah. Like any faithful and true prophets of the Lord, they usually deliver a message of doom or punishment for sin to expose that sin. They also provide consolation and hope. In the case of Micah it is for those people that hear and accept Micah’s message to turn to or turn back to God. It is expected that those that do turn back to God have done so with a repentant heart. Hope without the belief behind it is like a fish out of water. There will be a remnant of Israel and the Lord will bring them back together like sheep in a pen or like a flock in a pasture

The Lord looks as if He is speaking to the whole nation of Israel here and His promises seem to reach ahead to the end times when Israel and Judah will be united under their Messiah King and He will reign over them. Micah describes a procession in the land with Christ as the head of it (v. 13), just as God had once lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt (Wiersbe 393).

Martin, John., John Walvoord. "Micah: Judgment Will Come" Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 1985. 1480-81. Print.

Wiersbe, Warren. "Judgment is Coming" Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament: The Prophets (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 2003. 391-393. Print.

Satan's Stratagem Against the Church

There are subtle ways that Satan presents opposition to the church. Then there are not so subtle methods used that are outlined in Acts.

Stratagem #1: Satan tries to stifle or stop the evangelistic outreach of God's people.Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand. Acts 4:1-4

Why were Peter and John apprehended? "the apostles were teaching the people" and "proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead" (the Gospel). Satan tries to stop this teaching by silencing its source.

In Acts 5 we see an even more severe form of censorship and suppression of the message of the Gospel.

The Apostles Are Persecuted

"Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life." Acts 5:17-20

When the Apostles attempt to defend themselves the Sanhedrin want them killed. Only Gamaliel prevents this from happening.

"When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death." Acts 5:33

Do we see this type of thing happening today?

Stratagem #2: Satan attempts to contaminate the spiritual life of the church members.

The Strange Story of Ananias and Sapphira

"Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?" "Yes," she said, "that is the price." Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also." At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. " Acts 5:1-10

Satan tries to contaminate an entire church through contamination of one or two individuals. Like a virus or disease it starts small, perhaps as an unseeable entity that attaches itself to people of the church and spreads. By the time most are even aware it has infiltrated the church and it is already ravaging the body. The higher the position in the church of the contaminated person the more people that are detrimentally effected through direct or indirect contact. If Satan can get to one of the leaders, pastors or elders, he could take out the entire church body. A decapitated body cannot move its limbs without the head being in place.

Is this happening today in our churches? Lying to other members of a church body. Deliberate deception? Bad Doctrine? Broken marriages? Manipulation through sympathies? Perhaps it us unintentionally apostate or poor leadership becasue the leader just doesn't know any better.

Stratagem #3: Satan attempts to divide the fellowship of the church


Bigger Isn't Always Better-Its About Quality Not Quantity

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food." Acts 5:42-6:1

Explosive growth in a church tends to make members less discerning of the quality of membership. Lowered quality of membership leads to a lowered quality of a leadership pool to pick from when it comes time to expand leadership capacity and implement new elders or pastors. Knowing when to expand leadership to accommodate more people is sometimes an issue also. Not enough leadership leads to pastoral burnout and stress that often leads to mistakes dealing with people. More people come with more problems. New folks can often bring aspects of the outside world into the church that do not belong there and sometimes do not get recognized and dealt with right away. This allows Satan to get a foothold in the church and the body and leadership are unaware. Satan tries to divide or split what is meant to stay whole or in one piece.

Do we see this today. Allowance of detrimental cultural influence into our churches? Seeker-Sensitiveness? Prosperity Gospel? Easy Believism? Syncretism/Interfaithism? Excessive tolerenace of certain sinful behaviors because they are accepted by the culture at large but clearly forbidden by God. Through political correctness we accept them when we should absoutely be rebuking them and calling people on them. Also, there is an attitude of "disposability" in society or the attitude of "no accountability" that leads to divorces, cheating spouses, etc-i.e.: The "if it don't/doesn't work out, throw it away and get a new one" mentality? Tolerance of sexual improprieties/immorality?

Stratagem #4: Satan stirs crushing political powers to attack the church when he can't get the church to collapse from within due to its own sin.

Jame's Death & Peter's Miraculous Escape From Prison

"It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover." Acts 12:1-4

Herod attacked the leadership of the church. He kills James. This in turn "pleased the Jews" and emboldened Herod. Instead of condemnation for killing James he is applauded which will enable further persecution "legally" (Wow! Do we see this beginning to happen here?). Because one had been killed and public sentiment had turned against Christians the rest scatter, go into hiding or are set in disarray. Peter is arrested and imprisoned. Peter was going to be used as a tool to enhance Herod's position in an evil manner. Had God not sent an freeing angel, Herod's plan may have worked. Herod's eventually demise is that of worm food.

There were other satanic attacks on the early church but these were the ones that jumped of the page and begged to be taken notice to. These are enough to deal with and some are monsters as were some of the people that perpetrated them. There is a long merciless and evil line of them down through history. They even lurk in the broom closets of all of our churches. If we do not occasionally take stock of what is in our closets they can, more often than not, begin to breed mold, mildew and rot that we did not know was there until it begins to permeate the entire church. Subsequently it will require fumigation, housecleaning and sometimes massive overhaul in the case of termites chewing away the foundations (doctrine). These kinds of "fixes" would then require backbreaking work and the sweat off the brow that could have easily been avoided had we just paid attention to the Word that God has given us, prayed and stayed vigilant and discerning.

Examining The Scripture CXXXVII: Equivocal

I have always liked puns, wit and wordplay but there is wit involved with the words in Micah, the wordplay in Micah 1:10-15 is anything but likable. It is describing the destruction of the towns of Judah. I will list the towns and how Micah manipulates the wordage about them in a biting and often accusatory manner. According to the NIV study notes we find the following correspondences to word meanings and word plays and I will outline them in the following format:

Wordplay: The actual wordage from Micah in the Bible
Literal: Its literal translation was it would've been read in the Hebrew
Meaning: A brief explanation of the wordplay's literal meaning

I. The First Wordplay - A Wordplay in Sound

"Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all. In Beth Ophrah roll in the dust." ~Micah 1:10

(v. 10a) Wordplay: “Tell it not in Gath” [Gath in Hebrew sounds like: tell]
(v. 10a) Literal: Tell it not in Tell [city]
(v. 10a) Meaning: There will be no publicity or telling as it will invoke open mourning of coming defeat

Geographically Gath is in the east.

We then see just the opposite and contrasting counsel in a different direction

(v. 10b) Wordplay: “weep not at all.” (Septuagint may suggest “not in Acco”. The Hebrew for “in Acco” sounds like the Hebrew for weep)
(v. 10b) Literal: Weep not [at all] in Weep [city/Acco]
(v. 10b) Meaning: There will be no publicity or weeping as it will invoke open mourning of coming defeat

(v. 10c) Wordplay: “In Beth Ophrah” [Beth Ophrah means house of dust]
(v. 10c) Literal: In the house of dust, roll in the dust.
(v. 10c) Meaning: They are to mourn of give vent to emotion or roll in ashes
Geographically Beth-Ophrah is in the west.

Conclusion: Gath is in the east, Beth-Ophrah in the west. The judgement of destruction above covers the entire area east to west.


II. The Second Set of Wordplay - Wordplays in Meaning & Contrasting Ideas

"Pass on in nakedness and shame, you who live in Shaphir. Those who live in Zaanan will not come out. Beth Ezel is in mourning; its protection is taken from you." ~Micah 1:11

(v. 11a) Wordplay: “Pass on in nakedness and shame, you who live in Shaphir which means pleasant/beautiful
(v. 11a) Literal: Pass on in nakedness, shame, you who live in Beautiful /Pleasant[city]
(v. 11a) Meaning: When attacked by Assyria, Shaphir which is pleasant, would become a city of nakedness and shame (i.e.: not beautiful or pleasant).

(v. 11b) Wordplay: “Those who live in Zaanan (come out) will not come out.”
(v. 11b) Literal: Those who live in Come Out [city] will not come out.
(v. 11b) They will not come out for fear of their lives during the warfare.

"Those who live in Maroth writhe in pain, waiting for relief, because disaster has come from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem." ~Micah 1:12

(v. 12) Wordplay: “Those who live in Maroth (bitter) writhe in pain, waiting for relief…
(v. 12) Literal: Those who live in Bitter [city] writhe in pain, waiting for relief…
(v. 12) There would be no relief for the people of Maroth, destruction would roll over them like a wheel of destruction.

"You who live in Lachish, harness the team to the chariot. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you." ~Micah 1:13

(v. 13) Wordplay: “You who live in Lachish (team) harness the team to the chariot.
(v. 13) Literal: You who live in Team [city] harness the team to the chariot
(v. 13) Meaning: A chariot will be need to escape the Assyrians when they attack as they will descend in the city with speed and viciousness.

"Therefore you will give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath. The town of Aczib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel." ~Micah 1:14

(v. 14) Wordplay: “The town of Aczib (deception or cheat) will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.
(v. 14) Literal: The town of deception will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel
(v. 14) Meaning: The parting gifts refer to the fact that the town was departing (for exile). The people would decietful to the kings of Israel because they would not be able to fend off the enemy, once under Assyrian control Israel would not be able to collect taxes from the province. Aczib was an extremely rich town.

"I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Mareshah. He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam." ~Micah 1:15

(v. 15) Wordplay #1: “I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Mareshah. (sounds like a Hebrew word for conquerer or possessor) NIV
(v. 15) Wordplay #2: “I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Possessor. (also sounds like Hebrew: “betrothed or beloved” alluding to the fact that a woman has no choice in a pre-arranged marriage, she is locked into her fate or authority of her new husband or possessed by him. (Allen 280) Also Mareshah was Micah's own beloved town.
(v. 15) Literal: I will bring a conqueror against you who live in Conquer [city]. *That conquerer would be Sargon
(v. 15) Meaning: In a figurative sense God I will give them a keeper/husband that will have authority over them and possess them and he will not have been your choice. That husband or keeper would be Assyria.

Allen, Leslie C. "Edom On The Day of Yahweh." The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976. 276-280. Print.

Martin, John., John Walvoord. "Micah: Judgment Will Come" Bible Knowledge Commentary Old Testament: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Bible Knowledge). Acambaro: Victor, 1985. 1479. Print.

Examining The Scripture CXXXVI: Jonah's Theological Lesson

In Jonah 4 we see a grumpy and headstrong Jonah. As we see of Jonah throughout a majority of his self-named book, he is behaving like a petulant child. Surprisingly this not unlike the nation and people that he comes from, they too have a historic reputation of being disobedient, stiff-necked and "whiners". He is sort of an encapsulation of Israel as a whole in a single man.

He is angry and upset that Nineveh is saved from God’s wrath and delivered. He prays to the Lord and we see in his pray that what he felt would happen has actually come to pass. A forgiving, compassionate and gracious God has forgiven the Ninevite’s transgressions...just as Jonah had feared from the start. This brings us full circle back to the beginning of the story when he is running from God and making no attempt to communicate with the Lord. We now understand that Jonah didn’t want Nineveh saved. Unfortunately, this mindset puts him in diametric opposition to God. As a matter of fact, in this chapter Jonah is actually critical of God’s forgiving, compassionate and gracious attributes and seems to view them as some sort of weakness. Instead he wishes for death. His request is met with virtual silence. The Lords only response is, “"Have you any right to be angry?" The Lord has a rebel on his hands. Jonah is disgusted with God and rebukes God Himself (foolish). Although Jonah is compelled to God’s Will, he is not convince it was the correct thing to do. We see over and over that Jonah is the center of Jonah’s life. What Jonah feels is right, what Jonah thinks is right, blah blah blah. God has now got is servant were he needs him to get him to understand a profound truth and it will come through Jonah’s own self-centeredness and it will expose the very nature (theologically) of God.


Having established this premise we move on and see and disgruntled Jonah go out and sit down at a place east of the city. He made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the LORD provides a vine (object of Jonah’s affection, just like God has affection for the souls of people in Nineveh) to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort in the desert heat. Jonah delights in its shade. Here we see what appears to be another symbolic parallel: Jonah is saved from distress, Nineveh was saved from punishment. Jonah’s attitude is that God should’ve destroyed Nineveh; instead God sends a weevil and destroys the vine. This little weevil causes the vine to wilt and exposes Jonah to the elements again. God sends a scorching wind and blazing sun that makes Jonah faint. He wants to die. God visits on Jonah the actions he wishes on others. Ironically God again asks a similar question as before, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" Jonah’s response? "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." Through Jonah’s physical exposure is begins to be exposed to his wayward thinking too.

We now see the essence of the chapter revealed for what it is, “…the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" The Lord wants Jonah to see the contrast between the vine and the people of Nineveh. The contrast between Jonah’s lack of concern for Nineveh’s spiritual welfare and his own physical welfare point to one thing: selfishness.

Jonah’s life has become a series of disorienting reversals. He tries to escape and is trapped (people cannot escape God). When he gives up an accepts his demise he is saved. When he actually obeys God is rewarded abundantly almost to his frustration. In the end God wants Jonah to see that he has no right to be angry. Why? Because Jonah is not the giver or the taker of life, God is. Attachment to a nearly worthless plant was valued more than the souls of 120,0000+ people. Why the plant? Because it gave him shade…his own self-interest. Disobedience through disaffection and/or apathy. This is all a manifestation of a lack of love for anyone but himself. If you cannot love your neighbor, how can you say you love God? God on the other hand loves all and wishes that none are lost but the truth is that it is everyone’s individual decision. God has given us the eternal life, we need only take it. God is so unselfish that He sent His Son to die for people like Jonah. God has the right to give grace to whomever He chooses. In Jonah we see God’s providence and patience, forgiveness, God’s power to humble a city, a love for lost sinners. Most of all in this book we see the need of a servant to have compassion on fallen creations of the Almighty God. These are the exact type of people we need to be preaching too!!!

Allen, Leslie C. "Jonah: God’s Last Word." The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976. 230-235. Print.

Examining The Scripture CXXXV: The Jettisoned Prophet

As mentioned in the previous post Examining The Scripture CXXXIV: You're Going Down, the other sailors make better spiritual models in a few episodes in this story. In Jonah 1, first we see verse 6: Although they all call out to their own gods they at least have enough sense to call on a power larger than themselves when confronted with what appears to be an insurmountable situation or obstacle. The captain even goes as far as to tell Jonah to “call on your God!” Inadvertently, the captain is telling Jonah EXACTLY what he should be doing: Calling on his God, Yahweh to get them out of this current predicament.

Interestingly, I must consider the “casting of lots” a biblical thing to do also. It was used by many in the Bible for important decisions including the selection of Judas’ replacement as an apostle. The idea is that a sovereign God controls all in His creation…and that includes the roll of the dice. In doing this it is not gambling if you are using it to call on God’s Will. "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." Proverbs 16:33. As would be expected, if every decisions is the Lord’s, the lot landed on Jonah the guilty party.

In verse 8 and 9 we see the sailors asking the “who, what, and where from” questions which Jonah dutifully replies that, he is Hebrew and he worships the Lord. The sailors then have the correct and Godly response, they fear God and are terrified. They then pop the rhetorical question which amounts to “Jonah! You dope, what did you do??? We’re dooooomed!”

Even after Jonah gives them a logical course of action when he suggests that he be jettisoned overboard they are aggrieved at the prospect knowing that he is a Hebrew and a man of the Hebrew God (renowned as being powerful at this point judging by their reaction) and opt to row towards shore. When this fails they again petition the Lord for prerequisite forgiveness in the event Jonah dies when they are forced to toss him in the water. These may not be believers in Yahweh but they could very easily have become believers in Him had they been raised in different environments.
The icing on the cake in terms of a spiritual model of these sailors is in verse 16. Once they see the seas haved calmed, their response is impeccable. They offered sacrifices to the Lord and made vows to Him. If some of these men didn’t eventually convert permanently to worship of Yahweh…I would be surprised

Examining The Scripture CXXXIV: You're Going Down

Jonah by ~eikonik

In Jonah 1 the word of the Lord comes to Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against their wickedness which had “come up” before the Lord. What is Jonah’s first reaction? Jonah runs away or moves away from God. If taken in relation to the same plane (earth) that God is referring to when speaking of the Nineveh, Jonah is essentially moving “down” away from God as opposed to “up” to Him from the earth spiritually. Ironically wordage in verse 3 “Jonah ran away from the Lord” in Hebrew is actually “Jonah was rising to run away from” which implies that Jonah may already be in a sunken of depressive spiritual state right from the very onset of the Book of Jonah.

Things go from bad to worse like a sinking ship. The faster and farther Jonah moves from God the quicker he sinks in failure to do what is right in the eyes of God. By running to Tarshish (near modern day Spain) he is actually running in the opposite direction to Nineveh or Assyria directly disobeying the Lord. Sinking… God sends a storm, a great wind on the sea, so violent that the boats threatened to break apart. So where is Jonah? Below deck, sleeping and perhaps hiding. Sinking lower…He is now out of his hometown below decks in an inconspicuous situation and keeping a low profile, exactly where he is not suppose to be. He has not called on God, prayed or anything that would warrant us taking notice to his relationship with God or his piety. Even his fellow passengers try to get him to pray to help. They resort to the casting of lots and it falls on Jonah. The proverbial cat is out of the bag. They inquire who he is and what he is doing on the boat. He answers, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." Sinking… They are terrified and further ask, “What have you done?” in a rhetorical fashion for they already knew why he was running. The condition of the sea was worsening.


At this point Jonah’s life spiritually had taken on so much water that if something didn’t change he and the people around him would’ve been destroyed in the process. Deeper and deeper Jonah sinks. Jonah then says they should pick him up and throw me into the sea because he knows this is his fault. Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Finally after 14 verses we hear some sort of supplication to the Lord when the other boat passengers plead for their lives by asking God not to hold them accountable for killing Jonah as they throw him overboard. Just when you think it cannot get any worse, Jonah is swallowed by the whale. Jonah is sunk, literally into the deep, figuratively unto death as a shadow of Jesus Christ’s decent into Sheol (the grave) and is Resurrection three days later. Never once does Jonah turn to God, he only turns away. With each step he takes away from God he sinks further and further down into sin.

There is a secondary parallel that needs to be noted. It is a parallel of humbling or becoming humbled also. Jonah is slowly brought to his knees until he realizes that he will need to be a servant of God or a servant to servants and do God’s will. We will see a similar thing unfold in the life of Christ (although Christ knew it, it isn’t revealed to Him). It will later be outlined in Paul’s Kenosis in Philippians 2:5-11. Christ allows Himself to be humbled to the point of being humiliated and nailed to the Cross. What we will also see in Christ story after His death is also similar to Jonah in that: Because of this type of humbling and willingness to submit to God’s Will regardless of how bad things get, God will inevitably lift or lift (in Jonah’s case)/exalt (in Jesus’ case) them both… and it is ALL to God’s own glory. Christ’s will be lifted in His Resurrection and exalted. His name is lifted above all other names. In Jonah’s case he turns towards God in the belly of the whale and later in the story is vomited out on the beach to fulfill his duty.