Reading for December 14
Jonah 1:1-4-11
Yes. I love the story of Jonah. I even love the Veggie Tales version that came out in theaters. I went and saw that on opening day with my friend Genesis. We were the oldest people without kids in there by about 30 years - and I was only 20 at the time.
So this is the whole book of Jonah. Let's see what I can discover.
The first chapter is basically half of the story I know, and about 90% of the kid-friendly version. Jonah is called to preach against a sinful land, he doesn't want to and hops on a boat headed for somewhere else. While he was on the boat, a huge storm rose up and Jonah knew it was God's anger because he ran away from God's command. He made the sailors throw him overboard and a whale came and swallowed him - where Jonah lived for three days.
The one thing that I find intriguing is the idea of "casting lots". This was an ancient practice that is the modern equivalent of flipping a coin or rolling dice. The dudes on the boat cast lots to figure out who was resoinsible for the storm and "the lot fell on Jonah." For the skeptic, this is a fairly huge bit of ammo against the existence of God. To determine God's will, you flip a coin? So are we worshiping a God of chance? I suppose you could say that God controlled the way the lots landed, but that's a HUGE stretch. Scholars - what is the verdict on the practice of casting lots?
Chapter 2.
This chapter consists entirely of Jonah's prayer while he is in the belly of the whale, and in a way reveals the purpose of this story. When Jonah is in the whale, he is at the lowest point of his life. No friends, God is pissed at him, some crazy sailors just threw him overboard based on a coin toss, and he was swimming around in whale poo. So we have things like this.
“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
4 I said, ‘I have been banishedSo I think since this story is a fairly unrealistic, I think the focus shouldn't be on whether Jonah actually lived inside a whale for three days, but rather the lessons he learned. This is a common state for a lot of people - feeling alone and abandoned with nowhere to go. This should provide hope to the readers, especially because of Jonah's continued faith:
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;After Jonah prayed his prayer, God commanded the whale to puke Jonah out onto dry land.
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
Chapter 3.
So Jonah continued to the place where God originally told him to go - Ninevah - and began preaching God's word. Once the king of Ninevah heard the message, he mourned and commanded his whole kingdom to follow God and turn from their evil ways. Because they repented, God called off the destruction he was going to dish out on the land.
Again, this speaks to God's mercy. In the early bits of the Old Testament, God's anger was on the tip of his fingers, just waiting for the slightest mistake to unleash his fury. Now, as we get closer and closer to the birth of Jesus, we see God giving more and more chances to the people of the earth - even outside of the Israelite family.
Chapter 4.
What a baby. So Jonah threw a tempter tantrum because God withheld punishment on Ninevah. Jonah felt that because they were evil all along, the didn't deserve a single ounce of mercy. Jonah goes up on a hillside and waits for God to destroy Ninevah - which never happens. God asks him if it's right to be angry about his mercy and Jonah feels completely justified in his anger. Tell God what it is, basically.
It starts getting super hot so God provides a huge plant to shade Jonah, only to take it away the next day. God again asks him if its right to be angry about the plant. Jonah says
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”Yuk. What a baby.
The book closes with God trying to teach Jonah something through this plant - saying:
“You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”This book displays an incredible amount of mercy from God. This is the same God who struck dead a guy for accidentally touching the arc of the covenant. A God who turned his back while Israel raped and pillaged innocent people. He is giving Jonah limitless chances even when he is openly defiant to God's face, and a nation who had wallowed in evil practices for probably centuries was given an opportunity for mercy - and they took it.
God's heart is changing. Maybe he is test marketing mercy to see how it feels before Jesus comes and gives it to the whole world.
Revelation 5:1-14
OK. Now I'm starting to lose track of what's going on. Let me see if I can figure this out.
So there's a scroll that cannot be opened by anyone on heaven or earth. But finally, what appears to be Jesus comes and is able to open this scroll.
So the obvious question would be - "what does the scroll represent?"
My guess is that it represents the mercy of God which is available to all people. The original covenant with man - where we could all live in peace with God and each other. For centuries no one was able to open it and it caused much anguish and sorrow - which the author represents by his own weeping. But when Jesus comes, he is able to unleash this same mercy that was shown to Jonah and Ninevah.
Psalm 133:1-3
Indeed.
1 How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
Proverbs 29:26-27
26 Many seek an audience with a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that one gets justice.
27 The righteous detest the dishonest;
the wicked detest the upright.
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