JONAH CHAPTER #4...A SPECIAL MESSAGE

                                                       Sailing From God To Tarshish

In the last post, the first three chapters of Jonah were discussed in detail, but Chapter #4 was purposely omitted, because it did not make complete sense to me. For the last 10 days I have been reading it repeatedly, while researching the Hebrew scholars, the original language issues and modern interpretation. Just last night with the help of the writing of John Calvin, Matthew Henry and light of the Holy Spirit, I finally get it. I get why Jonah was mad at God. I get why he did not want to go to Nineveh, and I even get why he built himself a, "booth," outside the city to wait for God's wrath.

So hear goes...Jonah was a prophet. He might have been a minor prophet, but he had a MAJOR ego. When prophets do their thing and prophesy (the verb), they predict future events. In this case he predicted the demise of Nineveh. The reason for all the stress and anger is simply his fear that his amazing description of Yahweh might come true. You see, in chapter 4:2, Jonah complains to God in prayer that He (God) was gracious, merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness, and often changed his mind when people were legitimately sorry for their sin. He thought the Almighty was setting him up for failure in his ability to predict accurately. Jonah was keeping score of the wrong game, just as we often do.

His preoccupation with his own reputation amongst the Hebrew nation made Jonah miss the whole point of being sent to Nineveh. He could not rejoice in saving 120,000 Gentiles from imminent death, so he did what he was told to do, and then immediately left the city. Just like a spoiled child, he made it clear to God, that it was His fault if his prediction did not come true. Just like a human father, God gave Jonah a plant for some shade, while he sulked outside the city gate.

                                                           Pouting Outside Nineveh

This clarity on Chapter 4 makes me smile from ear to ear! God Almighty was doting on his beloved Jonah, just like I have done many times with my own kids. If you now take the entire book and put it together, you get the gigantic irony as you finish the book. 

God has him tossed overboard, into a fish for 3 days. Then He has him spat upon the shore of Nineveh. What amazing patience and grace! Then when God does the right thing and spares the people, his immaturity continues to get the better of him, while he frets about his reputation. 

Sound familiar!! Look what God has done for us each day, and we still sulk and worry about our reputations and more. In all of scripture I cannot find a better description of the Lord we have chosen to serve. Despite His grace, despite His mercy, despite His temperament, despite his kindness, and despite His earnest desire to forgive, Jonah asks this same God to let him die because of his egotistical embarrassment. 

                                                           Prophesying to the King

This story has warmed hearts in Sunday Schools and Sabbath Schools for many years. May it warm all of us so-called adults with the corrected vision of our God. At the time I am sure Jonah had no idea that he was providing the world for thousands of years with an insightful look at our own Heavenly Father.

Commit Jonah 4:2 to heart, and you can never be led astray about the true character and genuine warmth of our Creator.


The Digital Disciple

SEFER YONAH...THE BOOK OF JONAH

                                                 OMG
The small or minor prophets in the OT are categorized that way not to minimize their importance or suggest that their physical size was in any way compromised. Instead, it means that they wrote "short" books that could be read through with ease, without taking weeks to complete. I will be concentrating on the small profits for the next few weeks, starting with every child's favorite, "The Book of Jonah." 


This popular Sunday School story at first blush might seem to many to be a waste of time and energy; however, as you have seen in prior in this blog, huge things can come in the tiniest of packages...Such is the case with the four chapters in this book. This miniature story about the great fish that swallowed Jonah whole, has little to do with the deep spiritual meaning surrounding this mixed metaphor...Do I believe that God changed the weather to scare the crew into giving up Jonah to the deep? Do I believe that God had a special fish ready to swallow him whole? The answer is an emphatic yes, but to miss the metaphor is like leaving in the bottom of the 9th inning when your team is losing. To savor the a hard fought victory with a walk off grand slam is the reason you went to the game in the first place. It is quite the same with the first 8 innings of Jonah's book. If you think the story is over too quickly, you miss the most important last three outs.


How many of us know from God the right way path for our life without hesitation? In my estimation, half of us know and ignore, and the rest don't care enough to know. Jonah knew exactly what God's plan was, not only for him, but also the people of Ninevah. This kind of certainty that can only come from the Word of God. We have that same unmistakable radar going on in our Soul everyday. For example, we know that we should not lie. We know that small lies are the same as big lies, but how often do we choose the path of convenience, justifying our sinful direction all the way. Jonah ran from what he absolutely knew he should do, because he had a built in prejudice against those terrible Ninevite's. Maybe ran is the wrong choice of words, because he actually tried to sail away from God. Imagine knowing the Almighty like he did, and then making bee-line in the opposite direction. Jonah did not delay, deceive himself, or pretend he did not hear God. He just went 180 degrees in the opposite direction, hoping that God would let him get away with it. 

So God made him wait in the belly of a fish for three days after being tossed overboard by the crew. I believe the lesson here is two-fold. One is that when God chooses to use you, and you head in the other direction, the elasticity of His grace will only stretch so far, before you are tossed into your personal sea of despair or chaos, reminding you that He comes first no matter what you think or where you go. It took Jonah only 3 days of this despair to get himself back on track with the Lord. Some of us take much longer...In fact, many are still running from that, "still, small voice," right now. If you believe you have ducked out of sight, you are only kidding yourself. Trust me, I did it for years!


Ever be so distraught, so afraid or so depressed that you made a deal with God right then and there? It went something like this..."Oh God, if you get me out of this, I will NEVER do this again, and I will donate more to the church, attend church, visit those less fortunate," etc. We have all made the deal, but only a tiny percentage of us keep the promise for more than a few days. Why do we only turn to Him in those great times of need? When we taste success, who do we turn from first? Jonah said it best with this statement, "they that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy." Sound familiar?

After being spit up on the shore, God told him what to do again...This time he bolted for Nineveh and preached to them all with such new gusto, that even the king of that land put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. They all repented...so much so that God changed his mind about destroying them. This is what this story is all about...It's about saving even ungodly, repugnant Gentiles before the birth of Christ. It may have been beneath Jonah to stoop to preach redemption and the law of God, including damnation for sin, but NOT so for our GOD. Here we learn, with zero doubt about it, that racism is not a part of God's vocabulary, but unfortunately it remains part of his creation's vocabulary even today. Our wonderful God's immutable  line in the sand for SIN has nothing to do with age, color, gender, gender confusion, gender partners or gender preference, just like Jonah learned about a hated, feared and misunderstood group called the Ninevite's. Men can hate many different parts of God's creation and feel self-righteous to boot...We can hate black, white, or red. We can hate gay, bisexual and transgender. We can hate the Republican, the Democrat, the Monarchy, the Socialist and the Communist. We can hate the mentally challenged, physically challenged and the spiritually challenged. We can hate the Muslim world and its terrorism, we can hate China and its Communism, and we can hate France and its Socialism. Each of these hated groups are no different than the Ninevite's in God's eyes. He loves all of His creation, all of the time and will do so for eternity; HOWEVER, He draws a crystal clear line that you can count on, kind of like death and taxes in the USA. You will NOT join the Creator of Mankind and the rest of his creation in your heaven or your paradise without strict obedience to His Law or forgiveness of sin through his son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.


God bless and thank you for reading...


The Digital Disciple

HEY JUDE...

                                        Kiss of Judas Iscariot-The First Apostate
Jude the Apostle's exact family history is the subject of much debate. Catholics call him St. Jude, the "Patron Saint of Lost Causes." Some feel that he was the brother of Jesus. The issues that create this conundrum are that the Greek word for Jude and Judas is the same, and that the writers of the four gospels call him by completely different names. 


Despite all the confusion on the actual author of this Epistle, it is short, sweet and to the point. We know that he was one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus, and that he was the brother of James. James who, you say? Well, that's another conundrum for another day. In Jude, verse #1, he flashes all the credentials he needs, as follows:

1. Sanctified by God the Father.
2. Preserved in Jesus Christ.
3. Called.

Ever see a police detective or government agent flip open his credentials? Me neither, except on TV...It gives them instant credibility in our world. Jude's credentials give him dual citizenship in the spiritual world and in our secular world. He has two Passports, one for here and one for all things heavenly. The one that really counts was Purified by God the Father, Protected by Jesus and Proclaimed by the Holy Spirit! Put that on the back of your business card and at the bottom of your emails/texts...What a great way of identifying your relationship with God to all.

                                                                              Passport Please
After flashing his credentials, Jude immediately puts up huge warning signs, like those you see just before an incredible hair-pin turn in the mountains of West Virginia. This Biblical warning is about the word, apostasy...It comes from the Greek words, "APO" and "SYSTEMI." It means literally, "to stand away from," but in this context it means to stand away from the Word of God, while accepting false doctrine." Jude's entire writing is devoted to teaching the early churches the history of apostasy, so that they can begin to see the apostasy that has crept in around them. How about the Hebrew Nation in Exodus? With God leading them and supplying them with food and water every day, they still worshiped other gods and created false idols. How about the fallen angels who came to earth and took human wives, abandoning their creator and His law? Jude says that just as it happened before, it is happening right now!


If you take it one step further you can see that over the following 2,000 years this spiritual virus has infected many believers and unbelievers alike. It seems that all through the ages, we have all been exposed. If you have a terrific immune system built on the foundations of the truth of the Word of God and Prayer, you can protect yourself; however, there is no antibiotic for a this virus either, and Satan uses it sour the hearts of well-meaning souls everyday. Jude says, "PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE, APOSTASY IS AROUND THE NEXT CORNER OF YOUR LIFE."

                                                                                     Cell 666
He thought he was describing only his generation when Jude described apostates:

1. They are "evil dreamers" that fill their minds with unholy thoughts repeatedly, producing evil dreams.
2. They "reject authority" because in their minds they are above the laws of God and man.
3. They "defile their flesh" so often that they can now justify their actions in their polluted minds, and wonder why you do not join them. 

Jude could never have understood that his words through the Holy Spirit would be ageless. Think of how these apply today, and better yet, how they apply to YOUR life right now. So how do you recognize apostasy? Jude says the following:

1. They believe that they are always right, because they know everything...Sound familiar?
2. They follow in the "way of Cain." Remember when God rejected Cain's offering? It wasn't the offering that God disliked, it was Cain's heart full of pride and hate for his brother...Sound familiar?
3. They "ran greedily" in the "error of Baalam for reward." They are not just greedy. They let their lust for wealth and power become a carrot in front of them. They spend all their time chasing after this world reward, leaving little or no time for the pursuit of heavenly reward in service to our God and Savior. 
4. And finally, they "perish in the gainsaying of Korah." If you recall Korah rebelled against his cousin Moses in the desert. He became jealous and resentful, making an opposition group against the authority of Moses. This from a privileged Levite from the tribe of Reuben...Korah literally led an internal rebellion against Moses and his brother Aaron. The characters are from the OT, but the message about apostasy right in our ranks is crystal clear...

One of the reasons I am so enthralled by Jude's style of writing is because it is filled examples, stories and analogy. Some of this appears elsewhere in scripture, but after you read Jude five or six times, you get a glimpse of a man who was keenly able to express himself with language. It is my belief that the Holy Spirit was able to use his gift to communicate this biblical WARNING in a very special way, because of its extreme importance to every saint, no matter your age, IQ, or level of spiritual understanding. 

My final thoughts on this special passage are kindled by Jude's description of apostates. He goes into some very colorful analogies to bring home his point:

1. They are "spots in your feasts of charity." I never met a white shirt that I did not get a spot on, for more than 34 years; just ask my wife. That's exactly what Jude is saying here. You set up a great feast for those less fortunate, and even though you are unaware, the spots of apostasy are their pretending to blend right in. They may attend and eat while saying all the right things, but the truth of their everyday lives is not consistent with what they profess.
2. They are "without fear." There vision has been clouded by living a lie for so long, that they no longer see or feel the error of their way. The Greek word used here is, "APHOBOS." It is where we get phobia, as an example. The letter A or Alpha when used in front of a word means without or against. You put them together, and you get fearless or without phobia. Someone or something has pulled the proverbial, "wool over their eyes," making them incredibly more dangerous to all believers and useless to God's cause.
3. They are "clouds without water, carried by every wind." On the exterior they look like they are carrying the water of life, but in truth, they are nothing but wisps of vapor that move with every breeze. Strength and stability only comes from God. Without His influence you will be moved by every belief system that comes your way. True believers carry the water for God in their lives, 24/7. Its not just a Saturday or Sunday thing, it is an everyday thing. If you are not one of God's water boys or girls, you better did deep to find out why you have dried up. Its one thing to dry up and produce no fruit for a period of time. It's a completely different thing to produce no fruit and starve the roots to death. Jude calls it dying twice. 

The Epistle of Jude is filled with more than I have been able to share in this Post. It requires time, repetition and digging to get the whole truth contained in this scripture. Jude thought he was living in the "end times," just as many of us believe some 2,000 years later. I have no idea, and frankly don't care when Jesus decides to return. That is quite clearly beyond my pay grade and would be sheer speculation. What is NOT speculation is that Satan deceives believers and non believers every day. He is actively pushing this world away from all things godly. We can no longer pray in public schools, references to our Creator have been deemed illegal in all parts of our country. As disheartening as that my be, it should not be a complete surprise to any believer. 

                                                                               Carrying the Water

The real message from Jude is that we have believers that are impostors among us. They look like a duck, they quack like a duck, but they do NOT swim in the same pool of God's love and grace. They are hollow, and many do not even know it. If Satan can get you to become "twice dead," then he has won a tremendous victory. He did not win your soul, but he has guaranteed that you will bear no fruit and will never stand solidly for your God and Savior. 

Please join me in carrying the water of life...

The Digital Disciple

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...Divine Love #3

We have spent time in two previous Posts learning about LOVE from our human perspective first and then from the Biblical perspective. Both of these have been necessary begin to understand God's everlasting love for His entire creation. Our limited wisdom in this area causes us to compare our experiences, both good and bad, to Divine Love even though we literally remain unable to comprehend what limitless love without irrational emotions, like jealousy, fear, lust, and selfishness, is all about.


Since I live in the same category with everyone else, my thoughts come from the very same experiences as you. The only difference is that my time spent on this subject spans some sixty plus years. That time plus my appetite to research as much as possible give me a perspective that I trust you will find somewhat enlightening. Here are some of the things that I have internalized over time:

1. Our view of God's love is myopic, because we experience it in the pre-conceived boundaries of our mind. We are such a selfish race that we believe that our Creator's full time job is to take care of the 8 billion people on this planet. Think about the period of time from Adam  & Eve to Noah. Before God saved your immortal soul, he saved two of every species on this planet, including Noah's family. Noah's family was used by God to regenerate human life only. 
2. Our view of God's love is selfish. God loved all of his creation, so open your mind to understand that His love is not only about you and me. He created us in his image, and ostensibly at the top of the food chain, but He created your dog and cat, the birds in the air, the animals in the forest, and the fish in the sea. He knows the number of hairs on your head, and the grains of sand on any beach. Also, not a sparrow drops to the ground with Him knowing about it. We have little understanding of his selfless lovingkindness for his entire creation. Divine love is way bigger than us, despite our selfish misconception.
3. Our view of God's love is time constrained. We talk about eternity, but live and love in days and weeks. We measure love in units of time. The average couple gives up on marriage in 2 years, 6 months, and 25 days. I dare say you keep your pets longer. God's love is not only eternal, it is boundless and does not change its mind.
4. Our view of God's love is that it is prejudicial. We think that God only loves Catholics or Protestants or Muslims. Some others think God only loves particular races, particular colors of skin, or particular professed beliefs. How arrogant and out of touch are we all that do not understand the universality of Divine Love. While we waste time and energy forging the dividing lines between us, God must shake his head in disbelief. He has never seen your skin color, or where your ancestors were born. He could care less about what you tell people about what you believe. He peers directly into your heart and soul.
5. Our view of God's love is that it is based on what we do...If you can't get by His insight into your soul, He also could care less what you do in His name or anyone else's. You cannot work enough, donate enough, build enough, volunteer enough or attend church enough to experience Divine love. Since we measure love that way ourselves, we push our decimal system of love on Him, because we cannot recognize His gift of love for what it really is. 
6. Our view of God's love that it can changed or shortened based on something you did or said. It is amazing how we try to shape our Creator based on our experiences. The fact is that He loved you before you were born. He will love you your entire lifetime, no matter what you say or do with your life. He will love you after your death whether you end up with Him for eternity or not. So you see that God's love is not biased one way or the other because of us. Divine love does not terminate, ever. Not only is it boundary free, it is endless. Saint or sinner, good or evil, skinny or fat, and short or tall, His love is permanent. Where you spend eternity depends on you, not Him.

Now you have three Posts on Divine love. When you read these and use them as a backdrop for your life and your relationship with the Lord, I pray that you will first be humbled by his majestic, unfailing love. Then open your heart and soul completely in the safety of Divine Love. Hide nothing, no matter how far you have it buried, and He will permanently warm your heart and light up your soul. He fathered your existence with his breath of life. He requires your unqualified love, respect and honor so much that he provided his Son out of eternal love and for eternal redemption.


Be thankful everyday, "For the Love of God..."




The Digital Disciple