God and Jonah have a discussion. Jonah continues to whine. God teaches him a little lesson with an unpredictable plant. Just as God provided a fish, now he provides a gourd and then a worm and a scorching east wind. Sometimes we don't realize how generous God is.
Just as the story of the prodigal son ends with a strange awkwardness, so does Jonah. Three times in this chapter Jonah wants to die because he is so upset that God didn't wipe out Nineveh. In Jonah's defense, when a prophet preaches fire and brimstone and there ends up being no fire and brimstone, it can look bad on his resume. He wanted to see some fireworks!
There have been (and continue to be) too many times when I wished a person would see the "smite" button from God but instead they see blessing. I know I often find myself thinking that I am much more just and fair than God. And up shoots a plant...
Maybe it's a growth spurt at church...
Maybe it's a little extra cash we weren't expecting...
Maybe it's some unsolicited praise or recognition...
I really didn't make it happen. I didn't tend it or make it grow. And when it disappears or fades away, I get a little miffed. God may ask me if I have any right to be mad about it, but my response is simply, "Woe is me, I have it so bad, my life is so hard, wah, wah, wah!"
God's response is usually something to effect of:
"When I do what I want done through you, be content in knowing that you are working within my ultimate plans. Don't be so self-centered to think that it is all about you. There are many of my children that you don't know about that I am working to reconcile to myself. If I use your talents in the process - GREAT! If I use someone elses - GREAT! If I use your failure - it's not a failure. Your job is to enjoy a relationship with Me. My job is to work on people's hearts. When I do, enjoy it with me."
As we wrap up our reading of Jonah, take a minute and ask yourself if you a really okay with God working how ever God wants to work in this world. Or have you already decided how God should work things out and if it doesn't go the way you want, you will either say it wasn't God or you will question God's goodness. There are several places where Jesus has to remind the disciples that they are not the only ones who get it or are being used by God. Today, Jesus still has to keep reminding me that He is working and I need to be content with His plan, not mine.
That is a hard pill to swallow!
There is a lot more we could say about Jonah...maybe I'll write a blog or two about the topics I didn't get a chance to talk about (death being swallowed - see 1 Cor. 15:54; The gates of Sheol - see Matt. 16:18; vocation versus calling - Jonah 1:8 - what kind of work do you do? And more...).
I hope you've seen how Jonah was really a type of Israel (and I would say the Church today). Satisfied with the status quo, not wanting to shake things up, looking for physical and political security rather than God's will to be done. God made sure things got shaken up. Just as Jonah was given a fish, a plant, a worm, and a hot wind, so the First Century Church was giving persecution. What is God giving us today that we might regain a fire for Him?
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Terra Nova
New Ground For Your Spiritual Journey
Showing posts with label Jonah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonah. Show all posts
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Jonah 4:1-4 - From Prodigal to Older Son
Every time I read these verses I am drawn to Jesus' story of the prodigal son. For the first 3 chapters Jonah is more like the prodigal son, but here he becomes the older brother. He is apalled by the Father's graciousness and mercy. He's mad at God because God is too nice.
In a few verses we will be upset at the lack of resolution to the story, but even that reminds me of Jesus parable! I have to wonder if Jesus didn't have Jonah in mind when He told that story 750 years later.
Jonah has become a type of Israel (and now I would say the Church). His character has played the part of a people who have been blessed and then become satisfied (read: fat and happy) and therefore quit listening to God. Jonah, like Israel, realizes he can pay his own fare, yet it is a downward passage he is buying. Finally, God sends a fish - not necessarily as judgment, but as salvation. So Jonah obeys but is indignant that God's grace would be seen outside the boundaries Jonah decided God would work in.
This reminds me of the modern day American church. We are fat and happy. We have reached a point where we can pay our own fare, but it is a journey downward. Not to get to weird, but I wonder if the current economic crisis won't become the big fish that at first seems like judgment, but in reality is our deliverance - from ourselves. I just hope we can repent and complete the circle without becoming bitter like Jonah.
In today's verses, Jonah admits that he ran to Tarshish so that God would destroy Nineveh (v. 2). Would I really run toward easy street knowing that others would suffer because of my self-centeredness? I hope I wouldn't do that...but I know I do it in small ways every day. I'm not careful with my money. I'm not mindful of my words. I'm interested in easy, not holy.
God forgive me.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Jason
Friday, February 20, 2009
Jonah 3:4-10 - SALVATION!!
"The Ninevites believed God."
2 Thoughts:
1) The Ninevites believed God, not Jonah. They truly thought that God was the God whom Jonah was talking about. This is why Jonah uses the phrase in his prayer (2:9) "Salvation belongs to the Lord." Deliverance, salvation. The Hebrew word here means either of these terms. The Hebrew word (yeshua) is the root word used in the names Joshua & Jesus. Not only is Jesus the bringer of salvation and deliverance for us, He is slavation incarnate.
It is God who saves us. Our salvation is about a reconciled relationship with God - not about a formula or set of beliefs or doctrines. Our salvation is about life - now and forever - with God. This is why it is His to offer.
2) The Ninevites' repentance grew out of their understanding of God. When they realized how much they had offended a holy God, their natural reaction of was to repent and call on God to forgive. And God heard.
Remember how this book started - God spoke and Jonah didn't hear. Now God is the one listening. When those who are far from Him call on Him, He hears. No matter how "bad" they had been.
As I read this passage, I am reminded how important my relationship with God is. I am reminded that it cost God much more than it costs me. I am reminded that it is grace that keeps me and not my own good works (what little I have). My relationship with God is based on His gracious love for me.
The Father is quite fond of me (and you!).
Under the Mercy,
Jason
2 Thoughts:
1) The Ninevites believed God, not Jonah. They truly thought that God was the God whom Jonah was talking about. This is why Jonah uses the phrase in his prayer (2:9) "Salvation belongs to the Lord." Deliverance, salvation. The Hebrew word here means either of these terms. The Hebrew word (yeshua) is the root word used in the names Joshua & Jesus. Not only is Jesus the bringer of salvation and deliverance for us, He is slavation incarnate.
It is God who saves us. Our salvation is about a reconciled relationship with God - not about a formula or set of beliefs or doctrines. Our salvation is about life - now and forever - with God. This is why it is His to offer.
2) The Ninevites' repentance grew out of their understanding of God. When they realized how much they had offended a holy God, their natural reaction of was to repent and call on God to forgive. And God heard.
Remember how this book started - God spoke and Jonah didn't hear. Now God is the one listening. When those who are far from Him call on Him, He hears. No matter how "bad" they had been.
As I read this passage, I am reminded how important my relationship with God is. I am reminded that it cost God much more than it costs me. I am reminded that it is grace that keeps me and not my own good works (what little I have). My relationship with God is based on His gracious love for me.
The Father is quite fond of me (and you!).
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Jonah 2:10-3:3 - Second Chances!
The Lord commanded the fish...
The Word of the Lord came to Jonah...
When God speaks to animals, they automatically obey. It really isn't even a command, it just happens. But when God speaks to humans, we have the ability not to obey.
Yet God keeps talking.
He is a God of second times.
As I read these words, I realize how many times God has had to talk to me several times before I listen.
How 'bout you?
Under the Mercy...again,
Jason
PS. I love that this is the one place in Scripture where vomitting is a positive thing. Usually it is a sign of judgment. Here it is a sign of salvation.
The Word of the Lord came to Jonah...
When God speaks to animals, they automatically obey. It really isn't even a command, it just happens. But when God speaks to humans, we have the ability not to obey.
Yet God keeps talking.
He is a God of second times.
As I read these words, I realize how many times God has had to talk to me several times before I listen.
How 'bout you?
Under the Mercy...again,
Jason
PS. I love that this is the one place in Scripture where vomitting is a positive thing. Usually it is a sign of judgment. Here it is a sign of salvation.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Jonah 1:17-2:9 - Prayers from a Fish
This chapter ends Jonah's spiral downward. He went down to Joppa, down to the hole of the ship, down in the sea, and finally down into the fish. He is truly as far down as he can go. He is in the Hebrew equivalent of hell.
And he finally prays.
Jonah quotes from the Psalter.
He feels he is banished. He is as far away from hope as he could be. And he finally cries out. He doesn't ask for forgiveness. He promises to make good on his vow to declare the salvation of the Lord.
For me, this passage reminds me of a book I have read several times. It has impacted me and how I think of my spiritual journey - The Critical Journey, by Janet Hagberg & Robert Guelich. I won't recount the whole book, but in everyone's journey we will hit a WALL. When we hit the wall, we can't go around it, we can't go over it, and we can't go under it - we must either go through it or bounce off it and go back to an earlier stage.
I think Jonah is at the wall. Jonah is in his dark night of the soul. Jonah has nothing left but God. Will he relinguish control to God or not. We will find out in chapter 4 ultimately what Jonah does.
Personally, I feel like I've been at the wall for a while. I feel like I'm moving through it slowly but surely. There are times when I feel like I'm in the belly of the fish and there are times I feel like I'm really walking with God.
The biggest take-away for me today is to be reminded that no matter where I am, God is there. He hears my prayers no matter where I utter them.
He hears you as well - no matter where you feel like you are.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
And he finally prays.
Jonah quotes from the Psalter.
He feels he is banished. He is as far away from hope as he could be. And he finally cries out. He doesn't ask for forgiveness. He promises to make good on his vow to declare the salvation of the Lord.
For me, this passage reminds me of a book I have read several times. It has impacted me and how I think of my spiritual journey - The Critical Journey, by Janet Hagberg & Robert Guelich. I won't recount the whole book, but in everyone's journey we will hit a WALL. When we hit the wall, we can't go around it, we can't go over it, and we can't go under it - we must either go through it or bounce off it and go back to an earlier stage.
I think Jonah is at the wall. Jonah is in his dark night of the soul. Jonah has nothing left but God. Will he relinguish control to God or not. We will find out in chapter 4 ultimately what Jonah does.
Personally, I feel like I've been at the wall for a while. I feel like I'm moving through it slowly but surely. There are times when I feel like I'm in the belly of the fish and there are times I feel like I'm really walking with God.
The biggest take-away for me today is to be reminded that no matter where I am, God is there. He hears my prayers no matter where I utter them.
He hears you as well - no matter where you feel like you are.
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Storm (Jonah 1:4-16)
In our text today, I can't help but notice something I think is very significant.
THE LORD SENT A GREAT WIND ON THE SEA...
Notice that the storm was from God. Something significant happened when the storm hit - Jonah was no longer in control. He had run away. He had paid the fare. He had gone to sleep. He was in control. He was calling the shots.
Then came the storm.
From God.
Storms strip us of control. Storms take away everything but the necessary. Storms aren't fun. Storms aren't nice. Storms are destructive...but when they are from God, they destroy what we don't need. The cargo is gone. The fare is lost. The ship is about to fall apart. The sailors' very lives are at stake.
"Storm is the environment in which we either lose our lives or are saved; there is no cool, safe ledge on which to perch as spectators." (Eugene Peterson)
For Jonah, the storm destroyed him. But that is not always a bad thing. It is when we are destroyed (when we die is the way Jesus put it) that we are able to be reborn. Storms reveal the basic realities of our lives. When we can let go of that, we are able to embrace God's reality.
What storms has God sent in the past? Have I learned from them? What parts of my life have been destroyed in storms? What parts need to be destroyed and, like Jonah, I need God to step in.
Finally, it is interesting to me that when it came time to finally do what needed to be done to stop the storm, Jonah wouldn't do it. He told the sailors that they would have to throw him overboard. Could he not just jump? Why lay that guilt on them?
I wonder how many times I am just like that. I know what needs to be done, but I am still unwilling to trust God and do the right thing. I want someone else to step up and do what I am unwilling to do.
What do you know needs to be done but you are unwilling to do it? What do you know God is calling you to do but you are simply choosing not to do it? Have you been "cleansed" in a storm or is one coming?
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Monday, February 16, 2009
Jonah 1:1-3 - God's Call
"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai."
Hearing the voice of God has to be one of the most difficult subjects that I run into. I'm okay with explaining why evil exists. I'm okay with talking about predestination and limited atonement. I'm even okay talking about eschatology and end times stuff. BUT please don't make me talk about hearing God!
I loved what Dustyn Vanzant shared yesterday when he taught at Terra Nova about this passage. He reminded us that all of us are called through God's Word to
- Attend to the needs of others
- Forgive those who have wronged us
- Love everyone
- Leave the status quo
Everyone of us, whether you hear God speaking in an audible voice or not, have experienced this calling. I know I catch myself wishing to hear God speak about specifics when I am not even following Him regarding the general stuff. When it comes to even these basics, I find myself acting just like Jonah...
"But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish."
For me, Tarshish might be falling back into doing church work! Often times it is easier to do something at church than it is to truly love the unlovable or forgive someone or meet some one's needs.
As I read today, I was forced to reflect on 2 central questions:
- What is God calling me to do?
- Where is my Tarshish?
I can't answer either one of these for you, but I can tell you that my Tarshish often looks a lot like a TV or busy work or lunch meetings. Sometimes it looks like people. People whose friendship would make me look good. People who I will sacrifice other things to become popular with even though they are not within God's calling on my life.
Running away from God doesn't necessarily mean giving up on Jesus, it might just mean not listening. It might just mean looking the other way.
Our relationship with God is not based on how well you follow rules. It is based on how open your heart is to God's. How open are you today?
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Sunday, February 15, 2009
100th Post!!
I know to most bloggers, this is not that big a deal, but to me it is. This post marks my 100th post on my blog. For an adult ADD starter (who has trouble finishing!), this is pretty significant. Next month will mark 1 year of blogging.
I'm sure that I will hit number 200 well before the time it took me to hit 100, but either way, I'm celebrating. I just drank a Starbucks (for no reason!) and ate brownie. Life is good.
This reminds me that my life, my family, my ministry is not a short sprint where I have a cool idea and then fade. My life et al is a marathon. Day in and day out I am challenged to live out Jesus' command to LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE.
This morning, Dustyn Vanzant opened the teaching series at Terra Nova on Jonah. He did a great job! His challenge was to watch out for status quo and remember that as followers of Christ, when we settle, we might as well be on the boat to Tarshish. Great reminder for all of us to stay open to God's call.
On this 100th post, I want to challenge everyone to remember that their walk with Christ is a relationship that takes a life time to cultivate. Don't rush it. Don't get stuck in rules about it. Don't get stuck in routines. Be with God daily...and don't give up!
Under the Mercy,
Jason
I'm sure that I will hit number 200 well before the time it took me to hit 100, but either way, I'm celebrating. I just drank a Starbucks (for no reason!) and ate brownie. Life is good.
This reminds me that my life, my family, my ministry is not a short sprint where I have a cool idea and then fade. My life et al is a marathon. Day in and day out I am challenged to live out Jesus' command to LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE.
This morning, Dustyn Vanzant opened the teaching series at Terra Nova on Jonah. He did a great job! His challenge was to watch out for status quo and remember that as followers of Christ, when we settle, we might as well be on the boat to Tarshish. Great reminder for all of us to stay open to God's call.
On this 100th post, I want to challenge everyone to remember that their walk with Christ is a relationship that takes a life time to cultivate. Don't rush it. Don't get stuck in rules about it. Don't get stuck in routines. Be with God daily...and don't give up!
Under the Mercy,
Jason
Jonah - It's a Sorta Fairy Tale
God speaks. Jonah runs. A big fish swallows Jonah. Jonah obeys. An entire city repents. Jonah pouts. Aesop would love this story. Brothers Grimm would drool over this material. Pinocchio was inspired by this story. Yet there it is, right in the pages of Scripture. What can we learn 3000 years later from this ancient tale of disobedience and second chances?
If I take a bird's eye view of this story, I see several key actions that help us understand what the story is all about. But before we can even begin, we must address the elephant in the room: Was Jonah an actual event or was it simply a legend or tall tale told to teach a moral?
In addressing this question, I have to start with a disclaimer - whether Jonah is an actual event or based on an event that grew over time, it does not change my faith or my belief in the inspiration of Scripture. Just as Job could serve simply as a story helping men and women deal with the problem of evil, so also, this narrative could have actually happened or it not and either way it will not make me question the validity of Scripture in its ability to help me develop and grow in a relationship with God.
That being said, I do start with the assumption that there was a prophet named Jonah (see 2 Kings 14:25) and he went to Nineveh and preached after first running away from God and being saved from a terrible storm by having some strange (supernatural) encounter with a great fish. I am not worried about the details of whether a man could survive in a fish for 3 days, I am concerned with what this passage teaches us about God.
So we dive in...
Big picture -
3 times, "God provided."
This is one story where the prophet seems more volatile than God. God is bending over backward to save a Gentile city that later enslaved the Israelite people. God is demonstrating that His grace extends beyond the Hebrews. I see Genesis 12:3 - All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you - happening. I see a God of SECOND CHANCES.
I think my favorite verse in book is 3:1 - Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah A SECOND TIME.
Jonah is about asking ourselves if we are more about status quo and the way things are or if we are about stepping out in faith and letting the Spirit of God move us to compassion for those God has compassion for. This tale is about asking ourselves if we are going to settle for religion that is predictable and subversively tries to manipulate God or if we are open to the roller coaster, white knuckled ride of a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.
It may be a "Sorta Fairy Tale" (my apologies to Tori Amos for using the title for her song)...
but is asking for anything but a sorta relationship with God.
It is asking if you are going to be all in or if you are just going to sit on the sideline. I am reminded of Revelation 3:16 - you are neither hot nor cold so I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
Jonah is more than a story about a fish, it is a story about a God who does whatever it takes to have a relationship with His creation...His people...His children - whoever and wherever they are or go. Even if they are satisfied with religion (status quo), He is not. Are you ready to explore your relationship with God?
If I take a bird's eye view of this story, I see several key actions that help us understand what the story is all about. But before we can even begin, we must address the elephant in the room: Was Jonah an actual event or was it simply a legend or tall tale told to teach a moral?
In addressing this question, I have to start with a disclaimer - whether Jonah is an actual event or based on an event that grew over time, it does not change my faith or my belief in the inspiration of Scripture. Just as Job could serve simply as a story helping men and women deal with the problem of evil, so also, this narrative could have actually happened or it not and either way it will not make me question the validity of Scripture in its ability to help me develop and grow in a relationship with God.
That being said, I do start with the assumption that there was a prophet named Jonah (see 2 Kings 14:25) and he went to Nineveh and preached after first running away from God and being saved from a terrible storm by having some strange (supernatural) encounter with a great fish. I am not worried about the details of whether a man could survive in a fish for 3 days, I am concerned with what this passage teaches us about God.
So we dive in...
Big picture -
3 times, "God provided."
- A fish
- A gourd
- A worm
This is one story where the prophet seems more volatile than God. God is bending over backward to save a Gentile city that later enslaved the Israelite people. God is demonstrating that His grace extends beyond the Hebrews. I see Genesis 12:3 - All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you - happening. I see a God of SECOND CHANCES.
I think my favorite verse in book is 3:1 - Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah A SECOND TIME.
Jonah is about asking ourselves if we are more about status quo and the way things are or if we are about stepping out in faith and letting the Spirit of God move us to compassion for those God has compassion for. This tale is about asking ourselves if we are going to settle for religion that is predictable and subversively tries to manipulate God or if we are open to the roller coaster, white knuckled ride of a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.
It may be a "Sorta Fairy Tale" (my apologies to Tori Amos for using the title for her song)...
but is asking for anything but a sorta relationship with God.
It is asking if you are going to be all in or if you are just going to sit on the sideline. I am reminded of Revelation 3:16 - you are neither hot nor cold so I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
Jonah is more than a story about a fish, it is a story about a God who does whatever it takes to have a relationship with His creation...His people...His children - whoever and wherever they are or go. Even if they are satisfied with religion (status quo), He is not. Are you ready to explore your relationship with God?
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Next Book to Follow
Since we have finished Ecclesiastes...I want to spend a few days in the book of Jonah. Yes, at Terra Nova this is our teaching series, but I think it will be fun to interact with this book on several levels.
Here is my loose schedule of blogging...
2/15 - read the whole book (relax, it's 4 chapters!)
2/16 - Jonah 1:1-3
2/17 - Jonah 1:4-16
2/18 - Jonah 1:17-2:9
2/19 - Jonah 2:10-3:3
2/20 - Jonah 3:4-10
2/21 - Jonah 4:1-4
2/22 - Jonah 4:5-11
I'm looking forward to spending a week really reflecting on Jonah (and then 3 more weeks of teaching about it). I really appreciate Dustyn Vanzant who is helping out with this teach series, as well as Jimmy Romanowski who is designing the graphics! If any of you live close, please come on Sundays at 9:30 or 11:00 for our Gatherings.
Under the Shade of the Gourd Plant...
Jason
Here is my loose schedule of blogging...
2/15 - read the whole book (relax, it's 4 chapters!)
2/16 - Jonah 1:1-3
2/17 - Jonah 1:4-16
2/18 - Jonah 1:17-2:9
2/19 - Jonah 2:10-3:3
2/20 - Jonah 3:4-10
2/21 - Jonah 4:1-4
2/22 - Jonah 4:5-11
I'm looking forward to spending a week really reflecting on Jonah (and then 3 more weeks of teaching about it). I really appreciate Dustyn Vanzant who is helping out with this teach series, as well as Jimmy Romanowski who is designing the graphics! If any of you live close, please come on Sundays at 9:30 or 11:00 for our Gatherings.
Under the Shade of the Gourd Plant...
Jason
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