Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....May 18, 2020
Over the past few weeks, we have been learning about service to God. We learned about the "Christ recruiters of the Bible and then about how we are to serve by using our God-Given Gifts from Him. Now lets look at the results of using our Gifts...
Jesus tells us that we’re expected to "bear fruit." What does that mean and how can we do it so that we honor His desire in our lives on this matter?
Back in the 70’s, a man and his wife were driving to thru Cape Cod, when they spotted a field loaded with blueberries. They stopped and proceeded to eat their fill. As they turned back to the car, the husband noticed that the rear door was open. In the back sat a Cape Codder munching away on the cantaloupe that they had bought at a fruit stand.
“Hey,” shouted the husband, “that’s my cantaloupe!”.
The old fellow swallowed the bite he had in his mouth and, with a nod in the direction of the field replied, “Them’s my blueberries.”
Those tourists had treated that field of blueberries as if it belonged to them. But the field didn’t belong to them. The blueberries didn’t belong to them.
Likewise… there are people who forget that God is like that farmer: He owns everything. He owns everything because He created everything.
And, even more importantly, He owns us.
When we became Christians we gave ourselves over to Him. When we confessed that He was now our Lord and Master, we were declaring that we now belonged to Jesus. When we were buried in the waters of Christians baptism, we “put on Christ.” We said to Christ – “you own me.” “You own EVERY part of me.”
Paul writes in Romans 7:4 “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to… him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
In other words: Jesus died for us… He bought us… AND because of that He “owns us,” and has the right to expect that we will bear “Fruit.” He has every right to expect that we will be productive with what He has given us.
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He constantly talked about the fact that we should bear fruit:
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit— fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Matthew 12:33 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
John 15:4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit…
In fact, Jesus goes even further, declaring:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1-2)
What that tells us is: bearing fruit is a serious thing with God!
That brings us to our text this week…
I specifically want us to look at Mark 4:8
“Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
Now – what does that mean?
One man I read, pointed out that “Reaping more than we sow is fundamental law of the harvest. Every farmer lives by this principle. If his work only returned exactly what he had planted in the ground, his labor would be futile. He would never gain anything extra from his efforts so that he could use it to feed his family or sell it for a profit.
Consider the potential of one kernel of corn. One kernel of corn will produce one corn stalk. Each stalk produces one ear of corn. The average ear of corn has 250 kernels, so that a single kernel of corn will yield a 250% increase.”
Now… different plants will have a different numbers of kernels or seeds depending upon what type of plants they are… BUT, they will all produce a crop THAT IS MORE than what was planted. Or… as Jesus said they grow and produce “a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times” Mark 4:8
So, what Jesus is telling us is this: if the true seed of the Kingdom has been planted in our hearts
… we will bear fruit.
And WHEN we bear fruit, it will be yield far more than the single seed that was planted in our heart.
That is what God expects of us. He expects us to bear fruit.
So, what constitutes fruit in our lives?
Well… there were three things that I could find described in Scripture.
1. 1st - We’re expected to bear fruit in our attitudes
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Now… it helps to understand the fruit of the Spirit by what it is contrasted with in Galatians 5:14-21
Paul implied that the Galatian church had people that we’re too happy with each other…
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
So… if I’m bearing fruit (of the Spirit) then...
· I’m not going to be biting and devouring other Christians…
· I’m not going to have hatred in my heart towards others
· I’m not going to be jealous or envious of my brothers and sisters in Christ
· I won’t have anything to do with anything that would divide up the church or create dissention in the congregation
Instead, Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that bearing the fruit of the Spirit means...
· I’m going to seek to create an atmosphere of love around me
· I’ll work to create an atmosphere of Joy in the church
· I’ll be a peace maker when people are mad at each other
· I’ll have patience with others that are hard to get along with
· I’ll be kind even when those around me don’t deserve it… And on, and on, and on…
(“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”)
As Jesus said: “You’ll know a tree by it’s fruit” and you SERIOUSLY want to bear good fruit on this issue.
2. Now, your attitudes will lead to your actions. Paul wrote: “…we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work…” Colossians 1:10
· In others words… when you bear fruit… you will be doing things...
· … you’ll be doing “good works”
· … good things for Jesus
These “good works” won’t save you (you’re already saved). Nor should you think of them as actions you can do to “get something out of” God. You don’t use “good works” to barter with God. No… these “good works” are just the by-products of a grateful heart. These are the things you do because you LOVE Jesus.
On a sweltering summer day, a mother was scooping ice cream into cones and told her 4 children they could "buy" a cone from her for a hug.
Almost immediately, the kids lined up to make their purchases. The 3 youngest each gave their mother a quick hug, grabbed their cones and raced back outside. But when her teenage son at the end of the line finally got his turn to "buy" his ice cream, he gave two hugs. He smiled and said “keep the change.”
Bearing Fruit… is doing things for God because you love Him - NOT BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO - but because you want to say “keep the change.”
That’s what it means to produce the fruit of “good works.”
3. So – bearing fruit for God involves our attitudes and our actions… And those attitudes and actions will hopefully lead to the last aspect of how we can “bear fruit” for God..Proverbs 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”
You see - ultimately – we want to “win souls” for Christ. That’s our major goal.
Well, how do I win people to Christ?
a. I win them by inviting them to church
b. I win them by talking to them about my Jesus
c. But – ultimately - I win souls by my attitudes and my actions - by the FRUIT of our hearts that they see in our lives
In 1997, a young Christian named Chris was an employee for a large funeral home in his city. It came to pass, that this funeral home purchased a 2nd funeral home across town, and long with the funeral home, his company gained two morticians – one of which was named Eric - who had lived on top of the funeral home for eighteen years.
Eric was 6’3’ and weighed about 240 lbs. He was an ex-professional baseball player - loud, obnoxious and arrogant...(yes some of us can be that way:):)). This may sound like a fictional story to you but it really did and does happen...I am a walking example of what can happen when someone brings Jesus into you life.
Eric was a crude man and a womanizer. In short, he was a worldly man. He came from an abusive, dysfunctional family and had been an alcoholic since he was a teenager. Chris knew that working with him on a daily basis was going to be difficult. When Eric noticed the difference in Chris’ life, Chris told him he was a Christian. "That’s fine for you," Eric said, "but don’t go preaching any of that Christian [curse word] to me."
"That day," Chris said, "I decided to put him on my prayer list. I thought OK God, let’s see what you can do!"
As time went by, Eric had real battles with his alcoholism. It finally got to the point where he went into a clinic to get cleaned up. His job was on the line & he knew he had to do something. He was gone for a month. Upon his return he apologized to everyone, and was ready to work and stay away from the alcohol.
The program told him he needed a spiritual focus to help him combat his alcoholism. Chris tried to tell him at that time what a relationship with Christ was and how God could change his life. He still didn’t want any part of it & quickly shut Chris down claiming that the spiritual focus could be anything or anyone.
Besides," he would say, "I’ve done way too many rotten things for Jesus to love me."
Eric stayed clean for a year. Then he had a relapse. Eric told Chris that he had started drinking again and was not sure what to do. Again, Chris told him where he could start.
Once again, Chris ended the conversation, not wanting to hear about Jesus.
In May 2001, Chris prayed faithfully every day for several weeks for some of his friends and family members to be saved. Eric was one of the persons on his list. Chris prayed for Eric faithfully, not missing a single day, for 8 weeks.
The praying did not appear to be changing Eric much, but it did change Chris. He became more sensitive to opportunities to witness to Eric because Eric was specifically on his mind. Chris was on a mission!
On the 8th week, Chris went in to work like normal and was met at the door by another worker who told him "Chris, you need to get over to Eric’s, he is at home not doing good. I think he needs God and I figured you are the one to go visit him."
Chris went to the funeral home, where Eric lived, and knocked on the door. He heard a very feeble, "the door is open." Eric was still in his pajamas and looked very depressed. He would not look at Chris. Instead, he just stared straight ahead.
"What’s going on?" Chris asked.
"I don’t know," Eric said, "my life is a mess and I don’t know what to do."
"How can I help?" Chris asked.
Eric responded, "For the past four years I have watched you and your family and I’ve noticed that you have a peace and joy that I have never had." Then he said, "I want it."
“The answer is simple," Chris said, "You need Jesus."
Finally, Eric said, "Tell me about Jesus." For the next hour he sat and listened, with no sarcasm, jokes, or teasing that Chris had become so accustomed to. When Chris finished giving the plan of Salvation, Eric said, "I want Jesus in my life!"
Today, Eric is a different person. The crudeness is mostly gone & when it does show up, Eric expresses remorse. His language is cleaner. He has read through the entire New Testament & has been faithful at church. After Chris baptized him, Eric whispered in his ear two simple words-- "thank you."
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
How many marbles do you have?
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, of maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen, with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself.
He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named "Tom". I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital. " He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years." "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
"Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. "I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones...... "It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special," I said. " It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week, we begin to finalize the OT with the 12 Minor Prophets....
What is Hosea about?
The Northern Kingdom of Israel had turned her back on God.
When God chose Jeroboam to rule the northern ten tribes of Israel, He was prepared to establish Jeroboam’s bloodline the same way He’d done for David (1 Ki 11:38). Instead, King Jeroboam set up two golden calves and instituted a pagan priesthood—forever cementing his legacy as the one “who made Israel sin” (1 Ki 13:26).
Israel had left the one who had saved her, loved her, and made her His own. The Southern Kingdom of Judah wasn’t far behind.
So God tells a man named Hosea to marry a harlot.
Hosea marries her, and has children. But she leaves him and commits adultery.
Then God tells him to go after her and bring her back.
Hosea’s marriage is symbolic of God’s covenant relationship with Israel. Through Hosea, the Lord tells the story of Israel’s disobedience, His discipline, and His steadfast, faithful love:
- Rejection and betrayal. Hosea’s wife, Gomer, leaves him for another—just like Israel has left God to worship idols.
- Rejection and discipline. Just as Israel rejected Him, God will reject her. Israel and Judah will fall to other empires and be taken away from their promised land.
- Restoration and reconciliation. Hosea brings back his adultrous wife and loves her again. In an even greater way, God will not forget his love for Israel and Judah, nor His promises to them. He will bring them back to their land. He will restore them to Himself and to David their king: “they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days” (Ho 3:5).
Hosea’s message is harsh. Hosea’s message is tender. Hosea’s message is heartbreaking.
It’s the story of God and the unfaithful nation He loves anyway.
What is Joel about?
Locusts. Locusts everywhere.
A devastating swarm had come to Judah, the Southern Kingdom. This was no small infestation; the people had never seen anything like it:
“What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.” (Joe 1:4)
The crops were gone. The people were hungry. The cattle were hungry. What was happening—and why?
The day of the Lord was upon them. When God was delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt, He sent a plague of locusts on the Egyptians’ crops. Now, hundreds of years later, He was judging His people with the same kind of plague for straying from Him.
But God also sends His prophet: Joel.
Joel explains to the people what the Lord wants from them: repentance. The Lord would soon have His day, both with Judah and the whole world. Joel’s message has two strong points:
- God is judging Judah, but He will bless and restore them again when they repent.
- God will judge all the nations on Judah’s behalf.
God disciplines His people, but He also defends them. Joel says that although Judah is under God’s wrath right now, in the future holds many exciting things for the people of God:
- The Lord will pour out His Spirit on all mankind.
- Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.
- The Lord will avenge Judah of her enemies.
- Judah will again become a land of plenty.
Amos: the sovereign Lord roars against Israel
Amos was a simple shepherd in the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Am 1:1). He wasn’t a prophet. There were no prophets in his family. But God had a message for the rebellious Northern Kingdom of Israel, and He chose Amos to deliver it (Am 7:15).
God had made Israel His chosen people (back in Exodus), and He was to be their God. But when the kingdom divided, the northern tribes turned their backs on Him. The Lord’s temple and priests were still in Zion, but Israel worshiped new idols at the cities of Bethel and Dan (1 Ki 12:28–30) and created a new order of priests (1 Ki 12:31), and listened to false prophets.
And now, while God had mercifully given them peace and prosperity under King Jeroboam II (2 Ki 14:26–28), the nation was abusing its own people. The rich were oppressing the poor (Am 4:1; 5:11). The judges were accepting bribes (Am 5:11; 6:12).
God had promised to bless the nation if they obeyed Him and curse them if they rebelled (in Deuteronomy). Israel rebelled, and now judgment is coming. But God isn’t going to punish Israel without explaining what’s going on (Am 3:7).
So Amos, the shepherd, the tree trimmer, goes to Bethel (a royal city of idol worship) and proclaims God’s message of justice, punishment, and restoration. He makes two bold prophecies:
- King Jeroboam II will die.
- Israel will be carried off into exile. (Am 7:11)
As you can imagine, this message doesn’t sit well with Jeroboam II and his false priests. But Amos answers to the Lord, not Israel (Am 3:8):
A lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?
And when Israel rebels at Bethel, the Lord roars from Zion (Am 1:2).
What is Obadiah about?
The book of Obadiah is a brief prophetic word regarding the nearby nation of Edom. And it’s not good news for Edom.
Israel has a longstanding rivalry with the nation of Edom, but now Edom has gone too far. When the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem and the temple of God, Edom was there—cheering on the Babylonians (Ps 137:7; Ob 10–11).
Obadiah’s message is simple: no matter how safe they think they are, no matter how wise they think they are, Edom can’t get away with this (Ob 4, 8).
So God sends his messenger to them: a man named Obadiah (Hebrew for “servant of Yahweh”). Through Obadiah, God swears to turn the tables on Edom.
For now:
- Edom dwells in security on their mountain
- Israel is scattered and in exile
- Edom has plundered Jerusalem
But when the Lord has His day:
- Edom will be brought down from Mount Sier (Ob 4)
- Israel will be gathered back to her land (Ob 19–20)
- Edom will be plundered (Ob 6)
Edom may seem to have won, but the Lord prevails in the end.
Obadiah’s backstory
Obadiah unpacks a longstanding history between Israel and one of its enemies—and more importantly, the history of God’s covenant with Israel’s ancestors. The Israel vs. Edom rivalry is more than just two nations who don’t get along. The struggle begins in the book of Genesis.
God made a promise to Abraham: He would bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him (Gn 12:1–3). That blessing was passed on to Isaac, Abraham’s son (Gn 21:12; 26:24).
Isaac’s wife Rebekah had twins: Esau and Jacob (Gn 25:24–26). God told Rebekah that one nation would prevail, and that Esau would serve Jacob (Gn 25:23). Isaac (accidentally) reiterated this promise, making Jacob the master of Esau (Gn 27:29).
How did that happen?
Esau sold Jacob his birthright for a bowl of soup, and then Jacob tricked their father into giving him the blessing of the firstborn. Esau wasn’t too happy about that, and for a while, he was bent on killing his twin.
Jacob and Esau eventually resolved their differences (Gn 33:4), and God gave both of their descendants a land. Esau’s descendants became the nation of Edom, while Jacob fathered the 12 tribes of Israel. Israel’s capital was Mount Zion (Jerusalem); Edom’s was Mount Seir (Dt 2:5). Both had an inheritance. Both had a mountain. Only one was God’s chosen people.
As time wore on, the relationship between their descendants became strained. Edom refused to let Moses and the Israelites take the highway through their land, and opposed them militantly (Num 20:20–21).
When Israel was serving God under the righteous king David, God’s prediction to Rebekah came true: Edom served Israel as a vassal state (2 Sa 8:14).
But after Solomon and Israel turned from God, the kingdom divided and troubles with Edom reignited (1 Ki 11:14, 2 Ki 8:22). When God finally exiled Judah to Babylon, Edom helped the Babylonians loot Judah,and happily returned to their own fortified cities in Mount Seir (Ps 137:7; Ob 10–11).
The Jews knew the story of Jacob and Esau, though. They knew about God’s message to Rebekah. So why would He allow the Edomites to do this?
The book of Obadiah shows that God will not forsake His promises to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. To the Edomites, it’s a message of judgment and doom. To the Jews, it’s a message of faithfulness and salvation.
Summary of Jonah
God had created all mankind, but He’d chosen one special nation as His own: Israel. Through Israel, all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Gn 12:3). God had given Israel His laws through Moses (back in Exodus), and called them by His name (2 Sa 7:23). Through Israel, the world would know who God is.
Nineveh, on the other hand . . .
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, and a place of great wickedness. So the Lord tells a prophet named Jonah to “Arise, go to Nineveh, and cry against it” (Jon 1:2).
But Jonah does something entirely unexpected: he boards a ship headed in the opposite direction. The Lord sends a mighty storm after him, which threatens to destroy the vessel. Jonah confesses to the sailors that he is a Hebrew, and that he is trying to escape Yahweh’s presence.
His proposed solution: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you” (Jon 1:12). They do so, and the sea calms—and all the sailors recognize the God who spared them.
Then comes the part everyone remembers: Jonah is swallowed by a “great fish.” He prays from within the fish, and God has it vomit him onto the land.
Now we’re back to square one. God tells Jonah to arise and go to Nineveh, and this time Jonah obeys. He walks through the evil city, heralding Nineveh’s impending doom: in just 40 days, Nineveh will be overthrown.
The Ninevites do the unexpected: they repent...And God relents.
And Jonah is not OK with this.
The author of Jonah
Jonah is traditionally credited as the author of the book named after him. If that’s the case, he must have had a moment of clarity after the events took place!
The structure of JonahJonah has only four chapters, which makes it easy to outline the book chapter-by-chapter:
- God directs Jonah, Jonah disobeys (Jon 1)
- God has compassion on Jonah (Jonah 2)
- Jonah preaches to Nineveh, Nineveh repents (Jonah 3)
- God has compassion on Nineveh, but Jonah does not (Jonah 4)
But it gets more interesting if we look beyond the chapter layer.
The book of Jonah can be divided down the middle to show two short episodes: God’s compassion to Jonah and God’s compassion through Jonah. And when you look at these two episodes side-by-side, you’ll see some rather obvious similarities:
Jonah 1–2, God’s compassion to JonahJonah 3–4, God’s compassion through Jonah
1. God sends Jonah to Nineveh.1. God sends Jonah to Nineveh.
2. Jonah disobeys.2. Jonah obeys.
3. God’s judgment comes after Jonah in a storm, and Jonah tells his shipmates that the storm is from Yahweh, the Hebrew God.3. Jonah warns that God’s judgment is coming to Nineveh.
4. The sailors pray to Him, “do not let us perish.”4. Nineveh repents and calls on God “so that [they] will not perish.”
5. The storm subsides, and the crew is spared.5. God relents, and Nineveh is spared.
6. Jonah prays to God when he is in trouble (in the fish).6. Jonah prays to God when he is in trouble (in the scorching heat)
7. Jonah is answered: the fish spits him onto dry land.7. Jonah is answered: God chides him for not having compassion on NinevehJonah’s role in the BibleJonah is the most widely known of the Minor Prophets, the last 12 books of the Old Testament. When God had a message for the people, He spoke through the prophets. His word came in visions, oracles, dreams, parables, and the like. Most of these book were written to the people of Israel and Judah, but Jonah, Obadiah, and Nahum are more concerned with surrounding nations.
These Minor Prophet books record those messages. They outline the people’s sins, the consequences of those sins, and the proper response to God.
Well, except the book of Jonah. It’s a story, not a sermon. It focuses on the prophet, not the people. And Jonah contains hardly any prophecy at all . . . only one line: “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown” (Jon 3:4). Among the books of the Bible, Jonah is a bit of an oddball.
But fast-forward to the New Testament, and you’ll see Jesus referring to Jonah as a sign of the Messiah:
Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” (Mt 12:40–41)
Jonah’s life events told some of Christ’s story, and his message foreshadowed Christ’s message: repent!
But Jonah isn’t all about repentance. It’s also a story of God’s compassion for all peoples, not just Israel. Remember the two-episode breakdown of Jonah above? In both episodes, the Hebrew (Jonah) gets people from other nations to recognize God’s sovereignty and compassion . . . even when he disobeys.
The book of Second Kings tells us that Jonah had a prophesied about Israel’s king Jeroboam II (2 Ki 14:25), which means his ministry may have overlapped with those of Hoesa (Hos 1:1) and Amos (Am 1:1; 7:11), who also preached to Israel during Jeroboam’s reign.
Through the book of Jonah, we see God’s compassion for Nineveh when they repent. But Nineveh’s repentance is not permanent: they return to violence and wickedness. The Assyrians (whose capital is Nineveh) come against Israel and carry her off into exile (2 Ki 17:6). Nineveh becomes so wicked that the Lord chooses another prophet, Nahum, to speak against it. But this time, there’s no way out (Na 2:13).
However, God’s story of compassion for the nations has only just begun. Later, there will arise yet another Prophet who will obey and submit to God (Php 2:8), who will be a light to the Gentiles (Lk 2:32), who will make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19–20).
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou