Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Jonah 2
Jonah’s prayer (vs. 1-10)—From the belly of the fish, Jonah offered a prayer of praise to the Lord. The Lord had saved him from drowning, but Jonah also seemed aware (convinced) that God was going to extend his life. The prophet prayed, and “You heard my voice” (v. 2). Jonah knew that it was God who had thrown him into the sea. There was no loss of faith on Jonah’s part (v. 4). He describes again his encounter with the sea (v. 5). Things didn’t look good at first, but “You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God” (v. 6). Jonah was about to give up hope, but “I remembered the Lord, and my prayer went up to you” (v. 7). “Worthless idols” couldn’t help him (v. 8), only Jehovah could, and Jonah thanked Him for it. “Salvation is of the Lord” (v. 9). The prayer is in poetic form, so there is a lot of repetition and figurative, pious language. Verse 10 tells us that “the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”
Jonah: Introduction and Chapter 1
Jonah was the son of a man named Amittai. We have a pretty good indication of when he prophesied because he is mentioned in II Kings 14:25, in the time of Jeroboam II, who reigned in the late 9th-early 8th century B.C. This would make Jonah at least a contemporary with Amos and Hosea, and perhaps even earlier. The book of Jonah is what he is most famous for, but we learn from the passage in II Kings that the Lord used him to deliver other messages as well.
Jonah was to preach to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria; so there is no preaching to the Jews in this book at all. That country was a rising power, not totally in its heyday yet, but close. The Assyrians will sack Samaria in 722/21, but be overthrown by the Babylonians in the 630s. The prophet Nahum, who also preaches to Nineveh, will tell that story.
Chapter One
Jonah flees from God (vs. 1-3)—God told Jonah to go and “cry out” against Nineveh. Jonah didn’t want to do it, so he decided to flee to Tarshish. We don’t know exactly where Tarshish was, but it wasn’t where God wanted Jonah to go. Notice that when Jonah boarded the ship at Joppa to go to Tarshish, “he paid the fare thereof” (v. 3). If he had gone where the Lord told him, Jehovah would have taken care of him.
Jonah cast into the sea (vs. 4-17)—The Lord was displeased, of course, and “sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up” (v. 4). The mariners did everything they could to save the ship, including tossing all the cargo into the sea and praying to their own gods (v. 5). Jonah was sleeping through all of this (v. 5). His shipmates wake him up and bid him to call upon his God; maybe He’s the one who can save them, their gods hadn’t helped yet. To find out who was to blame for this catastrophe (a bit of superstition here, but it worked, no doubt through the direction of God), the men cast lots. The lot fell on Jonah, who explained why the Lord was sending this tempest. When asked what could be done to calm the sea, Jonah said, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me" (v. 12). Even though this was the prophet of God speaking, and it was fairly obvious that his message came from Jehovah, the other men on the ship, to their credit, didn’t want to do what Jonah told them to—they were trying to save his life. But the storm worsened (v. 13), and they simply had to do what Jonah bid them in order to save their own lives. They asked the Lord to forgive them for what they were about to do. Well, since it was God’s will that Jonah be cast into the sea, it wasn’t a sin, but again these men appear honorable. They toss the prophet overboard, “and the sea ceased from its raging” (v. 15). Jonah’s companions might have been converted completely to Jehovah, because “the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows” (v. 16). So Jonah has already done some good, even though he had been disobeying God.
Jonah didn’t die, of course. “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (v. 17). This “great fish” was almost certainly not a whale, as the old King James Version suggests in the New Testament. A whale can’t swallow a human, its throat isn’t big enough. We don’t know what the fish was, but it doesn’t matter. It acted at God’s command. And the prophet learned his lesson. To spend three days and nights in the depths of a fish’s stomach must have been a hair-raising experience.
Jonah was to preach to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria; so there is no preaching to the Jews in this book at all. That country was a rising power, not totally in its heyday yet, but close. The Assyrians will sack Samaria in 722/21, but be overthrown by the Babylonians in the 630s. The prophet Nahum, who also preaches to Nineveh, will tell that story.
Chapter One
Jonah flees from God (vs. 1-3)—God told Jonah to go and “cry out” against Nineveh. Jonah didn’t want to do it, so he decided to flee to Tarshish. We don’t know exactly where Tarshish was, but it wasn’t where God wanted Jonah to go. Notice that when Jonah boarded the ship at Joppa to go to Tarshish, “he paid the fare thereof” (v. 3). If he had gone where the Lord told him, Jehovah would have taken care of him.
Jonah cast into the sea (vs. 4-17)—The Lord was displeased, of course, and “sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up” (v. 4). The mariners did everything they could to save the ship, including tossing all the cargo into the sea and praying to their own gods (v. 5). Jonah was sleeping through all of this (v. 5). His shipmates wake him up and bid him to call upon his God; maybe He’s the one who can save them, their gods hadn’t helped yet. To find out who was to blame for this catastrophe (a bit of superstition here, but it worked, no doubt through the direction of God), the men cast lots. The lot fell on Jonah, who explained why the Lord was sending this tempest. When asked what could be done to calm the sea, Jonah said, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me" (v. 12). Even though this was the prophet of God speaking, and it was fairly obvious that his message came from Jehovah, the other men on the ship, to their credit, didn’t want to do what Jonah told them to—they were trying to save his life. But the storm worsened (v. 13), and they simply had to do what Jonah bid them in order to save their own lives. They asked the Lord to forgive them for what they were about to do. Well, since it was God’s will that Jonah be cast into the sea, it wasn’t a sin, but again these men appear honorable. They toss the prophet overboard, “and the sea ceased from its raging” (v. 15). Jonah’s companions might have been converted completely to Jehovah, because “the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows” (v. 16). So Jonah has already done some good, even though he had been disobeying God.
Jonah didn’t die, of course. “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (v. 17). This “great fish” was almost certainly not a whale, as the old King James Version suggests in the New Testament. A whale can’t swallow a human, its throat isn’t big enough. We don’t know what the fish was, but it doesn’t matter. It acted at God’s command. And the prophet learned his lesson. To spend three days and nights in the depths of a fish’s stomach must have been a hair-raising experience.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Obadiah
Introduction—We know nothing of this prophet except his name. We aren’t even sure exactly when he prophesied, though from the internal evidence the best surmise is around 585 or so, just after Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and carried the last of the captives away into slavery. Obadiah—the shortest and only one chapter book in the Old Testament—prophesies against Edom. Several of the prophets have much to say to the nations around Israel, and a few of them, like Obadiah, prophesy exclusively to Gentiles. God’s coming wrath against the Edomites is sure and warranted.
God’s judgment upon Edom (vs. 1-9)—The Edomites were the descendents of Jacob’s brother Esau, so they were “relatives” of the Israelites. Edom was a country just south of Israel; it was very mountainous, and strongholds were built in dreadfully inaccessible places in these mountains. It led the Edomites to think that their country was unconquerable. They reckoned without considering Jehovah. He tells them “I will make you small among the nations; you shall be greatly despised” (v. 2). Their pride “has deceived” them, “you who dwell in the clefts of the rock” (v. 3). “Who will bring me down to the ground?” they asked (v. 3). They may live among the eagles, but “’from there I will bring you down,’ says the Lord” (v. 4). And when He finishes, there won’t be anything left: “If thieves had come to you…would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, would they not have left some gleanings?” (v. 5). But the Lord will search out Edom (v. 6), and all its wealth will be confiscated. Those who had made alliances with her, those who were now at peace with her “shall deceive you and prevail against you” (v. 7). Jehovah will destroy “wise men” (v. 8) as well as “mighty men” (v. 9)—neither cunning nor strength will save the country—“to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter” (v. 9). The Lord’s language here is clear: Edom is about to endure the wrath of God.
Why? (vs. 10-16)—“For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever” (v. 10). God’s main condemnation centers around Edom’s refusal to help “your brother Jacob.” As noted, the prophecy was probably written right after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586; if not at that time, then at some point in Israel’s history when her enemies attacked and did significant damage. Edom didn’t help. She “stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried captive his [Israel’s} forces…even you were as one of them” (v. 11). A very interesting and significant point is made here. When God’s people were under attack, the Edomites did nothing! They “stood on the other side;” they didn’t help. They didn’t join the attackers, they simply…did nothing. And as a result, God said that, in effect, they were as guilty as those who wreaked havoc on Judah. Point: when God’s people or cause is under attack, and we remain silent or inactive, then we are as guilty as those who have done the attacking! A sober point, indeed. Edom just watched Judah be destroyed, yea, rejoiced over it (v. 12). They boasted of it, eventually entered Judah themselves, and “gazed on their affliction” (v. 13. The Edomites even went so far as to stand “at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped”—they captured fleeing Israelites—and “delivered up those among them who remained”—gave them to the attackers (v. 14). When the Lord comes in judgment “upon all the nations…[then] as you have done, it shall be done to you” (v. 15). “Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.” Just as individuals reap what they sow, even so the same will happen to nations. Israel had suffered punishment because of sin, and such is the lot of other countries, too—“and they shall be as though they had never been” (v. 16). Some peoples—like the Assyrians and Babylonians—were completely obliterated from this earth. The same happened to Edom. How many Edomites do you know today?
God will deliver His people (vs. 17-21)—Even though this prophecy was aimed especially at Edom, the context was the destruction of Judah—a well-deserved destruction. But God had made a promise to Abraham—and ultimately to all of mankind—that the Savior of the world would come from the Jews, so “on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance” (v. 17). Some of His people will return and burn as a flaming fire again (v. 18). But for Edom: “no survivor shall remain of the house of Edom” (v. 18). That’s pretty clear. Their country would eventually be overrun by the Jews—“The South shall possess the mountains of Esau” (v. 19). In other words, Edom’s territory would ultimately be absorbed into southern Judea. The land was called “Idumea,” and the people “Idumeans.” The Herod family in the New Testament were Idumeans; they weren’t called Edomites, because that country no longer existed. Verse 19 speaks of other territory the Jews would possess upon returning from captivity, indeed, “the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites” (v. 20). This happened after the arrival of the Jews from Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. They would be part of God’s judgment upon “the mountains of Esau” (v. 21). “And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” He would once again rule in the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Defend the Lord’s cause! Not doing so cost Edom its existence.
God’s judgment upon Edom (vs. 1-9)—The Edomites were the descendents of Jacob’s brother Esau, so they were “relatives” of the Israelites. Edom was a country just south of Israel; it was very mountainous, and strongholds were built in dreadfully inaccessible places in these mountains. It led the Edomites to think that their country was unconquerable. They reckoned without considering Jehovah. He tells them “I will make you small among the nations; you shall be greatly despised” (v. 2). Their pride “has deceived” them, “you who dwell in the clefts of the rock” (v. 3). “Who will bring me down to the ground?” they asked (v. 3). They may live among the eagles, but “’from there I will bring you down,’ says the Lord” (v. 4). And when He finishes, there won’t be anything left: “If thieves had come to you…would they not have stolen till they had enough? If grape-gatherers had come to you, would they not have left some gleanings?” (v. 5). But the Lord will search out Edom (v. 6), and all its wealth will be confiscated. Those who had made alliances with her, those who were now at peace with her “shall deceive you and prevail against you” (v. 7). Jehovah will destroy “wise men” (v. 8) as well as “mighty men” (v. 9)—neither cunning nor strength will save the country—“to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off by slaughter” (v. 9). The Lord’s language here is clear: Edom is about to endure the wrath of God.
Why? (vs. 10-16)—“For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever” (v. 10). God’s main condemnation centers around Edom’s refusal to help “your brother Jacob.” As noted, the prophecy was probably written right after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586; if not at that time, then at some point in Israel’s history when her enemies attacked and did significant damage. Edom didn’t help. She “stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried captive his [Israel’s} forces…even you were as one of them” (v. 11). A very interesting and significant point is made here. When God’s people were under attack, the Edomites did nothing! They “stood on the other side;” they didn’t help. They didn’t join the attackers, they simply…did nothing. And as a result, God said that, in effect, they were as guilty as those who wreaked havoc on Judah. Point: when God’s people or cause is under attack, and we remain silent or inactive, then we are as guilty as those who have done the attacking! A sober point, indeed. Edom just watched Judah be destroyed, yea, rejoiced over it (v. 12). They boasted of it, eventually entered Judah themselves, and “gazed on their affliction” (v. 13. The Edomites even went so far as to stand “at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped”—they captured fleeing Israelites—and “delivered up those among them who remained”—gave them to the attackers (v. 14). When the Lord comes in judgment “upon all the nations…[then] as you have done, it shall be done to you” (v. 15). “Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.” Just as individuals reap what they sow, even so the same will happen to nations. Israel had suffered punishment because of sin, and such is the lot of other countries, too—“and they shall be as though they had never been” (v. 16). Some peoples—like the Assyrians and Babylonians—were completely obliterated from this earth. The same happened to Edom. How many Edomites do you know today?
God will deliver His people (vs. 17-21)—Even though this prophecy was aimed especially at Edom, the context was the destruction of Judah—a well-deserved destruction. But God had made a promise to Abraham—and ultimately to all of mankind—that the Savior of the world would come from the Jews, so “on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance” (v. 17). Some of His people will return and burn as a flaming fire again (v. 18). But for Edom: “no survivor shall remain of the house of Edom” (v. 18). That’s pretty clear. Their country would eventually be overrun by the Jews—“The South shall possess the mountains of Esau” (v. 19). In other words, Edom’s territory would ultimately be absorbed into southern Judea. The land was called “Idumea,” and the people “Idumeans.” The Herod family in the New Testament were Idumeans; they weren’t called Edomites, because that country no longer existed. Verse 19 speaks of other territory the Jews would possess upon returning from captivity, indeed, “the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites” (v. 20). This happened after the arrival of the Jews from Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C. They would be part of God’s judgment upon “the mountains of Esau” (v. 21). “And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” He would once again rule in the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Defend the Lord’s cause! Not doing so cost Edom its existence.
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