Scripture Sunday: The Books of Jonah and Micah

The tale of Jonah is a fairly familiar Bible story that lots of children know. Mostly, people are familiar with the fact that Jonah ran away from God and God sent a giant fish to swallow him up, though the fish spat Jonah back out again. But the reality of the story is a little more complicated than the version we teach to grade-schoolers.

For one thing, this is the first story that I recall about a prophet who outright refused to preach God's messages. Jeremiah was hesitant and even tried to stay silent, and Moses made lots of excuses, but all the prophets we hear about eventually ended up going along with God's plan. Jonah is different. God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian empire, and preach to them that they should repent over their evil ways before God destroys them. Jonah isn't even recorded as giving a reply to this command, and instead of heading northeast to Nineveh, he hops a boat West to Tarshish. Like maybe if he travels in the opposite direction, God will just forget that he gave Jonah an important assignment.

Well, nothing goes according to plan and next thing Jonah knows, he's thrown off his boat and swallowed by a giant fish. Most kids' stories say a "whale", but the Bible itself says a "fish", though I'm not sure what the real practical difference is for Jonah. He still spends three days and three nights inside a large aquatic creature as it swims to Nineveh. I'm also not sure how he avoided being partially digested, but the book says that God himself "prepared a great fish" (1:17), so he could make the insides of the fish work in whatever way he wanted.

Jonah finally goes to Nineveh after the fish vomits him onto dry land. He travels all over the city, not preaching any form of redemption or possibility of repentance for the people, but stating baldly that God will destroy their city within forty days. But the Ninevites do actually repent and turn from their bad ways, and they go without food and pray to God to spare them, which he does.

And now the story really gets interesting. Most kids' versions of Jonah end right here, with Jonah learning a lesson of obedience and Nineveh learning a lesson of repentance, but the book of Jonah continues for another chapter which proves that Jonah hasn't learned anything at all. We're told that the Ninevites apologizing to God and God's decision to show mercy to them "displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry" (4:1). Jonah asks God to kill him, because he feels it would be a better fate to die than to live in a world where horrible people like the Ninevites are shown mercy. God answers Jonah with a question about why he, the Lord of everything, should not have mercy on a great city full of lost souls. Jonah's story ends here, with a repentant city, a merciful God, and an angry, jaded prophet.

The moral? Sometimes God grants mercy when we want to see justice served. We should rejoice over saved souls rather than growing bitter that bad people are not destroyed by the Lord.

Micah seems to be a bit like Amos, to me. It's a call to repentance like just about every other prophetic book, but it's also a specific message to rich people to stop oppressing the poor. Chapter 1 is about the upcoming judgment on Jerusalem. Chapter 2 reveals God's attitude toward the kind of things the powerful people of Jerusalem are doing: "Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage." These people are stealing from others just because they can, and they spend all their time plotting to do what is wrong.

Chapter 3 again confronts Israel's leaders over their practice of using and consuming the poor people under their care. Chapter 4 talks about the hope for Israel in the future. Chapter 5 is Messianic, a prophecy about the king who will come and save Israel. Verse 2 of this chapter says that this ruler will come from Bethlehem and that he is an eternal person whose existence is everlasting.

My favorite part of Micah is chapter 6, where Micah is rhetorically asking what sort of things he could give to God in order to be purified from his sin. The Israelites sacrificed animals when they sinned, but even that practiced never seemed like enough: "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

There's no need to despair. God wants you to do justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with him. That's something within everyone's reach.

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Amos & the Book of Obadiah

Amos is a farmer/herdsman, but God gives him messages to preach to Israel. In chapter 1, God talks about the judgments he is going to pronounce on the nations and cities around Israel, including Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon. These were all prosperous major cities and states at the time, but they had all done things deserving of punishment on a national scale. In chapter 2, God begins to pronounce judgment on the twin kingdoms of Judah and Israel, sort of lumping in their punishment with all the ungodly countries around them.

It seems that Israel and Judah are content with their current national prosperity, and they disdain or hush up the things that have to do with the Lord: "And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not" (2:11-12). Nazarites were people who made a special vow to dedicate themselves to the Lord (like Samson), and they had special rules governing their behavior, such as not cutting their hair and not drinking wine. So the Israelites are trying to keep anyone from devoting themselves to God or preaching his word, and they're opposed to hearing the Lord's messages.

Amos really doesn't pull any punches when he's talking to people who have done horrible things. He calls the rich women of Samaria cows because they "oppress the poor" and "crush the needy". The Lord's heart is always with the weak, the poor, and the innocent, and he does not take kindly to people who harm those that can't defend themselves. But as with every other book of judgment, God reminds his people that a day of redemption will eventually come: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" (9:11).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Book of Obadiah is just one chapter long, and it deals with a judgement on the nation of Edom, the descendants of Jacob's brother Esau. Their nation has an issue with pride, but God promises to humble them: "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord (1: 3-4). This destruction is coming because Edom has gloated over the downfall of Israel, and taken joy in the suffering of God's people. The book of Obadiah doesn't hold out hope for the descendants of Esau; it just establishes the eventual dominance of Israel.

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Joel

Joel is a short 3-chapter book, and its length is one of the reasons that Joel is classified one of the "minor prophets", though the scope of his discussion is very big. He's talking about a major plague on Israel, a plague of locusts to be exact. It seems to be more than one plague, too, like a whole series of small devouring creatures: "That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten." (1:4). And rather than just being a severe inconvenience like the giant and disgustingly loud cicada bugs that hit my home state every other decade, these insects literally eat up almost all the food in Israel. A famine begins. It's like a war is being waged against Israel and the enemy is not human, but rather a natural disaster that God is allowing to happen.

Joel himself seems pretty good at voicing the pain and severity of this plague. Now, it can sound as if all Old Testament prophets are saying variations on the same thing--turn and repent--and they are, but they also do have subtle personalities that you can pick up on just a bit. Joel seems somewhat fiery, what with all the apocalyptic imagery he uses. He does keep emphasizing, though, that the Lord wants to reunite with his people after these judgments are over: "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil" (2:12-13). The Lord doesn't want to keep up these harsh judgments. They are necessary, but God's heart doesn't delight in punishing people for wrongdoing; he delights in showing mercy to his children.

From halfway through Chapter 2 onward, Joel talks about God blessing his people in the future, and talks about God's future judgments on the nations that oppose Israel. God is willing to punish his own people for a time, but he does not look favorably on other nations who oppress them. The last part of Chapter 2 is usually seen as a end-times prophecy, and it closes on an amazing note: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance..." So judgement and mercy mixed, yet again. It sounds both scary and wonderful to me.

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Hosea

Hosea is a very painful book. Most of the Old Testament prophets have sad stories, or at the very least they endure some serious hardships because prophesying is never a fun job, but Hosea's story is even more heartbreaking than average, in my view. Hosea has to live through the pain of infidelity firsthand, and his suffering becomes a picture of the Lord's feelings over the unfaithfulness of Israel.

God tells Hosea to do a really unusual thing in this book. It's true that "unusual" really is the norm for God, both in the Bible and in life today, but still this is very, very out of the ordinary--God tells Hosea to marry a prostitute. Normally, I would think this would be a great idea, because I can't imagine that many women in ancient Israel were in the sex trade because they thought it was a wise and profitable career choice. I would guess that most of them were forced into it at an early age and had no other options, and that they would really be getting a much better life by marrying an honest man. But when Hosea marries his wife Gomer, it's not like Pretty Woman or something; there's no happy ending right around the corner.

Because as it turns out, Gomer really enjoys prostitution. Hosea takes care of her and provides her with everything she needs, but she cheats on him with her old lovers. Gomer has three children after their marriage, but only the first child is explicitly said to be Hosea's, and Hosea actually has to buy her back again out of prostitution. It's implied that from then on, she is faithful to him because the whole setup of Hosea's life is a living example of how the Lord feels about Israel being unfaithful to him by worshipping other gods. But God holds out very clear hope for the future and says that although Israel has behaved in a disgusting manner and has sinned against him, he will take them back and even though they've gone astray, "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days" (3:5).

There are a few problems that people sometimes have with the Hosea story. Some people might think that Gomer should have gotten to do whatever she wanted--after all, she didn't ask for Hosea's love and commitment, did she? Well, I can kind of see that point of view, but the truth is that her chosen lifestyle is totally destructive. If Hosea didn't take her back, that lifestyle would have killed her. Another question is why God would put Hosea through such a sickening ordeal, when God knew what was going to happen. I don't know why, but I do know that Hosea got the chance to fully exemplify God's love for humankind, and his mercy toward those who have turned their backs on him. That's one very valuable thing about the book of Hosea, the assurance that no matter how far you have run from God, he will always be ready to take you back.

It's been years since I've read it, but I seem to recall really loving Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, which is a historical Christian romance based on the story of Hosea and Gomer.

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Daniel

The book of Daniel is short, but crammed with action. A lot happens in its 12 chapters. The first chapter gives us a little of Daniel's background, and it's amazing. Daniel is a teenager when the kingdom of Judah (which is what's left of the kingdom of Israel) is carted off to captivity in Babylon. Daniel and a lot of other young men are drafted into a special type of government service because they are of royal blood and are intelligent, attractive people. So Daniel had everything that would have set him up for a good life--noble birth, good looks, strong mind--and instead of getting to use those skills in his home country, he and his friends are instead becoming very high-ranking slaves in Babylon. But Daniel doesn't bemoan his fate.

As soon as Daniel and his friends are settled in their new government apprenticeship program, they run across a problem--the food they're being served is forbidden to Israelites. Daniel respectfully requests that he and his companions be allowed to eat vegetarian meals instead, and God gives him favor with the person who's making the meal decisions. This early encounter sets the pattern for a lot of things that Daniel does later. He's always wise and gracious in everything he does. You never see Daniel losing his temper like King David or bragging like Joseph. He has a special purpose in life, and God uses him to deliver many important messages.

One story that most people remember from the book of Daniel (other than, you know, Daniel in the Lion's Den) is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. King Nebuchadnezzar makes a giant gold statue and commands everyone to worship it, but these fellows worship the true God of Israel and make it clear that they aren't going to bow down before a big piece of metal. As punishment for their disobedience, the king has the guys thrown into a fiery furnace, a gigantic oven of flames that should kill them instantly. Instead, the king looks into the furnace and sees some completely unharmed men walking around--it's actually four men instead of three, "and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God". Someone holy and divine is protecting these guys from the flames. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego come out of the furnace unburned, and they are promoted to high offices in Babylon.

Except for the lion's den issue, most of the rest of Daniel deals with his prophetic dreams, some that applied directly to circumstances in Babylon, and some that were intended for the future. Many of Daniel's prophecies connect to the ones found later in the New Testament book of Revelation.

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Ezekiel

Ezekiel is a rather difficult Old Testament book to talk about, mainly because Ezekiel's prophetic visions are somewhat weirder than average visions. Average prophets (if you could even apply that word to prophets) kept foreseeing doom and telling people to repent, but now the doom has already come. The worst has happened, and the nation of Israel is already being held in captivity in Babylon. Offhand, I would guess that Ezekiel's visions are weirder than anyone's have been heretofore because he's on the final frontier--his country has been decimated and removed to another place, so it seems natural that he gets his message from God kicked up a notch.

Ezekiel is by the river Chebar in Babylon when he says, "the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." And what he sees is kind of brain-frying. There's a fiery whirlwind, and inside he sees four cherubim. Far from looking like those chubby diapered cupids in Renaissance paintings, cherubim are described as having four faces; a lion, ox, eagle, and man. Something like this, perhaps:

Yes, it's kind of scary. Angels are nowhere near as tame as they've been portrayed in the media, it would seem. And beside the flying cherubim is a "wheel within a wheel", which might look something like this:

I'm just using Google Images to give a general idea of what other people think this vision might have looked like. If he hadn't been divinely inspired, Ezekiel would have had one hard time describing this stuff, and it's not even over yet. Above all this craziness is bright man seated on a throne. It's the Lord, and he tells Ezekiel that he (Ezekiel) is being sent as a prophet to the Israelites in captivity. Here's another picture that gets some major details wrong about the cherubim, but still shows a rough outline of what happens:

In Chapter 2, verses 3 and 4, God says to Ezekiel: "Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God". That's very heartbreaking, that Israel still won't listen to the Lord, even after they've been nearly destroyed.

So Ezekiel preaches repentance to the people, because God has set him up as a "watchman," meaning that he's sort of a lifeguard. It's his job to warn people when they're doing evil and risking the wrath of God, which is shown in 3:17-19--"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." Ezekiel is being held personally responsible if he does not point out to people that they're on the slippery slope of severe consequences. That's a huge responsibility, there.

The end of Ezekiel actually looks toward a hopeful future for Israel, when God shows Ezekiel visions of a new Temple, which really had to be very comforting after all the traumatizing things Ezekiel had witnessed and lived through. This is a common theme in books of the Bible--once the judgement has passed, there is always a chance for redemption.

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Lamentations

This book comes right after Jeremiah, and is written by Jeremiah the prophet. As you'd expect, it's a book full of lamenting. It's like a funeral song, written for the entire city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is given a female persona, and the speaker is mourning over everything that has happened to "her". This book is written in a poetic acrostic style in Hebrew (a bit of the poetry does come through in English), and it could almost be subtitled "Weeping Through the Alphabet", because it comes up with detailed and complex ways to mourn over everything that has gone wrong with Jerusalem.

In chapter 1, we're told that "all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies." So Judah's alliances aren't helping any. Their country has been smashed and wrecked, and everyone has turned against them. Most of Judah's citizens have been carried away into slavery in a foreign country, and the situation could scarcely be more dire. The reason for all this trouble is found in 1:8-"Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed". I think that might be the saddest thing for Jeremiah--not just seeing this beloved city after its decimation, but knowing that everyone inside was so evil that they deserved this. It's like when someone you love does something truly horrible, and then it hurts you to see them suffering the consequences, but it also hurts to know that they would do such an unthinkable thing in the first place.

The picture of Jerusalem shown in Lamentations is downright scary. 2:5 says, "The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation." That's so heartbreaking. The city that the Lord loved--and even went so far as to have his holy temple there--has become so disgusting that he turns himself against it and acts as Jerusalem's enemy.

Chapter 3 is the most personal of the chapters, with Jeremiah talking about his own individual sorrows, but then at verse 21 and onward, we see a hopeful change in the tone for a while: "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him." This scripture is where we get the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness". Even though Jerusalem has been broken to pieces, God has not consumed the pieces. Jerusalem will be shown mercy in the future, and this utter rejection will not last forever.