How we read the scriptures: we dwell, we sit, we contemplate, we obey. We may never fully understand them, and in fact, we may sometimes leave with more questions than answers. But, that, to some degree, is God’s point. God, it seems, resists giving us all the answers, the knowledge of Him and His (as if any one volume of works and words could plumb the depths of God’s knowing and wisdom!)
The Father does this so that we would seek Him and His righteousness and wisdom - that what we gain is not by our (own) mind, that is, (only) our thinking, but, more so, that our knowing and coming to know would be more a fruit of our abiding and seeking - yes in and by His word - but, by not merely “studying”, but in engaging in the word by God’s Spirit and the mind of Christ (1Cor 2:9-16).
We are often left - pondering… Jonah 4:8-11
When we become God’s obstacles: Jonah: a man, a prophet of Israel, sent with a message of hope to a people not his own, a cruel people in violent opposition to his own: a little historical context for our time in and with Jonah.
Chapter 1: Go! No!!
Review from a couple of weeks ago:
God enters with and in the Garden - life amid chaos (Genesis 1; 2)
God in and with Israel to be a light to the world, an expression of God’s mercy, love, and faithfulness
God, Jesus, in and to the world - The Father's love expressed through mercy, grace, and truth - embodied by His Son
God in and through the Church - to be what Israel wasn’t, to do what Israel often wouldn’t, we are now the light of the world, the embodiment of Christ by His Spirit
How should Jonah have gone? How did Jesus come? How then are we sent? just AS Jesus, Jesus’ manner and way ought to be our manner and way
Jonah, it seems, personifies Israel’s rebellious and hardening heart toward God’s will and Israel’s role in and to the world, to be an example of God’s love expressed in mercy and grace - and might be seen most profoundly in Jesus' day in the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.
Obedience: God’s love language: God’s desire to be loved on our own volition, that we would choose Him, choose to love Him, and that our love would be best expressed in our obedience to His good commands, good because they flow from God’s good heart - which we know, because we know Him, having been saved by that love - thus, with appreciation and admiration, we love Him and are coming to trust Him and His commands. (John 14:21)
Here we go! Go! No!!
1:1 God’s merciful judgment - their sin has reached me, but not its limit
God’s omniscience
God’s foreknowledge
God’s just judgment
People, nations, persons: His waiting is because He knows how to save and keep who becomes His own (Gen 15:16; 2Peter 3:8-9)
We must learn that if someone has breath, they have hope and are alive by God’s mercy (Romans 2:1-4) - God’s mercy is still (showered) on them despite their sin, and it seems He never relents in offering Himself even to those who will ultimately reject Him and His offer of life
Matthew 5:43-48
Luke 6:27-36
John 3:19-21 (in light of: Jn 1:12-14,16-17; 3:16-18)
1:3 We must be careful how we live - holiness and Christ’s righteousness, loving the Father as we’ve been loved, and living a life worthy of our calling (Jn 13:34; Eph 4:1; 5:1-2 - this is our love and admiration for Jesus)
Our sin does not happen in a vacuum, it affects those around us
Including our testimony of God’s love to us, in us, and through us - as a matter of the love relationship we have with our Father
Merchant sailors - yes, it seems they repent AND worship the Lord, Creator God. So, was it Jonah’s sin that saved them? No, God’s mercy. But, it was shown through Jonah, while he was disobeying! So, what should we say?
Romans 5:20-21 - 6:1-14 (,15-23)
This is about love - it has always been about love. Our love, the Father’s children’s love for Him and His commands. Love = obedience: devotion and affection to please the One who loves us so
John 14:14-15, 21-23, 15:9-10; 16:27
We are the messengers of hope, of God’s mercy and grace in the face of Jesus…
We are to bring the message of God’s mercy, and the hope it provides, and let Jesus, by His Spirit, make the change and save and transform the life.
Romans 12:14-21
