In the time of the ancient world there was a great city by the name of “Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm.” (PK 256) This city soon began to prosper as well as exceed in crime and wickedness. The Lord seeing how downcast this city had become sent word to his prophet Jonah saying “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.” (Jonah 1:2) As Jonah began to think through what the Lord had called him to do from his perspective this commission almost impossible. Instead of putting his trust in God and believing that He would make a way, Jonah hesitated to go. Many times we in the same way are hesitant to act on what God has called us to do with our lives, but we have to remember that …show more content…
He refused to surrender his own will over to the will of God. Because he simply dislike the task that the Lord had given him to the point where he was willing to separate himself from God and try and silence his conscience. “Yet in the Hour of Jonah’s despair the Lord did not desert him.” Even though the prophet had tried to escape from God the Lord did not simply let him go. Which goes to say that no matter how far we have fallen God in his love will not just leave us to go astray. Like a good shepherd he will seek after us and do all he can to bring us into His fold …show more content…
Jonah, during this time of great peril, lay fast asleep in the boat ignoring what was going on around him. “Impressed with the thought that the strange violence of the storm betokened the angers of their gods” it was decided that lots would be cast in order to discover who it was that had upset the gods. Not only was the Lord trying to reach Jonah: he was also trying to reach the mariners on board. And so the lot fell on Jonah. When questioned on his identity Jonah answered “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.” (Jonah 1:9) Upon hearing this the mariners realized that Jonah was running away from the Lord and they became afraid. Though they did their best to try and get to shore they soon realized it was useless and knew that their only chance of surviving was to throw Jonah
unusual. Likewise, Ezekiel went to Israel to warn and teach the people of God’s ways despite
Their prayers not helping, the sailors cast lot to try to determine who it was that had made God so angry. So they mixed a number of small stones together, as was the custom, and when they cast the lots it fell on Jonah. They must not have know who Jonah was for when the lot fell on him they excitedly inquired of him, why this was happening, what was his occupation, where he had come from and what was his nationality. Jonah knew God had caught up with him! So Jonah confessed that he was a Hebrew and a prophet, of the true God who made the heavens, sea and land. He further explained he was running from
The story of Joseph in Genesis 37-46 we learn of Joseph’s rise from a position with little promise of his ever gaining prominence to the pinnacle of power in ancient Egypt. This ascension as a whole gives us a glimpse of God’s order in the world, but the details of the story each provide evidence that God is the sole proprietor of order and justice. Joseph, the youngest of twelve sons, is provided with a prophecy of his future greatness which he tells his brothers: “behold we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose...your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf...and behold the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.'; This is the first indication that God is at work defining and orchestrating events in the world. When Joseph’s brothers later decide to sell him into slavery, they are attempting to circumvent God’s will to prevent Joseph from ruling over them. They are not able to understand that Joseph is the only one of them who is capable of saving them from a future drought. God continues to work to carry out His will when Joseph goes to Egypt by providing Joseph with the means to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams. Even then, Joseph realizes that this is God’s work, telling Pharaoh “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace'; and “God hath shewed Pharaoh what He is about to do.'; In the end, Joseph and God forgive his brothers and God’s people live in Egypt in peace.
The book of Jonah is an adventurous story of a prophet chosen by God to go preach denouncement to a heathen nation. With the exception of stating that Jonah is the son of Amittai, the book itself fails to reveal any background information. Nevertheless, a plorthea of scholars have attempted to provide us with some insight to the, who, when, where, and what of the book. This paper will utilize four scholarly commentaries in a quest to determine the author or authors of the book, the time when it was written, the original audience it spoke to, the occasion, the historical, social and cultural context in which it was written. It will also address the historical, social and cultural context of the book and that of the pericope of 3:1 – 10.
When I read the name of "Jonah," I was prompted to think of the character of the same name in the Bible who got swallowed by a whale in the Old Testament. While the character goes also by the name "John," I couldn't help but wonder if there was some similarity involved in this novel.
rather, why God intercedes at all. In Jonah, God intercedes (“appoints”) to deliver from “evil.” What the reader should see here is that the author uses this repetition to draw the audience in once more to the irony of Jonah‟s position. God is using the Jews to reach the nations, to reconcile them to God, but he does not need the Jews to do so. This is heavily proven by God‟s use of nature to restore
Obadiah corroborates, for us that the Edomite’s continued to stand by and let foreigners enter the gates of Jerusalem and allow strangers to carry off with their wealth. God took great offense to these egregious actions; he vowed, he would cut them off from everything. God gives us one of his best examples of his compassion with Israel, but then shows us why we should fear him in the history of Edom. (Joel 1 & 2 NIV) gives a perfect scene where he has asked man to repent, and tells the elders to convey his messages to their children, and the generations to come. God shows us in Jeremiah’s prophecy that he will not only bring destruction on his people when in anger, but that he is also a compassionate loving father, who is slow to anger, and has abounding love when we obey him. After asking the elders to convey his message to their children, he could only hope they would listen and resend their hearts, so that he might turn and have pity on
Near the beginning of Moby Dick, Father Mapple reminds Pequod sailors of the biblical prophet Jonah and his unique encounter with a whale. The whale, known as a Leviathan in the Bible, swallows Jonah because Jonah refuses to obey God's command to preach to a wicked group of people. Father Mapple in his sermon says, "If we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherein the hardness of obeying God consists" (47). Once Jonah admits his sinfulness and follows his maker, the whale frees Jonah. Father Mapple says that obeying God can be difficult and might not seem logical to the person listening.
He shows his true character in a conversation with Sayid when sayid and the clarinet were being held captive. He says to Sayid “I know it's not right, … What choice do I have? ...this time we live in, you know how it forces a person to do things.”(pg.292). He shows a whole other aspect of The Prophet and how you don't necessarily need to even believe his teachings to be forced to action be them. Even though he knows that his actions are wrong and the things he does sicken him, he has no choice but to follow along and keep doing them. The Prophet has attracted a group of followers and they have adopted his beliefs and so are able to justify anything no matter how cruel. This means that even for people who don't want to do the things The Prophet asks they have no choice, able to justify any action his followers could judge that said person had become a traitor and for “the good of the people” had to be killed. The way that other people have chosen to cope with the new world has forced the boy to adopt the same way of life. Even if he doesn't believe in what he is doing his actions are still the same as someone who does so in a way he is still the same as all The Prophet s other followers. He has been coerced into this life rather than choosing it, but his
...ng God but instead he wants to resurrect the faith that his people gave up once they took part in erecting the bull calf and forgot God. His success as a leader is shown in the final parts of the text where he has his people build God a tabernacle and give up gold, silver and other precious items for sacrifice.
...oth men were told of the flood. They both constructed boats and filled their boats with animals and their families. Next, they released birds to test the waters, and both made sacrifices. However, the boats were different in construction. The number of days differed in how long the flood lasted, when the waters receded, and when each man left their boats. The birds that did not come back to their boats were also different. It is very easy to see that the flood story can be true based on these two accounts because it is easy to see how two different cultures, the Samarians and the Hebrews, molded the flood story to fit their cultures. Although the stories are different, there seems to be one major common thread, the flood.
The Bible takes a unique turn in the book of 1 Samuel, when Israel requests the appointment of an earthly king. The prophet Samuel warned them against trading their Divine King for an earthly one. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus told us, “..For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction..,” cautioning believers not to long to be like everyone else. First Samuel 8:5; 19-20 records Israel’s request for a king developed out of their desire to be like the nations around them, thus placing them on the “broad road.” They desired a king to fight their battles, to establish a government, and to rule over them.
Even though Moses, was raised as an Egyptian, he knew that he was truly Hebrew. After seeing an Egyptian taskmaster cruelly beating a Hebrew, Moses became so furious that he murdered the Egyptian. Fearing that the Pharaoh would find out what he had done, Moses fled to the wilderness, “the eternal safe retreat of outcasts from ancient society and of those in revolt against authority.” Moses found himself in the Sinai Desert amongst other ...
Once Lord ordered Abram to leave his country , his people and his father's household and to go to the land that God was going to show him .
We often read stories in the Bible without taking the historical context into consideration. As a result, we become unaware of the story’s historical validity. In some cases, stories are used to share a moral concept, or used as a tool to teach a lesson. The Book of Jonah is an example that will be used to determine if this particular story describes an accurate recount of history, or if it teaches the readers a lesson. In the Book of Jonah, Jonah (the prophet) is instructed to go to a pagan city (Nineveh) to preach to the Ninevites, hoping that they will repent for their sins. However, he challenges God and travels to Tarshish instead. Jonah receives consequences for his actions and Nineveh is eventually forgiven by God. Although the story of Jonah appears to entail a historically accurate event on the surface, it is, however, used to teach a lesson that God is the ultimate decider of who is worthy of forgiveness. Analyzing the historical context, explicating the verses of the book, and interpreting the book as a whole will allow a clearer understanding of the true purpose of the Book of Jonah, which is to convey a satirical story with a very important lesson.