365 Reflections

Jonah 1 ends with the prophet's disobedience, defiantly running from God, and insisting on his own way. He will not head to Nineveh, and even death will not threaten him. But Jonah won't get away with his plan. God can provide for His people in strange ways.  Jonah 1:17 (ESV) And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. What do you do in this situation? You do the only thing you can: Pray.  Jonah 2:1–2 (ESV) Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. Interestingly, this is the first time you hear the prophet speak to God. Prophets were known for their regular back and forth with the Lord.  God says in Numbers 12, Numbers 12:6 (ESV)  If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him i...

The book of Jonah forces us to ask some difficult questions. Here's one more.  Is it true that sometimes non-believers are better than believers? Chapter one makes me ask this. Jonah is on a ship headed away from God's presence. God will not let him go quietly into that good night.  Jonah 1:4–6 (ESV)   But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea , and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” Already, the picture is troubling. Being on the sea is already a tense environment. To be in such a storm and be dropping cargo to survive ...

Here's a question: If God saves, if God elects, if God brings people to Himself in a supernatural work of His grace, can people really run away and miss out on that saving grace?  Of course, that question is still hotly debated by many, many theologians and experts. No one answers the question better than Jonah. A prophet who DID run, who tried to get away not only from his calling but from his very ministry and life. And yet, God did not let him go. If you've ever purposely tried to go your own way, the book of Jonah is a wonderful reminder that God's grace is greater than our sin.  Jonah 1:1–3 (ESV) Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away f...

We now turn to the second half of the short prophetic work of Obadiah. He has already pronounced the problem with Edom (pride), and the result (broken alliances leading to their destruction), we learn why our Lord allowed this nation to suffer such trouble.  Obadiah 10–11 (ESV) Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. Edom’s ancient rivalry and bitter hatred for Israel (their brother through Esau and Jacob) never died. In fact, it grew over time. When the Babylonians came for Judah, in an act of God’s judgment for His people’s sins, Edom HELPED the Babylonians, first, by sitting idly by and watching it happen.  Obadiah 13 (ESV) Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his...

When we come to Obadiah after Amos, we have to fast-forward over 100 years. Not only has the Northern Kingdom long fallen to Assyria, but the Southern Kingdom of Judah has fallen to the Babylonians. Of course, there's much writing in the prophets between these two books; they just happen to follow each other in the Old Testament Canon.  Obadiah writes to a nation called Edom, the ancient descendants of Esau, the older and vengeful brother of Jacob. These two brothers were at war in their own lives, and their offspring carried that hostility forward, although Edom seemed to hang on tighter to the animosity than Jacob.  Now, the context of this book is important. It's a prophetic oracle that nations are gathering together to attack and decimate Edom. Why? Because the time of judgment has come from the Lord, and God uses the international diplomacy of the nations to bring about His purposes on the Earth.  Obadiah 1–2 (ESV) The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD conce...

Amos ends with a picture of great judgment followed by a picture of incredible grace and restoration. Once again, the prophetic ministry is rehearsed wherein God punished strongly but restores most graciously.  Amos 9:1 (ESV) I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape. The Lord standing beside the altar is a striking image. Amos has already decried the empty religious practices of the nation.  Amos 5:21–22 (ESV) “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them... They might have assumed the Lord was there to bless them for their empty rituals. He was not. He was there in judgment. When God shows up, it's not always a happy ev...

What do you think is the worst form of judgment from God? Boils and pains on your body? The loss of your financial stability? Perhaps social isolation and the loss of friends? How about the death of a loved one? When you think of those things, I'm sure one of them strikes you as the worst form of punishment God can offer. Amos 8 teaches us something different. Amos 8 unpacks that God's judgment is climactically experienced in His silence.  Before we proceed, we must examine the spiritual state of Israel at the time of this writing.  Amos 8:1–3 (ESV) This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them. 3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord GOD. “So many dead bodies!” “They are thrown everywhere!” “Silence!” So far in Amos, the prophet has e...