The Bible

This is my last post on here since I have started a new job working as a teacher of Bible at a high school, so I thought I would deviate from what I have been doing and write this instead. What I would like to do today is to thank everyone at West Jax for my time here and all of your prayers and support! And I would also like to encourage everyone to take the time each day to pick up and read the Bible. It is the Word of God, thus it is important. All of Scripture is God breathed and profitable. So my encouragement to you is to enjoy it, read it, fall in love with it, and grow deeper in your knowledge of God. Without reading and studying God’s Word you will have a very limited view on who God is, but if you study and read you will grow in your understanding for the One who loves you more than you could ever love, knows you more intimately than you know yourself, so take some time not only today, but everyday to read His word.

Thanks for reading!

Pastor Josh

Habakkuk Part 1

Today I want us to look up the unique set up of the book of Habakkuk, and over the next two Thursday we will look at the content of the book. When looking at the first chapter we see Habakkuk crying out to God with a complaint about what is going on in Israel. This is then followed by God’s answer to Habakkuk.

After God’s answer Habakkuk is not happy, and has another complaint to raise to God. After this we see a second answer from God to Habakkuk. We see after this answer and following explanation from God it is met with a prayer from Habakkuk, and then Habakkuk rejoicing in the Lord at the end.

Next week we will be looking into the content of these complaints and answers, along with Habakkuk’s prayer and rejoicing.

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Nahum Part 3

The book of Nahum is one full of judgment and destruction, but also found here is good news. Obviously the news was not good for Nineveh, but it was good news for Judah, and really anyone else who lived near Nineveh. Nineveh as we have discussed was known as the bloody city and known also for prostitution and sorcery. They were a blood thirsty city (and Assyria as a whole too), and everyone knew it and had experienced it.

With this in mind, we can begin to see how this is good news, that Nineveh was going to be destroyed. In Nahum 1:15 reads, “Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows, for never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off.” As we go on throughout the book we also see that no one will grieve for Nineveh (Nahum 3:5-7). As we see throughout the book this destruction is good news for everyone else. God’s judgment is a good thing, and it is just and holy.

As we think about this remember there is coming a day when all will be judged , and if it were based on our merit alone we would all end up destroyed, and it is only through the grace of God that any of us will have eternal life. With that being said, remember that faith is a gift from God and that we should always be thankful we have been given faith and counted righteous. We have this great news of salvation, and we should share it with all those we are in relationship with. Thanks be to God that we are among His.

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Nahum Part 2

Last post I ended by quoting the last verse of Nahum which reads, “Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?” We see here that Nineveh is not only going to be fatally wounded, but that everyone else is going to rejoice in this. Nineveh was not a place loved by those who did not belong, and there are many reasons for this.

When we get to chapter 3 of Nahum, we see Nineveh is known as the bloody city. We also see that they are full of lies and plunder everyone. That they have heaps of corpses and dead bodies without end. To they point they stumble over the dead bodies. They are also a city full of prostitutes and whoring, along with sorcery and witchcraft. Not a place you would want to be caught in. I think it is safe to say this city was full of evil.

After Nineveh is described, we see what God’s plan is for them in verses 5-6, which reads, “Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.” We see hear that God is going to make a spectacle out of them, by exposing them for who they are. In verse 6 where it says “I will throw filth at you,” means I will through human excrement at you… disgusting!

Nineveh is not only going to be destroyed, but humiliated, and in their humiliation people will rejoice. We see an extremely harsh judgment coming down to Nineveh, but it is well deserved, and just like Nineveh, each of us deserve utter destruction and humiliation. But thankfully Jesus took on our punishment for us on the cross. Next week we will go a little into how this prophesy was an encouragement.

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Nahum Part 1

Today I want to briefly cover who Nahum’s prophesy is about. Nahum is prophesying about Nineveh, which was the capitol of Assyria. If you remember back to when we were covering the book of Jonah, Nineveh was also the main focus there. In the book of Jonah, we know that they had repented of their evil ways and God did not bring the calamity upon them, but here in the book of Nahum, we do not see repentance, but instead we see them back to their old evil ways.

Nineveh has become known, again, for their extreme violence, prostitution, and pagan practices (sorcery and witchcraft). The book of Nahum is about the impending destruction of Nineveh. In chapter 1 verse 3 we read, “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.” For Nineveh we saw God being slow to anger in the book of Jonah, with how He relented from destroying them, but now they have gone back and maybe even become worse, and we see that He is not going to leave them unpunished.

Nineveh is going to be destroyed, and even humiliated. When we look at a passage like this we must remember that this judgment being brought on Nineveh is just and right.

As we think on all of this let me leave you with the final verse from Nahum, “Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?”

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Micah Part 2

Today I want us to focus on Micah 5. In particular verses 2-5a, which reads:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.”

When reading through the Old Testament it is always fun to come across a passage that is explicitly talking about Jesus. Part of this passage is quoted in Matthew 2 when the Wise Men are searching for Jesus, because they knew of the prophesy. So we should look on this passage with excitement, because the prophesy held true, showing that the Bible (God’s Word) is reliable, and should press us on to take serious all of Scripture, and to live accordingly and know that Jesus is going to return again, and establish His eternal Kingdom where we (if we have faith in Jesus) will dwell with Him for all eternity. So my hope for you this week is that you read Scripture with excitement and find hope in it.

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Micah Part 1

The first three chapters of Micah focus mainly on judgment and destruction. The judgment is against Israel and Samaria. We see there are many different reasons for this judgment, from people oppressing others, to rejection of God’s Word, to unjust leaders, to false prophets. I want to focus in on one of these reasons, and that would be the rejection of God’s Word.

When there is a rejection of God’s Word many things can happen. When there is a lack of being in God’s Word knowing His will and what is right and wrong leave very quickly. And if it is an intentional avoidance of God’s Word, it normally is to avoid a feeling of guilt or shame (as seen in Micah 2:6). Once one avoids this long enough a hardness can develop, and with this hardness comes a life full of willful sinning without the guilt and feel of need of repentance. We see here that is what is going on with Israel. They are unrepentant for their evil ways, and it seems like one of the biggest reasons they are unrepentant is because of this lack of being in God’s Word and even an outright rejection of God’s Word.

With this being said, let us be diligent to be in God’s Word. And instead of rejecting God’s Word delight in it, for it is where we find peace, hope, life, love, and so much more, and most importantly we learn about God, and his plan of salvation. God’s Word may bring guilt and if it does let it lead you to repentance!

Thanks for reading.

Pastor Josh

Obadiah Part 3

Obadiah 15-21 speaks of the coming Day of the Lord. It is described as a time where all nations, not just Edom will be judged. Obadiah goes on to describe a time where Israel (the house of Jacob) will escape and possess Mount Zion. Obadiah closes out by saying, “The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

When reading through the book of Obadiah one thing that really sticks out to me is that God never forgets or abandons His people. I believe as believers we can take comfort in this. Even if we face trials and tribulation, God is still with us and for us. Even if we were to die from some form of persecution, God is still on His throne, and we will spend eternity with Him, and those who are not His will be judged. Even if we do not see justice for His people now, it is coming.

So always remember God cares for His people, and He will have the last say!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Obadiah Part 2

Last week we saw that the Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (father of the tribes of Israel), and today we are going to look into why they are being judged and humbled.

We see early on in Obadiah that the Edomites are arrogant in their hearts. A lot of this had to do with their dwelling place. They lived up in the clefts of the rock, so places that were well protected and hard to get to. They believed themselves to be protected and safe, but we see that God is going to humble them. This seems to be a small part of why they are going to be humbled and judged, because the main part is revealed in verse 10 where it reads, “Because of violence to your brother Jacob, You will be covered with shame, and you will be cut off forever.”

Here we see that they are going to be judged and judged harshly because of their treatment not just to God’s people but to their relatives. We see here that due to their relation with Israel, and the way they have been treating them, God is coming down hard on them. We see here God’s care and provision for His people, and also His judgment against their/His enemy. It seems a little more personal and directed, because of the blood relation.

So what can we learn here? God does not mess around when it comes to His people! He will have the last word and the final judgment. We can take comfort that the God who judges is also the God who saves as well. His mercy and justice work hand-in-hand, His love and wrath work hand-in-hand, His holiness and grace work hand-in-hand, so let us worship and praise Him for who He is!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Obadiah Part 1

Today we will be looking at Obadiah, which has no chapters and is only 21 verses long. Since we have three weeks to dive into this book today I just want to focus on one part of the book, and that is who this prophesy is about. The first part of verse 1 says, “The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom.” So we see here that the prophesy (or vision) is concerning Edom. So today I want to take a quick look at who the Edomites were.

So we must ask the question, where did the Edomites come from? This question is fairly easy to answer, they came from the same bloodline as the Israelites. When we go back to the account of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27), we have Jacob deceiving his father Isaac (Abraham’s son) and essentially stealing the blessing that was meant for Esau. If you follow the lineage from here you have Abraham the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau. From here we have Jacob starting the twelve tribes of Israel through his sons. Then we have Esau who with his family forms the nation of Edom. In Genesis 36 you can read the genealogy of Esau and the Edomites.

This briefly sums up who the Edomites are, and who this prophesy is against. As we go through the rest of the book together we will see a pretty harsh judgment against Edom and we will explore why this is and the coming “Day of the Lord.” I encourage you over the next week to explore your Bible and find all the passages talking about Esau, Edom, and the Edomites. I hope you are enjoying working through the Minor Prophets!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Amos Part 3

As we come to the end of the book of Amos two things really stuck out to me. The first is the inevitability of destruction that was coming upon Israel, and the second is the remnant of Israel to be restored.

When I was thinking about these two things, I was brought to the Gospel. Every person is a sinner, and that sin leads to death and destruction. It is inevitable that death is coming for all who sin (not just death here, but the second death, aka Hell). This includes everyone, except one, Jesus. So we (as in everyone, except Jesus) are like Israel, and heading for inevitable destruction. BUT there is hope!

Jesus the one who did not deserve death, died on the cross for our sins, and if we have faith and believe in Jesus then we, like the remnant of Israel, will be saved from destruction.

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Amos Part 2

Today we are looking into Amos chapters 3-6. In these chapters we see quite a lot, so we will try to cover them quickly.

Initially, in chapter 3, we see a declaration that Israel is God’s chosen people, but with that they are called to a higher standard. Not only this, but since they have failed, in many ways (idolatry, injustice, laziness, and apathy), they will be punished. We see this all through these chapters.

In chapter 5 there is a glimmer of hope through a call to action, where it reads in verse 14-15, “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Although this is talking about Israel, I do believe as we read through a passage like this we should ask ourselves a few questions. As God’s chosen people are we idolizing anything? Are we acting justly and seeking justice? Are we lazy or apathetic when it comes to our faith? If our answer to any of these is yes, let us take head from the words of Amos in chapter 5:14-15 which are quoted above! Thanks for reading!

Pastor Josh

Amos Part 1

Today we are going to take a look at Amos 1 and 2. In this section we have messages of judgment being pronounced not only to Judah and Israel, but also the surrounding nations.

In Amos 1 we are introduced to the prophet Amos, and told that he prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel. After we are introduced to Amos, Amos then speaks messages against Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and in the beginning of chapter 2 Moab. The messages to all of these places is a punishment that is coming. The punishment was for transgressions they committed to other nations and peoples.

From here we shift from the places surrounding Judah and Israel to a message for (or against) Judah and Israel. What I hope you picked up on is not necessarily the punishment coming to them, but the reason for this punishment. We see the reason for Judah’s punishment was rejecting the law of the Lord. Then Israel’s punishment was for profaning God’s holy name, by selling the righteous and poor for money (or even less than money) and terrible sexual acts.

So what I wanted us to focus on, is that there is a distinction between why these punishments are being dealt out. It might seem subtle, but there is a difference. The punishment although sounding close to the same I believe is different as well, because this punishment is more personal, because this is only true God, and the God that Judah and Israel are supposed to be serving, so the transgressions are personally against God, and they would know the punishment was from God. It seems to me it is a much more personal series of events than what the other nations would feel.

So let us take heed from these messages and not profane the name of God, but instead worship and serve Him, unlike the people were doing in Israel and Judah at this time!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Joel Part 3

The third chapter of Joel is broken up in two parts, the first is the judgment of the nations and the second is the blessing of Judah (and Israel). This week I am going to do something a little different and take this passage and look at it from the perspective of the believer today. This was written and prophesied to Judah (and Israel) well over two thousand years ago and applied to them in that time and in a future time, but if we look at it, I do believe it parallels the future coming of Christ and the blessing of His people (the Church) and judgment of everyone else.

In the first part of this chapter we see the judgment of nations, and that they will be defeated by God’s people and they will no longer be allowed into the land. When we read later on throughout Scripture about Christ’s second coming and the judgment coming, we see that those who are not His will be judged and sent to Hell. This means they will not be allowed into the new Jerusalem at all. This is a reality that we must come to grips with, the unbeliever will be banished from eternal life in the New Heavens and New Earth. Just a quick note here… This should drive us to share the Gospel, because we should not want anyone to perish not knowing Christ.

So the bad news is, people will be judged and go to Hell, but the good news is for God’s people. The land will be restored, there will be a new Jerusalem (and a new heaven and earth) in which the Church (God’s people) will dwell with God for all eternity. So for now we wait, we wait for the return of Christ, with the hope of eternal life in a new earth, with no more sin, sorrow, sadness, tears, or death. What a hope we have?! But until that day, let us share the Gospel promiscuously, for we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, so let us diligently share the Good News of the Gospel, because that is the most loving thing we can do!

Keep the faith and share the faith!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Joel Part 2

In Joel 2 we see three things again, a future Day of the Lord, a call to repentance, and deliverance.

In the first part of chapter 2 we see a future Day of the Lord in which an army will come through and devastate the land. It is described as a fire consuming before them and a flame burning behind them. Saying the land before them is like that of Eden, but behind them it will be a desolate wilderness. After this we have Joel calling them to repentance.

In verses 12-13 Joel writes, “‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.’ Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil.” What was true then is true now, that God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil (or calamity). So let us take heart as well and repent for the Day of the Lord is drawing near!

After these two parts we get to a promise of deliverance. And along with this deliverance he promises the gift of His Spirit, and this deliverance will come to all who call on the name of the Lord. So let us repent and draw near to the Lord, looking forward to the promised day of deliverance, when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Joel 1

Chapter 1 of Joel is broken up into three parts: a call to attention (or remembrance), a call to repentance, and an act of repentance.

In the first four verses we have the call to attention, which in this case is more of a call to remember a tragic event. This event was an invasion of locust. Locust, if you are not familiar with them, are an extremely destructive insect that strips bare pretty much anything green. It seems he is saying don’t forget this, and wake up. This waking up is a call to repentance and we see it mainly in verses 5-14.

Here we have Joel telling the drunkard to weep and wail, because the wine is now cut off from their mouth. He calls the priests to mourn, because the grain and drink offerings are cut off. Joel goes on to say similar things to the farmers and vinedressers. He is telling them to lament what is happening (to be deeply sorrowful), and in verse 14 he calls them to repentance. He tells them to assemble and fast, and to cry out to the Lord.

Joel says to do this because, “For the day of the Lord is near.” He is now proclaiming a coming day of destruction, and he wants Israel to be prepared for that coming day. After he goes into a little detail we see Joel cry out to the Lord in lament and repentance.

This is a pattern that I believe we as the church should recognize, not as we see problems and bad things happen to our country, but in the church. When bad things happen in churches we should see why they did, repent and lament over them, and in that repentance turn away from sin and back to the Lord. For the Day of the Lord is coming, and it is going to be quite the day and the wheat and the tares will be separated, and let us be ones that hear “Well done good and faithful servant.”

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Hosea Part 3 - Hope

This week I will keep it brief. We are looking at chapters 11 and 14 in Hosea today, but first let me remind you that Israel (and Ephraim) have been called a harlot and we see there is going to be punishment. In chapters 11 and 14 we see that this punishment is not going to be forever. In Hosea 11:8 it reads, “My heart is turned over within Me, all My compassions are kindled.” and it goes on to read in verse 9, “I will not execute My fierce anger.” We see that God is going to show them compassion, that He is going to turn away from His anger and show grace, mercy, and compassion to His people. Chapter 14 reiterates this in verses 4-5, “I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, and he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.”

In the midst of chapters of harlotry and consequences, we find hope. Although Israel turned away, God is going to bring them back and show mercy and compassion. So let us focus today on the hope we have in Jesus, and His shed blood. We, like Israel, do not deserve compassion, grace, and mercy, and yet God has given it to us. Let us rejoice and give thanks!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Hosea Part 2 - Israel

Today we are going to be touching on Hosea 4-10 and 12-13. The overarching theme in these chapters is that Israel is playing the harlot. Israel is God’s adulterous wife, as Gomer was Hosea’s. Israel (and Ephraim) are continually turning away from God and sinning, and sinning rather atrociously.

Israel is described as having no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land (4:1). It is also said of Israel that there is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery, and that bloodshed follows bloodshed (4:2). This all comes just in the first two verses of chapter 4. Hosea 4:7 says, “The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.” We are introduced to Israel’s sins and faithlessness against God, and now we see there will be a price to pay. I think it is important here to remember that sin does not go unpunished. Israel is going to have grave consequences due to their actions. Hosea 5:6 states, “They will go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them.”

In these chapters we see that God is going to punish Israel for their sins. God is holy and just, and must deal with sin. When we read about the unfaithfulness (the harlotry) of Israel, I believe we should take a step back and evaluate our lives, and the life of the church. Is there any grave sin plaguing your life? Is there a grave sin you see plaguing the church. Nothing is hidden from God, so if there is sin in your life, don’t despair, but instead repent. For as we know from Exodus 34:6-7, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” The same can be said for the church, so let us keep a watchful eye out for not only our personal sin, but also that of the church. When we do recognize sin in these place, and in our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us call it what is it, SIN (which leads to death and destruction) and seek repentance.

Next week we will look at chapters 11 and 14, which are much more hopeful, but until then let us dig deep into our own lives and seek God in all areas and repent of our sins. We all play the harlot sometimes, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but do not make it an excuse to stay stuck in sin. Stay diligent and in God’s word, and continually be thankful that God is compassionate and gracious!

Thanks for reading,

Pastor Josh

Hosea Part 1 - The Wife

Today I want us to take a quick look at Hosea 1-3. We start with a brief introduction to the prophet Hosea. He was the son of Beeri and prophesied during the days of the kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel. After this little introduction we see the word of the Lord comes to Hosea, telling him to take a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry. Can you imagine this happening to you? God asking you to take for yourself a spouse that you knew was going to commit adultery. Well this is what is asked of Hosea. He does what he is told and takes a woman named Gomer to be his wife.

We see throughout the chapter 1 that Gomer is unfaithful, but that she bears three children with Hosea, and they are given the following names, “Jezreel, because God will break the bow of Israel on the valley of Jezreel,” “Lo-ruhamah, because God will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel,” and “Lo-ammi, for you are not My people and I am not your God.” Through the naming of the children we are given a picture of God’s heart toward Israel (the Northern Kingdom) at this time.

Not only do we see God’s heart here, but we see how Israel has been acting. God has Hosea marry Gomer as a picture of the relationship between God and Israel. God has been faithful and loving and caring, but Israel has defiled the covenant or “marriage bed,” just as Hosea has been faithful to Gomer, but she unfaithful. I can only speculate, but I would imagine that Hosea’s message to the people would be that much more passionate, knowing the feelings and heart of God, because it is what he is going through with his wife.

In chapter 2 we are given a picture now of Israel’s relationship with God, or their lack of one. The first half of chapter two is about Israel’s “harlotry” and the consequence of their actions. But chapter 2 does not end in despair, but rather in hope that Israel will eventually be restored, and God will say to them once again, “‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God!’”

Chapter 3 is short, but it is a mirror of the second part of chapter 2, the restoration. We see in chapter three that Gomer has gone out from Hosea, but now Hosea is to take her back as his wife, and this time she will stay. Chapter 3 ends with by saying “Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”

The question for us today is this: Are we walking faithfully with Christ, or are we playing the harlot?

Remain diligent in God’s word, in prayer, in communion with the saints, keep yourself accountable and find people to help keep you accountable, so that we remain faithful to the One that is Faithful.

Thank you for reading,

Pastor Josh

Jonah Part 3 - The ending...

As we come to chapter 3 in Jonah, we see Jonah does end up going to Nineveh as God commanded him, and he proclaims, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” This short proclamation by Jonah changed the people of Nineveh. Verse 5 says the people believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. It even reached the king, who joined them and set a decree to not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing, and they all must be covered in sackcloth. He also called on everyone to call on God earnestly and for everyone to turn from their wicked and violent ways. And finished by saying, “Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” After Nineveh repented and turned from their old ways, we see that God did relent from bringing the calamity and did not destroy them.

At this point a lot of people stop with the account of Jonah, but there is another chapter. Chapter 4 starts by saying, “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.” Jonah is now angry, because God showed grace and mercy to Nineveh, and claims he fled to Tarshish because he knew this would happen. Instead of rejoicing and praising God for being a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindess, and one who relents concerning calamity, Jonah get angry, and we must ask why? I believe the answer is pretty simple. Jonah only wants God to show these attributes to whom he (Jonah) finds worthy.

We looked earlier at how bad Nineveh was, and they were terrible, but they repented and it just took a simple message for them to turn from their ways and plead. Jonah on the other hand ran from God, and it took him being inside of a great fish to repent. But nonetheless God showed him mercy and grace. The key here is that both Jonah and Nineveh did not deserve this grace and mercy, but they received it. It has always been strange to me that Jonah seems to remain bitter that Nineveh was spared, but then I have to ask myself, is there someone or a group of people that I would feel the same way about? Do I look at others as less? Do you look at anyone as less than you, or undeserving of God’s grace?

Let us look at Jonah as an example of how to not look at other people who are not like us, but instead let us look to God, the creator of all to see how we should view all people. God created man and woman in His image, thus all of us (humans) are valuable and have dignity. So regardless of what someone looks like and how someone may act, everyone is created in the image of God, so we should care about them. With this being said, if our worst enemy comes to know Christ we should rejoice with angels, and not get angry like Jonah. With all of that being said, let us love one another and treat everyone with dignity, knowing that God’s grace and mercy can reach the worst of us… including you and I.

Thanks for reading!

Pastor Josh