Our study of the book of Jonah continues this week with chapter 3. Jonah went to Nineveh, the city of his enemies, and delivered a very strange, very short sermon at which the people of Nineveh have a very surprising response. The city was indeed overturned, but not Sodom-and-Gomorrah style. Chapter three explores the meaning of the biblical word ‘conversion.’
This week at King of Grace we are continuing our study of the book of Jonah. In chapter 1 we saw Jonah asleep at the wheel, headed down, down, down in his flight from God. But we also saw God’s merciful pursuit of Jonah, trying to wake him up. In chapter 2 we find out that it worked! Finally Jonah is awake and praying to his God. This chapter is an invitation to the reader to participate in Jonah’s experience of prayer in the midst of suffering. Jonah didn’t know it, but God was already bringing him back to life in the midst of his death.
The book of Jonah is a satire, using extreme circumstances, humor, and irony to critique the stupidity and character flaws of Jonah—and ultimately to critique the reader. The story is not about the fish, and it’s not even really about Jonah. The prophetic message of this book lies in God’s compassionate dealings with human beings everywhere.
Last Sunday in church we talked about remaining in Jesus as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
But how?
Proverbs are sometimes tough for the Christian reader of the Bible. Not because they aren’t clear or don’t make sense, but because they sometimes appear empty of theological content. But Proverbs are actually intricate literary expressions which are less moralistic and far more theologically related to experience that is apparent at first glance.
Do we need instruction about how to read narrative stories? It seems like that should be easy. When most people read a Bible story, they might just dive in and expect Bible stories to be exactly like modern stories. But they aren’t.
Sometimes people walk away from the Bible confused. We don’t know why a character did what they did, or what they looked like, or even what the “moral of the story” is. Bible stories often lack the amount of detail and clarity that modern readers are accustomed to. And this is frustrating to us because we like lots of detail. But what if a glaring lack of detail in a Bible story is there on purpose?
The words 'covenant' and 'testament' are little-used words in modern English. But the two major divisions of our Bible are called "Old Testament" and "New Testament." We should know why!
For some of us, the Holy Spirit has been a bit of a background character to the Father and the Son in church. During December, our small Bible study groups thought more deeply about the Holy Spirit and his work. We explored the biblical language, the activities of the Spirit, and how those activities happen in our lives today.
"Holiness" is a word that is rarely used outside of church. Because it's not used very much, we don't really have a good idea what it means. During November, King of Grace hosted Bible study groups who explored that topic using a great 6-minute video from The Bible Project.