Noah - Webster Entrance

Genesis 7:2-5 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

God is now starting to reiterate His orders. Noah is being told, very specifically, the types of animals he needs to have on the ark. God tells Noah that he will need seven of every kind of bird - male and female. First of all, they're birds - do they really need a home? Maybe some bird houses on the top of the ark. Some newspapers lining the deck - maybe that's where the term "poop deck" comes from. . . All joking aside, this was another monumental task for Noah to accomplish.

God tells him again that it will rain for forty days and nights. Verse 5 is a repeat "Noah is obedient". If there is something in the Bible - it's in there for a very good reason - and we need to note that. But if there is something in the Bible TWICE that means it's REALLY important. Look at the birth and death of Jesus - that's covered over several books of the Bible and repeated numerous times - pretty important stuff. The fact the God tells us again and again that Noah is obedient is very important.

This is just the opposite of Jonah, whom we discussed previously, Jonah didn't obey God and look what happened - he got swallowed by a whale. I guess he hadn't heard about Noah and his obedience. If we don't take the time to study what other people have done in their walk with Christ, then we won't know what to expect. It's easy for us to ask our friends how a teacher was that they had in class and how good they were, or to try a product that worked well on a co-worker, yet we won't pick up our Bible and daily read how others made it through their Christian life. So don't yell at your kids until you read the life of Sarah and don't talk bad about your husband until you read the life of Joseph and don't gripe about your physical ailments until you read the life of Job and don't complain about your job until you read the life of Noah.

Jonah - Drama Queen?

Jonah 4:3-5 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.

Could Jonah be more dramatic? "I didn't get my way, so just kill me". I must, once again, refer back to children: The one who says 'if I don't get my way I'll stay in my room all day' - to which one should reply, 'okay'. Did Jonah honestly think that comparing his life on earth being destroyed, came remotely close to thousands of people being lost for eternity? Angela made a good point when she commented on a post two days ago about why Jonah may have had such a reasonable dislike for the Ninevites - but it just goes to show, God overshadows our dislikes. We may have every reason in the book to dislike someone, or their actions - but God shows us right here what he thinks of that. . .

God says, "Have you any right to be angry?" 'Cause we all know, Jonah ain't sinless. God questions Jonah here in hopes that he'll see the common sense in all this and change his attitude. Jonah does have something going for him this time - he doesn't talk back to God - he simply walks away. Sometimes it's good for us to be able to get off by ourselves and let God handle things. Let's face it, He is going to do a much better job than we will. Are we willing to let go and let God handle it?

Jonah - More Irony

Jonah 4:2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.


Oh my goodness! This is so ironic to me. Jonah is complaining because the city is in repentance and God forgives them. Jonah then prays to God and tells God that he KNEW He would forgive them even though they've been SO bad and that justified why he didn't want to go to Ninevah in the first place. Jonah is actually trying to JUSTIFY why it was okay for him to try and run away - even after all has been said and done and God had just forgiven him! God had just forgiven him and now Jonah is lecturing God about forgiving Ninevah. AAAAAAHHH!

And get this irony. . . IF Jonah had gone to Ninevah the first time he was told - he would have not been all scary looking from the whale vomit - he would've probably been cleanly dressed - an average person on an average day walking around the city = Ninevah probably wouldn't have given Jonah a second thought and would not have repented.

Jonah, in his disobedience, gave the Ninevites exactly what He was not wanting them to have - a 2nd chance. God is always right - in all His ways - He uses even our disobedience for His miracles - how great is our God. . .

Jonah - Avoid Hell - It's Really Bad There.

Jonah 3:10- Jonah 4:1 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. 1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.

The picture that plays out in my mind is the one of me threatening one of the kids, "If you do that ONE MORE TIME, you'll be grounded for the rest of the day". Then that child comes to you with arms wide open and tears in their eyes and says "I'm sorry mommy, I won't do it anymore - I love you". And of course you wrap your arms around her and tell her it's all going to be okay and explain why she shouldn't act like that. Then there is her sibling in the other room - seething because she didn't get into trouble as was threatened.

Why is human nature to delight in the downfall of someone else? Even as Christians, we want those who have hurt others to get what's coming to them - some sort of punishment. But I'll be honest here, no matter how wrong someone has been - I'd never wish them an eternity in Hell. Maybe a good swift kick in the pants - but never damnation. If we can see people the way God sees them, that He wants none to perish and that all fall short of His glory but that He has made a way for us to come to Him - through Jesus. Let's not forget that we were a part of that city before we decided to follow Jesus, and praise God that He is compassionate and that He reminds us of how much we are loved in this "the life of Jonah".

Jonah: Repentance

Jonah 3:5-9 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."

Well, the results of Jonah's jaunt are clear here. The Ninevites truly believed what Jonah was saying and knew that God would do what He said He would do. The king hears this and puts a plan into action. Tells everyone to repent and stop acting so bad - can you imagine if the president of the United States would do that? The king laid down some specific decrees and in hopes that God would forgive them and not destroy them.

Two things here: One, the importance of a leader who does the right thing and follows through. So often today - even in the church - there are people who are not willing to admit they are wrong. All it does is make things worse for those that are under them (can you imagine what would have happened to the Ninevites had the king not humbled himself and made a change). As someone in authority - it is important that we realize that we are never the final say in anything we do. No matter how high up the chain you go - you are still under the final authority of God. If what you're doing does not coincide with God's Word - you have an obligation to get it right with God before you can continue to be effective as a leader.

Two: As was mentioned in yesterday's blog - the expected time to get word to all the Ninevites was three days. It only took One. Before Jonah gets to day two, the city is in a state of repentance.

If you need to get something right with God, it shouldn't take a length of time. The moment you realize you're out of line with God, you should be working to get back in line. The king knew how serious the situation was and got word to everyone as fast as he could. Maybe we can follow his example. . .

Jonah: Frankenstein Spotted

Jonah 3:3-4 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned."

So Jonah immediately does what God told him to do. It would've been a bit foolish of him not to, right? I think the fact that it is mentioned that it would take three days to visit Ninevah is important. We will be mentioning it tomorrow though - just keep it in mind for now.

On the first day - Jonah heads to the city. There he proclaimed in the streets "You will be taken by God in 40 days". Now if we can for a minute remember where Jonah has been - his skin looks like that picture I showed from before, his hair - if he still has any - must be a matted mess on his head and it doesn't say Jonah stopped to bathe or clean up on his way to Ninevah - so I'm guessing he still has whale puke all over him. Can you imagine the people watching as this 'being' walked through the city.

There are some people out there who have come across something so devastating that they turned their lives around immediately. Whether it be seeing their loved ones killed or almost killed in a fire, or their own lives almost taken in a car accident - whatever it was - caused them to take a closer look at life and how God should be in charge of it. Do we really want people to have to see something so devastating to realize how great God is? Wouldn't it be nice if God could use us to lead someone to Christ rather than using some other method that we'd rather them not have to go through? Are we willing to be that person for Him?

Jonah - Example Set

Jonah 3:1-2 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."

We are so blessed to have a God of second chances. I wonder where Jonah was - had he just come out of the fish? Had he been walking around on the shore for a couple of hours? How long had God waited to talk to Jonah again. Did Jonah wait to hear from God before he decided to do anything? I think as soon as Jonah came out onto shore and was aware of his surroundings God began to get a hold of him. The reason I think this is because Jonah had already been crying out to God and God knew that Jonah would need to feel His presence.

He tells Jonah the same thing He told him the first time: "Go to Ninevah and tell them what I tell you to tell them". Notice there is no sarcasm here - no "and don't take a boat trip this time" or "try not to go fishing beforehand". God, in His always loving, always forgiving, always patient tone - simply explains to Jonah what He wants him to do.

Are we willing to respond the same way to someone who's done wrong to us? If someone has apologized to us, are we strong enough to let that person know that we still love them and are willing to move past it? Are we willing to follow the example that God has given us in His dealings with Jonah?

Jonah - Whale Vomit

Jonah 2:10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

There is so much in this one verse, I'll try to keep it short. First off, God tells the fish what to do. He is the God over everything - the land the sea AND the animals. He's the God over us. Here's the thing though - the fish doesn't have a choice like Jonah had - God said vomit, the fish vomits. God told Jonah to 'go' and Jonah decided he didn't want to - because God has given us free will. It makes me think of the movie "Ella Enchanted" where she was given the gift of 'obedience' and whenever she was told to do something - she had to do it. God wants us to 'want' to do what He asks us to do because we love Him, not because He's making us. Okay, moving on...

The whale vomits Jonah onto the shore. I know Kay had commented about the smell - and truly at this point the smell has got to be unbearable. But here comes the irony - did you know that whale vomit, also known as ambergris, loses the awful smell and becomes a very good smell, one that people pay a lot of money for today. When a whale vomits, it floats on the ocean, it comes in various shapes and sizes and colors. The tossing of the ocean waves and the salt in the water have a "curing" effect and soon the vomit has a very pleasant aroma that's used medicinally and in perfumes - very expensive perfumes because of the rarity of ambergris. Jonah, ironically, is whale vomit. He is stinky and yucky right now, but he's been tossed through the storm he's been 'cured' by God and now (and we haven't come to these verses yet, but we will) he will become the sweet smelling rarity that God needs for His purpose. The question today is - Are we willing to hang in through the tough, stinky times - so that we can become that sweet aroma for Jesus?

Jonah - The Prayer

Jonah 2:1-9 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."

This was Jonah's prayer when he was inside the fish. First of all, it's not like Jonah had a piece of paper and pen with him to jot it down - so all this was from his memory. The Lord gives us what we need to complete the task at hand. In all that Jonah had gone through - he remembered his talk with God.

He talks about how he cried out for God as the water washed over him - I'm gonna guess he probably didn't even know what was happening at first - it was dark, there was a storm, all that water. Maybe he thought he was dead and without God and cried for him to come and take him - how sad is that! He tells God that he knows he was taken away from Him and yet he will still look for that hope.

He describes the things that must have been already eaten by the fish and how it was on his body now, the fear that must have been haunting Jonah was pushed aside by his faith - so much so that he mentions the unfortunate people who worship idols and do not have the hope that he has. He praises God and thanks Him - even in the midst of the unknown - in his fear - in his darkest hour - he continues to claim God's unfailing salvation.

Who is this man?! We know Jonah as the guy who got swallowed by the whale - his big claim to fame. But what about his faith in the darkest moment, his hold onto God's saving grace - sure he made some bad choices - don't we all - but what strength he has in God's truth. That's what we need to see in Jonah - not that he disobeyed God, but that when the chips were down, he held fast in the truth. Can we say the same?

Jonah - Oh My!

Jonah 1:17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Oh My Goodness! He got swallowed by a fish!! All the horror stories out there, the huge snakes that eat people, the sharks that attack, the alligators chomping on their victims - can you imagine getting tossed into the ocean - expecting death and then getting swallowed by a fish! As if the thought of drowning wasn't bad enough.

Have you ever had to go into the hospital and been stuck there for any length of time? Not an emergency room visit - which is frustrating in itself, but a few days of being in the hospital - on bed rest. I go crazy - even with a TV in the room. But three days trapped inside the stomach of a fish?!?! Oh my goodness!!

So I did a little research. The gross picture you see here is the result of gastric juices on skin - that which are contained in the stomach (of a fish as well), for only a few hours. Can you imagine the results after three days?!??! The man in the picture had a full recovery with no ill side effects - and even during the time the gastric juice was on him, maintained stable vitals. Interesting.

So not only was he trapped where he couldn't move, his skin was being damaged and there was nothing he could do - except - cry out to God. Why oh why do we wait until we are at the bottom of the barrel before we'll do what we should've done in the first place? Jonah had already admitted he was wrong - but he hadn't yet talked to God about it. Don't wait until your in the belly of the whale before you decide it's time to talk to God. . .

Jonah - Forgiveness

Jonah 1:11-16 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

Jonah admits his full guilt and is willing to accept full punishment. Wages of sin is death, right? How hard do you think it was for Jonah to offer up his own life for these men? He offers up his life so that the men might be saved from the storm. These men, who did not know Jonah before this trip, do not want to kill Jonah. They desperately struggle to try and get him back to shore - but God is in control. It was then that a miracle inside this miracle took place - these men cried out to God for forgiveness and then tossed Jonah overboard.

I wonder if Jonah had not admitted his sin - tried to cover it up - if these men would've responded differently. Would they have tried so hard to get Jonah back to safety - would they have ever known how mighty God is?

There is something to be said about openly confessing our sins. Yes, it's embarrassing to have our dirty laundry aired, but God can use our humility for His glory. There's nothing more convicting than someone that's broken who's crying out to God for forgiveness. And let's face it - we all need to cry out to God. . .

Jonah - 20 Questions

Jonah 1:7-10 Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)

When the storm hit here this past week, and the hurricane that demolished New Orleans hit - you didn't hear anybody saying, "Okay, who's runnin' from God". "We need to get someone out of the city that's causing this problem for us". These men in the boat knew who was in charge of the weather, knew that there was a God, simply by knowing nature. People only need to look at the flowers to know that God exists and put those works of art in our front yard as a constant reminder of His love for us.

Anyway, they figure out it's Jonah and that's where the 20 questions begin. What gets me is that Jonah admits everything. "I'm a Hebrew, I worship the one true God." Someone who justifies his belief, willing to stand firm in a crowd of men who do not believe and yet not smart enough to rest in God's authority and do what he was told. These men are shocked and want to know what Jonah has done to cause this storm.

Sin is a part of our life, it's a constant struggle day in and day out to get up and do our best to stay on track. There is nothing Satan would like more than to let us think that because we sin - we cannot be a witness for Christ. The truth is, it's because we sin that we need Christ and want to be a witness for Him. We know the hope that comes by being in a relationship with Him and other people need to know that we are not perfect, just forgiven. Perhaps by sharing these things - as Jonah shared with those men that he was running - will help people realize that God wants us all to seek Him, no matter what we're running from.

Jonah - Tropical Storm

Jonah 1:4-6 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."

Well, we went a total of 49 hours without power during Tropical Storm Fay. Thursday evening from 11:00 p.m. until Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Then again from Saturday at 6:00 p.m. to Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. Because sometimes it's not the storm, it's the aftermath, the damage caused by the storm. This is what was going on with Jonah - a terrible storm. Those aboard were worried about the damage the storm would cause to their ship.

Each man on board all prayed to their own god (waste of time) and then began throwing out cargo to lighten the ship. How often do we do that today? Instead of going to the ultimate power source, we try to get rid of those things around us that we 'think' might be the problem in the midst of the struggle.

Where was Jonah? Sleeping - just like a man when there's stress. The captain found him and said "call on your god". Wow. Talk about a witnessing opportunity - all these men have been crying out to what they have believed to be the one true god, and then in the midst of the storm - abandon their beliefs and ask Jonah who his god is - and could He help.

The sad thing is this: when we're running from God, when we're in the midst of sin, it's hard to be an effective witness for Christ. So, not only are we shorting ourselves by hindering our relationship with God, we are missing opportunities to share Him with other people. How many people will we pass up because we are too caught up in our own sin that we can't be effective for the Kingdom? Thank God He is so quick to forgive and take us back and use us in spite of ourselves.

Jonah - Stupidity Runs Amuck

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

Have you ever done something wrong, but not realized how stupidly wrong it was until later. (Sometimes YEARS later). I wonder if this is how Jonah felt.

First of all, it doesn't even say Jonah thought about doing what God said, he just got up and ran. Didn't want to go near those Ninevites, didn't want them to get saved, wasn't happy that God loved them too. Oh my my...

Next thing, he heads in the opposite direction, and as we know, he could've just stayed right where he was and saved his sandals some wear and tear - cause God just watched him walk all the way to Joppa. It makes me think of my sister-in-laws' three year old niece. On Tuesday, my sister-in-law went into labor with her first child, a month early (she had a little girl, so precious) but her niece hung out in the waiting room with all of us. When someone would talk to her, she would close her eyes - we all thought she was going to sleep, that's when her mother told us that she thinks we can't see her when she closes her eyes. Reality is a hard fact of life.

THEN, as if the fact that he thinks walking in the opposite direction will hide him from God, he PAYS to get on a boat. This is really the height of stupidity. Hard earned money that's wasted on a useless endeavor (we've all been there on that one).

Finally Jonah got on board the ship, and it states "to flee from the LORD". Do you ever think Jonah looked back at this verse and said "What was I thinking?" "Hiding from God... who can do that?" It may just be a scare tactic we use on our kids "God can see you, even when I can't..." But the truth is, He can see everything, and not just when we're doing something wrong. He's there all the time, watching over us, protecting us, guiding us and always always always loving us.

Jonah - Begins

Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."

Now normally, I like to pick the lives of women out of the Bible to study - mostly because I can relate better in one way or another - but Jonah, lots of good stuff here as well, so I'm ready to begin on a journey to Ninevah. Join me, won't you?

So the Bible tells us that the Lord came to Jonah. Now I don't know whether He spoke out loud or in a dream or wrote on a wall - but it was a definite word from God. Apparently the city of Nineveh - very prominent in its day - maybe equal to New York City or some other financially booming, populated city - was in need of revival.

We can look at this a couple of ways: Remembering that we all sin and the way our country is headed, we're not far off Nineveh as it is - I get the fear that Noah may have had for his people as I type this during Tropical Storm Fay and worry about the power going off. Anyway, the people of Nineveh have gotten off the right track - God's track - so, they can either get upset and angry that someone would tell them how they needed to stop acting the way they were and get right with God, or they could be pleased that someone loved them enough to tell them God wanted them to repent because He loved them so much.

People are no different today. You can expect the same response when you're faced with the task of sharing the gospel - either they resent you for trying to tell them how to live, or they appreciate that you care enough to tell them about Jesus. The thing is, it's not our job to worry about the response - we're called to share the Truth with everyone, regardless of what their opinion is of why we are doing it. It is not easy though - such is the life of Jonah - who can relate??