Know your place?

The Book of Jonah

A personal reflection about The Book of JONAH

The 32^nd book of the Old Testament

Can you remember the first book you ever read from cover-to-cover? I sure can. I was eight years old and the book was Crackerjack Halfback, by Matt Christopher. The main character (Freddie) loved football, but he was afraid to tackle. In the story he and his football coach went to a football movie, but on their way home they had to swerve out of the way of an oncoming truck and skidded into a river. This experience taught Freddie some lessons and helped him overcome his fears. It was a great book. I even skipped dinner so that I could finish it. I believe that from this point onward, I developed a love of reading books.

A short time after this delightful experience, I decided that I wanted to read a whole book of the Bible in one sitting. I systematically paged through my Bible looking for one that wasn’t too long and stumbled across the book of JONAH. In this book of the Bible, I read about a person who also was afraid, learned a lesson in the water, and ultimately accomplished a victorious feat. As a young boy, I was cut to the heart by the story of Jonah. Reading all four chapters in one sitting was not easy for a child, but it revealed to me the power of God’s Word if I was just willing to read it. I believe that from this point onward, I developed a love of God’s Word.

As an adult, I still love to read the Book of JONAH. It teaches about how our disobedience to God results in consequences. It also shows how God listens to our prayer of repentance and is ready to deliver us from sin and its consequences. Furthermore, it reveals how quickly we forget God’s goodness after He works in our lives and yet He is willing to show us loving kindness.

Whether you are eight or eighty years of age, I encourage you to read the Book of JONAH all in one sitting. May God richly bless you as you do.

“I cried out the LORD because of my affliction, and He answered me.”  – Jonah 2:2

meet the reviewer: jon schommer

Jon Schommer grew up in Calumetville, Wisconsin (dairy farm country) and currently lives in Woodbury, Minnesota. He has been married for 21 years to Lisa and they have two children; Dave aged 16 and Emily 14. Jon’s hobbies include gardening and hiking. During the summer, he enjoys golfing once or twice and during the winter he enjoys ice fishing a few times. Jon earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and currently is a professor at the University of Minnesota.

Biblical Response to Pat Robertson on Haiti

Pat Robertson on his CBN show made a comment indicating that the reason an earthquake devastated Haiti was because they had in the past, “made a pact with the devil.”  The implication of this statement being that they are being punished by God for disobeying him.

Here’s the clip…

My problem with Pat Robertson’s comments may not come from the angle that you would expect.  See, I don’t have a problem with him saying that the people of Haiti had done something to deserve a punishment from God.  What I have a problem with is his assumption that the Haitians deserve a punishment that no one else does.   I also have a problem with the implication that this earthquake is a direct result punishment of their disobedience to God.

I know that you may be reacting to my statement right now, but allow me to explain it Biblically.

You can NOT argue Scripturally that sinning against God happens without consequences.  Sodom and Gomorah, Noah and the flood, and a wandering Israel in the desert  stand as testaments to that.  Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death,” (we’ll get back to the rest of 23 later)

So, sin does deserve severe punishment.  Like it or not, it is the truth.  However, sin is not just a Haitian problem it is a rather universal issue.

Romans 2:1-5 “¹You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?⁵But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Note that Paul makes it pretty clear that we are ALL universally under God’s wrath.  Note also, the time in which he says God’s judgement will be made known is the judgement day.  Not an earthquake.  Not the scourge of people.

Half of the book of Job is an argument over whether Job deserved this punishment because of some great wickedness on his part.  Even there Job notes that the wicked flourish while good people suffer.  Ecclesiastes says the same.  And Jesus tells a parable of a rich man who had everything in this world, stored it in his barns but was far from God.  He was not called to account until the day of his death.

So, do we all deserve punishment for sin? Yes.

Is the earthquake in Haiti a direct result of the sins of those people?  Doubtful.

Is Haiti a nation with great poverty?  Yes.  Did God ever say that he would make those who don’t obey him poor?  No.  (in fact you could make the argument Scripturally that being poor is a spiritual blessing and not a curse.)

Is Haiti a nation that largely rejects God?  Yes.  However, lately the Gospel has been making a revival sized impact on that nation.  If you’re going to play Pat Robertson’s game then you could blame the earthquake on Satan because of the positive impact that the word of God is having in Haiti.

So, here’s the bigger truth.  We live in a broken world.  Bad things happen to good people and to bad people without prejudice.  We are not a people who deserve God’s mercy yet he has given it.

Romans 3:23-26, “²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, ²⁶ for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.“

Sin does not happen without consequences.  Yet God with undeserved kindness offered a us a hope that is beyond ourselves.  Here’s the rest of Romans 6:23 in context.

Romans 6:22-23 “But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So, let’s walk away from this with a broken heart for the people of Haiti and their loss.  Let’s pray with a hope that God would use this tragedy to His glory.  Let our eyes be opened to a true understanding of where we really stand before God and our need for Him as well as be in awe of his undeserved kindness, mercy and grace.  May that give us all hope and may that hope be carried to the people of Haiti and every nation.

Real Wisdom

Here’s a book of James truth “indexed” style.