Jonah seemed to repent in chapter two. But is it possible to repent of your repentance? Don’t you and I do that all the time? Have you ever been sorry for your sin only to find yourself doing it again?
In chapter 3, God tells Jonah once again to go to Nineveh. This time he actually does, but it seems like he does the bare minimum required for the job. He barely goes into the city and preaches the only part of God’s message he likes - the part about Nineveh’s destruction. Yet, somehow God still uses Jonah’s actions and brings rescue to the great city of Nineveh. They humble themselves before God and recognize His power over them, and in His graciousness, He saves them.
Vomit. Giant sea creatures. Repentance. This tale has it all.
What seemed like certain death was actually God's saving grace when Jonah was swallowed up by the big fish. 3 days and 3 nights in the dark belly of the beast, Jonah had time to reflect and turn from his foolishness (even if temporarily). Then, at that moment God breathed new life into Jonah - or in this case, vomited new life.
Thankfully a better prophet came into the world who also descended into the dark belly of the beast of death on our behalf... but not because he was running from God, but because he was obedient to Him. Then on the third day he rose again (not from vomit this time). Now we can have new life breathed into the dark belly of the beast of our sin.
The book of Jonah has often been relegated to a children's story about a whale. But Jonah's story is the story of Israel. It's the story of God's people. It's the story of you and I... and more importantly, it's the story of the God who relentlessly pursues His people.
Why do we run from this God? You and I do it too, not just Jonah. What is your boat to Tarshish? Why do we look to so many other false hopes in the midst of the storm of our life? God is the only one who can calm the storm, as He enters into the storm on our behalf.
In the final chapter of Ruth we see a family redeemer remove his sandal as a symbol of passing up his opportunity and responsibility to care for the vulnerable and invite in the foreigner, while another redeemer steps up in his place. This reminds us of Israel’s call to be a light to the nations and a kingdom of priests, but they neglected their call in order to look out for themselves. Thank God another, better, truer Redeemer came in their place. One whose sandals all others were not worthy to untie.
In Ruth 3 we see Naomi try to take matters into her own hands to provide for Ruth. The stage is set for history to repeat itself and for Israel to continue "doing what is right in their own eyes". But right at the climactic moment, something changes. What Naomi purposed in her own understanding, God intervened and used for the good of all His people.
The book of Ruth has often been treated as a side-story in the Bible about friendship or finding love… but it is so much more! The foreign barren widow, Ruth, points us forward to the King of all creation, Jesus. In this historical story we find the loyalty and faithfulness of an oppressed woman teaching us about the loyalty and faithfulness of a good God.
The Thessalonian church needed to be reminded of the hope they had - that the true King of the world would return to set all things right finally and fully. This truth comes along with an assurance, that the false kingdoms humanity has built out of rebellion against God will surely fall. Even still today, we need this same hope and reassurance. King Jesus is coming. He will set all things right. And the empires we’ve built that oppose him will fall, but if we trust in him and follow him into his kingdom, we will be gathered into his salvation.
Paul wrote again to the small oppressed church in Thessalonica, continuing to encourage them in their faith, love, and hope. Their faith and love had continued to show strong, but in the midst of oppression and false teachers they struggled to hold onto hope. Paul's reminder and assurance is that Jesus is indeed coming back and when he does, he will put an end to the injustice and set all things right.
To wrap up our series in the Psalms, we look at some of Jesus' words at the end of his sermon on the mount side-by-side with Psalm one. The wisdom in these words bring us to our starting point in coming to the Scriptures, as well as our starting point in current life circumstances. We must begin with the question of who God is and how He is at work in the world, rather than beginning with ourselves, in order to rightly understand our place.
A call and response psalm: where the call reminds us of the Story of God at work in His world, and the response is praise. God is a god who has chosen to make a covenant with His people and He will never give up on that promise. His relentless, unfailing, unending love and solidarity with His people leads to salvation and life!
Psalm 90, perhaps the only psalm we have from Moses, is a story of coming home. Though Moses lived in many different places, from the palace of Egypt to the mountains to the wilderness of the Exodus, he always found his home in the eternal loving arms of God. When we wander from our home with Him, our days become numbered and we enter into the limits of man. Thank God for His work through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ which brings us back home! Now may we enter not only into our eternal home, but also into the work of Christ.
The psalms show us God's people longing to return to the house of God, to His dwelling place. At the start of the world there was an overlap of God's dwelling (heaven) with humanity's (earth) in Eden. This was lost because of mankind's rebellion. The temple for Israel was a picture of this, where God's dwelling would overlap with humanity's. Israel also lost their home and access to the temple because of their own rebellion. Psalm 65 shows us a virtual return to God's house and reminds us that God has not given up on His creation. He is still very much at work in His world, bringing healing and reconciliation to the land and to the people. One day, His home will overlap again with man's.
