The Sign of Jonah
Jan 30, 2022 9:36:40 GMT -6
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stormyknight, boraddict, and 1 more like this
Post by sawdy on Jan 30, 2022 9:36:40 GMT -6
This morning I saw a meme in my Facebook feed. It was of Bernie Sanders sitting wearing his mittens underneath a large tree in the desert. Seeing it made me chuckle and then I wrote the following for my Facebook friends:
Everytime I hear someone speak on the topic of the sign of jonah, it is of the three days in the belly of the whale. They use it to spin a tale of three days of darkness on the earth in the end times. Bit what if there is a second sign of Jonah? Matthew is the one to comment on Jonah in the belly of the whale for three days but Luke says something different.
"For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation" Luke 11:30
The book of Jonah doesn't end with the belly of the whale, but with the withering of the tree.
Now this is what I am meditating on. Is the story about the tree the sign of Jonah for the end times? Does the tree in Jonah have anything to do with the fig tree generation?
I do find it a challenge to dig into those deeper layers of multiple meanings and possibilities. I just wanted to take a second to share what I am thinking about this morning.
When I was doing my reading challenge last year. I was surprised by how short the Book of Jonah actually is. I was reading along, about to turn the page and that was it! It abruptly stopped. Where was Jonah's reply to God?
I think we get so used to the pattern of stories needing a conclusion that when the story stops without one it takes us by surprise. I wanted to read more about Jonah. Did his anger subside? What did he do after God spared Nineveh? (Not immediately after because that is when he sits under the tree, but a month later, a year later?)
I searched out answers through commentaries on the passage and in those I found an answer. The forth chapter of the book of Jonah actually ends as it is supposed to, why God having the last word. It is like a mic drop. Whatever Jonah wanted to respond is from a fallen man with a sin nature. It is not necessary in comparison to what God had to say.
What I like about this joke is that I love a Bernie in his mittens meme. But it has a deeper truth to it. The tree that God allowed to spring up in the desert to provide shade for Jonah shriveled and died the next day. That is like our Governments, regardless of colour of party. They are there to provide us supports and protection but spring up and wither every four years or so. We get angry like Jonah at these changes, unconcerned about the bigger picture.
God has a plan that is woven throughout the whole of the Bible and of time. The Bible is a tool for us to see and learn to understand God's plan. Like the story of Jonah, it abruptly stops in Jude as the letters to the Churches end. However, God also has the last word and allows us to see a glimpse of what is to come and His plan with the book of Revelation.
If you feel discouraged, I encourage you to read the Book of Jonah. It is only four chapters so it won't take long. Take time to meditate on the final verses of chapter four. Although God allowed the tree to wither, was there a bigger lesson to be learned? If we are to be angry with God in the little things like our Governments changing, how can we understand God's plan of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus His Son to redeem all of mankind?
I think we get so used to the pattern of stories needing a conclusion that when the story stops without one it takes us by surprise. I wanted to read more about Jonah. Did his anger subside? What did he do after God spared Nineveh? (Not immediately after because that is when he sits under the tree, but a month later, a year later?)
I searched out answers through commentaries on the passage and in those I found an answer. The forth chapter of the book of Jonah actually ends as it is supposed to, why God having the last word. It is like a mic drop. Whatever Jonah wanted to respond is from a fallen man with a sin nature. It is not necessary in comparison to what God had to say.
What I like about this joke is that I love a Bernie in his mittens meme. But it has a deeper truth to it. The tree that God allowed to spring up in the desert to provide shade for Jonah shriveled and died the next day. That is like our Governments, regardless of colour of party. They are there to provide us supports and protection but spring up and wither every four years or so. We get angry like Jonah at these changes, unconcerned about the bigger picture.
God has a plan that is woven throughout the whole of the Bible and of time. The Bible is a tool for us to see and learn to understand God's plan. Like the story of Jonah, it abruptly stops in Jude as the letters to the Churches end. However, God also has the last word and allows us to see a glimpse of what is to come and His plan with the book of Revelation.
If you feel discouraged, I encourage you to read the Book of Jonah. It is only four chapters so it won't take long. Take time to meditate on the final verses of chapter four. Although God allowed the tree to wither, was there a bigger lesson to be learned? If we are to be angry with God in the little things like our Governments changing, how can we understand God's plan of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus His Son to redeem all of mankind?
Everytime I hear someone speak on the topic of the sign of jonah, it is of the three days in the belly of the whale. They use it to spin a tale of three days of darkness on the earth in the end times. Bit what if there is a second sign of Jonah? Matthew is the one to comment on Jonah in the belly of the whale for three days but Luke says something different.
"For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation" Luke 11:30
The book of Jonah doesn't end with the belly of the whale, but with the withering of the tree.
Now this is what I am meditating on. Is the story about the tree the sign of Jonah for the end times? Does the tree in Jonah have anything to do with the fig tree generation?
I do find it a challenge to dig into those deeper layers of multiple meanings and possibilities. I just wanted to take a second to share what I am thinking about this morning.
