Obadiah a warning to the Godless : I see the need to pursue intimacy with God, and to live life in fear and trembling, by the grace of God, we brothers are empowered to Fear the Lord, in doing so maintain a willing and submissive heart that loves the truth, and desires to obey it. This will protect you from pride which comes from a focus on ones self, of which it appears is what happened to to Edom and led also to justification to do all kinds of evil, even to family, those whom Edom should have helped and protected.

What arrogance and such pride, who are you Jonah, thinking you know better than God...  Seeing the error of His ways, Jonah repented, and God showed Him mercy “God is faithful and just to forgive.” I see the desire of God for the believer and the unbeliever to be saved, all who are parishing, and living in spiritual darkness. We brethren must choose to trust and obey the commands of God, quickly and unto completion without complainin. 

Ponder just for a moment... What does complaining say to God?  Does it or does it not say to God: ”I don’t like what your doing,  and if I were you I would do it differently.” 

PRIDE SURE DOES COME BEFORE A FALL, BETTER TO REMAIN THANKFUL, AND BE CONTRITE IN HEART

I noticed Jonah's favorite phrase -  “It would be better for me to die than to live.”  He seems to be pretty hot-tempered person, and he reminds me of someone that I know very well - myself!  I was amazed and marvelled at God's tender love toward His whining child like Jonah who only thinks about his own agenda.  God is truly our loving father!

When Jonah decided to flee from the LORD's mission, the following outcomes happened:

1. The heathen men on the boat worshipped the LORD: "Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows" (Jonah 1:15).
   
   
2. Jonah worshipped the LORD: "But I will sacrifice to You; With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).
   
   
3. The people of Nineveh worshipped the LORD: "Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them" (Jonah 3:5).
   
   
4. Jonah clearly revealed the compassionate nature of God: "For I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity" (Jonah 4:3). 

Even when Jonah intended something contrary to God's command, God's purposes were accomplished again and again. He received worship from heathens. He received worship from the wicked Ninevites. And He even received worship from Jonah. And what Jonah declared with disdain, in a twist of irony the heart of anyone and everyone reading this account would swell with wonder and gratitude toward God, whose nature is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness, and relenting concerning calamity.

Friends, nothing can thwart God's purposes. From the very beginning Job declared this to be true: 

I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2).

And this is a good thing. Consider this syllogism that reflects our confident hope:

1. God purposes our salvation.
2. Nothing can thwart God's purposes.
3. Therefore, God's purposes will be done and we WILL BE SAVED!

Such is the promise in the New Testament for believers:

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:11-12). 

Therefore, friends, let us praise the LORD today. He is both worthy of our praise, and we will find no greater motivation for our praise. 

God told the Edomites not to disdain and ill treat their brother Israelites, for, He declares,

As you have done, it will be done to you (Obadiah 1:15).

This is also in keeping with what God promised to Israel through His covenant with Abraham:

I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse (Genesis 12:3).

Friends, the oracle of Obadiah to Edom applies to us as well today. We ought not to be arrogant that Israel has fallen out of favor with the Lord while we Gentiles are in the place of favor. We did not come into this privileged place becase of our obedience but because of their disobedience. And if we show disdain for Israel, God's holy people, then we are being disobedient to God's covenant, and we too can just as easily fall back into disfavor. 

Instead, let us pray for the peace of Israel, that is, their reconciliation with God and their restoration to their former glory. We have no boast apart from them, for the blessings of the New Covenant that we enjoy first came through the covenant God made exclusively with Israel (cf. Jeremiah 31:33). 

Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows (Jonah 1:16).

When Jonah initially spurned the LORD's command and went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, did he really pull a fast one on God? Did he surprise God with such a move? Or should we rather trust what the David wrote in the psalm:

You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely (Psalm 139:2-4).

God knows what we are thinking before we think it. He knows what we are about to say. Nothing is hidden from Him. He is omniscient. 

What is more, did Jonah really think that he could flee from the LORD by going in the opposite direction to where God desired Him to go? Or is David again correct in this declaration:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast (Psalm 139:7-10).

There is no escaping God's Presence, for He is everywhere at once. He is omnipresent.

Therefore, when we read that the pagan men, who were on the boat that Jonah took to flee God's command, began to fear God and worship Him, we should not be surprised. I believe that God knew all along that this would happen. 

Even though Jonah sought to restrain God's hand of mercy from the dreaded Assyrians of Nineveh, he inadvertantly extended that hand of mercy to certain pagan seafaring men, who themselves may have become witnesses in the lands to which they were sailing. 

Friends, our God is omniscient and omnipotent. He works in mysterious and wonderful ways. His will is always accomplished, whether He allows some to condemn themselves or whether He initiates salvation for others. Thus, Paul writes,

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11).

Let us praise God, who has chosen us for salvation in Christ, knowing that He is sovereign, having the power to work out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will!

Friends, I encourage you to read the summaries I provide for these books in the Resources>Bible Book Summaries section (or click here). They will provide a helpful background to assist your understanding of these books.

Jonah was angry because God relented from judging Nineveh, the capital city of the murderous and idolatrous nation of Assyria. But God asks him in Jonah 4:4, "Is it right for you to be angry?" 

God then gives Jonah an object lesson. He provides a leafy plant to give Jonah shade from the hot sun. Jonah is very pleased. But then God takes it away and provides a scorching wind. Jonah is very angry. God asks him, "Is it right for you to be angry," adding "about the plant?" Jonah replies that he is angry enough to die.

God points out how Jonah was concerned about a plant he had nothing to do with. He neither tended it nor made it grow. What is more, Jonah was concerned about a single plant with which he had spent only a brief time, for it sprang up overnight and died overnight. As much as Jonah was concerned about this trivial plant, God asks, "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh..." It was a city that held a population of 120,000 people. And these people had no moral compass, as the Jews did, who had God's Law. They could not tell their right hand from their left. Plus, what of the many animals, who simply labored in the fields? They would be destroyed in the judgment. Certainly God had more cause for concern and compassion for these people than Jonah did for the plant!

Friends, is there a lesson here for us? Perhaps there is a lesson on perspective. Jonah somehow thought that the Assyrians (Ninevites) were undeserving of God's mercy while Israel was deserving. He failed to realize that Israel was just as guilty before the Lord and may have had an even greater guilt because they had been given the Law and the presence of God to guide them. The Ninevites had no such witness.

Jesus would indict the cities of Israel on this same basis because they would not repent even in view of Jesus' many miracles. But He says that if the cities destroyed in times past had seen His miracles, they would have repented. 

Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum,will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:20-24).

What was Jesus' point? No one is deserving. Salvation is all of God's grace. As Paul would also write, "No one is righteous. No, not even one!" (Romans 3:10).

Again, there was an occasion when some people told Jesus of some horrible deaths. Jesus, who knew their hearts, understood that these talebearers were bringing these stories to Him only to brag about how unrighteous those who died were compared to themselves. But Jesus corrects their thinking:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:1-5). 

His point? 'They are no more unrighteous than you. And you are no more righteous than they. Whether you or they, all must repent. What should surprise you is that you are still living, for it is certainly not because of your righteousness that you live. You are living and not suffering a similar fate only because of God's grace.' 

Friends, the Bible clearly says that every single person is under the power of sin:

"For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin" (Romans 3:9). 

And we understand that in some respects this is by God's design, for we read,

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all (Romans 11:32).

In other words God has made it so that people will not find salvation apart from His sovereign work of grace. People are born sinners and by nature and destined for condemnation (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:1-3). And it is clear that preaching alone will not save people, for Paul argues that even when the Gospel was preached to Israel, they did not all believe (Romans 10:16). In fact, most did not believe (Romans 10:21). Then Paul makes a profound statement: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17 NKJV).

Now, there are some variations in translations here, as each translation tries to interpret this somewhat puzzling statement. However, I think it best to read it plainly and directly rather than trying to expand upon this or that prepositional phrase or turn to variant manuscripts that suggest "of Christ" rather than "of God." A simple reading reveals that just as faith comes by hearing, hearing itself comes by God's decree ("i.e. "the word of God"). This is why Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear" (Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8). God enables hearing. God's Spirit enables understanding, for apart from the Spirit there is no understanding or acceptance of spiritual truth:

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Is this simply another argument for God's predestination and elective salvation? Yes and no. While it does strongly argue that God enables saving faith, which makes short work of any claims to "free will" in salvation, it also gives every believer a proper perspective on life. There is no cause for boasting. No one deserves God's salvation any more than anyone else. We are no more deserving of God's grace than any mass murderer. The fact that we will live forever while others will perish forever is simply because God chose us over them. Apart from that sovereign work of grace, all of us, whether we or they, deserve eternal condemnation.

This is what Jonah did not understand in his anger over God's grace toward the Ninevites. This is what the Jews of Jesus' day did not understand, when they thought that some were more deserving of judgment than others. This is what even the most zealous Jews did not understand, for Paul writes, 

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Romans 10:1-4).

These Jews did not understand that their own righteousness would not and could not save them.

Friends, since we have been chosen to believe and receive the righteousness of God, let us live daily in humility and obedience to the One in whom we owe absolute and unreserved devotion. For what is our life? Isn't it simply to live in ever-increasing devotion to Him? Isn't it to discover what to slough off as worldly vanities and what to embrace as eternally significant? There is never a place for grandstanding -- only the recognition that I am no better except for the grace of God. Thanks be to God!

Praise God for giving us brand new week to serve Him! It always makes me wonder about what is written in Jonah. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to warn against imminent God's judgment unless the citizens of the city would repent from whatever their wickedness was. First, God sent His prophet to Israel's enemy to preserve them from His wrath. Secondly, when Jonah proclaimed God's message to them, they actually listened to him, took the message to the core of their hearts, and repented! How could that be possible since Jonah was a foreigner and brought a message from a foreign god who was not familiar to them? Even God's own people wouldn't listen to His prophets! Jonah was not even a prominent man. He was NOBODY, esp. to the people of Nineveh. Only thing I could think of is God's sovereign will to prepare the people for His plan to bring judgment on Israel and her neighboring countries for their wickedness. My opinion may be wrong but I know for sure that God's sovereign plan governs over the affairs of this world, including mine. This brings me such a comfort through the storms that may come in my life.