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An observation of the book of Jonah

Imagine yourself when you were a child watching the old time Disney movie, “Pinocchio” and seeing the inside of the whale that Pinocchio was trapped in, after it swallowed him. Of course he was a wooden boy, but did the whale really swallow him or was that something completely fictitious? My point is, Pinocchio claims to be fiction by what the author places in the story. A living wooden boy, who also has a chance of turning into a real boy someday if he doesn’t blow it, and his wooden nose grows when he lies; everything about that story is fictional. Let’s take a look at something real. Although the author of the book of Jonah doesn’t explicitly tell the readers who the actual author really is, I believe that Jonah was the author for many reasons. One reason would be because of the way it ends. The book ends with a question directed towards Jonah from God and there is no reply from Jonah. I feel that once one sees the tone of the remote context, it can be observed that m

Gracious, Compassionate, and Abundant in Loving-kindness is our God: Jonah 4:2

Gracious , compassionate and abundant in loving-kindness . Here are three descriptive words that seem nearly synonymous in the nature of positive meaning when describing the character of God. The combination of the three is used in many other places in the Bible (see Exo. 34:6; Psalm 86:5, 15; 103:8; 145:8; Num. 14:18; Joel 2:13), and has been called an ancient liturgical formula because of t he fact (Lemke, 358). Although the positive nature of the words seems to focus on the goal of one certain thing, they definitely all have their own place.   Loving-kindness Loving-kindness, Hebrew: ‘ khesed ’, can be well understood by the translations that interpreters chose to use in its place. Such as, “In its preference for ‘mercy’ the KJV was obviously influenced by the Septuagint (lxx) which in 168 instances renders khesed as ‘mercy’ or ‘compassion’ (Gk. eleos)” (Gammie, 581). By this, one can understand why one would label God as having abundance in loving-kindness. For most

Analysis of the Narrative: Jonah

            The prologue in the book of Jonah begins with an introduction of the protagonist, who is Jonah himself, and continues to prepare the reader for the rest of the narrative with vital information. This can be found in verses 1:1-3.             T he plot is the order from God to Jonah to preach to the people of Nineveh, Jonah refuses, and eventually is presented with a problem. As the plot thickens, in the end of chapter one Jonah is swallowed by a great fish. This could possibly be the beginning of a sub-plot since the development of the main character changes in a dramatic way.             The characters are Jonah, God, the sailors and the people of Nineveh. Jonah in this story is the protagonist since he is introduced as the main character of the story that is presented with a problem. Jonah’s character is also one dimensional which leads one to believe that he is of flat character. The antagonist is the sum of what God adds to the development of Jonah’s char

An Outline on Divine Power

Divine Attribute Observed: Omnipotence                 “Divine power is optional in its exercise. God need not have created anything. And after creation, he may annihilate. Only when he has bound himself by promise, as in the instance of faith in Christ, does his action cease to be optional. It cannot be said that God may keep his promises as he pleases” (William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, chapter 5).                 Let’s take a look at this statement further. ·          Divine power is optional. o    The other day, I was at work doing my routine, and after thinking about the plans and the Word of the Lord, suddenly it hit me. God doesn’t need me to spread his Word, OR for any other reason. This was definitely a truth that hit hard. “What’s the point then?” I thought. Why are we alive? Why are we concerned with God’s will? Sometimes, I play the devil’s advocate with the voice of reason in my mind (I feel that observing ideas at all possible angles helps make one un

The Revelation of God

A. Origin of the Bible             In his article “The Doctrine of Revelation,” Rick Wade sums up the term “revelation” by saying, “revelation is knowledge we can have no other way than by being told” (Wade). With that being said, one who desires to understand where we got the Bible can see more clearly with knowing what the definition of “revelation” is when speaking of the revelation of God. In other words, in consideration of the citation above, the origin of the Bible comes to us from God who used a few selected men. The Bible says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training i n righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (NASB 2 Tim. 3:16-17).             Many questions come after we learn that the origin of the Bible comes from the revelation of God, and so we need to look at each of these issues, and address them with passages of scripture, as well as o

The Nature and Work of God

A. Existence of God             “Ultimately, this Most High God is mystery. Some aspects of the divine nature may not be revealed nor could they be comprehended by finite beings. Rather our understanding of God is based upon revelation given in a finite situation and in conditions that have meaning for us as finite beings. It is through God’s grace in self-revelation (especially through Jesus Christ and the Bible) that he can be known. Yet what God has revealed of himself is true to what he is and fully sufficient to know and to love him. We conclude that God, before any and all creation, existed as all-inclusive, self-sufficient and tri-personal as Holy Trinity” (Horrell). Although God is in fact mysterious, He allows us to see parts of Him that we can handle: “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (NASB Mat. 17:2). Take a look especially at Exodus 33: “Then the Lord said [to Moses], “There is a place

How Much Must We Know about Jesus?

How much must one know about Jesus Christ in order to be saved? In other words, what is the limit of knowledge that God requires in order to confer salvific grace? “For God so  loved the world, that He  gave His  only begotten Son, that whoever  believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (NASB John 3:16). The Agent In the book of John, chapter three, verse sixteen, one can find a passage of scripture that has been used for many years as a summary for what Christians today call the Bible. With an analysis of this verse, one can plainly see that there is a goal that should be sought out by everyone. “For God so loved the world” allows the readers to see who this message is directed towards, aside from Nicodemus. With that in mind, one can see that the word “whoever” can address every reader and every “believer” as well. One of the goals readers should seek from this verse is very simple: That we as humans should desire eternal life. The real q