Category: Bible (Page 409 of 420)

Pieter Lastman 1583-1633

The story of Jonah gives me hope. Not so much from the repentance of the Ninevites, which was wonderful, but rather based on the patience and compassion the Lord showed to the prophet Jonah.

Jonah was prideful, reluctant, hateful, argumentative and eager to enjoy the destruction of the people of Nineveh. Low on the compassion scale. I think Jonah wanted to see the Ninevites die like dogs and when it didn’t happen he was pissed. Jonah represents many of the rigid religious people in our world. Bad people deserve to be punished and God is wrong for relenting and giving them time to turn to him.

Jonah gives me hope because I am often one of those hyper-religious people in my outlook on the world. I sometimes wish to live in a theocracy where clear lines demarcate right and wrong and people outside those lines face punishment.

But God doesn’t seem as interested in lines as I am. At least not the same lines. The Lord seems much more interested in people and in drawing them to himself. God’s patience with the Ninevites is beautiful. Beyond that, God’s patience with Jonah is astounding. That’s what gives me hope today, because I am often more like Jonah than I like to admit.

Church in Athens, Greece

Sunday, May 27, honored the feast of Pentecost. You may remember the event as described in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit arrived like the rush of a mighty wind and fulfilled Jesus’s promise of the coming Holy Spirit. Dawn and I spent that morning with our neighbors at their church, the St. Luke Antiochian Orthodox Church in Erie, Colorado. This was our first experience attending an Orthodox gathering and we both enjoyed the worship and the many friendly and kind parishioners.

I especially enjoyed the emphasis on the Holy Spirit during the Pentecost service. Here is the prayer we sang that morning, a reminder of the One who dwells within all believers:

“O Heavenly King and Comforter, Spirit of truth, who art in all places and fillest all things, the treasure of blessings and giver of life, come and dwell in us. Cleanse us from all impurity, and save, O Blessed One, our souls.”

Statue of Pharaoh in the British Museum, London

The wedding season will soon be upon us and with it the giving of linens and cookware. This week during my devotional times I read about a rather shocking wedding gift.

Way back in the day, when Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter, they received a unique present from the father of the bride. Check it out:

Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife (1 Kings 9:16 & 17).

We hear of lavish weddings and unbelievable gifts, but nothing along these lines. While not overly romantic, a burned out city filled with dead people, Pharaoh apparently thought it appropriate.

Often Bible truth is stranger than fiction. Quite a father-in-law for Solomon – perhaps sending him a message to remember the might of Egypt, or to remember to treat his daughter well?