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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1992)
* -. « % >| % « »ft e»|49l99'6'9^,t^4%^l'99r ' * 1 A V « t * * * ! ’X < * t '« 5 A -5 \ * % V* * t At < ' X A Page 6...The Portland Observer...June 10,1992 ¡Portland Observer Scripture o f the ‘Week RELIGION M a tth e w , C h a p te r Insight on the Word: Jonah, A Lot More Than a Fish Story! BY MICHAEL LINDSEY Dean o f North Portland Bible College reasonable to believe that Jonah be longs in thcBiblc, and that it is a his torically accurate book. Most importantly, Jesus him self refers to the book as anacc urate his torical record (Matt 12:39-41), both in the story ofthe great fish, and in the repentance o f N ineveh. 1 sim ply can ’tbelieve that the Lord would in tentionally mislead people, if heknew these stories were merely legends. He had too muchintegrity. All rig h t. All rig h t. So this really happened. W hy d id n ’tjo n a h ju st do w hat the L ord told him to do? Now that is anintcresting question. I’ve asked that question about m yself alot of times— haven’t you? God has made his way clearcnoughlhat anybody can follow it, if he wants to. But we have a lotofexcuses for disobey ing the Word o f the Lord (see verse 1 in thetext?) when it threatens our cherished ideas about “ the realw orld.” In Jonah’s case, the causes of his disobedience come outthrough the rest o f the story. Jonah didn’t want the city ofNineveh to turn to God (repent), and he wanted them to bedestroyed (Jon 4:2). He didn’t believe people should help theirenemies. He wanted Israel’s e n e m ie s to be d e s tro y e d . A nd hethought he could stop God from doing His will, by refusing to dohis part. Do you m ean lie had a problem w ith p rejudice? Precisely. Hebought into one o f the oldest and ugliest lies Satan overproduced: that some kinds o f p e o p le are in h e re n tly b e tte r story really h ap pened? People have been discounting the story o f Jonah for centuries.calling it a legend, or a sym bolic myth, or just a folktale. Ilis hard for people to believe that a man could be swallowed byany fish and live to tell about it. Besides that, some havenoted that there is absolutely no record that the great city ofNineveh ever repented o f its w ick ed n ess. It w ent on to becom ethe violent enemy of Jerusalem (in Isaiah and 2 Kings), and weknow that Assyria and its capital Nineveh worshipped idolsthroughout their later Empire days. But I do belie ve this story is histori cal fact, though quiteamazing in its content. S urely if anyone is a Christian, andtherefore believes that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead(Rom 10:9- 10), she or he ought to be able to accept that God could have prepared a big enough fish to swallow a man. L et’snot be guilty o f limiting the power o f the Almighty. On the other hand, as we read Jonah through, it reads like asimple history. There are no symbolic connec tions given, as inthe Revelation. There are no allusions to earlier works of Scripture, which would uncover a hid den message in the story. There is a real historical prophet in the starring role o f thedrama, but not some major figure (like Abraham, Moses, or Elijah)that people might w ant to counterfeit. A lot of people laterwrote fantastic “prophe cies” in the names of these and other OldTestam ent heroes. But none looked like the history o f Jonah. All in all, it is The B ible text fo r our Sunday School classes this Sunday will beJonah 1 .1-9, 15-17. A gain w e’re using a little bit ofinteractive m ake-believe, with ques tions about our text and itsmessage fr o m the best known o f the "M inor P rophets." So th is w eek w e’re studying the sto ry o f J o n a h a n d thew hale, rig h t? N ot quite. T here w asn’t any whale; the B iblecalls it a “great fish” (verse 17), and even the ancients knew that whales (and dolphins) aren’t fish.Besides that, the fish only plays a small role in the dram ao f Jonah. The real action in the first chapter centers onJonah’s desparate attem pt to run away from his God. So w ho w as J o n a h , any w ay? And w hy is this fish sto ry in thebooks of the p ro p h e ts? Jonah actually was a prophet; one o f hisprophecies and its fulfillm ent are recorded in 2 Kings 14:25. T hat scripture places Jonah be fore the time of King Jeroboam Hof Israel, and thus before Hosea and Amos. Therefore, this bookmay be one o f the earliest books of the writing prophets.If you read the book o f Jonah through— try it, it’s onlyfour little chapters— y o u ’ll se e th a t Jo n a h h a d a propheticm essage from Yahweh (the Lord) his God, for the city o f Nineveh. And it really isn’t unusual to find narra tive stones in otherbooks of the proph ets, such as Jerem iah, Ezekiel, Isaiah andH osea. In this case, the story makes up 3/4 o f the book, butthat’s okay. Do you really believe the whole thanothers— sm arter, or more honest, or more worthy of God ’ sspiritual bless ing. W hat exactly did Jo n a h do? He ran the other way! Literally! Instead of going to N ineveh, north and east oflsrael, he went west to Joppa, and got on a ship headed as farwest as he could go, to Tarshish. This was probably present-day Spain. He was on a boat with men from various ethnic g roups, eachwith his own gods. We find out about those gods because the shipgot intoa violent storm, and they all started praying to theirown gods for rescue (verse 5). They hoped one god or anotherwould hear them and save them, but none of their gods paidattention. How could they? Idols a r e n ’t really able to save, a re they? No, but these people, like many people today, are will ing to tryanything.cven strange new religions, to help them out of life’serisis situations. The idols have changed, but people surclyhaven’t! Jonah knew better than to call on his God, Yahweh. He knewthat Yahweh was the One True G od, “the G od of heaven, who madethe sea and the dry land” (verse 9). Under pressure Jonah explained his predicam ent to the sail ors, and told them to throwhim over board. Jonah knew that the Lord had caught up with him (so tospeak), and expected to lose his life. To his credit, he wantedto save the lives of the crew, and thought the Lord might sparethem if they threw him into the sea (verse 12). And he m ighthavc even helped save them spiritually as well. How could a disobedient se rv a n t of the L ord have anypositive in flu ence on the people aro u n d him ? That’s just the w ayG od’s grace works! Jonah didn’ t deserve to start a re vi val onboard that ship, with all those people of vari ous tribes andtongucs. But that’s what happened. The sailors did learn tofear the Lord “exceedingly” (verse 16), and they made vows andsacrifices to him. They saw the awesome power, and judgm ent, andmcrcy o f Jonah’s God, and they accepted Him. The Lord always has a way of bringing glory to His Name. W ew on’t know till eternity whether any of these men really gave uplheir false gods and clung to Yahweh alone. But I suspect som eof them will be in heaven with us “A Gathering of Friends & Family away. Seriously, please! Okay. The fish w asn’t a sign of G od’sjudgment— that was in the raging storm. The Lord prepared thegreat fish to rescue Jonah, and bring him safely back to land. That was the L ord’s mercy and forgiveness at work. Read theprayer song of Jonah in chapter 2, and y o u ’ll discover howthankful Jonah was to see the big fish coming. No matter what mistakes we make, or what sins w e’re guiltyof, the Lord can still bring good out of it, and he can stillmake something beautif ul from our lives. ;’ V *.• ' ’ . *i- ’* ’< . ' V ’ -<:V J* ' ?•??: * *••••- Jfprth Tort iati d ‘flibie College presents the annual Calibration o f Ac i i w emen t D u r in g the m o n th o f J u n e we w ill be ha vin g s p e c ia l sevices f o r o u r fa m ilie s a n d frie n d s . I t is o u r hope th a t y o u can be a p a r t o f this c e le b ra tio n . ‘J riday ‘E vening, June 12,1992, at 7p.m. FEATURING • • • • fuvted by 7 Life Changing Interviews. Drama Good Music Refreshments • / . *. ?•• - *» ? » . . . r £?<• r<iS-*: ‘ * •- > V. v;> '‘R jjoice in J o u r TfcritagC 6-7-92 “Real Christianity Is...” 6-14-92 “Money Equals Success?” 6-21-92 “Men & Women in the 1990s.” 6-28-92 “ Whats going on with our cities?” ('ahvsian., 1:12 Speaker: ‘J \fv. Aaron Jfatnfin ‘E xecutive Director, Pastor, Piedmont ‘J riends Church ff'J'BC founders (jroup P astor M a rk Strong Sundays at 11:00 am Immanuel Free Methodist Church 311 N Ivy. (One block south fo Fremont, make a righ on Ivy.) S' Certificates w d i be awarded, indent., u iil be recyn iced far cam fletiim a f sequences, refreshments and an nppartunity ta catujratulate the student., North Portland Bible College Temporarily located at Berean Baptist Church P.O.Box 11437 - 2SS 2<J|9 7 riuuuuuuuuuuinn/in/ Jesus Loves You! •. »' 1 Allen T e m p k CM E CL urch umnnnnnnnnnnnnnnni 4236 NE Eighth Avenue (corner of 8th £ Skidmore) Portland, Oregon 97211 (503) 287-0261 ///ip 5. Nelson Pastor ÿ a p i t s i (E lju r c lj M t O livet 8101 N. Fiske Avenue Portland, Oregon 97203 BAPTIST CHURCH ^ ‘•'bii ¿•‘/ • ». y V t » -? 5 '•1-0. >SUí >,» ; • • L». -T.-i'r < ¿ -•3 I &<•*$£ \» Ri k ? A? Worship Services 8:(X) a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Church School 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Bible Study, Wednesdays, 116 N.E. Schuyler 10:30 a.m. and 7:(X) p.m. Radio Ministry each Sunday, 8:(X) a.m. on KBMS A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry Dr. James E. Martin, Senior Pastor I P eter lv .1 1 .’- a“ C f > , , . .. • 4. , e. « • 4 A.”.-’- << 7* . » . a - • < • \ -• e 9:45am 11:00am 7:30pm « . : M ollerv Avenue Christion Church s o f C h r s t "Come to me all you who ore w eary and heavy laden and I will give you rest" Them e: W hatever you're going to do fo r th e Lord, do it now * » t • *- A • Office: (503)288-0033 Fax#; (503)288-0015 /l/to tth e iv / h J W Pavor. Rev Jam rt CE. Faulkner Church Office 116 N.E. Schuyler St. (503) 284-1954 PORTLAND OBSERVER ’ The Eyes and Ears of the Community’ G o d 's Presence prom ises Power through Jesus Christ In G o o d Times and Bad Times Sunday Service 10:45 Sunday School 9:30 Bible Study 6:00 Evening Service 7 :0 0 P.M. Stone Tower Church, N.E. Sandy Blvd. & 30th fit 7 - ^ 5 ^ -'¡M i • 2 V«*. . 2. u u u u rt innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Study P hone: 2 8 9 -1 9 1 1 Church Pho.»«: 2 8 9 -0 1 4 7 Has moved Sunday services to ■ ÏV T edaris H arris earned sev eral awards this past year at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School. He and his family are fairly new to the com m u nity. Being new has not hindered his ability to excell in his achievements. Congratulations Tedaris! For Best Results Advertise in the Observer Psalm 34:3 t& e Congratulations! ellotvship Church o f (jod 5131 cffL . 23rd Ave. ‘Theme: . v /l * j* i * Missionary Rosemay Daniel Missionary Rosemary Daniel of Portland has been the FGPA National W omen Supervisor for the past three years. During the week of June 21-28 the Full Gospel Pentecostal A ssocia tion will host its 23rd Convention. The W om en’s theme this year is “Christian W omen Can Make A D iffer ence”, Ephesians 5:1. Missionary Daniel expects women from each FGPA Church and around the Country to speak on the theme as well as to focus on the women pastors Pastor Joan Ross and Pastor Lovely of Los Angeles California, Pastor Annie Bacher and Pastor Lisa Bowman G or don o f Seattle W ashington, Pastor T Gay of Denver Colorado. Evangelist Mattie Wells has worked closely with M issionary Daniel, they have planned an inspiring W om ens’ day program in which you will not want to miss. Missionary Daniel will share the FGPA womens Directory which has been dedicated to M other Bennie Jack- son from Seattle W ashington The Public is invited to attend. Chaplam James Coleman, D ost ‘P astor ALSO INTERESTING TOPICS <?.’ «5 F.G.P.A. National Women Supervisor Sets Goals For Womens’ Convention one day. So w h a t’s the point ab o u t the big fish? I suppose he couldtell the other fish back home about the man who got y jrv w u tn rv w u in n n 9? 7 ,J S u n d a y S chool M o rn in g W o rs h ip T u e sd a y B ib le S tu d y a n d P rayer In te r-ra cia l C o n g re g a tio n D e n is e Ff Bell, P a s to r 1 2 6 N.C. R ib e rta t P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 1 1 t ( 5 0 5 ) 2 8 8 - 5 1 7 3
