Things God Prepared in the Book of Jonah: A Worm and a Wind
May 24, 2019 at 10:34 am | Posted in Biblical Preparation, Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: Biblical wind, Biblical worms, Book of Jonah, death, Jonah 4, serving God, worms
In the Book of Jonah:
1. God prepared a great fish.
2. God prepared a gourd.
and
3. God prepared a worm.
Jonah was glad for the gourd that God prepared to provide shade, but he did not take advantage of the opportunity to repent. Therefore, the next morning God prepared a worm to take away Jonah’s shelter.
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
Jonah 4:7
Compared to the great fish which God had prepared to swallow Jonah, a little gourd-blighting worm seems like such a small consequence, but Jonah needed to be reminded just how inconsequential even God’s “greatest” servants are once they forget how great their God is and how truly dependent upon Him they really are. The Bible calls Job, David, and the patriarch Jacob and the nation descended from him worms. I have found, when preparing to preach the Gospel in public that Jonah 4:7 (“…God prepared a worm…”) is good verse upon which to meditate, as a reminder that what I’m about to attempt – proclaiming the glory of the Savior – is something at which I will fail miserably unless God manifests His own power through – or even in spite of – me.
4. God prepared a wind.
And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
Jonah 4:8
Finding himself without shade on a scorching day, we might expect that a stiff breeze would bring Jonah at least a little relief, but it was not so with this special prepared vehement wind blowing in with the heat from the rising sun, and taking away all of Jonah’s strength to the point that he wished to die. Under extreme duress, God’s servants sometimes need a realistic experience of the fear of literal death to remind them of the necessity of dying to self spiritually in order live in the power of God. We tend to think of death as an ending, but God sometimes uses the death of self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency to prepare us for a new beginning on the road to spiritual victory.
Things God Prepared in the Book of Jonah: A Fish and a Gourd
May 7, 2019 at 5:07 pm | Posted in Biblical Preparation, Uncategorized | 1 CommentTags: Book of Jonah, depression, Jonah, Jonah 1, Jonah 4, Jonah and the whale, sanctification, storms
1. God prepared a great fish.
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 1:17
After experiencing a terrifying storm and being thrown overboard, it must have seemed to Jonah like things were going from bad to worse. We don’t know if he was bobbing quietly on the surface of the newly-calm sea, watching his former ship leave him in its wake, or if he was thrashing violently in the classic non-swimmer’s panic, or if he was simply plummeting like a stone toward both the figurative and literal depths of his despair, but it can hardly have been a comforting feeling to see a huge fish rushing toward him, mouth agape, to consume him whole! Yet the vehicle of his doom also turned out to be the means of his salvation. This fish had been prepared by God to trap Jonah, but also to preserve him; to teach him a lesson, but also transport him to safety. When the Lord sends something distressing, destructive, or downright devouring into your life, don’t lose hope. If you belong to Christ, then the storms that appear to pose the worst danger have often been prepared by God to strengthen your faith, teach you some important truth, and make you more like Jesus. At times like these, turn to prayer, repentance, patience, temperance, and even praise to demonstrate your trust in the One Who can cause you to be swallowed up and then spit out on the side of victory, even when all seems lost.
2. God prepared a gourd.
And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
Jonah 4:6
Jonah was not happy. In fact, he was both sullen and angry that the Lord would show mercy to a group of people that Jonah despised. He sat down in something of a pout to watch what God would do to the city where his own preaching had resulted in repentance. The plant which quickly grew to provide much-needed shade for Jonah’s head had been prepared by God. It is in God’s nature to sometimes comfort those who are grieving, even when their grief is very misguided and founded on the wrong basis. When God, despite His prerogative to send chastening rather than blessing in response to our sin, decides to bless us anyway, we must seize upon that opportunity to repent. The option to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord is a much more favorable option than having Him be the one to humble us.
Next time we will look at two more things God prepared in the Book of Jonah.
Unveiled Glory and Unguarded Giving
May 18, 2016 at 2:29 pm | Posted in Biblical Preparation, Exodus, II Corinthians | 9 CommentsTags: 2 Corinthians 3, commentary on Exodus, Exodus 34, Exodus 35, Law and Gospel, Moses, Old Testament Law, Sunday School lessons on Exodus, the Tabernacle
God’s people in Canaan would not just be different for the sake of being different. Having different laws, different clothes, different habits and customs, different worship, and being monotheistic, they would stand out as being a people who worshiped an unseen God rather than visible idols. They would also be a people with a God Whose reputation was mighty.
And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
Exodus 34:10
The Lord reinstituted the covenant they had broken. His people would have the comfort and joy and privilege of seeing Him do things that were unlike anything that had been seen before, but the pagans would see, too, and it would be evidence that the God worshiped by the Israelites was the real God. It would also be evidence to show that those who worshiped Him would be blessed.
I previously discussed Moses’s glowing face, and the veil which he wore to shield it from the people so they could come near him.
And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.
Exodus 34:33
The other reason for this veil was that it would serve for an illustration in the New Testament.
But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
II Corinthians 3:7
“The ministration of death” means that death comes upon all who sin, and the Law was given to show us our sin. It was written and engraved on stones, and it was glorious. It revealed the nature of God, but the Law’s glory had a built-in expiration date. It faded away, just as eventually the light of Moses’s countenance began to fade after his encounters with God.
How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
II Corinthians 3:8
The stone-engraved law was glorious, but the ministry of the Holy Spirit Himself is greater.
For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
II Corinthians 3:9
The Law showed the problem, but it didn’t offer a solution. It condemned for lack of righteousness, but it could not reproduce its own righteousness in fallen human beings.
For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
II Corinthians 3:10
So great is the glory of Christ-imputed righteousness that it makes the brilliant glory of the Law seem dim.
For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
II Corinthians 3:11
This glory was always there, but it is now more fully given.
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
II Corinthians 3:12
A veil over a person’s face obscures his words when he speaks.
And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
II Corinthians 3:13
The people could see their need for righteousness, but the Savior Who would abolish the Law through its fulfillment was shadowy – not yet fully visible.
But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
II Corinthians 3:14
Most of the Jewish people in the Apostle Paul’s day still wanted the veil of Moses in place. If the better-than-Moses wouldn’t wear a veil, they wanted it over their own eyes instead of His face.
But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
II Corinthians 3:15-16
Jesus will – and He must if we are to see truth – come rip away the veil for those who admit their sin and their need for the Savior and call upon Him.
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
II Corinthians 3:17-18
The change from Law to Gospel was glorious. It was a change from lesser to greater glory, but there are higher gradations (“from glory to glory”) yet to come in your sanctification, if you are in Christ Jesus.
In Exodus 35 there is a repetition of the commandments and instructions concerning construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings that had been stated before, and the account of their fulfillment.
And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,
Exodus 35:4-5
And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.
Exodus 35:20-22
The people had given their possessions willingly to be used in their idolatry, but now they gave even more willingly in true worship. Their preparation for worship was in itself an act of worship. Think of what you spend willingly on, and think about what it would be like to spend just as joyfully on the work of the Lord. Let’s pray that we don’t have to drink our defiled possessions and suffer a plague or some severe chastening before we recognize the peace of joyful giving.
The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses. And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
Exodus 35:29-31
The Prepared Place
September 9, 2014 at 1:06 pm | Posted in Biblical Preparation, Do You Know the Way?, John | 21 CommentsTags: assurance, Biblical assurance, exclusive communities, Heaven, Jesus Christ, John 13, John 14, mansions, The Way, troubled hearts
At the end of John Chapter 13 three very disturbing things have happened. One, Jesus told His Disciples that one of them would betray Him. Two, He told them that He would be leaving them to go to a place where they could not go. Three, He said that even Peter would deny Him.
This was upsetting, to say the least, and it was the backdrop against which He told them what we see in Chapter 14:
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
John 14:1-3
Jesus let them know that He knew their hearts were troubled, but He gave them the assurance that He gives all throughout the Book of John. “If you believe in God (and I know you do), then it is safe to believe in Me, too, for I and the Father are one: I am God.”
Then He told them something about Heaven: Heaven is a real place. We know this is true because Jesus spoke of it as a real place. It is not a state of mind. It is not the accomplishment of inner peace. It is not a psychological bromide for those who can’t face the reality of death or the loss of their loved ones. It is “the Father’s house,” meaning it is the eternal home of Jesus, and it is Jesus – not streets of gold or the absence of pain and sickness or the reunion of loved ones or even mansions of glory – Who is its main attraction. That’s right, Heaven’s main attraction will be Jesus. If you do not love Jesus, you would not love Heaven.
Jesus spoke solemnly and reassuringly (“if it were not so, I would have told you”) when He told the Disciples that He was going there to prepare a place, and that they would eventually – not immediately – be brought there by Him (“I will come again to receive You unto Myself”) – to be with Him (“that where I am there you may be also”).
The word translated “mansions” has more of a connotation of permanence than opulence. It is from the Greek word mone: an abode, a permanent dwelling place, not a temporary stopover. Again, Heaven is the place where true Christians will be with Jesus, not a place where “lesser” saints will envy “great” saints who have better “stuff” than us. In other words, there will be no “exclusive” communities in Heaven. However, because it is a place that Jesus is “preparing” (and has been for over 2000 years), it will surely be far more magnificent than what we can imagine. The God Who spoke the unfathomable universe into existence in six short days has been preparing our eternal home for 2000 years! I don’t know if you’re ready “to go,” but surely we are all excited about seeing it
This was Jesus’s first assurance to soothe the troubled hearts of His Disciples. We don’t know everything (or even very much) about Heaven, but we do know “the Way.” Jesus Christ is the only Way to Heaven.
Next time, we will see that the way to the prepared place is the particular path.
How God Prepares Leaders
July 22, 2013 at 1:45 pm | Posted in Biblical Preparation, Exodus, Hebrews | 12 CommentsTags: commentary on Exodus, Exodus 2, Exodus 3, faith, Hebrews 11, Moses, soul-searching, Sunday School lessons on Exodus, unforsaken
The Old Testament of the Bible contains true historical accounts, and it is accurate, but it also contains numerous types and shadows of what God would do in Christ to save His people. Joseph is one example. He was used to rescue God’s people from famine, and they wound up in Egypt in the Land of Goshen. Joseph became second in command in Egypt, answering only to Pharaoh. But eventually Joseph died, and that particular pharaoh died. Other pharaohs came along that didn’t remember Joseph, and God’s people wound up as slaves. God, through Moses, subsequently delivered them out of bondage, parting the Red Sea and giving them His law. We may discern from this true historical account the following types and foreshadowing:
Deliverance from Egypt = salvation
Red Sea = baptism
Leviticus and Deuteronomy = sanctification
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
Exodus 2:23-25 (emphasis added)
They were sighing, crying, and groaning – maybe in their prayers to God – maybe just because of the oppression they were experiencing.
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
Exodus 3:7-9
God hears the cries of the oppressed. He delivers the oppressed and He deals with the oppressors. When we feel oppressed we have a tendency to think of ourselves, but we need to remember that God is orchestrating circumstances. He has not left us nor forsaken us.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Hebrews 11:23-24
Moses chose to side with the slaves rather than the oppressors.
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
Hebrews 11:25-26
Moses did not have all the information about Christ that New Testament Christians have had since the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but he did look forward by faith to the promise of a coming Redeemer, and he had a much different value system than the Egyptians among whom he lived.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Hebrews 11:27
He feared Pharaoh, but he feared God more, and he endured in the desert by faith. Real faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and does the impossible.
Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
Hebrews 11:28-29
God uses times of separation – times of loneliness and soul-searching – to prepare leaders. He is not looking for the mightiest of the worldly. He is looking for outcasts who have gotten to know God. We can be thankful that God does not require us to be strong first before He uses us. He prepares us for victory in times of distress.
God’s Plan for Hurricane Preparedness
March 26, 2012 at 1:37 pm | Posted in Biblical Preparation, Selected Psalms | 8 CommentsTags: bad weather, God's omnipotence, God's sovereignty, Hurricane Isaac, hurricane season, hurricanes, Psalm 1, South Louisiana, weather
When we make it through what is known as “hurricane season” each year in South Louisiana without any big storms threatening us, we feel blessed. However, those of us who are faithful Christians know that, even when the Gulf of Mexico is exceedingly calm, we are never far from a “storm” of circumstances in our lives. Are there any family or relationship problems currently brewing on your spiritual radar screen?
Are ominous waves and high tides starting to boil up near the shores of your finances? Is there a stiff breeze of mental or physical illness beginning to blow as you face the future?
Take heart! God is in control of the climate and the weather, both in the outside environment, and on the inside of your life. If we will delight in His law, and make it the focus of our regular meditations (Psalm 1:2), we will not be like those who are constantly shivering and terrified as they huddle around their generators, extra batteries, bottled water, and hurricane tracking charts every year between July and November. Those who place their trust in anything other than God have reason to fear.
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Psalm 1:4
But those of us who are like trees watered by God’s Word, with roots going down deep into the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, and who have been firmly planted in a group of caring believers in a local church assembly, shall stand and prosper, even when the storms come.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 1:3
Prepare to Meet Your Maker
March 22, 2011 at 8:45 am | Posted in Amos, Biblical Preparation, Common Expressions, Uncategorized | 15 CommentsTags: Amos 4, Amos 5, church attendance, commentary on Amos, fake revival, hypocrisy, meeting God, meeting your maker, revival, Sunday School lessons on Amos
What a revival! Tithes were up and people were coming to church every day! Public worship was encouraged and popular! Praise songs were topping the charts! There was only one problem… The revival was not genuine. People were play-acting and faking it. God was not pleased. The prophet Amos used a little holy irony to drive home the point.
Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Amos 4:4-5
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Amos 5:21-23
Wouldn’t you think that a bunch of people who were singing praises to God, attending church all the time, and giving their money, would be ready to meet God? Amos’s prophecy was a message to these people: “You’re acting like you’re ready to meet God? Well, guess what…You are about to!”
Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Amos 4:12
I wonder if, upon the pronouncement of this prophecy, you could have heard a pin drop?
Are we that different from the people of Amos’s day? Have you ever attended church as a listener, instead of a learner – hoping to be entertained instead of taught? Have you ever given yourself a “Sunday off,” since you had made it to church on the previous three Sundays? Have you ever stayed up until 3:00 a.m. to watch a movie, only to find yourself dozing off during the Sunday sermon? Have you ever spent scores of dollars to attend a religious rock concert, right after saying “I’ll think about it” when someone invited you to a free Bible study? Meeting God is a wonderful prospect for those who are truly prepared. But it is a terrifying prospect for those who only appear to be prepared.
The Deep End 
Preparation for Worship
May 3, 2024 at 10:43 am | Posted in Biblical Preparation, I Chronicles | 1 CommentTags: 1 Chronicles 15, Ark of the Covenant, Biblical worship, bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, commentary on 1 Chronicles, corporate worship, King David, Sunday School lessons on 1 Chronicles, worship
I Chronicles 15:25-26
There are really two key themes in I Chronicles Chapters 15 and16: preparing to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, and actually bringing it. Chapter 15 itself is divided into two parts. The first part of the chapter deals with preparing the people and the place for the Ark.
I Chronicles 15:3 (emphasis added)
The second part of Chapter 15 covers the joyful celebration and worship that was to accompany the Ark.
I Chronicles 15:11-13 (emphasis added)
The idea of God making a “breach upon” them was part of the motif involving God “breaking out,” just as He had done against Israel’s enemies. This reminds us of the importance of enquiring of the Lord (in prayer and Bible study), and of preparing ourselves for worship. While it is true that our whole lives ought to be an act of worship to God, we must be avoid the false presumption that we don’t need to make special preparations for corporate worship. We are much more likely to attend, to participate in, and to get more out of something for which we have been preparing.
I Chronicles 15:16
With the confidence that they were doing it the right way there was no need to timidly parse each step and tread quietly to Jerusalem. When we have enquired of the Lord, and when we have prepared to worship, we may worship with boldness and joy.
I Chronicles 15:25-26
David here is a type of Moses, and the Ark is a type of Christ. The Ark coming to Jerusalem is a picture of Christ coming to His people. These sacrifices were occasions for repentance, just as John the Baptist preached repentance in preparation for the coming of Christ.