One of the lead stories on Fox News yesterday has bad been that of a snorkeler in the waters off of South Africa who was scooped up in the mouth of a 'Bryde's' whale....whatever that is....but was spit out within seconds. Roughly 2800 years ago or so God prepared a great fish of some kind who scooped Jonah out of the waves similar to what this whale did. The great fish....three days later....spit Jonah out....who was then convinced that maybe he should go to the Ninevites and give them the forty-day warning that God told him to give. Some sailors on the ship may have been in Nineveh at the time....telling the story of the storm that stopped when they reluctantly tossed the man into the waves....when the same man walks into Nineveh....bleached out....gives that warning....and everyone believes it and repents. It's kind of like what happened to America during our Civil War....as many on both sides of the carnage came to faith in Christ through faithful preaching. Well....a century and a half or so passed after the Ninevites repented when God had to send another prophet....Nahum....(rhymes with Graham)....only this time there was no forty day warning....but more of a 'get ready for judgment'...and so we today....roughly a century and a half after our Civil War revivals....are right back in the same spot that we were in in 1861. And just like Nineveh....God sends another man to warn the people....Billy Graham....(Rhymes with Nahum)
We do not seem to realize that the entire paradigm of life is changing in America and in the world. The old paradigm of...as John Locke put it...."love(ing) truth for truth's sake"....and individual countries and semi-independent economies is fading away. Technology....particularly the computer...and most precariously artificial intelligence has already set a new course. Look for a moment at the various surveys of young people in America. The responses are the result of our progressive educational system that does little beyond supplying worker ants in a dissolute culture. This is what the future holds....but we Christians seem fine with it....for we can't see beyond our own 401k and personal plans for that future. How much time have we on average spent in the Old Testament prophets? Probably very little....for what possible help could we get there? The following post is from August of 2016
Consider Micah
Would you be interested in partaking in a little biblical meditative exercise? Before I explain it let me give you a preface: I've written a number of posts over the years on two small books of the Old Testament....Jonah and Nahum...and always in this context....Jonah was told by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and give them a warning that would extend for 40 days....repent or be judged. Nineveh repented....and Jonah wasn't particularly happy about it. Possibly 150 years later another prophet addressed Nineveh....Nahum. God gave him no warning to give....only a declaration of impending judgment. My point is that this whole process of warnings and then prophesied judgment took well over a century as God was very patient. We need to understand this as it relates to the warnings God has been giving to America for a long time! This is not a sign of His failure or inability to keep His promises, it's a sign of His patience!
The exercise, should you want to do it, is to read the book that is between Jonah and Nahum....the book written by the prophet Micah. Now these words from Micah, once again words of judgment...but also of hope, were to specific people, the people of Judah and Israel, but these books are to us also, certainly at least as examples for us to consider what happens when a nation blessed by God then rejects Him. The book is small but take an evening reading it and contemplating each verse, and possibly referencing different translations and a Study Bible to help with the changing context. Put America in there.... as if....as if....it were written also to us, just to see if our history of blessings and then rejection of our Benefactor is not strikingly similar. And if our rebelliousness is similar, would not the judgment be similar also, and would not the patience extended before judgment be similar...a patience that we may have used up!
I'm confident that as you read through Micah you will see many instances where we followed the same path as rebellious Judah. You may even be astonished at times.
We do not seem to realize that the entire paradigm of life is changing in America and in the world. The old paradigm of...as John Locke put it...."love(ing) truth for truth's sake"....and individual countries and semi-independent economies is fading away. Technology....particularly the computer...and most precariously artificial intelligence has already set a new course. Look for a moment at the various surveys of young people in America. The responses are the result of our progressive educational system that does little beyond supplying worker ants in a dissolute culture. This is what the future holds....but we Christians seem fine with it....for we can't see beyond our own 401k and personal plans for that future. How much time have we on average spent in the Old Testament prophets? Probably very little....for what possible help could we get there? The following post is from August of 2016
Consider Micah
Would you be interested in partaking in a little biblical meditative exercise? Before I explain it let me give you a preface: I've written a number of posts over the years on two small books of the Old Testament....Jonah and Nahum...and always in this context....Jonah was told by God to go to the great city of Nineveh and give them a warning that would extend for 40 days....repent or be judged. Nineveh repented....and Jonah wasn't particularly happy about it. Possibly 150 years later another prophet addressed Nineveh....Nahum. God gave him no warning to give....only a declaration of impending judgment. My point is that this whole process of warnings and then prophesied judgment took well over a century as God was very patient. We need to understand this as it relates to the warnings God has been giving to America for a long time! This is not a sign of His failure or inability to keep His promises, it's a sign of His patience!
The exercise, should you want to do it, is to read the book that is between Jonah and Nahum....the book written by the prophet Micah. Now these words from Micah, once again words of judgment...but also of hope, were to specific people, the people of Judah and Israel, but these books are to us also, certainly at least as examples for us to consider what happens when a nation blessed by God then rejects Him. The book is small but take an evening reading it and contemplating each verse, and possibly referencing different translations and a Study Bible to help with the changing context. Put America in there.... as if....as if....it were written also to us, just to see if our history of blessings and then rejection of our Benefactor is not strikingly similar. And if our rebelliousness is similar, would not the judgment be similar also, and would not the patience extended before judgment be similar...a patience that we may have used up!
I'm confident that as you read through Micah you will see many instances where we followed the same path as rebellious Judah. You may even be astonished at times.
