Today we're back to full time, publishing three articles per week. After having performed fresh research and study we're sure that Think-Biblically.com will continue to be the kind of site you want to keep reading. More Bible, more modern application and thought, and more insight into the character of the God we serve. All designed to help you build relational connections to the Creator and to, as Johannes Kepler once encouraged us, to "think God's thoughts after him." Toward that end, we'll be taking a more planned approach with our publishing schedule, at least for the next few months
I've previously mentioned that I've taken an online course through the Israel Institute for Biblical Studies. That course was The Jewish Background of the New Testament and, I have to say, it was great. The caliber of the instructors was first rate, the material was unlike anything I've been taught from other Christian colleges and seminaries, and it was all live so students could ask questions of the instructor or each other. My only complaint with the course is the instructors used the camera built into their laptops and the very average lighting in their home or office.
Confidence in God and the salvation he offers to us has been a source of hope and conviction for believers since the earliest of times. At the beginning of Israel's monarchy King David longed to hear the words from God's own lips asking, "Assure me with these words: “I am your deliverer!” (Psalm 35.3) Toward the end of the monarchy, at the end of Jonah chapter two, the prophet proclaims, "Salvation belongs to the Lord!" What is most amazing about these statements is how many people misunderstand them. Most modern believer's think these are statements regarding eternal life, but they aren't.
My high school chemistry teacher was a good man. Patient during class and willing to work with those that needed help after. He openly confessed his belief in Jesus. As I said, a good man, but one who didn't think long enough, or hard enough about his theology. He was more than a chemistry teacher to me, however, as I also served as his student assistant. I would prep the classroom for next day, making sure everything the students would need. It was on one occasion when I was diluting a mixture of hydrochloric acid that we had an opportunity to talk about our mutual faith in Jesus.
There is a final lesson from the book of Jonah, one that is important for every believer. God never asks us to do anything that he is not prepared to do himself. He never asks us to be irresponsible, or to have bad judgment, or to perform any sinful act. What God asks of us is repentance. In our case, repentance involves sorrow over our offense to God and to turn away from acts of sin and walk according to God's plan. So what does it mean in Jonah 3.10 when it states that God "relented", or as some translations put it, "repented"?.
While we at Think-Biblically.com generally steer away from politics and sports as topics for articles, there are occasions when something is just too good to not comment on. What erupted in yesterdays news cycle (no pun intended, reader's in Hawaii) deserves a brief recap. During the last football season a player by the name of Colin Kaepernick started to kneel during the national anthem that is played before every game. He did this in order to bring awareness to social injustice particularly regarding police and low income black communities. President Trump has stated (repeatedly) that such behavior disrespects the nation and its flag.
The principle is as true of mystery novels as it is to the study of Scripture, that while reading it is important to look for what doesn't fit. In a murder mystery, it might be catching a character in a lie or witnessing someone where they shouldn't be that leads you to identify the culprit. In Scripture, finding what doesn't fit might be your key to gaining a greater understanding or sense of the story. Sometimes that greater understanding is that would have been readily apparent to the original readers and you have uncovered a cultural barrier, other times it may be translation issue, or a historical implication.
I'm just home from a one-night event. the showing of a documentary titled Fragments of Truth by Faithlife Films. The script was put together by Dr. Craig Evans, professor at Houston Baptist Seminary and whom appears in the film frequently. The narration, however, was performed by none other than John Rhys-Davies — also known as Gimli in The Lord of the Rings or as Indiana Jones' friend Sallah. This movie can be considered an apologetic discussing the reliability of the Bible we hold in our hands today, and as such it does a fine job.
Once in a while I read something so backwards I wish I were dyslexic — if only to understand it better. An opinion article in Monday's Washington Post is one such piece. Written by a professor at Northeastern University, Suzanna Danuta Walters asks the question, "Why Can't We Hate Men?" As a feminist speaking to other feminists she admits that she's hated men for a long time and it rankled her when her more moderate sisters would say things like, "we don't hate men" and "men are not the problem, the system is." The article is an attempt to rally women toward a universal hatred of half the world's population.
Solomon wrote that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3.1), and at the beginning of Jonah chapter 4 God is experiencing a time of righteous anger toward the people of Nineveh — and for good reason. Their wickedness had no boundaries. Murder was so common in Nineveh that bodies were often left where they fell, their bodies decomposing in the streets, being eaten by birds. The ruthlessness they showed to their fellow citizens paled in comparison to how they treated their enemies, and Israel was an enemy. God had had enough and his mercy turned toward justice.
In Christianity there are two types of theology, each supporting the other. There is Biblical Theology, which is all we learn about God through his Holy Word; then there is Systematic Theology, a vein of understanding that attempts to categorize and organize what we learn from Scripture and extend that knowledge through logical and philosophical disciplines. For example, the Bible affirms often that God is all-loving in regard to humanity. What, then, do we do with a passage like Malachi 1.3 where God proclaims "Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated."
We've talked a lot about connecting with God here at Think-Biblically.com, about how building multiple connections draws us nearer our Creator. Our goal, however, isn't simply to draw near to, but to walk closely with, the heavenly Father over the course of our lives. We've been trained to think of "walking with God" as a figurative exercise but nothing could be further from the truth. Today I suggest to you that you can begin literally walking with God every day of your life. Despite the work schedule, the business of family and the good times with friends.
