Jonah 2

Posted on June 23, 2012 by ehurst

We can imagine Jonah inside whatever creature God prepared for this occasion, slipping in and out of consciousness for something like 72 hours. Even with all the miraculous provisions, this must have been incredibly unpleasant.
What we have here is a hymn of thanks marking this event, composed afterward. It follows typical Hebrew poetic expression, loaded with symbolism. In essence, Jonah was pretty sure he was going to die, and knew he deserved this most sorrowful end. There is nothing here of negotiating, but repentance and submission. Jonah promised, should the Lord relent, he would be faithful and obedient. Otherwise, this was surely his just end for defiance.
When Jonah was fully broken, the Lord directed the swimmer to discharge its passenger. Notice the Hebrew explicitly says Jonah did not have to swim ashore. He was vomited directly up onto dry ground. There is no reason to suppose this was anywhere far from Joppa, when Jonah sought to flee. The poetic justice of Hebrew thinking would predict Jonah found himself right where he left off. He still had a hard three days’ hike home, probably passing through Jerusalem and stopping at the Temple to fulfill his vows, on the way home.

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Pastoral: Don't Be Surprised

Posted on June 22, 2012 by ehurst

What would it be like for you, if you were suddenly cut off from all your bank accounts? What if all banking activity were suspended for a time? How would it affect you.
God commanded humanity to form governments under the Laws of Noah, but for the past millennium at least, not a single government of note has followed His revealed plans. John predicted that in his Revelation, but most people misread it. They believe it refers to some horrific and unimaginable evil government at the End of Time, but John was describing the rather normal behavior which slowly, steadily worsens as men think of new ways to oppress each other. As we drift farther and farther away from God’s model, you would naturally expect the depravity to increase.
Most Americans will be caught off guard. You can blame any part of it you understand, but the full complex of our social and cultural customs and habits keeps us from really paying attention — movies, music, TV, sports, political theater, etc. Pick out any details you like, but it’s all one big effort to keep us pacified, and it’s working rather well. Preppers miss the point, investing lots of money in things which eventually enrich the same plutocrats seeking to plunder us all in the first place, at the same time saving up useful stuff which can be easily confiscated later.
You should probably look up “capital controls” as simply one single expression of the plundering. I recommend you read this article, for example, as a brief examination of the concept. Given all our major banks are already technically insolvent, as is our entire government, things will have to change sooner or later. God hasn’t given me a word about when, but my personal inclination is to think it will be during this calendar year. I’ve been wrong before, so take me with a grain of salt. The elections this fall are no more than internal competition between factions of the single controlling system. Actually amending the system is simply not going to happen. But most of what you see is theater, while the capital controls are already being put in place over the past few months.
Spending today feeds the beast early, but savings will feed it later. The justification for capital controls is keeping the economy alive, which is another way of saying they want to facade to remain in place for as long as possible. Keeping the money inside the borders applies only to us little people, the productive folks who make things happen. At some point, the capital controls become the mechanism for cutting you off from all access to your savings, your paychecks, your operating funds. This makes it easier to begin the massive confiscation operations. Those could take any number of different flavors and styles, but the net result is the same. The justification for this is, without all this wonderful government protection and guidance, none of us could make a dime on our own. Thus, it all belongs to them in the first place, along with all your future productivity and your children, as well.
I won’t pretend there is much we can do about it. Stockpiling currency might help, and so could precious metals. Hey, you might even consider saving up barter goods. Rather, I hope folks are mentally prepared for what’s coming. This is one of those things which will tend to be rather sudden, something designed in part to keep you all in shock and fear. Social turbulence is a tool of control. I’m not hoping for a mass revolt, not even under the principles of leaderless resistance. We’ll see some of that, both artificial and very real, but I offer this pastoral point: If you don’t panic, you’ll have room in your consciousness to stay on mission.
Our God has a plan, which surely includes letting us suffer a good bit as humans normally do. He’s hoping you’ll pass through it according to His revealed plans, which means you face it as all one big lie in the first place. We change with the circumstances only because the truth is not static, but is manifested through them. So we keep our steady gaze on the distant destination of leaving this world behind, not with eyes darting around in fear because of all the ambient noise. Don’t be caught off guard when the plundering starts in earnest. If they have learned anything from the Fall of Rome, the plutocrats know it can’t be stopped, but that doesn’t prevent them making maximum use of such a collapse for their own profit. That also doesn’t prevent them steering us into collapse at their convenience. Parts of it are out of their control, but they are convinced they have enough leverage to get what they want from it. But God understands it completely, and is more than capable of letting them run with it until it’s time to snatch it out of their hands. Within the vast and forbidding landscape of human sorrow, we can always find elements of His mercy.
Put on the armor of God; clothe your soul with the protections His peace offers. The only valid question in the midst of this mess is, “What do we do now to manifest the Truth?”

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The Necessity of Moral Structure

Posted on June 21, 2012 by ehurst

To be human is to establish a structure for living on earth.
I know a little girl roughly age 3. She’s both captivating in appearance, personality and in her intelligence. She’s also a terror, comparing favorably to a Catahoula Cur, demanding constant attention and frequently challenging authority. That’s because she’s about as insecure as little girls can be, living with a single mom who doesn’t quite get it. Mom does have a decent faith background, but she understands religion as rules and ideas, and completely misses the whole underlying foundation of what makes morality. She’s raising a child whom she cannot control without a constant and very forceful physical presence.
While we may argue about what it should look like, most of us realize structure is a necessity for human functioning. Take away the structure, and all you have is a highly emotional and somewhat intelligent animal. That humanity needs structure is visible in the Eden narrative of Genesis, as the other side of the command God gave to manage His creation. We cannot impose on nature what we do not have within us. It’s in our nature to do this still, and we need it to survive. That we are fallen simply complicates things, but does not remove our fundamental nature.
Our Western civilization confuses a lot of things. Raw intelligence does not equate to self order. Some of the highest IQs left to develop in a very disordered social structure typically turn out to be the most vicious predators. There are two types of predators: sociopaths/psychopaths and those insecure. In other words, whereas some few are natural soulless predators, most got that way as the means to facing down fear. The more intelligent tend to become more capricious, creative in finding new ways to distract themselves from insecurity.
IQ assessments are not a raw score, but by their nature measure only relative intelligence against some scale of human average. Yes, they are culturally derived. On top of that, intelligence expresses itself in many different ways, a whole range of talents. We have precious little academic work in the field of moral intelligence. It’s easy to get lost in questions of IQ, when the better question is not how bright someone is, but how they contribute to moral stability. The moral imperative is offering structure, and seeking a better one. Without that, intelligence is morally useless in the broader sense. A sharp mind in a bad environment seldom makes things better, and typically makes things morally worse.
Scripture makes the point not just any structure will do.
Having made much of that structure content here in other posts, I will note simply this. When I visit the home where that rowdy little girl lives, though she still pushes the limits, I have no trouble making her behave well for me for the most part (hint: it’s all about Game). Her mom is constantly amazed by this, but lacks the basic key to understanding how I do it. Already there has been three years without that good moral grounding, and the window of opportunity to turn it around is almost closed. The next best chance is waiting for the child to hit her own moral bottom and learning to listen and absorb what she needs to provide a moral structure for herself.
It’s not magic. Granted, I suppose we could say I have a gift for moral intelligence. Still, because God has demanded we all have some of this, we can only deduce it’s possible for everyone to hone their moral sensitivity and their basic understanding of the framework. When religion is good, that’s what it does. There is little calling for a prophet when folks are doing things right. I’m constantly on fire internally by what I see standing opposed to what seems the clear Word of God to me addressing our failures in this age. There are miracles large and small, each offered by God through my hands to verify His backing of what I teach.
I don’t see myself in charge of much more than my own mouth and fingers on the keyboard. The rest is just making sure I’m in the right place at the right time. It’s pretty challenging to remain sensitive to the Spirit against the cacophony of this age and my own mind. But all I’m doing is restating what’s been truth since time began.
Moral structure is God’s demand of all humanity.

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Otherworldly Illustrations

Posted on June 21, 2012 by ehurst

Art doesn’t prove anything, it merely illustrates truth already available.
That there is another realm of existence should be obvious, since even the most primitive ancient peoples of earth have known it all along. They aren’t smarter by any means, just less distracted by what’s possible in this realm of existence. And if we had none of the modern technology, we could still have a pretty good life here by obeying God’s Laws. We could live long and prosper, and have stable societies, as we know has been done in the past. Part of all that was realizing what you can see here is mostly delusion.
So there are a few songs which help to portray this truth, songs which have blessed me over the years. First is just a bit of lyrics from something not currently available on YouTube or any other streaming site out there.

Different World
Gary S. Paxton
If you think my head’s in a different world,
then brother you’re right.
And if you think my mind’s in another dimension,
then brother you’re right.
I’m in the world, not of it;
Heaven is my home and I know I’m gonna love it!
If you think my head’s in a different world,
then brother you’re right.

I still sing this rather often, and in my mind’s ears I can hear the quirky voice and giggly hippy antics of Paxton, who recorded this himself. Another favorite is the rather soft sound of the Imperials Quartet. They were around before I was born, and kept performing with at least two of the original members, finally retiring only in the last decade, with their sons carrying on the name. They point out rather bluntly this life is all about suffering in “Give Them All to Jesus”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhZ4P9YIk0s
Petra came along a little later and picked up on the early Jesus music trend. This older piece from the 1970s, before very many groups made videos, reminds listeners true Christians don’t really belong in this world: “Not of This World”

Somewhat more recent was the heavy metal sound of Bloodgood, for which no one can seem to find any officially released video. Still, the music makes the bold point we should expect to suffer in this world in “The World Keeps Moving”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8qxmB0lH0
This is all passé among Christians these days, but they especially need to hear the lyrics. They need the reminder as we head into very difficult times. When all the schemes to bring on Apocalypse and Rapture doesn’t happen, and we have simple tribulation without the capital “T”, the usefulness of Christian Zionists will be spent. Persecution will hardly wait for that, but everyone will be suffering. Don’t get caught up in thinking anything here on this plane of existence matters.

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They Weren't of Us

Posted on June 20, 2012 by ehurst

Recent survey indicates lots of clergymen are becoming atheists. It would be cool if they simply left the ministry and did something else, but too many of them stay in religious leadership positions, which is utterly dishonest. At any rate, the number one complaint is religion can’t seem to do much for human suffering.
Duh.
Jesus told one religious PhD, if you want to understand God and His work on this plane of existence, you’ll have to gain a spiritual life first. If you don’t have a spiritual birth, you can’t understand spiritual events, miracles, etc. Paul said those people who left the true Kingdom service never belonged in the first place.
I don’t know about these guys turning atheist, but the Bible says to me pretty bluntly we have human suffering because humans are in charge of too many things. Indeed, one of the first things recorded in Scripture is the story of why everything really sucks because humans took charge of things they never could manage in the first place. Human suffering is caused by humans, and they aren’t equipped to fix the underlying problem.
But of course, almost the entire landscape of Christendom is run by folks who don’t quite grasp that. They may even give lip service to the idea, but their entire theology and organizational activities aim at doing things they say they know they can’t do, and shouldn’t want to do.
Even my own Religion professors in college said really stupid things like, “Jesus’ death on the Cross had nothing to do with sin.” Any man who could say that while he lives surely roasts in Hell after he dies. Sometimes I’m simply at a loss for words. God Himself says He sent His only natural born heir to pay for the sins of the world, and people who claim to serve Him deny it’s possible.
Lord help us; we sooooooo deserve His wrath.

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Husband and Lord

Posted on June 19, 2012 by ehurst

Ladies, you don’t have to call him “master and lord,” but if you don’t treat your man like one, you will incur God’s wrath.

As a writer, being repetitive is a problem. As a prophet it’s necessary. As a part of His teaching presentation, Jesus would often say, “How shall I present the ideas of the Kingdom?” In His own home culture, already somewhat Hellenized, it wasn’t too hard to use parables and common Hebrew cultural symbols. What was hard was getting people to grasp the underlying meaning. We know for a certainty Jesus would repeat certain images and used some parables over and over again, because that’s how people learn truth.

Most of His teaching was aimed at shaking people loose from the failed mythology of their times, and returning their hearts to the ancient ways. Mankind has not changed one iota from the days since Noah, and what God revealed as the best way to live on this earth after the Fall is still the one best way. Technology and human science only changes the mythology, the symbols and imagery, not the fundamental truth of what people are like and how they operate. Further, the moral fabric in Creation has not changed. Instead, humans keep inserting a new, false mythology based on a partial understanding.

So critical was this call back to the ancient understanding, we find Apostle Paul stating plainly things Hebrew people would have taken for granted. Not only was he dealing with Hellenized Diaspora Jews, but the whole Hellenic culture of the Mediterranean Basin. His instructions would have seemed foreign to them, but those born in a Hebrew culture would not think so. However, with Paul we have the advantage of someone who isn’t going to drag into the picture all the unnecessary cultural baggage of the Hebrews, just the essence of what was necessary for all humanity. His rules for church order and home life were much simpler than Hebrew social customs. What was lost was the richness of a cultural heritage which put things in perspective.

So as a modern day prophet, I find myself restoring some of that richness. By no means do I correct Paul’s work; I’m facing a totally different crowd. I’m facing a vastly far removed Post-modern Western Civilization in the latter years of America’s existence. Unlike Nineveh in the Jonah narrative, it’s too late for America in particular, and the West in general. The reason for dragging all this corrective teaching out into the light is not to save America, but Americans. If what I teach here calls to you, consider your response. I testify what I write here has worked miraculously well for me, which is the whole point for you: claim the miracles God said He offers to everyone and anyone who obeys His ways for fallen mankind.

One sin keeps coming up in my face: feminist warfare against God’s Word.

I’ve written much about Game and already said it reflects biblical truth, in the sense it sets out an accurate picture of human nature. That it is so difficult to swallow is an indictment against our culture, not the concept itself. It works despite the vast layer of feminist mythology trying hard to hide it from us. I use it every day, and it offers the most accurate prediction of how people are going to respond; it allows me to steer the behavior of those who aren’t aware of it.

I do that steering from the shepherd’s heart. This is the divine calling of all men, and I will ever aspire to conform to its high demands. I am blessed beyond words, living with a wife who understands it at least as well as I do. Even better, she understands it instinctively, while I have to think about it, and I’m still struggling to implement it consistently. No one is perfect, not even her, but she handles my imperfections better than anyone I’ve ever met. She enables and enhances my struggle to be the shepherd in Kingdom service.

In a sense, she enables me to be a better man, particularly for her own needs.

Joke all you like about the fragile ego of men. No man is perfect, and precious few can actually pull off the Alpha Male act consistently. Yet, every man has it in him to be more of that. A woman suffering from feminist lies will not bring that out of him. Sure, laugh at the foibles of male imperfections. But if you fail to cater to your own man’s self-image as a man, you are destroying your own life.

The blessings of God’s Laws are summed up in the Hebrew term shalom, which is far more than simple “peace.” It’s shorthand for all the things in human existence which make for reasonable prosperity, security from threats and diseases, and social stability. Because of the Fall we all suffer a bit from the lack of these things, but going out of your way to make it worse is not only stupid, it’s sinful. A major element in God’s wrath on America is this very thing, often summed up under the term “feminism.” It’s poking a finger in God’s eye, daring Him to respond.

Your man’s ego is a sign of his imperfection; your imperfection is treating his ego as something evil and sinful. If you can’t resist poking holes in it simply because you happen to know it’s all part facade, you are provoking God’s wrath on your home life. If you do so in front of others, you are begging for the worst God has warned He will do. Your shalom depends on building him up publicly, and at home. Not in the fakery of an inflated ego, but your mission is to encourage his self-confidence against the world. Failure to deliver is what we expect from everyone, including the person in the mirror, but every good thing you can possibly have in this life depends on building up your man’s reputation. If he gets better at delivering because you support him, you are contributing to your own welfare because you are pleasing God.

It’s not as if you can’t help him when he’s misinformed about something, but if you don’t learn the ways of women who help drive their men to greatness, you’ll destroy him and yourself. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out a routine by which you get his attention and fix a mistake without shooting him down in front of others. We see so little of that in America, it’s no surprise our nation is coming apart.

Hear the word of the Lord: Ladies, disrespect for your husband equates to slapping God in the face. If he’s a genuinely bad man, the starting place is recognizing you were stupid enough to marry him. When you confess to God your own sins, you make room for Him to forgive and heal and start fixing the sins of others. Again, only a fool is absolutist in thinking no one can escape a dangerous marriage which traps you in sin, but if you don’t understand the generalities first, you can’t appeal to God for exceptions. If you embrace this teaching, you won’t help save America, because it’s too late for that. However, you may well save your own life and make it easier to see the path of departure from this life into the one Above.

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Not So Pastoral

Posted on June 18, 2012 by ehurst

This is the other half of my pastoral message from a few days ago. While people fret too much about things which simply cannot happen, they don’t pray enough about things sure to happen, ugly things no one wants to believe.
Consider all the hideous things we claim other nations have done. Romans burning people as torches to light up their evening chariot rides in the garden, feudal thugs drawing and quartering people alive, Persians tossing people alive into hungry lion pits, taking all the food and letting people starve, force marching folks across horrific terrain in bad climate conditions, etc.
Now think about the hideous tortures our own people have done to others. Waterboarding was pretty tame compared to the things we weren’t told about.
They are bringing all that home. You and I will be subject to things no man has ever done to any other man anywhere else in human history. They’ve gotten it down to a fine science, very advanced technology. You should not imagine there is any inkling of restraints, anything they won’t do.
Granted, most of us won’t see the worst of it, but it will be waiting there if you cross the wrong people. Meanwhile, it is the official policy of the US government to encourage police brutality in every location within US territory. Did you know that? I never quite understood why the only specialty open to me when I enlisted for the second time was Military Police. Because of my unique assignment in Europe, I was exposed to a lot of stuff never published outside some pretty tight controls. I learned about the changes in federal law enforcement policy from back-channel “official” rumor sources back when it was in the planning stages, during the 1980s. Not in so many words, mind you, but anyone with half a brain cell knew what it meant. Having police routinely beat and humiliate ordinary people for no particular valid law enforcement reason was what they wanted to see happening on the streets of every American city and town. In other words, the ordinary police forces throughout the country were being turned into terrorist organizations.
Now, you could have learned all this if you had really wanted, had you been interested and curious. Sure, it would mean sorting through a lot of background baloney. There has been a pretty high noise to signal ratio. Still, with a proper measure of skepticism and cynicism, you would have figured it out some time ago. However, just in case that’s not enough for you, I’ll tell you this comes as a prophetic word of warning from God:
You, ordinary American citizen, will become prey to the most depraved government humanity has seen so far on this earth — the US government itself. The demons of Hell will feed on human misery like never before. This would be a good time to get as close to God as you know how, Americans.

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God's Copyright

Posted on June 18, 2012 by ehurst

As I’m reading on TechDirt the evil and sinful antics of those who claim to hold copyrights to this and that art work, etc., I am reminded of what God’s Laws have to say about such things.
The problem for us is the Bible was written in another cultural background than what exists anywhere on earth today. It is our duty and responsibility to find out and conform our thinking to that culture before we try to read the Bible. For Westerners, there is this infuriating reliance on God to provide enforcement in the ultimate sense.
A few humans are required to do some limited enforcement work in order to keep social peace and stability, but that is limited at the first few levels of enforcement to those related by blood kinship or covenant to the perpetrators of any crime. For the most part, you would expect your local elder to use his influence to make the rest of your kin lean hard on you to make you behave. So long as you remain orderly in your resistance, you can appeal to community courts, or even to the king — who most certainly should be some distant relation. That’s the ultimate level of civil enforcement.
Artisans did exist, and were either court dependents (in service to whatever patron valued their work) or sold directly to consumers. The objective was never the art itself, but serving God or human needs. Lots of independent artisans did other work to pay the bills, so to speak. If you can’t contribute to society one way or another, you were just an idiot who claimed to be an artisan. Utterly essential in this whole business was the personal connection between the artist and his audience. Most of those whose art was a matter of performance lived from their tip jar, as it were.
Under no circumstances was there such a thing as copyright and exclusive sale rights. Once produced, art belonged to whomever bought it, or it belonged to the community — your extended family. Scripture text is a somewhat special class in this mess, but folks took this too seriously to play games with it. Once published, a written expression of faith was read and evaluated. Between God’s interest in His own reputation and those commissioned to act on His behalf in such matters, that product became property of God administered by either the prophetic or Temple staff, often the same people. Prophets were handled like artisans in many ways, but with a presumption of strong moral backing. Creation itself demanded the support of a genuine prophet. The prophet, in conference with God, would decide what portion of the work should be recorded in writing. Alternatively, someone skilled in recording it could also be moved to write it all down. If it became Scripture, it belonged to God, managed by the whole nation in stewardship. Lesser works of mere art were simply community property.
The idea of denying folks access for profit was evil. Trusting the consumers to respond with material support was the Law. That was the same as trusting God to back you up. If they don’t contribute, you need to reexamine yourself, not make childish demands they cough up just because you did something so wonderful. If you wanted to make a living that way, you need to make everyone love you. Chances are you also need to keep at it and not slack off, resting on your laurels.
There are other criticisms I could make of the current system, but obviously we are going at this all wrong in our modern societies and legal systems on a very fundamental level. It’s an abomination to God.
Your non-profit prophet here says if you like my stuff, all I ask is you let folks know where you got it. That’s a service to them, letting them come find this blog and evaluate for themselves whether it’s worth any more investment of time and effort to read. Otherwise, copy at will. I’m letting God handle the rest.

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Repentance Activist

Posted on June 17, 2012 by ehurst

Let’s explore the conceptual boundaries.

Try to imagine some really daring radical activists, the short who sleep in their vehicles, climb man-made structures not at all designed for climbing, and hanging their banners and such to promote their political and social agendas. Now imagine their agenda is calling for a nation to Repent.

Daring to suggest people repent and pursue the mystical life I blather about here is radical, for sure. No one has to tell me I am “way out there”. Indeed, I already have it from God the majority of Americans would not turn from their sins. But the radicals’ devotion to their truth is hardly a match for my commitment to my truth. It’s not as if I’m planning a radical activist campaign to wave banners from supposedly impossible to climb structures. I’d be glad to do that, but it’s not where I feel the Spirit leading right now. My sense of adventure is not the steering factor here.

Yet this is the proper frame of mind for a prophet in these times in America. The primary mission was to call people back to the ancient and unchanging message of God. He calls to us as He did Adam and Eve in the Garden, “Where are you? Can we talk?” The only thing which has changed is the clarity of the message, up through the appearance of Christ. Now it’s just a matter of translating that message into the culture of the times. The prophetic calling was more about speaking His Word to the ears of the people in their context than it was about predictions and such.

Indeed, it takes only a sincerely seeking spirit and heart to understand the consequences of sin in broad general terms. God operates consistently, even if beyond our understanding for the most part. His mission for Jonah to Ninevah was wholly consistent with His revelation up to that time, with only the added business of His specific plans.

I am utterly certain God’s plans for the NWO include the general curses under His Laws. That means we can expect them to destroy themselves, that their own corruption will dissolve their plans before their eyes, just when they are getting excited about how well it’s going. That’s how God operates. Within that bigger picture, I believe the Lord has revealed to me America is doomed. Unlike Nineveh, whatever prophetic mission I might have does not promise to relent if they turn from their sins.

The only reason so many Christians are sure God can still “save America” is because of a highly skewed and false idea America is special among nations in His plans. Precious few nations in history ever thought otherwise. That there were miracles in our founding, where it was too obvious God was in favor of the idea, does not translate to a charmed existence, as if we somehow inherited some of that Old Testament favor God had for Israel. God favored Assyria, Babylon and the Persians each in turn before He destroyed their empires. He destroyed Israel, too, when her purpose was ended. The Cross ended the mission of Israel, the very purpose she had any particular favor from God. The Resurrection of Christ forever moved His divine favor in that sense into the Heavens. The only nation He now favors as His very own peculiar people are Christians, those spiritually born, citizens of His personal realm in the Spirit.

Any contrary teaching is blasphemous heresy. In other words, our support for the political entity called “Israel” today is, in effect, a denial of Christ and the Cross. This is a warning from God’s Spirit to all who embrace Zionism as somehow commanded by the Bible of Christians. That’s a lie, easily traced through history and the perverted thinking of very evil men. No nation on this earth matters any more, forever and until the End of Time.

However, every nation does have the opportunity to obey the Laws of God. That they will not even consider it is often the fault of believing the pagan religious epistemology of Aristotle is somehow God’s revelation. But there are thousands of other excuses. Thus, while I do bring a message of warning to national governments about God’s Laws and His wrath, I realize this is more a matter of offering them a fair chance, and holding them accountable for knowing they have chosen evil.

On the other hand, that same opportunity is extended to any lesser groupings of humanity, down to the very individual. Granted, the blessings of obeying His Laws are reduced by the failures of those in other realms of authority we are forced to share, but you still cannot hope for a better life here on this earth than what you gain by obeying His Laws. If you are alone in such obedience among the whole world, you would know His power and favor rest upon you because you stand where that power and favor are found. Provided you understand the goals and meanings of those Laws of God, you’ll see the evidence with your own eyes.

Best of all, that repentance and obedience is the gateway to eternity. The primary call of the gospel message is “repent!” You cannot compel God to give life to your dead spirit, nor that of any other human, but He has said that certainly won’t happen separate from repentance. So on the human plane of things, our call is always “repent!”

As a prophet of God, I am willing to do anything it takes to put that message on the targets He chooses.

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Jonah 1

Posted on June 16, 2012 by ehurst

Let us first endeavor in our minds to remove all the senseless embellishments added to this very popular story. The Lord created a period of widespread major instability across the entire Middle East during the reign of David, which was very favorable to Israel. When the kingdom was split between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the Assyrians had already arisen from that period of chaos as the biggest imperial power in the region. While there were plenty of other actors involved, the Assyrian domination led to significant losses in territory for both Judah and Israel. However, very quickly Assyria’s internal moral rot was taking its toll. It’s not as if the Laws of Noah were unknown to the scholars of the Mesopotamian Valley, but even competing religious traditions condemned the moral depravity of Assyria. In the Courts of Jehovah, the case against Assyria was compelling, and He was about ready to unleash His wrath on her.
With Israel having already sent delegations with tribute to Assyria in the past, her capital at Nineveh was well known to the Hebrew people, at least from the reports of her emissaries. Jonah knew Assyria was in decline, and was earnestly hoping to hear news of some grievous destruction striking Nineveh. The Lord decided He still had use for Assyria, and commanded Jonah to go and prophesy to them. It is quite probable the Lord intended Jonah join the next tribute mission traveling there. Since only the Nation of Israel was under Moses, Jonah would have preached a repentance under the Covenant of Noah, already part of the cultural lore of Assyria, if not in name, then in substance. Jonah refused this mission.
From wherever he was, likely near his home town of Gath-hepher, he hiked a considerable distance, not less than some three days’ journey, to the port city of Joppa. Given the Hebrews were not a seafaring people, Jonah took passage on a ship crewed by men from several other nations. Their destination was somewhere far away to the west. The name “Tarshish” is highly ambiguous, but what we do know is the name meant pretty far away. It was also in the opposite direction of Nineveh.
Jonah went down and slept in the lower deck against the hull, with the cargo. The Lord sent a stormy wind. The pagan sailors regarded it a duty of all aboard to pray to their deities of choice to save the ship. Meanwhile, they tossed all the cargo overboard and found Jonah sleeping in the bottom. Jonah was ordered to add his prayers to theirs, hoping one of the souls on board would appease whomever was causing the storm. As a part of their common rituals, they cast lots to see if anyone needed to confess some sin, and perhaps which god would deserve their joint attention. God being in charge, He ensured the lot fell to Jonah. Their questions were typical of their assumptions about such things. Jonah answered his God was Jehovah, maker of all things.
You’ll notice they didn’t get into a dispute about whether such audacious claims of Jonah’s God were accurate, because holding competing claims of this sort in tension was a part of their intellectual background. Rather, it was more a warning how serious was the threat to them, since they had surely heard about the Exodus and Conquest. As the only one who served Jehovah, Jonah would surely know what was necessary to appease Him. There was no escape, and Jonah told them to toss him overboard. They weren’t happy with that idea, and in their delay things got much worse. So they took him at his word and prayed Jehovah would hold them innocent of sin in this matter. As soon as Jonah was in the water, everything calmed down, and they all added Jehovah to their personal pantheon of gods which must be taken seriously.
The Hebrew culture paid only the faintest attention to seafaring matters. Thus, the terminology is, at best, imprecise when it already tends to symbolism in the first place. Something big swimming in the water swallowed Jonah. Somehow, he survived in that state for several days. The narrative gives us no clue what mechanism God might have used for this miracle, only that God was not through with Jonah, as His chosen instrument to give Assyria a little more time.

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