Friday, October 16, 2009

Fri 091016 pm Heb 1-2 Jonah

Hebrews 1
1.3 exact imprint of His nature... in the fullest sense, not just moral.
1.4 having become... This seems to refer to His works on earth distinguishing Him, since he had already inherited a more excellent name.
1.5 2 Samuel 7.14 Sometime I will check the Commentary on the NT use of the OT and a couple others and look at the context of these two seeming fairly unrelated passages.
Six mentions of angels in one chapter is rare.



Hebrews 2
2.3 if we neglect... Christ is the only salvation available. We should be diligent.
2.6 It has been testified somewhere... I wonder why he didn't specify a book or something. Psalm 8.4-6
2.18 suffered when tempted... I don't know that I have ever explicitly thought of temptation as being a form of or situation for suffering. There are a number of reasons it could be suffering. For Christ it was definitely an affront to His righteousness. The struggle to remain strong and not give in would cause us to suffer. Hmmmm, a lot to think about.
Jonah 1
1.1 The Word of the Lord came... This phrase almost always captures my imagination. How cool! And what was it like?
1.3 away from the presence of the Lord... While we can never be from the presence of the Lord in an absolute sense, it seems that we could flee His "blessing presence." This seems to be an escape from God's influence and demands. Not a good place to be.
1.4 Perhaps the god will give a thought to us... The mindset of this pagan sailor is fascinating for someone who grew up with the uniform belief in one God.
1.16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly... They offered a sacrifice and made vows. I wonder what the vows were and if any were actually kept. At that point they were arguably closer to God than Jonah.

Jonah 2
2.4 yet I shall again look upon your holy temple... This longing for the temple is common in the OT and shows the desire and confidence in God's faithfulness. Even after disobeying God's direct command and in what must have been very discouraging circumstances, he expresses confidence that he will return to God's blessing.
2.8 forsake their own hope... This reminds me of the verse in Jeremiah about leaving the living waters for cisterns. Hopelessness can be what causes us to forsake. Patience and faithfulness are key.

Jonah 3

3.1 the second time... Oh, how persistent the Lord is.
3.10 saw how they returned... The translation is a little fuzzy here about whether it is that they turned or the manner in which they turned. But, thinking about the possibility of it being the manner that they turned is good food for thought.

Jonah 4
4.2 for I new that... This is a humorous, in this context, list of God's attributes: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, relenting. This is not the stereotype of God in the OT.
4.6 to save him from his discomfort... Primary concern with out comfort is a symptom of spiritual problems.
4.7 God appointed a worm... God can use anybody.
4.11 should I not pity... It is good and right to have pity on the undeserving.

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