GN-Day201 Jonah 3-4; Psalm 137; John 17

07/20/22 • 15 min

JONAH 3-4:Running from God didn’t work for Jonah. When saved from the ocean, Jonah grudgingly obeys God.

For most of my life, I have been fooled by Jonah's prayer in chapter 2, and I am not alone, because others have called it, “One of the great prayers in the Bible.” For most of the prayer, Jonah simply borrowed verses from the Psalms. And there is nothing wrong with that! However, if you look closer, Jonah prayed a me-centered and self-righteous prayer. The worst thing about it is there is no hint of repentance or asking forgiveness.

PSALM 137:As a musician, I can imagine what the musician who wrote this felt. The imprecation at the end should be taken in view of God’s justice. Compare the thought here with Rev. 6:9 and following verses (the cry of the saints under the altar), and also the ending chapters of Revelation that portray the vengeful judgment against ‘Babylon’— which in that book is used as a figurative name.

Rereading JOHN 17:Note again the importance of the organic bond of union between the Father, the Son, and we who believe in Jesus. Again note the bond of love. Note that our Savior actually prays for us. And this is because we live in a world that is not our home.

GNT Translation notes:Ps. 137:4 How can we sing a song to [You, Lord,//the Lord] in a foreign land?====John 17:1 After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to [Me,] your Son, so that [I//the Son] may give glory to you.2 For you gave [Me//him] authority over all people, so that [I//he] might give eternal life to all those you gave [Me//him].3 [I, the writer, agree and add that, “//And] eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know [Christ Jesus//Jesus Christ], whom you sent.[” Jesus was still praying,]21 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be [joined as one with//in] us, just as you are [joined with//in] me and I am [joined with//in] you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 23 I [— joined as one with//in] them and you [— joined with//in] me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.26 I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be [one with//in] them.”

JONAH 3-4:Running from God didn’t work for Jonah. When saved from the ocean, Jonah grudgingly obeys God.

Previous Episode

GN-Day200 Jonah 1-2; Psalm 136; John 17

JONAH 1-2:For quite a few years when I was just reading the Bible without a set reading plan, I enjoyed a break from reading the books of history after Second Kings, moving to the prophets. And our first is Jonah, who was mentioned back in 2 Kings 14.

Note that the little story of Jonah is masterfully written. Little details poke out everywhere. Jonah has a downward journey. He goes down from Jerusalem to Joppa, then down again into the hold of the boat, and then down into the underworld of the ocean. He wasn't just being disobedient. He was saying, “I'm turning in my prophet's mantle.”

Bob Deffinbaugh: “Let’s face it, don’t you find that our text has reversed the heroes and the villains? ... we would have expected Jonah to be the hero, while the heathen sailors would certainly have been expected to be the villains. This was certainly the perspective of Jonah, and of the Israelites, whom he typified. Yet in our text, it is the sailors who pray, while Jonah does not. The sailors sought to deal with sin on the ship, not Jonah. The sailors end up worshiping God, [Jonah grumbled against God//not Jonah]. The sailors have compassion on Jonah, while he seems to have little concern for the danger in which he has put them. Clearly, this chapter turns our expectations inside-out.”

Even the fish comes out better than Jonah. He obeyed. The pagans of Nineveh and their king also come out looking better than Jonah. They repent.

PSALM 136:This is the most famous antiphonal psalm. If it won’t bother anyone around you while you are listening, I invite you to join me on the antiphonal response: His love is eternal.

JOHN 17:Jesus’ high priestly prayer is considered the pinnacle of the upper room discourse.

GNT Translation notes:Jon. 1:16 [NET The men feared the Lord greatly, and earnestly vowed to offer lavish sacrifices to the Lord.//This made the sailors so afraid of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve him.]====John 17:3 [I, the writer, agree and add that, “//And] eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.[” Jesus was still praying,]21 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be [joined as one with//in] us, just as you are [joined with//in] me and I am [joined with//in] you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me. 23 I [joined as one with//in] them and you [joined with//in] me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.26 I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be [one with//in] them.”

Next Episode

GN-Day202 Jeremiah 1-2; Psalm 138; John 18:1-27

JEREMIAH 1-2:The book of Jeremiah was written between 627 and 580 BC. Counting the number of verses, Jeremiah is longer than all other books of the Old Testament except Genesis and Psalms. Jeremiah is often called the weeping prophet, and his other book is Lamentations. It is possible that he is the son of the high priest Hilkiah who brought the book of the Law to the attention of king Josiah. Having just heard in 2 Kings an overview of what happened during the last days of the kingdom of Judah, we now will hear the poems and sermons of a sensitive man living through it all. Mears says, “No other prophet bares his soul to his readers as does Jeremiah. Although Jeremiah announced the coming destruction of Judah, he looked beyond this judgment to a day when everyone would know the Lord personally through the forgiveness of his or her sins (Jer. 31-34). This new kind of relationship with the Lord would be part of the “new covenant” the Lord would establish with his people (Jer. 31:31).”

PSALM 138:

This is the first of a series of eight psalms where the psalmist speaks in the first person singular. This psalm includes an important declaration in verse two, which ESV translates like this:

Ps. 138:2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

NLT and CEV have done a good job translating the meaning, and I particularly like the second phrase in NLT.

JOHN 18a:

As John said in chapter 13, “Jesus, having always loved his disciples, he loved them to the end.”

GNT Translation notes:Ps. 138:2 [NLT I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise [you//your name] for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.//CEV I worship at your holy temple and praise you for your love and your faithfulness. You were true to your word and made yourself more famous than ever before.//GNTD I face your holy Temple, bow down, and praise your name because of your constant love and faithfulness, because you have shown that your name and your commands are supreme.]====John 18:10 [Peter— whose other name was Simon, had a sword. He//Simon Peter, who had a sword,] drew it and struck the High Priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. The name of the slave was Malchus.