The magnificent little words of Scripture (Full Version)

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TMeeks -> The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 2:16:31 PM)

Someone recently asked me in a PM if I could give them something I learned in Bible College that I'd put into the category of "WOW!"

My answer may have surprised them. But, I am very grateful for the question for it brought to mind why I feel that every single Word of the Scriptures has been carefully chosen.

Dr. Douglas McCorkle was the Dean of the Bible College back then. He went on to become the president of the Philadelphia College of the Bible. He was probably the most dynamic teacher I ever had.

It was from Dean McCorkle that I learned the value of diagramming the Bible and the value of each and every word. It is the smallest words of the Scripture that bring out its richess.

And, that is probably why you will see me stopping to remind people that the words of the Word MEAN something. The Bible is SO carefully constructed and precisely written and we are SO sloppy when we read it. After Dean McCorkles class I never wanted to be sloppy again. Take this simple sentence.

Ro 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The 'FOR' tells us that we MUST go back to the verses before it if we really want to get the full meaning and the full point that Paul was trying to make. We can't just 'pluck' the verse out of context. And, the 'BUT' tells us that Paul is comparing two opposite things. And, notice that he does this in those verses that give us the context.

Ro 6:20-23
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What were the FULL Wages of sin? Slavery to sin and Death. What is the FULL Gift of God Freedom from sin, slavery to God (Either way we are slaves), Holiness and eternal life.

Using just the last verse, as we can e tempted to do, is the Reader's Digest version. But, to REALLY understand the FULLNESS and RICHNESS of the Word we have to listen to the smallest words to define the structure of the Word.

With the Word, the Glory is in the details. [:)]



ladyingrace1979 -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 2:26:48 PM)

Very good post! I also believe if we looked at the small words in Scripture we would prevent a lot of misunderstanding of Scripture and avoid a lot of the controversies that plague the church today.
Kim Q



TMeeks -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 2:43:38 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ladyingrace1979

Very good post! I also believe if we looked at the small words in Scripture we would prevent a lot of misunderstanding of Scripture and avoid a lot of the controversies that plague the church today.
Kim Q

Words MEAN something, don't they. I'm certain that you are right. The details are SO important that we are told that not one JOT or TITTLE is to be changed.



4IMPersuaded -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 3:16:32 PM)

My most exciting purchase lately has been my two Bible commentaries and my Strong's concordance and Hebrew/Greek lexicon. It is so amazing and rich to study the Bible in context. So many times there are pictures that don't translate because of a cultural or language difference. For example-- Jeremiah is aske by God, "what do you see." Jeremiah responds that he sees an almond branch. God replies, "yes, I am watching that my word is fulfilled." To the casual reader, this makes no sense. By understanding that the Hebrew word for "almond" and the Hebrew word for "watch" are closely related, the passage becomes a beautiful play on words in which God tells his child that He is in control and is making sure that His word is fulfilled.

Praise Him.



frankman -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 4:28:42 PM)

THEREFORE your teacher would have been a good teacher in emphasising the word therefore in the Bible. I believe you have to pay attention to the little things in a Scripture verse like the verb tenses, pronouns etc.. Like in 1 Tim.1:15 Paul states "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I AM the worst." The words "I am" mean Paul classified himself as still a sinner saved but by the grace of God. Most heretic teaching comes as a result of some theologian taking a verse of Scripture out of context, magnifying it and building a theological viewpoint on it, even though their viewpoint clearly contradicts what the Bible clearly teaches in general. The baptismal issue may be an example of this. Your teacher would have agreed with us that the little words of Scripture are important as well as interpreting Scripture in context with the rest of the teachings of the Bible.



CherishedbyGod -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 4:40:42 PM)

I just love the two little words "but God"...usually they proceed a life of godlessness, and hopelessness. The little words "but God" changes everything...Here is an example....

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2: 1-8


Look at the contrast at the before God and the after God[:D][:)]



cobblestone -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 4:55:53 PM)

And the wise words...this too shall pass....



Ignited-Faith -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 7:59:33 PM)

TMeeks,
Concerning:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11
I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and take it as a personal promise from God. (Someone else has said it was a message to the Jews in Exile. I agree here.)
TMeeks, what do you believe? (Thanks!)



TMeeks -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 8:23:48 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ignited-Faith

TMeeks,
Concerning:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11
I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and take it as a personal promise from God. (Someone else has said it was a message to the Jews in Exile. I agree here.)
TMeeks, what do you believe? (Thanks!)

As general rule, it's vey dangerous to apply promises to Israel to us. But, as a practical matter it's done all the time with this verse. And, I understand why. It gives hope in times of stress and trouble. And, when taken over a lifetime, every word is applicable to all of us in that we are destined for an eternal life free of pain.

But, if someone takes this as a promise that they will always escape painful times, then they will be sadly mistaken and disappointed. Sometimes, for what ever reason, Christians undergo terrible ordeals at the hands of unbelievers. The lions in Rome come to mind. God is God in times of trouble and in times of good. And, this verse does not negate that fundamental truth.

But, I have to be clear that I have a dispensational background and I believe that Israel and the Church are two distinctly different 'economies' in the plan of God.



delete123 -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 8:41:35 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ignited-Faith

TMeeks,
Concerning:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11
I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and take it as a personal promise from God. (Someone else has said it was a message to the Jews in Exile. I agree here.)
TMeeks, what do you believe? (Thanks!)

As general rule, it's vey dangerous to apply promises to Israel to us. But, as a practical matter it's done all the time with this verse. And, I understand why. It gives hope in times of stress and trouble. And, when taken over a lifetime, every word is applicable to all of us in that we are destined for an eternal life free of pain.

But, if someone takes this as a promise that they will always escape painful times, then they will be sadly mistaken and disappointed. Sometimes, for what ever reason, Christians undergo terrible ordeals at the hands of unbelievers. The lions in Rome come to mind. God is God in times of trouble and in times of good. And, this verse does not negate that fundamental truth.

But, I have to be clear that I have a dispensational background and I believe that Israel and the Church are two distinctly different 'economies' in the plan of God.


May I add that I also see this with Isaiah 43 as well. It is clearly written for the Israelite, yet many refer people to it as a healing moment.

as for the original post. I know of two small word in the bible that to me are profound

I AM

CRH



cobblestone -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/8/2008 8:42:40 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ignited-Faith

TMeeks,
Concerning:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11
I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and take it as a personal promise from God. (Someone else has said it was a message to the Jews in Exile. I agree here.)
TMeeks, what do you believe? (Thanks!)

As general rule, it's vey dangerous to apply promises to Israel to us. But, as a practical matter it's done all the time with this verse. And, I understand why. It gives hope in times of stress and trouble. And, when taken over a lifetime, every word is applicable to all of us in that we are destined for an eternal life free of pain.

But, if someone takes this as a promise that they will always escape painful times, then they will be sadly mistaken and disappointed. Sometimes, for what ever reason, Christians undergo terrible ordeals at the hands of unbelievers. The lions in Rome come to mind. God is God in times of trouble and in times of good. And, this verse does not negate that fundamental truth.

But, I have to be clear that I have a dispensational background and I believe that Israel and the Church are two distinctly different 'economies' in the plan of God.

I agree that Israel and the church are different economies. As much as their traditions have the same meaning as the church....well..I think they have that in common. But their way of expressing them (as Messianics) are as different as catholics and protestants. Having not been raised in a church environment I'm only familiar with the traditions recorded in the bible but I have found that what makes for discord more than anything is talking about the same thing in a different language, very disconcerting.
The promises to Israel were made as to the earthly promises while the spiritual Israel has heavenly promises. The good land is over the next hill where our hope is. I think this post made very little sence. [8|]



oldmethuselah -> The value of a SINGLE LETTER! (4/8/2008 8:56:24 PM)

Speaking of small words, how about a single letter?

While we were living in England, where the class system is based on who your parents were (, moreso than how much money your parents have), there still resides a group of people called the "Upper Class"...

Without placing a value judgement on this institution - for don't forget, my dear American friends, you have one too, albeit monetarily, rather than monarchially based - lol

it is nonetheless true, that Christian sincerity is somewhat rare in that strata...

Indeed, the KING JAMES version of the Bible has a passage which says:

1 Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: ...

to which one of our "upper crust" friends, very devout and genuine, said of the "not many noble" part...

"I thank the Lord for the letter "m" "

So... a single LETTER can make a huge difference! ROFL [:D]



Ignited-Faith -> RE: The value of a SINGLE LETTER! (4/8/2008 9:15:57 PM)

Thank you TMeeks and others for your answers!!!



SonInMe1 -> RE: The value of a SINGLE LETTER! (4/8/2008 9:19:40 PM)

Yes, every word is important as long as it doesn't turn into some bible code thing.

So is the context of those words.

The culture and writing styles of the time.

The most important aspect of interpretation is the Holy Spirit.



Prairiehiker -> RE: The value of a SINGLE LETTER! (4/8/2008 10:33:47 PM)

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5466

This is an article written by a teacher of apologetics that I admired. It's titled "never read a bible verse". Before reading it, I thought what could he possibly mean. After reading it, he made so much sense. Christians have been taught to pluck out any verse in the bible that sounds good and claim it as God's promise and hold on to it in times of despair. Well, that's all well and good, but that's not how the scriptures are meant to be understood. The apologist point was always read the paragraph so not to lose the context of the verse. I learned so much about how to study adn interpret God's word from this one article.



Ignited-Faith -> RE: The value of a SINGLE LETTER! (4/9/2008 9:43:29 AM)

Prairiehiker,
Thank you!
I checked out the web site you gave and I added it to my favorite places!



TMeeks -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/9/2008 9:56:22 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ignited-Faith

TMeeks,
Concerning:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11
I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and take it as a personal promise from God. (Someone else has said it was a message to the Jews in Exile. I agree here.)
TMeeks, what do you believe? (Thanks!)

As general rule, it's vey dangerous to apply promises to Israel to us. But, as a practical matter it's done all the time with this verse. And, I understand why. It gives hope in times of stress and trouble. And, when taken over a lifetime, every word is applicable to all of us in that we are destined for an eternal life free of pain.

But, if someone takes this as a promise that they will always escape painful times, then they will be sadly mistaken and disappointed. Sometimes, for what ever reason, Christians undergo terrible ordeals at the hands of unbelievers. The lions in Rome come to mind. God is God in times of trouble and in times of good. And, this verse does not negate that fundamental truth.

But, I have to be clear that I have a dispensational background and I believe that Israel and the Church are two distinctly different 'economies' in the plan of God.

I agree that Israel and the church are different economies. As much as their traditions have the same meaning as the church....well..I think they have that in common. But their way of expressing them (as Messianics) are as different as catholics and protestants. Having not been raised in a church environment I'm only familiar with the traditions recorded in the bible but I have found that what makes for discord more than anything is talking about the same thing in a different language, very disconcerting.
The promises to Israel were made as to the earthly promises while the spiritual Israel has heavenly promises. The good land is over the next hill where our hope is. I think this post made very little sence. [8|]

Can you give us a little more detail as to what and why it doesn't make sense? I'm not sure I fully understood what you meant. I don't think that there IS a spiritual Israel.



cobblestone -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/9/2008 12:18:21 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ignited-Faith

TMeeks,
Concerning:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11
I hear people quote Jeremiah 29:11 a lot and take it as a personal promise from God. (Someone else has said it was a message to the Jews in Exile. I agree here.)
TMeeks, what do you believe? (Thanks!)

As general rule, it's vey dangerous to apply promises to Israel to us. But, as a practical matter it's done all the time with this verse. And, I understand why. It gives hope in times of stress and trouble. And, when taken over a lifetime, every word is applicable to all of us in that we are destined for an eternal life free of pain.

But, if someone takes this as a promise that they will always escape painful times, then they will be sadly mistaken and disappointed. Sometimes, for what ever reason, Christians undergo terrible ordeals at the hands of unbelievers. The lions in Rome come to mind. God is God in times of trouble and in times of good. And, this verse does not negate that fundamental truth.

But, I have to be clear that I have a dispensational background and I believe that Israel and the Church are two distinctly different 'economies' in the plan of God.

I agree that Israel and the church are different economies. As much as their traditions have the same meaning as the church....well..I think they have that in common. But their way of expressing them (as Messianics) are as different as catholics and protestants. Having not been raised in a church environment I'm only familiar with the traditions recorded in the bible but I have found that what makes for discord more than anything is talking about the same thing in a different language, very disconcerting.
The promises to Israel were made as to the earthly promises while the spiritual Israel has heavenly promises. The good land is over the next hill where our hope is. I think this post made very little sence. [8|]

Can you give us a little more detail as to what and why it doesn't make sense? I'm not sure I fully understood what you meant. I don't think that there IS a spiritual Israel.

I wasn't too sure if we were talking about the same thing or not. I was refering to the promises made to Christians as being spiritual promises. Spiritual Israel are the decsendent of Abraham/Sarah as opposed to the descendents of Abraham/Hagar which is defined in Galations as the difference between those born of law and those born of grace.

Romans 9:7-9

7Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.


Galatians 4:31 (Amplified)
31So, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free [the supernatural].



jfaye -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/9/2008 5:34:11 PM)

quote:


Using just the last verse, as we can e tempted to do, is the Reader's Digest version. But, to REALLY understand the FULLNESS and RICHNESS of the Word we have to listen to the smallest words to define the structure of the Word.

With the Word, the Glory is in the details.


Oh my do I love this truth! I love 'words' in Scripture, recorded from our God for us to understand
as much of Him as He will allow and to definitely know how to be saved and how to live as a result
of that revelation.

And, boy do I love a mystery and it's unraveling! The words and tenses and how they are placed are so important
for our full understanding and I very much am into the context of the whole passage, chapter and book
when getting to the bottom of a verse!

Thank you, Meeks for starting this thread! I'm going to hate being gone for so long and not being able
to follow up on several of your threads!

I LOVE THE WORD--and the WORDS!! And, that is another reason why I'm looking to learn Hebrew this
summer and maybe even Greek, Lord willing and my head doesn't implode from the effort!!![sm=icon_smile_yikes.gif]



TMeeks -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/9/2008 11:14:59 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: jfaye

quote:


Using just the last verse, as we can e tempted to do, is the Reader's Digest version. But, to REALLY understand the FULLNESS and RICHNESS of the Word we have to listen to the smallest words to define the structure of the Word.

With the Word, the Glory is in the details.


Oh my do I love this truth! I love 'words' in Scripture, recorded from our God for us to understand
as much of Him as He will allow and to definitely know how to be saved and how to live as a result
of that revelation.

And, boy do I love a mystery and it's unraveling! The words and tenses and how they are placed are so important
for our full understanding and I very much am into the context of the whole passage, chapter and book
when getting to the bottom of a verse!

Thank you, Meeks for starting this thread! I'm going to hate being gone for so long and not being able
to follow up on several of your threads!

I LOVE THE WORD--and the WORDS!! And, that is another reason why I'm looking to learn Hebrew this
summer and maybe even Greek, Lord willing and my head doesn't implode from the effort!!![sm=icon_smile_yikes.gif]

I'm going to miss not having you here MUCH more than you are going to miss the threads! [:D]

But, the good news is that you are in NO danger of imploding your brain. God's given all of us plenty of extra capacity. But, be sure to keep those synapses and neurons nice and healthy so that you don't suffer any major shorts with all that electrical energy crackling around in there!! [:D][:D][:D]



TMeeks -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/9/2008 11:23:06 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone
I wasn't too sure if we were talking about the same thing or not. I was refering to the promises made to Christians as being spiritual promises. Spiritual Israel are the decsendent of Abraham/Sarah as opposed to the descendents of Abraham/Hagar which is defined in Galations as the difference between those born of law and those born of grace.

I think I see now. Sometimes Old Testament figures are seen as 'Types' of Christ or a 'Type' of the church. And, I think this is the case here. [:)]



cobblestone -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/11/2008 5:29:03 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone
I wasn't too sure if we were talking about the same thing or not. I was refering to the promises made to Christians as being spiritual promises. Spiritual Israel are the decsendent of Abraham/Sarah as opposed to the descendents of Abraham/Hagar which is defined in Galations as the difference between those born of law and those born of grace.

I think I see now. Sometimes Old Testament figures are seen as 'Types' of Christ or a 'Type' of the church. And, I think this is the case here. [:)]

Thats true. In following the simularities it gives a clearer picture of the things being represented. I really like the "types of church" in the similariities of Abraham being the called, Isaac as the reciever of the promise but not doing much else, Jacob as the try, fail, try again Christian to Joseph who was given the keys to a kingdom not his own; the mature christian. Another I wonder about is if Jonah was 3 days in the whale as a representative of Christ wouldn't he also have had to die? [8|]



TMeeks -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/11/2008 8:07:08 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone
I wasn't too sure if we were talking about the same thing or not. I was refering to the promises made to Christians as being spiritual promises. Spiritual Israel are the decsendent of Abraham/Sarah as opposed to the descendents of Abraham/Hagar which is defined in Galations as the difference between those born of law and those born of grace.

I think I see now. Sometimes Old Testament figures are seen as 'Types' of Christ or a 'Type' of the church. And, I think this is the case here. [:)]

Thats true. In following the simularities it gives a clearer picture of the things being represented. I really like the "types of church" in the similariities of Abraham being the called, Isaac as the reciever of the promise but not doing much else, Jacob as the try, fail, try again Christian to Joseph who was given the keys to a kingdom not his own; the mature christian. Another I wonder about is if Jonah was 3 days in the whale as a representative of Christ wouldn't he also have had to die? [8|]


Actually, that is very interesting. I'm sure that there are a number of members up here that have taken lifeguard training, as I did as a teen. My lifesaving course gave me a completely different perspective on Jonah than the interpretation we usually hear.

Take a look at the story again and look for the following.

Jonah 2
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord."

The description that Jonah give from inside the belly of the fish exactly describes the process of drowning. People simply sink to the bottom of the body of water. As you read the above words imagine youself slipping under until you settle on the bottom engulfed in seaweed. And, what is more remarkable, in a pool setting, it's not uncommon for a person to be on the bottom with their eyes open just resting there before they die. They give up. It was at THAT point that Jonah prayed and God sent the fish as his salvation!

He is not praying after he was spit out onto land. He was thanking God for sending the fish to save him!

A lot of pastors miss that little word, "inside". They see God's salvation of Jonah at the point where the fish spit him out. It wasn't. The point of his salvation was when the fish sucked him in.



cobblestone -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/12/2008 12:55:43 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone

quote:

ORIGINAL: TMeeks

quote:

ORIGINAL: cobblestone
I wasn't too sure if we were talking about the same thing or not. I was refering to the promises made to Christians as being spiritual promises. Spiritual Israel are the decsendent of Abraham/Sarah as opposed to the descendents of Abraham/Hagar which is defined in Galations as the difference between those born of law and those born of grace.

I think I see now. Sometimes Old Testament figures are seen as 'Types' of Christ or a 'Type' of the church. And, I think this is the case here. [:)]

Thats true. In following the simularities it gives a clearer picture of the things being represented. I really like the "types of church" in the similariities of Abraham being the called, Isaac as the reciever of the promise but not doing much else, Jacob as the try, fail, try again Christian to Joseph who was given the keys to a kingdom not his own; the mature christian. Another I wonder about is if Jonah was 3 days in the whale as a representative of Christ wouldn't he also have had to die? [8|]


Actually, that is very interesting. I'm sure that there are a number of members up here that have taken lifeguard training, as I did as a teen. My lifesaving course gave me a completely different perspective on Jonah than the interpretation we usually hear.

Take a look at the story again and look for the following.

Jonah 2
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. 7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord."

The description that Jonah give from inside the belly of the fish exactly describes the process of drowning. People simply sink to the bottom of the body of water. As you read the above words imagine youself slipping under until you settle on the bottom engulfed in seaweed. And, what is more remarkable, in a pool setting, it's not uncommon for a person to be on the bottom with their eyes open just resting there before they die. They give up. It was at THAT point that Jonah prayed and God sent the fish as his salvation!

He is not praying after he was spit out onto land. He was thanking God for sending the fish to save him!

A lot of pastors miss that little word, "inside". They see God's salvation of Jonah at the point where the fish spit him out. It wasn't. The point of his salvation was when the fish sucked him in.

ya, thanks for that. Thats interesting.



Liveloved -> RE: The magnificent little words of Scripture (4/12/2008 1:24:04 PM)

quote:

And, boy do I love a mystery and it's unraveling! The words and tenses and how they are placed are so important
for our full understanding and I very much am into the context of the whole passage, chapter and book
when getting to the bottom of a verse!


While I am in basic agreement here (not just with jfaye who I love[:)], but with the whole thread), and I, too, LOVE the word as it reveals The Word, I have a word of caution. Our 'study' can become dependent on our intellectual accumulation of information and understanding.

Psalm 119 has many things to say about this. Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law. (18) Establish Thy word to Thy servant as that which produces reverence for Thee. (38) I have more insight than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Thy precepts. (99-100) I have not turned aside from Thy ordinances, for Thou Thyself hast taught me. (102) The unfolding of Thy words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. (130)

As does the Apostle John in both his gospel and epistles. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (14:26) But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. . . (16:13) and And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you, but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. (IJohn 2:27)

And the Apostle Paul speaks of this in I Corinthians 2. God's wisdom is "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." (9)

We always need the Holy Spirit's teaching, making His word real to us---teaching and revelation go hand in hand. Ears to hear require a heart that is listening to His whispers.

Never let your 'study' of the word of God keep you from hearing Him!



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