Dr Paul Allen

It’s never been easier to step into the role of a would-be prophet, to stand in the long line of men and women over the ages called to “speak truth to power.” Social media has amplified the ability to speak out on any number of issues—to expose the hidden corners of injustice, to rail against the abuses of the strong against the weak, and to point out the flaws in institutions and the people who lead them. Much of this prophetic sensibility is good. As a result of people expressing critique or concern, we’ve seen institutions and individuals move toward health. We’ve seen rot exposed and expunged. We’ve seen repentance and restitution. The ability of more people to speak out can lead to greater awareness and accountability in the church. Heartless Prophet But there’s always the danger of having a prophetic voice without a prophet’s heart. When this happens, we sound less and less like Jeremiah, passing on the Lord’s command through tears (“Return, you faithless children!”) alongside th...

Ivan Messa The story of Jonah reminds me of Nasreddin Hodja, a character from Central Asian children’s literature. As the story goes, one day Nasreddin, a Muslim holy man, was lying under a walnut tree. Looking up into its magnificent branches, he began to question the wisdom of the Creator. Why should such a large tree have tiny walnuts? It could easily carry the large pumpkins that grow on spindly vines. Soon, Nasreddin fell asleep. But he was jolted awake when a walnut plopped onto his head. In that moment, he recognized not only the Creator’s wisdom but also his kindness. While the Hodja was busy questioning the purposes of God, he’d been oblivious to mercy—the mercy that kept a falling gourd from crushing his head. In Muslim folklore, Nasreddin Hodja is a silly and absurd character. But his puerile humour often reveals profound truths. Of course, absurd characters can be found throughout literature and throughout the world. Down through the ages, literary satire has been a sharp c...

  Those who accept the literal account of Jonah take one of two main views regarding what happened to Jonah during his time in the belly of the great fish (Jonah 2). One view holds that Jonah died and later returned to life. The second view holds that Jonah remained alive for three days in the belly of the great fish. Both views agree on a literal reading of the book of Jonah and affirm God’s supernatural ability to rescue His prophet. The difference is whether to see Jonah 2:10 as a description of a weak and bedraggled Jonah or as a truly resurrected Jonah. Those who argue that Jonah died and later rose again appeal to Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2:2: “From the depths of the grave I called for help.” The use of Sheol, the Hebrew term for “the grave,” could mean that Jonah actually died. Yet the words “the depths of the grave,” seen as a poetic turn of phrase, could easily refer to an agonizing or horrifying experience. There’s another reason that some argue for Jonah’s death and resur...

Of all twelve statements in the Apostle’s Creed, the most maligned is what is referred to as the descent doctrine. This doctrine teaches that after being crucified, Jesus’ body went into the grave but his soul went into the realm of the dead, from which he ascended on that first Easter morning. In bold is the phrase the Apostle’s Creed uses: I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. This teaching has generally been understood to mean that after his physical death, Jesus’s soul really went to Sheol, where his victory over Satan, sin, and the grave were all announced. His victory was declared to the spirits in prison from the ...

But with an over-whelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh ; He will pursue His foes into darkness ( Nahum 1:8). The prophecy of Nahum needs to be taken with that of Jonah . After Jonah’s ministry in Nineveh, the city was covenanted to the Lord. After a couple of generations, however, the Assyrians reverted to their old ways. When people have a knowledge of God and then rebel against Him, they become worse than they were before. The Assyrians became known throughout the ancient world for great cruelty in warfare. The Assyrian empire dominated the ancient Near East for a while, and both Israel and Judah were forced to recognize its superpower status and pay tribute. When Hoshea , the last king of Israel , conspired with Egypt and withheld the annual tribute, the Assyrians conquered and destroyed the nation. The larger reason Israel was destroyed was that they had provoked the Lord beyond the limits of His forbearance. About a century later, God raised up Nahum to pr...

But the LORD said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight”   (Jonah 4:10). After Nineveh repented and converted to Yahweh, Jonah was angry at God. He went outside the city and made a booth to shade himself from the burning sun. The booth was not enough, so God caused a large plant to spring up giving him shade as well. Jonah was happy. Then the plant withered, and the sun blazed down on him, and Jonah became angry again. God explained the object-lesson to Jonah this way. The plant represented Nineveh. The plant shaded and protected Jonah from the sun. Just so, the converted Ninevites would shade and protect Israel from tribulation. Just as the plant sprang up overnight, so Nineveh had converted overnight. If the plant died, Jonah would be scorched. Just so, if Nineveh fell away from the faith, Israel would suffer. The message was this: It is a blessing for Israel when the Gentiles receive ...

But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshis h  (Jonah 1:3a). Jonah began prophesying early in the reign of Jeroboam II of Israel. About thirty years before Jeroboam II came to the throne, God had allowed the Syrians to devastate northern Israel (2 Kings 13:7). In the years that followed, during the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoash, God continued to punish Israel at the hands of the Syrians and Moabites (2 Kings 13:17–20). God chose to grant relief, however, when Jeroboam II became king, and in accordance with Jonah’s prophecies, Jeroboam made the kingdom a mighty power once again (2 Kings 14:25–27). It soon became apparent that Jeroboam II was not going to be any more faithful than his fathers had been. Jonah knew that God would bring more judgments upon Israel. But God came to Jonah and told him something he did not expect: God sent him to preach judgment against Assyria. What was going on here? Notice in 2 Kings 14:27 that “since the LORD had not said He would blot...

English: Jonah, as in Jonah 2:10, "And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.";watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah . And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” ( Jonah1:17 ) The Bible ’s most famous “fish story” has been the target of skeptics for hundreds of years, but it was confirmed by none other than the one who Himself had prepared the great fish: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and nights in the heart of the earth” ( Matthew 12:40 ). Jonah may actually have died and gone to “hell.” “Out of the belly of hell [Hebrew Sheol ] cried I,” said Jonah, “and thou heardest my voice” ( Jonah 2:2 ). The testimony of Jesus was similar: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [i.e., Sheol]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” ( Psalm 16:10 ...

English: Jonah Is Spewed Forth by the Whale (Jon. 2:1-11) Русский: Пророк Иона, изверженный китом (Ион. 2:1-11) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 12:38 –42 “He answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah’” (v. 39). A Christian and his friend, who did not know Christ , were discussing Jesus and His claim to be the only way to the Father ( John 14:6 ). The believer humbly shared the Gospel with his friend to no avail. “If only I could see Jesus do a miracle,” the non-Christian said, “then I would believe Him.” Such conversations have occured repeatedly throughout history, beginning with Jesus and the scribes and the Pharisees . In this passage, these scholars, no doubt enraged at His harsh words about them (Matt. 12:1–37), ask Jesus for “a sign” (v. 38) — a miracle that unambiguously demonstrates the messianic anointing of Jesus. Apparently, what He...

English: Peter's vision of a sheet with animals, from Acts 10; illustration from Henry Davenport Northrop, "Treasures of the Bible," published 1894 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Many believe in a doctrine called inerrancy . More particularly, we call it “ reasoned inerrancy ” to distinguish it from other more “technically precise” models.  In short: We believe that the Bible , when interpreted correctly, is true in everything that it intends to teaches. Those are some important qualifiers: “in everything it intends to teach” and “when interpreted rightly.” This assumes that some of the that which the Bible records is not necessarily its teaching. It also assumes that the truth is only found when the Bible is understood the way it was meant to be understoodand that it can be understood wrongly. A wrong interpretation is not inerrant. One of the first questions that asked at Bible College was how do we know when a passage in the Bible is supposed to be believed? In ot...

Israel, Sea of Galilee (Lake of Tiberias) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them." ( Psalm 89:9 ) There are few things in nature more fearsome or more uncontrollable by man than a mighty storm at sea. Only the One who created the waters of the sea can really control them. But He can! "For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof . . . . He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still" ( Psalm 107:25 , 29 ). One of the most striking demonstrations of the deity of Christ was in a storm on the Sea of Galilee when "he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm" ( Luke 8:24 ). Note also the experience of the mariners sailing to Tarshish when they realized that the storm that was about to destroy them had been sent by the God of heaven because of Jonah . "So they took up...

English: Head-piece to Nahum. Nahum 3:3. Vignette with a horseman raising his sword during combat with a fallen soldier in clouds; letterpress in two columns below and on verso. 1798. Inscriptions: Lettered below image with production detail: "P J de Loutherbourg invt.", "Js. Fittler sculpt" and publication line: "Publish'd Jany. 22 1798 by Thos Macklin Fleet Street". Print made by James Fittler. Dimensions: Height: 490 millimetres (sheet); width: 395 millimetres (sheet). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." ( Nahum 2:4 ) This strange prophecy, found in the midst of the small book of Nahum , could almost be seen as a description of twenty-first century freeway traffic! In context, however, the entire book of Nahum deals with the coming destruction of Assyria and, especially, its gre...