More Jonah

In my earlier post on this blogsite about the minor prophets, I summarize the lessons from Jonah this way: “Don’t disobey God or be parochial.  God wants all peoples to follow him; He answers prayers; He’s against violence and idols and is pro-sacrifice.” True enough, but since this is one of my favorite Bible books … [Read more…]

The Sensible Sequence of the Ten Commandments

The main point of this post is that the order in which the Ten Commandments are listed makes perfect sense. The Ten Commandments are listed in this order (I paraphrase and shorten them, found at Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:4-21): Thou shalt have no other gods besides God. No idols. No misusing God’s name. Keep … [Read more…]

Ordinary Country, Extraordinary People

In my post on this blogsite about the book of Joshua, I have a section called, “It’s the Land, Stupid,” and I note that in this book “the importance of the land is manifest, and big chunks of the book are detailed, survey-like description of boundaries.” I continue with this paragraph: This reflects an important … [Read more…]