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Some of the principles of good hermeneutics (interpreting Scripture) are to know who the author of the book was, when he wrote/when the action took place, where he lived, and the historical/cultural context in which he wrote.  So let’s start off with a little background:

Jonah was a prophet of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (as opposed to the Southern Kingdom of Judah).  The events described in the book of Jonah took place in approximately 760 B.C., during the reign of King Jeroboam II.  This would mean Jonah prophesied after Elisha and before Hosea and Amos, despite the fact that the book of Jonah actually comes after both of these books in the Old Testament.

During Jonah’s tenure, Israel was experiencing greater prosperity than at any other time in its history.  Though previously attacked and oppressed by the Assyrians (of which Nineveh was the capital), the power of this enemy kingdom had weakened…

I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.
I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.
You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you..
Exodus 6:6b-7a

Never forget.

We will remember.

The words jump off the page, off the screen, from our lips. A haunting breath whispering of unspeakable tragedy and heart rending grief.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 did something to this country. It changed our history. It changed us.

It was a despicable act of cruelty. People innocent of any crime against their executioners were brutally slaughtered in service to a god who demands the death of infidels.

It was egregious. Horrific. Abominable. And we will never forget. Nor should we.

Do this in remembrance of Me.

The words lie quietly on the page, beckoning us back to another day. A day dusty with the passing of centuries. But it changed our history. It changed us.

It was a despicable act of cruelty. Jesus, innocent of any crime, was brutally slaughtered by executioners serving a God who demands the death of infidels.

These are my notes from my ladies’ Sunday School class this morning. I’ll be posting the notes from my class here each week. They will be in outline form, so if you have any questions or need more details, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Click here for the previous lesson.

Godly Womanhood – God’s Role for Women in the Church
1 Timothy 2

Review/overview of God’s structure for leadership:

Creative Order (Genesis 2-3):

1. Man was created first, then woman.

2. Man was given responsibility, position, and instruction before woman was created.

3. Woman was created to be a helper.

Marriage Order (Ephesians 5:22-33, 1 Peter 3:1-7, 1 Corinthians 7):

Reflects and builds on the Creative Order:

1. Consistency with Creative account

We do not see a reversal or equalizing of roles in the New Testament’s teaching on the roles of men and women in marriage. The…

If you’ve been keeping up with the History Channel’s The Bible miniseries, you’ve probably noticed that everybody seems to have an opinion about it. I’ve been watching the series, live chatting it on my Facebook page, and reading reviews and comments about it from viewers, bloggers, and Christian leaders. At the risk of over-saturating the blogosphere, here are a few of my thoughts on what people are saying about The Bible*. (You can find Part 2 of this series here, and Part 3 here.)

1. “The Bible” will get people to read their Bibles.

I hope so. I really do, but I’m concerned.

Have you ever watched the movie Braveheart? The Patriot? Gone with the Wind? (Ha. You thought I had a little Mel Gibson thing going there, didn’t you?) Upon finishing any of those movies, did you pick up a thick tome on William Wallace…