A Note to Alexander Dugin Approaching Christmas

Christmas 2022 (West)

Mr. Dugin:

I must confess the novelty involved in sending a personal note to someone I have never met face-to-face. And yet I have had a spiritual and existential encounter with you through your writings for Geopolitika and Katehon provided for me in English, prior to and after the tragedy of August 20th in Moscow.

To you who has contributed far more than I—-and suffered far more than I—-in our mutual struggle against World Government, the New World Order, and Antichrist, I can only offer the re-assurance that the testimony of the Apostle Paul in the first century is Biblical reassurance to Alexander Dugin in the twenty-first century in what is the ancient and identical struggle with Satanic evil in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in history to those in greatest need in the darkest of days and nights.

Philippians 3:10-11

¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain^[a] to the resurrection from the dead.

I must say that I find it curious as an American speaking and reading no Russian that the three writers who have had the most profound impact upon me prophetically and existentially outside of the narrative of the Old and New Testaments are three Russians named Alexander: Solzhenitsyn, Zinoviev, and now Dugin. In your writings and personal tragedies in this Year of our Lord 2022, Daniel, chapter 7 keeps recurring in my mind late in the sleepless nights since February 24th. I believe two principles are paramount in emphasis in this text where your own faithful witness is concerned. First, verses 15 and 28 underscore what I suspect has been your own experience in common with the 6th century B.C. prophet bearing the burden of conveying the insights of the Triune God.

Daniel 7

1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.

12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.

13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet;

20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

The second truth of Daniel is this: Kingdom of God in Christ proclaimed in time and fully experienced in eternity by all of God’s people past, present, and future shall destroy all earthly kingdoms. I have an Icon of the Ancient of Days in my radio broadcasting studio, which was my visual reminder this morning that the Satanic gathering in Washington yesterday of Ersatz Beast and False Prophet at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and on Capitol Hill, introduced by the Jezebel of the House of Representatives and Insider Congressional Stock Trading Champion to the tune of $140 million dollars, has an imminent end coming. The “Democracy” of Biden, Nuland, Kagan, Clinton, Obama, Zelensky and their supporters has but a single night remaining, as did Belshazzar’s reign. The paradox is that this night will produce a shining new dawn and day.

It will also be a vindication of the righteousness of the Eurasian Prophet and the martyrdom of his beloved daughter for the cause of Christ and His redemptive Gospel. God will get all of the collective perpetrators of this evil world system soon to be led by the eschatological Antichrist, whomever he will prove to be. In the providence of God, I imagine there is not much more in the way of linear time before these Final Things.

There is one final re-assurance and encouragement I wish to mention to a fellow friend in the final struggle between good and evil, between Christ and the Satanic Realm (Ephesians 6), a friend far more gifted than I with so many people to reach and with miles to go before he sleeps:

You who embody “faithful unto death” shall receive the “Crown of Life.”

Revelation 2:9-10

⁹ “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

God’s Richest Blessings approaching Christmas,

Mark Dankof

San Antonio, Texas

USA

Рождество 2022 (Запад)

Г-н Дугин:

Я должен признаться в новизне, связанной с отправкой личной записки человеку, которого я никогда не встречал лицом к лицу. И все же у меня была духовная и экзистенциальная встреча с вами через ваши статьи для Geopolitika и Katehon, предоставленные мне на английском языке, до и после трагедии 20 августа в Москве.

Вам, кто внес гораздо больший вклад, чем я, – и пострадал гораздо больше, чем я, – в нашей совместной борьбе против Мирового правительства, Нового мирового порядка и Антихриста, я могу только еще раз заверить, что свидетельство апостола Павла в первом веке является библейским заверением для Александра Дугина в двадцать первый век в том, что является древней и идентичной борьбой с сатанинским злом в провозглашении Евангелия Христа в истории тем, кто больше всего нуждается в самые темные дни и ночи.

Филиппийцам 3:10-11

10 чтобы я мог познать Его и силу Его воскресения, и участие в Его страданиях, будучи сообразным Его смерти, 11 если каким-либо образом я могу достичь воскресения из мертвых.

Я должен сказать, что мне, как американцу, не говорящему и не читающему по-русски, кажется любопытным, что три писателя, оказавшие на меня наиболее глубокое пророческое и экзистенциальное влияние за пределами повествования Ветхого и Нового Заветов, – это трое русских по имени Александр: Солженицын, Зиновьев, а теперь и Дугин.

В сочетании с твоими писаниями и личными трагедиями в этом 2022 году от Рождества Христова, Даниил, глава 7 продолжает возвращаться в моей голове поздними бессонными ночами с 24 февраля. Я полагаю, что в этом тексте, когда речь идет о вашем собственном верном свидетельстве, первостепенное значение имеют два принципа. Во-первых, стихи 15 и 28 подчеркивают то, что, как я подозреваю, было вашим собственным опытом, общим с пророком 6-го века до н.э., несущим бремя передачи прозрений Триединого Бога.

Даниил 7

1 В первый год Валтасара, царя Вавилонского, Даниилу приснился сон и видения головы его на ложе его; тогда он записал сон и изложил суть дела.

2 Даниил заговорил и сказал: я видел в видении моем ночью, и вот, четыре ветра небесные боролись на великом море.

3 И вышли из моря четыре больших зверя, непохожих один на другого.

4 Первый был подобен льву и имел орлиные крылья: я смотрел, пока крылья его не были вырваны, и он был поднят с земли и поставлен на ноги, как человек, и сердце человека было дано ему.

5 И вот, другой зверь, второй, похожий на медведя, и он приподнялся с одной стороны, и во рту у него было три ребра между зубами его; и они сказали ему так: встань, пожри много мяса.

6 После сего я увидел, и вот другое, подобное леопарду, у которого на спине было четыре птичьих крыла; у зверя также было четыре головы; и дана была ему власть.


7 После этого я видел в ночных видениях, и вот четвертый зверь, страшный и ужасный, и сильный чрезвычайно; и у него были большие железные зубы; он пожирал и разрывал на куски, а остатки топтал ногами своими; и он отличался от всех зверей, которые были до него.; и у него было десять рогов.

8 Я рассмотрел рога, и вот, среди них появился еще один маленький рог, перед которым были три из первых рогов, вырванных с корнем; и вот, в этом роге были глаза, подобные глазам человека, и уста, говорящие великие вещи.

9 Я смотрел, доколе не были низвергнуты престолы, и воссел Ветхий днями, одежда которого была бела, как снег, и волосы на голове его, как чистая шерсть; престол его был подобен огненному пламени, и колеса его – пылающему огню.

10 Поток огня исходил от него; тысячи тысяч служили ему, и десять тысяч раз по десять тысяч стояли перед ним; суд был установлен, и книги были открыты.

11 Тогда я увидел из-за голоса великих слов, которые произносил рог: Я видел даже до тех пор, пока зверь не был убит, а его тело уничтожено и предано пылающему пламени.

12 Что касается остальных зверей, то у них отняли власть, но жизнь их была продлена на время.

13 Я видел в ночных видениях, и вот, некто, подобный Сыну человеческому, пришел с облаками небесными, и пришел к Ветхому днями, и они приблизили его к нему.

14 И дано было ему владычество, и слава, и царство, чтобы все народы, племена и языки служили ему: владычество его – владычество вечное, которое не прейдет, и царство его – то, что не будет разрушено.

15 Я, Даниил, был опечален духом моим посреди тела моего, и видения головы моей беспокоили меня.

16 Я подошел к одному из тех, кто стоял рядом, и спросил его об истине всего этого. Итак, он рассказал мне и дал мне знать толкование этих вещей.

17 Эти великие звери, которых четыре, суть четыре царя, которые восстанут из земли.

18 Но святые Всевышнего возьмут царство и будут владеть царством вовеки, даже во веки веков.

19 Тогда я узнал бы истину о четвертом звере, который отличался от всех остальных, был чрезвычайно ужасен, чьи зубы были из железа, а ногти из меди; который пожирал, разрывал на куски и топтал остатки ногами;

20 И из десяти рогов, которые были у него на голове, и из другого, который вырос, и перед которым упали три; даже из того рога, у которого были глаза и уста, которые говорили очень великие вещи, чей вид был более сильным, чем у его собратьев.

21 Я видел, и тот же самый рог воевал со святыми и победил их;

22 Доколе не пришел Ветхий днями, и суд был дан святым Всевышнего; и пришло время, когда святые овладели царством.

23 Так он сказал: четвертый зверь будет четвертым царством на земле, которое будет отличаться от всех царств, и пожрет всю землю, и растопчет ее, и разорвет ее на части.

24 И десять рогов из этого царства – это десять царей, которые восстанут; и другой восстанет после них; и он будет отличаться от первого, и он покорит трех царей.

25 И он будет говорить великие слова против Всевышнего, и изнурит святых Всевышнего, и подумает изменить времена и законы: и они будут отданы в его руки до времени и времен и разделения времени.

26 Но состоится суд, и они отнимут у него власть, чтобы поглотить и разрушить ее до конца.

27 И царство и господство, и величие царства под всем небом будут даны народу святых Всевышнего, чье царство есть вечное царство, и все господства будут служить ему и повиноваться ему.

28 До сих пор это конец дела. Что касается меня, Даниил, то мои размышления сильно беспокоили меня, и выражение моего лица изменилось во мне; но я держал это дело в своем сердце.

Вторая истина Даниила такова: Царство Божье во Христе, провозглашенное во времени и полностью пережитое в вечности всем народом Божьим в прошлом, настоящем и будущем, уничтожит все земные царства. У меня в студии радиовещания есть икона Древних дней, которая сегодня утром была моим визуальным напоминанием о вчерашнем сатанинском собрании в Вашингтоне Эрзац-Зверя и Лжепророка на Пенсильвания-авеню, 1600, и на Капитолийском холме, представленном Иезавелью из Палаты представителей и Чемпионом по инсайдерской торговле акциями Конгресса в Вашингтоне. сумма в 140 миллионов долларов приближается к неизбежному концу. У “Демократии” Байдена, Нуланд, Кагана, Клинтон, Обамы, Зеленского и их сторонников осталась всего одна ночь, как и у правления Валтасара. Парадокс заключается в том, что эта ночь породит новый сияющий рассвет и день.

Это также будет подтверждением праведности Евразийского пророка и мученической смерти его любимой дочери за дело Христа и Его искупительное Евангелие. Бог скоро приведет всех коллективных преступников этой злой мировой системы во главе с эсхатологическим Антихристом, кем бы он ни оказался. По провидению Божьему, я полагаю, что до этих Последних Событий осталось не так уж много линейного времени.

Есть одно последнее заверение и ободрение, о котором я хотел бы упомянуть своему другу в последней борьбе между добром и злом, между Христом и сатанинским царством (Ефесянам 6), другу, гораздо более одаренному, чем я, с таким количеством людей, которых нужно достичь, и с километрами, которые нужно пройти, прежде чем он уснет.:

Вы, воплощающие “верность до смерти”, получите “Венец жизни”.

Откровение 2:9-10

9 “Я знаю ваши дела, скорбь и бедность (но вы богаты); и я знаю богохульство тех, кто говорит, что они евреи, но не являются ими, но являются синагогой сатаны. 10 Не бойтесь ничего из того, от чего вам предстоит пострадать. Воистину, дьявол собирается бросить некоторых из вас в тюрьму, чтобы вы могли подвергнуться испытанию, и у вас будет скорбь десять дней. Будь верен до самой смерти, и я дам тебе венец жизни.

Самые богатые Божьи благословения приближаются к Рождеству,

Марк Данкоф

Сан-Антонио, Техас

Mark Dankof to Professor Rogers M. Smith: The Fatal and Tragi-Comedic State of American “Democracy”

Professor Rogers M. Smith of the political science department of the University of Pennsylvania recently interacted with Iran’s Tehran Times on the present state of American Democracy. Mark Dankof respectfully interacts with these observations with different data and totally different conclusions about America in the twilight.

American “democracy” in any legitimate sense of the term ended with the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. As Laurent Guyenót has chronicled for the Unz Review, as as Michael Collins Piper did in his book, “Final Judgment,” Israel was at the apex of the pyramid behind that killing. The United States has been in eclipse since then.

I would also respectfully take issue with Professor Smith on the legitimacy of the results of the 2020 American Presidential Election. He believes there is no evidence of voter fraud. I would simply cite Tony Hall’s article for the Unz Review entitled, “Trump’s Landslide Meets the Politics of Electoral Fraud in America” and Brett Redmayne-Titley’s post for Unz entitled, “The ‘Dominion’ of Election Fraud.”

As for American ‘Democracy,’ despite the fact that I have little use for Donald Trump as a tool of Israeli interests (as is his successor) the “Russiagate” investigation of Robert Mueller was a $32 million dollar fraud designed by the Deep State to overturn and delegitimize the 2016 Election: It came up with absolutely nothing, but did serve to delegitimize a post-Communist Russia and the post-Bolshevik national and cultural Renaissance of Putin’s country undergirded by a return to a pre-Bolshevik Russian Orthodox culture despised by the American political elite and its New World Order.

On war and foreign policy regarding Joe Biden and his standing as a tool of Zionist interests:

Biden is a synthesis of devotion to Globalism, Multinational Corporate Capitalism, and the Zio-Wars of a declining American Empire, with a virulent Cultural Marxism that has a “Roman Catholic” American President appealing to his largely Jewish political and financial power base.

This brings us then to the Biden Administration’s actual war and foreign policy posture in an American “Democracy.” It is  being crafted by three Zionist Jews: Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland. Ms. Nuland was the chief henchwoman of the Obama/Clinton/Biden sponsorship of the illegal coup d’etat in the Ukraine in February of 2014 that has made Joe and Hunter Biden rich via the Burisma scandal chronicled by the New York Post last October 14th.

This illegal coup, a part of a larger attempt to encircle Putin’s Russia, has resulted now in a series of reckless provocations involving the Donbass and Crimea, the largest American and NATO military deployments and exercises in the Baltics, Black Sea, and Eastern Europe ever witnessed, and an ongoing rhetorical demonization of Vladimir Putin virtually identical to the absolute pack of lies about the Russian President being currently sold to the global public by the April 24-30th cover story of The Economist. When one adds the Neo-Conservative demonization of Iran and China being undertaken by this Administration, it is obvious that the same Cabal controls American National Security and Foreign Policy regardless of the party affiliation of the particular Presidential incumbent in office at any given point in time. This is mercilessly obvious since the assassination of John Kennedy almost 58 years ago here in Texas.

One obvious proof of who controls Biden and why: Colombia and Israel. In his May 28th essay for Mint Press News entitled, “Birds of a Fascist Feather: Why Israel is Helping Colombia Crackdown on Protestors,” Alan Macleod notes the historic role of Joe Biden with Israel in that country: “Plan Colombia — the militarization of the drug war in Latin America — is most associated with the Bush administration. However, the brains of the operation was actually Joe Biden. ‘I’m the guy who put together Plan Colombia…straighten[ing] that government out for a long while,’ he bragged last year. While in office, Biden plans to expand his policy from Colombia to Central America.”

On gun violence in the United States, I would say to Professor Smith that the Democratic Party, Joe Biden, and the Gun Control Industry in the United States fundamentally misunderstand the problem of guns and violence in American society.

A striking irony is this one: Democratic Party lionize the late 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. They conveniently omit the fact that President Kennedy was a Life Member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). In those days, there was greater per capita ownership of firearms than in the United States now, yet mass shootings and today’s pervasive criminal use of weaponry was unheard of. Why?

I argue that this is because today’s America is no longer shaped by an older traditional European Christianity either Protestant, Lutheran, or Roman Catholic. It is now an alcohol and drug besotted post-Christian culture that has presently drifted into Neo-Paganism. All the signs are there, including rampant involvement in every form of sexual perversion imaginable, and an increasing disregard for the sanctity of innocent human life, including the heinous practice of partial birth abortion and increasing disrespect of the elderly. It is striking that this embrace of evil domestically finds its American Empire counterpart in a foreign policy rooted in militarism and the increasing number of war crimes being committed by the United States military and its Israeli and Saudi allies in the Middle East. The post-Cold War NATO no longer maintains any pretense of being a defensive alliance. American Presidents, like Biden and Trump, no longer maintain the old doctrine of plausible deniability in their respective crimes, either with Biden and his pals Obama and Clinton in Libya, Syria, Kosovo, and Ukraine, or Trump with the Soleimani Assassination.

The official FBI statistics on racial crime in the United States and on police shootings belie the impression created by Corporate Mainstream Media in the United States where these matters are concerned. The June 2nd, 2020 essay of Heather MacDonald for the Wall Street Journal entitled “The Myth of Systemic Police Racism” demonstrates this. To the extent that urban American police departments have become progressively more militaristic in tactics and weaponry, one need look no further than the training seminars being conducted routinely for American police departments in Israel. It is not an accident that subsequent police misconduct in the United States looks increasingly like the routine criminal misconduct undertaken by the Israeli police and military in their occupation of Palestine and Gaza. This ultimately will mean that the Israelification of American police departments will fit hand in glove with the 78 Fusion Centers in this country that blur the distinctions between Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement, even as the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith (ADL) and Southern Poverty Law Center provide political profiling of American citizens who possess “potential terrorist profiles” for these Fusion Centers and their surveillance data bases.

The most pressing problem in this country with racially motivated violence involves the disproportionate involvement of African Americans in the criminal misuse of firearms and the disproportionate number of murders of blacks by blacks, Hispanics by blacks, and whites by blacks. One would never know this by the distorted coverage of Corporate Mainstream Media.

Why is this so? I argue that the increase in illegitimate births among African Americans from 25% in 1960 to over 75% 60 years later is at the heart of the problem. The African American father has been rendered irrelevant  by an economic support system rooted in government subsidies. Drugs and sexual promiscuity and lack of parental discipline and stability have dovetailed with access to illegal weaponry that has turned these communities into war zones. Police serving in these neighborhoods have understandably come to adopt a mentality of survival in the midst of these war zones. Combine these dynamics of moral and community disintegration with a proliferation of illegally obtained weapons and militarized police departments, and one can grasp the gravity of the situation.

Older Americans, especially with European Christian backgrounds and coming from rural areas and small towns, associate firearms with a way of life totally unlike their contemporary urban counterpart. They see the imposition of gun control, especially by un-Constitutional Executive Orders, as a threat to their 2nd Amendment Rights on the part of a hostile Federal government whose real agenda is to create a police state controlled by a political elite under the spell of Globalism and Zionism. In their view, the same government that forces the children of traditional Christian families to endure LGBTQ propaganda in the public school courtesy of Biden’s friends at the National Education Association (NEA), is the same government under Joe Biden that favors the legalization of transgender surgeries and therapies for minor children, that continues to marginalize them economically by exporting their manufacturing jobs overseas, even as massive illegal immigration continues to consume dwindling national resources at the expense of American citizens. They see also see gun control as the disenfranchisement of the law abiding by leftist political forces in government and the legal system who have pursued a revolving door “justice” system where multi-convicted violent felons are returned to the streets time and time again and whose rates of recidivism in violent crimes are staggering.

Finally, I would say to Professor Smith that the American intervention in Afghanistan was designed to create the opportunity to transport oil to the Indian Ocean via Afghanistan and to make a lot of money for defense contractors. The real story on the ultimate perpetrators of 9-11 is Israel. Laurent Guyenót’s article for Unz entitled, “9-11 Was an Israeli Job: How America Was Neo-Conned Into World War IV,” or the interview Kourosh Ziabari did with me on Israel and 9-11 should give your readers the inside story on what really happened and why.

I understand that if Professor Smith breathed a word to anyone on anything I have said in this conversation that he would sadly be an ex-professor at the University of Pennsylvania. It is my hope in this regard that the American system of higher education is liberated from Zionist Lobby preemption of the First Amendment, along with our Mainstream Media, Social Media, and our American government and National Security Establishment. In that event, we could have the free, fair, and civil discussion of these issues not presently possible in any of these venues. Until then, any discussion of American “Democracy” is a tragic-comedic sham. Perhaps the most telltale example of how true this is comes from Whitney Webb of Unlimited Hangout: “The Cover-Up Continues: The Truth About Bill Gates, Microsoft, and Jeffrey Epstein.”

In the meantime, I am rededicating my life to a return to Biblical and language studies for my own edification and as a diversion from watching my own country die a slow but sure death in the last days of hospice. The end is clearly in sight for an evil American Empire for those who discern the classic signs revealed both in Christian eschatology and in the patterns of linear history.

As I said recently in a private Homeschooling Seminar for parents in Texas:

We are moving toward the end of history and the return of Christ. The New World Order continues to press for our global enslavement. And so I will continue to equip God’s people in these darkening times in small settings and private homes, even as the institutional churches continue to acquiesce to the forces that will bring about the appearance of the Antichrist. (Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 13)

An Overview of Jonah as Prototypical Primer for Catacomb Church and Homeschool Study

Jonah in distress in the 8th century B. C.  He was a prototype of coming distress for the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Samaria.  Is there a contemporary historical analogy and application?

 

     I am most honored to be with you today as an invited guest on this Sunday afternoon.  Let me say at the outset that it has been a long time since I’ve been in front of a group of evangelicals in a home or classroom setting to provide an overview of a Biblical book or a topic of history or systematic theology.  Years ago when a most improbable set of circumstances brought me to the now defunct Texas Bible College in the Alamo City to teach Biblical courses, apologetics, church history, and communications for several years, I had the pedagogical experience of my life in front of a group of young people who saw learning the material as an exciting journey and odyssey of a lifetime.

     What I remember most is what Lutheran pastor and theologian Helmut Thielicke once referred to as “intense listening.” I covered the context of Pastor Thielicke’s phrase in a presentation I delivered to a Lutheran gathering in the Middle West 4 years ago.  In a nutshell, Dr. C. George Fry chronicles that context in his article on Thielicke in the Handbook of Evangelical Theologians (Baker, 1993) on pages 219-233.  Dr. Fry explains how and why this great man was in academic and professional exile in the early days of World War II, how he came out of exile under circumstances that can only be explained as the work of God in history, and how through his teaching skills and personal acquaintance with the Gospel, the Stuttgart Cathedral lectures to the beleaguered German people transpired even as Allied air raids drew ever nearer to them.  Fry noted that:

Helmut Thielicke: Preaching the Gospel near Midnight in the Stuttgart Cathedral during the apocalyptic Allied Air Raids.  He experienced “intense listening” never seen again.

     “As he lectured [in Stuttgart Cathedral] on its five principle parts [Small Catechism of Luther]–the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper–‘evening after evening some three thousand persons gathered together; workers and businessmen, students and professors, soldiers and generals, Nazi functionaries (naturally in civilian clothes!) and Jews, Dutch compulsory laborers . . . and sometimes whole classes from the schools.  It was an overwhelming time for me.  Never since have I experienced such intense listening.’      Soon the massive air raids began.  When the streetcars could no longer run, people ‘came on foot, often from many miles away, through the fields of ruins and rubble’ even on dark and frightening winter evenings.  But then the [Stuttgart] cathedral was destroyed.  Thielicke wrote, ‘I can still see the towering torch of this venerable house of God.  . . . I stood there holding in my hand a key to a door that no longer existed.’”

The original Stuttgart Cathedral is located in Stuttgart-Bad-Canstatt. Its history goes back all the way to 1470. After massive destruction during the Second World War, the church was rebuilt in 1954/55.

     The lesson is this:  When there is great opportunity for evangelical believers to gather together around a meaningful study of the Word of God, that is an opportunity to be seized at the moment in time it is offered.  Just as the Stuttgart Cathedral was torched in a single evening of air raids, so it was that Texas Bible College closed under less dramatic circumstances after a handful of semesters of teaching for me there.  Thielicke noted later in his life that those times of “intense listening” would never come again.  I never experienced it again either, although I sense in our group this afternoon that the Lord has many mutual blessings for us in the handful of occasions when I will be your guest in this house to share my thoughts and materials with you.  And please keep in mind that just as there was a sense of great apocalyptic and eschatological expectation among the German people who flocked to the Thielicke lectures in Stuttgart Cathedral, there is a strong scent of apocalyptic and eschatological expectation in history among those of us in the Remnant Church most desirous of spending more time in the Word of God and in fervent intercessory prayer.  I addressed this very thing in the last public theological presentation made to anyone in 2017 in “The Church of Smyrna Speaks to the Confessing Church of Christ in this Darkening Hour.”  Later in the year, I would be given 5 minutes to speak at a Lutheran convention in a foreign country with reference to this article.  In addition to the shortness of time allotted, the convention folks were preoccupied with choosing a new president and adopting a new organizational structure.  John on Patmos and the application of the Apocalypse to the present historical situation of the Remnant Church in the Western World and elsewhere wasn’t apparently on their agenda for the week.  I know it is on yours or I would not have been asked to come here.  The point is this:  You know the hour.  You want your loved ones to have the best grasp of Scripture possible as persecutions and circumstances worsen.  And I’d rather be with 7 folks here in this house on a Sunday afternoon than all the denominational meetings and conventions extant.  Put slightly differently, I tend to hate those gatherings.  Enough said.

     My second introductory point pertains to the political realm in the world, our need to be presently informed and watchful observers of the events within it in this country and abroad, and to take note of Paul’s warnings in Ephesians 6 about the demonic realm’s influence and operations within world governments.  Why?  Because: 1) The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and both the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Apostolic Writers underscore the importance of discernment in battling demonic deception in world history at every point on the linear time line which runs from the Fall to the Second Advent of the Lord.  2) No Biblical writing can be properly studied and even partially understood without constant reference to the historical context and events that enshrouded the particular author, including Jonah. And what Biblical principles at these various stages of redemptive history properly inform the Remnant Church now as to what God is accomplishing at present through individuals, collective entities, world leaders and empires, and technological advancements making global surveillance systems, economic manipulations, media misinformation, and military weapons of mass destruction and mass murder ever greater threats to the survivability of the planet? Does not the age of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in Daniel, and Nero and Domitian of the Ancient Roman Empire as chronicled by the Apostle John on Patmos in Revelation, provide us with prototypical clues regarding the New World Order and the impending unveiling of Antichrist?   And to reiterate, 3) the Lord in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 21) mentions the concept of deception more than that of any other idea in his chronicling of the run-up to the end of history and His return.  The principle and the lesson is this: Assiduous study of the Word of God, acquiring proper tools in doing so, developing solid principles for applying the Old and New Testament to legitimate contemporary applications, including discerning the larger meaning of present and future events in history, are within your grasp and mine as we work within our mutual limitations as best we can, and ask the Holy Spirit of God to reveal what He desires that we truly hear, see, and take to heart in the times in which we live.  Only these things can and will enable us to penetrate falsehoods and deceptions in these end times and to recognize false prophets and wolves when they insiduously infiltrate and attack.  Rest assured that they are, and that they shall. And as we shall see shortly, interpretation and understanding of the context of the story of Jonah is inextricably linked with the political developments of his time as they pertained both to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the nation of Assyria.

     In closing this second point of introduction, let me note what many of you already know from things you have read or heard about me.  I have been intensely involved in the political realm for many years, for reasons directly related to what I believe about eschatology, and what I believe are the particular forces Satan has been working through in both the United States specifically and the West generally to destroy Christian societies, civilizations, and churches, especially since the earliest portion of the 20th Century onward.  My last post in this arena was this past January.  I do not know if there will be any more, or any additional TV or radio commentary.  My mission in all of this may already be past. It is my hope that people in the future who come across my work since 2001 will understand the context of why I embarked upon this journey in the critical years in question, and what I was trying to accomplish as one of a relative handful of voices exiled in the desert in wintertime.  Time tells.

     Beginning today, I hope to equip you with a basic structural methodology for studying any Biblical book.  The book you have selected as a test case example is Jonah.

     Before beginning our quest to examine the Book of Jonah more closely, let me say several things about tools for studying Scripture and consulting the best sources available to you or me.  The first is the Annotated Bibliography.  I emphasize Annotated because this term underscores that one is not simply provided with a list of books on a particular subject or discipline, but helpful comments and guidance on the strength and weaknesses of a particular book, the ideological background of the author(s), and the particular tradition or school of thought out of which said author(s) comes.  As but one example, is the author an evangelical/orthodox scholar theologically, as we understand that term shall be used in this class, or does he/she come from the realm of Higher Criticism and Historical Criticism which provide a brand of scholarship with far different presuppositions and conclusions than any of us would accept as viable?  Among evangelicals, what is a Dispensational Premillennialist?  An Amillennialist? What is the context of the Calvinistic-Arminian controversy over free will and election?  What is the difference between a Lutheran and a Zwinglian in interpretation of major Biblical passages pertaining to the Lord’s Supper?  What are the different schools of interpretation that have existed in history to explain the Prophecy of 70 Weeks in Daniel, chapter 9?

     These are just a few of the important ideas to have an acquaintance with in any evaluation of what we read in any commentary on these subjects at hand.  Hint:  All of us come to the Biblical narrative with a background and historical framework, whether we are conscious of this or not, or frank enough to acknowledge the obvious. Just in brief Internet search I found an interesting list with comments here. Check out another possibility for Jonah research here.  The evangelical Denver Seminary has a list of Old Testament commentary recommendations here.  And the famous evangelical Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, an offshoot of Princeton historically, has a variety of tools available to any of us.  I introduce two suggestions at this point with Annotated Bibliographies:  1) Those prepared by known evangelical schools and sources are likely to be best for our use.  2) Having said that, please do not cheat yourself of the insights and contributions to be made in understanding a subject often contributed by scholars we do not agree with in key areas.  Example:  The great Lutheran scholar and historian, Jaroslav Pelikan (later Eastern Orthodox), had a view of the Scriptures heavily influenced by historical criticism and at odds with that of more orthodox, evangelical Lutherans.  Having said that, if one engages in the study of historical theology, it is impossible not to avail oneself of his brilliant mind and research as exhibited in his 5 volume set on Church History, entitled The Christian Tradition:  The History of the Development of Doctrine.  I have this set, and am presently reading Volume 2 on my own, to learn more about Eastern Orthodoxy.  Do you know what I was exposed to on this subject in an evangelical seminary?  Absolutely nothing is the correct answer.  The lesson is this:  Protestant evangelicals are heavyweights in exegesis of the Word of God.  They tend to be extremely weak as historians in the area of the development of doctrine.  Take the predominant eschatological position of evangelicals on the final events of world history, especially as they pertain to the modern State of Israel vis a vis the Israel of God.  How many know the beginning of the rudimentary elements of this position first emerge in the writings of a Jesuit priest in the 16th century, subsequently to be systematized by John Nelson Darby and popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible in the 19th century?  One evangelical source for examining this subject and providing a fair treatment to both sides of this debate may be accessed here.  The Annotated Bibliography for this single key subject alone is enough to fill a few libraries in and of itself. Enough said.

     Where tools are concerned, the multi-volume Zondervan Charts are critically valuable.  I have been collecting them for years.

     And finally, if one desires to learn enough Greek and Hebrew through a reputable online course, the best tools for subsequent word studies and research include the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Harris, Archer, Waltke), the updated version of the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Moises Silva, ed.), and the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (10 vols, Kittel/Friedrich).  The classic Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, the accompanying Index to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, the infamous Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich or “BAG”) and An Index to the Revised Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon (John R. Alsop, Zondervan) round out some of the basics for those who want to dabble in these scholarly arenas. We do not have to be world-famous scholars to use these.  Over time, I can easily show you how.  By the way, the Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich (“BAG”) edition is a first edition.  Later, there was a second edition in 1979 that involved my late Lutheran colleague William Danker, hence the later acronym BAGD.  And to make matters even more ridiculous for you, when a 3rd edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature was subsequently issued in 2000, the acronym for the 4 scholars was rearranged for reasons beyond me. This 3rd edition is referred to by insiders as BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich).  Go figure.  As for me, I still have the 2nd edition known as BAGD.  This is for reasons of nostalgia that go back almost 37 years. The legendary Dr. Douglas Moo (follow your Annotated Bibliographies for the New Testament) was the one who beat me to death in summer Greek Exegesis courses in 1981 after I barely passed the crash course of 2 years of college Greek in 2 previous semesters at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School to qualify for Moo.  He found it humorous when I slipped him a note to suggest early termination of a class that academically overwhelming summer of 1981 to get to a Cubs game in Wrigley Field that particular afternoon.  The note read:  “Dr. Moo.  May we BAG this for the Cubs’ game today?  Dankof. (BAGD from that time on wasn’t for Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker but for BAG [this]D[Signed, Dankof].” His response:  “Funny, but I have BAGGED your suggestion. Dr. M.“

     If you would like to explore the possibilities for yourself or your kids in learning enough New Testament Greek for the use of some of these tools in word studies, my written transcript of today’s conversation will contain a link here.  Again, this may never be your desire, but I always chronicle these things in order that someone will have a resource to consult months, years, or decades later.  I still use my notes, my course syllabi, references on note cards to something discovered in a particular resource, flash cards, and updated Annotated Bibliographies as needed, to get to the bottom of something in my personal studies.  Two classic examples involve a single piece of paper where my late friend, Pastor John Eppler, tutored me for a week in the Hebrew alphabet and its phonetic sounds, to enable me to pass summer months of constant Hebrew immersion with Dr. Samir Massouh at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the summer of 1982.  Sadly, we lost Pastor Eppler in late 2004.  After John got me through the alphabet and Hebrew immersion with Dr. Massouh, I would enjoy OT 711, or “Poetry and Post-Exilic History” with the latter that fall.  Sadly, Samir Massouh now struggles with esophageal cancer and chemotherapy at the St. Francis Hospital in Kenosha, Wisconsin, north of Chicago. How I miss these men.

The late Pastor John Eppler’s handwriting instructs me in the Hebrew alphabet and phonetic pronunciation on a piece of notebook paper in the summer of 1982.

Dates of OT significance to memorize in the Fall of 1982.

     One nostalgic story about Samir Massouh is in order.  In my last Hebrew course in the summer of 1982, the final exam contained a lengthy translation.  I “Aced” that portion of the exam.  Several days later, he asked me to come to his office.  He seemed troubled.  I knew what was bothering him.  He noted my never-before-noted-and-sudden brilliance on that portion of the exam.  He also ventured that he believed me to be 1) an honorable person and 2) an improving but still mediocre Hebrew student at the graduate level.  With those hypotheses ruminating in his mind, he asked if I had an explanation for my sudden foray into Hebrew exegetical skills matching his own, or Gleason Archer’s.

The Crucifix and the Sacramental Altar of Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Wahiawa.  Every Wednesday morning, The Venite was sung by the children in the Matins Service (Psalm 95).

     My answer was truthful and explanatory:  “The answer is the Venite which I sang every Wednesday morning in 3 years of grade school at Trinity Lutheran School in Wahiawa, Hawaii in the 1960s during the Chapel Matins Service.  It’s contained in the Matins Service on page 32 in The Lutheran Hymnal.  The Venite is Psalm 95 used as a canticle in the Western liturgy, usually for Matins.” (Massouh’s test translation for the last Hebrew exam of the summer of 1981 was Psalm 95. Virtually none of the pan-Protestant evangelical students taking that exam knew anything about historic liturgy, especially in the Evangelical Free Church of America, the Bible Church tradition, the Conservative Baptist denomination, et. al.  But the singular Lutheran with a childhood background in Western Liturgical Worship knew it by heart.)

     Samir Massouh’s countenance reflected a combination of humor and relief.  He said, “So this explains why you were humming while you were writing.”  My response:  “Exactly.  After two lines, I recognized the entire pericope.  But I could best bring everything back to total recall by humming the melody of the liturgical setting for Psalm 95 used then for Matins.  It went much faster than trying to recite it without the music.“

     I asked him if I would still receive my A.  He said with a smile and beaming eyes, “Yes. and get out of here.”  My response as I was opening the door to leave was “See you for Post Exilic History this fall.”

     There is a postscript to this story.  In the following spring of 1983, Trinity Journal (TRINJ 04:1/Spring 1983, page 84) came out with an article by Dr. Massouh. It was entitled, “Exegetical Notes Psalm 95,” and began with introductory comments on worship:

     “Recent publications have reflected a renewed evangelical interest in the nature and manner of worship. Some have advocated incorporating charismatic enthusiasm while others have promoted the use of more liturgy. It is in the light of such revived interest that this study of Ps 95 is given, in order to establish some biblical principles about the nature and manner of worship.”

     I ran into him on campus shortly after the article was released.  I observed wryly, “You’re the first Trinity professor who ever plagiarized any of my stuff.” He got the humor.

     Lesson:  Never forget the most special people God has ever placed, or will place, in your life.  Think about the principles of instruction provided.  I will say it again.  I will never forget those men, and those times.  And if the truth be known, one of the great mistakes in my life was not staying there for a much longer period of trial and hardship to develop the skills and the calling I did not realize were emerging until many years later. I have one thesis to finish and one more language exam to finance and sustain in preparing for whatever remains of my life in the time left. Only God knows how this will be possible or where in this present world it leads, but He assures us he is in the Impossibility business (Luke 1:37).

     Now we move on to a brief roadmap of introductory structure and notes for the Book of Jonah, which as indicated earlier is in prototypical form and concept what I do in the study of any Biblical book.  (Aside:  If you’re counting, my Word Processor informs me that you and I have now covered not quite 3500 words.  Again, the electronic version of this conversation will enable you to get to the Links to some of the resources discussed here in the living room of this house.)

When God calls us to go to a destination 550 miles away, His purposes through us will still be accomplished if we run 2500 miles in the other direction. [Book of Jonah]

A Roadmap of Structures and Concepts for Studying a Biblical Book:  Test Case is Jonah.

Place of the Book in the Canon and in the Redemptive History Timeline: For your Prototypical Analysis, think Patriarchs and Israelites/United Monarchy/Divided Monarchy/Babylonian Captivity/Intertestamental Period.  Jonah:  Divided Monarchy.  Northern Kingdom of Israel. Minor Prophet.  

Title:  Named after its principal character. Jonah means “dove.” Compare with Hosea 7:11; Psalm 68:13 and 74:19.

Date: 800-750 B. C. for the prophetic ministry of Jonah.  Authorship of the book prior to the destruction of Samaria and the Northern Kingdom of Israel at the hands of the Assyrians in 722 B. C. Hint:  Compare evangelical commentaries with those of higher critical/liberal persuasion on this issue.  The date of the revival in Nineveh recorded in Chapter 3 is believed to coincide with the reign of Ashurdan III (773-755 B. C.). Interesting speculation:  Did two plagues in Assyria (765 and 759 B. C.) and a solar eclipse in 763 B. C. prepare the people for Jonah’s message of repentance or judgment?

Author:  The book does not identify its author.  Tradition assigns it to the prophet himself. (Consult both evangelical and non-evangelical commentaries and sources for the debates on this which ensue.  One recommendation:  see Gleason Archer’s section on Jonah in his Introduction to the Old Testament [Moody Press] if you can locate this volume.  It is especially valuable for providing responsible academic representation of evangelical arguments for the reliability and accuracy of the Biblical narratives as it rebuts the most enduring objections of Higher Criticism and Historical Criticism. I can provide excerpts of these if needed. Archer discusses authorship issues in his comments on Jonah.  Don’t dismiss these arguments as personally irrelevant.  You or your kids may well need a handle on some of this to provide rebuttal to the unbelieving cynics some of you will encounter in circles of American “higher education.”  Enough said. Hint:  The arguments you will encounter revolve around higher Biblical critics who claim that Jonah was authored the 5th and 3rd centuries B. C., as a historical fiction espousing universalistic views to counter the “narrow nationalism” of Ezra and Nehemiah.

     Jonah is identified as the son of Amittai (1:1) from Gath Hepher (2 Kings 14:25) in Zebulun (Joshua 19: 10,13). 2 Kings 14:25 references him as a prophet in the reign of Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Here, we read that under Jeroboam II, the borders of Israel were expanded according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher (3 miles north of Nazareth in lower Galilee).”  Keys:  the reign of Jeroboam II, Jonah as prophet of the Northern Kingdom, Jonah as a Galilean. Hints:  See John 7:52 for a good case of Pharisaical error.

Historical Background:  Know your Kings of Judah (south) and Israel (north) after the end of the United Monarchy!  There were 20 Kings of Judah.  8 were good. 12 were bad. As for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, all 19 of their Kings from the end of the United Monarchy to the onset of final destruction of the Kingdom and Samaria in 722 B. C. at the hands of the Assyrians were bad. See here.  [There are all kinds of historical gems and discerning contemporary application of these gems of instruction.  One could look at the last 5 kings of Judah, beginning with Josiah (good) and 4 terrible successors leading to the Exile.  Possible application:  Think about the succession of American leaders in recent times, the state of the American Empire, and what many American Protestants have embraced as the doctrine of American Exceptionalism.  Is that ideology Biblical? How does it square with the reasons for the rise and fall of Empires Biblically? Is this idea a foundational basis for present day susceptibility to deception? End of point.  . . . as for Jonah, zero in on Jeroboam II (782-753 B. C./co-regency/41 years in the electronic source, Archer says 793-753 B. C. in his Introduction).  Consult the historical background section of the Commentaries you select out of our list.

     The reign of Jeroboam II is pivotal to the context of both Jonah and Amos.  What are the key points to underscore in understanding the historical backdrop of these prophets and their respective proclamations?

     1.  The key nations (3) in the historical backdrop are the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Damascus (center of Aramean power), and Assyria.

     2.  Circa 797 B. C., Elisha spoke to the King of Israel about future victories over Damascus (2 Kings 13: 14-19).

     3.  The Assyrian military campaign against Damascus in 797 B. C. enables the King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Jehoash (798-782 B. C.), to recover territories previously lost to the King of Damascus (2 Kings 13:25).

     4.  Jonah prophesies the restoration of the Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam II predicted by Elisha (2 Kings 24:25). Internal troubles in Assyria enable Jeroboam II to complete the restoration of Israel’s northern borders.

     5.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel subsequently falls into a period of nationalistic arrogance, complacency, and spiritual decadence after the restoration under Jeroboam II.  The prophetic implications are covered by Amos and Hosea.  Amos prophesies an exile beyond Damascus (Amos 5:27).  He will proclaim that God’s patience with the Northern Kingdom is at an end (Amos 7:8; 8:2). Hosea indicates that the tool of God’s judgment will be a politically and militarily revived Assyria (Hosea 9:3; 10:6; 11:5).  It is in this context that God sends Jonah to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, to warn it of the imminency of its own eventual judgment.  Hint:  To contextualize why Jonah attempted to run from God’s command and flee to Tarshish, run a Search Engine probe for “Assyrian Empire Cruelty.”  This will bring up many fascinating articles, including one I just discovered for you at Realm of History.  Or try this article from the Biblical Archeology Society (Jan/Feb 1991) which is in PDF format.  

Christ in Jonah:  Gleason Archer tells us in his Introduction to the Old Testament on page 313 that ” . . . one cannot reject the historicity of Jonah without also rejecting the authority of Christ.”  See Matthew 12: 38-41 (and the Luke account).  Hint:  Isolate the word “sign” for further examination (σημεῖον).  Jonah is the only prophet whom Jesus likened to Himself.  What are the implications? Compare this account to the aforementioned John 7:52. Think Jonah and Jesus in terms of Typology.  Further suggestion:  The eschatological warnings about “signs and wonders“ in the New Testament.  What are the implications?  (For now, simply file this in your notes for future study.)

Matthew 12:  The deeper implications of the word “sign” (σημεῖον) may lie within the pages of the revised version of the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Moises Silva, ed.)

Structure of the Book:  Let’s keep this simple.  Some of your commentaries will be more elaborate, but simplicity of structure is often best retained in the mind during study.

1.  Jonah flees. (Chapters 1-2)

2.  Jonah reluctantly fulfills. (Chapters 3-4)

     Related structural issues:  40 verses tell the story of a single, extended episode.  8 additional verses cover Jonah’s prayer of thanksgiving, giving us a total of 48 verses.  Jonah’s employment of structural symmetry and style are often compared to the Book of Ruth.  The story is told in two parallel cycles (Chapters 1-2/Chapters 3-4) of comparisons and contrasts.  There are 3 Confessions of Jonah (1:9; 2:9; 4:2.) The “Middle Confession” of 2:9 is decisive. It proclaims that “Salvation is of the Lord,” and emphasizes that the word of the Lord is the last and final word on anything.

Key Verses:  2: 8-9, and 4:2.  (Last 2 Confessions of Jonah)

Key Chapter:  Chapter 3.  Revival in Nineveh.

Key Ideas for Discussion and Reflection:  Is it possible to succeed in running away from God?  Are there limits/no limits as to what God can use to get an individual’s attention?  An Empire’s attention?  Does failure disqualify someone from serving God?  What are the consequences of running away from God?  What is the experience of the individual who attempts it?  Can nationalistic patriotism impede the relationship between the believer and God’s plan?  Does Jonah’s testimony reveal a universal concern for all people on the part of the Biblical God?  What are the implications of the fact that Nineveh responded to the preaching of Jonah better than the Northern Kingdom of Israel or the Southern Kingdom of Judah did with any of their prophets?  Is there a prototypical parallel here with the various reactions to the preaching of the Kingdom of God by Jesus and His apostles recorded in the New Testament? Hint:  Compare the reaction to the message of Jonah by the Ninevites to that of those who claimed to be the Sons of Abraham (John 8: 31-41). Implications?  Is there a link to 722 B. C., 586 B. C., and A. D. 70? And possibly to Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 24/2 Thessalonians 2/Revelation 13?

     We are now at the end of our first session together.  It is my hope that this overview serves its purpose, not only as an introduction to the Book of Jonah, which we will examine in greater detail in future sessions by studying the text verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter, but as a Prototype for the Catacomb Church and the Homeschooling Community in covering any Biblical book.  This process is essential to laying out the roadmap for all of the study, all of the discussions, and all of the developments for further study that will inevitably follow.  Sometime in the future, I will develop a Prototype for a Topical Study in Scripture which will be shared with you when completed.

Not a Bad View for an Exile on Patmos: An Aegean Sunset.

John on Patmos Pens The Apocalypse: Exiled Because of Resistance to the Emperor Worship Cultus of Domitian (A. D. 81-96).