Back to: Jonah: A Deep Dive
After a thorough treatment of the text, it’s time to respond. After all, the scriptures are not primarily academic or scholarly. There is truth and meaning that have eternal implications for everyone.
For the Unbeliever
The unbeliever hears the Word and has an obligation to respond: Accept or Reject. There is no middle ground.
Acts 8:35–38 (ESV)
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
For the Believer
The believer also must respond to revealed truth. We ask, “How does this apply to me?”
James 1:22–25 (ESV)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
The Process of Application
Dr Doriani breaks down the academic process of proper application – or interpretation – when it comes to studying scripture.
- The Essence of Application
- The Practice of Application
- Applying the Genres of Scripture
The Essence of Application
…Application is neither so easy that it can be left to the listener, nor so problematic that it must be left to God. Rather, it is a challenge that demands sustained effort. It is difficult, but vital, to draw lines between biblical truth and the quest for an honest life.
The Practice of Application
We use methods over intuition to find accurate application of scripture because:
- The Bible is neither a casebook for personal decisions nor a detailed guide to daily conduct.
- The Bible doesn’t explicitly address most contemporary issues.
- The Bible is the story of salvation, not a moral handbook. In the Bible, morality is important but secondary. What God did for us counts more than anything we do for him. The Bible isn’t an ethics textbook. It starts with God and creation, not with a section on primary moral principles.
Applying the Genres of Scripture
Identifying and understanding the literary genre of a book or passage is a key to accurate interpretation and exegesis.
With Jonah, how we classify the genre type will influence the application derived.
Problems & Themes to Application
Asking questions uncovers the problems in a passage, which often leads to themes worth exploring. The obligations we are faced with in conclusion, help us to apply these sections of scripture in life.
Jonah
For this session, we discuss the various themes found throughout the story of Jonah, and how these apply to us today.
But the central theme – the compassion and grace of YHWH to all people – is where the discussion begins. We ask the question,
Who is YHWH?
We can define god on our own terms, or discover what He has revealed about Himself throughout scripture. In Jonah, we find a contrast between YHWH and the pagan sailors’ gods. We also gain some insight into how His own people, the Hebrews, misunderstood Him, and yet, knew His character with confidence
Some Resources
The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer is a classic 1961 work that explores the divine attributes of God to restore a sense of majesty and awe in modern Christianity. Tozer argues that how we perceive God fundamentally shapes our spiritual lives, asserting that a correct understanding of His nature is essential for authentic worship and faith.
The book is structured into short chapters, each focusing on a specific attribute such as self-existence, immutability, omniscience, holiness, and sovereignty. Tozer emphasizes that God is independent, unchanging, and infinitely holy, setting Him apart from creation. He warns against reducing God to a manageable concept, urging readers to pursue a deeper, reverent knowledge of His true character.
Ultimately, Tozer connects theological understanding with practical devotion, suggesting that grasping God’s attributes should lead to transformed prayer lives and humility. The work serves as both a theological study and a devotional guide, encouraging believers to move beyond superficial belief to a profound, personal experience of the Divine.
J. I. Packer’s Knowing God is a seminal 1973 Christian classic that distinguishes between merely knowing about God and having an intimate, personal relationship with Him. Packer argues that ignorance of God is the root cause of the church’s weakness, urging believers to move beyond intellectual assent to a transformative, lived experience of the divine.
The book is structured in three parts: “Know the Lord,” “Behold Your God,” and “If God Be For Us…” Packer begins by establishing the Bible as the primary source for understanding God’s nature, warning against idolatry created by human-made images of God. He then explores God’s attributes—such as sovereignty, wisdom, love, and wrath—to help readers grasp the majesty of the Trinity.
In the final section, Packer applies these theological insights to the Christian life, discussing adoption into God’s family, the role of prayer, and the assurance of salvation. He concludes with an exposition of Romans 8, emphasizing that God’s grace is fully sufficient to meet all the needs of believers and secure their eternal future.
The Attributes of God by Arthur W. Pink is a classic theological work first published in the early 20th century that systematically examines the character of God. Pink’s primary objective is not merely to provide theoretical knowledge but to foster a spiritual and saving knowledge of God that leads to personal transformation. He argues that an unknown God cannot be truly trusted, served, or worshipped, and that true wisdom begins with understanding who God is as revealed in Scripture.
The book is structured to guide readers from God’s unique, incommunicable traits to those qualities He shares with humanity, concluding with the practical application of these truths. Pink emphasizes that God can only be known as He reveals Himself through the Holy Spirit and His living Word.
Jesus & Jonah
Jesus is the central theme of Scripture. But it is interesting to note the connection that Jesus makes with Jonah.
What other parallels can we draw between Jesus and Jonah? (Hint: Jesus on a boat, in a storm).
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