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English to Chinese: When God doesn't follow our wishes General field: Other Detailed field: Religion
Source text - English Jonah- When God doesn’t follow our wishes.
The Stumbling block of the chosen.
Points:
1. Jonah did not want to do what God wanted him to do because he disagreed with what should happen.
2. He ran from God’s will.
3. He became apathetic.
4. He understood who God is (4:2)
5. He knew he was wrong (1:12)
6. Justified himself as right (4:2)
7. Nationalistically proud 2:8
8. It shames God’s people when they reject God while the pagans accept Him.
9. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
10. You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Jonah 4:2 NIV
11. When we are out of God’s will we are overly pleased by earthly comfort and overly upset my earthly discomfort.
Jonah was a prophet from Galilee to the northern Kingdom of Israel during Jeroboam II (793-758 B.C.). He preceded the prophet Amos and Hosea. “The nation enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity. Spiritually, however, it was a time of poverty; religion was ritualistic and increasingly idolatrous, and justice had become perverted. Peacetime and wealth had made her bankrupt spiritually, morally, and ethically. As a result, God was to punish her buy bringing destruction and captivity from the Assyrians in 722BC.” –John MacArthur Study Bible
The only prophet told to prophesy to gentile nation.
Jonah did prophesy to Israel; he prophesied to King Jeroboam about restoring Israel’s boundaries to about what King Solomon had- which happened.
But when God told Jonah to go to the capital of the Assyrian empire, Nineveh, and preach against it, Jonah said, “No way!”
Why?
Jonah knew he was part of the ‘chosen race’, of ‘Abrahams descendents’, circumcised and set aside. He knew God. He knew God very well. He had seen God work. I believe Jonah liked God, but he liked something else more: his race, his pride, his will
Sometimes God’s children can get so comfortable in God’s grace that we lose perspective.
1:4 God sent a great wind and a violent storm on the sea. Nature obeyed God completely.
1:17 God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. The fish obeyed God completely.
2:10 God commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land. The fish, again, obeyed completely.
4:6 God appointed a vine to grow up right over Jonah’s head! The plant obeyed God completely.
4:7 God appointed a worm to eat the vine. The worm obeyed God completely.
4:8 God appointed a scorching east wind. Nature, again, obeyed God completely.
1:5&15, 2:3 God appointed the pagan sailors to throw Jonah into the sea, they first disobeyed and tried to row back to shore, but after that failed even the pagans obeyed God!
1:2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Is that clear? It was perfectly clear to Jonah. It was so clear that he got on a boat in the opposite direction! [SHOW SLIDE]
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. NIV
People are not like nature: We don’t always obey. Sometimes believers disobey even when unbelievers obey.
Have you ever noticed: The devil always provides transportation for us when we are running from God.
Not only that but it says “after paying the fare, [Jonah] went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD” The devil provide transportation when we want to run from God but then WE have to pay the bill.
And what a bill it was. First there was the price of the ticket, then there was the price of the cargo! Not to mention the time and energy and fear it caused the sailors.
And where was Jonah? His rebellion changed to apathy
1. He had already considered his options
2. Made his decision to disobey God
3. He rode the donkey to Joppa
4. He spent money; buying the ticket
5. Completed his rebellion by boarding the ship.
Now he’s sleeping- he doesn’t care what happens!
V 6 The sailors have already lost money- they threw their cargo overboard! Now they come to Jonah- “Call on your god!”
Jonah now knows there is serious problem, what does he do? NOTHING! That’s apathy- it doesn’t matter what God does to us or to anyone else BECAUSE of us, we don’t care.
The sailors have to find out by casting lots who is the source of the problem: Jonah!
V8 “Who are you?...” “I’m a believer, I’m God’s child, I’m a Christian.”
BACK THE TRUCK UP v 10 says that he already told them that he was rebelling against /running from God. How’s that for a witness to other people? I’m sure they just laughed it off at the time: Ha, ha aren’t we all running from God. How boldly do we tell other people we are rejecting God and His command. “I know the Bible says…{don’t steal} but I don’t agree with that.”
Jonah is not surprised by the storm and coming disaster! - He’s a prophet! “It’s me.”
“What should we do?” the sailors have to ask. What should the sailors do?! The sailors?!
If Jonah cared at all for anyone HE would do something. But apathy is like that.
One sin Jonah does not commit is lying. He at least tells them the truth. BUT then he still puts the burden on other people: “YOU pick me up and YOU throw me into the sea.” You get off your lazy butt Jonah and jump in the sea yourself! But apathy is like that. Apathy puts the burden on other people- “YOU KILL me.”
They don’t want to kill Jonah so they labor at trying to row back to the shore- funny how even pagans can be more concerned about right and wrong.
But their rowing does no good and what does Jonah do? NOTHING! Finally they throw him over.
Jonah fails to be a good witness for God so God is a witness for Himself.
So Jonah is willing to die for his cause and he is in the water with the grim reaper pulling on his clothes. But why? There were two ways to calm that storm
1. Man overboard
2. Repent
Why was Jonah running and why was he so unhappy and apathetic?
3 days and nights in the belly of a fish and we get a little clue as to one of Jonah’s problems:
Jonah 2:7-9
7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."
There seems to be a comparison here between 7&9 v 8
7&9 “I remembered you… my prayer rose to you, I with a song of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you, what I have vowed”
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
Who are the one’s who cling to worthless idols? Basically the gentiles were the ones who worshipped idols and false gods.
Jonah promises to keep his vow (whatever that is) and he gets ejected like a DVD from the fishes belly to fulfill his promise.
But before he makes the vow he gets a shot in at the idol worshippers.
So we know for sure he would rather disobey God and die than preach to the Ninevites, that he seems to not like the idol worshippers… so why did he not go to Nineveh?
Was he afraid? No & Yes. He was not afraid of the Ninevites or that his mission would fail…
After he gets spit out by the fish he pulls himself together, probably takes a bath, for sure he did if he offered a sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem and then travels several days and several hundreds of kilometers to Nineveh and he preaches.
Seems to be a very simple message:
3:4 “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown” SAME WORD AS SODOM & GOMORRAH
From 3:4 and 9 It doesn’t even seem like Jonah tells them if they repent God will relent.
9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." NIV
Who knows? Who know? Jonah knows! But he’s not telling- why?
3:10 After Nineveh repents- God relents.
And Jonah is steamed! 4:1
4:2 We get to the heart of the matter:
Jonah 4:2-3 "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." NIV
What was Jonah’s problem? He did not want those foreign, pagan, wicked idol worshipping Assyrians to repent and receive God’s grace, compassion and love!
We don’t have too much about Jonah’s ministry in the Bible but we know he did have other prophesies in Israel and he was in Israel in until he got the call to Nineveh.
Is it possible that he just hated sin so much that he didn’t want to go to those Ninevite sinners?
Well, let’s take a look at that logic. If the Assyrians were big sinners, and they were, and they didn’t stop sinning God would destroy them and the problem is solved. If they were big sinners, and they were, and they repented and stopped sinning, then they would not be big sinners and the problem is solved.
And if he was against all sinners why didn’t he have problem with Israel and run away from them?
Amos came right after Jonah and this is what he prophesied about Israel:
Amos 2:6-8 This is what the LORD says: "The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not let them go unpunished any longer! They have perverted justice by selling honest people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample helpless people in the dust and deny justice to those who are oppressed. Both father and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy name. 8 At their religious festivals, they lounge around in clothing stolen from their debtors. In the house of their god, they present offerings of wine purchased with stolen money. NLT
In fact just a couple of decades later God used the Assyrians to wipe the northern kingdom of Israel off of the map and take them into captivity.
It didn’t take a storm and a fish and a trip to the bottom of the ocean to make Jonah prophesy about Israel to expand its borders and receive God’s grace and love, but he just couldn’t stand to see a foreign country receive God’s blessings.
It can be easy for the child of a king to become proud thinking he deserves it.
It can be easy to become selfish and not want to share love or blessings with others or get jealous when his father gives to other people outside the family. {Tomato worm example}
It can be easy to be prejudice towards other people who are not in family.
And that same thing can happen to children of the Heavenly King. I’m the son/daughter of God, I deserve his mercy, other people do not.
I am the son/daughter of the God I don’t want God to bless non-believers or even new believers.
I’m the son/daughter of God, I am better than those unbelievers.
Instead of being one beggar telling another beggar where to find food, we think that we are the keeper of God’s grace and maybe give it out and maybe not. And if we do give it out, boy, the other person sure better be thankful for it and really appreciate it.
There is something that can happen to children of God. When we first come in to the family we receive, we take, we consume. Like a baby, it does nothing but waits for someone to feed it, poops and waits for someone to clean it! Then at some point we cross a line, we realize as a Christian that we need to give, to provide, to serve. And so when we start to do it, we cross the line and start to serve, sometimes we look at other people and say, “Hey, I’m over here now, serving, and giving, and slaving away- get over here and help!” Maturity is a process, and we should not force our process on someone else, and our process is not something to be proud of. If there is no process, that’s a problem.
Pride and prejudice are terrible things and are not acceptable in God’s church. If you are proud or judge someone because of their nationality, their passport or the color of their skin you are in sin.
If you are proud or you judge someone because they are man or woman, rich or poor or in the middle, because they are educated or uneducated, because they are a leader or a follower you are in sin. If you are proud because you are a believer and someone else isn’t and you judge yourself more worthy of salvation than someone else, you are in sin.
Yes, there is a dividing line between believers and unbelievers, but we don’t want to build a wall there to keep unbelievers out! That’s stupid, selfish and God wants someone saved and we don’t- that’s rebellion.
Let’s get to the deeper root of Jonah’s attitude for next time.
English to Chinese: Bay Area International Student Services General field: Other Detailed field: Education / Pedagogy
Source text - English
Bay Area International Student Services
1501 Harbor Bay Parkway, Suite 201, Alameda, CA 94502 • (510) 814-7321 Ext. 215
International Students Parental Permission
For our International Parents & Students
On the following pages you will find the School’s Parental Permission forms. These forms give us information that may be important during the course of the year. Please feel free to contact the School if you have any questions or concerns.
Please complete and fax back to the school at (510) 522-0204 by September 1st. Adults working with our students ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that students adhere to the permissions parents or guardians grant. At the same time, the School needs to be confident that families will support and uphold the School’s rules. Please read and discuss with your child the following permission options and the Student Handbook (this can be found on the school website).
Special Permissions
Field Trips
In the course of the year, your child may be expected to participate in a school-sponsored field trip. Your signature at the end of this sheet will serve as your blanket permission for such events. If there is any particular restriction about which we should be informed, please let us know in an attached note. For every field trip, students will still need to get a permission slip signed, which your child’s host parent or guardian will sign.
Faculty & Staff Driver
In the course of the year, your child may want to participate in International Student Services activities, group trips, weekend activities trips, or other trips where employees of the school will drive either a school bus, school van, or their personal car. Your signature at the end of this sheet will serve as your blanket permission for the School to use its discretion when granting permission for such trips.
Leaving Campus
Occasionally, a student will ask permission from the school to leave campus before the end of the school day. We assess the reason for the request and, if the reason seems valid (for example: a doctor’s appointment), we will usually allow them to go with the permission of the host parent or guardian.
It is essential that you discuss with your child your expectations about his or her riding with student drivers. If your son or daughter has a license, you should discuss your expectations about your child transporting other students.
Overnights
Frequently a student is invited to spend a night at another student’s home, or a student is invited to spend a night with your student at his or her host home. International students may have overnight guests of the same gender on weekends IF they receive permission from their host parents. Host parents will communicate with the parents of the other student whenever your child plans an overnight visit. In this conversation, they will ask questions to be sure that an adult is present and that there will be no alcohol or drugs available.
Our school is a community based on trust, and adults will expect students to be fully aware of the specific permissions you have granted. For this reason, it is essential that you discuss your expectations with your son or daughter prior to sending this form back to us.
Student Permissions
I. Transportation
a. Use of Car
Please indicate your preference with regard to the School’s policy as stated in the Student Handbook:
Please call me or consult the list I have provided for approval of any potential drivers other than those employed by the School or those I have checked below.
I am willing to leave the following to the discretion of the host parent (please check those that apply):
Parent or guardian of a CAS/CCS student
Adults over the age of 25
Student drivers
b. Public Transportation
Please use this section to indicate whether you feel comfortable allowing house parents to use their own discretion in granting your son or daughter permission to use public transportation on his or her own during daylight hours:
I am comfortable with the host parents allowing my son or daughter to travel alone on public transportation during daylight hours.
II. Visits and Trips
Please indicate your preferences with regard to the School’s off-campus overnight visitation policy by checking the statements that apply in the spaces provided.
a. Daytime Visits & Trips
Please call me or consult the list I have provided for approval of any potential daytime visits or trips.
I am willing to leave the following to the discretion of the host family (please check those that apply):
visits with any student of the same gender with an adult chaperone
visits with any student of either gender with an adult chaperone
day trips with the host family
b. Overnight Visits & Trips
Please call me or consult the list I have provided for approval of any potential overnight hosts of my child.
I am willing to leave the following to the discretion of the host family (please check those that apply):
overnights with any student of the same gender with an adult chaperone
overnight trips with the host family
By signing below, I confirm the validity of the information on the following forms.
I was born in Hainan, China and I have been a professional translator and interpreter for more than 6 years. It is my joy to translate articles and documents. As an English major in Hainan University, the last 2 years we focused on the skill of translating and interpreting. In 2002, I was the translator for the ex-vice president of Malaysia in Bo’ao Forum for Asia. It was a wonderful experience. After I graduated from university I married my American fiancé and we moved to his home country. Travelling back and forth between America and China has enabled me to get familiar with the two countries’ culture and literature. I currently stay at home to take care of my children, leaving me free to do freelance translation work. My husband is a writer and was a pastor and will and able to clarify any questions for me during the process of translation if there are any. He has been beneficial and helpful in my translation career, and adds polish to my translation skill.
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