Good Questions Have Small Groups Talking -- Amos and Jonah

For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there.

People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

It can be difficult to discern the particular work God may be calling you to, but there can be no doubt that he made you as a worker and that he expects you to work, to the degree you are able. God calls us to belong to Christ in every element of our lives. First, we must remember that work is not limited to paid work. The work God leads us to may be unpaid work, such as raising children or caring for a disabled family member or tutoring students after school. Even if you have a paid job, the most important work God calls you to may be outside your job.

We have seen that caring for children and for aged or incapacitated people is a kind of work, and many people who do it also have another paid job. On the other hand, a so-called hobby could be the most important work God is leading you to. You might work at writing, painting, music, acting, astronomy, leading a youth group, volunteering at a historical society, maintaining a nature reserve or a thousand other kinds of work. If something like this is your calling, you will probably engage it in a more serious way than someone else to whom it is a leisure activity, yet you may still earn your living in some other way.

There is a distinction between work and leisure. Second, we must take care not to let work dominate the other elements of life. If God leads you to be married and to be a small business owner, for example, then you will have to balance the time and responsibilities of both callings. Work should not crowd out leisure, rest and worship. There is no formula for balancing work and the other elements of life. We have seen that:. God is much more concerned that you come under the saving grace of Christ and participate in his work of creation and redemption, whatever your job may be.

Bible Search

Exactly what kind of work you do is a lower-level concern. In fact, the distinctive work of the Holy Spirit is to guide and empower people for the life and work to which God leads them. In the Old Testament, God gave people the skills needed for their work on occasion, as we have seen with Bezalel and Oholiab in the building of the tabernacle. But now the Spirit routinely guides believers to particular work and gives them the skills they need 1 Corinthians Read on to explore how God guides people to particular work.

The gifts of the Spirit discussed in the New Testament e. Nor are they limited only to uses in the church. This article does not attempt to prove this position, but merely to acknowledge it.

With the understanding that the ultimate image of calling in the Bible is the calling to follow Jesus, we are ready to explore callings to particular kinds of work. No more than a hundred or so people were called by God in this sense. God called Noah to build the ark. God called Moses and Aaron to their tasks Exodus 3: He called prophets such as Samuel 1 Samuel 3: He called Abram and Sarah and a few others to undertake journeys or to relocate which might be taken as a kind of workplace calling.

God chose Bezalel and Oholiab as chief craftsmen for the tabernacle Exodus Jesus called the apostles and some other of his disciples e. Discover how to bring meaning to your ordinary workday Click to listen.

Aside from these examples, very few people in the Bible received an individual call to a particular kind of work from God. This strongly suggests that a direct calling from God to particular work is also rare today. Therefore, we will not discuss direct, unmistakable, personal calling further, but will instead focus on whether God guides or leads people to particular types of work through less dramatic means. Although God does not give most people a direct, individual, unmistakable call to a particular job or profession, God does give guidance to people in less dramatic forms, including Bible study, prayer, Christian community and individual reflection.

The first consideration is the needs of the world. The single strongest indicator of what God wants you to do is probably your awareness of what needs to get done to make the world more like what God intends. Earning a living to support yourself and your family is one example mentioned in the Bible:. Whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Account Options

Let people learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs, so that they may not be unproductive. Another biblical example is working so as to meet the needs of individuals around you besides your family:. Aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we directed you.

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.

Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Of course, it is impossible for you to meet every need of the world, so you have to narrow it down a bit. Start with needs for which you are personally responsible, such as raising your children or paying your debts. Beyond that, pay attention to needs that you are in a good position to meet, or that few other people are willing to address, or that you find especially pressing.

You might be in a good position to run for an elected office in your own city or town, for example, compared to moving away to find work. On the other hand, you might be one of the few people willing to document human rights abuses in a country half way around the world. Or you might become convinced that teaching troubled youth is more pressing than joining a band. It would be pointless to get a job counseling troubled youth, only to neglect your own children.

The point is that God has given everyone the ability to recognize something of what the world needs. He seems to expect us to notice it and get to work, rather than waiting for a special call from him. There is no biblical formula for translating the needs of the world into a precise job calling. The second consideration is your skills and gifts. The Bible says that God gives people gifts for accomplishing the work he wants them to do, and it names some of the gifts and skills that God imparts:.

Do those who plow for sowing plow continually? Do they continually open and harrow their ground? When they have leveled its surface, do they not scatter dill, sow cummin, and plant wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and spelt as the border? For they are well instructed; their God teaches them. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. As the last two passages show, when Paul discusses the gifts of the Spirit, he is usually referring to their use in the church. But if all work done by Christians is done for the Lord Colossians 3: Gifts assessment tools can be very helpful for discerning your gifts and exploring how they relate to various types of work.

The most rigorous, statistically-verified tools are typically available through professional counselors and institutions because they require qualified interpretation. Global Personality Inventory developed on a truly global basis. While these are not explicitly Christian in their language, they can, with a skilled, Christian interpreter become starting points for exploring God's gifts and his guidance to work.

There are also explicitly Christian tools with a conscious spiritual and theological foundation. Christian career counselors can be found in most urban areas, in almost every Christian college and university setting, and in some individual churches. However, it is easy to pay too much attention to your skills and gifts. The present generation of westerners is the most gift-analyzed in human history, yet this penchant for analysis can lead to self-absorption, crowding out attention to the needs of the world. These passages say that God gives gifts for the common good, not personal satisfaction.

Paying too much attention to the gifts you already have can keep you from receiving the gifts God wants to give you. Nonetheless, the gifts you already have may give you some indication about how to best meet the needs of the world. Career guidance via skills and gifts is a difficult balancing act, which is why it must be sought in the midst of relationship with God and fellow Christians.

Here again, we must not become focused on work to the exclusion of the rest of life. This verse Romans See Isabel Myers, Gifts Differing: Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. Christians sometimes expect that if God calls them to some job, it will be something they hate. Otherwise, why would God have to call them to it?

But the best missionaries have a great desire for the place and people they serve.

• You are here.
• Take Me Now (Four Ever More Book 6).
• Select a book of the Bible;
• Related Articles!
• Using Your Head for Championship Performance in Track and Field.
• University Sex Diaries: Secrets Revealed?

Besides, who says God wants you to be a missionary? However, it can be exceedingly difficult to get in touch with your truest or deepest desires. Our motivations become so confused by sin and the brokenness of the world that our apparent desires are often far from the true desires that God has implanted in the depths of our hearts. But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead…. I do not understand my own actions. Second Kings-- The Divided Kingdom. All 19 kings of Israel were bad, therefore, captivity in Assyria B.

In Judah, 8 of 20 rulers were good but went into exile, too. First Chronicles-- A recounting of the history of Israel to the time of Solomon. Second Chronicles-- continued recounting of the life of Solomon, building of temple, to the captivity. History of Judah only.

The Next 3 books deal with Israel's Restoration. Ezra-- Cyrus let most of the Jews return to their land of Israel. Zerubbabel led the people B. Ezra returned later with more Jews B.

Nehemiah-- Building the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah got permission from the king of Persia to rebuild the walls B. Revival in the land. Esther-- Took place during chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra. Plot to kill the Jewish people. Poetical books Job-- a righteous man tested by God. Deals with God's sovereignty. Psalms-- Consists of 5 divisions. Large variety of subjects. Proverbs-- Practical wisdom in everyday affairs. Ecclesiastes-- All is vanity. The wisdom of man is futility.

Song of Solomon-- A song between Solomon and his Shulammite bride displaying the love between a man and a woman. Coming restoration and blessing. Harrison, Introduction , p. Also, Elijah and Elisha had missions to Sidon and Syria cf. Handing Off the Baton 2 Timothy 4: Walking the Romans Road. Facing Winter Seasons 2 Timothy 4: You are here Home. The Identity of a Prophet: Prophets were known by several terms--both Greek and Hebrew: Prophets had characteristics which were similar and distinct of their contemporaries of the Ancient Near East: Similar Characteristics with the ANE 8: Dissimilar Characteristics with the ANE 9: The Message of the Prophet: Messages Concerning the Future: Prophecy certainly was a message to a historical people b.

May have been Jonah hnwy , or someone who knew him and later wrote down the events one of the sons of the prophets A. The name of the main character is Jonah 1: During the pre-exilic period and perhaps during the Life time of Jonah first half of the eighth century B. Jonah, Amos, and Hosea E. Isaiah followed this immediate period F. Although some have dated the book late because of Aramaisms and expressions unfamiliar to Classical Hebrew, they are inconclusive and do not prove a post-exilic date 28 G.

Three periods of Israel from Jehu Syria was freed up to deal with Israel and entered into drawn-out battles to regain Gilead, and Bashan 33 4. By the end of the century the Assyrian Empire would be the strongest military force ever known in the world overtaking and deporting the northern kingdom; but Israel did not know this at the time of Jonah 34 D. Jonah is a genre form of literature which is most probably historical: Also the fish is a means of deliverance not punishment 3.

Jonah was probably not a parable for the following reasons: The work is not placed in a setting that affirms that it is a story, or untrue: It is placed canonically among the prophets and not the poetic books b. It is true that there is no direct time frame given in the book, but this is an argument from silence 3.

Also, the moral point of the parable is never made abundantly clear since not explanation is presented 38 C. Jonah was most probably a historical work: At times, an unwillingness to accept the possibility of miraculous occurrences the fish, the plant may be central to denying historicity, at other times it is a matter of literary genre 39 2. The details of the book appear to be historical data: Jonah was a historical person see above b.

Ninevah was a historical city see above c. The details of buying a ticket, boarding the ship, the destination of the ship, the port of the ship all appear to be historical d. Jonah is assumed to have truly been in the belly of a great fish for three days b. Jonah is assumed to have been a genuine sign to the people of Ninevah c. It could even turn back the pronouncement of a prophet even for a Gentile nation, not to mention Israel 40 B.

1. The Home Energy Diet: How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series).
2. .
3. Cornerstone Video Podcast?
4. Menu russe - A table avec les Grands Explorateurs (French Edition).

Each has a call from God and a response from Jonah 1: Nation guidance, Maintenance of justice, Spiritual overseer. Military advice, Pronouncement of rebuke or blessing. Nathan Elijah Elisha Micaiah. Writing Prophets Best example: