Why was Jonah so angry?!

We all know the story of Jonah, the man who did not want to do the will of God and believed he could flee from the presence of God. We all know how God had a fish swallow him for 3 days and how the fish spit him up. We all know how he preached to Ninevah and how the city repented and God spared them. And I don't know if it is just me, but for me it seams that many times we stop at that part of story. Why does God add the part about God providing Jonah with shade from a vine and how Jonah became angry when the vine died. Have you ever wondered about that....why Jonah got so mad over a little vine dying? I mean, doesn't that just seam silly to us? Of course....it's just a vine Jonah! But how many of us have experienced the comfort of airconditioning at one point or another. Or how many of us have water available from the tap? How many of us have sat in the hot burning sun all day in 90+ or 100+ degree weather with little water to drink (let alone purified) in the desert?

When I was hiking in the wilderness this past weekend, the first place we stopped at was a placed called Hyrcania out in the middle of a israeli military testing zone, only open on Shabbat. A place that no tourists EVER go! And because of that fact, it wasn't made for tourists to see and really only JUC students and a few others go to see it. So there was about a mile hike to the base and then straight up to the top. Now this isn't a bad hike at all comparatively. But that day, the temperature was in the upper 90s at least, and I was only able to fill 3/4 of my Nalgene that morning because I woke up late. And I was thirsty!! And there was no shade that whole morning. Did I begin to understand why Jonah was so angry...maybe just a little.

The next place we went to was Cypros and this was in the early afternoon, the hottest part of the day, and we were in Jericho, one of the hottest parts of the country. And again it is a place no tour groups ever go to, and is a straight up climb because it was a fortress/palace of Herod. And about 3/4 of the way up, we found shade, under a cleft in the rock (sound familiar). The only shade I had seen the whole way up. And this time I had planty of water, but to see that shade was marvelous. You really can't describe the feeling but have to experience it. We weren't really all that far from the top and I have had more crueling hikes, but that shade was oh so wonderful in the hot dusty wilderness. Did I begin to understand why Jonah was so angry....maybe just a little.

And we all know that Jonah had no right to become angry when the vine died. God says in 4:10,11 the last verses of the book, "But the Lord said, 'You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Ninevah has more than a hundred and twenty thousand peoplewho cannot tell their right hand from their left, and mant cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?'" It's hard for us who enjoy the luxuries of the 21st century to truely know why Jonah was so upset when the vine died. Did he have right to become angry? No, of course not. But when one understands the context that Jonah was in and why a vine can be the only thing you think about when you're sitting in the heat of the sun, one is better able to appreciate the message of Jonah. You can better appreciate and understand the importance and concern that God had for the people of Ninevah, when you know how important a silly little vine can be to you, when it gives you shade from a hot burning sun.

Purim

Last Thursday (3-20) at sundown was the beginning of the Jewish holiday Purim. The holiday celebrates God delivering the Jews from annihilation by the Agogite Hamon. And on the evening of the beginning of Purim, all the Jews go to the synagogue and read the Megillah (scroll) of Esther. Now you have to understand that for the Jews, Purim is basically the most festive of all holidays, for good reason....they are celebrating God saving the Jews from annihilation! Therefore everyone goes to the synagogue dressed up (like Haloween in the States, except not the scary part). And you will see everything there from clowns to Mary Poppins to wizards to cute little girls dressed as Minnie Mouse :) to pirates to Star Trek to everything! There are other reasons that people dress up but that is for another time. Anyway, here is a short clip from Purim that shows the reading of Esther at Hebrew Union College, right across the Hinnom Valley. And everytime Hammon's name is mentioned in the book, everyone makes noise and yells, to blot out his name (again there are theological reasons for the blotting out of his name, but that is for another time)Unfortunately, I wasn't able to upload the larger and better video. But if your my friend I'll show it to you anyway when I get home :) You'll see people will be yelling and using noise makers as soon as Hamon's name is mentiond, you can't miss it...so enjoy :)

Hoshana!!

"Hoshana!" or in English, "Hosanna!" It means, "save us" or save now." Now, every Christian knows that this word is used during the triumphetal entry of Christ on Palm Sunday. But do most Christians know that it was a key word in Hebrew liturgy, and was used in prayers during Sukkot? Yeah...probably not. Anyway....today was Palm Sunday on the Western calendar, so a bunch of us from JUC went to the Mt. of Olives to walk down it. Now, I am definently not one of those people that gets a spiritual high or whatever from visiting sights or doing these pilgrim type things. When you live here for a little while that pilgrim "high" you could say just doesn't happen. And to be quite honest, they get in the way a lot of the times when I'm walking through the Old City or around "pilgrim places" around Israel. I just think of it as God testing my patience :) After all, even if we did know what Jesus touched or where he walked, or whatever, it's still just rocks and dirt....I mean, isn't it? Not that I'm saying any person that really feels soemthing when they go to holy sites is shallow, not at all. But anyway, this is a whole different discussion, and beside the point. Needless to say though, walking down the Mt. of Olives was neat. And though the path Jesus took, was no doubt different then the one everyone took, it was still cool to see Christians from every nations. And I mean every nation! You would hear for example, "How Great Thou Art," in four languages all at the same time! There were people from Palestine, US, Turkey, Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Thailand, S. Korea....on and on. And it was hard to say how many there there (not in the same spot at the same obviously), but it was in the thousands at least. I would say at the very least 10,000 were there total during the afternoon. But anyway, here is one of the videos I took outside the church, where according to tradition, the colt was tied to, and thus where the procession started. Everyone was singing, "Hosanna." I unfortunately wasn't able to upload the larger video of this song. But this one still gives you a great feel of the atmosphere, and it has me in the video for about 2 seconds :) So here you go....