Philip Dampier's Blog

Micah Micah 2:6 “’Do not preach’ –thus they preach—‘one should not preach of such things; disgrace will overtake us.’” Who wants to hear bad news? People often say to the preacher, “You stepped on my toes, today, Preacher.” Prophets who brought bad news were not welcomed for the most part.…

Jonah 4:10 “And the LORD said, ‘You pity the plant, for which you did labor, nor did you make it grow; which came into being in a night and perished in a night.’” Do you remember the advertisement showing an American Indian with tears in his eyes as he surveyed…

Jonah 4:4 “And the LORD said, ‘Do you do well to be angry?’” Jonah does not answer the question this time and neither does God. It will be asked again. Jonah needed to think about his anger. He needed to think about who he was angry at and why he…

Jonah 4:2 “And he prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and…

Jonah 3:9 “Who knows? God my turn and relent and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” The king of Nineveh and Jonah the prophet had visions of the same results with different hopes in the outcome. The king foresaw the benefit of repentance and…

Jonah 2:10 “And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” What beach did Jonah end up on? Near Tarshish? Near Joppa? I’m voting for Joppa. For one thing the ship didn’t get very far from its original berth before it encountered the…

Jonah 2:7 “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.” Jonah is honest. He had tried to forget God. He had tried to get as far away as possible from God. He didn’t need God and he didn’t…

Jonah 2:1 “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying,” Some say you have to kneel to pray keeping your head down. Some recommend standing lifting up your head and hands. Did Jonah have room to stand or to kneel? Not sure about…

Jonah 1:17 “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” This is an interesting statement made by the prophet. God selected a large fish to swallow Jonah. He picked a particular fish out.…

Jonah 1:9 “And he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.’” What does Jonah mean by this statement of faith? He is answering a set of questions but we only get the answer…