The morning Manna
will be provided at 6am. Thanks.
Studying Mission in
the SSnet.org series Lesson 5, may the Holy Spirit be the speaker to your
heart.
The Topic today
is: “Mission as Jonah running away from God but landed at the Assyrian capital
region of Niniveh included in the capital at Calneh for Morning Manna of the
Sabbath School Lesson Mission”.
The Opening Hymn
will be 229 "Spirit of the Living God."
The Sabbath School
Quarterly, downloadable from SSnet.org in the Teacher's Edition is on pages
58-59.
The SSnet.org site
allows anyone, anywhere to read the lesson in their own language. Choose your
own language to see God speaking also to your heart.
Why do you not
click on this now?
https://www.adultbiblestudyguide.org/pdf.php?file=2023:4Q:SE:PDFs:EAQ423_05.pdf
---This week the focus of our lesson is
Jonah. A number of items can be listed here to be careful. ---Firstly, the date for Jonah is not in the
time of Sennacherib (Sunday of the lesson). ---It is true that after his father’s death,
Sennacherib was scared that his father’s new capital at Dur Sharrukin may have
ghosts unfriendly to him, so he moved the capital to Niniveh and rebuilt it. His father Sargon's body was never found. ---Sennacherib complained in texts that the
ancestors did not keep the city in good order. ---Many texts are telling of his rebuilding
programs at the city. Text 22 from the source below tells how Sennacherib complained that the palaces were poorly constructed in the past. So he borrowed fashion from other nations for his new wings to the palaces. Sennacherib's problem is that he was superstitious, scared to die, and distrusted everyone. He lived with a fear to be rejected by all. The fear killed him eventually. ---Source: A. Kirk Grayson and J. Novotny, The Royal
Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704-681 BC), Part I. The Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian
Period Volume 3/1 Eisenbrauns 2012. Downloaded from the internet on the 12th
of March 2023 at https://www.academia.edu/46447118/The_Royal_Inscriptions_of_Sennacherib_King_of_Assyria_704_681_BC_Part_1_Royal_Inscriptions_of_the_Neo_Assyrian_Period_Vol_3_Winona_Lake_Eisenbrauns_with_Kirk_Grayson_ ---Fear regarding the Assyrians accounts for
any of the times of Assyrian History, not only in the time of Sennacherib. ---The geomorphology of the country accounts
for this problem with them. ---They were situated in dry plains so that
their climate was not enough to supply them with all the commodities they
needed to survive. ---So they were always invading other
nations to “steal” capital, taxes, fruits and vegetables and brain-drain elites
that could come and “invent” in their area for them to live easier. ---Of course Sennacherib was following in
the tracks of previous kings before that did the same. ---Brian Oded indicated that the
mass-deportation programs really started in the days of Ashurnaṣirpal II in the
ninth century BC. ---It was in the days of Ashurnasipal II
(883-859 BCE) that the capital moved from Ashur on the west Tigris to the east
Tigris at Calnu or Calah or Nimrud which is just above the Upper Zab. ---This is still a distance from Niniveh and
Ashur. Now if Niniveh was three days large, then the whole region could have
been called originally Niniveh in that time sothat where the King stayed and
where Jonah started was seen as the same central command. --- So it was also under their wing but they
neglected it at times. ---There is no need to search for a weak
king that would just fall prey to Jonah‘s God. ---Ashurnasirpal could have, but
will it be reported in cuneiform what Jonah said when Jonah‘s sermon did not
come to pass because God decided not to destroy the land? ---It will not. The era of mass-deportations
as policy started with Ashurnasirpal II and came to an end with Sennacherib‘s
death (B. Oded 1979). ---People say, how can Niniveh be three days
large by walking when one look at archaeology? From Calnu to Niniveh is quite a
distance. ---Second point. Ask literature evangelists
why it takes them three days to do a small town selling books. ---These dictators of that area were very
scared what the gods may do or not do to them. They consulted magicians and
soothsayers to tell them what the future hold for them. ---They compiled special texts, called ― Hemerological
Texts that told the king for one year in advance on a 30 day basis per month,
in total 360 days per year, what he should eat or not eat and what he should do
to avoid tragedy. ---Sackcloth and fasting. God listened to
them. He accepted their plea. ---Is your pastor too busy with daily
activities that he is “running away” from spiritual tasks at the Church? Pray
for him. Pray for his family. God can bring Him back to his tasks. Correct?