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Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.
The DEEP

The Clue Bat of Righteousness

eventually gets through.

Jonah 4:10-11 (ESV)

And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

The book of Jonah ends with a joke. The line, “and also much cattle,” is a flip comment that mocks Jonah’s priorities. Jonah couldn’t care less about the cattle.

It’s like God interrupting Jonah’s pout to blurt out, “Good news! I just saved a ton of money by switching my car insurance.” He has absolutely no respect for Jonah’s self-pity.

The LORD wants Jonah to think, “God must know something I don’t know.” Jonah has surely memorized this doctrine, but truly believing it is something else entirely. So, God hits him with the clue bat of righteousness yet again.

And then the book ends. We don’t know whether Jonah finally got it, because Jonah didn’t write an epilogue.

Actually, he did. The epilogue is that he wrote this book. That means he got it, all of it, every bit, and he was willing to write it all down in a book that makes him look like an idiot every step of the way.

At last, he’s thinking like a prophet.


And with that, Jonah’s personal mission field expands to include the whole world for all generations. It even reaches down through history to you and me.

The key to all this was Jonah abandoning his pride. And he didn’t just abandon his pride; he mocked it.

His perspective changed from being Jonah-centered to kingdom-centered. After all these events ended, Jonah thought about what God said and changed his mind.

That’s the takeaway from this marvelous book. Everything isn’t all about Jonah, and it’s not all about you. It’s all about the kingdom and its king. That’s what this familiar passage means.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. — John 15:7–8 (ESV)

What could, “abide in me,” mean, other than to be “in” Jesus? When you’re “in” Jesus, you have His perspective. You can’t be abiding in Jesus if you’re praying “it’s all about me” prayers.

And notice the second verse. What matters from Jesus’s perspective is that my Father is glorified.

That’s the purpose of everything.


All the weekly study guides, which include all five devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

The Job book is on Amazon and is eligible for Amazon Prime. The Kindle edition will be out soon.

https://www.amazon.com/Higher-Purposes-Lesson-God-Job/dp/1684719534

Mike Slay

As a mathematician, inventor, and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, Mike Slay brings an analytical, conversational, and even whimsical approach to the daily study of God's Word.

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