Living by the Book/Living by the Book Workbook Set (90 page)

Each of these sections of Hebrews is helpful on its own merit. But by reading telescopically and linking them together, we discover that their relationship to one another can be just as significant as their individual teachings.

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Jonah 4:5–8

TIME COMMITMENT:

30–60 minutes

“The paragraph is the basic unit of study—not the verse, not the chapter. . . . The paragraph represents a complete thought. It is a group of related sentences and statements that deal with one main topic or idea. That makes it ideal for observational study” (p. 135).

B
y this time you’ve had ample opportunity to practice examining a single verse and applying various observational techniques to numerous passages of Scripture—long and short. Now we turn our attention to a single paragraph. The one we’ve selected from the Old Testament is Jonah 4:5–8. We’ve provided the
New American Standard Bible
version of this paragraph below, with plenty of space for you to take notes and make observations.

Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered. And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”

Begin by going through this paragraph using the questions on “Observing a Passage of Scripture” (p. 15). This story is less familiar than Jonah’s encounter with the great fish. But what you already know about Jonah should provide insight into this paragraph. Consider some of the following observations, and add others of your own.

• What is the “city” referred to?

• Why is Jonah observing the city from a distance rather than residing in it?

• Where does this story come chronologically in regard to Jonah’s big fish experience?

This paragraph is a study in contrasts. Consider the potential significance of the following ones, and then add others you find. What is noteworthy about:

• Jonah’s expectation for the city versus God’s?

• Jonah’s shelter versus God’s shelter for Jonah?

• Jonah’s response to God’s worm versus his previous response to God’s fish?

• God’s gift of shade to Jonah versus His removal of that shade?

• Jonah’s attitude when comfortable versus his mind-set under adverse conditions?

Jonah 1:17 tells us that “the Lord appointed [or provided] a great fish” just when Jonah was at risk of drowning. What three other things are “appointed” by God as described in this paragraph? What was the result of each one? What does this paragraph suggest about God’s provisions for our lives?

What other observations do you make from this paragraph?

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

2 Corinthians 4:7–12

TIME COMMITMENT:

30–60 minutes

“How to work with a paragraph: (1) Check the context; (2) Label your observations; and (3) [Keep in mind that] no detail is trivial (pp. 137, 140, 141 from the section headings).

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elow is a New Testament paragraph for you to observe and comment on. As before, we have provided the text and some questions to get you started.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.

A lot of themes go by quickly in this single paragraph: suffering, life, and death, among others. It might help to know the author and whether or not he was truly an authority on what he was writing.

Who wrote this passage?

What is the “treasure” he referred to in the first sentence?