Something Big Just Happened
Hello! Hope you’re well. Here’s the latest:
Jonah Has Landed
Well, folks, very big news: the Season 2 premier of Holy Ghost Stories dropped yesterday! “The Pushover, the Runaway, and the Belly of the Beast (Part 1)” is waiting for you at this very moment in your podcast app of choice.
I’m thrilled to get Season 2 rolling for you, and this episode was so much fun to make. I mean, come on: an AWOL prophet, a God with an excellent sense of humor, a typhoon, screaming sailors, a near-death-experience, and a harrowing escape made possible by a sea monster? I think you’re doing it wrong if you’re not having fun telling that story.
Of course, this story has an immensely challenging message for all of us—especially those of us who have someone (or a group of someones) we don’t like.
A few things I think are fascinating:
The backdrop of this story—it helps me understand Nineveh’s surprising repentence. To set the scene…..
It’s the mid-700s B.C.
One of the world’s great superpowers is the kingdom of Assyria. ...But Assyria’s days are numbered.
Known for their brutal militarism and grotesque torture practices, Assyria conquered a great deal of territory in the preceding years…and did terrible things to subjugate the people around them.
But kingdoms rise and fall, and the kingdom of Assyria has begun to see some decline—external threats and internal division, with smaller nations like Israel able to take back some of the land they’d lost to the Assyrians.
Even in the great city centers like Kalhu and Nineveh, the people of Assyria can’t ignore the tremors of change...and they’re worried, wondering why their kingdom’s fortunes seem to have taken a turn for the worse.
There was even a solar eclipse that occurred in the tenth year of Assyrian king Asshur-dan III (June 15, 763). Some believe it may have been Yahweh preparing Nineveh for Jonah’s proclamation and their dramatic repentance.
I quote in this episode from one inscription where Ashurnasirpal II bragged about his violent conquests. As you can imagine, reliefs/etc from Assyria are rife with such depictions.
In fact, at the British museum last month I saw bronze bands that would have decorated a massive pair of wooden temple gates (or possibly palace gates—they date from the reign of Shalmaneser III, Ashurnasirpal II’s son) at Balawat, near modern Mosul. In bronze repoussé (a relief created by hammering thin bronze on its opposite side), an Assyrian soldier can be seen grabbing the hand and arm of a prisoner whose other hand and both feet have already been cut off. A piece in Biblical Archaeology Review describes the rest of the scene: “Dismembered hands and feet fly through the scene. Severed enemy heads hang from the conquered city’s walls. Another captive is impaled on a stake, his hands and feet already having been cut off. In another detail, we see three stakes, each driven through eight severed heads, set up outside the conquered city. A third detail shows a row of impaled captives lined up on stakes set up on a hill outside the captured city.” Yikes. That article describes quite a few other examples of Assyrian brutality as well—you can read it here.
Thanks to a fabulous conversation with an OT professor friend, I was able to describe in detail the sailors casting lots to determine who caused the storm. If that’s how they did it, it’s a masterful preview (arranged, I’m sure, by Yahweh) of what’s about to happen to Jonah.
I’ll stop there for now, but there’s waaaaayyy more stuff like this waiting for you in the Insider Notes available this evening on Patreon.
Alright—time for you to take a listen. Hope you enjoy part one of “The Pushover, the Runaway, and the Belly of the Beast.” Please share it with a friend if you do!
An Expert’s Take
Remember that conversation I told you about last time? The one I was looking forward to having with the Old Testament and Hebrew professor who wrote my favorite commentary on Jonah? Three things: 1. I had it. 2. It was fantastic. 3. It will be available on Friday for all HGS patrons over on Patreon. To give you a taste, here’s a clip of Dr. Youngblood responding to my question, “What bothers you about the way the book of Jonah is sometimes taught?”
Among other things, Dr. Youngblood talks about how funny this text is. He says, “The book of Jonah is ridiculous. And Yahweh in the book of Jonah is extremely playful. He’s a prankster.”
Man I love that.
Holy Ghost Stories obviously leans into the “dark” part of the dark humor of this book, but it’s great to see God acting like I sometimes do as a parent who leans on humor when it seems like the right thing to get the job done.
Homes Everywhere
Thanks to so many wonderful friends, my family and I have had multiple places to stay and so many tables to gather around during this summer trip to the States. It’s been such a joy to be on the receiving end of all this hospitality and friendship. Our cup overflows. We forgot to take pics with several fabulous folks, but here are a few moments we grabbed.
Patron Saint Tees In The Wild
So fun to see these t-shirts popping up in the world! (I’ve still got a handful to mail, and I’m only about halfway through the stickers—so don’t fret if you haven’t received yours yet!)
If you’re new around here, I sent these as thank-you gifts to the incredible folks who jumped in as patrons of Holy Ghost Stories before the end of Season 1. I’m so grateful. Y’all are saints.
Storied Family Workshop
You’ve (barely) still got time to join my wife and I for The Storied Family, a parenting workshop we’re doing in a few cities (and online!) over the next two weeks.
The online workshop is THIS SATURDAY, but if you grab a ticket now you can participate anytime within 30 days of the event. (Just click “Select a Date” and Choose July 24.)
Online or in person, we’d love to explore how leveraging the power of story can make your kids sturdier and anchor them more powerfully to God. You can find info and tickets here.
3 Cool Things
Raindrop Tracer - When a raindrop falls in a certain place in the USA, where does it end up? Wonder no more.
Bone Music - Jazz smuggled into the USSR on records made of x-ray films. Now that’s improvisation.
Forest Trolls - Thomas Dambo and his team are amazing. They’ve created dozens of 15- to 30-foot-high trolls in mountains, forests and parks from China to Puerto Rico. All out of scrap wood.
Alright—that’s the latest! Let me know if you’ve listened to the Season 2 premier yet—I’d love to hear whether you enjoyed it and your favorite part if you have one. 🐋
Gratefully,
Justin