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The Twelve – Nathanael Bartholomew

Brian Hopkins

March 9, 2025

The name Nathanael isn't found in the Biblical listings of Jesus' twelve chosen apostles. Most likely, Nathanael was the given name of Bartholomew - son (Aramaic "bar") of Tolmai. From the story of his calling we find in John 1:43-51, we can safely infer that Nathanael was a close friend of Philip. From that story, we also learn that Nathanael was from Cana in Galilee where Jesus transformed the water into wine - the first miracle Jesus performed during His earthly ministry. Nathanael was also present with six other disciples of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee on the day Jesus took Peter aside to restore him after his denial on the night Jesus was betrayed.

God is Relentless in His Compassion – Jonah 4

Brian Hopkins

March 9, 2025

Recall from our previous study that the people of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, and that God therefore relented from the destruction of the city that Jonah had foretold in his brief prophetic message. Here in Jonah 4 we see that Jonah was highly displeased with the compassion God showed toward the Ninevites, forgetting the compassion God had shown to Jonah himself by rescuing him out of death through His sovereign provision of the great fish that swallowed and preserved him. God's mercy upon Nineveh is not at all what Jonah expected, and he didn't hesitate to tell God exactly how he felt about it.

The Twelve – Philip

Brian Hopkins

March 2, 2025

Our information from scripture about Philip is limited, so we need to infer what we can about Philip from these few mentions of him taking care not to read anything into the scripture. We see that Philip was called directly and individually by Jesus to be one of His apostles. We also see in the story of the feeding of the 5,000 that Philip was somewhat pedantic and literal in his understanding of the lessons Jesus taught him. When he was approached by some Greeks who wished to see Jesus, Philip was cautious. It wasn't Philip's nature to be brash and decisive like Peter and the sons of Zebedee.

God is Relentless in His Grace – Jonah 3

Brian Hopkins

March 2, 2025

In our study of Jonah so far, we have seen God's relentlessness in His pursuit of Jonah when the so-called "Reluctant Prophet" tried to run away from God's call for him to go to Nineveh. Then we saw God's faithfulness in rescuing Jonah out of death, and Jonah's gratitude for God's mercy. Now in Jonah 3, we see God's infinite grace and mercy not only upon the prophet he rescued out of death, but also upon the Ninevites to whom God called Jonah to preach a message of repentance. God's grace is particularly manifest in that He knew the Ninevites' repentance was only temporary in their fearful response to Jonah's prophecy of their destruction.

The Twelve – John

Brian Hopkins

February 23, 2025

John - who refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" - was the human scribe who wrote five books of the New Testament. John was part of Jesus' inner circle of chosen apostles who was present at the Mount of Transfiguration along with his brother James, and Simon Peter. From the cross before He died, Jesus entrusted the care of His mother Mary to John. Of the remaining 11 after Judas Iscariot died, only John was not put to death for his Gospel testimony as far as we know from the scripture itself.
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