The book of Jonah and it's many lessons!

Jonah

Many people even non Christians know the story of Jonah and the whale. It is safe to say that it is one of the many more famous story’s of the bible, right up there with Daniel in the lion’s den and Noah and the ark. I just finished reading the book of Jonah while trying to finish reading my way through the entire bible which I am very proud to say I have at this point done. I admit I probably did not take the time to study rather than just read but that is my next goal to understand as much as I can now that I have read it all. Sorry to go off on that tangent but while reading Jonah I noticed that there are many more lessons than just that of Jonah and the whale. I will try to show the best I can all the lessons that the lord has brought to me threw his word.

Chapter 1:1-2 tells of how God communicated to Jonah that he wanted him to go to Nineveh an important city in Assyria and preach against all the evil deeds of its citizens. In Jonah’s time the Assyrian empire was the rising world power. Within 50 years of God communicating to Jonah Nineveh would become the capital of the vast Assyrian empire. Jonah does not go into much detail about the city itself but after further research In the book of Nahum the prophet went into detail about how Nineveh was guilty of evil plots against God, exploitation of the helpless, cruelty in war, idolatry, prostitution, and witchcraft. So it is easy to see why instead of Jonah doing what God asked the scripture said Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. Jonah had grown up hating the people of Nineveh so he did not believe that they were worthy of hearing about God’s grace and how if they would just give their lives to God they could be saved from eternal torment in the lake of fire. Lucky for them and everyone else God has the final say on who is worthy and we know he does not wish that any of his children should suffer in hell. In verse 3 of chapter one we hear that Jonah ends up in Joppa and boards a ship headed for Tarshish. Scripture describes his plan as trying to flee from the Lord but he did not get very far. In the next couple of verses you hear that the Lord sent a great storm after Jonah and that it was so bad the sailors that were on the ship were very frightened and cried out to their gods. These verses sure make me think twice about ignoring God’s will for me to do something. When the sailors found Jonah sleeping below deck they woke him and asked him to pray to his God to help them all survive. Finally when nothing worked they cast lots to find who was at fault for the storm and of course it fell to Jonah. After finding out Jonah was the cause for the storm they asked who his God was and what he had done. Jonah replied in verse 9 by saying He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." After hearing this they were terrified and asked what they should do. Jonah responded that they should throw him over board because he knew it was his fault the storm had come up. Know that showed what kind of a person this man was he knew that he had done wrong and he was willing to pay the price to apologize to God. I ask you do you do that today. Do you show that Christian characteristic of responsibility can you be like Jonah? The sailors did not want to hurt Jonah so scripture say they tried to row back to shore but could not so they apologized and asked that Jonah’s death not be on their heads or that they not be held responsible. Verse 15 and 16 describes that after they threw him in the storm calmed and they then worshiped the lord and offered sacrifices to him. It’s amazing that God is able to take even an act of disobedience and make it into a tool of redemption for those sailors. Only God could foresee the wonderful opportunities of even something so disobedient. This shows God’s wisdom and forgiveness, he was not so mad at Jonah that all he could think about was what he would do to punish him but instead he used it as an opportunity to save these men’s souls. At the end of the first chapter we hear the big news that a huge fish came and swallowed Jonah were he stayed for three days and three nights. The entire second chapter is a prayer from Jonah while in the belly of the beast where he asked for forgiveness and at the end it spits him out. God new that Jonah had done wrong and when Jonah admitted he did as well and that he was sorry God forgave him. It amazing that God is so forgiving he gave Jonah wisdom and Jonah ran with it but when he returned to the Lord he was forgiven that’s all we must do return to the Lord and tell him that we are sorry we ran from him and just want to be with him again. In chapter 3 we learn that Jonah did indeed travel to Nineveh when the word of the lord came to him again with a message for its people. On the very first day Jonah told them that in forty days Nineveh would be overturned by the Lord. When the people heard this everyone to the very least to the king put on sack cloth, fasted, and renounced their evil ways. When God saw this he did not proceed with the destruction but forgave the city. Now Jonah has gone from running from the Lord to delivering an entire city (and not a small one at that). It makes you question wither there is an end to the forgiveness of the Lord he loves even those that ignore him so that even the most wicked will turn form there ways and worship him. In chapter 4 Jonah was angry because God did not give the people of Nineveh what was coming to them so to speak. He even went as far as trying to defend his flight to Tarshish. The lord answered him by asking if he himself had any right to be angry because he had found salvation, why not them. The lord then made a vine grow up to give Jonah shade but he also allowed a worn to eat the vine and it died and Jonah was left in the sun and very faint and again Jonah was angry this time with the vine. The lord asked him again if he had any right to be angry but Jonah replied yes he was angry enough to die. Jonah was not upset that all the people n Nineveh were going to perish but he was mad that a vine had died that gave him shade even thought he did not help it to grow. God goes on to explain that there are even 120,000 people that cannot tell there right hand from there left (which I interpret to mean they are young children or innocent and non deserving of the punishment). God showed that he was not just God of the Jews but a God of all nations and people who he Loves and wants them to worship him.