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JOURNEY THROUGH THE BIBLE JONAH Day 1 Jonah 1 Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What mean thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7 And they said everyone to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? And whence come thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou? 9 And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Have you ever known you were supposed to do something, but you refused to do it because it was something detestable to you? Often times, as young people, teachers will pair students for projects, but those students don’t want to work together, making it hard on themselves and the teacher. Work situations can be the same. Instead of working with the company, for the good of the company, they work against their fellow coworkers, making life difficult, not only for them, but everyone else as well. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and prophesy to them. However, Nineveh was a place detestable to Jews, and Jonah decided to go in the opposite direction, to Tarshish. When he did, God sent up a great storm, causing trouble for everyone on board, so that the crew threw their cargo, their livelihood, overboard. When they asked Jonah where he was from and what God he served, they became more frightened than before. They had no fear of their gods, but they knew about the God of the Jews, and how their God helped them, and took care of them, and here Jonah was among them, a Hebrew, a servant of the Most High God, and they were so scared they didn’t know what to do. When Jonah told them to throw him overboard, he did so for two reasons. One, he thought to still escape his mission to go to Nineveh by dying in the sea, and he knew by doing so, the sea would calm, because God had his issue with Jonah, not the crew of the ship. However, when God determines something, he will see it through. When the men threw Jonah overboard, God prepared a great fish who swallowed Jonah, and he was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish. You can’t fight God. Imagine what your life would be like, if when God sent his Son, Jesus, to earth to die, Jesus refused because we were so sinful. Other than being disobedient to his Father, which Jesus never was, we would never have the opportunity for salvation. Our ultimate destination would be Hell, because there would be no other place for us. Thankfully, Jesus did the will of his Father, and went to the cross for our sakes. Why? So, we could be with him for eternity. Jesus was asked about a sign proving he was their Messiah. He gave them the sign of Jonah, three days and three nights in the belly of the earth, signifying his death and resurrection for their salvation. Matthew 12:38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. As Christians, you know the power of Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection from the dead. You know that when you believed, you were born again and your salvation was secure. Without people to spread the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, people would die in their sin, just as the crew on the ship Jonah was on were afraid about what was to happen to them. However, when they found out who Jonah was, and what his purpose was, and knew the storm was his doing, they obeyed Jonah, threw him overboard, and believed in the God of the Jews, offering sacrifices to him instead of their gods, who could do nothing for them. When you obey God, instead of fighting against him, your life will be easier, and so will the lives of those around you. Let’s pray: Father, help me be obedient to you, even when I am unwilling. Give me a heart of obedience to do your will, not mine. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 14 March 2018 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay