Overview of Jonah´s Book, Part Four

Jonas is buried alive inside a great fish. Inside the fish, Jonah prays and repents. He reconsiders his decision and he's thrown up on a shore.
What lesson can we draw from this? If God has a purpose to fulfill in your life, if He needs to use you, and you're not listening, He being God can handle your character. He can create a situation that you get close to him. He is Father and fathers are teachers!
Then we read in verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 3: "Then came the word of the Lord Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, and go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it the message that I tell you."
Notice that God would not let Jonah preach what "was in his heart" - no doubt a sermon in which he would ask that God have mercy and not to destroy them all. God gives explicit instructions to preach exactly the message He will give you - not the review of a book or your own opinion, not what your mother or the deacons asked you to preach. Sometimes we have to tell someone something that can annoy...
Those who fail to declare the whole counsel of God are on the road to Joppa, realize it or not, and are making a big mistake. It is much easier to preach about the love of God and the fruit of the spirit of that "shear sheep", talking about the sins of the flesh, but sometimes God insists that we do our work for reproof, rebuke, and exhort! (2 Timothy 4;2)
If there was a time in history when people needed repentance and revival desperately, that time is now! We are a decadent civilization and paganized, despite all assertions to the contrary, and any fool can discern the rapid deterioration of our moral in all levels. 

To meditate:

• God wishes to use you. 
• How good God gives us a second chance!
• The Lord´s mercies are new every morning. (Lamentatios 3:22-23)

I choose

Overview of the Book of Jonah, Part Three

Jonas is asked about his life and tells the sailors who he is (1:8-17).
Jonas admits he was disobeying God - fleeing from God´s presence - and the sailors are angry with his attitude. They then ask what they can do to reverse the situation and cease the storm. I think the answer of Jonas surprised everybody, because he told them to throw him overboard!
Well, even those pagan sailors were not heartless men, so reluctant and tried in every way to take the ship back to earth. When they recognized that their efforts were in vain, because the storm was getting worse, they end up praying to the God of Jonah - asking Him to spare them and forgive them for what they had to do! When all else does not work, they launched the prophet overboard! When the storm stopped miraculously, they got so impressed that worshiped the God of Jonah, offered sacrifices and made vows as believers do when they experience this kind of emotional experience. 

 

To meditate:

• every action generates a reaction, 
• my choices affect my life and people around me,
• how many choices do you make per day? 

"I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws." Psalm 119:30

Every man

Overview of Jonah´s Book, Part Two

Jonah fled because of personal hatred against those who had been sent.
Jonah knew God.
Jonah knew the Ninevites.
He knew that if the people of Nineveh heard the message and repent, God would forgive them and save from destruction.
However, he wanted them all go to hell! "-No, no, a thousand times no! Go to hell because it is what they deserve!" These were the thoughts of Jonah.
Later, after God persuade him to go (actually, grudgingly), Jonah ends up sulking and asking God to let him die. His personal feelings were trying to interfere with God's way of acting. Apparently, Jonah did not understand, but in the eyes of God he was not better or more just than those whom he hated. 

I fear that today, many Christians have the same false assumption.
Jonah is determined to escape the order of God, but God is infinitely more determined to make him obey.
Disputing who has the strongest will to God is not a fair competition!
Jonah could have been stopped at any point in his journey to Joppa, but God allowed him to buy the ticket and embark on Phoenician ship going to Tarshish. Exhausted from walking, Jonah enters the hold of the ship and falls asleep. While he is sleeping, God prepares a great storm at sea - in fact so great a storm that the sailors begin to pray for each of their gods. They are terrified and the captain wakes up Jonah and asks him to pray to his God! The crew begins to cast his lot (we would say today, "sticks out") to determine because of who came all the evil. Jonas is identified as the culprit, and they wonder to know why all this trouble.

 

To meditate:

Jonah´s book teaches us:

• salvation is for all men. God wants every men saved (I Timothy 2:4),
• what matters is God´s will to be fulfilled, not ours (Luke 22:15),
• reminds us that to obey is better (easier) than to sacrifice. (I Samuel 15:22)

Take my life

Overview of Jonah´s Book - Part One

You know who was Jonah? There is so much to learn from it...

Jonah was from Galilee (2 Kings 14:25). 

He was commissioned by God to go to enemy territory, to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. His mission was to warn the Assyrians,  because of their cruelty and much bloodshed, they would suffer the wrath of God if they did not repent within forty days.
The Assyrian empire was the dominant from 885bC to 665bC. The city of Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and at that time, their armies were threatening Israel. The Assyrian warriors were considered the most bloody and brutal and liked to invent new ways to torture prisoners. Often drew people's skin, or sticking up in the air in the chest by a large spear, or behead people losers, making pyramids with their skulls. Crucified or impaled prisoners, drew their eyes and skinned alive.
Perhaps, because knowing the cruelty of the Assyrians, Jonas has been reluctant, for his own people had suffered much in their hands. What then was the attitude of Jonah? Jonah did what many men do, disagreed with the call of God. "God must be kidding me! I want that Nineveh is destroyed!" So Jonah tried to flee from God!
Fearing for his life, Jonah fled toward Tarshish, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (modern region of Andalusia). It lies about 3,500 km from the port of Joppa (modern Tel Aviv).

Jonah went down to the port city of Joppa togo to Tarshish, to flee - the most remote destination where he could go. It is interesting to note how many times in the Bible we find the expression that "someone went down somewhere" - when you're living outside the will of God. "Going down to Egypt" is mentioned several times, because Egypt is a picture of the world. Down in chapter 3, verse 1, refers to the escape of God's will.

To meditate: 

We know that the Lord's will is the only truly good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2). So why are we so resistant and not surrender to it?