Nineveh was a Gentile city, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and had no covenant with God. But Nineveh was a very wicked city. Where can I fleefrom your presence? The mission of God is a guaranteed success because of the sovereignty of God. Jonah tried to initially claim that The Lord deserted him, but it was Jonah that had tried to run from God (Where could he escape God anyway?? Jonah remains today a powerful lesson on compassion, on purpose, and obedience. 3 When Jehovah ordered Jonah to Nineveh the second time, the prophet obediently headed east on this long journey. Jonah's response is joy, great joy. 9) What did God do to teach Jonah a lesson? He does all this to get Jonah to Nineveh. For built into Jonah's first attempts to get away from God are two results which will inevitably follow whenever anyone tries to disobey Him. Even if Jonah obeyed God from the start, it would still have been easier to send an angel or to appear as a pillar of cloud. I dont select the ads displayed here but generated by advertising software. So, God used a plant, a worm, and a wind to teach Jonah a lesson in compassion. Israel on the other hand, was in a "silver age.". On the way, however, God caused tragic things to happen. Why does God allow good people to suffer? After all, we might offend someone or worse, the world might crucify us. Even in our failures, God can use it for good! 22 The question is, Did Jonah take the lesson to heart? He would also know that if he disobeyed the commands of the Lord, he would bring down the wrath of God on himself. We read: "Now Nineveh herself proved to be a city great to God." ( Jonah 3:3) Three times, the record of Jonah quotes Jehovah as referring to "Nineveh the great city." ( Jonah 1:2; 3:2; 4:11) Why was this city great, or important, to Jehovah? And dont forget to download the Jonah Character Overview PDF! For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me;All Your billows and your waves passed over me (Jonah 2:1-3 NKJV). We read: To Jonah, though, it was highly displeasing, and he got to be hot with anger. (Jonah 4:1) Jonah even uttered a prayer that sounds like a rebuke of the Almighty! And Jonah has good earthly reasons why, but God looks beyond the earthly and looks through His spiritual eyes. In this article When we look at Jonah in the Bible you will discover incredible life lessons that can be applied to our daily walk with God. These past few months I have been doing the Jonah Bible study from Priscilla Shirer with my good friend Ana. What kind of journey lay ahead of Jonah, and how did he feel about his destination? Could you imagine how many times you would hear your kids say. The first gentile revival just took place. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying. The Lord controlled the elements of weather (Jon. 1) God gave Jonah a job, but Jonah didn't want to do it. While the theme of Gods sovereignty and Gods grace is, indeed, the predominant storyline of Jonah, the book is certainly not merely metaphorical. Did that solve Jonahs attitude? Icried out to theLordbecause of my affliction,And He answered me. 21 Do you see the depth of Jehovahs object lesson? Can you elaborate? What did God do to teach Jonah a lesson? What miracle did God perform to teach Jonah a lesson? Its Not What You Think! | For Jonah a whole city was ready to repent, but for that to happen he would have to leave his comfort zone. What Does it Mean That Jesus Was Gods Begotten Son? Because of Gods unending love, He sent His Son to die for us on our behalf. Jehovah, on the other hand, was the Source of life for those Ninevites and had sustained them, as he does all creatures on earth. Its only 4 short chapters. With this understanding, Jonahs choice to flee makes sense (in a very short-sighted kind of way) . God's Love vs. Jonah's Anger. As he sank deeper and deeper into the sea, he prayed to Jehovah. (see Jonah 3:6-9). So, when Jonah was on a ship, there was a storm and the sailors threw Jonah into the sea. When God speaks to our heart to do something we should take intitive. 5) He is thrown into the water. (b)What lesson do we all need to learn? On the contrary, he is reasonable, adaptable, and merciful. We could be preaching, but our hearts may not be in preaching. But without those, Jonah would have ended up fish food. The story of Jonah and the Whale, one of the oddest accounts in the Bible, opens with God speaking to Jonah, son of Amittai, commanding him to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. What did the Lord mean in Jonah. 11 Does this mean that Jehovah decided that his own judgment about Nineveh had been in error? Sometimes we learn lessons the hard way because we don't always do things God's way. (a)How does Jehovah show that he is reasonable, adaptable, and merciful? Jonah woke to see this luxuriant growth, with its broad leaves providing far more shade than his flimsy shelter ever could. Jonahs message was simple and not likely to win him any favor. Jonah's reluctance to obey the Lord's call to preach in Nineveh creates a natural doubt over whether he was actually a prophet, but the Savior referred to him as . Jonah 4:8 "And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live." A Heartless Prophet, Jonah 4. Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. He could have detested and hated these people. Obedience is the key to receivingGods benefits! Jonah was quite content with God's grace and God's love over Israel and over his own life. Learning to show mercy is often difficult for imperfect humans. But what happened, did Jonah obey God with zeal and passion? 8 This detail may seem odd, but it is not without precedent in ancient times. Jonah did not like grace because it was not something which one could earn. (b)What did the king of Nineveh do in response to Jonahs proclamation? Its not always easy or fun, but at the end of it, there is a beautiful reward. Because God has shown us mercy, wouldnt He also show mercy to those people outside our Christian faith? Of course, we know that you and I cant flee from God. Jonah prophesied in the mid-700s BC, a time when Assyria was not as powerful as they had been in recent years. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,AndYou heard my voice. God will move you out of a place of comfort to see a greater level of breakthrough for yourself and for others. When they did throw him into the sea, the storm stopped. Jonahs story may help us to take an honest look at ourselves. We can come to think that we are blessed to be in the family of God because of something of value or usefulness that impresses God. i. One day, God told the prophet Jonah, "Jonah, go preach to the people of Nineveh. BIBLEARENA.ORG presents the sacred teachings of the Bible to enhance spiritual growth. You could really see the clear intent of Jonah here that he really didnt want to do the job he was called to do. (See also footnote.) How did Jonah show faith and courage as he preached in Nineveh? Get a focused-Bible-teaching on various subjects as they may apply to our today's lives. Jonah needed courage and faith to preach in Nineveh. Obviously, He did not. 6 It has been estimated that Samaria, the capital of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel, may have had some 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants in Jonahs dayless than a fourth of Ninevehs population. Knowing that the people of Nineveh were wicked, Jonah naturally wouldn't want to go there to preach. A person should aspire to obey God and receive his blessing than to disobey him and suffer terrible consequences. Jonah didn't want to go there because the Ninevites were wicked people (see Jonah 1:2), and Jonah knew that when he came there to preach to the people, they'd repent and be spared from God's impending wrath (see Jonah 4:2). Is it wrong to judge other people? Jonah found Nineveh to be a huge city full of wrongdoing. A gourd, an easterly winder, and even a worm, all over the Lord without any protests. It is all full of lies and robbery. (a)Why might Jonah have found Nineveh intimidating? . Now there is potential for a bit of Irony here. Jonah was called to go and preach the repentance to the Ninevites (And by natural inference, to receive the forgiveness of God). 21. Yet the city of Nineveh had sixscore thousand people (Jonah 4:11) who didnt know any better and Jonah thinks their preservation is a bad thing? Struck with godly fear, he rose up from his throne, removed his luxurious robes of state, put on the same rough clothing that his people were wearing, and even sat down in the ashes. With his great ones, or nobles, he issued a decree that turned the fast from a spontaneous popular movement into an official action of state. Perhaps, even us today, we'd be hesitant to go to somewhere chaotic and full of wickedness to preach the Gospel. A bad storm happens and Jonah actually has the courage to let everyone know its his fault because hes running away from God. As the days passed, he thought about the destination that he so dreaded, the city that drew closer with each step he tookNineveh. 4,5. Jonah sits in the heat of Northern Iraq and is so outdone with Gods grace to his enemy, seething that he has lost a gourd with its leaves to shade him, that he despairs unto death. Jonah later wrote: The true God got to see their works, that they had turned back from their bad way; and so the true God felt regret over the calamity that he had spoken of causing to them; and he did not cause it.Jonah 3:10. For this article, we will take a quick look at some things that Jonah's life and ministry teaches us today, in a world where man-centered Christianity has grown, and many are looking for the real deal about Christ. After God delivered him, Jonah traveled to Nineveh and prophesied that the Lord would destroy the city because of its wickedness. But here was God wanting them to repent and change their ways. You have remained in right site to begin getting this info. Kia Ora Gramps.Could you please help to understand what lesson the Lord wanted to teach Jonah about the Gourd and the Worm? But Jonah doesn't want to do God's bidding to he jumps. Instead, the "sign" we are offered is an invitation to die with Christ so that we can personally begin to experience the new life of the Resurrection. If anything, it will just have negative effects on us and the people around us! Conversely, when there is authentic revival from on high, when people repent and when we receive Gods grace and mercy through Jesus Christ His Son, balance and harmony return to the community. We read: Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.. To top it off Nineveh is 800 miles away. 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He claimed that he knew all along that Jehovah would not bring calamity on Nineveh, even using that as an excuse for his running away to Tarshish in the first place. Jonah was the prophet who served during the reign of Jeroboam II in the Eighth Century before Christ. 19 Once more Jehovah asked Jonah if he was rightly angry, this time over the death of the bottle-gourd plant. The story shows us how merciful God is, by contrasting His mercy with Jonah's hunger for revenge. In fact, the narrator uses the same grammatical structure as in Jonah 4:1. What quality had Jehovah shown toward Jonah, yet what question arises? This blatant rebellion leads Jonah a not so fun boat ride. Enable me with the strength to be conscious of your expectations and meet them! from the presence of the LORD. 3) That obedience to God will always bring God-sized results. Let us go to Jonah 1:1 brethren. You will see how this Jonah Bible study has changed the way I look at obedience and repentance. Jonah and the Whale Bible Story Study Guide. Thats after the prophet Elijah but before Amos and Hosea. The mandate to preach repentance is inexorably linked to the announcement of Gods grace and forgiveness. No one expects a person to survive inside a fish. What does the story of Jonah and the whale teach us? So when the Lord told Jonah that Nineveh was wicked and ripe for destruction, it would be easy to see why Jonah would be pleased by this; and why he would be less pleased to be called by the Lord to call the city of Nineveh to repentance. To see what we can learn from the life of Jonah. In his mind, they deserve nothing but death. JONAH would have plenty of time to think. I love looking for signs so i looked at the paper. The mans spirits plummeted, and again he asked God that he might die.Jonah 4:6-8. But thankfully brethren, God is not like that. JONAH LESSON 4 We will begin this lesson in Jonah 4:1 "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry." 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