JONAH BIBLE VERSES

You may think of the story of Jonah as a children's story, but this little tale has some important lessons for folks of all ages. It's very easy to picture this story in your mind's eye, so dust off your imagination and let's go fishing for the story of Jonah.

The year was about 775 B.C. and in a city called Nineveh, located in Assyria, they were practicing evil that the Lord didn't like. The Lord would always warn before the people by way of His prophets before He would ever do anything like destroy a city, as it is written. Sooooo, the Lord spoke to Jonah saying, Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and warn them because their wickedness has come to my attention.

Now Jonah was from Gath-hepher and Nineveh was about 500 miles or so, east from there. Well, Jonah didn't wanna go to Nineveh because, he knew that God was known for extending mercy and that was a long way to travel and frightening to him. Jonah decided to run away from God, so he went down to Joppa, about 25 miles away and found a ship heading west for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into the ship thinking he was escaping the presence of the Lord.

However, the Lord hurled a strong wind on the sea and created a huge storm, so strong that the ship was in danger of being destroyed. The sailors were afraid and they all cried to their gods and threw all the cargo of the ship into the sea to lighten it. Meanwhile, Jonah was down in the side of the ship, fast asleep.

The ship-master went down to Jonah and said to him, What do you think you're doing, O sleeper? Get up and call on your God and ask Him to consider us, so we don't die. The people on the ship decided to cast lots to find out whose fault all this trouble was. When they cast their lots, the lot fell upon Jonah. They asked him, What's the reason for all this evil and where do you come from? What's your country and who are your people?

Jonah said, I'm an Hebrew and I fear the Lord God of Heaven, that made the sea and the dry land. Jonah told them that he was hiding from the Lord and this scared the people. They asked Jonah, Why did you do this? The storm was growing more and more furious and the people said What should we do to you so the sea will calm down for us?

Jonah said, Throw me overboard into the sea and it will be calm afterward because I know it's my fault that this tempest is upon you. They were afraid to throw Jonah in the water, because they didn't wanna make God more angry than He already was. They rowed hard trying to bring the ship to land, but they couldn't. The sea was stirred up and violently against them. They cried to God and said, We beg you, O Lord, we beg you, don't let us die for this man's life and don't blame us for innocent blood because you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped her raging. Then the men respected the Lord greatly. They offered a sacrifice and made vows.

Now, the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Let's have a lil bread crumb at this point, shall we ... We were taught as children when we heard this story that is was a whale that Jonah was swallowed by. However, it does not say that it was a whale, it just says GREAT FISH. But Jesus clarifies that it was indeed a whale when He said ...

The whale swallowed Jonah and he was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Did you know that this was a shadow of things to come? A shadow is an event that is similar (like a shadow) to something that's gonna happen in the future. Jesus explained this shadow in Matthew 12:39-41 and Luke 11:29-30 when the Pharisees tempted Jesus, asking Him for a sign from heaven. Jesus told them that an evil generation looks for a sign, an no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, the Son of man will be to this generation, and just as Jonah was in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights, the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

In the next chapter, we'll find out what happens when Jonah goes to Nineveh, so be sure to stick around!

Pretty shocking huh? After all he had been through and remember the touching prayer he gave God from the belly of a great fish. Then he found it within himself to be upset with God cuz God chose to forgive the people. I mean Jonah was just granted the same compassion a few days earlier from the belly of the great fish and now would rather die than live cuz God granted the same for others.

God answered Jonah ... Is it right for you to be angry? So Jonah went eastward outside of the city and set himself up a lil booth and he sat right on down, waiting to see what would happen to the city. God saw this and created a great gourd so that it would cast a shadow and provide him shade in his grief. Jonah was glad for the shady comfort.

The next day God created a worm which destroyed the Gourd that God had made. Then the sun rose and the heat of the day rose. God created a great wind and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so much so that he fainted and said AGAIN, it is better for me to die than live.

God asked Jonah if it was right to be angry about the gourd and Jonah said yes, I do well to be angry even unto death. The Lord said, you have pity on a gourd in which you have not labored neither made it grow which came up in a night and was gone in a night and should I not spare Nineveh which has more than 120,000 people which knew not their right hand from their left (Knew not what they were doing) ... The book suddenly ends there ... One can only imagine what took place at that point.

We all get this feeling inside and want to say to Jonah what's the matter fella, you spoke God's Word and the people chose to believe and were saved. What's the problem??? The problem was pride. Jonah felt that since God forgave the people that his works were in vain. He went and sat outside the city hoping it would be destroyed.

This story is a "shadow" of things to come in that we cannot go and sin, be punished by God, pray for forgiveness, be forgiven by God and then step away from that and fail to UNDERSTAND that GRACE is for everyone. Not just ourselves. Soooooooooooo, the next time you come across someone RUNNING and HIDING from God and their words and deeds may be deemed as sin, keep this in mind ... We too are sinners and we have to ask God for His forgiveness all the time. Judge not lest ye be judged. Let us NEVER become as Jonah and become blinded by pride so much that we would rather die than understand the TRUTH of GRACE ...