Good morning, everyone!
So, yesterday when I said I was going to read Obadiah 1? I didn't realize I was also going to read Jonah 1-4.
So today I'm going to talk about Jonah. It will be a familiar story to anyone who grew up in church.
God tells Jonah to go to Ninevah and tell them that destruction is coming to them. Jonah doesn't want to, so he flees to Tarshish by ship.
A great storm comes up and the ship is about to sink. The sailors are praying to their gods, but Jonah is sound asleep below deck. A sailor wakes him and tells him to pray to his God.
Jonah is forced to confess that he is the reason the storm has come, and tells them to throw him overboard. At first, the sailors refuse, not wanting his death on their hands. They try to make it to shore, but the storm rages and the waves thrash the ship. Finally, the sailors pray to God to forgive them, and, with no other choice, they throw Jonah overboard. The sea calms and the storm abates, and the men fear God and worship Him.
Jonah lands in the sea, and is swallowed by a great fish. He is in the fish's belly for three days and three nights.
Finally, he prays to God and agrees to go to Ninevah.
So, the fish spits him out on dry land. Jonah goes to Ninevah, a three day walk.
Now, I'm going to stop here, because my Sunday school teacher had an addition to Jonah.
"Can you imagine," she'd say, "what he must have looked like? After no sunlight, that storm, and sitting in the fish's belly? He was probably pale, he smelled bad, and his clothes were probably torn. So," she'd continue, "when Jonah showed up crying out 'Repent!' the people were probably terrified."
Now, I don't know what Jonah looked like when he got out of the fish. Probably not good. My bible said the fish "vomited" him out. Gross.
But what he looked like isn't the point. It's just an interesting aside.
Jonah goes to Ninevah and preaches and the whole city repents. Even the king repents and commands everyone to put on sackcloth and fast and turn from their wickedness.
God saw their repentance and forgave them, relenting about the calamity.
Whew. That's good, right?
Well, not to Jonah.
Jonah 4:1 - But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.
Jonah became angry because God didn't destroy the wicked city of Ninevah.
Does that make sense?
Well, I have to confess that I know some people who have done bad things, and once upon a time I wouldn't have cared whether they asked for God's forgiveness or now. I confess that I haven't always been as forgiving as I should be.
And this was a whole city. Still, Jonah was one of God's prophets, right? And he should have been happy that the city had repented. But he wasn't. He wanted God to destroy them.
So, Jonah tells God that he knew this would happen and that's why he fled to Tarshish. Uh oh. Jonah didn't flee just because he didn't want to go to Ninevah. He knew if he went the people would listen and God would forgive them. Uh oh. Jonah really wanted Ninevah to be destroyed.
Jonah is so unhappy, in fact, that he begs for death. But God won't kill him.
So Jonah goes out of the city and builds a shelter where he can see the city. Basically, Jonah is pouting. So God causes a plant to grow so Jonah can have shade.
Jonah 4:6b - And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.
But God sends a worm to destroy the plant. Then He makes the sun beat down on Jonah's head and sends a scorching wind from the east. And Jonah begs for death. Again.
Then God tells Jonah that if he can have compassion for a plant, God can have compassion for a whole city.
I'm not sure if Jonah learned his lesson, but it's a good lesson for us. We all have to care about people. Even when we don't want to. Maybe God doesn't tell us to go to a wicked city like Ninevah, but what about our families? Our friends? Our coworkers? Shouldn't we pray for them, even when they hurt us?
What about people who have wronged us in the past?
Take a lesson from Jonah. Don't wish calamity on anyone. Pray for them instead.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read Micah 1-7.
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