In the Bible, God shows his acts of love abundantly. Many stories are written about how God is patient with sinful people and consistently shows love and mercy to them; however, the story of Jonah is very fascinating. It is fascinating because it tells how far God will still show His mercy. In the book of Jonah, we see the patience, mercy, and love God has for all of humanity regardless of the circumstances or the opinion of anyone. The city of Nineveh is a brutal, wicked one. It bullies everyone around them without any remorse, even God’s chosen people—the Israelites. Jonah, already hating Nineveh, expects God to destroy Nineveh; however, God has something different in mind. “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are” (Jonah 1:2). We see that God wants to show mercy to Nineveh, regardless of the opinion of Jonah. Nineveh is known as an evil city that oppresses other cities. They deserve to be punished as Jonah wished; yet, God chooses to remain merciful and patient with Nineveh because His unconditional love. Once Nineveh repents, God “[changes] his mind and [does] not carry out the …show more content…
Because of the obstinacy Jonah has against the will of God, he ends up stuck in the belly of the whale for 3 full days! Most of the gods the nations worship would let Jonah die for his rebellion, but not this God. The fact that God chooses to have a whale spit someone out from it shows enough mercy and love. God simply can tell someone else to go deliver his message to Nineveh and let Jonah die a terrible death. Just like Nineveh, Jonah disobeys God and he does not deserve mercy. Just like Nineveh, Jonah deserves the punishment from God. But God chooses to show mercy to Jonah and lets him deliver the message to
we read about an abundance of unlikely people chosen by the Lord to fulfill His purposes. Jonah had no idea he would be fish bait on his journey to reach an ungodly group of people. Jonah, the most noted foreign missionary in the Old Testament, is commanded to go east to Nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point (Jonah 1:1-3), was consumed by a great fish during his disobedient flight (Jonah 1:17), and walked around looking like a bleached whale for three days preaching repentance
Imagine being in the dark alone with your thoughts, but you’re actually in the gut of a whale. Jonah was a proud, stubborn, disobedient, unfaithful, a grumbler, and altogether a bad-tempered man who disobeyed God. Jonah learned to let go of his pride and follow God’s commands no matter what. From the story of Jonah we learn to follow God’s commands, to not doubt God, and when we obey we will see God’s amazing plans unfold. When we look at the different Prophets God uses throughout the bible we
The book of Jonah is one that is very interesting because it is such a common story that is told children, however, about half of the book is left out. Educators typically don’t include chapters three and four within their storytelling, so I was curious to learn about the rest of Jonah and what it would entail for the relationship between Jonah and God. Within chapters three and four, Jonah is called to go the city of Nineveh and give them a message that their city will be destroyed in forty days
Jonah The book of Jonah does not say who wrote it, but it is unlikely that Jonah was the author because it speaks badly about him. Jonah was a prophet in the land of Israel at about 800-750 BC. During this time, Israel shared its northern border with Syria. When the army of Syria defeated Israel in war, it took a lot of Israel’s land. Then the army of Assyria defeated Syria in war, making Syria weak. Jeroboam then was able to get his land back. Jonah had said that God would cause this to happen
word in which best describe the story of Jonah. Though a exceedingly short book in the Bible, only 4 chapter long, Jonah in nonetheless a significant book in the Bible. We are not told much about the “prophet;” (if he can even be called that) but what we do know makes us question how and why he was chosen by God to deliver a very important message that literally had the fate of an entire city riding on its delivery. We can, however, conclude book of Jonah is most definitely written by a single author;
Jonah (The Book of) Jonah is a book of the Bible written by the Johan himself approximately 785-760 BC. (BibleGateway, n.d.) This book of the Bible has only four chapters in it and it is fixed in the Bible after the book of Obadiah and before Nahum. In the four short chapters for this book of the Bible Johan goes from turning his back on the Lord, going back to the Lord, the once again questioning the Lord. The first chapter shows Jonah’s defiance of the Lord. The Lord asked Jonah to go Nineveh
Joe DeGroot 12/13/15 8th hour The book of Jonah The story of Jonah has great theological import. It concerns a disobedient prophet who rejected his divine commission, was cast overboard in a storm and swallowed by a great fish, rescued in a marvelous manner, and returned to his starting point. In the beginning, his disobedience brought punishment upon himself and others around him. After he boarded the ship to Tarshish there was a great storm. During the storm the men working on the ship began
Historical Background for the Passage: In the book of Jonah, we see how Jonah ran from God. God allowed Jonah to run, and taught him a valuable lesson during his three days and nights in the belly of a great fish and again when Jonah was angered because God did not destroy Ninevah. Summary and Analysis of Passage: God spoke to Jonah and told him to go to Nenevah and preach against the sin and wickedness in the city. Jonah did not want to go to Ninevah and he ran to another city where he boarded
The book of Jonah has been a staple in Sunday school classes for many years. It has also been subject to misinterpretation for many years as there is a much deeper meaning within the book that has enlightened audience that Jonah was originally written for. However, this remains one of the best books in that it contains a miracle that seems impossible which directly relates to people because it is a captivating story in which a man survives in the belly of a giant fish. Many have translated the word
Jonah was a true prophet of God who surely knew that a previous prophet who had disobeyed God’s instructions had died without mercy. I Kings 13:1-32 records that account. God sent a lion to kill him. Jonah was a prophet serving Jeroboam II, so Jonah expected that he too would be killed by God if he refused to go to Nineveh. Jonah was reconciled to that fate, and he accepted it. However, he felt that if he sacrificed his life, Assyria would be destroyed and his nation, Israel, would be spared. Jonah’s
themselves before God and He had mercy on them cancelling His judgment. Jonah had wanted Nineveh to be destroyed by God and this would prolong the life of the kingdom of Israel. But instead he was the main source of them hearing the message of repentance. He had preferred to die instead of fulfilling his divinely appointed mission. Now he had no one to "blame" for Nineveh's survival except himself and God's mercy. This made Jonah so angry that he was inconsolable and wanted to die.
This essay will uncover what the message is in the book of Jonah. After reading through the chapters several times, I noted that the main theme that is carried throughout the four chapters is the compassion of God not just for the important people who follow Jesus, but also the pagan sailors, pagan Ninevites and even the animals and things that grow out of the ground. While this book in the bible is titled Jonah, the main character here is God. Not because of the obvious, that God is the center
INTRODUCTION The value placed upon the book of Jonah among the Jewish people cannot be understated and it is read every year “during the solemn hours of the Day of Atonement.” Its significance lies in its reference to the repentance of the people of Nineveh. Nineveh’s repentance in Jonah 3:5-10 highlights the poignant episode in the history of Nineveh where God sent Jonah to warn them of the impending disaster because of their wickedness. But before the city could be destroyed they repented and
It is thought that Jonah, the fifth of the Minor Prophets, lived during the reign of Jeroboam II, when the kingdom was divided. (Lockyer, 198) Although the Book of Jonah is quite short, just two and one-half pages, it is not short on themes. Because there are so many themes it is hard to classify or to determine its primary message. (Anchor 936 and New Interpreter's 490) These themes range from running away, praying, second chances, anger, and God's compassion and mercy, to name a few. The
purpose of the book of Jonah is to show God’s people that His plan is exceedingly compassionate (God is gracious) and exceedingly certain (God is sovereign). The central theme of the book of Jonah is the God who loves in freedom. We should desire to understand, accept, and love God’s sovereign grace, rather than oppose it or be resentful of it. The book of Jonah stresses the freedom and primacy of God and God’s initiative and grace toward humanity. Christians, applying the theology of Jonah to the person