Jonah 1:1-17
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me." 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish." 7 And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, "Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?" 9 So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land." 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, "Why have you done this? "For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us? "-for the sea was growing more tempestuous. 12 And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me. "13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You." 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows. 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
In chapter 1 of Jonah we first learn of the command given to Jonah to preach and prophesy at Nineveh (vs. 1-2). Next we read of Jonah's disobedience to that command (vs. 3). But then a terrible storm, which threatens to destroy the ship, brings his sin to light (vs. 4-10); and when the lot singles him out as the culprit, he confesses that he is guilty; and in accordance with the sentence which he pronounces upon himself, is cast into the sea (vs. 11-16). The chapter concludes with the preparation of a fish for Jonah, which swallowed him up, and in which he lived three days and three nights (vs. 17).
The verse that stands out to me today is Jonah 1:12 "And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me." Jonah knew that he had disobeyed and that the storm was his fault, but he didn't say anything until the crew cast lots and the lot fell on him (Jonah 1:7). His words, because of me, are an admission of guilt and show a sense of resignation. Then Jonah was willing to give his life to save the sailors, although he had refused to do the same for the people of Nineveh. Jonah's hatred for the Assyrians had affected his perspective. Nineveh was a powerful and wicked city. Jonah had grown up hating the Assyrians and fearing their atrocities. His hatred was so strong that he didn't want them to receive God's mercy. Jonah was actually afraid the people would repent (Jonah 4:2-3). Jonah's attitude is representative of Israel's reluctance to share God's love and mercy with others, even though this was their God-given mission (Genesis 12:3). They, like Jonah, did not want non-Jews (Gentiles) to obtain God's favor.
When God gives us directions through his Word, sometimes we run in fear or in stubbornness, claiming that God is asking too much. It may have been fear, or anger at the wideness of God's mercy, that made Jonah run. But running got him into worse trouble. In the end, Jonah understood that it is best to do what God asks in the first place. But by then he had paid a costly price for running. It is far better to obey from the start.
I pray that you would know the joy of obeying God's Word today and that obedience would spring out of love.
Psalm 5:11 (KJV)
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Blessings,
Alan J. Schrader
Jonah 2:1-10
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish's belly. 2 And he said:
"I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. "Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice. 3 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. 4 Then I said, I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple. 5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head. 6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God. 7 "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. 8 "Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord." 10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
In chapter 2 of Jonah we learn of the prophet's prayer when he is in the fish's belly (vs. 1). Jonah's prayer is filled with great distress and yet remembering the goodness of the Lord, and resolving to look again to Him (vs. 2-6). Next we read of Jonah's assurance in prayer (vs. 7) and then the warning and instruction he gives to others (vs. 8). Then Jonah gives praise and glory, acknowledging that salvation comes from Him (vs. 9). The chapter concludes with Jonah's deliverance out of the belly of the fish, and his coming safe and sound upon dry land again (vs. 10).
The verse that stands out to me today is Jonah 2:8 "Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy." This phrase "worthless idols" (also found in Ps. 31:6) condemns every substitute to God. Idols here means "vapor," that which passes away quickly. These vaporous gods (see Ps. 86:8; Jer. 10:15; 51:18) were without value. Mercy (loyal love), the term that so often describes God's faithfulness to His covenant and to His people is used as a name for the Lord (4:2). Those who worship worthless idols forfeit God's grace and abandon any hope for mercy from the Lord. Any object of our devotion that replaces God is a lying vanity. We deceive ourselves with something that is ultimately empty and foolish.
I pray that nothing takes God's rightful place in your life today.
Love in Christ,
Alan J. Schrader
Jonah 3:1-10
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you." 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? 10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
In chapter 3 of Jonah we learn how the prophet is commissioned for the second time to go to Nineveh and preach (vs. 1-2). Next we learn of the message that is faithfully delivered by Jonah (vs. 3-4). Then the people of Nineveh believed God and repent of their evil ways (vs. 5-9). The chapter closes with God changing the course of Judgment upon the people of Nineveh because they turned from their evil ways (vs. 10).
The verse that stands out to me today is Jonah 3:10 "Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it." We learn in this verse that "God relented". In other words the Ninevites' repentance moved the Lord to extend grace and mercy to them. The evil and wicked people of Nineveh believed Jonah's message and repented. What a miraculous effect God's words had on those evil people! Their repentance stood in stark contrast to Israel's stubbornness. The people of Israel had heard many messages from the prophets, but they had refused to repent. The people of Nineveh only needed to hear God's message once. Jesus said that at the judgment, the men of Nineveh will stand up to condemn the Israelites for their failure to repent (Matthew 12:39-41). It is not our hearing God's word that pleases Him, but our responding obediently to it.
I pray that you would respond quickly to God's voice and that your works would Glorify HIM.
1 Peter 2:12 (KJV)
Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Love in Christ,
Alan J. Schrader
Jonah 4:1-11
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!" 4 Then the Lord said, "Is it right for you to be angry?" 5 So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. 7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" 10 But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left-and much livestock?
In chapter 4 of Jonah we learn of the prophet's displeasure at the repentance of Nineveh (vs. 1). Then we have the angry prayer of Jonah (vs. 2-3) and the gentle reproof of the Lord (vs. 4). Next a plant is prepared for Jonah; its rise, usefulness, and destruction, which raised different passions in Jonah (vs. 5-9). The chapter concludes with God's rebuke of Jonah for having pity on a plant but not willing to have pity on a people (vs. 10-11).
The verse that stands out to me today is Jonah 4:10-11 "But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left-and much livestock?" Pity describes an expression of deeply felt compassion. The same word used to describe Jonah's feeling toward the plant in v. 10 is used of God's feeling toward the people of Nineveh. People are of more value than plants. If Jonah could take pity on a plant, it only made sense that God would take pity on human beings, who are made in God's image. Sometimes people wish that judgment and destruction would come upon sinful people whose wickedness seems to demand immediate punishment. But God is more merciful than we can imagine. God feels compassion for the sinners we want judged, and he devises plans to bring them to Himself. God spared the sailors when they pleaded for mercy. God saved Jonah when he prayed from inside the fish. God saved the people of Nineveh when they responded to Jonah's preaching. God answers the prayers of those who call upon him. God will always work His will, and He desires that all come to him, trust in Him, and be saved. We can be saved if we heed God's warnings to us through his Word. If we respond in obedience, God will be gracious, and we will receive his mercy, not his punishment. What is your attitude toward those who are carrying out wicked actions? Do you want them destroyed? Or do you wish that they could experience God's mercy and forgiveness?
I pray that you would be filled with God's compassion and mercy today.
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Love in Christ,
Alan J. Schrader
