God taught me this lesson on June 29, 2003. He wanted me to focus on the following:

1. God is Ruler over all the universe
2. God is Judge over all the universe
3. God is everywhere in the universe at the same time
4. God controls nature, events and people everywhere all the time

INTRODUCTION

The Bible story about a prophet named Jonah helps us to better understand Who God is and all that God is capable of doing. This Old Testament story is about Jonah’s disobedience and how he tried to run away from God and do his own thing. Because of Jonah’s action God made a fish perform like a submarine; a warring nation resemble a crying baby; a plant evolve into an umbrella and an arrogant man stripped of his contrite heart. God did all of this to show love to the world and to show Jonah that God is in control of everything.

PROGRESSION OF EVENTS

A prophet is a man or woman selected by God to receive His divine message and than go and share the message with others. Sometimes the message is good news and sometimes it is bad news. Which ever it is doesn’t matter. The prophet still has to deliver the message even if it means the people will get so angry that they will want to kill him.

Jonah was an Israelite and his people had a lot of enemies. One day God told Jonah to deliver a “good news” message to the people in a big city called Nineveh. Jonah did not want to do this because Nineveh was an enemy of his people. Jonah decided not to obey God but to sail to another city called Joppa where he thought God could not find him. Jonah foolishly forgot that God was Ruler and Maker over all the universe. So he purchased a ticket, got on the boat and immediately went down below where he could lie down and stay out of everyone’s sight.

God was not pleased with Jonah and decided to shake him up. Since God had made the wind and the rain and the sea, He called them together and commanded them to become a great and frightening storm. So the wind started to howl, the sea started to roar and the ship started to rock and roll.

Everyone on the ship became afraid and thought they would all die from drowning. They immediately began throwing cargo overboard to lighten the load, but that did not do any good. Everybody except Jonah was praying for safety to the god they believed in. Jonah was in the bottom of the ship fast asleep. The captain of the ship awoke him, and after questioning him determined that it was Jonah’s God who was angry and He was judging them. After much debate it was decided to throw Jonah overboard in order to calm the raging sea and to please God.

Under these circumstances Jonah should have drowned but God showed him mercy and performed a miracle. He caused an extra large fish to perform like a submarine. The fish swallowed up Jonah and carried him to the bottom of the sea. Miraculously, Jonah lived in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. He couldn’t see, eat, move or do anything other than pray to God and to tell Him how sorry he was for disobeying Him. After Jonah finished praying and asking God to forgive him, the fish vomited Jonah up onto dry land.

Eventually Jonah was obedient and went to Nineveh. There he started preaching throughout the city like God told him to do. It took Jonah three days to walk from one end of town to the other telling the people that if they didn’t stop fighting their neighbors and killing innocent people God would destroy their city in forty days. Jonah’s preaching was so effective that all the people, as well as the king, listened and obeyed him. These people who were once mighty warriors were filled with the Holy Spirit and began crying out to God like little babies. They not only stopped fighting but celebrated with a party where everybody was invited, including the animals. What made this party special was that no food or drinks were served. They just offered up prayer and praise to Jonah’s God…the God of all the heavens and the earth.

When Jonah saw that God had forgiven the people of Nineveh and had spared their city, Jonah was extremely angry. Jonah knew that his God was kind and merciful and good and he did not want to share his God with those foreign people. He wanted his God to punish them. Jonah did not understand how God rules everywhere in the universe at the same time.

Jonah was so mad with God that he tried to commit suicide. He was so depressed that he left the city and climbed a hill where he sat out in the hot sun near a small bush. God caused the bush to grow large leaves that shaded Jonah all day and acted like an umbrella. God also sent a cool breeze to calm Jonah down. Soon Jonah fell asleep and when he awoke the next day the plant had died. Now Jonah was really mad at God.

God could read Jonah’s mind and knew how angry Jonah was with Him. God spoke to Jonah and asked him why he was so concerned about a little old plant that Jonah had not even planted or watered. Why was Jonah acting so hurt that the plant had only lived for one day and than died? God was wondering what was the big deal?

Jonah could not answer God. He did not know why he felt that way about a little old plant. Than God said to Jonah, “Just as you are concerned about that little plant, I am more concerned about that great city called Nineveh. It is a town that has more than 120,000 people and a lot of animals in it. At first they did not know Me. But now they know right from wrong.” God asked that arrogant misguided man whose thoughts were only of an insignificant plant, should I not have taken pity on Nineveh and saved them?

God taught Jonah a very important lesson. To draw people to Him in order to offer them eternal life, God will use messengers to speak the word, nature to challenge doubters, plants and animals to protect fools, and the Holy Spirit to convict stubborn hearts. The universal message here is that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (Jn 3:16)

LESSON I LEARNED – GOD WANTED ME TO REACH OUT TO EVERYONE IN ORDER TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS!

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There are so many incidents recorded in the Holy Bible where God makes a way out of no plausible way. I use the adjective ‘plausible’ because certainly there are other ways and means to accomplish the same thing. However, when God makes an occasion happen, it’s spontaneous, sure and complete. When we do likewise (that is make something happen) we agonize over it for days or maybe weeks. And most of the time, our methods don’t work out for us.

Let us use the four chapters in the Bible about the story of Jonah, the prophet, as our example. As the Holy Spirit would have it, as I re-read the story of Jonah, I received a whole new perspective about his character and his intentions. The Holy Spirit illuminated in my heart that Jonah had ulterior motives for disobeying the Lord.

Jonah was a stubborn, selfish, son-of-a gun, with a very small mind. Now please give me a chance to explain. Most readers of this Old Testament story miss this. First, ask yourself why is the Book of Jonah even included in the Bible. After all, most commentaries assessments of Jonah’s intentions say he was a “wrong-way prophet” with a flawed character. (You’ll find this description written in the introduction pages of the Book of Jonah in the Bible.)

In other words, the true examples the reader is suppose to glen from this Bible Book is not to BECOME like Jonah with his selfish, stubborn and unforgiving ways; but rather to repent of your selfish heart and allow God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to work out a soul’s salvation for all peoples.

(*) NOTE: God’s grace is extended to all who confess Christ as their personal Savior and Redeemer.

(**) NOTE: It is not enough for Believers just to sacrifice, we must believe with everlasting faith.

Please refresh your memory of Chapters 2 and 3 in the middle of the Bible story about Jonah. You will learn about his encounter with the Great Fish and how and why Jonah eventually went to Nineveh. But it is the 4th Chapter that really is a little confusing and a precious surprise to most readers.

As you know, Jonah eventually goes to Nineveh. After Jonah preaches to the city of Nineveh all those residents do repent and are forgiven by God. They start to worship God and receive his blessings and this action greatly displeases Jonah and he becomes furious. He pouts and accuses God of ‘using’ him to do something that God was going to do anyway. [Like save a nation.] Jonah says to God, I knew that You are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to become angry, rich in faithful love, and One who relents from sending disaster. (Excerpts from Chapter 4)

Jonah left Nineveh and went and sat high on a hill looking down on the city until the sun rays became too hot for him.

So, Jonah built himself a wooden shelter but it wasn’t good enough to keep the heat from scorching him. To prove a divine point, God caused a plant to miraculously grow and it protected Jonah until the next mourning. Then God caused the plant to wilt and die. Now, Jonah was furious because as the hot sun beat down on his head, it almost made him faint. And Jonah declare he wanted to die.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY OF JONAH:

The Holy Spirit lets Jonah know that He was aware of Jonah’s reluctance to carry out God’s ordained instructions from the get-go. And he, Jonah, was the prophet especially chosen to carry out this assignment due to his non-repentant heart to include a non-repentant gentile nation (all non-Jewish peoples) to receive Salvation!

And the solidifying evidence in the narrative of the Book of Jonah is the description of Jonah spending 3 Days in the belly of the Great Fish. Just like our Precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ spent 3 Days in the grave to pay for the sins of the world. HE IS RISEN! Amen and Amen.

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