Jonah
Jonah was an Old Testament prophet that God used to witness to the great
city of Ninevah. Their wickedness was
great and it offended the Lord. So much
so, that he wanted Jonah to tell them about God and that their wickedness
displeased him.
This was not going to be a small act for Jonah. Nineveh was not kind to strangers, especially
those preaching against their wicked behavior.
It has been told that they would cube their enemy and eat them.
Out of fear for his life, he ignored God’s request and decided to go the
opposite way to Tarshish in southern Spain.
God knew that Jonah’s faith was weak, so he decided to give Jonah
strength. God used a large fish to
swallow Jonah and Jonah stayed in his belly three days.
Preachers will say that Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish is symbolic
of the three days that Jesus spent in the earth. I disagree.
Jesus did not turn away from the Father and ignore what his Father
wanted him to do. The three days in the
belly of the fish was to correct for Jonah’s path. Jonah was now a subject matter expert and
hero. God will build you up and give you
the power to perform the job he has for you.
Jonah 1:1-5,15,17 – Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of
Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh,
that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from
the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to
Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them
unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty
tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried
every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the
sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship;
and he lay, and was fast asleep. So they
took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her
raging. Now the Lord had prepared a
great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three
days and three nights.
Recognizing the predicament that Jonah was in, he prayed unto the Lord
thy God, to take him out of this fish.
For the lost, this fish with you in the belly is representative of you
lost in your addiction. When you decide
that you want out, pray to God and tell him that you want out! God spit Jonah out of the mouth of the
fish. God will give you the power to escape
your addiction and life of sin. Being
spit out of the fish’s mouth, it is time you decide to follow God’s
commandments, turn from sin, love God and love his children and follow
him. God will direct your paths.
Jonah 2:1-2,9-10 – Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the
fish’s belly, And said, I cried by
reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of
hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will
pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited
out Jonah upon the dry land.
God picked Jonah in the womb and God’s plan for Jonah didn’t change. Jonah stood up on the beach and did as God
directed! He headed to Nineveh and told
them of the impending doom that God had planned for their wicked city! Nineveh agreed and gave glory to God with a
fast. They repented and turned from
their evil ways and God was pleased. He
was no longer going to wipe out the city.
Jonah 3:1-5,9-10 – And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second
time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh,
that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh,
according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of
three days’ journey. And Jonah began to
enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days,
and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the
people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them even to the least of them. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and
turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned
from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he
would do unto them; and he did it not.
The outcome of you serving the Lord
is in God’s plan. It will not always be
what you want. Jonah was no longer going
to witness the destruction of Nineveh and he was angry. He was ready to witness the destruction of
Nineveh, but their corrective action and worship of God by the Nineveh people,
pleased God.
Jonah 4:1-3,5-8,11 – But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he
was very angry. And he prayed unto the
Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in
my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a
gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest
thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord,
take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to
live. So Jonah went out of the city, and
sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it
in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made
it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver
him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose
the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise,
that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of
Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better
for me to die than to live. And should
not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand
persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and
also much cattle?
Pray to God to be delivered from you
addiction and be a witness for Jesus Christ.
Do as he requests and do not turn back to sin. Do not blaspheme the Holy Ghost.
To God be the glory in all you do,
Amen.