December 18, Jonah

Day 19, December 18

Persons: Jonah

Theme/Event: God’s Forgiveness

Symbol: Big fish

Jonah 1-4

Do you remember how Isaiah was called by God to tell people about Him? Tonight we read about another prophet of God named Jonah. God told Jonah to go and tell the people of Nineveh all about Him, so they could change the bad things they were doing, ask God’s forgiveness and worship the true God. But, unlike Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, Jonah did not obey God. He tried to run away from God and God’s plan. Jonah sailed on a ship going the other way.

Jonah 1:4-17, 2

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.

Chapter 2

¹ 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.

Jonah thought he could run away from God’s plan and keep it from happening, but God’s plans never fail. Jonah asked God for forgiveness and had to wait three days and three nights before the fish spit him out on to dry land. It must have been hard to wait that long in the belly of a fish! There are always consequences when we disobey God, but His mercy never fails. God forgave Jonah and God sent Jonah to Nineveh to tell the people all about Him. God still used Jonah to deliver His message! The people in Nineveh did stop doing bad, asked God to forgive them and believed in God. They were saved through Jonah’s message.

The three days and nights are also a picture of the time between Jesus’ death and Jesus’ resurrection. It was very hard for Jesus’ followers to wait those three days and nights after Jesus died. But, no matter how dark things seem, God’s plans never fail!

Questions:

• What happened when Jonah disobeyed God?


• Did God forgive Jonah?


• What did the people in Nineveh do when Jonah told them about God?

Prayers: Dear God, please help us to always obey you the first time. Thank you for your mercy.