Jonah

Introduction: After the time of Elijah God raised up other prophets. One of them was Jonah. In Jonah’s time Nineveh was the capital city of Israel’s enemy, Assyria. The word of the LORD came to Jonah, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their

wickedness has come before Me." But Jonah went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. So the LORD brought a great wind on the sea and there was a huge storm so that the ship was about to break. The captain approached Jonah and said, "Call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish. " From what people are you?" Jonah said, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land." Then the men became extremely frightened because Jonah told them he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD. Then Jonah said, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea and the sea will become calm for you, for I know

that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." So the men picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea and the sea stopped its raging. And the LORD brought a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the LORD from the belly of the fish, and said, "I called out of my distress to the

LORD, and He answered me. The weeds were wrapped around my head. While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You. Salvation is from the LORD." Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land. Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city

and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was a very large city. Then Jonah cried out and said, "Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. The king of Nineveh proclaimed, "Do not let man or beast taste a thing. Let no one eat or drink water. Let all

men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish." When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the

calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He said, "LORD, this is what I said would happen? For I know that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Please LORD, take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." Then the LORD said, "Do you have good reason to be angry?" So Jonah went out from the city and sat down to see what would happen. So the LORD God caused a plant to grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from discomfort. And Jonah was very happy about the plant. But the next day God made a worm to attack the plant and it withered. When the sun came up God brought a hot east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, "Death is better to me than life." Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "I have good

reason to be angry, even to death." Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. "Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120, persons who

do not know the difference between their right and left hand, and many animals?"