Studying the Book of Jonah: part 3

 

Part 2 can be found HERE!

In part 2, we left off with Jonah's disobedience not only affecting him, but everyone else on the ship as well, that's where we're going to pick up in part 3 ...

Verse 7:  And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.”  So, they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.  

The men are beside themselves with desperation and decide to cast lots to see if someone on board has done something to cause this great storm, and the lot fell on Jonah.

 

Verse 8:  Then they said to him, “tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.  What is your occupation?  And where do you come from?  What is your country?  And of what people are you?

The men began firing rapid questions at Jonah as he stood defenseless before his accusers while the ship rocked, the waves crashed, and the storm continued all around them.  Since the lot had fallen on him, he was a serious suspect, and the men were determined to get answers.

 

Verse 9:  And 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.”

Jonah makes a full and complete confession.  He is a Hebrew; he fears the Lord and he acknowledges the sovereignty of God over the sea and dry land.

His statement that he ‘fears the Lord’ seems in direct contradiction to his actions though, doesn’t it?

 

Verse 10:  Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!”  For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

The men’s exclamation of horror “what have you done” must surely have cut through Jonah like a knife.  He was the cause; it was his fault and he had nowhere to turn.   

 

Verse 11:  Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?”  For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

The men are beside themselves not knowing what to do or where to turn as the storm grows worse, so they asked Jonah for advice concerning what they should do with him!

 

Verse 12:  He said to then, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

Jonah recognizes that this terrible storm is an act of God against him because of his disobedience and asked the men to do the unthinkable.

Why did Jonah not pray to God and repent instead of telling the sailors to ‘hurl him into the sea?’  It seems that God’s prophet is still in full blown rebellion against what the Almighty wants him to do!

Do the sailors do what Jonah asked?  Do they hurl him into the seas?  We'll find out in part 4!

Until then, 

patsy @ From This Heart Of Mine

(c) 2022 by Patsy Norwood.  All Rights Reserved.

Studying the Book of Jonah: part 2

In part 1 of this study, we left off at verse 3 having learned why Jonah disliked, maybe hated would be a better word, the Ninevites badly enough to willingly disobey God.

In today's entry, we're going to look closely at verses 4, 5 and 6 of chapter 1 ...

Jonah is now in the boat and thinks he's successfully running away from God and what He wants him to do ...

Verse 4: But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.

The Lord responded to Jonah’s disobedience in a BIG way!  All the forces of nature are under the command of God and once the ship was out over waters, God hurled a great wind upon the sea!  The conditions were so bad that the ship was in danger of breaking up and coming apart, it was being threatened with complete destruction.

Evidently it was not the time of year when such storms were expected, else the ship wouldn’t have been bound for Tarshish at all, this is yet another showing of God’s great governing of the world.

 

Verse 5:  Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god.  And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them.  But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

The sailors were seized with fear, prayed to their gods and made every effort to lighten the load of the ship.  They were literally fighting for their lives, and they knew it!

While the sailors were doing all they could to save their lives and the ship, Jonah was fast asleep on a lower deck.  Could Jonah have been so mentally and physically exhausted from running from God that he was able to sleep through this horrendous storm?

 

Verse 6:  So, the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper?  Arise, call out to your god!  Perhaps your god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

The men noticed that conditions were not getting better and that their gods were not answering them or giving them any help.  The captain came to Jonah and realizing that he was asleep gave him a stern reprimand.  He wanted Jonah to call out to his God, but Jonah was running from his God, he didn’t want to do that!

Jonah’s disobedience was not only affecting him, but it also put everyone else on the ship in jeopardy too!

We'll stop there for this entry.  I hope you're taking the time to think about and absorb the lessons that are applicable in our lives from this study.  I'd love for you to share what you're gleaning from each day's entry.

patsy @ From This Heart Of Mine

(c) 2022 by Patsy Norwood.  All Rights Reserved.

Studying the Book of Jonah: part 1

I've just completed an in-depth verse by verse study of the book of Jonah with this Facebook ladies Bible study group.

I've taken all my notes, done further research and written my own verse-by-verse study.  I'd like to share it here over the next several days with the hope that you learn as much from it as I did ...

I make notes in my Bible a lot and as you can see the book of Jonah doesn't have any which tells me that I've never done an in-depth study of the book, until now!

Do you notice the key on the loop of my Bible cover?  I intentionally put that key there as a reminder that studying God's Word is 'key' in my relationship with Him.  I never want to forget that and so this little reminder helps keep the importance of Bible study ever before me.

Today, I'm going to share my notes on verses 1 - 3 of chapter 1 and give a little background information.  Knowing the background helps to understand the book much better!

(pictured:  markings I made in my Bible on verses 1 - 3 along with some basic background info.)

I hope you enjoy what I've written and that it helps you understand the book of Jonah better.    It is my earnest desire to speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.  I've tried to do that in the following, may you be blessed by what you read.

Jonah, chapter 1

Verse 1:  Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amitta, saying,

God had a message specifically for Jonah.  Jonah, being a prophet of God (II Kings 14:25), was no stranger to God and it was not the first time he had heard from Him.  But this time, it was different!  This time Jonah’s heart was not agreeable to what God wanted him to do.

This verse mentions something of Jonah’s lineage so let’s take a brief look at that before moving on to the next verse.  Jonah was the son of Amittai of the tribe of Zebulun.  Zebulun was the sixth and last son of Jacob and Leah.  The twelve sons of Jacob became the twelve tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Zebulun was one of them.

 

Verse 2: “Arise, go to Nineveh that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

God’s message for Jonah was a call to action!  Nineveh, a great city in Assyria, full of wickedness and evil, needed a faithful messenger from God to preach to them the truth of God’s Word, and God hand-picked Jonah for the job!

God knows all about everything, including the wickedness of people and it seems in this situation that God has had enough of Nineveh’s wickedness.

God knew how hard this job was going to be, but he also knew that Jonah could do it.  However, first He had to get Jonah’s attention!

 

Verse 3:  But Jonah rose 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 away from the presence of the Lord.

Silly Jonah, he thought he could get away from almighty God, how foolish, but in his strong desire not to do what God wanted him to do, he gave it a hardy try.

Joppa was about the only seaport that Israel had at the time, so Jonah made the journey from his hometown of Gath Hepher in Zebulun to Joppa some 60 or so miles away with the sole purpose of finding a ship going as far away from where God wanted him to go as he could get.

Nineveh was about 550 miles northeast of Joppa and Tarshish, a port city in Spain, was about 2500 miles west.  To get to Tarshish, Jonah would have to get on a ship and travel many miles over water.  So, that’s what he did, he paid the fare and got on the ship!  Jonah was determined to do what he wanted to do instead of what God wanted him to do … and he thought he was getting away with it!

Why didn’t Jonah want to go to Nineveh?  Why did he deliberately choose to disobey God, being a prophet of God, he should have known better?  What was behind his adamant refusal to do what God wanted him to do?   In short, Jonah hated the Ninevites and Assyrians with every fiber of his being.  The Bible gives several references to the Assyrians invading Israel more than once (I Chronicles 5:26; II Kings 17:5-6 and II Chronicles 32:22). Jonah wanted nothing to do with them nor did he want the God of Israel to extend His great grace and mercy towards them either.  No way was Jonah going to have any part in helping the Ninevites in any way!

patsy @ From This Heart Of Mine

(c) 2022 by Patsy Norwood.  All Rights Reserved.