JONAH THE PROPHET

There a few lessons we can learn from the Book Jonah regardless of how short it is. Some of you may remember the story of Jonah as it is a story often told. If not: Here is your chance.

Jonah was a prophet for the Lord. A prophet is a spokesperson or mouthpiece for God. A prophet is called to encourage through God's word, rebuke when necessary and to tell God's people what the Lord is doing or is going to do.

In Amos 3:7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

The Lord gave Jonah an assignment/directive to go the city of Nineveh and preach against it. (Jonah 1:1)

Lesson #1: It is clear when God speaks.
Now there was no mistake that the Lord spoke to Jonah. Some question when God is speaking to them. In John 10:27 it says, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. But if we don't study His word, we don't pray and listen for His direction, then we will never know Him. And if Jonah was a prophet for the Lord, then he knew exactly who was speaking to him. However we see in verse 3 that Jonah refused to do what God told him to do and ran from God, or so he thought.

Lesson # 2 God does not take disobedience lightly, especially if you have said to Him that you are His servant and you will follow him. That's a vow. God is very serious about vows. Jonah thought he was running from God but you can't run from Him. Running from Him means doing the opposite of what He told you to do. We see that God wouldn't give Jonah any peace in verse 4. Jonah thought if he slept he wouldn't know that God was there. God is everywhere! And when you disobey Him you may not only be causing yourself harm but those around you will suffer as well. Those that were on the boat with Jonah going to Tarsus were caught in the middle of Jonah's struggle with God. Have you ever struggled over what God has told you to do? Did you know you could harm others around you by your disobedience? God does this to get your attention so that you see that everything you do or don't do impacts more than just you. In verse 17 it's clear that Jonah wanted to die in order to get out of his assignment. God is the giver of life and death so He wouldn't let Jonah die.

Lesson #3 God does not care about your personal feelings or issues when He tells you to do something. Jonah refused to follow God's direction because he didn't like the people of Nineveh and thought they didn't deserve to hear from God. After being swallowed by the fish, we see that Jonah prayed his way out in Chapter 2. Truthfully, his heart hadn't changed. It doesn't matter if you have racism, sexism, agism, married/unmarried, cultural or any other type of issue against a person. If the Lord is saying you are to do something, get your feelings out of the way. God knew all about Jonah's heart and knew that Jonah didn't like the Ninevites but God was trying to show Jonah that the Israelites were not the only ones who could benefit from God's word. And that he must learn compassion and forgiveness. We see in chapter 3 that the Ninevites turned from their evil ways and submitted to the Lord. Jonah thought they didn't deserve to live and made it clear in Chapter 4. First and foremost we need to understand something from Isaiah 55:8-9.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Who are we to determine what God does and doesn't do? It is just for us to follow His directions. Not out of fear but out of Love and reverance for Him. But the only way that comes about is stated in lesson #1.

(EMAIL SENT BY JOY RILEY)