Passage
Jonah 1:1-16 (ESV)
Let All the Earth Be Silent
Habakkuk 2:9-20
Key Verse: 2:20
Jonah Fled from God's Personal Call
Date: Aug. 28, 2014
Daily Bread
Introduction to Jonah
Jonah is the fifth book of the Minor Prophets, written around 780 B.C. It is an historical narrative containing spiritual truths and a record of supernatural acts of God. Jonah lived before the Assyrian invasion and destruction of Samaria. (2 Kings 14:25) Jonah preceded Amos and ministered in the northern kingdom under Jeroboam ll. Nineveh, where Jonah was called to minister to, was the capital of Assyria. Jonah probably preached before the Assyrians' rise to power. It was the main city in a relatively weak kingdom,; within 50 years it would become the capital of the huge, wicked and cruel Assyrian Empire. The city was a grave threat to the security of Israel.
Jonah foresaw what was to come and his hesitation is understandable. But God wanted to widen the prophet's heart. Jonah's story is an illustration of God's mercy and grace to the Ninevites and also to Jonah.
As you read Jonah, we will see God's love and compassion, realizing that no one is beyond redemption. The gospel is for any who will repent and believe. May we grow in the wideness and the mercy of God and deliver the message of salvation to a world lost in darkness.
The book can be divided as follows:
l. The reluctance and the flight of Jonah. (1:1-11)
ll. Jonah's discipline and transformation (1:12-2:10)
lll. The salvation of a city full of gentiles (3:1-10)
lV. Learning the wideness of God's mercy. (4:1-11)
Key Verse: 1:1-2
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
First, Jonah was called to preach (1-3). God had a difficult mission for Jonah: to be a foreign missionary to Nineveh. The city was a threat and wicked. An Israelite had every reason to hate and fear the Ninevites. How could Jonah preach the message of salvation these Gentile people? Jonah was not strong enough to obey and ran from the Lord. Jonah's attitude is representative of all who are reluctant to share God's grace with others who are their enemies, yet are called to love them.
Second, Gentiles trusted in the Lord (4-17). Jonah knew what God required and he gave up, volunteering to be a living sacrifice. Jonah was also fully aware of his own guilt and made no excuses. He confessed the facts. God was leading Jonah to the perfect place where he could confess, repent, discover God's grace and embrace God's mission. God was also helping the sailors to have faith. The LORD knows the best way to reveal himself.
Prayer: "Lord, so often I run from you and I disregard others. Help me to have big heart, like yours and to embrace all people of all nations."
One Word: You can't run from God
