Men Of The Bible - Jonah

[Diplomat]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Originally posted by Compry:

Originally posted by CEW:
I was intrigued by the following comments

The sailors on the ship are the talents and capacities that work for us. They too cannot save us from our futile desire to escape ourselves. The whale is the symbol of ultimate confrontation of the recognition that our ultimate fate is the grave. For some, that recognition almost feels like a welcome refuge. For others, facing death forces them at last into pursuing life!

Not wanting to take the focus away from Jonah but the decision that the sailors made caused me to think (I know...but it's all good) about something else. They had something (someone) in their midst that was the cause of the storm. They had to make a decision to get rid of the cause of the storm in order to save their lives.

For many years I had a huge problem that was affecting my relationship with God. I used religion to justify hanging onto that problem until my eyes were opened and I saw that I could never get to that place where God wanted me to be until I got rid of the problem.

Jonah being on the ship represents sin and anything standing in the way of salvation in our lives. Sin brings about some major messes and in order to calm the storms we need to throw sin overboard.

Edited to add: It must have been a tough decision for the sailors. By tossing Jonah overboard, they would be commiting murder. Often times, there are things that are so difficult to let go of but in order to get to that place of *total surrender*, we have to let go.

Excellent points

[Diplomat]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Originally posted by Compry:

Originally posted by CEW:
There is one thing that I have not seen mentioned just yet, but I am waiting to see if anyone else picked up on it [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Here's something else that I picked up. No matter how badly we think that we have failed God, no matter how rotten we think we've been, as long as we recognize our weaknesses/mistakes and go to Him, He will give us a second chance.

Very pertinent point as well but not the one I was looking at. What fascinates me about his deliverance was when it happened. According to verse 9 of Chapter 2, in his prayer Jonah said "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." at which point according to verse 10, "And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." Jonah was not delivered until he sacrificed with the voice of thanksgiving, and resolved to keep the vow he made unto the Lord.

The application of this lies in how we behave when we find ourselves in the midst of challenges. Some of them are of our own making in that we have made vows to do certian things yet we fail miserably in keeping those vows. When challenges arrives as a result of our indiscipline, we consider ourselves victims and start questioning how is it God could allowed certain things to come our way. The religious folks even try to find some lesson in situations like these, i.e. God must be teaching them something.

In the midst of a pretty bad situation, Jonah realized what the problem was and was honest enough to admit to it. With the resolve to do as he had vowed, he put on the garment of praise, and the whale had a divine upset stomach [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I do not have the time to fully develop this thought, but I am sure you guys can see where I am going with this.

[sistagirl]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

printing to read and add comments later

AAARgggghh I can't keep up!! :verymad:

Hi CEW and everybody [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ((((everybody))))

[Guest]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Originally posted by Tropicana:
[qb] Now this is something I have always wondered about and the scriptures don't tell us. What do you think happened to Jonah? Are there any sources outside the Bible tht give us clues. The last time we see him in the Bible, he is having a pity party underneath a tree. [/qb]

Tropicana, as a matter of fact, I know exactly what happened...if I have time later, I'll create another thread about him. BTW, did you know that Jonah was Jamaican? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Jiggry]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

v17 - a type of Christ - as in the Belly of the Fish was like in the Grave - Jesus was in the grave for three days as well. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]ray:

[sistagirl]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Originally posted by Dailybread:
[qb]

Originally posted by Tropicana:
How can a prophet want to die after God delievered so many people? This is indeed a clif hanger.
[/qb]

Jonah was a baby who threw a temper tantrum when he didn't get his own way and when he couldn't be 'right'. He couldn't see that once he humbled himself, repented and spoke to the pagans that he made God happy but wanted to die instead of seeing the nation prosper and come out of their wicked ways. Too much pride even when we know that he could humble himself.

He seemed to be a wishy washy prophet in this story. Knowing Gods power but running from it.

[qb]Originally posted by CEW:

In the midst of a pretty bad situation, Jonah realized what the problem was and was honest enough to admit to it. With the resolve to do as he had vowed, he put on the garment of praise, and the whale had a divine upset stomach [/qb]

Yeah but then he got mad afterwards, wha mek?

[Diplomat]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

sistagirl: How many of us are / would be willing to go on the assignment Jonah was given? The man was a prophet, but he was a human being first. It is somewhat understandable that he would at first try to run away from The Call.

As for why he got mad at the end, the answer to this lies in Jonah 3:10-4:11. Here is a perspective on it:

"What all the saints make matter of joy and praise, Jonah makes the subject of reflection upon God; as if showing mercy were an imperfection of the Divine nature, which is the greatest glory of it. It is to his sparing, pardoning mercy, we all owe it that we are out of hell. He wishes for death: this was the language of folly, passion, and strong corruption. There appeared in Jonah remains of a proud, uncharitable spirit; and that he neither expected nor desired the welfare of the Ninevites, but had only come to declare and witness their destruction. He was not duly humbled for his own sins, and was not willing to trust the Lord with his credit and safety. In this frame of mind, he overlooked the good of which he had been an instrument, and the glory of the Divine mercy. We should often ask ourselves, Is it well to say thus, to do thus? Can I justify it? Do I well to be so soon angry, so often angry, so long angry, and to give others ill language in my anger? Do I well to be angry at the mercy of God to repenting sinners? That was Jonah's crime. Do we do well to be angry at that which is for the glory of God, and the advancement of his kingdom? Let the conversion of sinners, which is the joy of heaven, be our joy, and never our grief."

and another ...

Why he (Jonah) did not go to Nineveh. Does that sound strange? Well, look at the beginning of chapter 4:

But it [Nineveh's repentance] displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, "I pray thee, Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil..." {Jonah 4:1-2 RSV}

Because Jonah knew that God was that way, he would not go to Nineveh. This is interesting, don't you think? Look again at the last phrase. Jonah says, "I knew you God. I knew that you were the kind that repents from evil if you get a chance." God had said to this prophet, "Now go to Nineveh and announce to them 'forty days and the city shall be overthrown.'"

And that was exactly what Jonah wanted. He wanted to see this city destroyed. This was the great enemy of his people. Perhaps Jonah had actually seen these cruel, ruthless, bloody Ninevites periodically coming down into his land and raiding his people. Perhaps he had even suffered the loss of loved ones at the hands of these merciless people. In the ancient world, the record for the .bloodiest and most vicious kinds of cruelty belongs, perhaps, to the Ninevites. They found more incredibly ingenious ways to be cruel than any other nation that has ever lived. They were brutal and godless and sinful -- and Jonah hated them. The one thing that he wanted more than anything else was to see Nineveh destroyed. Yet when God told him to go announce to Ninevah its destruction, he said, "I know you too well, O God. If anybody, by repenting, gives you half a chance to be merciful, you'll change your mind and won't carry out your sentence upon them." So he fled to Tarshish.

Source: Jonah: The Reluctant Ambassador

[DC]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Jonah is a story of God's mercy and love-first to his own(the prophet Jonah) and then to a nation that did not know God(Nineveh). It is interesting to note that Jonah's name means "dove". When I think of dove , I think of gentle, sweet, harmless(as a dove) etc. Jonah was anything but sweet and gentle towards this heathen nation, Nineveh. He should have been a representation of God's mercy and goodness but he ran from the purpose and mission of his very name. According to one writer, he was the first prophet or missionary sent to a heathen nation. This shows the extent of God's mercy; it was not extended to the Jews only but to heathen nations also. Jonah could not fathom this great love. Jonah is known as the Man who ran away from his mission, but it did not end there. The story also goes to show the extent God would go to reveal his love to people who need his love. He really does not want anyone to perish.
One writer's summary of Jonah:
A disobedient prophet running from God and punished.
A praying prophet running back to God and delivered
A faithful prophet running withGod and rewarded
An angry prophet running ahead of God and rebuked.(perplexed, fainting but not forsaken)

It is a story that depicts the full extent of human nature(Jonah's weaknesses) and the full extent of God nature(love).

[img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Guest]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Originally posted by sistagirl:
[qb]Jonah was a baby who threw a temper tantrum when he didn't get his own way and when he couldn't be 'right'. [/qb]

Sistagirl, you need to remember that the Jew and Gentiles didn't socialize. Jonah was told by God to go into Nineveh, the last place that a Jew wanted to be. Of course the poor guy is going to head off in the opposite direction.

[sistagirl]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

I understand that Compry. He still sulked even after God spared him. He still hated the people of Nineveh and wanted them to parish. Stubborn.

I have been the same baby. Wanting what I want and wanting God to do it my way. But after awhile, and over and over again God shows me His plan is best (whether I like it or not) and my sulking is not the same as it was when I was a baby in Christ.

That is what always jumps out at me with Jonah, His temper tantrum, though it was a quiet one under a vine. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Queen]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

A preface on the Book of Jonah from one of my Bibles.

He had every right to run (he thought). Why should he go to that stinking city? He hated the place. SWhy should he warn the Ninevites about God's judgement? After how they had treated his people they deserved to be wiped out. the last thing JOnah wanted was for his enemies to receive God's blessing.

So he ran...as fast and as far as he could away from what God wanted him to do.
But God had other plans.
You know the story: God stirred up a storm.
Jonah bailed out of the boat and ended up in the belly of the fish.

God gave Jonah time to think over his actions and attitudes. For the first time JOnah didn't complain, he prayed. (Probably the only time anyone ever prayed for a fish-burp) [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

The prayer was answerd and Jonah eventually traveled to hated Ninevah. He preached to the people there. Though his odor wasn't appealing, his message was and the Ninevites repented. God relented (as JOnah knew he would), and Jonah fumed, furious over the turn of events. He sulked.

We can be so difficult
But God can be so patient [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]ray:
The book of Jonah is more than a fascinating account of one man's futile attempt to run away from God. It is a story of God's love for even the most unlovable, despicable people we can imagine - and of our responsibility to tell them the Good news.

=============

O.k. so now i'm thinking of a story in the NT where a disciple was shown a vision which interpreted to mean "don't scorn the people I"m sending you to" Gotta go look that up, but had God not intervened with a vision, that disciple (I think it was Paul) may have ended up in a whale's belly or someplace familiar don't you think?

[Diplomat]

Re: Men Of The Bible - Jonah

Queen: Thanks much for sharing that piece from your Bible. This 'study' has been a very interesting one and personally I now have a better appreciation for, and understanding of, this prophet.

It is so easy to judge the man without understanding the circumstances that led him to taking the action he did. While we can disagree with his running from God, I do think that were most of us in the same situation, chances are good we would have done the very same thing. Consider that some of us do not even have what it takes to witness to a coworker, a neighbour, or a friend.

O.k. so now i'm thinking of a story in the NT where a disciple was shown a vision which interpreted to mean "don't scorn the people I"m sending you to" Gotta go look that up, but had God not intervened with a vision, that disciple (I think it was Paul) may have ended up in a whale's belly or someplace familiar don't you think?

You are referring to Peter who was told to go down to the house of Cornelius. This story is recorded in Acts 10.