Old Testament Characters
Jonah
The Setting
Jonah was a full time prophet from the Northern kingdom of Israel
The city of Nineveh was located on the east side of Tigris river about a month travel time from Israel
Nineveh was built by Nimrod
Nineveh’s people were carefree, relentless and persistent in their sins
They were characterized by evil and violence and they thought of themselves as invincible
The Ninevites worshiped Ishtar the goddess of love and war
The Story
God speaks to Jonah
Jonah flees towards Tarshish
Jonah ends up in the belly of a large fish
Jonah repents and is sent on his way towards Nineveh
Jonah proclaims God’s message to the Ninevites
The Ninevites repent, God relents
Jonah becomes angry at God grace and tells God so
God shares with Jonah about His concern for the people of Nineveh
What Jonah knew
That God speaks
That God is in control of even the wind and the waves
That God brought that storm as a result of Jonah’s disobedience
That God provided a large fish
That God listened to his cry
That God brought his life up from the pit
That salvation comes from the Lord
That he needed to obey
That God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and who is willing to relent from sending calamity.
Application
Listen because God is speaking to us
Go because God is sending us
Our actions in response to God need to match what we know about Him
Don’t allow ourselves to always have to take the hard route to end up where God intends us to be. (Be obedient first)
