Jonah 1:1-17 Click here for Bible Verses

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Jonah 1:1-17.  There are so many powerful lessons we can learn.  Let’s go!

Jonah 1:1-2 (NIV) 
1  The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

On verses 1-2:  Who is this man Jonah?  Is he a deeply spiritual man with a close and honest relationship with God?  Or is he a superficial man who lacks love for God and love for people?  Is he a bit of both?  As you read the book of Jonah, make it your aim to find out what kind of person Jonah is, besides the famous fact of him running away from God and getting swallowed up by a big fish.  Besides the fact that his name means “dove” and he is son of Amittai (which means “true one”), these two verses show us that Jonah had an assignment from God: to go to the city of Nineveh, which would become the capital city of Assyria, and preach a message of repentance to the people in Nineveh.  This was not the only assignment God had ever given Jonah.  In 2 Kings 14:25 we learn that Jonah was a prophet from Gath Hepher who prophesied accurately that Jeroboam II king of Israel would restore the boundaries of Israel.  As a prophet, Jonah was probably someone who was accustomed to hearing God’s voice, receiving assignments from God and giving messages from God to others.

What can we learn from this?  The fact that God would send Jonah to speak to the entire city of Nineveh shows us that:

  1. God has a heart for cities.  God isn’t just concerned about individual people, but about the spiritual condition of towns and cities.   Similarly, in the Gospels we see Jesus speaking to cities (e.g. Matthew 11:21; Luke 13:34).  Just as God had a heart for the city of Nineveh, wanting the people of Nineveh to turn back to Him, God has a heart for your town or city as well.
  1. To reach a city, God places a burden and a call on specific individuals.  To reach and bless the people of Nineveh, God chose Jonah.  To reach and bless our city, I believe God chose you and me.

Jonah 1:3 (NIV) 
3  But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

On verse 3:  God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, a journey that scholars estimate would take him about a month from Israel.  But instead of following God’s call, Jonah runs in the opposite direction, paying a fare to take a boat to Tarshish.  Why didn’t Jonah want to preach to the people of Nineveh?  A likely reason is that the people of Nineveh were Assyrians, and Jonah knew that the Assyrians were, or would become, bitter enemies of the Israelites.
What can we learn from this?

  • God has a calling on every person’s life, but the question is: how will you respond to that call?  Will you run after it or run away from it?
  • God’s heart is for people of every nation and every culture.  Part of becoming more like Jesus is learning to have a heart for people beyond just your own culture.  That’s why we the church are called to be witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).  “Jerusalem” refers to your own city.  “Judea and Samaria” refers to the larger region surrounding your city.  “The ends of the earth” refers to everywhere else.

Jonah 1:4 (NIV) 
4  Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

On verse 4:  Jonah would end up paying far more than just a boat fare (v3) for disobeying God’s call; it would almost cost him his life as well as the lives of other people.  What can we learn from this?

  • You can run from God but you can’t hide.  Sooner or later, God will find a way to get your attention one way or the other.
  • When we run away from God’s call on our lives, there is a great cost involved, and that cost is not just monetary.  When we run away from God’s call, we put other people’s lives in danger.

Jonah 1:5-6 (NIV) 
5  All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
6  The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.”

On verses 5-6:  Notice how differently the idol-worshiping sailors and the Yahweh-worshiping Jonah responded to the big storm.  The sailors were afraid and panicking, doing everything they could in their power to save themselves.  Meanwhile, where is Jonah?  Like Jesus would do later on (Mark 4:37-38), Jonah is sleeping deeply in the middle of a storm.

What can we learn from this?  I believe one lesson is that when a person worships the Lord, they respond to storms differently than the world.  Somehow God gives His children a peace in the storm that the world cannot give.

Jonah 1:13-16 (NIV) 
13  Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
14  Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.”
15  Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
16  At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

On verses 7-16:  Jonah was disobeying God’s call and was running away from God.  Yet somehow God uses Jonah’s own disobedience to cause idol-worshiping sailors to look to Him for the first time.  These sailors would end up putting their faith in the Lord.  That is how amazing and sovereign God is.  God can use even our greatest mistakes to write a greater story that even blesses others.

So does that mean we should go ahead and sin as much as we want, since God will use it all for good anyway?  Definitely not.  But this shows us God’s incredible mercy and grace, that even when we mess up, God can use the situation for good.

Jonah 1:17 (NIV) 
17  But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

On verse 17:  What kind of fish swallowed up Jonah whole?  Some posit that it was a sperm whale or a whale shark, which apparently have been known to swallow a human whole with the human still being alive inside.  In the end, we can only speculate what fish it was.  In any event, just as Jonah was in the belly of a fish for three days only to come out with a new lease on life and stronger than ever, centuries later Jesus would be inside the belly of a tomb for three days only to re-emerge resurrected and stronger than ever.  That is why, when asked by the crowds what miraculous sign he will do, Jesus would reply, “none will be given except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39).

What can we learn from this?  The great fish swallowing up Jonah was God’s provision.  In fact the word “the Lord provided” comes up repeatedly in the book of Jonah.   Sometimes God provides situations in your life that will seem strange or even cruel to us, only for us to realize later on that it was God’s merciful provision and protection for our lives all along.

Heavenly Father, thank You for all the powerful lessons we can learn from Your Word.  You have a heart not just for individuals, but for cities.  Thank You that Your calling on my life is with cities in mind.  May I not run away from that calling, but run toward that calling.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!