{"id":30481,"date":"2024-03-27T22:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T05:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/malachi-3_16-4_6-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-03-12T17:33:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T00:33:32","slug":"jonah-1_1-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/jonah-1_1-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Run After God, Not Away From Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonah 1:1-17\u00a0\u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Jonah 1:1-17.\u00a0 As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Today we start the book of Jonah, a book written probably the prophet Jonah himself. \u00a0Since Jonah is described in 2 Kings as being connected to King Jeroboam II of Israel (see 2 Kings 14:25), scholars estimate that the book of Jonah was written around the time of Jeroboam II\u2019s reign (793 to 753 B.C.).<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Jonah\u00a01:1-17.\u00a0 There are so many powerful lessons we can learn.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Jonah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a01<\/em><\/strong>:<\/strong>1<\/em><\/strong>-2 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1<\/sup>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0The word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to\u00a0<\/em>Jonah\u00a0son of Amittai:\u00a0<\/em>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-2:\u00a0 Who is this man\u00a0Jonah?\u00a0 Is he a deeply spiritual man with a close and honest relationship with God?\u00a0 Or is he a superficial man who lacks love for God and love for people?\u00a0 Is he a bit of both?\u00a0 As you read the book of\u00a0Jonah, make it your aim to find out who\u00a0Jonah\u00a0is, besides the famous fact of him running away from God and getting swallowed up by a big fish.\u00a0 Besides the fact that his name means \u201cdove\u201d and he is son of Amittai (which means \u201ctrue one\u201d), these two verses show us that\u00a0Jonah\u00a0had 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.\u00a0 This was not the only assignment God had ever given\u00a0Jonah.\u00a0 In 2 Kings 14:25 we learn that\u00a0Jonah\u00a0was a prophet from Gath Hepher who prophesied accurately that Jeroboam II king of Israel would restore the boundaries of Israel.\u00a0 As a prophet,\u00a0Jonah\u00a0was probably someone who was accustomed to hearing God\u2019s voice, receiving assignments from God and giving messages from God to others.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 The fact that God would send\u00a0Jonah\u00a0to speak to the entire city of Nineveh shows us that:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God has a heart for cities.<\/strong>\u00a0 God isn\u2019t just concerned about individuals, but about the spiritual condition of towns, cities and nations.\u00a0\u00a0 Similarly, in the Gospels we see Jesus speaking to cities (e.g. Matthew 11:21; Luke 13:34).\u00a0\u00a0Just 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To reach a city, God places a burden and a call on specific individuals.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0To reach and bless the people of Nineveh, God chose\u00a0Jonah to make an impact.\u00a0 To reach and bless our city, I believe God chose you and me to make an impact.<\/p>\n

Jonah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a01<\/em><\/strong>:3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0But\u00a0<\/em>Jonah\u00a0ran away from the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and 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\u00a0LORD.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 3:\u00a0 God tells\u00a0Jonah\u00a0to go to Nineveh, a journey that scholars estimate would take him about a month from Israel.\u00a0 But instead of following God\u2019s call,\u00a0Jonah\u00a0runs in the opposite direction, paying a fare to take a boat to Tarshish.\u00a0 Why didn\u2019t\u00a0Jonah\u00a0want to preach to the people of Nineveh?\u00a0 A likely reason is that the people of Nineveh were Assyrians, and\u00a0Jonah\u00a0knew that the Assyrians were, or would become, bitter enemies of the Israelites.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0God has a calling on every person\u2019s life, but the question is: how will you respond to that call?\u00a0 Will you run after it or run away from it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0God\u2019s heart is for people of every nation and every culture.\u00a0\u00a0Part of becoming more like Jesus is learning to have a heart for people beyond just your own culture.<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s why we the church are called to be witnesses in \u201cJerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth\u201d (Acts\u00a01:8).\u00a0 \u201cJerusalem\u201d refers to your own city.\u00a0 \u201cJudea and Samaria\u201d refers to the larger region surrounding your city.\u00a0 \u201cThe ends of the earth\u201d refers to everywhere else.<\/p>\n

Jonah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a01<\/em><\/strong>:4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4:\u00a0\u00a0Jonah\u00a0would end up paying far more than just a boat fare (v3) for disobeying God\u2019s call; it would almost cost him his life as well as the lives of other people.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0You can run from God but you can\u2019t hide.\u00a0 Sooner or later, God will find a way to get your attention one way or the other.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0When we run away from God\u2019s call on our lives, there is a great cost involved, and that cost is not just monetary.\u00a0 When we run away from God\u2019s call, we put other people\u2019s lives in danger.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a01<\/em><\/strong>:5-6 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0All 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\u00a0<\/em>Jonah\u00a0had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.\u00a0<\/em>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The 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.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-6:\u00a0 Notice how differently the idol-worshiping sailors and the Yahweh-worshiping\u00a0Jonah\u00a0responded to the big storm.\u00a0 The sailors were afraid and panicking, doing everything they could in their power to save themselves.\u00a0 Meanwhile, where is\u00a0Jonah?\u00a0\u00a0Jonah\u00a0is sleeping deeply in the middle of a storm.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 I think you can take this in both a positive way and a negative way.<\/p>\n

A positive way to look at Jonah here is that, like Jesus would do later on (Mark 4:37-38),\u00a0Jonah could sleep deeply even in the middle of a storm because, as a worshipper of the Lord, he had a peace that the world cannot give.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reminder that\u00a0when a person has a relationship with the Lord, they can respond to storms differently<\/strong>\u00a0than the world does<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Somehow God gives His children a peace in the storm that the world cannot give.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If Jonah was aware of the storm going on outside, a negative way to look at Jonah here is to point to his apathy and indifference.\u00a0 In other words, while the idol-worshiping sailors were panicking and actively trying to beseech the divine for rescue in the storm, Jonah \u2013 who was the one person who knew the true God who could save them \u2013 was sleeping in the basement.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reminder that as followers of Jesus we don\u2019t want to hide the light that God has given us, but to share it with those who don\u2019t have it and who need it.<\/p>\n

Jonah 1:7-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the\u00a0LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the\u00a0LORD, because he had already told them so.)
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then they cried to the\u00a0LORD, “O\u00a0LORD, 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\u00a0LORD, have done as you pleased.”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then they took\u00a0Jonah\u00a0and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0At this the men greatly feared the\u00a0LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and made vows to him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-16:\u00a0\u00a0Jonah\u00a0was disobeying God\u2019s call and was running away from God.\u00a0 Yet somehow God uses\u00a0Jonah\u2019s own disobedience to cause idol-worshiping sailors to look to Him for the first time.\u00a0 These sailors would end up putting their faith in the Lord.\u00a0 That is how amazing and sovereign God is. \u00a0God can use even our greatest mistakes to write a greater story that even blesses others.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So does that mean we should go ahead and sin as much as we want, since God will use it all for good anyway?\u00a0 Definitely not.\u00a0 But this shows us God\u2019s incredible mercy and grace, that even when we mess up, God can use the situation for good.<\/p>\n

Jonah<\/em><\/strong>\u00a01<\/em><\/strong>:17 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD\u00a0provided a great fish to swallow\u00a0<\/em>Jonah, and\u00a0<\/em>Jonah\u00a0was inside the fish three days and three nights.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 17:\u00a0 What kind of fish swallowed up\u00a0Jonah\u00a0whole?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In the end, we can only speculate what fish it was.\u00a0 In any event,\u00a0just as\u00a0<\/strong>Jonah<\/strong>\u00a0was 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.<\/strong>\u00a0 That is why, when asked by the crowds what miraculous sign he will do, Jesus would reply, \u201cnone will be given except the sign of the prophet\u00a0Jonah\u201d (Matthew 12:39).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 The great fish swallowing up\u00a0Jonah\u00a0was God\u2019s provision.\u00a0 In fact the word \u201cthe Lord provided\u201d comes up repeatedly in the book of\u00a0Jonah.\u00a0 \u00a0Sometimes 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\u2019s merciful provision and protection for our lives all along.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, thank You for all the powerful lessons we can learn from Your Word.\u00a0 You have a heart not just for individuals, but for cities.\u00a0 Thank You that Your calling on my life is with cities in mind.\u00a0 May I not run away from that calling, but run toward that calling.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is\u00a0Jonah 1:1-17.\u00a0 As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Today we start the book of Jonah, a book written probably the prophet Jonah himself. \u00a0Since Jonah is described in 2 Kings as being connected to King Jeroboam II of Israel (see 2 Kings 14:25), scholars estimate that the book of Jonah was written around the time of Jeroboam II\u2019s reign (793 to 753 B.C.).<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Jonah\u00a01:1-17.\u00a0 There are so many powerful lessons we can learn.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Jonah\u00a01:1-2 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0The word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to\u00a0Jonah\u00a0son of Amittai:\u00a0
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-2:\u00a0 Who is this man\u00a0Jonah?\u00a0 Is he a deeply spiritual man with a close and honest relationship with God?\u00a0 Or is he a superficial man who lacks love for God and love for people?\u00a0 Is he a bit of both?\u00a0 As you read the book of\u00a0Jonah, make it your aim to find out who\u00a0Jonah\u00a0is, besides the famous fact of him running away from God and getting swallowed up by a big fish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30481"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30484,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30481\/revisions\/30484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}