The story of Jonah

 

The Story of Jonah 






Jonah is not an example of what you should be like, but what you shouldn't be like. In 2 Kings 23-25 [in the Bible], it says about Jonah, son of Amittai, going to Jeroboam. You can read more about it in the above reference and also in the book of Jonah, you can read his story [in the Bible]. 


Let me tell you the story of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of God, and one day God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh. God told Jonah to say that in 40 days, the city would be destroyed [the people of Jonah, the Israelites, didn't like the Ninevites]. Instead, Jonah went to Tarshish by going on a ship to the port of Joppa. Jonah went deep inside the ship and slept. 


But then God sent a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm. The ship started to break apart! Then they all went to pray to their idols [not good] and threw away the cargo from the ship. The captain said to Jonah, "How can you sleep at a time like this?" He told Jonah to "go pray to his god [the one true God], maybe he will spare our lives." 


Then the crew cast lots to see who caused the storm. The lot fell on Jonah, and they asked him, "Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?" He told them that he was a Hebrew and that he worshiped the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the land [he was running away from the one true God]. They said, "Why did you do it?" They groaned.


And since the storm was getting bigger, they asked Jonah, "What should we do to stop this storm?" Jonah said, "Throw me overboard." They were not ready to do it at first, but after some time of throwing things overboard, they prayed to the one true God, saying, "O Lord, don't make us die for this man's sin." Then they threw him overboard. Then a big fish came and swallowed Jonah whole.


 Then Jonah prayed to God, asking for forgiveness. Then, after 3 days, the fish spit Jonah out. Then again, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, to inform them that in 40 days, they would be destroyed. This time, Jonah obeyed. With just five words; everyone repented, even the king. So God decided not to destroy the Ninevites. But Jonah was none too pleased. Jonah got angry at God, saying, "That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now!" God said, "Is it right for you to be angry about this?"


Then Jonah left for the east side of the city to see what would happen to Nineveh. God made a plant for shade for Jonah, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. God got a worm ready too. The next morning at dawn, God sent the worm to eat the stem of the plant, but it withered away as the sun grew hot. God made a scorching east wind blow on Jonah, and the sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. "Death is certainly better than living like this!" he exclaimed. God said, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?" "Yes," Jonah retorted, "even angry enough to die!"


"People are more important than that plant. What comes fast goes fast! It came quickly and died quickly. You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?"


In the end, no answer from Jonah is mentioned. The lesson we learn from the story of Jonah is that we need to forgive. Forgiving is hard, but when that happens, remember that God forgave you and me.


Bye, see you soon. THE END.


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