Jonah - Daily Bible Study DailyBibleStudy.Org

To receive notice of each days Bible Study,
please go to my Twitter and Facebook pages and sign up.

Daily Bible Study
You can help people worldwide. Please make a small donation. Make a difference in someone elses life.	Subscribe Daily Bible Study Mailing List Receive Daily Bible Studies directly into your email inbox.	Express your comments, opinions, questions, etc.

You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.

Jonah 1:4-5

4 But the LORD [Yahovah] sent out [tuwl] a great [gadowl] wind [ruwach] into the sea [yam], and there was a mighty [gadowl] tempest [ca`ar] in the sea [yam], so that the ship [oniyah] was like [chashab] to be broken [shabar].
5 Then the mariners [mallach] were afraid [yare], and cried [za`aq] every man [iysh] unto his god [elohiym], and cast forth [tuwl] the wares [kaliy] that were in the ship [oniyah] into the sea [yam], to lighten [qalal] it of them. But Jonah [Yonah] was gone down [yarad] into the sides [yarekah] of the ship [caphiynah]; and he lay [shakab], and was fast asleep [radam]. KJV-Interlinear

4 And the LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid, and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down, and fallen sound asleep. NASB

There is nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide, from God. Jonah was on his way to the opposite side of the world. At least that is probably what he was thinking. Get as far away from Israel and you won't have to deal with the God of Israel anymore.

His disgust of the Ninevites was so deep that he went to great lengths to get out of his mission, which was assigned to him by God. By the way, we all have an assigned mission which was handed to us from God. You have to determine whether you are carrying out your mission or whether you are doing all you can in order to avoid your mission, like Jonah.

What is your mission? To believe in Christ first, and second to advance to spiritual maturity. Do those two things and God will reveal your mission to you in His good time. Your mission occurs inside of your spiritual life, not outside of it. And advancing to spiritual maturity is your first priority in life. Everything else in life should be seen as logistical support giving you the opportunity for advancing in your spiritual life.

God raised up a great storm. Jonah had already fallen asleep on the ship, then the storm began. His fatigue was so great that his sleep was a very deep sleep. His sense of security was also such that he believed that God was not going to pursue him. After all, the people of Nineveh were not worthy of Gods time nor His pursuit of Jonah. Right?

Jonah chose to ride with gentiles on a gentile ship, headed for another gentile port. Interesting enough that he refused to go to the gentiles, yet he selected a gentile ship to evade Gods command.

The sailors prayed to their various 'pagan' gods. Gods who were no better off than dead, for they did not exist in reality. Only God controls history as well as the seas and the winds where He holds them, and squeezes them when He pleases.

Psa. 135:7
7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain; Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries. NASB

Prov. 30:4
4 Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? NASB

Isa. 8:19
19 And when they say to you, 'Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,' should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? NASB

So God found Jonah (actually He knew where Jonah was all of the time). He brought up a storm in order to frighten the sailors and to demonstrate two things. First, all their efforts of throwing everything overboard and their efforts to call on their gods would prove futile. And second, that the God of Jonah was the one and only God, and of whom controlled the storm by the power of His own will.

No one would perish unless God allowed them to die. And of course if God willed for them all to die, then nothing that they could do would save them.

Of course God willed for them all to be safe. The storm was merely a lesson of life. We all face lessons in life, probably on a daily basis. Whether you realize them from day to day or not is another issue I suppose.

But for now, the mere attempt to identify with, and blend in with, and to hide among the gentiles (the out of fellowship world), was not an option for Jonah. He ran from God. But then, no one can really run away from their spiritual life. We either face our responsibilities in life and benefit from them, or we ignore our responsibilities and they will come back to haunt us. The former is a much better approach. Blessings come with it. The latter approach may be temporary fun, but it will all sour your life into misery in time.

Now is the time to post a prayer.

End Of Lesson

Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.

If you enjoy these Bible Studies, please consider making a Donation