Bible Story of the Day-Jonah

https://hubpages.com/religion-philosophy/Bible-Story-of-the-Day-Jonah

Bible Story of the Day

The entire Bible is a revelation about Jesus Christ. From beginning to end, Jesus can be found in the text within. Seeing Jesus in scripture is a major step into understanding who our God is, and how He impacts and affects our lives in every moment. My desire through this Bible story of the day project is to show you the reference to Jesus in the Old Testament, and how the story can impact your life. My references will be posted at the bottom along with links that can help you dive deeper into the story than what I have done here. Open your heart and mind and be willing to accept scripture for what it says. If you don’t understand a story or verse or how it applies to your life, then pray to God for clarity and understanding. I pray this helps and affects your life and you have a better understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah

Jonah 1:14-17

¹⁴ Then they called on the Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”

¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

¹⁷ And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights. (NASB).

Where is Jesus and What Does This Mean to Us?

Jonah is a fun story to read. It is a small book with countless messages for all of us. You may know or have heard of Jonah, because of the “Jonah and the Whale” story. The passage I have chosen tells us about Jonah being thrown overboard from a boat. Just so we are all clear, Jonah was not in a whale. He was in a ‘great fish”. No translation says whale. We have made assumptions over the years that a great fish would have to be a whale, but that is not accurate. Jonah was resistant to God’s call. Jonah attempted to runaway from God, but that is impossible for a God that is everywhere. The men on the ship did not want to through Jonah overboard, but Jonah told them to, and a divined voice told them to. They felt bad about it but did it anyway. It was the right thing.

After Jonah was thrown overboard, God had a great fish swallowed him. Jonah stayed in the fish’s stomach for 3 days and nights before being freed. This is the part of the story that Jonah represents Jesus. The first reference is that Jonah was in the dark, belly of a beast for 3 days and then returned to land (earth). Jesus died and rose after 3 days; and returned to earth. After Jonah was freed from the belly of the fish, he went to preach a message of salvation to the people of Ninevah. The people heard the divinely inspired words of Jonah and changed their ways by repenting and surrendering their lives to God. Jesus likewise preached the message of salvation. Jesus was the deliverer of salvation to all men, just as Jonah was the deliverer of salvation to the people of Ninevah.

What does this mean for us? Jonah had a poor attitude. He did not represent Jesus any more than you or I do today. We are defiant, spiteful, selfish, and judgmental. Jonah ran away from God. He did not want to do God’s work. How many times have we done the same thing? God didn’t give up on Jonah; not only for Jonah’s sake, but for the thousands of people in Ninevah. Even when Jonah agreed to be the mouth of God, he still was not happy about it. Jonah told the wicked people of Ninevah to repent and they did. He was mad. He wanted God to punish them, not give them salvation. Have you ever done that? Have you ever wished something bad would happen to someone because you had already judged them to be guilty? I have. More than I can count.

God is so much more loving, patient, kind, and just than we could ever be. In truth, none of us deserve salvation, but Jesus gave it to us anyway. God developed a plan to save us all before we were born or knew we even needed saving. God is not out to punish, or He certainly would have destroyed Jonah. God is out to love us and bring us back under His protection. I am done running from God. Are you?

Resource

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah+1&version=NASB.