King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Friday, July 07, 2023
Chapters: THE BOOK OF JONAH
Study: For God So Loved The World
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
Well, one more day until I say, “I DO!” to my beloved. Have things improved since yesterday? Well, some of the cakes are made and ready to be decorated, others did not make it still as this humidity in Florida is terrible on cakes. Some other things happened as well, the ceiling in the kitchen fell, right over the stove, and we had a lamp near explode in the living room. I tell you what, the devil is working hard to cause so many disruptions, but we are still going strong and I just know that God will work it out all for good. It is a good thing that the wedding starts at three in the afternoon, that will give me some time in the morning if I need it. The words, “I DO!” are some powerful words if you stop to think about it. And I do not mean just in holy matrimony, but in our relationship with Christ as well, [Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.]
It is fitting that we are reading the Book of Jonah today as it is a perfect example of Christ and His bride, who are all His saved, born again believers. The book of Jonah contains four chapters, the author of the book is Jonah and it was written to the nation of Nineveh. The timeline for these events took place approximately between 825BC to 790BC. The purpose of the book was to get Nineveh to acknowledge God, repent, and turn to Him for their salvation. What we are to learn from the book is that God does not put a restriction on salvation, it is for all who call upon the name of the Lord, [Jonah 4:11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?]
Jonah, spent most of his days in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, prophesying after Elisha died. God told him to go to Nineveh to warn them of the judgment placed upon them, but Jonah, like many Jews, believed that salvation was only for the Jews, and therefore, refused to go. He found a ship headed in the opposite direction, boarded it, found a cozy spot to lay in, and fell asleep. All the while a hurricane forms right before them.
[Jonah 1:1-5 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.]
[for their wickedness is come up before me.] You see, God, really does not pay any mind to the world, even though He is their Creator, they are not His people. Now, once He takes notice that someone is starting to have faith in Him, that is when He will start nudging them in the right direction, [Luke 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.]
[and cried every man unto his god,] Now, the men on the ship knew that something was going on and started crying out to every god they could think of only to discover Jonah just laying there. At this point they knew that something was not right, they woke him up and demanded that he tell them who he is.
[Jonah 1:7-12 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? 9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.]
[Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea;] Jonah, was so stubborn that he would rather drown than do what God asked him to do. Well, Jonah, was about to learn two very important lessons; you cannot run from God, and when it is in His will for you to do something, nothing will stop Him from bringing it to pass. The men did not want to throw him overboard, but the more they tried the worse things got until they finally cast him into the sea, and immediately the storm stopped.
[Jonah 1:14-17 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.]
[Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly,] Did it ever occur to you that God uses His people to bring others to Christ through their chastening from God? If Jonah was not on that ship the men would have never realized that there is only ONE GOD, and He is truly Almighty and willing to save anyone who comes to Him, [John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.]
[Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.] Jonah, thought that his troubles were over, little did he realize that God is one step ahead of him. God, is always one step ahead of Him, and I tell you what, we have all had our moments when God had to prepare a whale so to speak to swallow us up. Three days of being stuck in a place that is not ideal gives one an opportunity to do some soul searching as well as praying, Bible reading, and thinking of God’s will, which is what Jonah did.
[Jonah 2:1-5 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.]
[out of the belly of hell cried I,] Hell, is real, and salvation from it is not available for those we think it should be, it is available for all who believes in God. It is often a wonder since God is the Creator of all, and knows all, if He really does give all the freewill to choose or decides for Himself who gets saved. I think it is a little bit of both. God, has already predestined that all who believe in and accept His Son truthfully would be saved from hell. However, every soul that God creates is predestined to be saved, but we must make that choice for ourselves, [Romans 8:29-30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.]
[the weeds were wrapped about my head.] You can get a sense of what Jonah was feeling as he sat in the belly of the whale for three days, the seaweed wrapped around his head, water gushing back and forth. At this point, he discovered that there was no way that God was going to let him die like that. This is a perfect example of our having an appointed amount of time on earth, since we do not know how long that time will be, it is wise to call upon the name of the LORD while we still can, [Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.]
Jonah, also discovered what true salvation is, as he continues his prayer he acknowledges that salvation comes only from the LORD, [Jonah 2:7-10 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.]
[observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.] God, gives everyone the opportunity to learn the truth about Christ and how to be saved from the depths of hell through Him. Those who choose the false religions over the truth are forsaking their own mercy, [Hebrews 4:1-3 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.]
Well, Jonah, went back to Nineveh, and what would have been a three day journey only took a day because he was led by God. Jonah, spoke to the king, and right away he responded as well as all the people. They put away their false gods, removed anything that was evil, even fasted and prayed, all led by the king himself.
[Jonah 3:1-4 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.]
[et forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.] You see, there is the key right there, everyone is given the knowledge of God from birth, but sadly, over time most people lose that faith and start turning to other gods. At that point they do have a choice, believe in God and in turn He introduces them to Christ or do not believe in Him and end up cast into hell. I tell you what, we will all stand before Christ in judgment, but only the saved will survive, [Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.]
I use to think that if we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Christ alone, then what was the point of grace if we still stand before Him in judgment. Then I realized something, our judgment is not the same as the unsaved. Yes, we will stand before Jesus and give an account to what we have done through Him after we are saved, but we are still saved from hell. Our works after we are saved is what He will use to judge us on. Now, it was only when God saw their works that He repented of destroying that city and the people.
[Jonah 3:7-10 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.]
[And God saw their works,] We can say that we believe that Christ died for us and that He saves us by grace, and even accept that He alone is our salvation, but to be honest, it is our works that prove our faith, even to God. We can have complete faith in Jesus saving us, but unless we confess to Him that we do believe and are only trusting in Him as our Saviour, then faith does nothing for us, [James 2:18-20 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?]
While salvation is solely given to us by the grace of God through our faith in Christ, we still must call out to Him and ask Him to save us otherwise anything we do for Him would be vain. Now, Jonah, just knew that the people of Nineveh had vain faith and would forsake God and return to their wicked ways at any time, he actually became angry about telling the people how they could get saved.
[Jonah 4:1-4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?]
[my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.] Why would Jonah rather die than live to see what would come of Nineveh? Jonah could not get over the fact that God would save a heathen nation, and could not understand why God spared them when they would just go back to their wicked ways. What he should have been doing was looking in the mirror, his own people were forsaking God left and right, and here he was angry at God for saving a heathen nation. We are all heathens until we see Christ for who we really are, [Romans 3:10-12,23-24 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
[Doest thou well to be angry?] We cannot pick and choose who we tell the Gospel to, it is to be told to whomever God tells us. We would not have wanted to miss the opportunity ourselves. You see, they do not know that what they are doing is wrong because of the way they were taught. God, did not want them to end up in hell, He wants to save all, but unless we tell them they will know not the way, [Romans 10:15-17 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.]
Jonah, still angry, encamped himself at a distance to watch them. God, tried to show Jonah that by planting a squash where he was camping, [Jonah 4:5-7 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.]
[to deliver him from his grief.] Those who have fretful, uneasy spirits, often make troubles for themselves in that they may still have something to complain about no matter how many blessings they see from God without working at all. See how tender God is of His people in their afflictions, even though they are often foolish and forget of His mercies toward them? [1 Corinthians 2:9-10 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.]
What point was God making when He made a squash so big that the leaves from the vine shaded him, then it all withered away to nothing? God, explain it, [Jonah 4:9-11 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. 10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?]
[for the which thou hast not laboured,] This is why salvation is a free gift, and it always has been. None of us are without sin, even after we are saved we cannot avoid sin no matter how much we try because of the sin nature that we have. That is not to say that we cannot learn to avoid sin, but it is to say that if we do sin, we have a great advocate pleading our case so that we do not lose our place in line into heaven, [1 John 2:1-5 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You have blessed us with so much, You have given life to all who believe in and receive Your Son. We are saved only by trusting in His sinless death, burial, and resurrection, and He even saves us out of every mess that we have gotten ourselves when call on Him. How merciful You are, how wonderful You are to save a sinner like me. Thank You, Jesus, and thank You God, for giving me the opportunity to repent of my vain works and enjoy a new found, abundant, never boring, life with You have purposed for me. Lord, Lead me and guide me, let me not run from anyone You lay upon my heart to tell about Jesus, and let me boldly speak and proclaim You as my Saviour and how they can be saved too. I ask these things pray in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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