King James Bible Study – [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. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Monday, July 07, 2025
Chapters: The Book of Jonah
Message: Jonah: God Sends Jonah to Nineveh
Hello My Friend,
As we take a pause from Chronicles and Kings we come to the reading of Jonah and learn that God has never limited anyone the opportunity to seek Him for salvation. Today, only those who come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ will be saved, [John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.]
We also learn that while the people of old did not personally know of the name Christ they did know who the LORD is that salvation belongs solely to Him, [Psalms 116:12-13 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.]
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?]
We first learned about Jonah yesterday when he was sent to the Northern Kingdom to inform Jeroboam II that even though he still followed the man made religion that Jeroboam made up He was still going to restore their land to them because He saw their affliction.
[Jonah 1:1-4 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.]
This was a hurricane and there were hundreds of men onboard of various races and they knew something was the cause of it. They begin crying out to the god of their nation in hopes that their god would calm the storm only to no avail when they discover that Jonah is sound asleep.
[Jonah 1:5-7 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. 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7 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.]
At first they had no idea that they were telling him to pray to the Almighty God, and while none of them personally knew God, they sure did know of Him because as soon as Jonah told them who he was they became more afraid of God then the storm.
[Jonah 1:9-12 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.]
Jonah, was so stubborn that he would rather drown than go to Nineveh to tell them how they can get saved. Well, Jonah, was about to learn two very important lessons; you cannot run from God and salvation is not limited to only telling the Jews, [Romans 2:9-11 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.]
Did you ever stop to think that the affliction you are facing is because you are running from something that God wants you to do? Or perhaps someone else is running from God? We cannot run from God no matter how far we try to go in the opposite direction. Yet, God, will use every purpose to His advantage as little did Jonah know that while he was running from God the people onboard the ship would run to Him. At first, they thought that Jonah was absurd when he told them to throw him overboard and tried everything they could to keep the ship from falling apart. When that was not working, they not only cried out to God they repented, turned away from their false gods, and offered a peace offering to Him.
[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.]
Jonah, made the mistake of thinking that he could hide from God, but even David testified that no matter where you God can find you, [Psalms 139:7-12 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.]
Why was it important to write it as three days and three nights? The Jews counted a natural twenty-four hour day from dusk to dusk the next day. The Jews had no other way of expressing a natural twenty-four hour day but by day and night. This signified that he was in the belly of the whale for thirty-six hours with no harm done to him. God, surely works in mysterious ways at times and while God had prepared the whale to hold Jonah in its belly for three days and three nights, there was Jonah with lots of time to think about why he was in there.
[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.]
I can only imagine what it felt like to sit there or rather float in the belly of a whale, the pitch darkness, feeling the seaweed wrapped around his head, the fish and other sea creatures bumping into him, then being consumed, wondering if will get out of there. He may not have even known that he was in there three nights and three days, but I bet it felt like a month. What God had actually prepared the whale for was to preserve him while he had time to come to his senses and this was when Jonah discovered the true meaning of salvation.
[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.]
Think about it, salvation has never been about sacrificing lambs, oxen, and birds in order to be saved from hell, and everything about acknowledging and giving praise to God for His mercy upon our soul, [Psalms 51:15-17 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.]
I find it incredible how God communicates with animals and they listen to Him immediately as we should all be so inclined to do. We tend to be a little stubborn and have to learn the hard way that we need to do it immediately, but time Jonah was not going to disobey God, he immediately headed toward Nineveh. What would have been a three day journey only took a day because he was led by God.
[Jonah 3:1-5 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. 5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.]
Do you see how quickly the people of Nineveh responded to the call of salvation? Not only did the king respond in sackcloth and ashes, he encouraged all the people to do so too, in fact, he commanded it.
[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.]
When you think about the state of our nations today and how despondent they are to the call of judgment from God it makes you kind of sad because there is no fear of God or anyone in them and they do not care if people lose their lives. It is no wonder why Jesus wept when He saw just how despondent people were to Him, [John 11:35-38 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? 38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.]
Jesus, was responding to their reaction to Lazarus having been dead for four days, and this reminds me of someone who was asked the question, “If God is so good then why does He create evil?” The man responded and I am paraphrasing, “God, does not create evil, he creates opportunity.” I will add that there are actually two evils, and natural evil like sickness and death was brought on by the curse of death that was passed down to us because of sin, but wicked evil like murder comes from denying God in the first place.
[Deuteronomy 30:15-18 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.]
While salvation has never been about ones works, it is the works we do after we receive Christ that not only pleases God it is what leads others who believe in God to repentance. Now, with that said we cannot question anyone’s salvation, if we do that then we are making ourselves a judge and there is only one judge and that is God Himself. 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 4:1-5 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? 5 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.]
Jonah, sat under that tree sulking rather than rejoicing that some souls were saved. Why would Jonah rather die than live to see another nation get saved? 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 as his own people were heathens themselves. Then again, perhaps this was the reason for his anger? So, in order to illustrate to Jonah that He does not discriminate, God had a huge gourd come up out of the ground to not only give him some shade but block his view of Nineveh.
[Jonah 4:6-8 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. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.]
We cannot pick and choose who we tell the Gospel to, it is to be told to whomever God tells us. God, was trying to show Jonah, that regardless of whether or not a person turns from their sin completely, what is important is that they got saved. Well, that still did not convince Jonah that it was a good thing to tell Nineveh how to be saved, that was when God just came out and said that it was not his choice.
[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?]
This is where we teach them the right way, and let God handle the rest. 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.]
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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