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: Thursday, July 07, 2022
Chapters: THE BOOK OF JONAH
Study: A Lesson From Jonah
Hello My Friend,
This song came to mind as I read the chapters, [Jonah, Jonah, did not obey God immediately. Jonah, Jonah, down in the depths of the deep blue sea.] Out of all the books in the Bible that tell of the judgment to come, there is one that stands out to tell us how we can be saved from it more than even the New Testament books, and that is Jonah. When the Pharisees and Sadducee’s asked Jesus for a sign to prove that He was of God, He said this, [Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.]
We heard about Jonah for the first time yesterday, [2 Kings 14:23-26 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. 24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. 25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher. 26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.]
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 1:1-4 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.]
[But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea,] There is something interesting to discover here, this storm came about because the man of God did not do what he was supposed to be doing. Perhaps many of these storms we are seeing today has nothing to do with the world and everything to do with God fearing Christians fast asleep while so many people are dying and going to hell, [Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 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!]
Now, the men on the ship knew that something was going on and started praying to their god only to discover Jonah just laying there, [Jonah 1:5-6,8-10 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. 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.]
[Then were the men exceedingly afraid,] Is that not what the world is doing right now with all this save the planet nonsense? Crying out to the gods of scientists and environmentalists who think they have a clue what is going on, when they are in denial of the truth. Them when they discovered who Jonah’s God is, they really panicked because deep down they knew that there is only one God. And what was Jonah’s response? “Just throw me overboard”, but the men did not want to do that at first. Do not let the world fool you into believing that they do not know that there is only one living God, given the right circumstance they will call out to Him. And that is what each and every one of the men did.
[Jonah 1:12,14-17 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. 14 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.]
[We beseech thee, O LORD,] Talk about a wake up call, these men went from praying to every god they could think of to unanimously converting to the Almighty. Jesus, gave His life for every soul, even the ones that were here from creation. If Adam and Eve did not believe that God was sending His Son to save them from death, then we would not be here today because God would have destroyed the world by now, [Romans 5:14-16 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.]
[Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.] Their conversion was not enough this time, the storm did not let up, and they did throw Jonah overboard, but it was God who set all this up. For three days and three nights, here was Jonah sitting inside the belly of a whale. I can only imagine just how disgusting that was, and he had a lot to think about because he was not going anywhere. That was until he prayed to God.
[Jonah 2:1-4,8-10 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. 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.]
[out of the belly of hell cried I,] Hell, is real, and salvation from it is not available for who we think it should be, it is available for all who God tells us it is to be. 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. By choice, God has already predestined that all who believe in and accept His Son would be saved from hell. However, this is where freewill comes into play, every soul that God creates is predestined to be saved, but we must make that choice for ourselves, [Ephesians 1:9-12 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.]
[And the LORD spake unto the fish,] Would God have left Jonah in there any longer had he not prayed? I believe that He would have. You see, every saved born again Christian is here for a purpose, it is God who not only prepares us to do it, He also does not let up until we fulfill that purpose. He also has a purpose for Satan too, and every wicked and evil person as well. Why? His sole purpose for anything that He does is to get His people to not only follow His will, but to bring others to Him as well, [Romans 9:21-23 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,]
Now, Jonah went back to Nineveh, 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 the people. All of them put away their false gods, removed anything that was evil, even fasted and prayed, all led by the king himself.
[Jonah 3:3-5,10 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. 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, [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. 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. Jonah, just knew that they would forsake God and return to their wicked ways.
[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?]
[But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,] 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. God tried to show Jonah that by planting a squash where he was camping. Jonah, still angry, encamped himself at a distance to watch them.
[Jonah 4:5-7,10-11 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. 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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