Hello Sweet friends,
Today’s Reading … 2 Kings 14-15, 2 Chronicles 25-26, Jonah 1-4 and Isaiah 1-4
Jonah, can you still see this one in your memories of Sunday School on the felt board? It was always a favorite! While the children’s telling of this prophet and the giant fish is compelling, as we dive in today, it becomes even more profound.
The complexities begin with the realizations that Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, Israel’s greatest enemy. If Nineveh fell under God’s judgment, Israel would escape the impending wrath of Assyria. Jonah avoided God’s call to go to Nineveh in a misguided attempt to protect his people. In our own lives, we would probably never admit to telling God no. We would, however, explain away His calling on our lives by rationalizing our actions as protection for those we love. Satan is a master at convincing us that we know what is best for our lives and the lives of those that we love. God’s plan often seems irrational and dangerous. Remember His ways are higher than out ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. This is a great warning for us to prayerfully consider the Lord’s calling in our lives and ask Him to guard us from blindly following our emotions instead of His will.
As we continue in our theme of “Keeping God First” we add a level of trust and obedience today. So often we use the phrase, “their heart was in the right place.” What we see in the story of Jonah is that the heart cannot be trusted. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” So, if we can not even trust our hearts, what can we trust? The character of God. When we seek to keep him first, he will be the one directing our choices, not our own hearts and emotions. As difficult as it was, Jonah eventually submitted his feelings and was obedient to God, keeping Him first. God forgave and provided for Jonah. Eventually, Nineveh will be destroyed, in God’s timing, not Jonah’s, to accomplish His perfect plans for His children. When we keep God first, we are blessed by watching His plans succeed and they always will.
It is also amazing to stop and reflect on the symbolism in this book.
First, Jonah is a symbol of Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
“For as Jonah was three nights in the belly of the fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40
Second, Jonah is a symbol of Israel – disobedient to God, swallowed up by the nations of the world, but “given up” to return to the Promised Land. (What the Bible is All About.)
Love you all,
Kinsee
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return empty, but accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
