“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “GO to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But JONAH RAN AWAY FROM THE LORD and headed for Tarshish. He WENT DOWN to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. He paid the fare thereof and WENT DOWN into it and sailed for Tarshish TO FLEE FROM THE LORD.” As if that were possible! Jonah WENT DOWN inside the ship; and was in a deep sleep.” (Jonah 1:1-5)
God caused a great storm to come up, “All of the sailors were afraid. Each one cried out to his own god for help. The captain went down to Jonah and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and CALL OUT TO YOUR GOD FOR HELP! Maybe he’ll pay attention…Then we won’t die.” (Jonah 1:5-6) Now here is the thing, God had a plan for Jonah…David said, “You saw me before I was born and scheduled EACH DAY OF MY LIFE before I began to breathe. EVERY DAY WAS RECORDED IN YOUR BOOK!” (Psalms 139:16) God had a purpose for Jonah and one way or another IT WOULD BE DONE, there were 120,000 souls at stake. So, God prepared a GREAT FISH to swallow Jonah and take him to Nineveh!
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said, “When I was in trouble, I called out to you. And you answered me. When I had almost drowned, I called out for help. And YOU LISTENED TO MY CRY.” (Jonah 2:1-2) So, Jonah obeyed God, “On the first day, Jonah announced, “In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed.” The people of Nineveh BELIEVED GOD’S WARNING. They decided not to eat any food for a while. All of them put on black clothes. That’s what everyone from the least important of them to the most important did.” (Jonah 3:4-5) “God saw what they did. They stopped doing what was evil. So, he took pity on them. HE DIDN’T DESTROY THEM as He had said He would.” (Jonah 3:10)
THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH OBEYED GOD AND WERE SPARED, JUST AS WE WILL BE IF WE BELIEVE GOD…
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham