Greetings to you all greatly beloved of God and welcome to another episode of our daily study of the Scriptures. We bless the name of the Lord God for His many blessings over us. Praise be to God!
In our today’s episode 613, we shall be examining Chapter 1 of the book of Jonah titled:
The Call, Disobedience and Adventure Of The Man Called Jonah
The way the book of Jonah was written appears to be slightly different from other prophetic books because of its narrative nature where the adventures of prophet Jonah was described.
From our previous post, we learnt that Jonah was the son of Amittai, from Gath Hepher – a town on the boundary of Zebulun. Please read Joshua 19:13 describing the allocation of lands to the tribes of Israel.
Another important point to note about Jonah is that he prophesied victory for Israel during their conquest of all the territory that had belonged to Israel, from Hamath Pass in the north to the dead sea in the south. Read 2Kings 14:25.
What happened exactly in Chapter 1?
God simply sent him on a missionary journey to a city called Nineveh, which happened to be the capital of Assyria.
So, instead of going to Nineveh to preach, Jonah fled in the opposite direction to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Tarshish (modern day Spain).
He was trying to run away from God. He thought God was only present in the land of Israel. He has forgotten that God is everywhere. Even King David confirmed that in Psalm 139:7-8
7 Where could I go to escape from you? Where could I get away from your presence? 8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there; if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.
Luckily enough for him, he found a ship going to Spain from Joppa. Usually in those days, the Phoenicians engaged in a substantial trade with Tartessus according to Ezekiel 27:12; and it was most likely it’s one of their ships that Jonah boarded.
The fact that he paid his fare shows that there was a regular voyage going on between the two places, where every traveller must pay their fare.
He hopped on board and then, the unexpected happened!
There was a great wind – a mighty storm powerful enough to cause a shipwreck.
They tried every means possible, including throwing some consignments overboard to stop the ship from sinking, but to no avail.
Then they cast a lot to find out the reason for this unexpected calamity and the lot fell on Jonah. Then Jonah confessed everything that happened.
Eventually, he was thrown into the sea and immediately, the storm ceased. The entire crew greatly feared God and promised to serve Him.
Right there in the sea, God had already provided a large fish to swallow Jonah and he stayed there for three days and nights.
What happened next?
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let’s pray:
I declare, every veil of darkness, every evil stronghold trying to prevent the Word of God from gaining residence in your family and environment, be pulled down right now, in Jesus name.
The revelation of Christ Jesus begins to rise big in the heart of as many people as possible reading this message right now, in Jesus name.
You will make it in life, whether the devil likes it or not. You will succeed in life, in Jesus name.
Bible Readings For Today: Reflection time on all the chapters you have read so far from the past six days and covering of missed chapters.
I call you blessed now and always.
Monday December 7, 2020 (DDMI)
