The book of Jonah is full of irony. Sometimes we are so caught up with the story of the great fish that we miss a great God who is teaching great lessons on obedience.
In this book, Jonah was called to minister to Ninevites, but he decided to do the exact opposite. He thought he could resign from God's commission by simply walking away; but God used nature, animals, and even heathen people to stop Jonah and teach him a lesson.
The irony in this book is that everyone in the story listens to God, except for Jonah. Here are some other ironical elements...
- Jonah was called to Nineveh (God's plan) - Jonah was running away from Nineveh (His agenda)
- Jonah does not obey God - The creation (sea, wind, etc.) obeys God
- The sailors were praying earnestly (to their gods) - Jonah was sleeping comfortably
- Jonah admitted that he was fleeing from Yahweh - The sailors rebuked him saying, how could you do this? (even the sailors had better understanding of Yahweh when Jonah described Yahweh to them!)
- Jonah disregarded God's omnipresence when was running away - Jonah acknowledged God's omnipresence when he was in trouble
- The Ninevites were thankful for God's compassion - Jonah was bitter at God's compassion
- Jonah was thankful when God saved him from the fish - He was bitter when God saved Ninevites from destruction
- Jonah cared for his own comfort (plant and shade) - God cares for the perishing people who do not know the difference between their right and left, and their animals...
Lessons to learn...
- When God calls we must obey; setting aside our preferences, selfishness, and comforts.
- When we disobey God, sin blinds us so much that we get rebuked by the world about the nature of our own God.
- Never have your own agenda regarding who gets saved, but simply submit to God's plan and his work in salvation.
- Remember that you are not the one who is saving people, God is...
Written by Johnny M
No comments:
Post a Comment