God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh

and wanted him to go before the

people of the great city. Because of

all the wickedness that was

happening before the Lord

Jonah didn’t obey the orders of

God and instead of going to

Nineveh, he went to Tarshish to

escape the presence of the Lord.

God punished Jonah by having a

great fish swallow up Jonah. He

was in the belly of the fish for three

days and nights.

Seaweed

Stormy Sea

Jonah was very ashamed of

himself and he was probably very

sorrowful for what he did earlier. He

may have been repenting.

In Jonah chapter 1, God wanted Jonah to go to the great

city of Nineveh to cry against the people for their sins and

the wicked things they were doing. But Jonah didn’t obey

the Lord orders and he tried to flee from the Lord. Jonah

went to Tarshish and he found a ship and paid a fee to

ride. While he was on the ship, a mighty wind was sent

out into the sea. Everyone on the ship was frightened and

started to worship their god. Jonah was sleep doing this

time, so one of the shipmasters woke Jonah up and

questioned him. Soon they let Jonah off the ship and he

was swallowed by a great fish and stayed in the stomach

for three days and nights.

I think Jonah was sorry for what he

had did in the previous chapter.

Jonah described the belly as deep, closed,

round, and weeds wrapped about his head.

Yes, the Lord did show Jonah

mercy.

In this chapter Jonah repented and asked the

Lord for forgiveness. He described how it was like

to be in the belly of the fish. He asked for mercy

upon him and while these things happened the

fish vomited out Jonah unto dry land.

Jonah did not get out of going to Nineveh, the

Lord came tom him a second time and Jonah

obeyed his orders.

They all believed in what Jonah was telling them.

Them fell to their knees, fasted, and cried unto

God. They were covered in sackcloth too.

God did show the people mercy. God could have easily

destroyed the city, but he gave them another chance and

sent Jonah to preach unto the people. They believed in

what Jonah was saying and they fell to their knees and

cried unto God.

In Jonah chapter 3 the Lord came unto Jonah the second

and told him to go unto Nineveh and preach to the people

of that city. So this time Jonah arose and obeyed the Lord

orders. It was a three day journey. When Jonah preached

to the people, the people became frightened and believed

in the word of God. So all the people of the city fast and

put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of

them. The kind of Nineveh sat in ashes and was dressed

in sackcloth. The king ordered no one man or beast to eat

or drink anything. He wanted them to cry unto the Lord and

to be covered in sackcloth.

I think Jonah was upset because he

had to go unto the great city Tarshish

when he really did not want to.

God used the gourd to teach him a lesson because the

Lord could have easily let Jonah become uncomfortable

and hot in the sun. But he had mercy on him and made a

gourd to serve as shade for Jonah.

I learned even though God is a merciful slow to

anger God, that you should always obey his

commands. He will not ask you to something that

you are not capable of doing.

In this chapter Jonah was very angry with what the Lord

wanted him to do. Jonah did what he was told anyway, but

Jonah wished to die. While Jonah went to Tarshish, Jonah

built a booth and sat under it. The Lord made a gourd for

Jonah and sat it above him. The next day which was

extremely hot, Jonah wished to die again and the Lord

destroyed the gourd. Jonah became upset when the Lord

destroyed the gourd and when he did not destroy the city

of Ninevah.

The Lord told Jonah that his choice to show mercy upon the city of Jonah was because he created them. So how then can you become upset when I destroy a gourd, something that you neither created or labored for?