The Man Jonah Who Was Swallowed Whole By ... - News and Society

Jonah had been informed by God to go and evangelise in Nineveh, a great Gentile city upon which God was going to pour out His judgment. He wanted Jonah to preach to them in the hope that they would repent of their sin and thus judgment could be averted. But Jonah would have none of it; he was a zealous and patriotic Jew and he had no desire to risking his life by preaching a message of judgment in a city he would never otherwise have gone to, as a non secular and bigoted Jew. He definitely refused and instantly plotted to run away from God and go in the very opposite direction. Rather than going east he went down to the port of Joppa and found, awfully expediently, a ship going to Tarshish. He wasted no time and having paid the fare for the crossing, he boarded the vessel, found a cushty place and lay down to sleep. As far as he was concerned , everything was going his way and he dismissed all thought of his insubordination from his mind.

Delicately the ship pulled away from the docks and Jonah felt good. He was completely relaxed as he thought about the ease with which he managed to find a ship going in this direction and carrying him far from his responsibility to God. The sea was calm and the wind favourable and he was making great progress. That was till God decided to remind Jonah that he could never run away from him and God sent a frightening typhoon which tossed the merchant ship to and fro like it was a cork.

The seasoned mariner who were in charge of the ship were scared and started to do all they could to revive some sense of normality but all their attempts were annoyed. They cast some of the wares overboard and called upon all of their experience to restore calm. Things just went from bad to much worse and so they decided to call on their gods. Still things grew worse and eventually they found Jonah sleeping deeply in the lower parts of the boat. They woke him and asked his help. As they cried in their distress they made a decision that there has to be an aberrant reason for the hurricane and so they cast lots to identify the culprit. Jonah was identified and they asked him why this was so. He told them everything and informed them that the only real way calm may be restored was by throwing him overboard.

That, to the sailors, was tantamount to murder or murder; they refused to do what Jonah advised and redoubled their attempts to bring the ship to its destination. At last they realised they were getting nowhere and reluctantly they threw Jonah overboard and observed him disappear under the waves. Instantly there had been a great calm.

Unknown to the sailors God had a ?great fish?; doubtless a whale, waiting nearby and it swallowed Jonah . After 3 days, a totally damaged and repentant Jonah was barfed out onto dry land and when God told him, the second time, to go to Nineveh, he agreed, even though reluctantly, and set off for Nineveh.

How frequently we have heard the story of Jonah and were excited by the account. See what Eikon Bible Art has produced relating to Jonah and the whale here!

Source: http://www.gongyifair.org/the-man-jonah-who-was-swallowed-whole-by-a-fish-and-lived.html

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