Day 348

Jonah 1:1–4:11; Revelation 5:1-14; Psalm 133:1-3; Proverbs 29:26-27

TODAY WE READ the entire book of Jonah —another of the Minor Prophets —a book of prophecy with a twist. Jonah was a prophet who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel, due west of the southern portion of the Sea of Galilee, during the reign of King Jeroboam II.

Whereas most of the prophets of the Bible called their own people to repentance, Jonah’s mission was to go to the city of Nineveh —one of the largest cities in the world at that time. The ruins of ancient Nineveh are located near the modern city of Mosul, in Iraq, and many of these ancient ruins were damaged or destroyed by ISIS.

Jonah was not pleased by his assignment. God commanded him to go to people who were considered enemies of Israel and enemies of God. Rather than obeying, Jonah fled in the opposite direction, boarding a ship at the Mediterranean coastal port of Joppa, which is near modern Tel Aviv.

The story of Jonah is a famous one. Jonah ended up in the belly of a great fish, and after three days of repentance, he was spewed out on the shore alive. For Christians, there are obvious foreshadowings of Christ in this story, but Jonah also contains parallels with our own lives.

When we allow fear and pride to lead us into disobedience, we will invariably find ourselves on the run from God. Truly running from God is impossible, however. Although Jonah was swallowed in the open sea by a great fish, that fish became his salvation. He would have surely drowned in the storm, and although the journey would have been terrifying and uncomfortable, God used the fish to deliver Jonah alive and well back to dry land.

We, too, have run from God at times, and we may find that life has swallowed us alive because of it. We may also find, however, that what engulfed us also transported us, in the end, back to firm footing, where we can walk with God in obedience once again.

PRAYER:

I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!