The exciting story of the disobedient prophet... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:3

The exciting story of the disobedient prophet Jonah is written in the first part of the Bible, in the Old Testament. God sends Jonah with a message of judgment to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Jonah sets out on his journey, but in the wrong direction! Does he really think he can outrun God? Apparently so, but that’s completely impossible. And that is perhaps the first important lesson this interesting Bible book contains.

God catches up with the disobedient prophet – through a large fish that saves him from drowning and then spews him back out onto land three days later. In this extreme situation, Jonah has time to think deeply about his life. He is given a second chance and he makes use of it. Jonah preaches to the inhabitants of Nineveh that God will bring judgment upon them because they have done so much evil. And how do the listeners react? They take God at His word, grieve over their sins, and change their lives. How pleased God is when people realise their guilt and ask Him for mercy and forgiveness.

However, Jonah is upset. He cannot understand why God doesn’t punish people for their sins. Therefore, God takes him to His school again: He makes a miracle tree grow, which is supposed to give shade to Jonah and make him happy. But overnight the tree dies and Jonah becomes angry. God then asks the prophet one last question: “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not laboured, nor made it grow. … And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left – and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:10).

If anyone thinks that God was not a merciful God in the Old Testament, this should teach them otherwise.

Today’s reading: Deuteronomy 1:19-28 · Matthew 19:13-22