I was recently studying about one of my favorite Bible stories. Jonah and the big fish.
If you dig into this story, you will discover some great truths about God and His heart for the world to be saved.
You know what happened...God told Noah to go to the city of Nineveh and share with them their desperate need to repent of their evil ways.
The Ninevites were known for their brutality and evil. To travel there was risky. But to preach to them about God would mean certain death.
Jonah wanted nothing to do with the Ninevites. Especially since he was a Jew. It would be like asking a Jew during World War II to go preach to the Nazis.
One of two things would happen in his mind. He would be killed or the Ninevites would repent and be spared. Jonah was not interested in anyone from Nivevah living to see another day.
So...instead of running to Ninevah...he decided to run the wrong way. As far away from Ninevah as he could get. He boarded a ship and went the opposite direction.
In all this we see God's heart for people...even the most wicked people.
Look what he says in Jonah 4:11.
"...the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals."
Many commentators believe the 120,000 persons is referring to children who are not old enough to know the difference between their right and left hand.
He calls it a great city because there were so many lost people on whom He had compassion.
He also mentions animals? What does that mean? Scholars say that even the cruelest of men sometimes have a soft spot in their heart for a puppy, kitten, etc.
God has compassion on lost people and so should we.
Do you sometimes feel like Jonah? Your heart for lost people occasionally wanes and you want to run away from them instead of going to them.
You want to run away from the child that causes all the commotion in class?
You want to run away from the neighbor who is a pain?
You want to run away from the child that you just can't seem to connect with?
You want to run away from the staff member or church member that you can't get along with?
You want to run away from the hours of planning and work it takes to pull off a VBS, Fall Festival, or other outreach event?
You want to run away from trying to partner with parents when the parents just can't seem to get it.
I have felt all of this at times.
At times...I have run the wrong way.
When we take our eyes off of Jesus and people the natural tendency is to run the wrong direction.
Jonah disliked the Ninevites and it was obvious why. That dislike led him to disobedience.
Perhaps in all of this we see the heart of God for those who are far from Him. Perhaps in all of this we see that God has called us to run to those who are far from Him and share the Gospel with them.
So God puts Jonah through the ringer. You know what happened, he was on a ship...running the opposite direction when a storm blew in. Jonah confesses that He is running away from God's will and they end up throwing him overboard to save their lives.
Jonah gets swallowed by a big fish...perhaps it was a whale or great white Orca...whatever it was it was big.
Jonah spends three days in the big fish. During these three days, he spends most of his time talking to God and repenting for running away from God's will.
So God decides to ask Jonah to go to Ninevah for the second time.
p.s. Here are some apologetics you can teach kids about Jonah being swallowed and living through it.
Many critics can't "swallow" the story of Jonah because they say it couldn't happen.
Hang on. Let's examine the facts.
An average sperm whale has a mouth that is 20 feet long, 15 feel high, and 9 feet wide. Plenty big enough to swallow a person.
Did you know the sperm whale feeds largely on squid. Often these squids are larger than people. Whalers will sometimes find an entire squid in the stomach of a dead whale.
In 1891, two small whaleboats harpooned a huge sperm whale. The whale went under the water but then burst from the water, smashing one of the boats. One the sailors named James Bartley went overboard and was lost.
The whalers were eventually able to capture the whale and winch it to the ship. When they pulled the whale up, the sailors noticed that the whale's stomach was moving...so they cut the whale's belly open. Inside the whale was James Bartley...still alive after spending over 15 hours in the belly of the whale.
Now think back to Jonah. God was ready to use Jonah to reach Ninevah. So he had the big fish spit out Jonah onto the beach. Jonah was fortunate. There were only two ways out of the fish. Jonah got out the most pleasant way.
So here's Jonah...crawling out of the ocean after being spit up by a big fish.
Here's an interesting thing.
Do you know what false god the Ninevites worshiped? It was a fish god named Dagon.
Perhaps...just maybe some of the Ninevites saw this man come up out of a fish with seaweed wrapped around his head. If that happened, I would say Jonah had their attention.
So Noah runs the right way this time and heads to Ninevah. He shares the Word of God with them and the entire city turns to God.
So what do we learn from this amazing happening?
God's heart is for people.
God uses people to reach people...even when their attitude is not the best.
God wants us to have His heart of compassion and love for those who do not know Him.
When God asks us to run toward people with the Gospel, it is critical that we obey Him.
God wants you to run toward His will for your life instead of running away from it.
The best choice is to always run toward God's will instead of from it.
God is the God of mercy and forgiveness. Run to Him. Help others run to Him. No matter who they are.
God is looking for yielded hearts to reach people with the Gospel.
