Jonah 1:1-4. (Amp. B)
1:1 NOW THE word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me. [Gen. 10:11, 12.]
1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His prophet] and went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish [the most remote of the Phoenician trading places then known]. So he paid the appointed fare and went down into the ship to go with them to Tarshish from being in the presence of the Lord [as His servant and minister]. [Gen. 4:16; Job 1:12; 2:7.]
1:4 But the Lord sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a violent tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken. [Ps. 107:23-27.]
Jonah 3:1-10.
3:1 AND THE word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,
3:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach and cry out to it the preaching that I tell you.
3:3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city of three days\’ journey [sixty miles in circumference].
3:4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day\’s journey, and he cried, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!
3:5 So the people of Nineveh believed in God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
3:6 For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
3:7 And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor drink water.
3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
3:9 Who can tell, God may turn and revoke His sentence against us [when we have met His terms], and turn away from His fierce anger so that we perish not. [Joel 2:13, 14.]
3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God revoked His [sentence of] evil that He had said that He would do to them and He did not do it [for He was comforted and eased concerning them].
Jonah 4:1-4.
4:1 BUT IT displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry.
4:2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, I pray You, O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them. [Exod. 34:6.]
4:3 Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech You, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.
4:4 Then said the Lord, Do you do well to be angry?
Hatred is a feeling that can be both godly and sinful depending on the circumstances, for example the bible says we must hate evil…. which is godly and the bible said again he who hates his brother is a murderer for he knoweth not God…. this again is sinful. In Proverbs 10:12 it states
\”Hatred stirs up strife but love covers all sins\”.
There is something we have to take from the life style of Jesus Christ is LOVE.
Anytime the word of God came to anyone and said arise, it means God wants to draw your attention to a thing. The word of God came calling on Jonah to pay a particular attention to an instruction and He expected Jonah to obey without delay because He had seen the activities of Nineveh and was displeased with that Nation but He has no pleasure in the death of a sinner as such God needed a Prophet to go to that country and preach to them, paraventure they may hear the word of God and repent and their sins may be forgiven them thereby averting whatever punishment awaiting them due to their sinful nature.
When God asked Jonah to arise, it means God want him to watch out perhaps there\’s something Jonah was doing that needed attention. People prosper because God is with them. The bible recorded that lshemeal prospered because God was with him.
God sees the end from the beginning meaning God was interested with the city of Nineveh that was why He doesn\’t want that great city to perish in their wickedness. God sent Prophet Jonah to them to help them out of their wickedness but instead Jonah flee to another country believing that the people should perish instead because he hated to see them turn a new leaf
Jonah thought he can hide from the presence of God, that was exactly what Cain did when he killed his brother Abel, he ran away from the presence of God.
Then the big question is what did the people of Nineveh did to Jonah that may trigger his refusal to go to that great city when he was asked by God to go there and help them out of their wicked ways.
Disobedient to the word of God may make a man to be insensitive. It is the will of God that all should not perish but come to the repentance.
Why The Hatred?
\”He who hates pretends with his lips, but stores up deceit within himself.
When he speaks kindly, do not trust him, for seven abominations are in his heart.
Though his hatred covers itself with guile, his wickedness shall be shown openly before the assembly\”. (Proverbs 26:24-26)
Do you know why some families are going through difficult times, so much that no progress rather retrogression or redundancy nothing but hatred
\”Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that his hatred for her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, Get up and get out!
But she said, No! This great evil of sending me away is worse than what you did to me. But he would not listen to her.
He called the servant who served him and said, Put this woman out of my presence now, and bolt the door after her!
This was an account of brotherly hatred towards a sister and Amnon treated his own sister like a total stranger because he had became insensitive, hatred blocking his mental reasoning and this brought bad blood amongst siblings which warrantted Absalom Tamar\’s elder brother to distance himself from Amnon because he intends to retaliate
\”But Absalom did not speak to Amnon either good or bad for Absalom hated Amnon because he had violated his sister Tamar\”. (2samuel 13:22).
\”BUT IT displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry.
And he prayed to the Lord and said, I pray You, O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them\”
Can you imagine Jonah\’s aggrevience that God is too merciful, when sinners repents and turn away from their sins God forgives them and have mercy on them! Very weld!!!!. Well! Such is life 🙌 people may hate you just for hating sake, not for what you have done wrong on them just because God has shown you mercy and you\’re progressing, they began to have a sleepless nights plotting to undo you. May God protect us against unfriendly friends in Jesus name 🙏. Happy End Of The Month, We Made It Together, Glory Be To God🙏 Wishing You The Best Christmas Season. Cheers!!!!!!!!!!. ✍️ Blessing I N Onugha.