SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/04/2025 9:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “PT-3 Intro to Jonah 1:1-6)”
Bible Reading and Meditation Reference: Jonah 1:1-6
Message of the verses: “1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 4 The LORD hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.’”
I continue to quote from John MacArthur’s long introduction to this section of Jonah in this morning’s SD.
“The Great Commission in Matthew 28 was not the first time God issued a command to go and preach repentance to those beyond the borders of Israel. In the book of Jonah, the Lord directed His prophet to depart for another land (Jonah 1:2) and declare a message of impending judgment so that the people of Nineveh might repent and be saved. In that way, the book of Jonah previews the Great Commission, exhibiting Yahweh’s great lovingkindness toward the nations.
“Though God’s heart on the matter was clear, Jonah callously refused to reflect that love to those outside Israel. When God commanded him to go and preach to Nineveh, he ran in the opposite direction. Jonah’s disobedience has earned him a place of distinction among Old Testament prophets, as the only one who deliberately defied his divine commission. He knew that if he obeyed and preached to Nineveh, and if the people repented the Lord would grant them mercy and stay His wrath. Jonah despised the notion that God might show compassion to a city as wicked as Nineveh. Preferring to see Israel’s enemies perish, the prodigal prophet went absent without leave, evidencing a heart staunchly opposed to God’s desire to save the nations.
“In the opening section of t his book, Yahweh graciously commissioned His prophet to warn the Gentiles in Nineveh of His impending judgment, so that they might repent. But Jonah had other ideas. Verses 1-3 present the Lord’s compassionate directive regarding the Ninevites. Verse 3 reveals the prophet’s calculated defiance, as he deliberately disobeyed. Verse 4 describes God’s cataclysmic discipline on His wayward prophet, by means of a severe storm. In verse 5, the sailors reacted to the tempest with complete dread, while Jonah slept with calloused disregard. Finally, in verse 6 the captain of the ship responded with a cry of confounded desperation, confused as to why Jonah was sleeping, but also expressing the true need of every Gentile sinner: ‘Perhaps your god [the God of Israel] will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.’ And examination of these elements highlights the Lord’s gracious compassion toward the nations, in contrast to the hard-hearted prejudice and pride of a petulant prophet who was supposed to represent Him.”
This concludes the introduction to the first six verses of Jonah, and Lord willing we will begin looking at verses 1-2 in the next SD.
Spiritual Meaning for My Life today: Disobeying what the Lord has commanded to do is not something that I want to do, but because there is still on old nature in me that never wants to do right it happens from time to time, and I never like it when it does.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Getting what I call a “gut punch” was what happened to my wife and I as we got some rather disturbing news from her doctor yesterday. We know that God is in charge of her health, and it is our desire to trust Him, but this news is still difficult to handle, and we surely need the grace of God to comfort us at this time.
9/4/2025 9:52 AM
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