December 27, 2011 – Jonah 1 – 4

I was looking at maps for past post and thought I would look at Nineveh. It is a long way from the Holy Land. Tarshish and Joppa are also mentioned. It is unclear where Jonah starts from, but you can see, from the maps, that when he decides to run, he is going to run far. Tarshish is on the coast of Spain, so he is going to the far side of the world to avoid God. This point maybe isn’t as clear if you do not know the geography.

When the Apostles were in the ship with Christ and He was asleep during the storm, do you think this story popped into their minds. Matthew 8:24

This book not only shows the power of God, storms, control of fish, but the great mercy of God and the sense, as is evident in many places, that God’s ways are not ours. Jonah wants the destruction that was promised. He does not care about repentance. From God’s point of view, repentance, a return to God, is all He ever wants, from the very first break in the covenant. How much are we like Jonah and cannot forgive and accept others repentance.