What makes you angry and what does that reveal about your heart? Jonah’s anger towards God for showing mercy to Nineveh shows how much hate and racism is in his heart. And yet God is a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and relenting in disaster – these wonderful characteristics of...
In Jonah 3, Jonah repents, the people of Nineveh repent and even God repents (in a sense and said with great theological carefulness). This chapter is a call for all of us to call on God for mercy for the sins we have committed.
Jonah descends into the belly of the fish, as he sinks deeper and deeper into the Earth. The belly of the fish is his grave, the belly of sheol, but miraculously Jonah survives and at last turns to God in prayer. Even from the belly of the fish, God hears and answers his prayer.
Jonah is a simple and familiar story that you can teach to children in Sunday school, but it is also full of rich depth. Chapter 1 covers a whole host of themes including disobedience, God’s sovereign power over all creation, hypocrisy and more. Have a listen to the start of this 4 part series, covering...
