II Timothy 2:15 Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
Bible Reading for November 30 (ONPP)
Jonah 1 – 4, Psalms 136
Jonah 1:2 – God says cry against Nineveh because of their evil.
Jonah 1:3 – Nineveh was one of the enemies of Israel and Jonah did not want to warn them.
Jonah 1:13 – Instead of doing as Jonah said they did not want to lose his life as they thought would happen.
Jonah 1:14 – Their fear of God is well founded due to the storm that they are in.
Jonah 1:16 – This act to disobey God by Jonah has brought the men on the boat to trust in God. Of all the lost merchandise and equipment is anything too much to pay for the experience to know God and trust in him?
Jonah 2:1–9 – Jonah did not curse God for being thrown into the sea to drown, He asked God for forgiveness. It does not take long to pray in repentance and ask God for redemption. Some people may think that Jonah lived for three days in the belly of the fish but more than likely he died and God raised him from the dead when the fish spat him out on the land.
Jonah 3:3 – God had to call Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh. Nineveh is about 400 miles from the Mediterranean Sea so it took Jonah some time to travel there. After being in the fish’s belly for three days his skin would have lost pigment due to the digestive juices. He would have had a unique look about him being noticed easily. It would take Jonah three days to preach God’s message to Nineveh. He would have gone from neighborhood to neighborhood and preach God’s message.
Jonah 3:4 – After only one day of preaching the people of Nineveh repented from their evil ways and turned to God. They knew what evil they had done and that Jehovah is God. They also knew about the BIG IF that God has offered mankind. That if you repent from your sin and turn to God, then He will hear and respond to you favorably.
Jonah 3:10 – God honors the BIG IF and does not do what Jonah told Nineveh. God did not say that He would do it but Jonah was His prophet sent to call Nineveh to repentance.
Jonah 4:1 – Nineveh was a very wicked city and hated by Israel so Jonah was holding a grudge against them knowing that God would withhold punishment from them if they repented.
Jonah 4:2 – Now we find out why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. His hatred did not want them to be given the opportunity to take advantage of God’s BIG IF.
Jonah 4:11 – God loves all mankind and does not want any to perish to the lake of fire. He therefore gives us the opportunity to take that step in the BIG IF, turning away from evil and toward God that we might be saved from destruction.
Psalms 136:1 – For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but His mercy endures forever. Even though we fail to live up to the standards God has set for us, His mercy is always available to us If we turn from our prideful endeavors and back to Him.
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