Jonah: The Calling [Bible Study]

The Calling

The Book of Jonah chapter 1:1-2

Welcome to the Book of Jonah Bible Study!

Let me start off by saying, I have a major bias toward the book of Jonah. It is by far one of my favorite books in the entire Bible. I am very excited to work through this book with you and discover the deeper meanings behind the story of Jonah. I hope you are excited as well.

My goal for this Bible study is that it would be a blessing to you as it has me in studying these topics out, and that you would grow closer to God in the process. 

The book of Jonah is one of the most underutilized and misunderstood books in the entire Bible. Most people know about Jonah, and a whale, but have no idea what else happens in this book. This Bible study is meant to try and fix that. 

If you are new to studying the Bible, you might be wondering “where is the book of Jonah in the Bible?”

Jonah is in the minor prophets, just after Obadiah and right before Micah. It’s a Small book, but not small in content.  It contains major truths about God's nature, the nature of man, hell, prophecies of Jesus, and much more. 

The book of Jonah has a lot to offer and that’s why it deserves a full on bible study.. not just a cute picture for kids to color in Sunday school.

As we begin this study, notice that nothing about the book of Jonah is normal. It’s a living, breathing satire. That’s how life works sometimes. You plan a perfect day with your spouse, and it falls apart. You plan a family trip with the kiddos and it turns out to be a disaster. That is life. 

We live in a world that is majorly flawed with people who are less than perfect.

Usually our days are filled with a little more disappointment than we would want. From early on this in book we see it’s destined to be different than some of the other books in the Bible. 

Jonah 1:1

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,...

God's word comes to Jonah, and from here on you would expect the rest of the book to mainly be about what those words were and who they were to. That is not the case. Jonah is different because the story is about him. 

Jonah is written to showcase the messenger, not  only the message. 

Why would this story in God's Word be focusing primarily on the messenger rather than the message ? I believe this is because there is a ton to learn from this biblical account. We could of course learn from the message Jonah is given by God, the message to Nineveh..

That being God sees the wickedness that's going on in the world, and He is fixing to do something about it! Easy enough. This is consistent with all scripture and would of course be profitable for us.

Although Jonah is so much more than that! We see how a prophet responds to God when he is called upon to deliver a message, and we get front row access to the consequences that await a person when they choose to ignore what God has told them to do. 

Anyone who is honest with themselves  will see where Jonah fails in this story, and say “yep. I have done the same thing before  when God told me to do something”. We can ALL be a Jonah at times in our life.

Jonah 1:1

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

Back to verse 1, notice the Word of the Lord CAME to Jonah. Things were different in the Bible days, the Law was given to Israel through Moses, the prophets were given visions and words from God to give to Israel and other nations , the apostles and NT church (us) are given His word and are told to preach it to the world…

But In Jonah’s times they didn't have the full Bible to rely on like we have, and that we take for granted. God would speak to prophets and those prophets would need to pen down His word and often relay it personally to the intended audience.  

These days, if we ever wonder what God wants from our lives,  we can open our bibles and find out. We don’t need God to come speak to us directly like Jonah did. Things are different now, and even though it would be really neat for God to speak to us face to face, we actually have it much better now. 

2 peter 1:16-20

16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

 *(matthew 17 mount of transfiguration) 

18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Did we read that correctly? More sure words? More sure than the voice of God speaking from heaven? YES. We don’t have to wait to hear a voice from heaven, we have God’s Word available to us we can read at anytime!

People want to claim they would believe God if He made himself known to them. But the Bible tells us right here that we have something even better than that: His Word written down for us and complete.

The truth is these kinds of people will never be satisfied. They have no problem believing a man named Abraham Lincoln existed by reading first hand testimonies, historical accounts, etc..

But when it comes to the things of God it doesn't matter how many first hand witnesses have been recorded , or any other historical evidence for that matter, they won't believe it simply because they don't want to.

They want God to just forget He spoke through His prophets, which penned down His Word, and then the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, lived a perfect life, died for us, was risen again, seen by many people, then those people wrote down what God said and delivered  the NT scriptures which have all been preserved for us perfectly…

None of that is good enough. They demand that they won't believe unless God comes and speaks to them face to face. They completely disregard that God has already given us today His preferred method of communication with his creation.

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Things don't work like they did in Jonah’s time. You see people all over who claim “God wants me to tell you something”. I really do not want to beat anyone up or belittle anyone, but if it's not already in the Bible, I do not think you should trust that person.

They may be delusional at best, or straight up lying to you.

People want to claim all the time “God told me” but this is a cop out. People often use this as a convenience to get their way. After all, who wants to argue with God?

For example, a person might say  “God told me to divorce my wife so I could marry the other lady I am seeing”. I am sure you have heard something like this in your life.

These kinds of statements most likely come from their own heart. Now, if someone tells you, “God told me to tell you Jesus loves you”…then OK, yes, you can prove that from the Bible, God does in fact want us to tell people that very truth wherever we go. We're all commanded to go out and teach people that God loves them.

What I am referring to is the people who claim God told them something that is not in the Bible, an extra biblical revelation if you will. 

On this note I would like to make a distinction. There is a difference between saying God told you something in an audible voice, versus feeling like He spoke to you through the scriptures, or a sermon ,or you feeling led to make a certain decision in life. That's way different. We do have the Holy Spirit!

John 16:12-14 *(this is Jesus speaking)

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

An important truth to understand is that the Holy Spirit is given to us the moment we get saved. (Ephesians 1:13). As you study and read your Bible, the Holy Spirit will teach you things, but also, its normal to feel led by the Spirit in our day to day life.

Let's say you are offered a new position at work and you pray for God’s wisdom, and you felt like God told you not to accept that job. At that point , perhaps that’s the Holy Spirit trying to help you make the right choice. 

But If, as born again believers, with the Holy Spirit inside of us guiding us,  we aren't careful., we can make wrong choices. Simply having God’s Spirit does not mean we will always listen to Him.

What I mean by this, is sometimes we can feel led by the Spirit, but really it may be our own desires. It could be that we are forcing where WE want to go and not where the Holy Spirit is actually trying take us.

We need to be aware of this, and try to stay out of God's way of directing our paths.

Jonah, on the other hand, could not have been mistaken. There was no miscommunication, God spoke to him CLEARLY. 

Now What did the Lord tell Jonah ?  

Jonah 1

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

We see here a key characteristic of God, he is omnipresent.

He's everywhere at all times. His eyes see every action that takes place, His ears hear every little whisper we make in our heart. Nothing gets past Him. And the wickedness of Nineveh was no exception. Jonah was told to CRY against it.. this is a message of Love. 

When a preacher calls out sin, it should be from a place of love. Can people take this too far ? Of course, but generally speaking a preacher preaching against sin is loving.

If a doctor finds out a patient has a life threatening condition, the loving thing to do would be to inform that patient so they can begin working on treatment to save their life. Is the doctor in this case wrong for pointing out something that is harming the patient? Absolutely not! 

It would be silly for the patient to respond to the doctor by calling him judgmental, unloving, ect.  The Doctor is simply trying to help.

What is unloving is allowing someone to believe they don’t have a problem that can hurt them or cause them death.

Consider this verse in Isaiah:

Isaiah 58:1

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

That message of course was to the children of Israel, but it's the same idea. God has told Jonah he must cry against the city of Nineveh and show them how upset God is with them for their sins.

“God is being mean” might be an accusation thrown at God for this. Although, this is actually extremely graceful. God had every right to completely level the entire city for their wickedness, but he chose to instead, send Jonah. He decided to give them a chance to repent.

It’s important to know that God will judge the wicked, and He intends to destroy evil. But at the same time He is long-suffering and merciful. God isn't just sitting in heaven with His finger on the trigger, hammer pulled back, ready to come down on us hard…

He loves people. He LONGS for them to do right. He WANTS to show mercy.

Ezikiel 33:11 tells us:

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: 

God doesn't bear the sword in vain, He’s able and willing to come down hard on wickedness, BUT His first option is for people to repent. 

We don't want to just look at someone, and assume there is no hope for them…we can't look at someone and just assume they are past the point of being saved. This is harmful thinking. If they are still alive, and they soften their heart and repent and ask God to save them, THAT is what God wants. We should want that for people as well. 

A person you would have seen in the Bible days and never would have believed for one second they would be saved, is the apostle Paul. When he was Saul the Pharisee, he was responsible for persecuting the early Christians and having them killed.

The Bible gives this account:

Acts 8:1-3

And Saul was consenting unto his death. *(Stephen being stoned for preaching Jesus)And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Saul of course, later becomes known as the apostle Paul, one of the greatest Christians who ever lived.

Imagine if someone was going door to door, breaking up bible studies and taking people to prison for it. What if these same  people endorsed and facilitated believers being killed for their faith in Jesus? 

We would look at that person and say “they will never get saved. It's too late for them. They are too wicked! I would submit to you that as long as those people are still living, they CAN get saved, and if they do God gets all the more glory from it! 

Lets see what the impact of a changed life does for the cause of Christ.

Galatians 1:19-24

19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;

22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:

23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.

24 And they glorified God in me.

They glorified God because of the change that took place in Paul’s life. 

If we look back at our text in Jonah, we see he was told to go and preach to these people. As we continue this study we will see how he does with this clear command from God.

We also see God is omnipresent, His eyes see every act that is done on the earth, and His is just in punishing that wickedness. On that same note, we can’t mention the righteous wrath of God without also mentioning His mercy.  We have seen that God would much rather have a person reconciled unto Him, than to destroy that person. 

We have looked at a whopping 2 verses , but now what do we do with the truths we have learned?

With any truth we learn in God’s Holy Word, we should apply it to our own lives. Let us apply these truths by looking at this final verse.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The Word of God has come to us also, and we should go out and reach the world. We should show people they need a savior, show them they are sinner on their way to hell, but that Jesus loves them and wants to save them.

Jonah was called to be a messenger and so have you!

We must go teach the world about Jesus, we must tell people wickedness is destroying them, but that God not only wants to save their soul, but that He wants to save them from the coming destruction they are bringing on themselves with their sins.

What calling has God given to you?

I hope this was a blessing and encouragement to you. We will be continuing this study, verse by verse, and line upon line. Stick with us, and I am sure it will be worth your while. God bless, and take care!

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