REVIEW: JONAHS PRAYER MEMORY VERSE: Jonah 2:9 But I will - TopicsExpress



          

REVIEW: JONAHS PRAYER MEMORY VERSE: Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. INTRODUCTION: According to the Bible history, Jonah was a prophet in Israel during the time of one of the most powerful kings of the northern kingdom, King Jeroboam the Second. He was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Since Jonah was a prophet of Yah, you must have expected him to share Yahs priorities. Instead of going to Nineveh where Yah sent him, he responded in reflection to his cultural heritage rather than G-ds values. Jonah hated the people of Nineveh just as most Israelites of his day did; they were the enemy. So, he wanted G-d to destroy the wicked Assyrian Capital, then chose to disobey Yahs call. Hence, the main character in this story was at first disobedient. He committed his sin, he prayed, and he received forgiveness and resurrection. His prayer is a pattern for us. None of us likes to admit we need help. However, it is only when we acknowledge our need for G-d and His power that we can begin to grow spiritually. If we dont surrender to YHWH, but try to go it alone, we are headed for sure disaster. THE LESSON: JONAHS PRAYER Jonah needed to get his priorities in line with those of G-d. He was so bitter toward the people of Nineveh that he would have chosen to die rather than proclaim G-ds good news to them. It is not a natural thing to want G-d to forgive those who have hurt us. But G-d is merciful to our enemies, even as He has been merciful to us. Jonah ran from the commandment of the L-rd. Obviously he did not leave G-ds sight. He found himself inside the fishs belly ~Jonah 2:1. What a terrible place to be: a whales belly; an affliction worse than a prison made by men. His expectation was on Elohim to preserve his life in such a place. It was a kind of affliction Jonah described as the belly of hell, but Yah didnt hide Himself from his supplication ~Jonah 2:2. This is because he acknowledged Him who put him in that prison; For thou hadst cast me into the deep... ~Jonah 2:3. Jonah knew he ran from the commandment; he knew that he was a sinner. He was expecting a merciful G-d to answer his prayer; Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple...thou brought up my life from corruption... ~Jonah 2:4-6. There were very advanced questions: Considering that the story of Jonah is a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of Yashua, our Messiah and considering Gods mercy, what is the significance of: • The words passed over? • The billows and waves passing over Jonah? Jonah 2:3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. G-d threw Jonah into the depths of the ocean, and he sank down to the heart of the sea, the affliction that will bring him death for his sin. He was buried beneath G-ds billows and stormy waves, a kind of burial that awaits a resurrection into a new kind of life with his course redirected to the true purpose of G-ds mission. It is significantly a type of death, burial, and resurrection that even Yashua, the Messiah compared to that of His own; For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ~Matthew 12:40. Jonah did realize that running from God was futile, he prayed and his prayer was received. It took him three days in the stomach of the fish to realise that he would have to follow G-ds plan for his life. G-d had called him to do something he didnt want to do. He tried to do things his own ways and had to suffer the consequences. A vanity is an idol. A lying vanity is an idol that promises something that he cannot deliver. He acknowledged the truth that those who worship idol (false gods) forsake G-ds power to be merciful, and the mercy that he spoke of was Yahs deliverance from affliction ~Jonah 2:8 and 10. We all have the same choice Jonah did. We can do things Yahs way and receive His help and blessings, or we can do things our own way and suffer the painful consequences. YHWH will go along way to rescue His wayward Children and lead them back to Himself. Sometimes that path will lead to the depths, even under the billows and stormy waves, if thats what it takes to show us that Yahs way is the only way. Jonah did not expect to stay in his ocean prison. So, he was planning to do something after his release. That reminded us the advice Paul gave to the Thessalonians in the first letter he wrote to them; In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of G-d in Messiah Yashua concerning you. ~1 Thessalonians 5:18. Jonah didnt wait for his release to be thankful to be back on dry land. Yah heard his prayer, He forgave him, and was solely responsible for his resurrection ~Jonah 2:10. There are many painful aspects of our process of growing spiritually. I, your Beloved Brother G.P. Echendu, have been a Jonah in one aspect of my life, and I prayed for my forgiveness, now I await my own resurrection from the belly of those circumstances that passed over me. Just like Jonah, we are often tempted to drag our feet. We may even be sad when life does not go as we would like it to. But G-d is patient with us, just as he was with Jonah. Instead of running from G-d and trying to avoid the pain from which we can grow spiritually, we need to run to G-d, who is in control and who is trustworthy. CONCLUSION: In this story, Jonah prays for his salvation while he is in the whales belly, the type of the grave. We shouldnt wait until we are in the grave to pray for our salvation; there is no knowledge in the grave. Ecclesiastes 9:10. The story of Jonah is a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of Yashua; it is also a type of our resurrection. In his prayer he acknowledges that YHWH has put him in the whales belly and that YHWH has the power to bring him out again. He acknowledges that other gods are vain idols, and he shows thanksgiving to Elohim for his release from the whales belly. This is our pattern, our pattern before we enter the grave. Jonah was resurrected because he prayed for resurrection. And dont forget that in spite of Jonahs resistance to Yahs call, Yah used him to spread the good news that Yah desires to bring His salvation to the entire human race. So, as we recognise our need for Yahs help, we too can receive the help Yah offers. May Yah bless you as you study to show yourself a good workman who will not be ashamed of telling people the WORD of G-d. Be blessed! Shalom!!!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:46:32 +0000

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