Prophet Series Episode 7 Jonah

Theme: God’s compassionfor all people, even our enemies.

Key Verse: Jonah 4:2 – “Iknew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and aboundingin love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

Welcome back to TheProphet Series! In our last episode, we explored Amos’s powerful call forjustice and righteousness. Today, we turn to the story of Jonah, a uniqueprophet for his reluctance to follow God’s call.

Jonah’s story isn’t justabout a prophet running away; it’s about God’s compassion—a love that extendsto everyone, even those we might consider undeserving. Jonah struggled toaccept this, just as we sometimes struggle to show others grace and forgiveness.

As we explore Jonah’sjourney, we’ll discover lessons about obedience, humility, and God’s boundlessmercy. Let’s dive in.

Jonah’s story begins witha clear command from God:

“Go to the great city ofNineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” –Jonah 1:2

Nineveh was the capital ofAssyria, a powerful and brutal empire known for its violence and oppression.Jonah didn’t want to go—not because he was afraid, but because he didn’t wantGod to show mercy to the Ninevites.

Instead of obeying, Jonahboarded a ship to Tarshish, fleeing in the opposite direction. But God pursuedhim. A great storm arose, and Jonah, knowing he was the cause, told the sailorsto throw him overboard to save themselves.

Jonah was swallowed by agreat fish and spent three days and three nights there. In the belly of thefish, Jonah prayed, acknowledging God’s mercy and committing to obey Him. Thefish then vomited Jonah onto dry land, and he finally went to Nineveh to deliverGod’s message.