Chapter 27 The Book of Jonah

The Book of Jonah Jonah fell into the belly of a whale One day, Jehovah said to Jonah, the son of Amida, "Go to Nineveh and tell the people there that I already know what they have done badly." But Jonah thought that Assyria was a strong enemy of Israel, and kept The invasion of Israel and its neighboring countries and the cruel enslavement of the dependent countries should be punished as soon as possible.So he didn't want to go, but found a boat in the port of Joppa that was going to Tarshish, paid some money, and boarded the boat, intending to go to Tarshish with the people on board to escape from the Lord.

Seeing that Jonah would not obey his words, the Lord caused a storm in the sea, and the boat was capsized by the huge waves, and it was in danger of capsizing at any time.Although the sailors on the ship had dealt with the sea for many years, they had never encountered such strong winds and waves, and they were panicked and at a loss.As they prayed to their gods, they threw their cargo into the water to make the ship lighter.While the people on board were busy trying to survive, Jonah went to the bottom deck and fell asleep with his head covered.The captain found that Jonah still wanted to sleep, so he quickly woke him up: "How can you do this? Get up quickly and ask your God for help. Maybe God will have mercy on us and save our lives."

The people on board were in a state of panic.It was proposed to draw lots to see who had caused the disaster, and it was Jonah who was drawn.Everyone asked him, "Tell me, did you bring this disaster? What do you do? Where do you come from? What country are you from? What race?" "I am a Hebrew." Jonah replied, "I fear the LORD, who made the sea and the land." Jonah admitted that he did not fulfill God's will, and offended the LORD. Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and they were all afraid of harming themselves.At this time, the waves were getting bigger and bigger, and they asked Jonah how to calm the waves.

"You throw me into the sea, and the sea will calm down. I know you are being hit by such a storm because of me." Although Jonah was willing to be one person, the sailors couldn't bear to let him die.They rowed their oars desperately, trying to bring the boat to the shore, but the waves got bigger and bigger, and they got farther and farther away from the shore.So they knew that God's will had been decided, and they prayed to the Lord: "God, we beg you, don't let us die because of this person; don't blame us for killing innocent people, because this is your will." After finishing speaking, they He lifted Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and the sea immediately calmed down.The LORD arranged for a whale to swallow Jonah and let him stay in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.Jonah kept praying to the Lord in the belly of the fish, thanking God for not allowing him to drown, and praising the power of the Lord, and swore to be loyal to the Lord, so the Lord let the fish spit Jonah onto the ground, and said to him a second time: " Go to Nineveh and tell the people there that I know what they have done." This time Jonah did. (Jonah 1-3) Show love like the castor tree Nineveh is a big city, and it takes two days to walk the entire city.After Jonah walked into the city for a day, he announced to the people in the city, "In 40 days, Nineveh will be overthrown." The people of Nineveh believed in God and Jonah's prophecy. Started fasting and wearing sackcloth, and the king was no exception.The king also sent an edict to the whole country, asking the people to pray to God sincerely and repent of their evil deeds: "Maybe God can change his mind, stop being angry, and let us live."

God saw that the people of Nineveh had changed their minds and repented piously, so God decided not to punish them with the disaster he mentioned. This made Jonah very unhappy.He said to God: "Didn't I just say that you would not really do this? You are so gracious and merciful. You asked me to prophesy, but you changed your mind and stopped bringing disasters. Let me die, I'd be better off dead than alive." "What's your reason for being so angry?" God asked Jonah.Without saying a word, Jonah hurried out of the city, built a shed in the east of the city, and sat under the shed to wait quietly to see what would happen to Nineveh.The LORD placed a castor tree before him, and it grew taller than Jonah, and covered his head with a shadow, and saved him from the torment of the sun.Jonah saved a lot of suffering because of this tree.However, the next morning Jehovah sent another worm to bite the tree, so that the tree soon withered and died.At noon, with the hot wind blowing and the sun shining, Jonah became dizzy and begged God to die.God asked him, "Is there any reason for you to be angry about this tree?"

"Of course I am angry. Such a good tree, which sheltered me from wind and rain, died for no reason." Jonah said. The LORD said: "You did not plant this tree, nor did you cultivate it. It grew up overnight and withered overnight. You have not been with it for many years. If you still love it and mourn its death, then this tree How could I not cherish the tens of thousands of people in Nineveh?" (Jonah 4)