JONAH

MUSIC: GOSPEL MEDLEY
Sequenced and permission given
by REDSALS MIDIS

The name Jonah means "dove". This short book bearing his name identifies him as the son of Amittai and offers a brief narrative of his experience as God's messenger. He was divinely commissioned in the early eighth century B. C. to warn the populace of Nineveh of coming judgment. Attempting to go west to Tarshish via Joppa, Jonah was miraculously returned to the Mediterranean coast by a great fish. Subsequently he went to Nineveh, where he was disappointed in his own success when the people repented and God extended His mercy in postponing the day of judgment.

This prophet may be the same individual who is identified in II kings 14:25 as Jonah son of Amittai. If so, this would refer to his earlier ministry, during which he predicted that Jeroboam II (793 - 753 B. C.)
would enlarge the northern borders of Israel at the expense of Syria, which, under her king Hazael, had taken extensive territory from Israel before the turn of the century, Jonah's mission to Nineveh may well be dated during the latter part of Jerobaom's reign.

Although some scholars will rationalize Jonah as a legend or fiction, the evidence for discounting its reality is inadequate. The names and places in the book are historical. The references Jesus makes to Jonah in Matthew 12: 39,40 ("An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: For Jonah 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.") seem to imply a historical basis for the events recorded in the book of Jonah.

The book contains 4 chapters and may be outlined in this way:

Chapter 1: 1-17
Jonah's attempt to evade God's commission.

Chapter 2: 1-10
His repentance and deliverance

Chapter 3: 1 - 10
His mission to Nineveh

Chapter 4: 1 - 11
His disappointment in God's mercy.

JONAH
*~*~*~*~*~*

Ask any woman, man or child,
About Jonah and the whale,
And anyone can tell you,
The exciting Bible tale.
How Jonah disobeyed the Lord,
How he tried to run away,
How he booked passage on a ship,
To sail away that day.
And while on the sea, a storm came up,
With torrential rains and wind,
Lightening flashed, and thunder roared,
Jonah's guilt increased within.
When the waves rose ever higher,
The sailors lost control,
And a trembling, cowering Jonah,
Hid himself down in the hold.
Then, when the storm grew more severe,
Jonah came up on the deck,
He confessed he had offended God,
And the ship would surely wreck.
The only way to save the men
Was to throw Jonah overboard,
So, they tossed him in the raging sea,
The storm stopped! Praise the Lord!

As Jonah floundered in the water,
A huge fish suddenly appeared,
It opened up its gaping mouth,
One gulp - poor Jonah disappeared.
Jonah cried and prayed to God
From the belly of the fish,
"I'm sorry, Lord, I disobeyed,
But I'll do now just what you wish."
The whale swam around in circles,
For three long days and nights,
With Jonah tucked down deep inside,
Where he kicked with all his might.
The whale began to moan and groan,
It had a king-size stomach ache
From all the racket and the stress,
Old Jonah did create.
When they finally reached the shore,
The whale spit Jonah out, scot - free.
Safe and sound, upon the ground.

Jonah landed on his knees,
Jonah thanked Almighty God,
That he'd been freed and saved,
And he promised then and there,
In the future, he'd behave.
For all you animal lovers,
It's only right that you should know,
The whale, too, did recover,
From its gastronomic episode.
Now, was that not a miracle?
And is this not some tale?
Is not Our Father wonderful,
To save both Jonah and the whale?

~ Virginia (Ginny) Ellis ~
Copyright 2001
Please ask permission before using Ginny's poetry..
( I thank you so very much Ginny for allowing me to add your Jonah
story to my page, God bless you, Shy)

All other references used: Amplified Bible
Copyright 1987