Jonah

I am studying the book of Jonah right now. I wasn’t sure what I would learn in a book that is centered around a guy who disobeyed God, got swallowed by a fish, and got spit out on the beach, and then decided to obey Him. What I have found is a book that is extremely relevant to our lives, both individually and as the body of Christ. A story that reflects Jesus Christ’s plan to save us through types and shadows. A story of the Great Commission.

Let’s dig in shall we?

Jonah 1:1 

 ¹Now the word of the LORD came to^(A) Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

You may ask “why did you stop there?” God’s Word must be meditated on verse by verse. Line by line. We will probably look at multiple scriptures later, but let’s not miss what is happening here.

 ”the word of the Lord came to Jonah” This is powerful. The phrase “and the word of the Lord came” is used 109 times in the Bible! 

Let’s break this down further, “the word of the Lord”. Let’s look at John Chapter 1:

¹⁾ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²⁾He was in the beginning with God. ³⁾ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴⁾ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵⁾ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Skipping down a little:

¹⁴⁾And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus was the Word, the word of the Lord came to Jonah. Jesus, who was the Word, came to Jonah! That’s powerful! The next word that comes after that phrase is even more exciting!

“came” this word comes from a Hebrew word “hayah”: to become, come to pass.  It also means to abide, remain, continue.

Let me unpack this cause I don’t want you to miss this! The word of the Lord,  who is Christ, came to Jonah, not only to speak to Jonah but to abide and remain with Jonah! This is a shadow of what Christ does in our lives! He chooses us, His Word (Jesus) comes and abides in our hearts, where He  remains forever with us!

Within the very first scripture of this book, the Lord has already revealed his plan of salvation!! How deeply rich His Word is! How great is His love is for us! He sent His Word to us, Jesus Christ, who came and died and rose again, and sent us His Spirit that we may continually have relationship and abide with Him!

It’s amazing how much we miss when we pass over a simple scripture isn’t it?

More to come, thank you for reading.

Kevin