Spiritaully Seasick
Autor: Pastor Bryan Carruth | Publicado: 2012-04-25T20:45:00-03:00



Is he you favorite prophet? &nbsp;Mine too! &nbsp;What kid was not fascinated in Sunday school? &nbsp;Jonah was a mixture of super hero, Scrooge and Pinnochio. &nbsp;The book is extremely different from the other phophetic books of the Bible. For starters it is not oracle but narrative! &nbsp;The message about the prophet seems to be more important than the content of his prophecy! &nbsp;And he does not go to the people of God, but their mortal enemies!



Those 4 little chapters about the rebel prophet are a cocktail of themes: Justice vs. Grace, The Power of Repentence, Nationalist vs Universal Faith. &nbsp;When I was a kid, my parent´s bible had a painting of the story of Jonah, it made quite an impression: &nbsp;the bearded man flung over the bow of a sailboat in the direction of black wave where a lurking mass hid only to be revealed by the a huge eye under the water. I still have goose bumps!




How curious is the storyline! &nbsp;3 days? &nbsp;In the belly of the fish? &nbsp;As hard as that is to swallow we know that Jesus must have visited this scripture often for he cited Jonah at least three times. &nbsp;It was his teaching that he would leave no sign but the "sign of Jonah".






Passage down&nbsp;

to the port&nbsp;

in Joppa




The book of Jonah is generally shorter than you would remember. &nbsp;In my Bible it fits onto one page front and back. &nbsp;Unfortunate it has been for many a would be cinematographers that the exciting action ends after chapter two. &nbsp;It reads like a screenplay that runs out of gas in the middle of the film.&nbsp;







So my question to you today would be this: "Why do you think Jonah ends the way it does?







Let me say this::

If Jonah ended after chapter 1, it would be enough to teach the moral: "Don´t try to trick God!"

If Jonah had ended after chapter 2, it would be enough to teach the moral lesson about God´s faithfulness even in the face of our unfaithfulness.

If Jonah had ended after chapter 3, it would be enough to teach the all important element of God´s grace and the power of repentance.





But why oh why does Jonah not end after chapter 1...2...or 3? &nbsp;The author insists on adding the unexpected episode of some one on one treatment with God and Jonah alone. &nbsp;Jonah´s stubbornness had led him down a dark alley of running from God. &nbsp;He was willing to go to Spain or the world´s end in those days. &nbsp;His pouting demeanor will have to be dealt withThe sulking spirit that tries to commit suicide on at least 3 different occasions, will have to reevaluate his values. &nbsp;And it is God himself who is heavily invested in this reevaluation under the shady vine on the hilltop. &nbsp;He sent the storm, the fish, the plant, the wind, and the worm. &nbsp;What game of spiritual chess id Jonah´s Lord playing?

It seems that not only swirling currents encircled Jonah but sour undercurrents engulfed his religion. &nbsp;Seaweed wrapped around his head whereas, bitter weed &nbsp;clung to his heart. &nbsp;







However, each time he slimes himself, be it with algae, fish mucus or just plain religious grumpiness, God is tender. &nbsp;He pulls Jonah out of the hole, cleans him off and sends him forth. &nbsp;



Tell me therefore, why do you think we have the fourth chapter of Jonah? &nbsp;(I will give you a hint - The great fish needed to vomit the prophet out. &nbsp;The prophet also had something he needed to vomit out.)&nbsp;