Jonah And The Whale Story In The Bible With Pictures

 

The Story of Jonah And The Whale In The Bible For Christians

 

The Story of Jonah And The Whale: The Lord said to Jonah the prophet, “Leave right now and go to the great city of Nineveh. You’re to tell them I’m going to judge them because of their wickedness.” Jonah knew that God was merciful and would forgive Nineveh if they repented. But Jonah did not wish to preach to the people of Nineveh; for they were the enemies of his land, the land of Israel.

Story of Jonah And The Whale in The Bible

He wished Nineveh to die in its sins, and not to turn to God and live. So he tried to go away from the city where God had sent him and went to the seaport town called Joppa. He bought a ticket and got on a ship going to Tarshish. He wanted to get far away from God’s will so there would be no possibility of Nineveh’s repenting.

But God saw Jonah on the ship, and the Lord sent a violent storm upon the sea so that the ship would reduce to pieces. The sailors were terrified because the storm was about to destroy their ship and drown them. They threw their cargo overboard to lighten the load.

God Sent A Violent Sea Storm To Teach A Lesson To Jonah

When that didn’t help, every man prayed to his god to save the ship and themselves. While all of this was going on, Jonah was fast asleep down in the hold of the boat. The ship’s captain woke him up and said, “How can you sleep? We’re about to die. Awake, rise up, and call upon your God. Perhaps He will hear you and save our lives.”

But the storm continued to rage around the ship. Eventually, the sailors figured out that this storm was directed at only one person on the ship. They cast lots to see who it was. The results showed that Jonah was the reason for their troubles.

They said to him, all at once, “Tell us, who are you? From what country do you come? What is your business? To what people do you belong? Why have you brought all this trouble upon us?”

Then Jonah told them the whole story, how he came from the land of Israel, and that he had fled away from the presence of the Lord. Suddenly the storm got worse! The men screamed at Jonah, “What should we do to you to calm the storm?”

 

The True Story of Jonah And The Whale In The Bible

What Happened With Jonah When Sailors Threw Him Into Sea

Jonah yelled back, “God only wants one thing, and the storm won’t stop until He gets it. Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the storm will cease and the waters will be calm.” But the men didn’t want to kill innocent Jonah by throwing him into the sea. So they worked even harder to fight against the storm and get to land.

Finally, they realized they couldn’t fight God. Then they cried unto the Lord, and said, “We pray thee, O Lord, we pray thee, let us not die for this man’s life; for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.”

At last, when they could do nothing else to save themselves, they threw Jonah into the sea. At once, the storm stopped and the waves became still.! The men were shocked at the power of God. They fell to the deck, offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and made promises to serve him.

And God had a large fish waiting for Jonah as he went into the water. The fish immediately swallowed him, and he stayed alive in the fish’s stomach for three days and three nights.

Why God Saved Jonah From The Giant Whale of The Sea

Jonah prayed and acknowledged that it was God who put him in the fish. He finally cried to the Lord, “I’ll give you what you want. I’ll thank you for your will, and do what you want me to do.” With that, Lord caused the great fish to throw up Jonah upon the dry land.

Notice all through this story that, although Jonah was God’s servant, he was always thinking about himself. God protected Jonah and saved him, not because he was such a good man, but because he wanted to teach him a great lesson.

By this time Jonah had learned that some men who worshipped idols were kind in their hearts, and were dear to the Lord. This was the lesson that God meant Jonah to learn; and now the call of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it what I command you.”

So Jonah went to the city of Nineveh; and as he entered into it, he called out to the people, “Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.” And he walked through the city all day crying out only this, “Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.”

 

The Complete Story of Jonah And The People of Nineveh

Why Jonah Didn’t Want God To Save The People of Nineveh

And the people of Nineveh believed the word of the Lord as spoken by Jonah. They turned away from their sins and fasted and sought the Lord, from the greatest of them even to the least. The king of Nineveh arose from his throne, laid aside his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes, as a sign of his sorrow.

And the king sent out a command to his people that they should fast, seek the Lord, and turn from sin. And God saw that the people of Nineveh were sorry for their wickedness, and he forgave them and did not destroy their city. But this made Jonah very angry.

He did not wish to have Nineveh spared, because it was the enemy of his own land; and also he feared that men would call him a false prophet when his word did not come to pass. And Jonah said to the Lord,

“O Lord, I was sure that it would be thus, that thou wouldest spare the city; and for that reason, I tried to flee away; for I know that thou wast a gracious God, full of pity, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

How Jonah Learnt A Great Lesson In A Weird Way

And Jonah went out of the city, built a little hut on the east side of it, and sat under its roof, to see whether God would keep the word that he had spoken. Then the Lord caused a plant with thick leaves to grow up and to shade Jonah from the sun, and Jonah was glad and sat under its shadow.

But a worm destroyed the plant, and the next day a hot wind blew, and Jonah suffered from the heat, and again Jonah wished that he might die. And the Lord said to Jonah, “You were sorry to see the plant die, though you did not make it grow, and though it came up in a night and died in a night.”

“And should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, where are more than a hundred thousand little children, and also many cattle,—all helpless and knowing nothing?” And Jonah learned that men, women, and little children, are all precious in the sight of the Lord, even though they do know not God.

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