What to do on vacation……repeat, from June 2009…

What to do on vacation……

Seven years ago last week, I was on vacation – a real one!  I did not have to cook.  I did not have to follow a schedule.  I did not have to leave the house.  I was alone, all alone.  Everyone in my family had gone to Gatlinburg but me.  I was to stay home to have carpet laid in our den because our toilet in the den bathroom had leaked for some time – unnoticed.  ServePro had dried the whole area and new carpet had been ordered.

  I cancelled the carpet installation and opened my Bible with glee!!  No background noise.  No T. V.  Just me, my Bible, and my Lazy Boy rocker/recliner. 

 So, where did I turn in the Bible for the only week like this in my whole life?

 You are not going to believe this ———  Jonah!  (See, you wouldn’t have guessed this in a million years.)

 It’s just four chapters.  I will print it for you here in the KJV:

 1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

 2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

 4 ¶ But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

 6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

 7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

 8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

 9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

 10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

 11 ¶ Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

 14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

 17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

 

1 ¶ Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,

 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

 10 ¶ And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

 

1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

 3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.

 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

 5 ¶ So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

 10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

  

1 ¶ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

 2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

 4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

 5 ¶ So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

 6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

 10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

 Why, this book is so short, I could read it over several times a day.  Each time, a blessed  doctrine (teaching), rebuke, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16)  was revealed to me.  Just writing about this week – remembering – gives me a peace this very moment, seven years later.

 Now –  One of the things I like to do, especially with a short book like this, is give it a title; and I cannot find the one I gave it then.  So, this morning, I have had some fun remembering this study and have made some “fresh” titles – plural – because I just cannot settle in on one:

WEATHER REPORTS IN THE LIFE AND TRAVELS OF JONAH

 GOD’S “PREPARED” EVENTS FOR JONAH

 JONAH AND THE DOVES

 LIFE LESSONS LEARNED FROM JONAH

 PARADOXES IN THE SAGA OF JONAH

 AFTER FLEEING FROM THE ORIGINAL TEST,  PRAY HARD TO PASS GOD’S MAKEUP TEST

 JONAH WAS A RELUCTANT “SIGN” TO ISRAEL CONCERNING THE GENTILES (Nivevites) – See Luke 11:30

 

 GOD’S MERCY IS EVERLASTING AND HIS TRUTH ENDURES FOREVER

– EVEN –

 UNDER YOUR DRIED-UP VINE,

IN A SCORCHING EAST WIND,

AND  BLAZING SUN!

 IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

 I just heard someone say, “I gotta go back and read Jonah!  Where was all that?” 

 Good idea!  I will wait while you scroll up and read it again.                                      Go ahead! 

NOW WHERE SHOULD I BEGIN?  THIS COULD BE LENGTHY TO EXPLAIN ALL THE ENTITLEMENTS ABOVE.  I FEEL A “SERIES” IS FORMING AND YOU WILL ENJOY IT, I PROMISE.  IF NOT, READ ANYWAY!  YOU NEED IT.

For today, I will copy the scribblings from the margins that I made 7 years ago concerning “Life Lessons from Jonah.”  These were in no particular order, as I just wrote them as they flowed through my thoughts after several readings of this book:

– Refusal to do what God has told me to do puts others in peril.  My obedience or disobedience ALWAYS affects others.

-I can attempt to escape from God’s appointed task – to my own peril.

-I can be orthodox (have correct doctrine) and still not fulfill God’s purpose for my life.

-The Lord will provide the means for my obedience; even “go out of His way” to do so.  It may be a dark and lonely provision.

-In my distress, the Lord will answer.

-God uses those I put in peril as an instrument of His judgment upon me.

-Jonah prayed the Scriptures back to God!

-God uses “unconventional” means for necessary provisions ( i.e. “big fish”).

-My life message is to be only what God says. 

– God may have mercy where I don’t think it is deserved. 

– I may be angry for God’s compassion, even to the point of depression – which is feeling I have a right to be angry at God and His dealings with me – especially when He takes away my “shade.”

—-to be continued