King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: No Greater Sign
Date: Saturday September 24, 2011
Chapters: The Book of Jonah, Proverbs 24, Psalm 103
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-september-24
Highlight of Chapters: Jonah’s commission and effort to avoid God’s will, Jonah gets swallowed by a big fish, three days later Jonah is expelled out the fish, Jonah goes to Nineveh, Nineveh is spared upon the repentance of the inhabitants, Jonah is displeased, He is taught by the withering of a gourd, that God spares all who repent.


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“Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas 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. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.” - Matthew 1238-41.

God is not the God of the Jews, He is the God of the Jews, the Greeks, the Italians, the Chinese, the Russians, the Americans, and everyone in between. He is the God of everyone who believes in His Son, Jesus Christ. Still today people want a sign, want proof that Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead three days later almost 2000 years ago. The sign for the Jews was the through Jonah, the sign for us is through the Gospels, many people who walked with Jesus here on earth were a witness to His death on the cross, His burial, and saw Him after He was resurrected, He was not a ghost, He was flesh and bones, and alive. God chose the Jews to represent Him and to prove to all nations that He is the one and only living God who created them too.

The book of Jonah is the thirty-second book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains four chapters. The author of the book is Jonah and it was written to the nation of Nineveh. The time line for these events took place approximately between 825C and 790BC. The purpose of the book was to get Nineveh to acknowledge God, repent, and turn to Him. It was also to document to the Jews that salvation was not for them only, but for all who repent and turn to Him. What we are to learn from the book is that salvation is not restricted by race, religion, culture, or any other barriers, it is for all who shall call upon the name of the Lord. “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?” - Jonah 4:11.

Jonah was a native of Galilee, God commanded him to go the Nineveh to warn them of the destruction that would occur, just like He did with Israel, if they did not repent and turn to Him. Jonah believed Nineveh was a threat to Israel and deserved to be destroyed so instead of doing what he was told, he ignored God's call and took off on a ship.

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. 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. 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. 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. 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. ” - Jonah 1:2-6.

Here is Jonah, sound asleep on the ship when everyone else is scrambling around trying to save themselves from the storm. When they looked over and saw Jonah asleep they knew he must have had something to do with this since he was not scrambling with the rest of them. Let me tell you, when God calls upon us to do something for Him He means business and He will do whatever it takes, however long it takes, to get us to follow His will. There is no escape, we can not run from God, so we might as well run with Him. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” - Hebrews 12:1,2.

Instead of telling the men to turn back, or saying to God, I will follow your will, Jonah told them to cast him overboard. Jonah would rather die himself then go to a heathen nation and tell them how to be saved. Of course, this was not in God's plan so, while they did cast him into the sea, which did calm the sea, God allowed him to be swallowed up by a big fish. For three days and three nights, Jonah sat in the belly of a fish.

“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. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 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. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 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.” - Jonah 1:12-17.

Something amazing is illustrated here as the people on the ship were trying to save themselves, we first learned that they were praying to their gods, but as the storm raged and their lives were on the line, they discovered that there was only one God. Their fear of God showed them that they could not save themselves, but God could, they repented themselves and He saved them. God saves all who will repent, meaning all who trust only in Him to save them. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” - Romans 10:12,13.

After three days and nights of soul searching, a repentant Jonah was expelled onto dry land. He then became the greatest evangelist of his day, and saw the entire city of Nineveh repent of its wickedness. Jonah could not understand why God spared them, to illustrate, God used a withering gourd. “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. 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: 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?” - Jonah 4:9-11.

Since people are more precious to God than anything else He created He gives everyone the opportunity to come to realize that He is the one who actually created them. God does not want to see any person die and end up in hell, that is why Jesus has not returned yet, He will not return until all who believe in Him have the opportunity to receive Him. We have no idea when He is coming, but it's not too late, all who are here right now have the opportunity to know Christ personally as their Savior. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up...Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” - II Peter 3:9,10,17,18.

Today's Prayer:
Dear God,

Lord, You have blessed us with so much, You have given life to all who believe and receive Your Son.

We are saved only by trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and He alone not only saves us from hell, but brings us out of every mess that we have gotten ourselves into over the years without Him. How merciful You are, how wonderful You are, to save a sinner like me. Thank You, Jesus, and thank You God for giving me the opportunity to repent and enjoy a new found, abundant, never boring, life with You in it. I love You Lord, and pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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