01/12/10

Who was Jonah?

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We all have read the testimony of Jonah. This testimony fascinates not only great minds but also small children. In today's message the Lord wants us to know who Jonah was.

In the Bible the only introduction of Jonah is that he was from Gathhepher and son of Amittal. Of most Men of God their father's name is given leaving in the case of Jonah wherein his mother's name is given. Jewish history tells us that Jonah was the child of the widow whom Elijah raised from the dead.

Some may say this information may seem interesting but of what value is it for us in our faith walk? How is this information going to increase my faith and knowledge of the Kingdom of God?

The testimony of Jonah is very important even so that Jesus also mentioned him in his teachings and got this on record for us. It was Jonah whom the Lord used to restore the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain. This helped give relief to the suffering of all Israel at the time they most needed it.

This fact of who Jonah was shows us the nature of God of working great history changing events through his people, the people whom He has worked in the early parts of their life. We see this same nature in the life of Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah, John the Baptist etc.

Look into your own life, even if you did not know the Lord and you see the Hand of God in your life you are set for potentially being used for a History maker. You may be the next Jonah, Abraham, Moses, or Jeremiah to the people the Lord has sent to give relief.

We see from their testimonies that the more they resisted the greater were their problems. If we learn from them and follow the instructions of the Lord as the Lord speaks to us, we are assured a smooth sail through the mission we are sent to execute. These missions are not ordinary but will change the course of history.

The Lord wants to make you a History Maker.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, we thank You for working in our lives even when we did not know You. You kept us, proved for us and build us in You. Lord, we know You have great plans for us, help us Lord to receive the plan You set for us and walk according to your instructions and have glory in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scripture ]
Jonah 1:1-2
1 Now the word of Jehovah 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.

2 Kings 14:25-26
25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.
26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.

1 Kings 17:9-22
9 Arise, get you to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray you, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray you, a morsel of bread in your hand.
12 And she said, As the LORD your God lives, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said to her, Fear not; go and do as you have said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it to me, and after make for you and for your son.
14 For thus said the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Elijah.
17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O you man of God? are you come to me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?
19 And he said to her, Give me your son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he stayed, and laid him on his own bed.
20 And he cried to the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, have you also brought evil on the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 And he stretched himself on the child three times, and cried to the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray you, let this child's soul come into him again.
22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

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