Diligently seek to present yourself approved to God, as a worker who has nothing to be ashamed of.

to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth" 2 Timothy 2:15

But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

4Oryou underestimate the riches of his goodness, tolerance, and patience, ignoring that
Does the goodness of God lead you to repentance?5Mbecause of your stubbornness and
unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of
revelation of the righteous judgment of God,6thewho will PAY EACH ONE ACCORDING TO
HIS WORKS:

Proverbs 19
…16EHe who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who despises his ways
roads will die.17EHe who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward him.
for his good deed.18CCorrect your child while there is hope, but do not desire your soul.
to cause his death...

Jonah 2:2

For a person who has learned to have Christian love towards all men, the
Jonah's attitude seems almost incredible. But for an Israelite who had learned that
he belonged to the chosen people and that the gentiles were corrupt, and therefore not
were acceptable to God, Jonah's attitude was more understandable. Although we
surprise because we expect a different attitude from the prophets of the Lord, the
Jonah's reaction was very human. When reading the story of Jonah, I tried to understand.
why he reacted the way he did.

they asked for a sign from heaven. In each case, he gave 'the sign of the prophet Jonah', since the
The incident in the life of that prophet was a symbol of his own death and resurrection.
Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:39-41; 16:4; Luke 11:29-30)

The mission of Jonah was an event of symbolic importance that had the purpose not
only to make Israel understand the position of the gentiles in the kingdom of God,
but also to represent the day when the pagans who obeyed the word of
God would unite in brotherhood to enjoy the salvation prepared in Israel for
all nations.

The attitude of Israel towards God's purpose of showing mercy to the Gentiles and
granting them salvation is demonstrated in Jonah's conduct upon receiving the command
divine, and also when he is going to carry it out. Jonah tries to escape from the
command to proclaim the word of God in Nineveh, and he tries to do it by fleeing to
Tarsis, because he feels displeased by the demonstration of divine mercy towards him.
great pagan world, and because, according to Jonah 4:2, he fears that the preaching of the
repentance diverted the destruction that was threatening that city. In
this way of thinking of the prophet reflects the feelings and way of thinking of
the Israelite nation in general towards the gentiles. According to the natural man that
in him, Jonah shares the sentiment of the nation and, therefore, he is the right one to
to represent Israel in this aspect.
This miracle also has symbolic meaning for Israel. It shows that if the nation
carnal, with his wicked mind, would turn to the Lord even in the most extreme circumstance,
she would be raised again to a new life, saved from destruction by a miracle
divine. And, finally, the way in which God rebukes the prophet when he
shows anger because Nineveh has been forgiven (chap. 4) aims to expose
before Israel, as if in a mirror, the greatness of divine compassion, the one that
reaches all of humanity, and does this so that the nation reflects on it and
put it in your heart

9-5) Jonah 1:4-7. What did the practice of casting consist of?
luck?
The practice of casting lots was an ancient custom that served to arrive at
a decision in the absence of a direct manifestation of will of the
Sir. It was also used when a decision was desired.
impartial. The character and shape of the objects used in that era do not
they are not known, nor is the method by which luck was
flattened. Some scholars suggest that they were smooth stones or rods.
colored or marked with symbols. The pagans cast lots because
they believed that the divinities would guide the outcome. In this case, it seems that
The Lord directed the outcome.

(9-6) Jonah 1:8-10. The greatness of the God of Jonah

Jonah boldly proclaimed that Jehovah is the only God of all creation.

(9-7) Jonah 1:11-16. Jonah suggested his own fate to

the other passengers of the ship
In what way do these verses show that although Jonah was fleeing, he was not?
out of cowardice? The men did not accept Jonah's offer until after.
if he had made every effort to save himself in another way. Jonah's desire
doing this also shows that he understood that his behavior did not please
to God. The passage from Jonah 1:14-16 testifies that the sailors threw Jonah overboard
to the water very much against their own wishes and they only did it because
Jonah commanded them to do it. In an attempt to be absolved of all offense before
any god, the sailors offered a prayer to the Lord and begged him to
what they did so that it would not be held against them.

But the Lord had prepared a great

fish
The story that Jonah was swallowed by a 'great fish' has been ridiculed and has
has been a subject of controversy in the world. Those who mock use this
verse as an argument to support that the book of Jonah is only
a parable and not a record of historical facts. Speaking of those who have opinions
Thus, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith said:

Are we going to reject it as an impossibility and say that the Lord does not
Could He prepare a fish, or whale, to swallow Jonah?... Certainly the Lord
he sits in the heavens and smiles at the wisdom of the mocker and then,
suddenly, responds to the folly with a repetition of the miracle in question, or
for the presentation of an even greater one...

I believe, as Mr. William J. Bryan believed, in the story of Jonah. The main
the reason I believe is not because it is recounted in the Bible, nor because the
the incident has been repeated today, but for the fact that Jesus Christ,
our Lord, he believed it. The Jews were looking for him to give them a sign of
his divinity. He gave them one, but not the one they expected. The mockers of
that time, despite the powerful works of the Lord, they were unable to
created because of sin.

'He answered them and said: The wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; but the
no sign will be given to you, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the
the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart
from the earth three days and three nights

Jonah 2. Jonah prayed to the Lord and was saved

J

(9-11) Jonah 3:5-9. What is represented by the

cilice and ash?
on the rustic, dark screen, made of camel and goat hair, and used
In ancient times, to make bags and saddlebags, it was called cílīcio. It was also used for
to make the robes of those who were mourning and thus it came to be, in the prophetic mind,
symbol of mourning and grief. It was customary for those in mourning to dress in
of sackcloth and sprinkle ashes on their head, or else sit on
the ashes showing that their joy had faded or had been destroyed. (Genesis
37:34; Esther 4:1-3; Isaiah 61:3; Jeremiah 6:26.

The use of sackcloth and ashes was also considered in ancient times a sign of
humility and penance. When people resorted to sackcloth and ashes to help themselves to
to achieve the spiritual strength to commune with God; this practice also went
accompanied by fasting and prayer. Daniel, for example, gives this explanation as
Preface to the account of one of his great petitions to the throne of grace: 'And I turned my
I turned to God the Lord, seeking Him in prayer and supplication, in fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed.
to Jehovah my God and I made confession' (Dan. 9:3-4; Isaiah 58:5; 1 Kings 21:17-29).

Jonah 4:1-11. Jonah was not pleased

Here Jonas demonstrated a second problem: weakness of character. He got angry.
because the people repented and God turned away His anger. Jonah felt so bad
he wished to be dead. Although he had regretted his desire to escape.
At the Lord's call to go to Nineveh, he had not changed much in his attitude.
to the Gentiles.

Jonah flees from the Lord

1The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying:
2
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it;
because their wickedness has risen before me.

3 And Jonah rose up to flee from the presence of the Lord to Tarshish, and
he descended to Joppa, and found a ship that was sailing to Tarshish; and paying
his passage, he entered it to go with them to Tarshish, far from the
presence of Jehovah.
4
But the Lord raised a great wind on the sea, and there was in the
a storm so great that it was thought the ship would break apart.
5
And the sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his god; and
they threw the belongings that were in the ship into the sea, to unload it from
them. But Jonah had gone down to the hold of the ship, and had
put to sleep.
6 And the captain of the ship approached him and said: What is wrong with you, sleepyhead?

Rise up, and cry out to your God; perhaps he will have compassion on us,
and we will not perish.

7
And they said to each other: Come, let us cast lots, to
that we know because of whom this evil has come upon us. And they cast
luck, and luck fell upon Jonah.
8
Then they said to him: Declare to us now why this has come upon us.
This is bad. What is your trade, and where do you come from? What is your land, and
What town are you from?

9 And he answered them: I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, God of heaven,
what the sea and the land did.
10
And those men were greatly afraid, and said to him: Why
Have you done this? Because they knew that I was fleeing from the presence of
Jehovah, for he had declared it.
11 And they said to him: What shall we do with you so that the sea may become calm for us?

Because the sea was getting more and more angry.

12 He replied to them: Take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will calm down for you.

He will calm; because I know that this great has come because of me
storm over you.
13
And those men worked to bring the ship back to land;
but they couldn't, because the sea was getting more and more turbulent
against them.
14 Then they cried out to the Lord and said: We beseech You now, Lord,
that we do not perish for the life of this man, nor put
about us the innocent blood; because you, Jehovah, have made
as you wanted.
15 And they took Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea became calm after.
fury.
 And those men feared the Lord greatly, and offered
16

sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows.

17
But the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah; and
Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.

Jonah's Prayer
2Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish.
2 and he said:

I called upon the Lord in my distress, and he heard me;

From the depths of Sheol I cried,
And you heard my voice.

3 You cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas,

And the current surrounded me;
All your waves and your tides passed over me.
4
Then I said: I am cast out from before your eyes;
But I will still see your holy temple.
5
The waters surrounded me to the soul,
He surrounded me with the abyss;

The seaweed got tangled in my hair.

6 I descended to the foundations of the mountains;
The earth locked its bolts on me forever;
But you brought my life up from the grave, O Lord my God.
7 When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered the Lord,
And my prayer came to you in your holy temple.
8
Those who pursue illusory vanities,
They abandon their mercy.
9 But I will offer you sacrifices with a voice of praise;

I will pay what I promised.

Salvation is of the Lord.
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.