The Sovereignty of God

By Jasmine Britto, Kerala, India

Day 0: An Introduction

Our daily newspapers and news channels tell us how sin is flourishing in our world. With child abuse, serial killings, and terrorism, the world seems to be filled with violence, hatred, addictions, and corruption. Reading and hearing about these tragedies – and perhaps even experiencing them – we understand the necessity of God’s judgment. We may even find ourselves wishing vengeance by any means upon the violent perpetrators. But suppose amid such thoughts, if God told you to take the gospel to the worst of the offenders – how would you respond?

Jonah was given such a task. Assyria – a great but evil empire – was, at one time, Israel’s most dreaded enemy. Jonah, being an Israelite, grew up hearing about all the wickedness and the heartless cruelty his people had endured at the hands of the Assyrians. So, when Jonah heard God telling him to go to Assyria and call those people to repentance, he ran in the opposite direction.

 Carole Raddato 

A section of an ancient sculpted relief from the North Palace of Nineveh, (modern Iraq). Here King Ashurbanipal is shown graphically killing a lion. These actual, huge panels are on display today in the British Museum. The brutality of the Assyrians is clearly seen in the images of their defeated enemies’ heads impaled on their spears and captives dragged along in chains.

The book of Jonah tells the story of a reluctant prophet and how God stopped him and turned him around. It is much more than a story of ‘a man and a great fish’ as we see it in our children’s Bible stories.

The purpose of this book is to show us the extent of God’s grace toward the ones we would least expect and his care for the individual who is doing his work just as much as he cares about the work being done. This is also a story meant to expose our worst tendencies, in a mindset where we can long for “grace for me but condemnation for my enemies.”

As we go through the book of Jonah, may we see the full picture of God’s love and compassion and realize that no one is beyond redemption. The gospel is for all who will repent and believe.

Prayer Focus

Let’s begin to pray for those who seem to be farthest from the kingdom, and ask God to help us find ways to tell them about Him. Let’s pray to learn from the story of this reluctant prophet. May we grow in our determination to obey God, doing whatever he asks and going wherever he leads.