The Plan

The Plan

Learning about God's Plan for Salvation at South Shore Trinity Lutheran Church

Week 24– Israel: The book of Jonah and Israel is exiled

This week we will jump out of the book of Kings and into the book of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II, so we will take a look at the book named after him right after he is mentioned in 2nd Kings chapter 14.

            The reader would be mistaken if they thought the main purpose of the book of Jonah was to tell us about Jonah or about a big fish. Yes, Jonah is the most talked about person in the account, and there is a big fish, but the story is really not about them. The whole book is designed to explain that God’s plan of salvation is for all people, even the evil people of Nineveh. A fact that ticks Jonah off so much that the end of the book becomes an important warning to all people about the dangers of holding grudges, refusing to forgive others and having an exclusive country club mentality.

            Finally, this week ends with God’s patience finally running out with Israel. He allows them to face the consequences of their having repeatedly turned away from him. It is not what God wants, but eventually He gives them what they want: freedom from Him.