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#17God's Chastening Hand "Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish 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. so that the ship was like to be broken." Jonah 1:3-4 |
| THE same Lord that desired to send Jonah to Nineveh to preach, also sent the wind and the storm in order to make Jonah do it. Jonah was not content to be in the will of the Lord, so he tried to run from the presence of the Lord. The Bible is filled with Scriptures pointing out the fact that men did not want to be in the presence of the Lord. Adam and Eve sinned and their sin made their hearts so black that they did not want to be in God's presence and fellowship any longer.They could not stand it. Saul's conscience bothered him so much because he could not get away from the fact that the eyes of the Lord were upon him, and that the hand of the Lord was against him. During the tribulation period people will long for rocks and mountains to fall upon them; and they will try to hide in dens and crevices of the rocks to keep from having to stand in the presence of the Lord. To be with the Lord should be the highest privilege for anyone, but for those who love darkness rather than light the face of Jesus is torment, and to be in His presence is worse than hell; therefore, sinners choose hell instead of Jesus. Jonah did all he could to get away and flee, but the Lord chastened him and got him in trouble and brought him back. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." The Lord chastened Jonah, and because of it, Jonah became such a great preacher that the whole ciy of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes, from the king on down to the ones who were of low degree. Jonah was a prodigal, praying, preaching, pouting, prophet. Also, Jonah was a sinner, sailor, servant, saint and a sign.
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ALL ABOUT THE AUTHOR Evangelist and Pastor, Dr. Marvin Lewis
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