"Jonah and the Big Storm" -- ENGLISH (EN) Subtitles Subtitles for: "IcBible6of8_JonahAndTheBigStormEN.---" www.intercommedia.org -and-|www.creationism.org/videos/ "Ken Anderson Films" Presents|(Distributed by "InterComm Media") "Jonah and the Big Storm" This is the true story of a man named Jonah. He lived long ago in Bible times. He lived in the country of Israel, in a place called Galilee. Jonah was a prophet. A prophet taught the people about God. And he helped them pray to God when they had trouble, or when they needed things. The people in Israel had many troubles, because Israel was a small country. The kings of the bigger countries around Israel ... made the people pay much money in taxes. Men, like the King of Ninevah, would make promises to Israel, but then not keep those promises. Others stole much of the land. So Israel became a smaller and smaller place. Israel also had a King. One of Israel's kings was named Jeroboam. Jeroboam was strong, and the people were almost afraid of him. Jeroboam really wanted to help his people though. But he didn't quite know what to do. One day Jonah came to King Jeroboam with a special message. Our God feels sorry for us, Jonah told the King. And He will help you to chase all of our enemies out of Israel. And to get back again the land which has been taken from us. It made Jonah happy to give this message to the King. Jeroboam knew Jonah was God'€™s prophet, and he knew Jonah would not lie to him. Yet, the words seemed too good to be true. And so, even though Israel was such a small country, brave Jeroboam led his soldiers to war against their enemies. How pleased Jonah must have been ... not only to see God'€™s promises come true, but also to see how King Jeroboam trusted in God'€™s promises. I'€™m sure Jonah spent much time praying to God, thanking God for being so good to Israel. You know, we also can ask God to help us. And when He does, for God surely will help us if we ask Him, let'€™s not forget to thank Him. About 100 miles (160km) from Israel was the big city called Ninevah. Ninevah was the capital of Assyria, which was in those days the strongest country in the world. The people of Ninevah and Assyria did not love and serve God ... the way the people of Israel did. Assyria had sent its soldiers to Israel to capture many good people ... and bring them back to Ninevah as slaves. But we must always remember something. Even though people do very bad things, even though they never think about God ... or try to do things to please Him, God loves them anyway. God loved the people of Ninevah. He wanted them to learn about His love. Well, I'€™m sorry to say Jonah didn'€™t love the people of Ninevah. He hated them. But one morning just as Jonah was awakening, God told him he must go to the great city of Ninevah. He must warn them that if they didn'€™t stop the bad things they were doing, God would punish them! Jonah didn'€™t like this idea one bit. Go to Ninevah? That terrible place! What good would it do to preach to those people? When Jonah left his house that morning, he left in a hurry. But, instead of going toward Ninevah, he went the other direction. Foolish Jonah. He thought he could run away from God. Jonah went to a place called Joppa, a city by the seaside. Many ships from all over the world came to Joppa. Jonah bought a ticket to a place called Tarshish. The men on that ship were like pirates. It could be dangerous riding with them. But Jonah didn'€™t mind. Tarshish was as far from Ninevah as any ship could take him. Deep down in his heart, as he watched the ship being loaded, Jonah knew he was doing the wrong thing. He knew he was disobeying God. As Jonah watched other ships leaving Joppa, it may have made him very nervous. The ship he would take to Tarshish was called a merchant ship. It probably took many hours to bring all of the cargo onboard. The captain and his sailors must have wondered ... about this nervous mysterious stranger who would be traveling with them. And I'€™m sure as Jonah at last walked onto the ship he did a lot of thinking. Here he was, God'€™s prophet. The man who had told the people of Israel what they must do to please God. And now look at him, running away! At first, the voyage was very peaceful. But then one night storm clouds darkened the sky. The wind began to blow. Rain fell. In just a few moments waves began to rise higher and higher. Tossing the ship up and down, back and forth. The sailors became very frightened. Someone has made the sea god angry, they cried out, as they worked hard to keep their ship from sinking. In all their many voyages between Tarshish and Joppa, these sailors had never seen such a storm. Yes, the sea god is angry, they cried, as they began throwing things overboard to make the ship lighter and safer. Why didn'€™t their gods, their little idols protect them? Then one of the sailors thought of something. What about that stranger traveling with them? Would you believe that during all of this time, Jonah had been asleep. But he quickly awakened when one of the sailors came to him and cried out, How can you sleep? Pray to your God. Ask Him to help us! Someone has surely made the sea god angry. Jonah may have heard the sailors saying as he came to the top deck. Let us draw lots to find out which one of us has done this evil thing. The reason one of the sailors cut a rope in this way ... was so they could do something we do. You know, like when we draw straws. But back in those days people believed ... they could find the real truth about something in this way. It was called casting lots. Each person onboard pulled out one of the pieces of rope. Then it came Jonah'€™s turn. And, as you can see, he drew the short piece. You are the guilty one, the sailors cried out! You are the one who has made the sea god angry. Who are you?, they asked. Where do you come from? Who are your people? What is your work? What evil have you done!? I am the prophet Jonah, a Hebrew from the Land of Israel, Jonah told them. And it is true I have done an evil thing. I have disobeyed the one true God, and have been trying to run away from Him. Yes, I am the reason for this terrible storm. Now the sailors really became frightened. When they heard Jonah tell them the God he disobeyed ... was the very one who made the sea, ... the captain and his men felt sure they would all drown. At least Jonah admitted he was wrong. But he still had many things to learn about how important it is to obey God. Tell us, the captain screamed. What can we do to please your God? How can we make the storm go away? Throw me into the sea, Jonah said. Perhaps then my God will take the storm away. But the captain, even though he worshiped idols instead of the true God, didn'€™t want to murder someone. So he ordered his men to fight against the storm, to do everything they could to keep the ship from sinking. Surely Jonah must have prayed during those hours, even though he didn'€™t dare speak to his God out loud. So finally, the sailors did what Jonah had told them to do. They threw him into the ugly water. Right away the rain stopped. The wind became a gentle breeze. The sun began to shine. On the ship, wonderful things began to happen. Those sailors, almost like pirates they had been, now believed in the true God, our dear Heavenly Father. They probably threw their idols into the water, the same as they had thrown Jonah. But down, down, down - into the deep, deep water - Jonah did not drown. Even though he had been so very disobedient, God loved him and would take care of him. Down, down, down, down .... I'€™m sure Jonah thought this was the end for him. But something wonderful happened. You know, no matter where we may be. No matter what happens to us, God really can take care of us. He took care of Jonah. The Bible tells us God prepared a big fish. We don'€™t know what kind of fish. This fish opened its big mouth, and in went Jonah. Down into the stomach of the big fish. For 3 days, and 3 nights, Jonah stayed inside that fish. Glad to be alive, but wondering whatever would happen to him. Then, just as God told it to do, the big fish came up out of the water, and spit Jonah, very much alive, onto the shore. Once again God said, Jonah I want you to go to the big wicked city of Ninevah. This time Jonah was willing to obey what God told him to do. He had learned his lesson. It frightened him to go to that big city, but Jonah knew God takes care of us. Oh, Ninevah was a big city with a strong king and a powerful army. Ninevah was so big that in Jonah'€™s time it took 3 days to walk around it. Think of that. 3 days walking and walking beside the great wall of the city. Just to look at that wall would frighten someone like Jonah. The wall was 100 feet (30M) high. As high as one of our big water towers. Ninevah surely was a big and strong city. As Jonah came close to the city, he began to preach. In 40 days, he cried out, Ninevah will be destroyed! In fact, as the Bible tells us, Jonah walked right into Ninevah, and stood up and preached to the people. God has seen how wicked you are, he told them. Jonah should also have told the people how much God loved them. For, as the Bible tells us, God hates sin, but He loves sinners. Only Jonah didn'€™t do that. He just told the people how bad they were, and that God would bring terrible punishment to the city. The people of Ninevah believed what Jonah said. Their hearts became very sad. Surely Jonah could see what the people were thinking as they heard his words. But he didn'€™t have any love in his heart for them. He remembered all the bad things the strong people of Ninevah ... had done to his little country of Israel. He wanted Ninevah destroyed. When Jonah saw that the people of Ninevah listened to God'€™s warning, ... when he saw how sorry they were for their sins, how they wanted God to forgive them ... so they could do good things instead of bad things, well, hard though it is to believe, this made Jonah angry. He hated the people of Ninevah so much he didn'€™t want God to forgive their sins. No, he wanted God to destroy Ninevah. And so on and on he went, walking through the great city. He was telling the people that because they were so bad, ... because they had done so many wrong things, God would surely destroy them. But wherever Jonah went, no matter how strong he preached, the people listened. And all who listened believed God'€™s words. And they wanted God to forgive their many sins. It must have been strange. There was Jonah warning the people that God would soon destroy Ninevah. And there were the people truly anxious for God to forgive their sins. And to help them change from being bad people to being good people. Jonah didn'€™t feel quite so brave as he came near the King'€™s Palace ... in the center of the city. But Jonah knew he must obey God no matter how frightened he might become. So right there in the center of the city, near the palace of the great King, he continued his sermon. You have sinned against the Lord God of heaven and earth, he cried out. In 40 days, Ninevah will be destroyed. The royal family of Ninevah had a very famous great, great grandfather, Noah, the man who built the Ark. (Remember the Great Flood, in Genesis.) But the kings and their families were not at all like Noah, and this King was a very evil man. He did bad things. He never worshiped God. He was like many people today, wasn'€™t he? Well, what happened to the people of Ninevah, also happened to the King. He listened to the words Jonah spoke. He believed those words came from God. He too wanted God to forgive his sins. Jonah could not believe what he saw. The great King of Ninevah, sorry for his sins? How could it be possible? Then the King did a wonderful thing. He took off his royal clothing, the clothing only a King could wear. And he put on sack cloth, like what the poorest man in Ninevah would wear. Then the great King sat upon a pile of ashes. Doing something like this in Bible times meant you were truly, truly sorry for your sins. The King told the people of his city to do just as he was doing, and the people obeyed. Well, as we said before, it was hard to believe the way Jonah acted. He was embarrassed to see the people asking God for forgiveness. Because, as I told you, he wanted God to destroy the city and everybody in it. I almost wonder if even Jonah'€™s faithful donkey, whatever his name may have been, ... if even that donkey may have wondered what was going on in his master'€™s mind. Because Jonah became more and more angry. You will be destroyed!, he told the people. On that day his donkey was wiser than Jonah, don'€™t you think? Lord!, Jonah screamed and prayed, I can'€™t stand it any more. You have forgiven the great enemy of my country, Israel. You should have destroyed Ninevah, and the King and all the people. Take my life, Lord. I am so angry and disappointed I don'€™t want to live anymore. Then an idea came to Jonah'€™s angry mind. Maybe God would destroy Ninevah after all. The Bible tells us Jonah went outside Ninevah. He fixed a little place to give him some shade. There he sat and waited for Ninevah to be destroyed. Can'€™t you just see what was going on in his mind, as he imagined what he thought might still happen to the city? As Jonah sat there outside Ninevah, angry, feeling sorry for himself, the sun grew hotter and hotter. A wind began blowing the leaves from his shelter place. It got so hot Jonah almost fainted. At last, night came and in the darkness God caused a plant to grow. A plant with big leaves. These leaves gave Jonah lots of nice shade as the morning sun rose. And it became hot again. It pleased Jonah to have God do such a good thing for him. I'€™m sure he told God - Thank You. I suppose he must have thought that ... since God prepared such a nice shade for him. It was to make him comfortable while he watched what happened to Ninevah. Night came and still nothing happened. Nothing happened to the city that is, but something happened where Jonah was. Just as God prepared the big fish to swallow Jonah, now he sent a worm. While Jonah slept, that worm began chewing on the beautiful plant. When morning came, Jonah discovered that the beautiful plant had died. He had no nice shade to protect him from the hot sun. Why had God let such a thing happen, he wondered? Instead of thinking about any wrong he might have done, such as wanting Ninevah destroyed, ... even though the people told God how sorry they were, Jonah again became angry. He actually became angry at God. My what a foolish, foolish thing to do. God wasn'€™t being unkind to Jonah. God was trying to help Jonah understand how foolish he had been. Even as God showed His love to Ninevah, when that city was so full of sin and wicked ways, ... so God wanted to show His love to Jonah. You must understand, He told Jonah, here you are, feeling bad about your vine and not having any shade. Can'€™t you understand how I must feel when I look down ... upon a place like Ninevah and see how much the people need me? Well, it took a long time before Jonah finally began to understand. He did begin to think about what God had said. Jonah lived at a time when people did not yet know ... about the wonderful Bible verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." (John 3:16a) But Jonah did know that God surely loves people. God would much rather do good things for us than to punish us for being bad. (The Bible says) "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, ... and to purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) For hundreds of years boys and girls have heard the story ... of Jonah and the city of Ninevah. Now you know this Bible story too. Have you learned any lessons from Jonah, and the strange way he acted? Have you ever tried to run away from God? To hide your sins? To hide some bad thing you have done? Is there someone you don'€™t like one bit? And you wish God would cause something bad to happen to this person? Oh, don'€™t be like Jonah. You know showing love to others, and especially to people we find it hard to love, ... when we do this we make God want to show more of His love to us. Yes, God loves. He showed that love when Jesus came and died on the Cross. And when Jesus rose again from the grave. It surely is true. As the Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son ... that whoever believes in Him ... shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Everywhere, all over the world, you will find boys and girls, and men and women who truly love God, through Jesus, His Son. Just as I hope you surely do, too. THE END --- "Jonah and the Big Storm" Visit: www.intercommedia.org -and- www.creationism.org