Day 112: January 22, 2026 – Jonah 1-4 and Haggai 1-2

Who doesn’t love the Jonah and the whale story? But there is so much more to it than just that scene. Jonah runs from God because he is asked to bring the Gospel to a country who in his mind doesn’t deserve it. So he runs away and the boat on which he escapes and the people on that boat, bear the brunt of his disobedience. We don’t sin in a vacuum, people around us are affected even, or especially, if they are innocent and unaware.

He is thrown out of a boat, a whale/fish comes and swallows him up and spews him out on dry land. He goes to Nineveh and does what he is supposed to do and the people of Nineveh do what they are supposed to do: repent. It infuriates Jonah who goes out of the city to sulk and hopefully watch it get destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah style. None of that happens, and God teaches him a lesson that God is in control. He has the right to change his mind. So many great lessons for all of us.

Haggai is told by God to tell the people that it is now time to rebuild the temple. There is a direct correlation between the misfortune that the people of Israel are suffering and their disobedience and unfaithfulness to God. If they are more faithful and show that by rebuilding the temple, then their ability to grow and prosper will also change. There is a fine line between prosperity Gospel and believing that God will take care of us. The latter is healthy, the former is heresy.