Did Jonah have free will?

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Help me out a bitā€¦at which part of his journey do you think he didnā€™t have free will?
 
nancy_dalrymple said:
:rolleyes: Proberly in the whales belly.
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The whale took Jonah to the coast of Nineveh, sure, it didnā€™t make him enter the town - he couldā€™ve turned and gone back home once there.

Neither did it make him preach repentance there. Jonah the whole time could have exerted his free will to not do as God commanded.
 
LilyM said:
The whale took Jonah to the coast of Nineveh, sure, it didnā€™t make him enter the town - he couldā€™ve turned and gone back home once there. . . .
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I thinkit took him home; not to Nineveh.
10 And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. Back to top
Chapter 3
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1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 ā€œArise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.ā€ 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.
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Jonah 2:10-3:2
 
Iā€™ve always found Johah one of the great examples of free will - he heard God, then, ran away. God went to great ends to tell Jonah AGAIN what his mission was, Jonah listened - then, had one of the worldā€™s most famous pity-parties and had to learn lessons yet again!

On my desk is a small glass whale, with a man kneeling inside. I, too, have had to pray from the belly of a whale. Jonah teaches me new lessons every time I contempate his life.
 
LilyM said:
The whale took Jonah to the coast of Nineveh, sure, it didnā€™t make him enter the town - he couldā€™ve turned and gone back home once there.

Neither did it make him preach repentance there. Jonah the whole time could have exerted his free will to not do as God commanded.
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But because he did not want to do what God commanded he put him in the whales belly,why do you think he was there in the first place?
 
nancy_dalrymple said:
But because he did not want to do what God commanded he put him in the whales belly,why do you think he was there in the first place?
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The Bible doesnā€™t actually say where the whale took Jonah, my bad.

Like I said, Jonah had no choice WHERE the whale took him, but he had EVERY choice to

a) enter the city of Nineveh (which was hundreds of miles from the nearest coast in any case - so he consciously made the decision to go there) and

b) preach to the Ninevites šŸ¤·
 
Deacon_Joseph said:
If you view the Book of Jonah as a parable, then the time he spent in the belly of the whale represents the exile of Israel in Babylon and Assyria.
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šŸ™‚ I do know that it was one of Christ more read books It could very well be a parable.I do beieive that if God picks you to do something and you refuse to do it he can make you do it if he chooses. Heā€™d rather you do it out of love for him,but there are realy good people out there.And he can pick one to speak for him even if they dont want to You can run but you just canā€™t hide from God. Thank You Deacon Joseph God be with you:) Nancy
 
tobinatorstark said:
he had free will. We all have free will and every choice has its consequence at hand
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šŸ˜ƒ Destiny: you do beleive in destiny? Ester and Mordecai? Ester knew she would or could be killed. But out of obedience, I think not as much of survival, she did what she did. God calls people to do things they( will not) to do .No one wants to be jailed or die but for the sake of obedience and love of God, they are.Ester:4 13:14 We are called for the glory of God even Jesus said not my will for he prayed for that the hour might pass but he knew he was sent to do the Fathers will even so let thine will be done. christianiā€¦ Think about that. Nancy
 
nancy_dalrymple said:
šŸ˜ƒ Destiny: you do beleive in destiny? Ester and Mordecai? Ester knew she would or could be killed. But out of obedience, I think not as much of survival, she did what she did. God calls people to do things they( will not) to do .No one wants to be jailed or die but for the sake of obedience and love of God, they are.Ester:4 13:14 We are called for the glory of God even Jesus said not my will for he prayed for that the hour might pass but he knew he was sent to do the Fathers will even so let thine will be done. christianiā€¦ Think about that. Nancy
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Yes and No. It is all how destiny is perceived. In regards to God yes. Our destiny will become evident at our judgment. No on earthly things.
 
Re Free Will I am reminded of a lecture on alcoholism that a Navy Chief gave us in Air War College. Some one asked if it was true that an alcoholic could not be changed until he hit bottom. He said that was true, but if we did not know how to make some one hit bottom we were sadly lacking in the skills required for our job. šŸ˜ƒ

We have Free Will, but God does have means of influencing our decisions.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
Re Free Will I am reminded of a lecture on alcoholism that a Navy Chief gave us in Air War College. Some one asked if it was true that an alcoholic could not be changed until he hit bottom. He said that was true, but if we did not know how to make some one hit bottom we were sadly lacking in the skills required for our job. šŸ˜ƒ

We have Free Will, but God does have means of influencing our decisions.
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šŸ˜‰ Hi Joe Kelly,I realy like what you had to say and I agree,it is when we no longer have that will anymore that god will step in to show us the way,or use someone else to guide us love of Christ Nancy:)
 
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