The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah reminded the Jewish people of his day that God’s ways are very different from man’s ways as God spoke through him declaring:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Nowhere is this contrast between God’s ways and man’s ways clearer than in the account of another Old Testament prophet who lived a century before Isaiah, the prophet Jonah.

What happens when one who should faithfully determine to “do it God’s way” decides instead to “do it my way”? One such scenario is displayed in this next study of the book of Jonah.

Chapter three of the book recounts a most unlikely response to a most unlikely message preached by a most unlikely prophet, but even more dramatic is the contrast between the character of God and His ways and the character of the prophet and his ways.

Let’s turn to Jonah chapter three for another study in the series, “Jonah: I Did It MY Way” in an episode with the intriguing, but perplexing title: “I Was Afraid That Would Happen!”

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Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message.

If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

Arguably one of the more flawed characters in the Old Testament Scriptures is the prophet Jonah who, in the candid words of some commentators, appears in the text, “warts and all.”

While we would expect that a “man of God” would always respond obediently to God’s call, immersing himself in prayer, Jonah is the antithesis of this expectation as he runs away from the divine call of duty and uses prayer only as a last resort.

In today’s study in the series, “I Did It My Way—Studies in the Book of Jonah,” we look at Jonah, chapter two, which finds the prophet in the belly of the great fish, about as low as any man could go.

What happens next is yet another example of God’s grace and mercy, as well as HIs persistent hand on those He would use to fulfill HIs purpose.

So let’s turn now to the second chapter of Jonah for this episode entitled, “Prayer from the Depth of Despair.”

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Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message.

If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

In 1968 Frank Sinatra recorded a song which quickly became his signature musical theme. It was an immediate hit and was later recorded and released by Elvis Presley with similar reception by listeners around the world. No doubt the song’s rapid climb and enduring presence on the charts, including induction of Sinatra’s version to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000, was due to the compatibility of the lyrics with the spirit of self-centered individualism dominating modern thought.

It is one thing for people, in general, to agree with Frank’s musical philosophy, but it is quite another when those who know God and are called to serve Him adopt that same philosophy, resolving to do it their way. However, this is exactly the case with the prophet Jonah as demonstrated in the Old Testament book which bears his name.

We will examine the pitfalls and consequences of that kind of thinking in a four-part series aptly

entitled, “I Did It My Way: Studies in the Book of Jonah.” Join us now for the first episode which we call, “In the School of Big Fish.”

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Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message.

If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.