Old Testament Lesson 33 – Sharing the Gospel with the World

Study Guide

1. Jonah 1–2. The Lord calls Jonah to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah tries to flee from the Lord on a ship, is swallowed by a great fish, prays, and is delivered from the belly of the fish.

2. Jonah 3–4. Jonah prophesies the downfall of Nineveh and is angry when the people of Nineveh repent and the Lord spares the city (the Joseph Smith Translation of Jonah 3:9–10 explains that the people, not God, repented). The Lord teaches Jonah to love all people.

3. Micah 2:12–13; 4:1–7, 11–13; 5:2–4, 7–8; 6:6–8; 7:18–20. Micah prophesies of the mission of Israel in the last days.

• Why did the Lord want Jonah to go to Nineveh? (See Jonah 1:2.) Why did Jonah go to Tarshish instead? (See Jonah 1:3.) What are some reasons why we choose not to share the gospel? What can we learn from the story of Jonah that can help us be more valiant in obeying the Lord and sharing the gospel?

• What did Micah prophesy about the latter-day temple? (SeeMicah 4:1–2.)

How can Micah 6:6–8 help us when we feel overwhelmed by all that is expected of us?

 

Lesson

The book of Jonah is another beautiful piece of Hebrew poetry, that delivers multiple lessons through its language and symbolism.  If you were to ask a class, "What is the major message of the book of Jonah?" you could get many answers that could all be right.  Of course, the title of the lesson involves missionary work.  This blog entry, however, will focus on two different but related themes of the book of Jonah:  being temple-oriented, and receiving peace by forgiving our enemies.

Jonah means “Dove” and is quoted as such in the NT.  The Dove is harmless, signifying peace.  Doves were used as sacrifice in the temple.   The meaning of the name of Jonah could be a foreshadowing of the crucifixion. 

Keep in mind as we go through Jonah, that it is Jehovah that is “creating” the story, interacting with Jonah and creating prophecies he would himself fulfill. 

Jonah 1:² Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

GOING DOWN
The story of Jonah is a katabasis (greek): a journey down.  Jonah went down, down, down: down from Joppa, down into the ship (1:3), down into the bottom of the ship (1:5).  We consider the bottom of the earth to be the ground, but you can get even deeper if you go to the bottom of the sea, which is what Jonah did (2:3-6).  In a Christ typology, he “descends” below all things…

Jonah 1:³ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, 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.

But what's interesting is that Jonah chose to say he went "down to the bottoms of the mountains" (2:6), when clearly he was describing the bottom of the sea ("the waters compassed me about...

Jonah 2:⁵ The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

Jonah 2:⁶ I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

Of course, the ocean floor has mountains, but there is a particular reason that Jonah chose to refer to it this way. 

Jonah 1: ³ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, 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.

Jonah's story is about a journey down from "the presence of the Lord" (1:3, 10) (David Bokovoy, Bibilical Scholar UofU).

In the stories of Moses receiving the Law, or Abraham sacrificing Isaac, everything is "up."  They go up to the mountain, which is where they can visit the Lord in a temple-like environment.  The word "mountain" in the scriptures often indicates an outdoor holy place or temple.

(If you do a google search for “Mountain of the Lord” the first thing that pops up are links referring to the Salt Lake Temple)

The word for "temple" in Hebrew means literally "the presence of the Lord" (David Bokovoy). Which, of course, makes perfect sense. So you can substitute "temple" for "the presence of the Lord" or for "mountain" in this story and in most of the Old Testament.

Also, the Lord comes to his children "from the east" in scripture

Matt 24:²⁷ For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Zech 14: ⁴ And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.⁵ And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Ezek 43:1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:

Moses' tabernacle and Soloman's temple both faced the east (Bible Dictionary "Tabernacle") for that reason.  The garden of the Lord was "eastward in Eden."  Which direction was Jonah running?  West, of course.  The temple and Jerusalem were on the east end of the Mediterranean Sea.  Tarshish, where Jonah was going, is presumed to be in present-day Spain (see Bible Dictionary), on the very far west side of the Mediterranean, as far west as you could go in Jonah's world.  Tarshish was also a worldly place, the center of commerce on the sea, materialistic--once again, the opposite of the temple.

So Jonah is running from the Lord by going to the West and by going DOWN.

So Jonah was not only running away from his mission, he was running away from the temple and his covenants.

Of course, you can't run away from the Lord, since he controls the elements, and there was a tempest on the sea, which threatened the lives of the sailors.  Jonah confessed to be the fault and the sailors threw him overboard (1:12). 

The Lord had prepared a whale to swallow Jonah.  It is no coincidence that Jonah was inside the whale for three days and three nights: the space between the Atonement and the Resurrection (1:17).  Jonah's story is an obvious type of the resurrection of Christ and the power of the Atonement (Matt. 12:39-41), and also a type of baptism.  Jonah was completely immersed in the water, and after the whale spit him out, he had the chance to start over, to become a new man, and to join the Lord's purpose, to preach repentance to Ninevah.

THE PSALM OF JONAH (Jonah 2:2 to 2:7)
Jonah's psalm is representative of anyone who has left their covenants, suffered because of their sins, and had the opportunity to return, through the Atonement, to the presence of the Lord.  (Jonah uses the Hebrew poetic form, enallage [en-ALL-uh-gee] in which he begins by referring to the Lord in third person, and ends by referring to the Lord in second person, indicating that their relationship changed during the story, and he drew closer to the Lord.)

2 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God (3rd person) out of the fish's belly,

² And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest (2d person) my voice.

³ For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

⁴ Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

⁵ The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

⁶ I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

⁷ When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

Some scholars propose that the text implies that the proper term should not be a great fish, but that Jonah actually died by drowning in the sea. The great fish may be a metaphor for the leviathin, the mouth of hell, the great deep, Sheol and death.  By this reasoning the Lord pulled Jonah back from the watery grave, revived him, and gave him a second chance to obey.  If so, the parallel between Jonah’s experience and Jesus’ three days in the tomb is even stronger.(see BYU Studies article in sources)

 

FORGIVING OUR ENEMIES
Why did Jonah go to such great lengths to purposely run away from the presence of the Lord, from his calling as a prophet, and from his covenants?  Why was he so unhappy about sharing the gospel in Ninevah?

Well, Ninevah was the capitol of Assyria.  The story of Jonah is unique in the Old Testament in that Jonah was called to preach the gospel to enemies of the House of Israel.  Israelites had always been counseled to stay away from the heathen nations, definitely not to marry them, and even, in the time of Joshua, to kill them all before entering the Land of Canaan so that their idolatry would not seep into the culture of the Israelites.  Prophets previous to Jonah had all been charged with calling only Israel to repentance; this was a different thing altogether.  And not only was Jonah called to idolatrous non-Israelites, but to THE great enemy, Assyria!  They were powerful, and they were ruthless and they had caused a great deal of sorrow in Israel over a long period of time.

Jonah's calling to carry the gospel to the enemy has parallels in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. In Acts 10, the prophet Peter had a dream about a great tablecloth that came down from heaven with non-kosher foods on it, and he was commanded to eat them.  Then messengers arrived from Cornelius, a Roman who was seeking the truth of the gospel.  The Romans, of course, were ruling over the Jews and oppressing them: enemies!  Peter realized that the Lord was telling him that Cornelius, a Roman and a non-Jew, could be baptized, and a wonderful harvest of Roman souls was reaped that Cornelius had gathered and prepared.

In the Book of Mormon, the sons of Mosiah went on a 14-year mission to the Lamanites, at great peril of their lives (Mosiah 28; Alma 17-26).  They were not the first to try a mission to the Lamanites (see Jacob 7:24), but they were the first to succeed.  A great number of Lamanites joined the Church and became among its most stalwart members.  All of the "sons of Helaman" were a product of this harvest.

Jonah, likewise, had tremendous success, once he decided to go.  120,000 Assyrians repented (if the number is literal and correct) and accepted the gospel (Jonah 4:11).  But Jonah was different than Paul and Ammon: He did not rejoice in his harvest.

Jonah Is Called Again (Jonah 3:1-3)

And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

² Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

³ So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

 

THE SAVING OF NINEVAH
Jonah's message was that destruction would be coming after the symbolic 40 days, the Biblical trial period.  Ninevah was described as taking 3 days to walk through it.  Scholarship indicates it was not this big but that term is used symbolically. 

Jonah 3 ⁴ And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Yet even though Jonah only walked a third of the way into the city delivering his message (he was a little half-hearted), word quickly reached the King of Ninevah (3:7-9; note the JST footnotes). 

Jonah 3:⁷ And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: ⁸ But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. ⁹ Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

Jonah, undoubtedly, was shocked when the King of Ninevah believed him!  The king took off his royal robe, and repented in sackcloth and ashes, in the Hebrew manner (3:6)!  He required everyone in the land, even the animals!, to do likewise, to pray to the Lord, to fast, and to beg forgiveness.  Where else in the Bible do you find anyone, even the Israelites, going so far as to have the animals fast and sit in sackcloth and ashes?  Remarkable!  This man was sincere!  "Who can tell," he said to his people, "if we will repent, and turn unto God, but he will turn away from us his fierce anger, that we perish not?" (3:9 JST)

(KJV Jonah 3:⁹ Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

JST Jonah 3:9 … we will repent, and turn unto God, but he will turn away from us his fierce anger …

KVJ 3:¹⁰ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not

JST Jonah 3:10 … evil way and repented;and God turned away the evil that he had said he would bring upon them.

JONAH REBELS (again)

Jonah, however, did not repent.  Disappointed and angry, he went and made himself a little shelter outside the city,

4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

² And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

³ Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

Jonah 4:⁵ So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

…where he could sit in the shadow [away from The Light], with the hope that he would still get to view the destruction of Ninevah (4:1-5).  Perhaps he didn't trust the Assyrians to remain sincere, and was afraid they would change back to their old ways and threaten the Israelites.  If they were all destroyed, the threat would be completely gone.

How long he sat there we don't know, but it was apparently long enough for the little shanty to fall apart so that he was unsheltered.  The Lord, always reaching out, even when we create our own misery, grew a castor bean plant (see footnote for "gourd") over Jonah's head, to shelter him, "to deliver him from his grief."

Castor bean plants can reach 40 feet in height, growing up to 10 feet in one season.  The leaves alone can be 3 feet long.   A caster bean plant would make a quick and excellent shade from the sun.

Jonah 4: ⁶ And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. (Glad of the free gift given him by God)

⁷ But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. (Angry over the loss of the free gift).

⁸ And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. (worse circumstance)

⁹ And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

It had come as a free gift of God's love to him, which he did not have to qualify for on his own merits.  Perhaps it was even a type of the Atonement, which will comfort us and free us of the bitter abuses others have brought upon us, if we will let it.

But Jonah refused be delivered of his grief, preferring to sulk and stew about Ninevah and hope for vengeance.  So the Lord sent a worm to destroy the plant.  With his shelter removed, Jonah was subject to the "vehement east wind" and the hot sun (both symbols of God), and ironically Jonah, who had been saved from death while running from the Lord's errand, now having completed it with huge success, wished for death to return. He could not relent and love his enemies as God did.  He could not recognize that the Assyrians could not were "only kept from the truth because they [knew] not where to find it" (D&C 123:12).

Jonah 4 ¹⁰ Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:¹¹ And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

SHOULD I NOT SPARE NINEVAH?
Jonah seems so hardhearted, refusing the offer of the Lord for freedom from grief through forgiveness. But maybe if we look a little closer, we will see that Jonah was just exactly like us.

James Ferrell (LDS Author) has interpreted the book of Jonah to be a rather broad chiasmus (pronounced "ky-AS-mus"), the Hebrew literary tool in which all the lines of the poem lead to the main point, after which they all repeat in reverse order with slight variation.  The central point of the chiasmus, according to Brother Ferrell, is found in Jonah 2:8:  "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy."  What does this mean?

Jonah, being of the House of Israel, as we also are, had a feeling of superiority over the wicked, wicked Assyrians.  Of course!  He was more righteous, right?  He had kept the commandments, he had observed the covenants, he was a prophet or missionary of God.  Jonah and the entire Hebrew nation had been greatly wronged by Assyria.  It was a huge part of their history for many, many years. Likewise, we have each been wronged by some person, or even by some nation. We all have, or we all will; it is a part of the test of life.  Sometimes it is a major part of our life's history.

Jonah's story, and often ours, is a little bit like two parables of Jesus's: the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), and the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16). In both of these parables, one person or group of people feels that they are more righteous, more deserving than another, because they have been in the household of the Lord longer. 

They resent the Lord offering his Atonement to those who did less or who came later.  This is the "lying vanity" central to the book of Jonah.  If Jonah despises Ninevah and considers it to be unworthy of salvation, Jonah makes himself unworthy, and "forsakes his own mercy."  The greater sin is always the sin of being unforgiving (D&C 64:9).

The truth is, we all have fallen short of grace.  "What then? Are we better than they?  No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no not one" (Rom. 3:9-10).  Even one sin casts us out of the presence of God, and we are completely dependent upon the grace of God to sanctify us so that we may return.  Relative righteousness is irrelevant!  "Love and salvation are gifts offered to us, not because we deserve them, but even though we do not...[We] have no cause to feel entitled; [we] only have cause to feel grateful" (James Ferrell).

So Brother Ferrell's chiasmus of the book of Jonah is as follows:

1. The Lord issues a command to Jonah: Preach in Ninevah (1:1-2)
     2. Jonah sins by not wanting Ninevah to be saved (1:3-17)
          3. Jonah repents; the Lord saves Jonah (2:1-7; 9-10)
               4. "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy" (2:8)                  
          3. Ninevah repents; the Lord saves Ninevah (3:1-10)
     2. Jonah sins by not wanting Ninevah to be saved (4:1-3)
1. The Lord asks Jonah a question, "Should I not spare Ninevah?" (4:11)

(or, changing the middle verse to clarify it form the NKJV)

1. The Lord issues a command to Jonah: Preach in Ninevah (1:1-2)
     2. Jonah sins by not wanting Ninevah to be saved (1:3-17)
          3. Jonah repents; the Lord saves Jonah (2:1-7; 9-10)
               4.(NKJV) “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy.”
          3. Ninevah repents; the Lord saves Ninevah (3:1-10)
     2. Jonah sins by not wanting Ninevah to be saved (4:1-3)
1. The Lord asks Jonah a question, "Should I not spare Ninevah?" (4:11)

 

MICAH (7 chapters)

COME TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD
Immediately following the book of Jonah, in which the evil Assyrians repent, the book of Micah begins abruptly with a call to repentance--to the Jews, and their mixed-race relatives, the Samaritans! (Micah 1:2) 

Micah 1 ² Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

Then we get second coming imagery…

³ For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

⁴ And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

Pointing directly at Judah…

⁵ For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

⁶ Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

⁷ And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot

There is great imagery in :Micah.  Very Isaiah-like in some ways and in some places quoting Isaiah. 

Chapter 2 has further warnings…

Micah 2 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. ² And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. ³ Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

The book of Micah also makes the call to us, the members of the latter-day church, the House of Israel.  Here is the beautiful promise if we repent and turn back to "the presence of the Lord:"

Micah 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. (that is to say, in the temple)

² And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

³ And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

⁴ But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

⁵ For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

Note again, Micah 4:4

⁴ But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

Founding Fathers  Micah 4:4  was a well-known scripture from the founding of our nation.  One could say, in that era, “Micah 4:4” and your friends would know that you were talking about “every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (In his home, his property), and none shall make them afraid (private property was established, self-protection was guaranteed). 

We cannot underestimate that brief scripture.  Private property was largely a new concept with the founding of our nation.  In England, most lived on a large estate and helped care for that estate or lived in the city.  Property ownership was the exception more than the rule.  In our day, we can ask the same question.  Are we safe in our own home? 

It applies to property, but it also applies to peace…

David O McKay started his October 1945 conference address this way, 2 months after the end of WWII

“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it (Micah 4:3-4).

THE TRAGEDY OF WAR

So wrote the Prophet Micah, probably quoting Isaiah, seven hundred fifty years before Christ. Nearly twenty-seven hundred years have passed since the eye of prophecy visioned a time when "war shall be no more." During the intervening centuries, many nations have lifted up sword against nations; and war has continued to be one of mankind's greatest evils. Truly it seems that human beings are more prone to war than to peace.”

 

In the same vein, this has great applications to the gospel.  With a testimony of the Lord and His gospel, we can make that assertion “none shall make us afraid”. 

Today we go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord to participate in the temple ceremonies.  It doesn't matter if we are brand new to the church, life-timers, or returning after repentance, we are all alike there.  It doesn't matter if we are old or young, fat or thin, dark or pale.  It doesn't even matter what language we speak.  Only one thing matters: if we have "unkind feelings" we are "invited to withdraw." And in this place “everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid (NKJV)”

Micah ends, in chapter 7, with redemption symbology

Micah 7 ¹⁸ Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

¹⁹ He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

²⁰ Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.

Wrap-up

The question at the end of the book of Jonah is not answered by Jonah, in order that we may answer for ourselves. Our answer determines our salvation, as well as our peace and happiness in this life. Will we join with the Lord and rejoice in the sparing of Ninevah (our relative, our ex, our neighbor, our national enemy: that person or people who has caused affliction in our lives)? 

Will we free ourselves from the grief and abuse of the past and enjoy the comfort and peace the Atonement brings and sit under the castor bean plant?  Or will we be found with Jonah, on the hill, overlooking the city, suffering in the heat and the wind, refusing to be comforted by the Lord, as we watch hopefully for vengeance to fall?

Will we live in such a way, that we can trust in the statement of  Micah, that we can sit under our own fig tree, and none shall make us afraid?  For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.  Can we live worthy of this promise of Micah, spiritually, physically, in all ways so that we live close to the Lord?  Do we attend the temple and do all the things necessary in the spiritual realm to live without fear?  The promise applies to all these realms, and as these stories tell us, depend on our faithfulness. 

Sources:
David Bokovoy, Know Your Religion Lecture, Logan, Utah, February 15, 2002, and BYU Education Week Lecture, August 2001.
James Ferrell, The Peacegiver, p. 91-114.

GospelDoctrinPlus.com: http://gospeldoctrineplus.blogspot.com/2010/08/ot-lesson-33-sharing-gospel-with-world.html

The Book of Jonah: Foreshadowings of Jesus as the Christ BYU Studies Volume 53:3 (2014)