Bible Character Studies
Jonah- Coveted honor, and was afraid people would laugh.
Cain & Able- Cain coveted material things and his own way.
Balaam
& Judas-coveted honor and material things.
Gehazi-Coveted Rich clothes and gold.
THE JONAH PLUNGE
 Jonah
heard the voice of God asking him to go to Nineveh and warn them that
because of their wickedness they were soon to die. He was afraid they
would all laugh at him. He did not want to go out of his comfort zone. He
decided he would go on a vacation in the opposite direction from Nineveh.
He got on a ship headed for Tarshish. He thought God would never find him
there. |
  Evidently
he was not short of money for a trip to Nineveh, he paid for the trip to
Tarshish. Immediately a big wind came up and the captain demanded Jonah
wake up and pray to God. Jonah did not expect God to hear him for he was
running from HIM. He insisted they just throw him over board. They tried
other methods like throwing all their boxes into the water to keep from
sinking. Finally they drew straws to see who was the cause of the storm.
The lot pointed to Jonah. He said it was his problem. He was running from
God. They were afraid and finally threw him into the water. Immediately
the water calmed down for them.
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Jonah washed off the smelly stuff and headed to do his work in Nineveh.
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| It is interesting that the men on the ship with Jonah, even though real strong and used to sailing the sea were extremely frightened by this storm. Jonah was too upset and feeling too guilty to care. He seemed to prefer death to working for God. |
| The men on the ship worshipped God and offered sacrifices to Him. They even made promises to God. (Jonah 1:16) |
 I n
Nineveh, Jonah did not realize that it was the Holy Spirit that convicts
hearts. He did his work then sat to watch the city burn. The people were
under conviction that God was serious. They repented and changed their
ways. This made poor Jonah angry. God prepared a fast growing plant that
climbed quickly to make shade for Jonah. Then |
 God sent a worm to kill the
plant. It made Jonah sad because his shade plant died. This plant was a
parable or object lesson to tell Jonah the truth about himself. Jonah had
more pity on the shade plant than he did over thousands of people in the
city that he wanted to see burned up. God told him that He had a right to
forgive people who were really sorry for their sins. That was His goal in
sending Jonah, not to have a bonfire and burn people. |
 Jonah did not look at sinners as God does. God desperately wants to
save. When we become like Him, we will feel the same way. We will be doing
all we can to help people find the truth about God. |
 God has given to everyone a work.
If anyone turns from that
work and does the work of Satan, to defile his own body or to cause
another to sin, his work is cursed and has the mark of Cain. That person
needs to ask forgiveness and turn from sin. He needs God's help. Daily we
need to go to God for help in overcoming sin. God can work a miracle and
change the evil desires to pure ones. Nineveh turned from sin and God
helped them. Jonah needed God's help too.
If anyone turns from the work God gave them to do, defiles his body, or leads others to sin, he has the mark of Cain. |
| When God called me three nights in a row showing me thousands waiting to hear me tell the Gospel story, I argued He had the wrong person. |
| I argued with God until He reminded me of
Jonah. I was seeking honor as a new physician. I wanted a successful
practice and wanted to serve God in that position. I wanted a nice
clothes, and home with a beautiful view. Down deep inside, I really still
wanted to be the missionary I had prayed I could be since I was a
child. I quickly submitted to God's call. I know that He has better
plans than any we can dream up. Now He was calling me. I just wanted
to make sure it was my Jesus. After the third night, I was so convinced.
When He reminded me of Jonah, I knew it was time to move forward as He
called me. I said if He would provide, I would go anywhere. I did not ask
for Him to provide a mansion on this earth to live in. I just wanted
my children fed, loved, and raised to honor Him.
Satan has tried to turn me back from the work God gave me to do. I do not want the mark of Cain neither do I ever want the Jonah plunge. I prefer fresh air to that of rotting sea weed in the belly of the whale. I pray that no matter what hindrances, I will always obey. Satan has tried to tie up finances and remove all my comforts of home but I will still follow Jesus, no matter what. I know there is a better home in heaven awaiting me. God is so much stronger and will raise up a standard against the enemy of truth. God says that if the work be of Him, he will provide. (Desire of Ages p. 371) I know God means just that for I have seen Him work miracles to provide for tickets for transport, for Bibles, and all the things I ask for. He has done this for 9 years. I expect more in the future because I believe He can move mountains if needed to get the truth out. |
| CAIN & ABEL |
 The
Bible tells us of two brothers in the very first family that never really
got along. There was so much hate in the heart of one brother that no
matter how nice the other one was, this brother still hated him. Cain was
the brother so full of hate. He hated God for the punishment God had
placed on his mom and dad for their sin of eating from the forbidden tree. |
| Now Adam and Eve had many other children. Cain married and had a family. Since there were no other people, Cain married a sister. The genetic problems were not existent in those days. |
| Cain had so
much hate in his heart against God that when he saw his brother Able who
dearly loved God, he went into a rage. He had an insane madness.
Satan is the parent of this hate, rebellion, and lack of belief. He
filled Cain with doubt and with madness against his innocent brother Abel
and against God. |
| It
was impossible for there to be harmony between these two brothers because
Cain actually hated God. His anger came from a heart in rebellion against
God. There is no way that Abel could have brought unity. The problem was
in Cain's anger with God.
|
 Poor
Able must have tried hard to bring peace between them. Abel was very loyal
to God. He saw God was just and merciful in dealing with the sins of his
parents. He was so thankful for the hope of being eventfully returned to
the original state his parents had before sinning. He gladly brought
his lamb to show God he wanted Jesus to cover his sins. The more he talked
with his brother, the angrier Cain became. Abel pleaded, begging his
brother to come to God the way God required for forgiveness and bring a
lamb. |
 Cain
wanted to do things his own way. He was not sorry for his sins. He just
brought a thank offering when it was time for worship. Without the
shedding of blood there could be no forgiveness and removing of sin. Each
was to bring the first born young lambs of the flock in sacrifice. This
pointed to the time when Jesus would die on the cross for all who have
rebelled on this planet.
The other gift they were to bring was from the first fruits of their gardens. This was to thank God for making a plan for forgiving the sinners. |
 Both
brothers had the same parents as religious teachers and training. Both
were sinners needing God's forgiveness. Abel saw that in his sins he
deserved death. He brought his killed lamb and showed God he trusted in
God's plan to save him. Abel chose to obey and God honored that. |
| Cain CHOSE to rebel and hate and be full of unbelief. Cain
chose to disobey. Both these brothers came to worship as we do in church.
Their "church" was outdoors near the gates to the empty Eden
paradise which was guarded by angels. In this "church" were
these two brothers not in unity. One loved God, the other hated.
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| Cain hated and killed his brother, not for any wrong that Abel had done, but "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." 1 John 3:20 |
 This
hate comes from the heart of Satan. Through all ages, this same spirit has
caused God's people to be killed. Stephen was stoned till dead. This
hatred rises in the hearts of others who are in the
"church".
Rev. 12:14,15 |
| One set of believers comes to God with only a thank offering and they do not obey God's law completely. The other set of believers comes to God with a sense of their need of God's help to obey the law in every detail. It angers those who are watching that they cannot control or force the Abels in the world to submit and join their method which seems harmless but is really rebellion. THE RAGE is the RAGE of a defeated foe, Satan. |
| Each martyr wins the battle with the devil "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death." Revelation 12:11,9 |
 ANY MAN, be he
minister or layman, priest or parishioner, child or teenager, who
seeks to force or control the reason of any other person, becomes an agent
of Satan. This work of Satan is all rebellion against God.
There is anger that cannot be explained
against those who honestly seek the Lord in prayer and Bible study for
truth, and forgiveness. The more dearly the Abel's love God, the greater
the hatred in the heart of the CAIN's of the world.
I hope you never become an agent of Satan. If you are one now, turn to God and ask Him for help to get out of Satan's team. Some, like Saul did not know they are Satan agents. He thought he was working for God. Saul was converted on the road to Damascus. He changed teams and his name was changed to Paul. After that he always asked God to pardon him for all the deaths he caused. He always daily died to his sins and asked for help. |
 When
Jesus was living on this world, many people acted like Cain against Him.
He would quietly withdraw to another place to work. If He had stayed for a
battle against Satan it would have cut short His ministry. His example is
good for the Abel's of the world to follow. There are many places eager to
hear the Bible truth in its entirety. God needs His people to work
in these places for there are few workers. We need to work while it is day
for night is coming when no one can work. The red hot anger
of Cain needs to cool down or in the Cain madness, God's people needlessly
die at their hands. It may ever cool down but just get hotter.
The world needs to hear the testimony of Abel. If you are told not to tell how God has blessed you in your life; if you are seeing answers to prayer and bubbling over with joy to share, SHARE IT. Don't stop. Ask God where He wants you to share. Again I say, don't worry about your life, just ask God where He wants you and never stop sharing. |
| In rare cases, God requires a confrontation. Elijah was one example. Yet first, when the message against Ahab was delivered, Elijah was quickly taken to a hiding place for three and a half years. When he was sent back to confront the king again after the three and a half years, the king was very angry. He accused Elijah of causing all the trouble in Israel. Elijah said, "I am not he that troubles Israel, you are!" |
| Take
comfort in this promise: "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee:
the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Ps. 76:10 KJV Look
at this! Even the anger that is beating on
you, can end up bringing attention to God's way. What is left over of this
anger, that won't bring any blessing to anybody, God will restrain or stop
it. Claim this promise and ask God to show you when it is time to leave
the environment full of anger.
If there is a Cain that has anger against you, pray for them, speak gently, and quietly withdraw to work for those honestly seeking truth. Do not hold resentment in your heart. Don't try to force them to accept you or take up their bad habits. Remember it is not your fault that you can not have unity or peace. You are not "he that troubles Israel". There was not peace in heaven with Satan rebelling. God banished Satan from heaven. In the New Testament, the Bible is full of experiences of Jesus in quietly withdrawing. In the book of Acts, the experiences of the apostles show us the same. They would shake the dust off their feet and go to another location. In this way, persecution and anger ends up praising God for more attention is drawn to the truth while it is under fire. People come to a state of alert instead of sleepiness over the issues. So God says to rejoice and be glad. Mathew 5 |
| Quiz
How does anger praise God? (Psalms 76:10) What did Jesus do when people tried to push Him over a cliff and tried to stop His work? Did Jesus announce His plans? Why do you think Jesus handled opposition the way He did? Why did not the brothers Cain and Abel live in unity and peace? Was there something wrong with the parents attitude which caused Cain to rebel?
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Bible: Genesis 4 Patriarchs and Prophets pages 71-79 Christ's Object Lessons page 152. This discusses the parable of the Pharisee and publican who represent two great classes into which those who come to worship God are divided. The very existence of this people, holding the faith of the ancient church, was a constant testimony to Rome's apostasy, and therefore excited the most bitter hatred and persecution. Their refusal to surrender the Scriptures was also an offense that Rome could not tolerate. She determined to blot them from the earth. Now began the most terrible crusades against God's people in their mountain homes. Inquisitors were put upon their track,
and the scene of innocent Abel falling before the murderous Cain was often repeated. {GC88 76.1}
Great Controversy, by Ellen White |
| Cain murdering Abel is the first example of enmity against God and His people. It has been repeated down through the centuries. |
| The murder of Abel was the first example of the enmity that God had declared would exist between the serpent and the seed of the woman--between Satan and his subjects and Christ and His followers. Through man's sin, Satan had gained control of the human race, but Christ would enable them to cast off his yoke. Whenever, through faith in the Lamb of God, a soul renounces the service of sin, Satan's wrath is kindled. The holy life of Abel testified against Satan's claim that it is impossible for man to keep God's law. When Cain, moved by the spirit of the wicked one, saw that he could not control Abel, he was so enraged that he destroyed his life. And wherever there are any who will stand in vindication of the righteousness of the law of God, the same spirit will be manifested against them. It is the spirit that through all the ages has set up the stake and kindled the burning pile for the disciples of Christ. But the cruelties heaped upon the follower of Jesus are instigated by Satan and his hosts because they cannot force him to submit to their control. It is the rage of a vanquished foe. Every martyr of Jesus has died a conqueror. Says the prophet, "They overcame him ["that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan"] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Revelation 12:11, 9. {PP 77.1} Cain the murderer was soon called to answer for his crime. "The Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain had gone so far in sin that he had lost a sense of the continual presence of God and of His greatness and omniscience. So he resorted to falsehood to conceal his guilt. {PP 77.2} Again the Lord said to Cain, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." God had given Cain an opportunity to confess his sin. He had had time to reflect. He knew the enormity of the deed he had done, and of the falsehood he had uttered to conceal it; but he was rebellious still, and sentence was no longer deferred. The divine voice that had been heard in entreaty and admonition pronounced the terrible words: "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." 78 {PP 77.3} Notwithstanding that Cain had by his crimes merited the sentence of death, a merciful Creator still spared his life, and granted him opportunity for repentance. But Cain lived only to harden his heart, to encourage rebellion against the divine authority, and to become the head of a line of bold, abandoned sinners. This one apostate, led on by Satan, became a tempter to others; and his example and influence exerted their demoralizing power, until the earth became so corrupt and filled with violence as to call for its destruction. {PP 78.1} In sparing the life of the first murderer, God presented before the whole universe a lesson bearing upon the great controversy. The dark history of Cain and his descendants was an illustration of what would have been the result of permitting the sinner to live on forever, to carry out his rebellion against God. The forbearance of God only rendered the wicked more bold and defiant in their iniquity. Fifteen centuries after the sentence pronounced upon Cain, the universe witnessed the fruition of his influence and example, in the crime and pollution that flooded the earth. It was made manifest that the sentence of death pronounced upon the fallen race for the transgression of God's law was both just and merciful. The longer men lived in sin, the more abandoned they became. The divine sentence cutting short a career of unbridled iniquity, and freeing the world from the influence of those who had become hardened in rebellion, was a blessing rather than a curse. {PP 78.2} Satan is constantly at work, with intense energy and under a thousand disguises, to misrepresent the character and government of God. |
| Adam's children kept the 7th day Sabbath except for Cain. He chose what ever day to rest and founded a city. He wanted many material things. |
| The Sabbath was honored by 81 all the children of Adam that remained loyal to God. But Cain and his descendants did not respect the day upon which God had rested. They chose their own time for labor and for rest, regardless of Jehovah's express command. {PP 80.3} Upon receiving the curse of God, Cain had withdrawn from his father's household. He had first chosen his occupation as a tiller of the soil, and he now founded a city, calling it after the name of his eldest son. He had gone out from the presence of the Lord, cast away the promise of the restored Eden, to seek his possessions and enjoyment in the earth under the curse of sin, thus standing at the head of that great class of men who worship the god of this world. In that which pertains to mere earthly and material progress, his descendants became distinguished. But they were regardless of God, and in opposition to His purposes for man. To the crime of murder, in which Cain had led the way, Lamech, the fifth in descent, added polygamy, and, boastfully defiant, he acknowledged God, only to draw from the avenging of Cain an assurance of his own safety. Abel had led a pastoral life, dwelling in tents or booths, and the descendants of Seth followed the same course, counting themselves "strangers and pilgrims on the earth," seeking "a better country, that is, an heavenly." Hebrews 11:13, 16. {PP 81.1} |
| Harmony impossible |
| 6. God Marks Every Action.--The Lord saw the wrath of Cain, He saw the falling of his countenance. Thus is revealed how closely the Lord marks every action, all the intents and purposes, yes, even the expression of the countenance. This, though man may say nothing, expresses his refusal to do the way and will of God. . . . Well might the question be asked you of the Lord, when you cannot follow the impulse of your own rebellious heart, and are restrained from doing your own unrighteous, unsanctified will, "Why art thou worth? and why is thy countenance fallen?" Such exhibitions reveal that because they cannot do after Satan's arts and devices they are provoked, and can only manifest a spirit similar to that of Cain (MS 77, 1897). {1BC 1086.8} 8. Contention Must Come.--There could be no harmony between the two brothers, and contention must come. Abel could not concede to Cain without being guilty of disobedience to the special commands of God (Letter 16, 1897). {1BC 1086.9} Cain Filled With Doubt and Madness.--Satan is the parent of unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion. He filled Cain with doubt and with madness against his innocent brother and against God, because his sacrifice was refused and Abel's accepted. And he slew his brother in his insane madness (RH March 3, 1874). {1BC 1087.1} 15. Mark of Cain.--God has given to every man his work; and if any one turns from the work that God has given him, to do the work of Satan, to defile his own body or lead another into sin, that man's work is cursed, and the brand of Cain is placed upon him. The ruin of his victim will cry unto God, as did the blood of Abel (Ibid., March 6, 1894). {1BC 1087.2} Any man, be he minister or layman, who seeks to compel or control the reason of any other man, becomes an agent of Satan, to do his work, and in the sight of the heavenly universe he bears the mark of Cain (MS 29, 1911). {1BC 1087.3} 25. Seth More Noble in Stature Than Cain or Abel.--Seth was of more noble stature than Cain or Abel, and resembled Adam more than any of his other sons. The descendants of Seth had separated themselves from the wicked descendants of Cain. They cherished the knowledge of God's will, while the ungodly race of Cain had no respect for God and His sacred commandments (3SG 60). {1BC 1087.4} |
| The harmony of nature between Satan and evil men is the key to all religious persecution from the day when Cain killed Abel to the present time. The same principle that actuated Satan in the courts of heaven to war against God is now working in the children of disobedience, and actuates them to manufacture spurious commandments that contradict the statutes of Jehovah. It is the power of apostasy that exalts religious potentates to the place of God. The false is honored above the true; and thus it is that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is trampled in the dust, while the spurious sabbath is exalted by earthly powers. {ST, June 11, 1894 par. 5} The origin of false commandments may be clearly discerned by the principles which underlie them. All that is not in accordance with the known and expressed will of God, is at enmity with God, and has its origin in the synagogue of Satan. The will of God is expressed in his law, and sin is the transgression of the law. Those who disregard the commandments of God, and teach for doctrines the commandments of men, are working in Satan's line, and are in harmony with the great leader of apostasy. When the Jews were claiming Abraham for their father, while not doing the works of Abraham, Jesus said to them: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do; he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it." "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. |
Jonah went down until a big fish came by and swallowed him. He was in
the belly of the whale for 3 days. How stinky those old kelp leaves and
rotting fish must have smelled. He began to pray. God heard his cry and
made the fish vomit Jonah up onto dry land.
When
Cain saw God honor the obedience of Abel, he became so angry that in
"church" he planned to kill his brother. He invited him into the
field. Abel kept defending God and his goodness and justice. He showed
Cain his mistake and tried to convince him his wrong was inside himself.
Abel told Cain it was really merciful that God had spared the life of
their parents. He could have punished with instant death. He urged Cain
that God loved him. If God did not love, He would not be going to give His
own Son to die in their places. All this caused the anger in Cain to
burn hotter. Cain did not want to listen. He just killed him.