Jonah Part Iii

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JONAH:  THE RELUCTANT MESSENGER

PART III

 

INTRODUCTION:

                Let’s review:

1.       Jonah

a.       called by God

(1)     to go to Nineveh

(2)     to warn the Ninevites of their coming destruction

b.       fled from God

(1)     to Joppa

(2)     to set sail on a ship

(3)     to fall into a deep sleep

2.       chastisement by God

a.       very strong storm rose up

b.       tossed the ship

(1)     side to side

(2)     up and down

3.       Jonah

a.       thrown overboard

b.       swallowed by a great fish

c.        went tot he bottom of the sea

d.       began to pray (Chapter 2)

e.        spewed upon the dry land

THIS IS WHERE WE FIND JONAH AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER THREE

I.                    THE SECOND CALL OF GOD

A.      The first call found in Jonah 1:1—2  “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amattai:  ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

1.       at the first call Jonah ran away

2.       resulted in his chastisement

B.      The second call:

1.       v. 1 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:”

a.       God

(1)     calls Jonah a second time

(a)     after Jonah’s chastisement

(b)     after Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for 3 days and nights

(2)     shows mercy to Jonah

(a)     could have told Jonah “You said ‘No, the first time: therefore, I can’t use you this time.”

(b)     instead, shows mercy to receive Jonah again

(c)     in other words:  “Jonah, you said ‘No’, the first time I called you, but today, after your prayer to me, I’m giving you a second chance.”

b.       David Guzik “God’s mercy towards His wayward people is amazing; though Jonah did everything he could to resist the first call of God, after Jonah repented, God called him again—though He was under no obligation to do so.”

2.       in verse 2  “and proclaim to it the message I give you”

a.       “Go to the great city of Nineveh:”

(1)     “Go”—not an uncommon command

(a)     God had told others to “go”

i)                     from Abraham in Gen. 12:1 “go to the land I will show you.”

ii)                   Moses:  Exodus 3:7—10

(b)     same with Jonah

(2)     “great city of Nineveh”

(a)     a large city

(b)     center of

i)                     military

ii)                   economy

iii)                  religion

iv)                 power of Babylon

b.       “and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

(1)     not

(a)     go and visit

(b)     go and scope it out

(2)     but “go and proclaim”

(a)     preach

(b)     speak

(c)     tell

NOT JUST ANTHING

(3)     “the message I give you”

(a)     not

i)                     just any message

ii)                   the message of the world

(b)     the one give to him by GOD

II.                  THE OBEDIENCE OF JONAH     V. 3-5

A.      The Trip to Nineveh  V. 3

1.       “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord”  v. 3a

a.       God had called Jonah to go to Nineveh

b.       Jonah had

(1)     disobeyed God

(2)     fled from God

(3)     been chastised by God

c.        now Jonah ready

(1)     to obey God

(2)     to do what God called him to do

2.       “and went to Nineveh”:  Jonah

a.        left the area where the fish had spewed him out

b.       walked to Nineveh

3.       3c “now Nineveh was”

a.       “a very important city”

(1)     cannot stress enough the importance of Nineveh

(2)     city of

(a)     government

(b)     commerce

(c)     culture

(3)     compare it to

(a)     New York City

&

(b)     Washington D.C.  combined

b.       “a visit required three days”

(1)     so huge that for that day it would take a man

(a)     walking 20 miles a day

(b)     3 days to walk around it

(2)     description of the city

(a)     walls:  it is said

i.                     100 feet high

ii.                    broad enough for 3 coaches to meet

iii.                  15,000 towers that were 200 feet high

(b)     population of about 1 million people

B.      Proclamation of GOD  v. 4

1.       the first day in Nineveh:  Jonah

a.       didn’t wait until he became acquainted with the people of Nineveh

b.       didn’t wait until the people came to a scheduled meeting

2.       proclaimed:

a.       “Forty more days”:  not the first time that number 40 was used

(1)     40 days of rain in Noah’s day

(2)     40 years of wondering by the people of Israel in the wilderness

b.       “and Nineveh will be overturned.”

(1)     1st message—Chapter 1—proclaim about the wickedness of the city

(2)     this message—ruination of the city:  GOD

(a)     doesn’t overlook sin—e.g. Jonah

(b)     punished (chastises) sin

i.                     Jonah

ii.                    whole book of Judges

iii.                  David—Bathsheba

NINEVEH—to be destroyed

C.      Results of Jonah’s proclamation:  v. 5

1.       “The Ninevites believed God.”

a.       Ninevites

(1)     didn’t need a bomb to fall on them

(2)     had the witness of Jonah

(a)     possibly looked pale (remember the story of another man that had been swallowed by a fish—paleness his entire life)

(b)     might have still had been covered by the sea weed

b.       “believed”

(1)     accepted Jonah’s message as the truth

(2)     acted upon the message

2.       their response to Jonah’s message (after the acceptance)

a.       physical response

(1)     “all of them”

(a)     from the greatest

(b)     to the least

(2)     “declared a fast”

(3)     “put on sackcloth”

(a)     a coarse cloth

(b)     sign of humility

b.       inward meaning—repentance

(1)     “both common acts of repentance in the ancient world.”

(2)     must remember:  faith (which these Ninevites began to display) is a gift of God

(a)     not a human achievement

(b)     given to man by God:  Ep. 2:8

III.               THE ROYAL RESPONSE  V. 6—9

A.      V. 6  -- News travels fast

1.       “news reached the king of Nineveh”

a.       what news?—actions of the people of the city

b.       king hears what’s happening in the city

2.       king of Nineveh

a.       “rose from his throne”

b.       “took off his royal robes”---not too proud to

(1)     recognize his own sins

(2)     recognize his own needs

c.        “covered himself with sackcloth”---symbol of repentance as stated earlier

d.       “sat down in the dust”—went one step further

(1)     instead of sitting back on the throne (symbol of power and majesty and royalty)

(2)     sat in dust—humility

B.      V. 7—9  Proclamation of the King

1.       “By the decree of the king and his nobles”

a.       a joint proclamation by all the nobility

b.       one for all to obey

2.       “Do not let...”

a.       “any man or beast, herd or flock.”:  all from

(1)     all people

(2)     all beasts of the field

(3)     all the herds

(4)     all the birds

b.       do what:  not

(1)     “taste anything”

(2)     “eat”  or

(3)     “drink”

3.       “But let...”

a.       “man and beast be covered with sackcloth.”

(1)     not just all human beings

(2)     all living beings

COVERED WITH SACKCLOTH

b.       “everyone call urgently on God.”

(1)     call—pray, seek God

(2)     urgently—

(a)     not

i)                     timidly

(b)     but urgently

i)                     with all their being

ii)                   quickly

c.        “give up...”

(1)     evil ways—sins

(2)     violence—especially their violent ways

4.       result—notice the

a.       hoped for results—“who knows?  God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

b.       knew enough about Jonah’s God to know that Jonah’s God might

(1)     not punish them if they repent

(a)     turn from their sins

(b)     turn towards Him

(2)     have compassion

(a)     not pity

(b)     but love

IV.                GOD’S RESPONSE  V.  10  “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”

A.      God saw that repentance of the Ninevites

B.      God has compassion upon them

For He is a God of compassion as well as justice

C.      Decided not to cause their destruction at this time—looking at history we find that eventually

the Ninevites along with the Babylonians were destroyed

               

APPLICATIONS:

                !.   GOD CALLS PEOPLE TO SPREAD HIS MESSAGE

A.      JONAH

B.      OTHER VARIOUS PROPHETS

C.      YOU AND I

2.  GOD CALLS PEOPLE OT OBEDIENCE

A.      JONAH

B.      OTHER PROPHETS

C.      YOU AND I

3.  GOD LOVES YOU AND ME

A.      JUST AS HE LOVED JONAH

DISPLAYED BY HIS RESPONSE TO JONAH’S PRAYER WHEN HE PRAYED FROM THE BELLY OF THE GREAT FISH

B.      JUST AS HE LOVED THE NINEVITES  WHEN HE DECIDED NOT TO

PUNISH THEM FOR THEIR SINS WHEN THEY REPENTED OF THEIR SINS

                                C.  JUST AS HE DO FOR YOU AND I

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