Sermon Tone Analysis

A young boy from down south attended Sunday school for the first with his grandparents who lived up north.

He was so excited he couldn’t wait to tell grandma about the lesson.

"My teacher taught us all about the whales," he announced.

"You mean Jonah and the whale?" grandma asked.

"No," he said, "Jacob and the whales."

"I think it was Jonah," the grandmother gently corrected.

"He was swallowed by a whale in the ocean."

But this young man knew his lesson.

"No, it was Jacob.

He moved out into the desert and when he got thirsty, he dug some whales."[i]

/The story of Jonah and the whale is one of the most well-known in the Bible among kids of all ages.

It’s said when Walt Disney adapted the story of Pinocchio for the silver screen, he was inspired more by the story of Jonah than the original author’s tale./

/            But the story of Jonah is meant to be far more than just a children’s fairy tale.

With all of the remarkable events in the story, for all of its twists and turns, there is still more here than meets the eye.

In this brief book, God reveals Himself to us, and speaks to us, if we are willing to hear what He has to say.

Tonight I want to get an overview of this unique prophecy, beginning with *Jonah 1:1*.

/

*PRAYER*

*            *Let’s begin with some background and context.

*            *This book opens with the name of a prophet /Jonah, son of Ammitai/.

It may surprise you to know this is not the first time the Bible mentions him.

He first shows up in

*2 Ki 14:25* /He/ [King Jereboam II, king of Israel] /restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher./

This gives us some important information about Jonah.

It tells us where he was from.

Gath Hepher is believed to have been about 2 ½ miles NE of Nazareth, in the regions of Galilee, home to many Gentiles as well as Jews.

Jonah was no stranger to the non-Jewish world of people.

It also gives us some idea of a timeframe for his ministry.

The connection with the reign of King Jerboam II places Jonah’s ministry somewhere around 750-730 BC, making him a contemporary of the prophets Hosea and Amos.

Early in Jonah’s ministry the Lord gives him a positive message which probably made Jonah a hero to his people.

You can be sure Jonah’s first message is much easier to deliver than the one he later gives to the city of Nineveh.

Which brings up another important item of background information: the relationship between the nation of Israel and the nation of Assyria, whose capital happens to be Nineveh.

More than any other nation Assyria was responsible for the harassment and exploitation Israel and Judah suffered [for] more than a century.

Assyria [kidnapped] much of Israel’s population into exile, in order to bring…people in to colonize its territories.

[ii]

            The Israelites see Assyria not only as their enemy, but God’s enemy.

You can’t understand the book of Jonah without appreciating how the people of Israel hate the Assyrians.

You might also notice a few things we’re /not /told.

We don’t know who wrote the book, or when they wrote it.

Tradition says the author was probably Jonah, but if not, whoever wrote it had to hear many details from the lips of Jonah himself.

For instance, nobody but Jonah and God knew about the prayer prayed in *Jonah 2*.

You need to know these background facts before you can really hear the message of the book.

As we read the story of Jonah, I want to also give you 3 themes to keep a lookout for.

*1.

**God’s calling.*

The book of Jonah deals with the call of God on one man’s life.

Two families were very close friends who always attend church together, usually spend Sunday afternoon together.

One day, one parent called the home of the other family , and Alicia, the 4 year old daughter answered the telephone.

She asks politely who was calling.

To tease her, the grown-up replied, "Alicia, you come to my house almost every Sunday and you don't know who I am?"

In a reverent voice, she replied breathlessly, "Is that You, Jesus?"[iii]

You don’t expect personal phone calls from God, but I do believe God has a call on each of our lives.

You can see this theme at the very beginning of the book of Jonah.

*V.

1* begins with God calling Jonah to make a mission trip to the Assyrian capital city of Nineveh.

He is to call the people of Nineveh to repent of their sin and turn to God.

This is not a call Jonah really wants to hear.

Jonah doesn’t want these people to repent; he’d prefer they die as soon and as painfully as possible.

God’s prophet has a real problem with God’s call on his life.

And yet the people of Nineveh—pagan, idol worshipping, evil people—hear God’s call then repent.

They are willing to hear /and /heed the call of God.

Jonah tries to escape God’s call while the Ninevites hear and heed God’s call.

Jonah ends up taking a detour through a storm and a whale to get where God calls him, while wicked Nineveh repents and escapes judgment.

Any Israelite who read this book would be struck by the incredible irony of the story.

*            *One of the main themes of this book is: God has a call on your life, and you are responsible for doing something about His call.

What kinds of things does God call us to do?

Some calls are general, to all people everywhere; some calls are specifically to Christian.

There is the call to come to Christ.

*Tit 2:11-12* /11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,/

            There are other things God calls all of His people to do:

            *1 Co 10:31* /Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God./

            *Mk 16:15* /Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature./

/            /*Jn 15:12 */This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you./

But then there are personal calls of God on our lives—specific task(s) God specifically calls /you/ to do.

Here’s the key principle you find in Jonah’s life: /you must listen to God’s call and then do something about it.

/

/            /Sometimes God calls us to do what’s easy.

But then sometimes like Jonah, God asks us to do hard things.*

*

*            *God calls us to speak to a friend about Jesus, or forgive that person who hurt you deeply, or come to church when you don’t feel like it, or volunteer to help in a ministry, and you may react like Jonah- /nope.

Not gonna happen, Lord.

That’s not me.

Find somebody else.

/

/            /The story of Jonah teaches us that if you choose to disregard God’s call, don’t be surprised when God captures your attention through some whale-sized difficulty to get you back on the right track.

On the other hand, you can learn from Jonah’s folly: when God calls you to do something, /just do it./

Without complaining, without resentment, without running away- just do it.

I am discovering the path of obedience is a lot smoother than the detour of disobedience.

/Chuck Swindoll writes:/ Do you remember the last time you got a spanking?

I remember…As a matter of fact, the spanking was on my thirteenth birthday…In our home…when you had a birthday you were sort of “king for a day.”

I remember lying around in the bed and on the sofa, barking orders….

And so my father, from the flower bed outside, sensing the need for some correction, called me, “Charles.”

And I said, “Yeah,” which was mistake #1, because in our home you didn’t say “Yeah” you said, “Yes sir.”

And then he called…again and said, “Come out and help me weed the flower bed.”

And I said, “No,” which was mistake #2.

He graciously continued…, “Now don’t lie there and act like a three-year-old.

Come out and help me weed this flower bed.”

I said, “Daddy, I’m not three, I’m thirteen.”

…that’s the last thing I remember on that day, because with both hands and both feet he landed on my body.

And he did not let go until I was very vigorously weeding the flower bed….[iv]

/The book of Jonah reminds us: you better be careful how your respond to God’s call.

What is He calling you to do? Are you listening?

Are you obeying?

/

/            God’s calling is one important theme of this book.

Another important theme is /