1 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,200 We have Jared Nicholas continue to teach us from the book of 2 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,360 Jonah. Jonah seems to be known for the 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,800 big fish or great fish, but it really is about the one true God 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:22,320 who is big and who is great. Let's listen in and see how we 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,080 can see similarities between ourselves and Jonah and begin to 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,830 draw closer to our God. Welcome back, everyone. 7 00:00:31,830 --> 00:00:34,910 It's good to be back again. It might be the first time 8 00:00:34,910 --> 00:00:37,630 you're seeing me back-to-back, so that's something different 9 00:00:37,630 --> 00:00:41,630 today. So welcome back to Jonah Part 2. 10 00:00:41,750 --> 00:00:45,550 So we'll be getting into, We did chapter one last week. 11 00:00:45,910 --> 00:00:49,430 I will be getting into chapters at 3:00 and 4:00 and skipping to 12 00:00:49,430 --> 00:00:51,110 getting to chapters 3 and four this week. 13 00:00:51,830 --> 00:00:56,590 So let me go ahead and pray, and then we'll get into Scripture. 14 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:03,080 Family, Father, we as always we come to you with gratitude. 15 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,160 We come to you with gratefulness and thankfulness. 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:10,000 Lord, that you are our God. That you the one true God are 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,000 our God and we have the privilege of worshiping you. 18 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,560 Lord thank you for your scripture you have given us. 19 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,120 Thank you for the space you have given us. 20 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,280 Where we can gather in comfort. We can gather in safety and. 21 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:29,080 We can gather as a community, community to come and worship 22 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:35,360 your Lord so that, as always, we take the time to remember and 23 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:40,480 pray for the people that who follow you but do not have the 24 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,240 safety or the comfort to gather. As a community who may not have 25 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,200 Scripture in their hands even though they earnestly seek it, 26 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:52,120 we ask that you would make a way that you would wherever they are 27 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:53,680 right now, that you would comfort them. 28 00:01:54,190 --> 00:02:02,870 That you would protect them. That you would show yourself in 29 00:02:02,870 --> 00:02:07,190 their lives, Lord, That that they would understand that they 30 00:02:07,190 --> 00:02:11,750 are surrounded by you. That we ask that we know that 31 00:02:11,750 --> 00:02:13,230 you are the God that is in control. 32 00:02:13,790 --> 00:02:16,350 So we ask that you would change circumstances where they live 33 00:02:16,870 --> 00:02:19,950 that you would bring about change that your Kingdom would 34 00:02:19,950 --> 00:02:22,870 manifest Lord, and that they would be able to. 35 00:02:23,390 --> 00:02:26,390 Gather in safety as a community that they would get Scripture in 36 00:02:26,390 --> 00:02:27,470 their hands if they don't have it. 37 00:02:28,950 --> 00:02:31,670 So, Father, we ask you to orchestrate these things because 38 00:02:31,670 --> 00:02:35,390 you are the one true God who is in control and we believe in 39 00:02:35,390 --> 00:02:39,750 you, and we look to you in faith to accomplish these things for 40 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:43,870 the Today, as we gather around your Word, as we gather around 41 00:02:43,870 --> 00:02:46,750 your Scripture, we. I ask that that you would give 42 00:02:46,750 --> 00:02:51,670 me the words to speak, that you would give me the. 43 00:02:52,590 --> 00:02:55,110 Boldness to speak the things that you have for us. 44 00:02:56,830 --> 00:03:01,670 And Lord, that the word you have today would convict us, would 45 00:03:02,110 --> 00:03:05,350 sink deep into us, and that it would bear fruit. 46 00:03:05,350 --> 00:03:10,510 Lord, Father, we love you. We ask us all the name of your 47 00:03:10,510 --> 00:03:11,830 son Jesus. Amen. 48 00:03:13,510 --> 00:03:17,550 So as I said earlier, just welcome back to Jonah Part 2. 49 00:03:17,550 --> 00:03:21,310 So last week we dwelled on Jonah Chapter One. 50 00:03:22,550 --> 00:03:27,670 We kind of ended with how we are like Jonah or Jonah is like a 51 00:03:27,670 --> 00:03:31,350 mirror and we see ourselves, but we really are the ones that can 52 00:03:31,350 --> 00:03:34,790 associate with Jonah. We talked about this idea of 53 00:03:35,470 --> 00:03:41,310 Jonah running away as we know that life has lived the best in 54 00:03:41,310 --> 00:03:42,910 God. But we tell ourselves that life 55 00:03:42,910 --> 00:03:46,190 has lived the best in us or through us, and then we go do 56 00:03:46,190 --> 00:03:51,710 our own thing during the. In person service, I kind of had 57 00:03:51,710 --> 00:03:59,750 a phrase as in we know best, or so we say we know best, and then 58 00:03:59,750 --> 00:04:02,990 we go do what we want in a sense. 59 00:04:02,990 --> 00:04:06,430 And then we talked about how in Jonah's case, even when he 60 00:04:06,430 --> 00:04:10,670 thought he knew best, God pursued and God rescued. 61 00:04:10,710 --> 00:04:13,390 We looked at the idea of how the fish was. 62 00:04:13,390 --> 00:04:15,640 Not really. Punishment for disobedience, but 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,640 it was rescue from death for Jonah. 64 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:21,760 So we looked at the ideas and then we kind of really kind of 65 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:28,100 emphasized on how it is. We know, God knows better, but 66 00:04:28,180 --> 00:04:30,940 there are aspects of our lives where we feel we know better and 67 00:04:30,940 --> 00:04:33,500 go do our own thing. But even in those areas where we 68 00:04:33,500 --> 00:04:36,420 recognize that we can repent and come back, even those areas 69 00:04:36,420 --> 00:04:39,780 where we have gone astray, God pursues and rescues us and 70 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:41,740 brings us back. So this idea of rescue. 71 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:45,900 But we we are Jonah in this book and we will see that we are 72 00:04:45,900 --> 00:04:48,940 Jonah not just in chapter one, but throughout the entirety, the 73 00:04:48,940 --> 00:04:53,980 entirety of the book. We are Jonah and but in chapters 74 00:04:53,980 --> 00:04:57,120 3 and 4. We are joining in different ways 75 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,800 than chapter one, similar but also different. 76 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,720 So what I would like to do is I would like to read chapters 3:00 77 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,000 and 4:00 and then we will go back through a few verses at a 78 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,400 time and see what scripture has to say to us today. 79 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:18,520 So in chapters one we look we just to summarize chapter one 80 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,310 and. To chapter one, Jonah receives a 81 00:05:22,310 --> 00:05:26,270 call from God to go to Nineveh, and he says no thank you. 82 00:05:26,590 --> 00:05:28,950 And he says I know better, so I'm going to do my own thing. 83 00:05:28,950 --> 00:05:32,910 And said he decides to go to Tarsus, which is as far as 84 00:05:32,950 --> 00:05:35,470 Jonah's concerned, the end of the earth for him or the end of 85 00:05:35,470 --> 00:05:41,310 his known earth. And he votes the ship to Ajapa, 86 00:05:41,310 --> 00:05:45,030 he votes the ship to Tarsus, and he's going. 87 00:05:45,030 --> 00:05:46,990 And then there's a storm. A very. 88 00:05:48,620 --> 00:05:52,940 Mighty big storm and a great storm. 89 00:05:53,660 --> 00:05:56,620 And through the course of the storm and everything that 90 00:05:56,620 --> 00:05:59,860 happens, Jonah ends up being thrown overboard because he says 91 00:05:59,860 --> 00:06:02,820 this is on me, I'm responsible. Throw me overboard and 92 00:06:02,820 --> 00:06:05,860 everything will be OK. So they throw him overboard and 93 00:06:05,900 --> 00:06:10,980 it does grow calm, and God sends a great fish to swallow up 94 00:06:10,980 --> 00:06:13,660 Jonah. And we talked about the idea 95 00:06:13,660 --> 00:06:16,660 that this fish was not punishment for disobedience, but 96 00:06:16,820 --> 00:06:20,660 rescue from death, as in God's ammo through scriptures, not 97 00:06:20,660 --> 00:06:24,980 punishment, but it's rescued, so he is rescued. 98 00:06:25,060 --> 00:06:32,700 And then chapter 2 is Jonah's prayer to God from within the 99 00:06:32,700 --> 00:06:36,980 belly of the fish. And then at the end he is spit 100 00:06:36,980 --> 00:06:39,340 up or vomited back onto dry land. 101 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:41,680 So we kind of pick up from there. 102 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,280 So this is Jonah chapter 3 and chapter 4. 103 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,960 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. 104 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,880 Go to the great city of Ninova and proclaim to it the message I 105 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,280 give you. Jonah obeyed the word of the 106 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:57,720 Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large 107 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,600 city. It took three days to go through 108 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,200 it. Jonah began by going a day's 109 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,720 journey into the city, proclaiming 40 more days and 110 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,400 Nineveh will be overthrown. The Ninovites believed God. 111 00:07:09,850 --> 00:07:13,970 The fast was proclaimed in all of them, from the greatest to 112 00:07:13,970 --> 00:07:19,970 the least put on sack clock. When Jonah's warning reached the 113 00:07:19,970 --> 00:07:24,130 king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal 114 00:07:24,130 --> 00:07:28,850 robes, covered himself with sack clock, and sat down in the dust. 115 00:07:29,730 --> 00:07:34,010 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh by the decree 116 00:07:34,010 --> 00:07:39,560 of the king and his nobles. Do not let people or animals, 117 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,640 herds or flocks taste anything. Do not let them eat or drink, 118 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,160 but let people and animals be covered with saplot. 119 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,120 Let everyone call urgently on God. 120 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,840 Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 121 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,760 Who knows? God may yet relent and with 122 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,200 compassion turn from his fierce anger, so that we will not 123 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:08,370 perish when God saw. What they did and how they 124 00:08:08,370 --> 00:08:12,050 turned from their evil ways, that he relented and did not 125 00:08:12,050 --> 00:08:14,490 bring on them the destruction he had threatened. 126 00:08:16,010 --> 00:08:21,490 But to Jonah, this seemed very wrong and he became angry. 127 00:08:22,020 --> 00:08:25,300 He prayed to the Lord. Isn't this what I said, Lord, 128 00:08:25,300 --> 00:08:30,060 when I was still at home, that is what I tried to forestall by 129 00:08:30,060 --> 00:08:34,659 fleeing to Tarsus. I knew that you are a gracious 130 00:08:34,820 --> 00:08:39,940 and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a 131 00:08:39,940 --> 00:08:43,700 God who relents from sending calamity. 132 00:08:44,260 --> 00:08:48,660 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die 133 00:08:49,020 --> 00:08:53,910 than to live. But the Lord replied, is it 134 00:08:53,910 --> 00:08:57,950 right for you to be angry? Jonah had gone out and sat at a 135 00:08:57,950 --> 00:09:01,510 place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, 136 00:09:01,550 --> 00:09:05,310 sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the 137 00:09:05,310 --> 00:09:08,230 city. Then the Lord God provided A 138 00:09:08,230 --> 00:09:12,590 leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah, to give shade for 139 00:09:12,590 --> 00:09:17,350 his head to ease his discomfort. And Jonah was very happy about 140 00:09:17,350 --> 00:09:20,910 the plant, but at dawn the next day. 141 00:09:21,390 --> 00:09:25,830 God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it 142 00:09:25,830 --> 00:09:29,710 withered. When the sun rose, God provided 143 00:09:29,710 --> 00:09:34,870 A scorching E wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that 144 00:09:34,870 --> 00:09:38,990 he grew faint. He wanted to die and said it 145 00:09:38,990 --> 00:09:40,950 would be better for me to die than to live. 146 00:09:41,470 --> 00:09:45,790 But God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about 147 00:09:45,790 --> 00:09:48,790 the plant? It is, he said. 148 00:09:49,850 --> 00:09:52,690 And I'm so angry, I wish I were dead. 149 00:09:54,170 --> 00:09:58,930 But the Lord said, you have been concerned about this plant, 150 00:09:59,130 --> 00:10:02,730 though you did not tend it or make it grow. 151 00:10:03,130 --> 00:10:06,210 It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 152 00:10:07,770 --> 00:10:12,050 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, 153 00:10:12,050 --> 00:10:17,290 in which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell 154 00:10:17,290 --> 00:10:21,240 their right hand? From their left and also many 155 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,760 atoms. Chapter three starts similar to 156 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:27,920 chapter one, where Jonah gets the message go to Nineveh. 157 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,160 But his response this time is different. 158 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,320 Rather than I know better, I'm going to go somewhere else. 159 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:36,280 It's God knows better. OK, let me be obedient. 160 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:40,960 So he obeys. So we'll look at 3 versus one 161 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:42,560 through 3. So it's then the word of the 162 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:44,640 Lord came to Jonah a second time. 163 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:47,880 Go to the great city of Nineveh. Proclaim to it the message I 164 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,560 give you. Jonah obeyed the word of the 165 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:54,440 Lord and went to Nineva. Now Nineva was a very large 166 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,280 city. It took three days to go through 167 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:03,360 it. So again it is same message go 168 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,160 to Nineva this time different response, right? 169 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,720 So he puts it. He, Jonah puts aside his I know 170 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,400 better, chooses to be obedient, and he goes to Nineva. 171 00:11:14,500 --> 00:11:18,620 No, if we assume that the fish threw him up back at Joppa where 172 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:23,180 he boarded the ship to Tarshish in the 1st place, Joppa to 173 00:11:23,180 --> 00:11:25,820 Nineveh. If he is walking five weeks, OK, 174 00:11:26,420 --> 00:11:30,060 so he's been walking for five weeks and he arrives at Nineveh 175 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:35,780 and it talks about how a nearby is a great city and took three 176 00:11:35,780 --> 00:11:41,200 days to go through it now. There can be a couple ways we 177 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,120 look at this. Three days to go through it 178 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,120 could possibly mean that. Well, the reason there are a 179 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:50,040 couple ways is the circumference of Nineveh. 180 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:54,840 Even though this is a great, great city, it wasn't the 181 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,360 circumference was just I think a couple miles or something or 182 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:02,040 maybe 3 to 5 kilometers. It's not something that we're 183 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,560 required 5I mean a three day journey to go through the city 184 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:11,470 or across the city, so. Here, the three days through it, 185 00:12:11,630 --> 00:12:14,630 one could likely mean that Nineveh here is being referred 186 00:12:14,630 --> 00:12:18,950 to as the province of Nineveh, so the city as well as all the 187 00:12:18,950 --> 00:12:23,510 surrounding towns and villages and agricultural land and stuff 188 00:12:23,510 --> 00:12:25,230 like that. So that would have been a much 189 00:12:25,230 --> 00:12:28,630 larger area of land and that could have possibly taken three, 190 00:12:28,750 --> 00:12:33,390 I mean three days to navigate or a different idea is? 191 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,880 It never was a great city, so he had it had many city gates. 192 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:41,880 City gates were the place where there were areas of commerce. 193 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:43,400 That's what people were gathered to trade. 194 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:45,280 So it was a hub for people to gather. 195 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,880 So if Journal was going to proclaim the message, his 196 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,240 strategy would have been to go proclaim the message at each 197 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,920 city gate. So since there were numerous 198 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:58,440 city gates he it would have taken him three days likely to 199 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,760 go through all the city gates and hit up all the important 200 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,520 places like the courtyards and stuff so. 201 00:13:04,630 --> 00:13:08,270 You could call, so you could phrase this at It would take him 202 00:13:08,270 --> 00:13:11,710 three days to complete like his task to proclaim to the city. 203 00:13:12,550 --> 00:13:17,030 And so those are the two kind of. 204 00:13:17,820 --> 00:13:21,460 Ideas for three days time. I lean towards the one where 205 00:13:21,460 --> 00:13:24,380 it's going to take three days for him to complete whatever the 206 00:13:24,380 --> 00:13:27,380 Lord has tasked him with. OK, so that's versus one through 207 00:13:27,380 --> 00:13:29,660 3. So looking at verses 4 to 5, 208 00:13:29,940 --> 00:13:32,700 Journey began by going a day's journey into the city, 209 00:13:32,700 --> 00:13:35,900 proclaiming 40 more days and then never will be overthrown. 210 00:13:36,340 --> 00:13:40,500 The nanovites believe God a fast was proclaimed at all of them 211 00:13:41,060 --> 00:13:44,220 from the greatest to the least put on SAP. 212 00:13:45,860 --> 00:13:50,250 So here. We talked about 3 days journey, 213 00:13:50,250 --> 00:13:55,290 but within a day there is a great response. 214 00:13:55,490 --> 00:13:59,490 OK, and there is. This is not some elaborate 215 00:13:59,490 --> 00:14:03,530 message, it's a very short message. 40 more days and the 216 00:14:03,530 --> 00:14:05,970 number will be overthrown. It's about like 8 or 9 words in 217 00:14:05,970 --> 00:14:08,010 English. In Hebrew it was just five 218 00:14:08,010 --> 00:14:10,810 words. One day, 5 words. 219 00:14:11,250 --> 00:14:15,770 And now the city is repenting. So talk about this idea of great 220 00:14:15,770 --> 00:14:18,770 that goes through the book of no Nova. 221 00:14:18,770 --> 00:14:22,810 This is that great response from the city of Nova, Book of Jonah. 222 00:14:22,810 --> 00:14:24,610 This is great response from the city of Nova. 223 00:14:24,930 --> 00:14:28,730 So 5 words as in in English it could be something as short as 224 00:14:28,930 --> 00:14:31,930 you are about to perish and just one day. 225 00:14:31,970 --> 00:14:34,370 Not the three days it took to go or anything. 226 00:14:34,490 --> 00:14:39,660 One day. 5 words and you get this response of repentance from 227 00:14:39,980 --> 00:14:42,940 the netabytes. So it says they believed God, 228 00:14:43,860 --> 00:14:48,500 they chose to fast all of them from the greatest to the least 229 00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:53,660 and they put on saplot. So they are in this mode of 230 00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:57,920 repentance even. Physically because they put on 231 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,000 SAP clock to show that they're repenting and they declare a 232 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:05,560 fast so they abstaining from food and they are turning to God 233 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,840 so it says they believe God and they're turning So such a great 234 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:14,920 response from what we're taking three days but only on day one 235 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:21,360 and five words simple message but great response and it the 236 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,640 response doesn't stop here we'll read versus. 237 00:15:25,490 --> 00:15:29,690 The 6th through Chapter 9, I mean sorry versus 6 through 9, 238 00:15:30,370 --> 00:15:35,250 when when Jonas Warning reached the King of Nineveh, he rose 239 00:15:35,250 --> 00:15:38,850 from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself 240 00:15:38,850 --> 00:15:41,250 with saplot, and sat down in the dust. 241 00:15:42,090 --> 00:15:47,450 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh by the decree 242 00:15:47,450 --> 00:15:51,730 of the king and his nobles do not let people or animals. 243 00:15:52,270 --> 00:15:56,350 Herds or flocks taste anything. Do not let them eat or drink, 244 00:15:57,030 --> 00:15:59,550 but let people and animals be covered with saffron. 245 00:16:00,030 --> 00:16:02,150 Let everyone call urgently on God. 246 00:16:02,590 --> 00:16:05,830 Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 247 00:16:06,310 --> 00:16:09,790 Who knows? God may yet relent and with 248 00:16:09,790 --> 00:16:14,910 compassion turn from his fierce anger, so that we will not 249 00:16:14,910 --> 00:16:19,310 perish so. This people have never have 250 00:16:19,470 --> 00:16:21,990 already started this act of repentance. 251 00:16:21,990 --> 00:16:25,950 And then the news reaches the king or the ruler of Nineveh, 252 00:16:26,190 --> 00:16:29,590 and then he decides to join his people in repentance. 253 00:16:30,030 --> 00:16:33,910 Look at this vivid image we get. He comes off his throne, right? 254 00:16:34,110 --> 00:16:38,510 He takes off his royal ropes, puts on sack lot and sits in the 255 00:16:38,510 --> 00:16:43,510 dust, almost as if he's giving up his Kingdom or or king or 256 00:16:43,510 --> 00:16:46,960 kingship and then repenting. And then he makes a 257 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,000 proclamation. And then so we see that the 258 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,880 people chose to fast and put on sack lock. 259 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,120 He goes few more steps further than that. 260 00:16:55,160 --> 00:17:00,560 His decree is do not let people or animals eat or drink 261 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,400 anything. OK, so no one's to eat, no one's 262 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,520 to drink. And everybody puts on sack lock, 263 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,359 so it's not just sufficient for the humans to put on sack lock. 264 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,640 Clothe the animals with sack lock too. 265 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,910 Everyone here in the city. He is going to repent and then 266 00:17:16,910 --> 00:17:20,069 let everyone call urgently on God. 267 00:17:20,069 --> 00:17:22,589 Call on God. Same language we see with the 268 00:17:22,589 --> 00:17:24,550 sailors. Call on your own God, call on 269 00:17:24,550 --> 00:17:26,869 God. They tell Jonah to call on his 270 00:17:26,869 --> 00:17:28,950 God. So here we see people again 271 00:17:28,950 --> 00:17:35,790 calling on God and then he says this let them give up their evil 272 00:17:35,790 --> 00:17:37,910 ways. So let them give up the evil 273 00:17:37,910 --> 00:17:39,590 ways. Sounds pretty generic. 274 00:17:39,590 --> 00:17:43,110 Turn away from the wickedness. But he goes on to say, and their 275 00:17:43,110 --> 00:17:47,490 violence. If think about how we think 276 00:17:47,490 --> 00:17:53,770 about the background, we talked about this the Assyrian empire, 277 00:17:54,610 --> 00:17:57,450 they were known for their violence, they were known for 278 00:17:57,450 --> 00:17:59,370 their cruelty. And we talked about some 279 00:17:59,370 --> 00:18:03,650 examples of how cruel they were to the people they captured, to 280 00:18:03,650 --> 00:18:07,650 the people they conquered and how they delighted in torture, 281 00:18:07,850 --> 00:18:09,850 quite literally and how they reported all that. 282 00:18:10,170 --> 00:18:13,690 So this violence is very particular, seems like. 283 00:18:14,130 --> 00:18:18,530 To Syria, quite literally the word in the original language 284 00:18:18,570 --> 00:18:20,610 kind of says the violence in their hands. 285 00:18:20,770 --> 00:18:24,330 So turn from your evil ways and the violence in your hands. 286 00:18:25,010 --> 00:18:33,810 So and he goes on to say, who knows God may relent with 287 00:18:33,810 --> 00:18:38,330 compassion turned. So this phrase who knows here is 288 00:18:38,330 --> 00:18:42,290 not like a I don't know, and that's not or an IDK or like a. 289 00:18:43,010 --> 00:18:47,290 The shrug of the shoulders it's it is a who knows, as in it is a 290 00:18:47,290 --> 00:18:51,690 humble way of saying. It's like a humble filled with 291 00:18:51,690 --> 00:18:56,530 humility. Only God knows or only God can 292 00:18:56,530 --> 00:19:00,930 do this or only God can relate. So it's not a who knows like I 293 00:19:00,930 --> 00:19:04,890 really don't like and I don't know, but it is a who knows, as 294 00:19:04,890 --> 00:19:08,730 in I, the King. I'm going to humble myself and 295 00:19:08,930 --> 00:19:12,850 realize and understand that only God knows, only God can do this. 296 00:19:12,850 --> 00:19:15,770 So it is a it is the King. The king says who knows. 297 00:19:15,930 --> 00:19:19,410 It is him humbling himself before God, acknowledging that 298 00:19:19,410 --> 00:19:22,130 God is the one that knows or only God knows. 299 00:19:23,490 --> 00:19:25,770 Then who knows? God may relent and be 300 00:19:25,770 --> 00:19:27,970 compassionate and turn from his fierce anger. 301 00:19:27,970 --> 00:19:31,770 So the hope is that this act of repentance is met with 302 00:19:31,770 --> 00:19:35,770 compassion and not destruction or anger and. 303 00:19:36,390 --> 00:19:41,310 Burst end when God saw what they did and how they turned from the 304 00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:44,790 evil ways. He relented and did not bring on 305 00:19:44,790 --> 00:19:47,150 them the destruction he had threatened. 306 00:19:47,510 --> 00:19:51,990 So we see God's response. God saw it, and he says that he 307 00:19:52,550 --> 00:19:56,630 how they turned from the evil ways, so that act of repenting 308 00:19:56,630 --> 00:20:01,830 meaning turning away from that, and he relented. 309 00:20:02,470 --> 00:20:05,950 He did not bring the destruction he had threatened. 310 00:20:06,390 --> 00:20:10,230 So God is compassionate towards them. 311 00:20:10,590 --> 00:20:14,870 He does not destroy them. He sees their repentance and in 312 00:20:14,870 --> 00:20:21,310 turn he is compassionate and chooses not to deal out the 313 00:20:21,310 --> 00:20:23,030 destruction that he had threatened. 314 00:20:23,430 --> 00:20:30,590 So now Jonah sees this and chapter 4 verse. 315 00:20:30,590 --> 00:20:34,530 One line is very clear. But to Jonah this seemed very 316 00:20:34,530 --> 00:20:38,370 wrong and he became angry. So what seemed very wrong, 317 00:20:38,410 --> 00:20:45,330 Jonah, the thought that or what seemed wrong was God dealing 318 00:20:45,330 --> 00:20:50,170 with Neva compassionately. He did not want them to be dealt 319 00:20:50,170 --> 00:20:52,770 with compassionately. He wanted them to be destroyed. 320 00:20:52,810 --> 00:20:56,890 He wanted destruction to come. He wanted them to be punished. 321 00:20:57,370 --> 00:21:02,190 However, the way God has dealt with him with compassion seems 322 00:21:02,270 --> 00:21:05,310 utterly wrong to him. So he says, but scripture says 323 00:21:05,310 --> 00:21:09,110 verses one through 3. But to Jonah this seemed very 324 00:21:09,110 --> 00:21:13,430 wrong and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord. 325 00:21:14,750 --> 00:21:18,710 Isn't this what I said? Lord, when I was still at home 326 00:21:19,470 --> 00:21:26,270 that that is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarsh. 327 00:21:26,630 --> 00:21:33,160 I knew you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger 328 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,560 and abounding in love the God who relents from sending 329 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,440 calamity. Now Lord, take away my life, for 330 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,960 it is better for me to die than to live. 331 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,160 Jonah is clearly angry because what he just saw with God's 332 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,960 compassion was wrong to him and his responses. 333 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,240 I am angry. And then he kind of reveals to 334 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:57,520 us the real reason that he decided to flee, right? 335 00:21:58,010 --> 00:22:01,890 He says this beautiful confession of who are goddess, 336 00:22:02,650 --> 00:22:06,330 Goddess, compassionate, abounding in love, slow to 337 00:22:06,330 --> 00:22:09,930 anger, relents from sending calamity. 338 00:22:11,090 --> 00:22:15,010 And he gives this description of a gracious God. 339 00:22:15,730 --> 00:22:18,370 And then he says, that is why I ran. 340 00:22:18,690 --> 00:22:20,930 I ran so that I could prevent this from happening. 341 00:22:20,930 --> 00:22:24,170 Because I knew you would be compassionate. 342 00:22:24,330 --> 00:22:31,540 I knew you would be gracious. So in Jonah's I know better 343 00:22:32,100 --> 00:22:37,740 phase it was if I fled then I could prevent God from being 344 00:22:37,740 --> 00:22:40,500 compassionate to this people because I know he's going to be 345 00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:45,660 compassionate when they repent. And what that is clearly said, 346 00:22:45,660 --> 00:22:51,300 Jonah knows his God, but he's not happy with what happened. 347 00:22:53,300 --> 00:22:55,780 So this is too much for Jonah to bear. 348 00:22:56,230 --> 00:23:01,510 And then he says I would rather die now, just take my life. 349 00:23:01,590 --> 00:23:05,550 I want to die. When I hear this phrase from 350 00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:08,510 Jonah, I want to die because he's just unhappy and angry. 351 00:23:08,510 --> 00:23:13,110 But things that have gone contrary to what he wanted, he 352 00:23:13,110 --> 00:23:16,270 wanted destruction. Instead, God chose compassion. 353 00:23:16,670 --> 00:23:20,510 And seeing this, he's angry and it's almost like he's a child, 354 00:23:20,550 --> 00:23:21,870 right? Throwing a fit, Throwing a 355 00:23:21,870 --> 00:23:25,280 tantrum. I don't like what's happening, 356 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,360 so I'm going to flail around and say I want to die. 357 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:33,880 So it is. It's very childlike. 358 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,440 That's the best way. It sounds like a tantrum because 359 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,640 think about it, right? He knows what God is like, OK? 360 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,200 These are the characteristics of God he has relied on as the 361 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,440 prophet of God. These are the characteristics of 362 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:53,360 God that came true when he needed rescue, right when he was 363 00:23:53,360 --> 00:24:00,360 in the sea, when an option for him was death, God rescued out 364 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,760 of compassion, out of his abounding love, out of his 365 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:10,160 grace, out of his slow to anger. God rescued him because of the 366 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:14,360 way he just described God, that he is a compassionate, gracious 367 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:19,680 God, right? However, when the object of 368 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:24,910 God's grace was somebody else was in Nineveh, the people he 369 00:24:24,910 --> 00:24:30,150 did not like then that wasn't what he wanted. 370 00:24:30,430 --> 00:24:33,270 He brings up anger and he's throwing a fit and having a 371 00:24:33,270 --> 00:24:36,510 tantrum. So remember, as we're reading 372 00:24:36,510 --> 00:24:44,390 this, we are Jonah, right? Think of the times where because 373 00:24:44,390 --> 00:24:48,870 of God's grace, something went well for us, but also because of 374 00:24:48,870 --> 00:24:52,590 God's grace, something went well for somebody else and we 375 00:24:52,590 --> 00:24:58,310 couldn't handle it. We wanted God to deal with 376 00:24:58,310 --> 00:25:01,790 somebody partially as and give them what they deserve, punish 377 00:25:01,790 --> 00:25:05,750 them, but when he may have dealt with them compassionately, it 378 00:25:05,750 --> 00:25:10,150 was too much for us to handle. I'm certain many of us have had 379 00:25:10,190 --> 00:25:14,990 similar experiences and similar things, so we are joining now 380 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:19,440 When he says he's angry and I would much rather die than deal 381 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,360 with this. God asks him the question. 382 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:27,280 God says, but the Lord replied, is it right for you to be angry? 383 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,800 And however this is verse for Jonah does not respond. 384 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,000 God asked is it right for you to be angry? 385 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,960 There is silence. So verses 5 through 8, you want 386 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,840 to say this? Jonah had gone out and sat down 387 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:48,240 at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, 388 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,400 sat in its shade, and waited to see what would happen to the 389 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,960 city. Then the Lord God provided A 390 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:59,600 leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his 391 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,640 head to ease his discomfort. And Jonah was very happy about 392 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,200 the plant. But at dawn the next day, God 393 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,840 provided a worm which chewed the plant so that it withered. 394 00:26:13,340 --> 00:26:18,660 When the sun rose, God provided A scorching E wind, and the sun 395 00:26:18,660 --> 00:26:22,700 blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew pink. 396 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:29,100 He wanted to die and said it would be better for me to die 397 00:26:29,100 --> 00:26:33,340 than to live. So again, I want to die. 398 00:26:33,580 --> 00:26:38,940 That's how he ends verse 8. Now going back to verse five, it 399 00:26:38,940 --> 00:26:43,950 says so God asked. The question is right to be 400 00:26:43,950 --> 00:26:45,550 angry. Girard doesn't respond and it 401 00:26:45,550 --> 00:26:50,510 says Jonah went out of the city and went to the east side and he 402 00:26:50,550 --> 00:26:57,510 set up a shelter to have some shade from the sun and sat down 403 00:26:57,550 --> 00:26:59,750 to see what would happen to the city. 404 00:27:01,430 --> 00:27:08,450 So as in, he was just angry that God was compassionate, but he's 405 00:27:08,450 --> 00:27:10,770 still like, holding out for hope that they would still be 406 00:27:10,770 --> 00:27:12,890 destroyed. I wonder if he was telling 407 00:27:12,890 --> 00:27:15,610 himself the message was 40 days, so maybe he was going to sit 408 00:27:15,610 --> 00:27:19,090 there for 40 days and see if God changed his mind and destroyed 409 00:27:19,090 --> 00:27:22,010 the city. I'm not sure, but it gives this 410 00:27:22,010 --> 00:27:28,070 idea that he's not satisfied with God's response and he is 411 00:27:28,070 --> 00:27:31,670 gone and he's sitting there and he wants the city to be 412 00:27:31,670 --> 00:27:33,390 destroyed. So he's just gonna wait for it, 413 00:27:33,390 --> 00:27:35,270 that he's gonna wait and see what happens. 414 00:27:36,790 --> 00:27:40,030 He is aware that they are repented. 415 00:27:40,230 --> 00:27:44,950 He is aware that God has relented and has been 416 00:27:44,950 --> 00:27:50,480 compassionate. But it seems that it doesn't 417 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,440 matter right now for them. He wants to go and sit and watch 418 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,000 the fireworks display, which we know is not coming because God 419 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:03,800 is going to be compassionate. So he wants so much for this 420 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:09,600 city to be punished and destroyed and so, So while he's 421 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,840 waiting to see what happens to the city, it is hot. 422 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,460 So he built a shelter and look at. 423 00:28:15,540 --> 00:28:19,140 So it says about it talks about God providing God provided the 424 00:28:19,140 --> 00:28:20,780 plant. God provided a worm. 425 00:28:21,060 --> 00:28:27,700 God provided A scorching E wind, just like God provided the great 426 00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:29,620 fish. God is providing these three 427 00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:32,940 things here. OK, so this next part is like an 428 00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:40,020 object lesson from God to Jonah. OK, so God provides this leafy 429 00:28:40,020 --> 00:28:44,540 plant. So leafy must meaning lots of 430 00:28:44,540 --> 00:28:47,500 foliage, lots of cover. He would have been shaded very 431 00:28:47,500 --> 00:28:51,740 well. And then it says Jonah was very 432 00:28:51,740 --> 00:28:54,700 happy about this plant. It might be the only time in the 433 00:28:54,700 --> 00:28:58,060 story that we see that Jonah is happy God provided a plant. 434 00:28:58,140 --> 00:29:02,580 He is in the shade. It's relieved his discomfort and 435 00:29:02,580 --> 00:29:08,380 he is happy. And then overnight a work a worm 436 00:29:08,380 --> 00:29:12,210 comes provided by God, eats the plant, causes it to wither, and 437 00:29:12,210 --> 00:29:14,010 then plant disappears. And then God provides A 438 00:29:14,010 --> 00:29:18,770 scorching wind. And then Jonah is the sun blazed 439 00:29:18,770 --> 00:29:20,370 on his head so that he grew faint. 440 00:29:21,410 --> 00:29:26,450 Maybe heat stroke, I don't know. But he grew faint and he wanted 441 00:29:26,450 --> 00:29:30,330 to die and said it would be better for me to die than to 442 00:29:30,330 --> 00:29:32,970 live. So again, last time when he was 443 00:29:32,970 --> 00:29:36,810 angry, this phrase came right that I would rather die. 444 00:29:37,110 --> 00:29:39,470 Again, we see this phrase here. I would rather die. 445 00:29:39,470 --> 00:29:42,830 So again, there is anger here at what happened to the plant. 446 00:29:42,830 --> 00:29:44,830 That's what his condition is, so anger. 447 00:29:44,830 --> 00:29:48,430 And he says again, I would rather die, almost like throwing 448 00:29:48,830 --> 00:29:52,630 another tantrum. And this time God responds. 449 00:29:53,190 --> 00:29:56,630 So let's reverse this line through the ending. 450 00:29:57,110 --> 00:30:01,510 But God said to Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about 451 00:30:01,510 --> 00:30:03,830 the plant? It is, he said. 452 00:30:04,510 --> 00:30:07,070 And I am so angry, I wish I were dead. 453 00:30:08,590 --> 00:30:13,110 But the Lord said, you have been concerned about this plant, 454 00:30:13,150 --> 00:30:17,310 though you did not tend it or make it crow, make it grow. 455 00:30:17,510 --> 00:30:20,710 It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 456 00:30:21,790 --> 00:30:27,190 And should I not have concern for the great city of Mineva, in 457 00:30:27,190 --> 00:30:32,070 which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell 458 00:30:32,070 --> 00:30:38,750 their right and from their left and also many atoms, So there's 459 00:30:38,750 --> 00:30:40,710 anger. I want to die. 460 00:30:40,710 --> 00:30:44,070 Then God responds to the question, is it right for you to 461 00:30:44,070 --> 00:30:48,270 be angry about the plant? And this time, last time, Jonah 462 00:30:48,270 --> 00:30:51,230 did not respond. This time Jonah responds very 463 00:30:51,230 --> 00:30:52,670 unfathomingly. It is. 464 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,640 It is likely that this phrase, it is in the original language, 465 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:03,520 is an expletive or a cuss word. It is so whatever word you can 466 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,160 think of, yes, that's what's happening here. 467 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:11,160 He's like, it is very emphatic. I have every right to be angry. 468 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,360 I am so angry, I wish I were dead. 469 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,200 So that is Jonah's response. God says, do you have a right to 470 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:20,760 be angry? And his response is yes, I have 471 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:26,450 every right to be angry. And then God goes on to speak to 472 00:31:26,450 --> 00:31:33,370 him, tells him, you are so concerned with this plant. 473 00:31:33,890 --> 00:31:37,290 You did not plant it, you did not water it, or you did not 474 00:31:37,290 --> 00:31:39,450 cause it to grow. You had nothing to do with it. 475 00:31:39,810 --> 00:31:42,050 It sprang up on its own and died. 476 00:31:42,370 --> 00:31:45,330 And you are so concerned with this thing that you had nothing 477 00:31:45,330 --> 00:31:47,730 to do with. There was no effort from you at 478 00:31:47,730 --> 00:31:49,410 all. It was all on me. 479 00:31:49,770 --> 00:31:53,490 You had nothing to do with this plant, yet you are so concerned 480 00:31:53,490 --> 00:31:57,320 and angry over it. How much more should I be 481 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:02,320 concerned about this great city of Mineva, in which there are 482 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:07,000 120,000 people who do not know their right hand from their 483 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,840 left? As in people who are lost, 484 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:18,280 People who do not know God, the people who are confused, people 485 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:22,520 who don't know the way, just people do not know their right 486 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,940 hand from their left. How much more should I not be 487 00:32:25,940 --> 00:32:28,700 concerned or how much more should I be concerned about 488 00:32:28,700 --> 00:32:36,540 these people and animals? So God, this book, book of Jonah 489 00:32:36,700 --> 00:32:40,540 ends with this question that God poses to Jonah. 490 00:32:40,940 --> 00:32:48,700 Should I not be concerned? And since we are Jonah, that's 491 00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:52,300 kind of like the question where this scripture ends with us. 492 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,720 Should you or I not be concerned? 493 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,200 So how? How do we look at this? 494 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,840 So what are different ways that we can look at this and take 495 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,960 away from what we have read or what we're kind of unpacked. 496 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,160 So as you know, we are Jonah, right? 497 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:15,320 So let's have a look at Jonah's response to Ninova. 498 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:22,790 So. And Jonah wanted Nineveh to be 499 00:33:22,790 --> 00:33:24,790 punished. He knew God would be 500 00:33:24,790 --> 00:33:28,470 compassionate and spare them. However, he wanted them to be 501 00:33:28,470 --> 00:33:30,150 punished. He wanted them to be destroyed. 502 00:33:30,150 --> 00:33:33,110 He wanted them to get what they deserve. 503 00:33:34,350 --> 00:33:38,350 But what God did was he saw that they're repented. 504 00:33:38,670 --> 00:33:42,550 And then he poured out compassion and relented. 505 00:33:42,830 --> 00:33:44,310 But that is not what Journal wanted. 506 00:33:44,910 --> 00:33:50,570 So how do we see ourselves here? I guess the question I'd like to 507 00:33:50,570 --> 00:33:59,330 pose is how do we treat sin in the lives of other people? 508 00:33:59,650 --> 00:34:11,650 OK, Do we act like Jonah or do we kind of act like God when we 509 00:34:11,650 --> 00:34:16,730 see they sin in other people? And whatever its consequences 510 00:34:16,730 --> 00:34:19,610 are may have touched our lives. How do we respond? 511 00:34:20,170 --> 00:34:26,130 Do we say you deserve this or you need to be punished and we 512 00:34:26,409 --> 00:34:29,050 punish them? I'm not saying punishment always 513 00:34:29,050 --> 00:34:31,969 means we beat or something, but there are many ways we punish 514 00:34:31,969 --> 00:34:35,250 people. We we can verbally do that. 515 00:34:35,330 --> 00:34:40,969 We can do very nonverbal ways by just withholding affection, 516 00:34:40,969 --> 00:34:42,770 especially people we're in relationship with. 517 00:34:42,969 --> 00:34:45,250 But there are different ways that we punish them. 518 00:34:45,250 --> 00:34:52,159 So let's think about parenting. We as parents raising children 519 00:34:52,520 --> 00:35:00,120 are very, very, very aware of our children's lives and are 520 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:01,800 aware of the areas they struggle. 521 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:09,800 And so when they struggle with sin surfaces, and they make an 522 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:16,910 unwise choice at that moment, how do we deal with them? 523 00:35:18,110 --> 00:35:22,350 Are we Jonah where it is they only deserve punishment? 524 00:35:22,350 --> 00:35:27,270 They only deserve whatever there is coming to them? 525 00:35:27,550 --> 00:35:31,270 Or do we look at it compassionately? 526 00:35:31,270 --> 00:35:33,990 Do we look at them as this deserving compassion? 527 00:35:34,590 --> 00:35:40,270 So when we look at the sin around us right now, I'm not 528 00:35:40,270 --> 00:35:43,750 trying to convey the idea that God overlooked sin here. 529 00:35:44,030 --> 00:35:49,110 No, He He sent a message for them to repent and he repent and 530 00:35:49,150 --> 00:35:55,070 and they repented and he was compassionate tourism. 531 00:35:55,390 --> 00:36:00,350 I'm talking to us as people who follow Jesus. 532 00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:05,190 How do we view the things that happen around us? 533 00:36:05,470 --> 00:36:09,310 When we see something that we know is not right, is our 534 00:36:09,310 --> 00:36:13,330 immediate response to punish because that's what that person 535 00:36:13,330 --> 00:36:17,010 deserves? Or is our response compassion? 536 00:36:18,250 --> 00:36:21,130 So and how does this work out in our relationships? 537 00:36:21,650 --> 00:36:25,450 When we talk about marriage right and we talk about spouse, 538 00:36:25,690 --> 00:36:30,330 when you feel like your spouse has done something wrong, is 539 00:36:30,330 --> 00:36:33,610 your response punishment because you feel justified? 540 00:36:33,610 --> 00:36:35,810 They've done something wrong and they deserve punishment. 541 00:36:35,810 --> 00:36:41,030 So you do something that we seen as punishment or deal with them 542 00:36:41,230 --> 00:36:44,750 as to this is what they deserve or is our response. 543 00:36:45,350 --> 00:36:53,870 Compassion is our response. We see the struggle and rather 544 00:36:53,870 --> 00:36:58,270 than punishing we are compassionate because we see 545 00:36:58,270 --> 00:37:04,990 that struggle. So I think this kind of works 546 00:37:04,990 --> 00:37:08,710 itself. It kind of works itself out in 547 00:37:08,950 --> 00:37:11,850 pretty much every area of our life. 548 00:37:14,730 --> 00:37:17,690 And one thing to keep in mind when we're talking about this 549 00:37:17,690 --> 00:37:20,810 idea of how we approach people, even when it has to do with 550 00:37:20,810 --> 00:37:27,090 difficult things like sin and how we act in compassion versus 551 00:37:28,210 --> 00:37:31,410 punishment or telling them that they deserve or what is coming 552 00:37:31,410 --> 00:37:35,490 to them. So look at God's question, 553 00:37:35,530 --> 00:37:39,340 right? Should I not have concern for 554 00:37:39,340 --> 00:37:42,540 the great city of whenever that has 120,000 people? 555 00:37:43,580 --> 00:37:46,660 So remember he talked just previously. 556 00:37:48,020 --> 00:37:54,180 He talked about how you did not make it grow. 557 00:37:54,260 --> 00:37:58,060 It sprang up and it died, right? You did not tend it. 558 00:37:58,460 --> 00:38:00,860 You did not make it grow. So he's talking about the plant, 559 00:38:00,980 --> 00:38:03,460 how Jonah had nothing to do with making it grow. 560 00:38:04,020 --> 00:38:08,240 And then he shifts focus to the people of Nineveh. 561 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:15,480 As in, just like I am the one that made that plan grow, I am 562 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,160 the one that created these people, OK? 563 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:23,360 The idea that we are all created by the one true God. 564 00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:30,840 These people in Nineveh were image bearers, right? 565 00:38:31,300 --> 00:38:34,700 No matter what wickedness they were caught up in, no matter 566 00:38:34,700 --> 00:38:38,740 what violence or evil ways they followed, they were still 567 00:38:39,340 --> 00:38:43,380 created by God. And they were image bearers. 568 00:38:43,460 --> 00:38:48,860 They bore his image. So I'm talking about myself. 569 00:38:48,980 --> 00:38:53,420 I many times, as I reflect back on my life, kind of forget that 570 00:38:53,860 --> 00:38:58,540 every human is an image bearer irrelative of what they have 571 00:38:58,540 --> 00:39:04,040 done. They bear God's image, I have 572 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:09,560 many times told myself, or at least functioned in a way where 573 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:12,080 if you saw me, you would think that. 574 00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:15,760 Well, at this point Jaron seems to only believe that people who 575 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:18,680 followed Jesus are image bearers and everyone else isn't. 576 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:24,160 As in, I would treat people who followed Christ differently from 577 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:31,980 people who did not. But that is not the right way to 578 00:39:31,980 --> 00:39:36,060 see people, right? God has created all of us. 579 00:39:36,700 --> 00:39:42,820 We bear His image. So when we see people, it is 580 00:39:42,820 --> 00:39:48,340 important that we see them as God's season, that we see them 581 00:39:48,340 --> 00:39:53,300 as people who bear God's image. Just like I am an image bearer, 582 00:39:53,300 --> 00:39:57,180 every other person is an image bearer, right? 583 00:39:57,340 --> 00:40:02,510 Irrelative of what they are dealing with or what choices 584 00:40:02,510 --> 00:40:05,030 they've made, they are image bearers. 585 00:40:05,390 --> 00:40:13,790 So the challenge to us today is when we see people, do we see as 586 00:40:13,790 --> 00:40:17,990 John at us where people always deserving punishment because 587 00:40:17,990 --> 00:40:21,950 they have made unwise choices, they have sinned? 588 00:40:22,230 --> 00:40:26,150 Or do we see like God where we see that they are image bearers 589 00:40:26,150 --> 00:40:28,950 of the one true God and therefore shouldn't? 590 00:40:29,620 --> 00:40:35,100 Be dealt with compassionately should be that our compassion 591 00:40:35,100 --> 00:40:41,580 should be poured out on them. So I think that is the message 592 00:40:41,580 --> 00:40:43,980 of chapters 3 and four for us today. 593 00:40:47,700 --> 00:40:50,660 That is Jonah's biggest struggle, right? 594 00:40:51,180 --> 00:40:54,460 He saw how great the response of Nanava was. 595 00:40:56,020 --> 00:41:01,250 One day, 5 words and the entire city is repenting from the top, 596 00:41:01,250 --> 00:41:04,090 from the greatest to the least right. 597 00:41:04,290 --> 00:41:07,730 The entire city is decked out and sat, locked, and they're 598 00:41:07,730 --> 00:41:11,770 crying out to God, letting God know that they are repenting. 599 00:41:11,810 --> 00:41:14,170 And then there's acknowledgement in Scripture that they have 600 00:41:14,170 --> 00:41:17,050 turned from their wicked ways, meaning the repentance is true. 601 00:41:17,570 --> 00:41:21,170 They have turned, and God deals with them compassionately. 602 00:41:21,890 --> 00:41:26,890 But in God deals with people compassionately. 603 00:41:27,500 --> 00:41:31,180 It is difficult for us because we are telling ourselves they 604 00:41:31,180 --> 00:41:37,700 need to be dealt with in the way that they deserved, as in they 605 00:41:37,700 --> 00:41:41,140 deserve punishment. But then many times we forget. 606 00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:47,140 These are the same qualities that we rely on God when He is 607 00:41:47,140 --> 00:41:50,020 dealing with us, we want him to be compassionate towards us. 608 00:41:50,260 --> 00:41:52,220 We want him to be gracious towards us. 609 00:41:53,460 --> 00:41:57,360 However, when it's on, when the object of God's grace is 610 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:00,560 somebody different, we have a tendency to be, we have a 611 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:06,840 tendency to be like Jonah. So I think this story here 612 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:10,840 today, Jonah's response and God's response, it's a reminder 613 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:15,240 to us today to think about how we respond to the people around 614 00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:17,480 us. How we respond to immediate 615 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,000 family to our children. How we respond to our spouses. 616 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:23,520 How we respond to our parents. How we respond to people we work 617 00:42:24,230 --> 00:42:27,510 eve into the fact. How we respond to the person who 618 00:42:27,510 --> 00:42:28,950 cuts us off while we are driving. 619 00:42:28,990 --> 00:42:32,430 Right. They put themselves before us, 620 00:42:32,790 --> 00:42:37,430 but how? What kind of response should we 621 00:42:38,870 --> 00:42:41,110 deal out to that person that cuts you off? 622 00:42:42,110 --> 00:42:45,790 Is it Jonah's where we are? Like they deserve it. 623 00:42:45,790 --> 00:42:50,390 So they going to get it, or we're going to sulk because they 624 00:42:50,390 --> 00:42:56,830 weren't dealt with partially? Or are we going to pour out 625 00:42:56,830 --> 00:43:00,390 compassion? Are we going to be compassionate 626 00:43:00,390 --> 00:43:03,870 towards this per person? Are we going to see them as the 627 00:43:03,910 --> 00:43:07,510 image bearer that they are and deal with them compassionately? 628 00:43:08,830 --> 00:43:16,350 So that is our challenge today, and that is the challenge I want 629 00:43:16,350 --> 00:43:18,230 to leave it for you to contemplate this week. 630 00:43:19,150 --> 00:43:26,520 How do we relate to the people in our lives especially 631 00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:32,040 especially the people that are close People's whose choices we 632 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:36,640 see, whose choices affect us, people's whose choices that we 633 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:41,680 deem are sinful because that and then how we deal with that. 634 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:46,640 So the challenges is to be compassionate no matter what 635 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:52,780 happens is to be compassionate. So I'm going to go ahead and and 636 00:43:52,780 --> 00:43:58,580 in prayer. And then, Heavenly Father, we 637 00:43:58,580 --> 00:44:00,740 thank you for your word. We thank you for your scripture. 638 00:44:00,740 --> 00:44:09,820 We thank you that it is, that it is something that you used to 639 00:44:09,820 --> 00:44:12,300 reveal yourself to us. Word thank you that you are 640 00:44:12,300 --> 00:44:14,180 revealed to us through your scripture. 641 00:44:15,420 --> 00:44:17,580 Thank you that we have the privilege of reading it, of 642 00:44:17,580 --> 00:44:21,770 studying it, and thank you that you use it to change us. 643 00:44:21,770 --> 00:44:24,370 So, Lord, that you use it to soften our hearts. 644 00:44:24,370 --> 00:44:31,250 So Lord, that you use it, O Lord, to chisel away at our 645 00:44:31,250 --> 00:44:35,290 hearts of stone, Lord, and to reveal our hearts of flesh. 646 00:44:38,170 --> 00:44:41,010 Lord, we can be so hard hearted sometimes. 647 00:44:41,010 --> 00:44:44,010 Lord, we are a hard hearted people. 648 00:44:46,370 --> 00:44:52,030 But Lord, have compassion on us. You are a good God who is slow 649 00:44:52,030 --> 00:44:54,430 to anger, whose compassion is abounding and loved. 650 00:44:54,430 --> 00:44:59,790 Lord, So we ask that you have compassion on us and you soften 651 00:44:59,790 --> 00:45:02,110 our hearts towards you. You soften our hearts to the 652 00:45:02,110 --> 00:45:04,390 people around us. God, we that you would soften 653 00:45:04,390 --> 00:45:09,110 our hearts to the work that you were doing in all of creation. 654 00:45:09,110 --> 00:45:15,190 As you're reconciling creation back to you, so, Lord, soften 655 00:45:15,190 --> 00:45:21,070 our hearts to who you are. Soften our hearts to have 656 00:45:21,070 --> 00:45:22,830 compassion on the people around us. 657 00:45:26,590 --> 00:45:30,390 By the way, thank you again for being compassionate with us. 658 00:45:33,390 --> 00:45:37,950 Lord, that's I don't want to imagine a life without your 659 00:45:37,950 --> 00:45:40,790 compassion. Thank you for your compassion in 660 00:45:40,790 --> 00:45:44,510 our lives. In Jesus name we pray. 661 00:45:44,870 --> 00:45:52,970 Amen. So, Church, thank you for 662 00:45:52,970 --> 00:45:55,890 joining us. I'm going to end with the bad 663 00:45:55,890 --> 00:45:56,370 action. Okay. 664 00:45:56,370 --> 00:46:01,250 So may the love of the Father, the grace of our Lord Jesus 665 00:46:01,250 --> 00:46:06,330 Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. 666 00:46:07,130 --> 00:46:14,130 So go out and be compassion. Thank you. 667 00:46:15,130 --> 00:46:16,890 Thanks for listening to this message. 668 00:46:17,210 --> 00:46:20,730 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 669 00:46:21,050 --> 00:46:25,050 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 670 00:46:25,050 --> 00:46:27,410 episodes. If you like what you are 671 00:46:27,410 --> 00:46:31,970 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing, and even sharing it 672 00:46:31,970 --> 00:46:34,530 with friends. That would really help us. 673 00:46:35,210 --> 00:46:39,810 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 674 00:46:39,970 --> 00:46:46,030 Via Zion dot in Remember. Whoever finds Jesus finds life.