1 00:00:01,640 --> 00:00:04,680 If you're with us last week, you know that we ended our year long 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,400 study of the Gospel of John in many ways, a gospel that is 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,720 centered on the love of God poured out for us through his 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,920 Son Jesus Christ. And over the next fall and 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,120 spring, we're going to stay in that theme of God's love. 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,880 In the spring, we'll turn our attention to New Testament 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:29,640 letter of Paul to the Ephesians, talk about how God's love shapes 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,640 us as the covenant community, as the church. 9 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,200 But this fall, together we're turning to the Old Testament 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,320 book of Jonah. So we really please turn in your 11 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,360 Bibles to Jonah or turn your bulletins to Jonah chapter 1. 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,280 I'll be reading the first 3 verses. 13 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,240 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai, 14 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,600 saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out 15 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,200 against it, for their evil has come up before me. 16 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,040 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of 17 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,720 the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,200 a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:14,600 down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,160 of the Lord. This is the word of the Lord. 21 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:27,130 You may be seated. The book of Jonah is one of the 22 00:01:27,130 --> 00:01:33,560 most recognizable stories in the Bible, and odds are, whether you 23 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:38,280 grew up in the a Christian home or not, you probably have heard 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,160 about Jonah. And whether you are a follower 25 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,800 of Christ this morning or not, you probably know something of 26 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,560 the story. In fact, when I say the name 27 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,640 Jonah, what are you automatically thinking of? 28 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:54,880 A whale. What's funny is actually the 29 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,080 Bible never mentions a whale. It actually says really big 30 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:03,360 fish, so we don't know if it was a whale or some giant catfish or 31 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:08,639 some other sea creature. It's an amazing story. 32 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:15,720 It's the true story of a prophet named Jonah who refused to 33 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,000 follow the call of God and go to Nineveh. 34 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:25,080 A prophet named Jonah who was swallowed up by a whale and 35 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:31,320 lived in its belly for three days before he was spit out on 36 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,560 dry land really is the stuff of legend. 37 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,440 I think that's one of the reasons that for many people, 38 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,040 the story of Jonah is just too incredible to be true. 39 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,720 And in fact, many Christians even will say that this could 40 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,560 not have happened. It has to be some kind of myth, 41 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,640 an allegory, or it must be some kind of parable recorded and 42 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:59,240 ever to give us some kind of lesson about God and about 43 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,840 ourselves. But as we begin this book 44 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,840 together, I want you to know that Jonah is no mere myth. 45 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,080 It's not an allegory. It's not a parable. 46 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:20,200 No, the story of Jonah is a miracle, a miracle meant to show 47 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:28,600 us the covenant love of God for rebels like you and like me. 48 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:36,560 You see, more amazing than the fish is the God behind the fish. 49 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,120 And what we'll see together is that the main character of the 50 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,600 book of Jonah isn't Jonah at all. 51 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:51,440 It's God. A God who loves us so much that 52 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:56,080 he will stop at nothing to bring us back to himself. 53 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,880 And so this morning I want to look at that theme, just the 54 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,240 first 3 verses. That really is the theme of the 55 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,640 book in just two ways. The first is this. 56 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:12,000 I want us to know that God loves rebels who are far off. 57 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,640 God loves rebels who are far off. 58 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,160 And look with me at Jonah one verse one. 59 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,480 We're told that now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son 60 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,320 of Amitai. The the book of Jonah wastes no 61 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,640 time in introducing us to its namesake, a prophet named Jonah. 62 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,680 And we know he's a prophet because of the first few words 63 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,760 of the book. Now the word of the Lord came. 64 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:38,880 This is known as the prophetic formula. 65 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,280 Throughout the Old Testament, these words are used to describe 66 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,000 the office and work of a prophet. 67 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,960 Let me give you just a few examples. 68 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,200 This is the prophet Isaiah. The word of the Lord came to 69 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,480 Isaiah, and in Jeremiah the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, 70 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:58,160 and then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. 71 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,680 And then here in Jonah, the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 72 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:05,840 But the other reason we know that Jonah was a prophet because 73 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:11,200 the very specific words that are used to describe who he is, 74 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,640 Jonah the son of Amitai, Every time you see that in the Bible 75 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,960 we're we're given some sense of who this person is and not only 76 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,160 who they are, but who their father was. 77 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:28,360 It's used to help us connect the dots biblically from one place 78 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,280 to another to know which Jonah is. 79 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:38,200 This Jonah, the son of Amitai is almost like a last name telling 80 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,400 us specifically that this is the very same Jonah that we read 81 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,600 about in Second Kings chapter 14. 82 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,200 Now you don't have to turn there, but I want you to just 83 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:53,080 listen to this Second Kings 14 records for us, a prophet named 84 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,920 Jonah who was the son of a Mitai, and it tells us that he 85 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:02,720 ministered and prophesied during the reign of King Jeroboam over 86 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,600 Israel. Second Kings 14 we're told that 87 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,720 Jeroboam restored the border of Israel from label Hamas as far 88 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,240 as the sea of Arabah according to the word of the Lord the God 89 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,040 of Israel, who which spoke by his servant Jonah the son of 90 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,080 Amitai the prophet who was from Gath heifer. 91 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:24,000 For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel was very bitter and 92 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,400 there was none left bond or free, there was none to help 93 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:33,800 Israel. This was around 780 to 750 BC at 94 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,960 a time when the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, 95 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,920 the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. 96 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,480 The Southern Kingdom was made-up of Benjamin and Judah. 97 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,080 The Northern Kingdom made-up of the other 10 tribes. 98 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:56,200 It was known still as Israel. Now before your eyes glaze over, 99 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:58,400 you fall asleep. Let me tell you why this 100 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,080 matters. Jonah was not just a prophet, 101 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,840 he's one of the 12 minor prophets. 102 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:10,400 The 12 Minor Prophets ministered and prophesied during this time. 103 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,200 There was a time, as we just read in Second Kings 14, that 104 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,520 was filled with great difficulty for God's people, filled with 105 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:23,080 division and chaos and affliction on every side. 106 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,880 The 12 Minor Prophets are the last 12 books of the Old 107 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:33,960 Testament before they are put into utter darkness awaiting the 108 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:38,440 coming Messiah. But you see, Jonah is unlike any 109 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,040 other minor prophet. Well, the other prophets, we 110 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:46,360 typically read oracles of prophecy, a word from the Lord, 111 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,040 some kind of warning or proclamation from God himself. 112 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,520 That's what the office of prophet was to do. 113 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,080 They were to speak on behalf of God to his people. 114 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,040 But Jonah is completely different. 115 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,040 As we open the book of Jonah, we don't see oracles of prophecy, 116 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,840 we don't see proclamation. We see a story. 117 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,200 Book of Jonah is not primarily centered on Jonah's prophecy. 118 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,440 It's centered on who he is as a prophet. 119 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:22,680 And what we learn is he has to be the worst prophet of all 120 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:29,720 time. We're told in verse 2 that the 121 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:35,280 word of the Lord comes to Jonah. God himself speaks to him, and 122 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:40,799 this is His command. Arise, go to Nineveh, that great 123 00:08:40,799 --> 00:08:45,600 city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up 124 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,440 before me. This is Jonah's commissioning. 125 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:52,800 This is God's call on his life. Jonah, you are my servant. 126 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,600 You are one of my prophets, and now I am commissioning you to 127 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,240 go. Go to Nineveh. 128 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:06,320 Now this is significant. Typically when God called His 129 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:10,520 prophets to speak, they were called to go to His people, His 130 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,080 people, Israel. But here Jonah is called not to 131 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,800 go to Israel or not to go even go to some place where the 132 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:24,720 people of Israel were in exile. No, God calls Jonah to go to 133 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,360 Nineveh. Now today the ruins of Nineveh 134 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:34,600 can be found in modern day Iraq. At the time, it was one of the 135 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,280 great cities in the Assyrian Empire. 136 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:43,360 The people of Assyria were known for their wickedness, their 137 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:50,000 cruelty, their animosity, and the way they set themselves 138 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,120 against anyone who got in the way of their expanding empire, 139 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,840 especially the northern Kingdom of Israel. 140 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,920 In other words, God didn't call Jonah to go to Israel. 141 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,400 He called Jonah to go to Israel's enemies. 142 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:10,920 He called Jonah to go to his own enemies. 143 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,480 And Jonah wanted nothing of it. Was also a godless city. 144 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,320 And when I say that godless, I mean Capital G God filled with 145 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:27,680 idolatry and false worship. And so immediately we have to 146 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:31,160 ask why? What is God doing? 147 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,760 In many ways that must have been in the background of John 148 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,760 Jonah's own heart and mind. Why, God? 149 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:44,080 Why would you call me to go to these people who hate you and 150 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,760 hate our country and hate your people? 151 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:54,440 Why them? Anyone but them are told that 152 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,800 Jonah was called to go to Nineveh to call out against it. 153 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:03,840 That means to condemn what they were doing, to speak a word of 154 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:05,520 warning. We see that throughout the 155 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,280 prophets. They would also often go to the 156 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,920 people of God and condemn them, to warn them that judgement is 157 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,200 coming. God is righteous and just and 158 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,200 good, and because He's righteous, just and good, He 159 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:25,560 must pour out his judgement on sin and so repent, turn back. 160 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:32,480 But now God's calling Jonah to do the same thing for a bunch of 161 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:36,720 foreigners, Gentiles, his enemies. 162 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,240 Now this is incredible, I think for two reasons. 163 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:45,800 The first was that the God of Israel would care enough about a 164 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:50,080 bunch of foreigners in order to send a prophet to warn them of 165 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,440 coming judgement. This summer, on my sabbatical, 166 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,160 one of the things that the Lord, surprisingly at least, 167 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:59,320 surprising to me, led me to study. 168 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:04,200 I had a very different agenda. But as God often does, he leads 169 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:08,920 us where he wants to go, and he led me to Romans chapter one. 170 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:16,160 In Romans chapter 1, Paul tells us that the God of all creation 171 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,120 has revealed himself to all people. 172 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,640 It's what's known as the doctrine of general revelation. 173 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,520 Let me read it for you. This is Romans chapter 1. 174 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:32,920 The apostle Paul writes verse 18. 175 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,600 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all 176 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,800 ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their 177 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,840 unrighteousness suppress the truth. 178 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:50,280 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God 179 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,880 has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, 180 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,800 namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly 181 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:00,800 perceived ever since the creation of the world and the 182 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,880 things that have been made so they are without excuse. 183 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,760 And what does that mean? It means that every single 184 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:15,360 person in this sanctuary, every single person in the city of 185 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,040 Dallas, every single person that you will meet, every single 186 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:23,720 person on this planet has been revealed the truth of God's 187 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,400 existence. There is no such thing as 188 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:34,160 complete blind ignorance. God, by His grace, has revealed 189 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:38,320 Himself to all people through His creation. 190 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:45,200 And so Paul says that people rebel against Him, not because 191 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:49,040 they forget the truth, not because they don't know the 192 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:52,000 truth, but the word he uses is suppress. 193 00:13:54,160 --> 00:14:00,080 They push the truth away. That is the very definition of 194 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,800 rebellion, that it fundamentally is what sin is. 195 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,160 It's rebellion. It's not just doing something 196 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:13,720 bad or committing some immoral act, but it's rebellion against 197 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:17,800 the one true God who created all things, including us. 198 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,160 What that means for the people of Nineveh is that they were 199 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:27,480 rebels. They have been shown clearly who 200 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:32,960 the one true God is and all of creation, and yet they had 201 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,280 invented and fabricated false gods and goddesses. 202 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,960 They they'd set themselves against God and his commands and 203 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,240 against his people. They were rebels. 204 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:48,160 And yet here is God caring enough about him. 205 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:52,800 He would send one of his own prophets to warn them of coming 206 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:54,880 judgement. That's the first thing I think 207 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,920 is so significant. But the second is that we're 208 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:03,200 told that the reason Jonah's called to call out against them 209 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,480 is because they're evil had come up before God. 210 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,120 Now, that word evil in Hebrew is a fascinating word. 211 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,880 In fact, so much of Hebrew is difficult because it's so hard 212 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,600 to translate in a finite way. What I mean by that is there's a 213 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,880 range of meaning. It's almost pictographic. 214 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,920 And so the word for evil in Hebrew actually can mean 215 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:31,080 anything from evil to disgust to displeasure to divine judgement. 216 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:36,800 It just depends how it's used. Now, if I were to read Jonah to 217 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,760 you in Hebrew, which would be a terrible idea by the way, not 218 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,800 because you can't understand it. I can barely pronounce it 219 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:50,200 correctly, You'd begin to notice a repetition in just 48 verses. 220 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,520 9 times the Hebrew word for evil. 221 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,480 There it is again and again and again. 222 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,240 And yet each time it means something a little different. 223 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:09,080 And at the end of Jonah, after Nineveh repents and after God 224 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:15,760 has mercy on them, the book of Jonah uses the word for evil to 225 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,280 describe the way that Jonah feels about God's grace. 226 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:22,840 Now, in your Bible, it probably says something like it 227 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:27,360 displeased him, but literally in the Hebrew it says that for 228 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:32,480 Jonah the grace of God had become an evil to him. 229 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:39,640 Jonah reached a place that was so dark and twisted that the 230 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:46,400 grace of God became evil to him. You say, well, how can that 231 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,120 happen? What we see that unfolds in the 232 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:56,200 book of Jonah is that the rebels in this book isn't just Nineveh, 233 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,760 but it's Jonah himself. And that's the second thing I 234 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,520 want you to know that God loves rebels who are near. 235 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,480 God loves rebels who are near. I want you to look with me. 236 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:13,480 Verse 3, we're told that Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from 237 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,800 the presence of the Lord. Jonah didn't just disobey God's 238 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:22,319 command, he ran from it. And the wording here is 239 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,680 poetically similar to God's word that came to Jonah. 240 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:30,560 In verse 2 and verse 2, God says Jonah get up and go. 241 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:34,360 Here in verse 3, we see that Jonah got up and he fled. 242 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:37,800 And the word for flee literally means escape. 243 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,080 It's not just he's running. He's running from, he's trying 244 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,520 to escape. Well, who is he trying to escape 245 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,560 from? He's trying to escape from God. 246 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,320 One of God's own chosen prophets, one of his ministers 247 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:56,880 is running from him. And I think all this is to 248 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,480 highlight just how deliberate Jonah's disobedience actually 249 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,280 was. In fact, we're told that he went 250 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,720 and had to go find a ship. He had to find a captain and a 251 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:12,800 crew. He paid his way to deliberately 252 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,600 get a far away from God and his command as he possibly could. 253 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:23,200 And I think all of this shows us just how deliberate our 254 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:28,680 disobedience really is. So often far more deliberate 255 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:33,240 than we care to admit. But why? 256 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:40,120 Why did Jonah run away from God? And why Tarshish of all places? 257 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,880 We don't exactly know where modern day Tarshish would be. 258 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,040 From other biblical accounts we know that in Israel's mind it 259 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,400 was very far away, on the edge of all they knew on a map. 260 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:58,080 We also know that it was to the West, Nineveh to the east, 261 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,400 Jonah, I'm going as far as I can West. 262 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,720 Some of you even imagined that maybe it's even as far as Spain. 263 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:14,040 That's a long way off. So why did he do it? 264 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,840 Why did he try to get as far away that he could from Nineveh, 265 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,320 as far away that he could from God? 266 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,840 Well, surprisingly, the book of Jonah doesn't actually tell us 267 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:29,480 here. And many have supposed that, 268 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:33,800 well, maybe it's because Jonah didn't really understand God 269 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,680 fully. He must have been confused about 270 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,960 his character in person because of his misunderstanding, his 271 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:42,320 confusion. That's why he did it. 272 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,720 But I don't think that's the explanation. 273 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,920 I don't think Jonah ran from God because he didn't understand 274 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,920 him. No, I think Jonah ran away 275 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,640 because he did in Jonah chapter 4. 276 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:58,400 If you have your Bible, I want you to turn there. 277 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:08,900 This is Jonah 4 verse 2. At the end of the book Jonah 278 00:20:08,900 --> 00:20:13,740 tells God why he fled. He tells God why he ran from 279 00:20:13,740 --> 00:20:15,860 him, why he disobeyed his command. 280 00:20:17,220 --> 00:20:20,500 Jonah responds to God saying This is why I made haste to flee 281 00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:26,620 to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful. 282 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,200 Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting 283 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:36,400 from disaster, Jonah knew the character of God. 284 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:41,680 He knew that the God of justice and righteousness that pours out 285 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:47,880 judgment for sin is also the gracious God of steadfast love 286 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,040 and mercy. He knew. 287 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,240 He knew that if he went and warned Nineveh of their sin and 288 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,320 God's coming judgement and they repented, that God would have 289 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,880 mercy on them. He knew. 290 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,720 It's because he knew that God was a God of covenant love. 291 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:11,520 That is why he disobeyed. He knew that God would show his 292 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,960 love for them and he didn't want them to. 293 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:21,160 He couldn't imagine that God's covenant love that belong to 294 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:26,960 Him, the people of Israel, would ever be extended to the 295 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:33,040 Gentiles, let alone his own enemies. 296 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:39,760 The word that we see here in verse 2 of chapter 4, one word 297 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,320 that's often translated into two in English, Steadfast love. 298 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,720 It comes straight from God's covenant name that He gives to 299 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:56,680 Moses, the Exodus, Exodus 34 or God tells Moses he is the Lord, 300 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,520 the Lord, a God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and 301 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,840 abounding and steadfast love and faithfulness. 302 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,080 That phrase steadfast love in Hebrew is just one words, the 303 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,120 word hesed. It's used over and over and over 304 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,920 again throughout the Old Testament to describe God's 305 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:20,880 covenant love, that is, His faithful love, His loyal love, 306 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:25,280 the kind of love that a husband has for his bride. 307 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,840 Of all the translations of Hesed, my favorite isn't in the 308 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,480 ESV. It's not in the NIV. 309 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,880 It's not in the new King James. It's in a children's Bible, the 310 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:45,320 Jesus story of a Bible, the never stopping, never giving up, 311 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:50,440 unbreaking, always, forever love. 312 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:57,520 This is one of the wondrous mysteries of the attributes of 313 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:04,400 God, the beauty of the gospel, that God's judgement and his 314 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:13,440 love are not contradictory, but in fact they meet at the cross. 315 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:24,800 Because in love God poured out his judgement on his own Son, so 316 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:30,960 all who believe in him would have everlasting life. 317 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:37,320 Every rebel whose turns back on him might be saved. 318 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,120 Why? Because of his love. 319 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:42,600 It's the great mystery that Paul speaks of in Ephesians. 320 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,040 What we'll look at in the spring together, that the mystery is 321 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:48,920 the Gentiles, our fellow heirs, members of the same body, 322 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:53,440 partakers of the same promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 323 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,400 It's the message that Peter proclaimed at Pentecost to a 324 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,640 bunch of foreigners for the promises for you and for your 325 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,480 children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord 326 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,800 God calls to himself. And don't miss this. 327 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:12,680 It's the reason that you and I are here this morning that God's 328 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,080 covenant love was not just for his people, Israel, but it was 329 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,080 for every tribe and tongue and nation. 330 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:24,000 And now you and IA bunch of Gentiles who are once far off 331 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,480 rebels just like Nineveh have been brought near by the blood 332 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:34,560 of Jesus Christ. The same covenant love for 333 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:40,840 rebels, just like Nineveh, but also just like Jonah. 334 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:44,760 You see, we can never forget who we once were. 335 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,920 We were once rebels. Apostle Paul says in Romans 5 336 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,960 that while we were enemies, Christ died for us. 337 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:58,400 We were once God's enemies. But we can also never forget who 338 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,640 we are now in Christ. We are God's beloved. 339 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:11,720 And this is what Jonah had such a hard time with, that God would 340 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,440 love a bunch of people that he hated. 341 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,600 And when we refuse to offer the grace of God for other people, 342 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:30,800 it reveals that we think we no longer need the grace of God 343 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:37,400 ourselves. So let me ask you, who is your 344 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,880 Nineveh? Who are your enemies? 345 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,720 One of the great questions that the book of Jonah puts before us 346 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:54,520 is this. Is anyone too far gone to beyond 347 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:59,280 the grace of God? Who are those people in your 348 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:04,280 life or in your own heart and mind that you think are too far 349 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:09,360 gone? Those who you disagree with, 350 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:17,480 those that have a particular view of theology that you cannot 351 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,640 fathom someone could actually hold. 352 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:25,120 Someone who's politically opposed to you sees the world 353 00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,440 differently than you. For some of you it's 354 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:33,480 self-righteous people. For others, it's those who are 355 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:39,760 sinful in ways that you aren't. As you confront that question, 356 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:47,920 is God's grace inadequate to reach the hardest heart, you 357 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:49,560 might be tempted to 1st go to Nineveh. 358 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:53,600 But what we see in the book of Jonah is that the great 359 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,920 rebellion in the book of Jonah isn't Nineveh, It's Jonah. 360 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:05,920 He is the ultimate rebel, refusing to offer God's grace to 361 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,480 Nineveh. Jonah rebelled himself. 362 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:14,840 And so we're told the end of verse three, that Jonah went 363 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:20,480 down to Joppa, down into the darkness, into the depths. 364 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,320 He found a ship going to Tarshish. 365 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:28,720 He paid the fare and he went down into it, down, down, down, 366 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,880 descending more and more in the darkest places of his own heart 367 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,800 and mind and hatred. He went down with them to 368 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,800 Tarshish. And for the second time it tells 369 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,960 us away from the presence of the Lord. 370 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,040 Jonah just wasn't trying to get away from Nineveh. 371 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,800 He was trying to get away from God. 372 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,560 So the final question I want to leave you with is this, can you 373 00:27:55,560 --> 00:28:02,160 actually do that? Can you actually run away from 374 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,480 God? Says here that Jonah tried to 375 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,480 flee away from the presence of the Lord. 376 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,720 Is that possible? Well, remember I told you in 377 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:17,800 Romans one that all people, every rebel, every atheist, 378 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:23,240 every false religion has still been revealed the truth of who 379 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,480 God is. Even an atheist can't get away 380 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:32,800 from God. But even those who are close to 381 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:38,080 God, just like Jonah, just like many of you and me who know His 382 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:43,640 Word, know his gospel, that even when we try to turn our backs on 383 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:48,720 him, what Jonah and this amazing story shows us is that we can 384 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,320 never get away from him even if we try. 385 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,680 As I studied this week, I couldn't think of help to think 386 00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:00,200 of David's words in Psalm 139, where David asks, where shall I 387 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:05,080 go from your spirit, or where shall I flee from your presence? 388 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:07,600 If I send to heaven, you're there. 389 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,080 If I make my bed and shell, you were there. 390 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:12,600 If I take my wings of the morning and dwell on the 391 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,560 uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, 392 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,000 and your right hand shall hold me. 393 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:27,320 Jonah tried his hardest to get away from God, and God sent a 394 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,960 fish after him to bring him back to himself. 395 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,360 And so whether this morning you think you're more like Jonah, 396 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:41,840 more like Nineveh, as we end, let me do something that Jonah 397 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:47,160 refused to do. I want you to know that there is 398 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:53,120 a God who created all things, the God of the universe, the one 399 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,360 true God. He is good and mighty and 400 00:29:56,360 --> 00:30:00,360 righteousness, and out of his goodness and righteousness he 401 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:06,080 will pour out judgement for sin. I want you to know that 402 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,840 judgement is coming. And so repent, turn from your 403 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:15,440 sin, and turn to God. But I also want you to know that 404 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:20,720 this God of judgement is also a God of steadfast love and mercy, 405 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,120 and he has not sent a fish after you. 406 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:30,040 He sent his very own Son at Jesus Christ, who didn't disobey 407 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,800 God's command, but obeyed it to the point of death, even death 408 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:40,360 on a cross. He will stop at nothing to bring 409 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:47,160 rebels like you and me back to himself because of love, and he 410 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,720 will love us to the very end. Let's pray. 411 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,040 Father in heaven, we thank you for this covenant love that you 412 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,640 out of your sovereign grace and nothing in and of ourselves have 413 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:01,280 set upon us. We thank you that we who are 414 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:05,080 once enemies, rebels, just like Jonah and just like Nineveh, 415 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:09,000 could now be called sons and daughters, your very beloved. 416 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:15,160 And so I pray as we leave this place this morning and we are 417 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,840 blessed by the words, the benediction, that we would carry 418 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:24,880 this love into our city, into our neighborhoods, into our 419 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:31,080 workplaces and parks, into every conversation, and into the 420 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:36,000 depths of our very own hearts. That we would be marked by your 421 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:41,880 covenant love, and that we as a church would embody that love 422 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,920 not only towards one another, but we would proclaim that love 423 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:47,640 through the gospel to the ends of the earth. 424 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,680 It's the name of Jesus Christ. We pray. 425 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:51,560 Amen. Let's stand and sing.