I would like to invite your attention to the Book of Jonah.
This morning, Jonah, if you don't know as part of the twelve
books as we classify as the Minor Prophets, it is the last
12 books of the Old Testament and there are the the Major
Prophets which are just before. Then and you may be thinking,
well what's the difference between Major Prophets of Minor
Prophets? Well, the difference is not
because the Minor Prophets have it were Less important than the
Major Prophets, The only distinction between the Major
Prophets and the Minor Prophets. Is that the Minor Prophets were
just shorter in length than the books and it's unfortunate that
they're classified as Minor Prophets, but they still hold a
very important message. As we're going to see this
morning throughout the Book of Jonah.
Jonah is part of the is probably the most recognized and popular
book of the Minor Prophets among Bible students and really it's
popular due to the great fish that swallows up the prophet.
Don't Jonah. This fascinated me as a kid.
It's fascinating to my children. When Ravine about such a story
is this and I can remember when I first heard about the story of
just drawing this picture and that the time I drew a well and
this coming up out of the water and swallowing up Jonah and it
just, I don't know why it's so vivid in my mind, but it just
made an impression on me in my early childhood.
But it's from this event that makes people want to discredit
the story as being a true story and thinking it is more of a
myth or a tail and not really an actual event.
Some people just can't believe that a great big fish, would
swallow someone up and for that person to survive in the belly
of that, great fish for three days, And so that brings
skepticism towards other people but you no matter what, no
matter what the Skeptics say or think about the story in the
Bible, there is one who believed that what is written here in the
Book of Jonah was true. In fact, we find that he
referenced it in the New Testament and that is Jesus
Christ. We find that he says this in
Matthew chapter 12 because he referred to Jonah as an analogy
to his own death and resurrection and he mentioned
that Jonah was a sign because it says in Matthew 12 verse 39,
through 41, but he answered and said to them, this is Jesus
talking here. He says an evil and adulterous
generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it
except the sign of the prophet Jonah Crest.
Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great
fish. So will the son of man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the Earth, the men of
Nineveh will rise up in the Judgment with this generation
and condemn it because they pre are there because Repented at
the preaching of Jonah and indeed a greater than Jonah is
here. This alone with Jesus
referencing Jonah and the events that happened within the Book of
Jonah is ample proof that this was a true event that we are
going to discuss here this morning.
This is no fairytale, this is nor myth this actually happened.
And so the words of Jesus with him referencing it and saying
that Jonah was a type of himself, being three days, and
three nights in the belly of the whale.
So, will the son of man to his red being buried and then
there's the resurrection. And so this is what these
inspired words. I want to now, take a look at
what this book contains for most of you.
This is nothing, nothing new within this book but there are a
few things that I like to discuss with you as we go
through this book and see if we could better Our Lives as
Christians and learn a few things from the character of
Jonah. As a book, first opens, we see
that God has a message for His prophets and we see here in
verses 1 through 3 of chapter 1, Says, now the word of the Lord
came to Jonah, the son of a May Atty saying, arise, and go to
Nineveh that great City and cry out against it for their
wickedness, has come up before me, but Jonah arose to flee to
tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to tarshish so he
paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to tarshish
from the presence of the Lord. So We find right at the very
outset here that God has this his message for the prophet.
Jonah is simply this you go to the city of Nineveh and you tell
them to repent that is all you have to do.
And so we understand if you if you do some historical
background about the city of Nineveh, it was a gentile City
and it was a capital of Assyria. And at this particular time in
Jonah's day the nation of Assyria had was becoming a
rising power and they were feared by many surrounding
Nations due to their ruthlessness among the
surrounding Nations around them. And God had used this.
He the nation later on in the years to carry out his Judgment
by conquering Israel and leading Samaria away into captivity.
Well at first glance you can see, you can kind of see why
Jonah didn't want to go. I mean, These people are the
enemies. These people are going to take
him captive. You want me to go over to the to
the enemy and risk my life. Among these people is kind of
what Jonah might have been thinking.
Well there's no telling what they would do to him and someone
think that he didn't go to the great distance that he would
have to travel to tell a he the nation and a brutal Nation to
repent of their Wicked Ways. And if you look at the map of
where Jonah was and where Nina was, it was about a 500-mile
journey for him to go all that way to a nation.
That's not going to treat him very well.
He may risk his life and so one may think well certainly
certainly we understand. Why Jonah doesn't want to go?
No wonder he wants to go somewhere else than Joe then
Nineveh. Well, hold that thought for a
minute because we're, there's another another reason that's
going to pop up in chapter 4 of why he didn't want to go to
Nineveh. Well since he doesn't want to
go, he tries to run from the presence of the Lord as the
Bible says and here's his first mistake, he tried to get out of
his duty from God by picking and choosing what God wanted him to
do. And since he was already a
prophet of the Lord, I doubt he really believed that he could
actually free from the presence of the Lord.
But even be that as it may, his intent was to get away from the
situation as much as possible and then come up with some kind
of excuse as to why he didn't carry out the Lord's message.
And so in his attempt to get out of his mission from God, Jonah
had this plan to get away as far as possible.
So we read that he got into a ship, he headed for the city of
Tarsus. Now, when you look at Tarsus on
the map compared to Nineveh Tarsus was four times the
distance than a then Nineveh was were where Jonah was at.
So it was about 2,000 miles away, that Jonah was going to
flee from the Lord. And so he gets on board.
He heads to tarshish and I would think at this particular point
that John of Jonah thought I've done it, I've got out of my
duty, I don't have to go to Nineveh.
I'm busy doing other things and so his plans are going well.
He had run away from God, well, remember God new jounin.
God knew his plans and God was now going to show his
disapproval of what Jonah had done.
And so we see in verse number 4 here, in chapter 1 where it
says, but the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea and there
was a mighty Tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be
broken up. So we find here that while Jonah
was selling off to tarshish, God causes this great storm on the
seat. And it was so rough that these
men on the ship feared that the ship was going to Fall apart,
these men made a desperate attempt to save themselves in
the ship by throwing the cargo overboard and then offering
prayers unto their false gods. Now, while all this was going on
Jonah is not mentioned. Where was Jonah?
You know, where Jonah was gentle was down in the bottom of the
boat sleeping. Now, how one could sleep through
such a storm like that is beyond me?
Perhaps, he was just a heavy sleeper, I have no idea.
But the captain knew her Jonah was.
And so the captain came on down and he joined, he told Jonah to
wake up and start to question. Jonah.
Why is all this happening to us? Are you responsible for all this
great storm that's happening to us after all we're about to lose
our lives. Here we got through all the
stuff overboard just to save the save the ship and save our
lives. And so they begin to question
Jonah here in verses a 8 through 12.
So they said to him please tell us Us for whose cause is trouble
upon us. What is your occupation?
And where do you come from? What is your country and of what
people are you? So he said to them, I am a
Hebrew. And I feared the Lord, the god
of Heaven who made the Sea and the dry land, then the men were
exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this for
the men? Knew that he fled from the
presence of the Lord because he had told them, then they said to
him. What shall we do to you?
That the See may become for us for the sea was growing more
temptress. And he said to them, pick me up
and throw me into the sea, then the sea will become calm for
you. For, I know that this great
Tempest is because of me. And so we see here that Jonah
tells the truth. He tells them all that.
What's going on? Why?
They're experiencing this great storm.
And why it had come about and he knew it was a punishment from
God because of his Disobedience to do what God wanted him to do.
We've seen in times past where God told people, you need to do
this, you need to obey my word. And if you don't, you will be
punished time and time again that happens.
No matter to a nation or to a certain group of people or to
one individual. It happens over and over and
over again. God said, please do what I tell
you to do, but if you don't there's going to be a punishment
and God is faithful to his word. If you do not do it, you will be
punished. And so is the case with jota and
Jonah knows that Jonah's in trouble.
Now, And so after Jonah had told him all these things he said you
know I have a remedy just throw me overboard and the Sea will
become called become calm and you guys will be okay.
Now. The main had heard this but they
didn't want to quite jump to conclusions, quite yet as to the
remedy for for this storm to call because they tried in their
own power, to try to save this ship even more.
But after a while they decided, we can't really save ourselves.
We can't really save this ship and so what they did, they
finally decided to throw Jonah overboard.
And you know what? Just like that, the storm called
Just like that. Now, it's interesting to note
that from this event. In verse number, 16 that those
men who had believed in their false gods had now become
Believers in the one true God. that kind of jumps off the page
for me and it's interesting to me because you never know
Through whatever circumstance, whatever you say, whatever you
do, you never know. When one person could become a
believer in the one, true God, in whatever circumstance, I
highly doubt Jonah would have realized that these people will
be leaving God because the then throw me overboard and the salt
loudness. See just call me like a dude.
But they did. They Worship the Lord?
After that, see had calmed and they took the, the operative
sacrifice to him and they took vows, as well as the Bible says,
so Jonah. He's now out at Sea, all by
himself, with all this cargo that have been thrown overboard,
and here's what happens. Next, in verse number 17, now,
the Lord had prepared, a great fish to swallow, Jonah, and
Jonah was in the belly of the fish.
Three days and three nights. Now, I put myself in Jonas shoes
many times before, when thinking about this particular situation.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'd be so scared to death being
out in Open Water like that, all by yourself.
Because you're helpless, they are floating.
You're trying to fight for your life, to stay afloat.
You have no idea what's underneath you.
And just that openness to me is scary enough.
But now all of a sudden. And I know, I don't know how how
all this came about. Of course, the Bible says that
the Lord had prepared, this great fish to swallow Jonah.
I don't know if it's surfaced a couple times and Jonah kind of
seeing out that thinking, what in the world is that I've got to
swim away as quick as I can before that thing gets to me.
But then this thing coming up with its mouth wide open and the
swallowing Jonah up that scares me just to think about something
like that. And Jonah thinking this is it is
how I'm going to die. I'm going to drown. with, in the
belly of this great fish that the Lord had prepared, But
that'd be so horrifying, but in this one event, here's where
people get all caught up in their skepticism.
Saying that there's no way that a well can swallow a human and
even for a human to survive, three days in the will, but
there is one thing to note about this.
Whoever said it's a will. Where do we read in the Bible?
That this is a? Well, in the Book of Jonah, we
have no idea if it's a well or not.
All we know is that God prepared a great fish and it did swallow
him. Now we have no idea what the
great fish would have been. It could have been some creature
that is extinct for all we know it could have been a well but we
don't know. Even Jesus referred to it as a
great fish in Matthew 12 and verse 40.
But whatever it was that God had intended to use to swallow.
Jonah, it happened, and we just need to take the Bible for what
it says. And again, like I said, if Jesus
is backed up the story that's Not for me, we just believe that
this great creature swallowed up Jonah.
And so here Jonah is. Now he's all scared.
Probably worn out from the Raging Sea.
He's just been swallowed by this great fish.
And he can't see a thing. It's dark in there.
Autumn ajan is pitch-black and to me that make it even more
scary, but to add to it, he had to stay alive by trying to keep
his head on top of the water while in the belly of that,
great fish. Well, needless to say, things
are not going well for Jonah. He think he thought things were
going well when he got on that ship.
But now look at his situation. It's completely reverse.
He's in the laughing that situation now.
And I'm sure I'm surely thought this is how he was going to die,
but we come to chapter 2 now. And in all desperation.
Jonah gives a prayer to God. And I want to read this prayer
verses 2 through 9 of chapter 2 here.
And he said, I cried out to the Lord, because of my Affliction,
and he answered me, out of the belly of she'll like ride and
you heard my voice. For you, cast me into the deep
into the heart of the season. The flood surrounded me all your
Billows in your waves passed over me.
Then I said I've been cast out of your sight, Eli will look
again. Your Holy Temple, the waters
around me, even to my soul. The Deep closes around me, weeds
were wrapped around my head. I went down in the Moorings of
the mountains, the Earth with its bars.
Close behind me forever. Yet you have brought up my life
from the pit O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord in my prayer, went up to you into your
Holy Temple, those who regard worthless Idols forsake their
own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to you with
the voice of Thanksgiving. I will pay what I have valid
salvation is of the Lord. I like this prayer.
I like it because we see a turn in his life.
It is a change in Jonah's heart throughout this prayer.
He realized he had done wrong. He now one of the Second Chance
in his life to do, the Lord's will in verse 4.
He says that he will look again to his to your Holy Temple which
is the turning point of his repentance.
He did not do this at the very beginning when when he was told
to go to Minima and to preach the message of God but he is now
ready to carry out. This message that God had told
him to carry out to those people.
There are Nineveh and the sprayer is so deep felt by
Jonah, it was a life or death situation for him and he wanted
to Saved. He wanted to live.
But Jonah, he knew who to turn to.
He knew to turn to God because he was the one who is in
control. And as the Bible says here, as
he prays, he knew were salvation came from from no other man from
no other being. Then the Lord, that's whom
salvation comes from And we see keep this in mind, there are,
there are things that sometimes that just don't go right in our
lives. Maybe we get into trouble with
debts or, or as an extreme, maybe maybe were found in life
percent or death situation but it but really it's a Times Like
These that really make us think of the whole scheme of things
because at that time like these, when we're feeling so down and
so whoa. That we tend to think about our
Lord, don't we? And when we tend to think about
our Lord, we realize he knows what's going on.
He's in control. And it makes us want to pray
more, doesn't it? I don't know what it is, but in
times, like those, we just feel more closer to God.
Because we know that he can get us through it.
Jonah realized that. And we would do ourselves a
world of a world of good. If we would realize that two
moments, like this can bless us because it allows our lot allows
us to refocus Our Lives to Christ and to rededicate our
life to him. This certainly was Jonah
situation and the hidden made him want to do what God had
commanded him. And so because of this prayer as
we see in verse number 10 of chapter 2 and so the Lord spoke
to the fish and it vomited Jonah upon the dry land.
In other words, God gave him a second chance and God will ever
give us a second chance too. Because he wants us to do what
is right? And if it takes two or three or
four chances, God is willing to give us those chances and praise
be to him because of that. Now, it's at this time that the
Lord gives Joan another command. The message doesn't change the
command doesn't change. He wants Jonah to dude just as
he had told him before because he says in chapter 3 now verses
1 and 2. Now the word of the Lord came to
Jonah the second time saying, arise, go to Nineveh that great
City and preach to it. The message that I tell you,
that's exactly the first message that he gave him.
And so Jonah took God's command this time because we find in
verses 3 and 4 of chapter 3. So, Jonah arose and went to
Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.
Now the animal was an exceedingly, great City at three
day journey and extent and Jonah began to enter the city on the
first day's walk. So he cried out and said yet
forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
And so we see that Jonah goes up to the city of Nineveh.
If it says it was a great City and it was a three-day journey
in extent in some debate as to what this phrase.
Me. But I, particularly believe that
it refers to the extent of the city being so great.
Some have tried to measure the cities with based upon the
three-day journey, and some would suggest that this city is
about five to eight miles across.
And if that's the case, Joan has got quite a bit of preaching to
do. Around the city of Nineveh.
He's got some work to do. But when Jonah enter the city,
he began to preach this message and it's simple, it's short.
It's pointed yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
even if it was just that simple today, Well, this message was
enough to get the people to believe God and the change their
ways. These people changed in fact,
the Bible goes on to say that they were sackcloth they fasted
and it was a widespread movement throughout the entire city and
the word got to the king and the King did just the same as the
rest of the people who were hearing this message from Jonah.
And he even made a decree that all men, but not only men, but
all animals to should neither eat nor drink to the due to the
message of the prophet of Jonah. And the King even commanded that
everyone turn from his evil way. And from the violence that is in
his hand and verse number 8. And the reason why as verse
number 9 says, was to try to escape the wrath upon them.
They didn't want to destruction. They want to be saved too, and
so here was their moment of repentance.
And so listen to verse 10. Then God saw their works and let
me emphasize works here. He saw their works that they
turned from their evil way and God relented from the disaster
that he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it.
God, spared them. Why?
because they heard the message and they repented, that's why
they change their ways. And if you talk about a perfect
example of repentance, here's a perfect example of repentance
repentance is not just not being sorry for what you've done.
Repentance involves works as was evident with these people here,
in Nineveh, it involves first, hearing the message and then
being sorry for what you've done.
But it doesn't stop there because it also involves making
a change in your mind that you're not going to do that
again. You're not going to do that
again. And then produce Works to show
your repentance unto the Lord God Almighty.
It was God's mercy that had spared Nineveh because of their
change and the same is true today.
It is God's mercy that spares us from his Wrath. when we change
our lives to do his will, And we are, we should be so thankful.
That god holds his wrath from us because of the repentance that
we show. Because none of us want to feel
the wrath of God. None of us. but our attention
now moves on to chapter 4, Now. When people change their lives
for the better, when people decide to dedicate their life to
the Lord. There is great rejoicing
involved. I mean there's gladness.
Even the Bible says there's there's rejoicing in heaven over
one sinner that repents I mean, not only yes, but even Heaven
rejoices over those who change their lives to dedicate their
lives with the Lord. But Jonah here.
It's a different story and it's remarkable to me.
The fit that Jonah polls here in chapter 4 about the great change
that the people of Nineveh made. Due to this message preached to
them, it says in verses 1 through 4, but at this please
John exceedingly and he became angry.
So he prayed to the Lord and said, ah, Lord was not this.
What I said when I was still in the country, therefore, I fled
previously to tarshish for. I know that you were gracious
and merciful god slow to anger and abundant in the loving.
Kindness one who relents from doing harm therefore now.
Oh Lord please take my life from me for it is better for me to
die than to live then the Lord said Is it right for you to be
angry? Jonah was obviously upset that
God had showed his mercy upon Nineveh.
In fact, this was the very reason why Jonah did not want to
go to Nineveh. It wasn't because of the miles,
it wasn't because he feared his life is because those people did
not see fit to receive salvation or Mercy from God.
In Jonah's mine, at least. He said, I knew that you were
going to be merciful to them. They change their mind.
That's why I didn't want to go in the first place.
Please kill me now. Get it over with.
You talk about a poor attitude. Jonah.
Had a poor attitude here. Well, it didn't matter how
Wicked those people were it didn't matter what they had done
as long as they repented, God was merciful.
Unto those people got Jonah just didn't see fit for these people
to repent. He had chosen Destruction for
these people now In view of Jonah's attitude this calls for
some self-examination on my part of an early on all of our part,
you know. Sure we may not have the kind of
hatred and anger that Jonah had towards our fellow man.
But perhaps we need to be careful about prejudging.
Who should hear the gospel of Christ?
I'd made it's easy to stay within our own comfort zone
until those around us about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
After all, it's comfortable for us because these people are our
acquaintances, they're our friends or our family.
But when you consider the big picture, the gospel is just not
for them, it's for everybody. Everybody.
It's for the wealthy, the middle class the poor.
It's for those who don't have any shelter, it's for those who
have hit rock bottom and so on and so forth.
It's for everybody. We interact with all kinds of
people in our lives. Sometimes sometimes we may have
a we make become interacted with a person that may be a complete
stranger. Sometimes we have visitors.
We have visitors this morning. We're glad that you're here this
morning. We're so glad that you were
here. We have all kinds of people that
we interact with and it doesn't matter why people come here.
Whether it be for maybe their own personal reasons, maybe
they're looking for something, maybe, look, they're looking for
directional, at it does not matter.
But as we as a member of the body of Christ, a child of God,
we cannot prejudge others in their motives or why they're
here. Well, we're glad that they are
here and we have the awesome privilege to tell them about the
saving power. Jesus Christ.
What a wonderful privilege that is after all.
That power has saved me, it is saved you and it could save
other people. Let's not withhold that from
someone, let's not put forth that wall.
And risk someone salvation because we might have the
attitude of Jonah that they don't deserve salvation or
they're so. So, so down there, lap that,
there's no way that they could ever come back up.
Let's not make that decision for them.
Let's offer them, the gospel and let them make the choice,
whether they want salvation or not.
We have a great Duty and responsibility but also a
wonderful privilege. To tell the lost to any are to
tell the gospel to 81. And just think we might gain a
brother or sister because of that.
And praise be to God when souls are saved because of the
preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Well, Jonah had this bad attitude, he had prejudged him.
He wanted judgement upon these people.
But God had a lesson to teach to Jonah.
It says in verses 5 through 8, so John and went out the city
and sat on the east side of the city and there he had made
himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade to he might see
what would become of the city and the Lord God prepared a plan
and made it come over, came up over Jonah that it might be
saved for his head delivered to deliver him from his misery.
So Jonah was grateful for the plan but as morning dawn the
next day, God prepared a worm. So what was that?
So it and so it damage the plant that it withered, And it
happened when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement
East Wind and the sun beat on Jonah's head so that it grew
faint, then he wished death for himself and said it is better
for me to die than to live. Now, you thought Jonah was mad.
Before? Jonah was even hotter now
because of what has is happening now, all these things are
happening there. I mean, he's waiting there for
the destruction of Nineveh and all these bad things are
happening. Now, this great way in the shade
now at the shades gone there. Now this great winds picked up
nothing's going right for Jonah, Please kill me is what he's
pleading with the Lord. But the lesson that God was
teaching, was this in verses 9 through 11, then God said to
Jonah, is it right for you to be angry about the plants?
and he said, it is right for me too, angry to be angry, even a
death but the Lord said, You've had PD on the plant for which
you have not labored, nor made it grow which came up in a night
in Paris tonight. And should I not pitting in Ava
that great City in, which I'm more than 120,000 persons who
cannot discern between the right hand or their left and much
livestock. so, the lesson is this, if Nona was so concerned
about the plan over, which he had no control whatsoever,
should he have had some understanding of God's
compassion for city was the Lord had total control over well,
certainly, he should have souls are more important than plants.
And Jones should have realized that.
He advised the plant Over The Souls of the city.
Now, just by way of passing, it mentions 120 120,000 persons,
who cannot discern between the right hand and the left most
agree that's talking about children.
And if that's the case, we could kind of make a rough estimate of
the number of people within the city.
It has been said to be, at least maybe 600,000 people in the city
of Nineveh. If that's the case that just
shows about the great great epic proportions of repentance in
this city. Oh, and yet Jonah, didn't even
care. What is that attitude?
And none of us should ever have that type of attitude toward
other people. Well, I don't know if Jonah ever
changed his mind after this because this is simply how the
story ends. I would hope that he did.
But this story of Jonah should stay stay in our hearts because
of its great teachings. And we've learned three things
this morning from the story. Number one, we learn to not run
from the Commandments of God because if we do, we're going to
be held accountable for it. And we going to be punished for
it. If we choose not to do, what
God's will is number two, we learn not to prejudge others and
make our own decisions. Whether there's fit Or not to
receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And the number three, we have learned what true repentance
has. Again repentance.
Just doesn't mean I'm sorry it involves Works, involves works
May the example of many of us repentance, remind us of what
Jesus said again. In Matthew 12:41 says the men of
Nineveh will rise up in the Judgment with this generation
and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah And indeed. A greater than Jonah is here.
And certainly greater than Jonah is here, and that's the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he preaches, the same
message as Jonah did to the people of Nineveh.
He preaches repentance He preaches to change your life.
Change your life, put your life in a direction that God would
want you to live. Come to him be saved by his
gospel. Obey the word of the Lord and
you will be saved by it. We thank you for listening to
our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
Road in Bakersfield, if you would like any additional
information or you would like to receive a free Bible
correspondence, course by mail. Please email us at info at True
Church of Christ Bakersfield.com.
Our service times are on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and
Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. Please make plans to join us.
We would love for you to be our honored guest.