Jonah Overview/ Conclusion

The Book Of Jonah: The Grand Overview
The Entire Book Of Jonah In One Message

Key verse 4:11 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU 5/31/09

“But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

This week draws a conclusion to our six week study of the Book Jonah. Through the study we followed the transformation of Jonah from a rebellious prophet to an unhappy, reluctant, yet obedient prophet. We learned about God and how he trains his chosen servants until they can obey him and share in his heart to bring his salvation to all people of all nations. We also discovered the wideness of God’s mercy, the mercy that embraced Jonah in all of his rebelliousness and that embraced the Ninevites in all of their wickedness and that embraces all of us. We learned that God is a God who hears and responds to cries of repentance. Let’s see look back and take a glance at the book of Jonah and may one word of God be embossed on each of our hearts. Let’s see.

Part 1: Jonah Flees From The Lord (1:1-11)

In this chapter we meet the prophet Jonah. He preached to the people of Northern Israel under Jeraboam ll who reigned from 793-753 B.C. Jonah wrote this prophetic book around 780 B.C. Jonah was a man of God who had a personal relationship with God. God came to him and spoke his word to him. (1:1) Though Jonah was rebellious, he had some spiritual qualities to him. He had received years of training as a prophet, which probably included lots of Bible study and religious observances. He was sensitive enough to hear God’s call to mission and have some sort of response to that call. This means that he had an inner spiritual life. We too can have such an inner spiritual life, when we have an identity as a servant of God and determine to “tune our hearts” into God and his word.

God decided to use his prophet in his great redemptive history. He gave him a great mission to go and preach to the people of Nineveh. God said, “Go and preach to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because it’s wickedness has come up before me.” (1:2) Ninveveh was a very wicked city and a threat to the national security of Israel. They were not part of God’s chosen people, but God loved them anyways. He had mercy on them seeing that they did not know their left hand from their right. God also cared about their cows, which could mean that he cared about their local economy. God wanted to save them and the only way that could occur is if they repented before the word of God. For this reason God wanted Jonah to preach the message of salvation to them. What a blessing it is to be called to preach such a message! Romans 10: 14-15 read, “ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Praise Jesus that chooses to work through us in is work of world salvation.

Jonah could do many things for God. He studied hard. He served at the temple. He taught thousands of his own people, but he could not do this particular mission. It was because Jonah despised the Ninevites. The last thing he wanted was to see was them saved. He knew the power of the word of God and that if he obeyed God and preached what God wanted to say, then they would indeed be saved. And so he made a great effort to run as far away from Nineveh as he could. Perhaps he thought that God would soon forget about him and choose another prophet to perform this very difficult mission. Jonah was the opposite of Jesus, who embraced his mission to suffer and die on the cross as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world, with crying out prayers. But God would not let Jonah escape so easily.

In the course of running away from the Lord, Jonah caused so much suffering for himself and to others around him. While escaping in a merchant vessel the Lord sent a great storm. The men of the ship were terrified. Each cried out to his own idol. They lost much cargo by throwing it overboard in a frenzied attempt to save themselves. All of this was happening because of Jonah’s sin. It is true. When we hear God’s call and avoid it, trying to run from Jesus and his will, we suffer and other people who are in our “life boat” suffer because of us. In contrast stands Jesus, who embraced his difficult mission, and became a source of eternal salvation to all who were in his life boat. (Heb 5:9) He led many to the Kingdom of God and showed everyone the way.

We could get some insight into Jonah’s inner character through his reaction to the storm. When everyone was fighting hard, Jonah was sleeping below deck. He did not lift a finger to help. He even knew what was required to stop the storm, the throwing of his own body overboard, (1:11) but he did not offer himself to stop the storm. He slept, not carrying about others’ loss and possible death. It was only after he was confronted by the sailors did he make the offer. How could a person’s heart turn so cold? It is possible when we spend our time running away from God, rather than embracing God and his good, perfect and pleasing will. (Rom 12:2) May we be like Jesus who prayed, “Not my will but yours be do.” (Lk 22:42) Then we can be compassionate to others and help them in their time of need, rather than sleeping and ignoring those in the throws of physical or spiritual death.

Part ll: “You Listened To My Cry” (1:12-2:10)

Jonah did not know it, but God was about the subject him to very tough divine discipline. Jonah, when confronted, finally gave in and told the sailors to pick him up and through him into the sea. (1:12a) When they did the sea became calm. Jonah had resigned himself to a certain death. But God had not led Jonah all of these years, training him as a prophet and giving him his word, only to see him die a miserable death, entangled in the kelp beds of the Mediterranean Sea. He would intervene in a very miraculous way in order to change Jonah’s rebellious heart and lead him to true greatness in the Lord.

As Jonah was sinking in the sea, he felt that all was over. He was about to give up his struggle and take that fatal last gasp of sea water. At this point of desperation, God revealed his saving grace to Jonah. “… the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.” (1:17) At the last moment…just when Jonah thought he was going to die, He was swallowed by a great fish, possibly a whale. It was a miracle! He was alive! But not much more. Can you imagine spending 72 hours in the stomach of a whale? It was like dying itself. But through it all God was going to teach many important spiritual lessons.

When most people would have cursed their fate and God, Jonah became more spiritual. In the midst of his intense suffering, Jonah turned his heart to God. He prayed God. He looked to heaven. He remembered the grace of God saying in verse 2:7, “when my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you in your holy temple.” Jonah was not embittered but full of the grace of God. He also got insight into why idol worship is so bad. He said, “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” (2:8) Jonah, a true worshipper of God, discovered the grace of God personally. Perfect environments do not drive us closer to Jesus or teach us faith. Remember that it was through the storm that the sailors began to cry out to the God of the Jews and make vows to him. It was Jonah’s experience in the belly of the great fish that helped him to hold onto the grace of God. More often then not it is the difficult moments of life that teach the greatest lessons and reveal Christ to us. Let us be thankful for the hard times in life and grow spiritually through each one of them.

Part lll: Jonah Fulfills His Mission (3:1-10)

Through God’s divine training was very difficult, there was a time that the training was over. God saw that Jonah’ heart was changed. God never gives us more than we can bare. It was almost more than what Jonah could bear, but not quite. Again, at the last moment, “The Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry ground.” (2:10) 1 Corinthians 10:13 reads, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Let us grow through God’s divine discipline to the end.

Jonah had learned many things. But there is one thing that he learned, that we should all learn, and that is we need to obey God sooner than later. Jonah had suffered a lot because of his rebellious spirit. But after much hard training he was not longer rebellious. He discovered the hard way, how useless and painful it is to run away from the Lord. If only he had submitted to God early. Our human reality is that we usually wait until some type of disaster comes up on us before we choose to obey Jesus. But God, who knows what is lying just around corner, urges us to turn from our course and follow Jesus…even today. 2 Corinthians 6:2 reads, “2For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.”

God is so gracious. He came to Jonah and gave him a second chance. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” (3:1) Nobody would fault God if he let Jonah sink the bottom of the sea, never to be seen again. After all, it was Jonah’s fault. But God, in his grace rescued Jonah. He came to him a second time to answer his call. Praise the Lord, that our God is a God of second chances! We are all in need of second chances in life and ministry and God is more than willing to dole it out on us, when we repent of our sins and put all of our hope and trust in Jesus.

God told Jonah to preach the message that he would give him. “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” (3:2) Why? It is because God’s message was the only message that would lead the people of Nineveh to salvation. Jonah could not give his own message, full of his own ideas, in his own way. Such a message would not save anyone. He needed to obey God and preach the difficult message of repentance. We are tempted to preach messages that are not linked to the Bible. We are tempted to preach messages that bring some practical benefits to our lives, like how to manage our money or how to raise our families or how to get along in relationships. These are good things to think about. But we can never change the gospel message to satisfy what our “itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim 4:3) We must stick the message of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. (1 Cor 15:2) We need to teach the world about repentance unto faith. (Acts 20:21) Then God will bless our Bible teaching with souls that are redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

We discover that Jonah obeyed, reluctantly, but he obeyed. 3:4 reads, “On the first day, Jonah started into the city, He proclaimed: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.’” Despite his unwillingness, God worked through this man. God can work through unwilling people, but he would much have willing volunteers among his people. In 1 Peter 5;2, Peter says, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you willing, as God wants you to be…” There are many conflicting desires, that wage war in our hearts, but when we submit them all to the authority of Christ, we can be willing shepherds of the flock of God and deliver the words that change hearts and bring eternal life.

When Jonah obeyed a miracle happened. “The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least put on sackcloth” (3:5) Wow! The greatest revival in history occurred. A whole city repented. Not only that…the king repented and led the entire populace to repentance and faith. Who would have thought that such a revival could be possible? But it was and still is. When servants of God deliver the Gospel message, just as it is, uncompromised, then God can do great things through it. We have before us a great campus filled with 25,000 students, 60% of which are freshmen. We may be intimidated to even begin preaching the gospel. We may think, “What is the use! People don’t want to listen anyways.” But we need to see things from God’s point of view. God can move hearts. God will do his part when we do our part. Indeed when we go fishing and teach the gospel, God will move the hearts of 12 students this summer. God will bring 15 people to our Summer Bible Conference from NIU. God will double our leaders and SWS attendants by 2010. Ask great things from God and expect great things from God. All things are possible for him, or her, who believes. (Mk 10:27)

God saw their repentance and he relented. 3:10 reads, “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” God is a God who responds to our repentance. When we choose to live in sin, God is patiently waiting and watching. He allows us to continue on our destructive course with a hope that we will change before destruction comes upon us. But there is great news! God is very sensitive to our repentance. With even one, faint word of repentance, loud speakers go off in heaven and God changes his course. He responds with compassion. Jeremiah 18:17-18 reads, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.” Let’s grab hold of God’s grace and be forgiven. God may be saving you from a disaster that is just looming around the corner.

Part lV: The Wideness Of God’s Mercy. (4:1-11)

Before we get into God’s lesson to Jonah, we can see some more good things about Jonah. He prayed to God, even when he was angry. Most people can not do this. He also did not stew in his anger. He opened up to God and talked and confessed all that was on his heart. Have you considered how blessed it is that we can come directly to God and open up to him and confess all that is on our hearts. This is a gift and a privilege given to us by Jesus. For when he died on the cross the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The way to the Most Holy Place was opened to all who put their faith and trust in Jesus. We can now come before the throne of God in prayer and unload all of our burdens before him in prayer. And God answers. I would advice you all to do so because if you stew in our anger very dysfunctional things will happen to you inside. We need to also thank God for raising up shepherds in our lives, someone we can talk to and who will listen, someone who can lead us to Jesus.

Another good thing is that Jonah knew a lot about God’s character. Look at verse 2b, “…O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity” Most people know a little about God. They know vague things, like God is love and God is all powerful. This is good, but it is only scratching the surface about God. We must study the word of God and put it into practice until we know Jesus very personally, in detail. This comes from walking with Jesus.

Though Jonah knew God, Jonah was not so happy of the fact that God’s mercy was extended to the Ninevites. He was greatly displeased and angry. God called Jonah on this and reminded him that he had no right to be angry. And he taught him why through the lesson of the vine. Look at 4:5-11. The whole point of this lesson was to teach Jonah the wideness of God’s mercy. Jonah was concerned only about his own blessings. He liked receiving the blessings of God more than offering other people the blessings of God. He was self-centered and very small minded. God wanted him to grow to be a big hearted shepherd who can embrace the flock of God with the love of God. And what is the heart of God? Look at verse 4:11, “But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" God’s heart is full of genuine concern. He is concerned about the Assyrians and all people of all nations, from generation to generation. He even wants his enemies to repent and be saved.

May God widen our own hearts to be filled with such a concern for others. May God free our hearts to obey him willingly. May we determine to be faithful to deliver the message of salvation to all people, starting at NIU. May we grow spiritually through all kinds of training, until we can realize many things about God and know him very personally. Then thousands of American young people will come to know Jesus through our lives of faith.