Jonah: God's Prophet
Notes
Transcript
text: read through all of Jonah?
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
4 Then the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was in danger of breaking apart.
5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”
9 “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
11 Now the sea was growing worse and worse, so they said to Jonah, “What must we do to you to calm this sea for us?”
12 “Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.”
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea was raging against them more and more.
14 So they cried out to the LORD: “Please, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life! Do not charge us with innocent blood! For You, O LORD, have done as You pleased.”
15 At this, they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.
16 Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.
17 Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.
1 From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the LORD his God,
2 saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.
3 For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
4 At this, I said, ‘I have been banished from Your sight; yet I will look once more toward Your holy temple.’
5 The waters engulfed me to take my life; the watery depths closed around me; the seaweed wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I descended; the earth beneath me barred me in forever! But You raised my life from the pit, O LORD my God!
7 As my life was fading away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer went up to You, to Your holy temple.
8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
9 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!”
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
4 On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
5 And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
6 When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink.
8 Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands.
9 Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.
1 Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.
2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
3 And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
6 So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.
7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
9 Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”
10 But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.
11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
PRAY
Intro:
Jonah is one of the most beloved Bible stories for young kids, and also one of the most attacked stories by liberal scholars.
Is this just a fish story? Could a fish really swallow a man?
The Truthfulness of This Story
The Truthfulness of This Story
Jonah Was a Real Person
Jonah Was a Real Person
25 This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
Jonah was a real man, a prophet in the northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II.
Jesus Confirms This Story
Jesus Confirms This Story
Jesus confirms that Jonah was a real prophet who went to preach at Nineveh and that the people did repent.
29 As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.
30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.
31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.
32 The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
He also says that Jonah was really inside a fish.
39 Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
Jonah’s Background
Jonah’s Background
25 This Jeroboam restored the boundary of Israel from Lebo-hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word that the LORD, the God of Israel, had spoken through His servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.
Jonah was a prophet in the northern kingdom - a kingdom that was far from God.
Here Jonah had prophesied prosperity and restoration of territory for the northern kingdom according to God’s message to him.
The Work of a Prophet
The Work of a Prophet
16 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and obeyed it?
19 Behold, the storm of the LORD has gone out with fury, a whirlwind swirling down upon the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.
21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”
These false prophets were pretending to be God’s messengers and giving the people messages that they claimed were from God.
But their messages were false. They were telling the people what they wanted to hear. Their messages were deceiving the people and encouraging them to continue in their sin and rebellion against the Lord.
The work of a true prophet is described in v. 22:
22 But if they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and turned them back from their evil ways and deeds.”
A true prophet is someone who stands in the council of the Lord - someone who spends time in God’s presence and listens to His voice. This person who listens to God can accurately convey God’s message to the people.
When the true prophet gives the people God’s true message, what is the purpose and desired result of the prophecy?
Turn people away from their sin and toward God
Jonah’s Work as a Prophet
Jonah’s Work as a Prophet
Jonah as a prophet is responsible to receive God’s Word and tell it to others.
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying,
2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.”
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
4 On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
Jonah’s Beliefs
Jonah’s Beliefs
9 “I am a Hebrew,” replied Jonah. “I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land.”
2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
Jonah’s Disobedience
Jonah’s Disobedience
Jonah 1:3, 5, 7, 10, 12.
3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went aboard to sail for Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
7 “Come!” said the sailors to one another. “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity that is upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
10 Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What have you done?” The men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
12 “Pick me up,” he answered, “and cast me into the sea, so it may quiet down for you. For I know that I am to blame for this violent storm that has come upon you.”
Jonah’s Repentance and Eventual Obedience
Jonah’s Repentance and Eventual Obedience
9 But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!”
1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
2 “Get up! Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message that I give you.”
3 This time Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, in accordance with the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, requiring a three-day journey.
4 On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
Jonah’s Anger
Jonah’s Anger
1 Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.
2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
3 And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
Jonah’s Resolution?
Jonah’s Resolution?
Did he eventually change his attitude?
11 So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
Jonah ends with a ? (unresolved); but the fact that it’s written (probably by Jonah himself) seems to indicate an eventual change of heart by Jonah.
Application
Let God’s Word Transform Your Thinking and Behavior
God’s Word isn’t just for our information, but for our transformation.
Jonah’s head was full of true information about God, but it had not yet changed the way he thought and acted.
Obediently Speak God’s Word to Others
We all have the privilege and responsibility to listen to God’s Word and speak it to others. Every believer is a prophet in this sense. (not in the official sense like Jonah)
You have God’s Word, and you have opportunities to speak it to others. Who are the people in your life you can speak God’s Word to? Family members, fellow church members, friends, coworkers, neighbors? God wants to use each one of us to communicate His messages to others, both believers and unbelievers. People need to hear and believe and love and obey God’s Word, and we have the privilege and responsibility to be His instruments to communicate His messages to others.
In order to be good messengers for the Lord, we need to spend time with Him and listen to His voice in His Word. Read your Bible, meditate on God’s Word, memorize it, study it, so that it fills your mind and heart, and then it will flow through you to others.
PRAY