DIVINE PURSUIT! A Tail of God’s Unstoppable Grace!

Introduction

We are beginning a brand new study through the Old Testament book of Jonah..

But before we dive deep into its truths, I want us to look at the book as a whole, to do a flyover view of the entire book this morning.

Our goal (today) is to see this story as a wonderful truth about How far God is willing to go when he is pursuing lost sinners.

So lets jump in with a little Background to this book.

Authorships

A. Authorship and Date

Let's start with who wrote this book and when it was written.

ALTHOUGH The AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK IS NEVERE MENTIONED IN THE TEXT, the book of Jonah is traditionally attributed to Jonah himself.

So what do we know about Jonah?

in 2 Kings 14 we get a glimpse into who Jonah was

2 Kings 14:25 (ESV)

25 He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.

Really the Bible doesn’t tell us much about Who Jonah was except that

His dad’s name was Amittai.

He was from the town of Gath- Hepher which means He was from the tribe of Zebulun.

He was a prophet—a messenger of God.

and his only prophecies recorded are this one in 2 Kings 14:25, were he prophesied that King Jeroboam II would restore Israel’s borders, and the Single prophecy in the book of Jonah that Nineveh's was about to be destroyed because of its wickedness.

Jonahs first prophecy was to tell his countrymen that God was going to restore their Borders bringing a period of military success and territorial expansion to their hurting nation,.

This prophecy was significant because it came at a time when Israel was spiritually unfaithful to God, and yet God was going to show them Great Mercy despite their disobedience.

I got to believe that When God Gave Jonah this message for Isreal Jonah was very excited to be the one to share it., Because He liked the idea of God showing Mercy to Isreal when in reality they deserved Justice.

So the author of this short book is a man who has already seen God’s Mercy poured out on undeserving men. In this case it was Jonah and his countrymen.

THE DATE OF THE BOOK:

Since we know that Jonah was a prophet during the reign of King Jeroboam II, The book was likely written around 785 to 760 BC.

Trans: Now, let’s look at the cultural world Jonah lived in, because understanding the background helps us see why Jonah reacted the way he did.

B. The Cultural World of Jonah

1. Israel’s Spiritual State

During Jonah’s time, Israel was a nation that looked strong on the outside, but spiritually, they were in bad shape.

They Knew God- They Knew all about who he was and what he wanted from their lives, Yet too often they chose to turn away from God, worshipped idols, and ignored His commands. and yet we know that they were often the recipients of Gods Mercy,

Israel was very wealthy and prosperous during this time, But they were Spiritually dead when it came to their relationship with God.

2. Nineveh

Then there was Nineveh, the city God told Jonah to go to.

Nineveh was a huge city. In fact, the last veres of the book tells us that there were over 120,000 people living in this city. It was big, bustling, and filled with people.

BUT THEY didn’t know God.

Nineveh was a major city in the Assyrian Empire, one of the most powerful and feared nations of the time.

The Assyrians were notoriously brutal, known for extreme violence such as flaying, impaling, and mutilating their enemies, really just to see how much pain they could endure before they died.

And Isreal was their prime target to attack. And because of all of this, Israel had a great hatred towards this empire.

To the Jonah, an Israelites, Nineveh represented everything wrong with the world.

So we need to understand that when God told Jonah to go there, Jonah wasn’t just avoiding an unpleasant task; he was running away from facing the very people who had terrorized his own country. God had asked Him to share hope with The people whom He hated most in this world!

Can you Imagine being asked to go to your worst enemy’s home and give them a message that might save them?

That feeling you may be having right now is is right where Jonah was at!!

Jonah didn’t think they deserved God’s mercy and He wanted nothing to do with that plan.

This is what it looked like when God Gave Jonah the message for the people of Nineveh.

3. Tarshish

Then there’s Tarshish, the place Jonah tried to escape to.

Look at the map….. Do you see where Tarshish is at?

It was about as far away as Jonah could go in the opposite direction of Nineveh- There is nothing farther than tarshesh it was the end of the world

Show Gath Hepher and Nineveh—-

It’s like God told Jonah to go east to Nineveh, and Jonah looked at a map and picked the farthest place west he could run to.

understand church, Jonah wasn’t just ignoring God; he was running to the ends of the earth to avoid God’s call,

thats how much he as an Israelite, hated the people of Nineveh.

So, when we look at the cultural context of Jonah’s world, we see why this story is so powerful.

God, in His sovereignty, has a plan to save even the vilest of sinners, and He wanted to use Jonah as a central part of that Story.

Friends, I believe that This background helps us understand why Jonah’s story isn’t just about him—it’s about us, too.

It challenges our attitudes, our prejudices, and our understanding of God’s heart for all people, even those we might consider unworthy of His love.

But the reality is that this story is really all about our God- and His Divine Pursuit of lost sinners.

What we are going to see in this story is that

Jonah never ran too far for God to not find Him

Jonah never sinned too much for God to not forgive Him

Jonah never screwed up enough for God to still not use Him

And the People Jonah Hated were not too evil for God to love them.

Church family, This story is all about Gods pursuit of sinful man, and how far He is willing to Go to accomplish His purposes in saving the lost.

Trans; So what I want to do this morning is to share the story of Jonah and then we will go back and look at it in a little more detail to see how God continually pursues mankind despite our running away from Him.

The Amazing Adventure of Jonah

Alright, kids, this part of the sermon is for you! but everyone can listen in.

How many of you know the story of Jonah

Once upon a time, there was a real man named Jonah who lived a long, long time ago in the land of Isreal.

One day, God gave Jonah a very important Mission. He said, “Jonah, I need you to go to a big city called Nineveh and tell the people there, that they are being really bad and need to change their ways.”

But instead of saying, “Yes, God, I’ll do it!” Jonah decided to run away because He didn’t like the people of Nineveh because they had been really mean to his friends and his family, and He did not want those people to here about how much God loves them!

So, Jonah hopped on a ship that was sailing to the other side of the sea to place called Tarshish.

He thought he could escape from God’s big mission.

He thought if I can just get far enough away, God will not be able to find me!

But, oh no! he did not undestand how big and powerful God really is.

And God sent A gigantic storm that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began tossing the ship around like a toy in the bathtub.

And The sailors on the ship were so scared they didn’t know what to do. They tried everything they could think of to calm the storm,

They through all of their luggage over board hoping the ship would be light enough to not sink,

They all cried out to their gods pleading for help,

but the storm kept getting worse.

Finally, the sailors figured out that Jonah ‘s disobedience to God was the reason for the storm. And He told them that the only way the storm would ever stop is if they threw him overboard into the sea. And so after they tried everything else, They threw Jonah over the side of the ship and into the storming sea.

Jonah thought it was over

But guess what Happened next?

God sent a a HUGE fish to come up and swallowed Jonah whole!

Can you imagine that? Jonah was now inside the belly of a giant fish!

In fact, the Bible tells us that He lived in that fish’s belly for three long days! Gross!!!!!

Finally Jonah’s heart was softened and He prayed

He said “ God, I’M Sorry for trying to run away and thank YOU for saving me from drowning.

And guess what?

God heard Jonah’s Prayer and he told the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

And, whoosh! Jonah was out and safe on dry land!

As Jonah was on that shore probably wiping off all the goo from the fish, God spoke to Jonah again and gave him that same message- “Go to Nineveh and tell them how they can be saved!”

So, Jonah Decided to Obey this time, and he went to Nineveh- that Place where all those evil people lived

And He began to walk up and down the streets shouting

“Change your ways or you’ll be destroyed in forty days!”

“Change your ways or you’ll be destroyed in forty days!”

“Change your ways or you’ll be destroyed in forty days!”

And Guess what Happened?

The rotten people of Nineveh listened to Jonah. and the Bible tells us that They begged God to forgive them.

And guess what?

God saw how sincere they were and decided not to destroy the city.

JONAH WHINES

You would think that seeing God change people would make Jonah Happy But instead This made him really Made!

He was angry that God spared the city and didn’t destroy them.

In fact, it says that he whined to God and said “ Didn’t I tell you, God this would happen, That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that if I told them how to be saved that you would save them and I dont like it!

And so Jonah went up to a hill and sat down and started to pout about how awful it was that God saved these people who had been so mean to his friends and family,

And as Jonah sat there the sun came out and it got really Hot and this made Jonah even more miserable, And so God made a plant grow up out of the ground to give Jonah some shade. Can you image sitting in the sun and all of the sudden you turn around and theres a giant plant right behind you that wasnt there just a minute ago,

and guess what,

Jonah was happy with the plant. “ at least I have some shade now,”

But the next day, God wanted to teach Jonah a lesson so he sent a worm to eat the plant, and it died.

And Jonah blew up and got mad about the plant. and the Bible says He prayed and said to God“ I cant believe you would take the one thing good in my life away!”

Then God answered Jonah , “You feel sorry about the life of a plant, but dont even care about the 120,000 People living in Nineveh who are spiritually dead, Shouldn’t I as their God, care even more about them than you do that plant?

And that’s where the amazing adventure of Jonah ends! It ends with Jonah still mad and God still full of Mercy.

END OF STORY

Jonah is a story about How God has a plan to save sinners, even our worst enemies. But its also a story about Us and how far we try to run from doing what God has called us to do.

As I look at this book I see four big ideas in this story about God’s Divine pursuit of man.

This first Big idea is all about Jonah’s Rebellion and Gods Pursuit.

I. Running: Jonah Fled, But God Followed (Jonah 1)

In our first chapter, we see the pursuit begin. Jonah in Great rebellion runs away from what God has called him to do., but God's not far behind.

Think about Jonahs Rebellion for a minute

In verse 2 we see God Command Jonah to Go and preach to the people of Nineveh

Jonah 1:2 ESV

2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

But in verse 3 we see Jonahs rebellious response.

Jonah 1:3 (ESV)

3 But Jonah rose 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, away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah - the author of this book wants us to understand that He didn’t like Gods Plan because He hated those people so much, and so in Great rebellion He chose to run instead of Obey.

He wanted nothing to do with God’s plan in Saving the people He hated most in his life!

But God, isn't about to let Jonah slip away.

Even though Jonah is in the middle of the sea on his way to the ends of earth God pursues Jonah with a mighty storm, showing us that no matter how far we run, We can never escape the presence of God in our lives!

Remember our text from a few of weeks ago in Psalm 139

Psalm 139:7–10 (ESV)

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ( if I go all the way to Tarshish )10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Not only did Jonahs rebellion Cause him to run but in verses 4-5 We find that Jonah’s Rebellion brings on the wrath of God- in the form of a mighty storm meant to destroy.

and then in verses 6 we see that His rebellion almost cost everyone around him their lives too, showing us that our sin always affects more than just ourselves

and then in the next few verses we find that It was Jonahs unrepentant rebellion that caused him to give up completely. and tell the sailors to just throw him over board so it all will stop!

Jonah would rather see death than obedience to God, and He was ultimate thrown into the depths of the see.

The Big idea here in this first section is This, Even in Jonah’s greatest rebellion, God never stopped perusing Him.

Friends understand this simple truth- we can never escape Gods presence in our lives.

In verse 17 we come to the next Big Idea- the RESCUE of Jonah

Jonah beleives he has ended it all and is going to die in the sea, But God steps in

II. Rescued: Jonah Sank, But God Saved (Jonah 1:17-2:10)

Just when Jonah thinks he's escaped, Just when he thinks that his life is over and he longer has to worry about telling his enemies about Gods Mercy and grace, God's pursuit takes an unexpected turn.

Look at verse 17

Jonah 1:17 (ESV)

17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Can you imagine- Jonah Flys off that boat fully expecting to drown in that ocean, and as He hits the water a giant fish comes up and swallows him Whole.

I dont know what went through Jonah’s mind in that moment, but if it was me, I would have said something like.

“Are you kidding me God, I just want to die. I just want all of this to be over and now I’m in the belly of a giant stinking fish…”

What seemed like punishment at first was actually protection from God in Jonah’s life ; what looked like an end was really a new beginning for Jonah.

Because it was in the belly of this great fish that Jonah’s Heart broke down towards his Rebellion, and it was in the belly of the fish, Jonah prays in chapter 2 verse 2, "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me" (Jonah 2:2).

in the belly of that fish there was no where else for Jonah to run, God's relentless grace has cornered Jonah, not to condemn him, but to rescue him.

And you know the story after three long stinky days in that fish He was puked up on land,

and this brings us to chapter 3

which begins the same as chapter one,

Jonah 3:1–2 (ESV)

1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.”

III. Relenting: Nineveh Repented, And God Relented (Jonah 3)

God's pursuit extends beyond Jonah to the people of Nineveh, the very people Jonah Hates.

Given a second chance, Jonah reluctantly obeys God's call. But watch what happens in verse 5

Jonah 3:5 (ESV)

5 And the people of Nineveh believed God...

The Ninevites believed God.

And In response to their repentance, we see God's heart

Listen to verse 10

Jonah 3:10 (ESV)

Photos

God's pursuit isn't just about catching us, but about changing us.

About Forgiving our rebellion and sinfulness and making us brand new.

Transition: In our final chapter, God's pursuit reaches its climax. Jonah is angry at God's compassion, but God doesn't give up on him.

Instead, He uses a plant, a worm, and the scorching sun to reveal His heart for all people.

Point number 4 is REVEALING:

IV. Revealing: Jonah Raged, But God Reasoned (Jonah 4)

Listen to Jonahs rage in verse 2 and 3

Jonah 4:2–3 ESV

2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Do you see Jonahs Heart here?- he is angry that God showed mercy upon Nineveh

Did you catch what He said in these veres to God ?

“This is why I didn't want to go to Nineveh Because I knew you were a good and gracious God and wouldn't punish them the way they deserve to be punished, This is why I ran to Tarshish because I didnt want this to happen.

in fact in verse 3 he really lays it - God I would rather be dead then see you show mercy to my enemy!

and so God in Great grace chose to teach Jonah A lesson.

He sent a plant to give him shade while he sat in the dessert and pouted, an dthe Text says that this maid Jonah happy. But then the next day God sent a worm to destroy the plant and Jonah again Got so angry at God that He said I just want to die!

Jonah’s story ends with him still sitting in the heat full of Anger against what God has Done. But that is not the end of the book,

Listen to the last two veres of this book

Listen to veres 10-11

Jonah 4:10–11 (ESV)

10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

The end is all about God and His divine pursuit of mankind. its all about His grace and Mercy that He so lovingly pours out on man.

God Responded to Jonahs Anger with a statement about Jonahs heart.. He said in your selfish anger you care more about a plant than you do the souls of lost and condemned sinners.

And the book comes to a conclusion with a simple question<

Shouldn’t a merciful, gracious, loving God care more about sinners condemned to an eternity in hell than plant that has no soul?

The main point in this final section is to motivate us as followers of Jesus TO care more about the souls of sinners than we do about the things in this life.

its about making sure we understand that God's pursuit is not just for those we think deserve it, but for all mankind who are in desperate need of a savior..

Bring It Home

Friends, the story of Jonah is not just a tale of a man being swallowed by a great fish. It's a vivid picture of God's relentless pursuit of each one of us.

Right now, in this very moment, God is pursuing you with His unstoppable mercy and grace.

Maybe you're here this morning like Jonah when he was running from God.

You know exactly what the next step God wants you to take in your walk with him, but you're fleeing in the opposite direction.

.Perhaps it's a calling to stand up and share the gospel with the world,

Maybe you know that you still need to be baptized, but your too afraid to step out and obey

Perhaps your in a relationship you know you need to mend but the pain you are still carrying is greater than your love for that person

Remember, no matter how fast you run from what God wants in your life, God's love runs faster. He's pursuing you even now, to bring you back into His purpose for your life.

Or perhaps you feel like Jonah in the sea, you're sinking, overwhelmed by the consequences of your choices. Ready to give up, Ready to stop caring,

You might think you're too far gone, that you've disappointed God one too many times.

That your sins are too great for God to want to forgive.

But let me remind you this morning: Just as God rescued Jonah from the depths of the sea, He is ready and willing and Able to forgive all of your sins and to save you from the depths of despair.

Friends, His grace can reach you even in your darkest moments. Stop running from God and start turning towards his grace in your life!

Some of you here this morning might relate more to the people of Nineveh. You know your not part of Gods family, You know that you still carry a debt of sin, but now You've heard God's message of salvation that God loves you and that \he wants to pay your debt of sin in full, and it its place he wants to give you his own righteousness,

Friends if that is you this morning and you know you need to change. What are you waiting for? What is better than knowing the mercy and grace of God in your life?

what is better than being forgive of your sins?,

remember: When Nineveh repented, God relented.

and He wants to do the same for you this morning.

Friends if you dont know Jesus Christ this morning as your personal savior You are Nineveh, You have been condemned to die in the eternal lake of Fire because of your sin. But God in Great love this morning has sent you the messenger of Hope, He is offering you Mercy and Grace instead of eternal Justice.

His mercy is waiting for you; all you need to do is turn to Jesus believe in him and you willBe saved. What are you waiting for- Friends there is nothing better than Jesus!

Finally, maybe you're like Jonah after he went to Nineveh - you struggle to understand why God would love people you think don't deserve it.

You care more about your self than you do the lost world around you,

You tend to focus on peoples sin more than you see their great need for a savior, and you still cant seem to understand why God would ever want to forgive them , or even invite them into his eternal kingdom.

Brothers and sisters, God is pursuing you too this morning, he is inviting you to see people through His eyes of compassion. He is inviting you into His mission of saving lost sinners who none of them including you, have ever deserved His grace.

Wherever you find yourself in this story, I want you to hear this One truth : God's grace is unstoppable, You cannot ever run farther than Gods grace can reach, and it's pursuing you right now.

The question is, how will you respond?

Pray