God’s Heart for the Nations

Introduction

Game — Bucket List. Put down one thing that you would love to accomplish in your life. Don’t show anyone. Then we’ll guess who the person was with the bucket accomplishment. Give a couple minutes to write down their answer. Fold the paper. Read them out loud. Once the person is guessed, maybe ask a couple of people what would keep them from accomplishing their bucket achievement.

Today we’re going to see God’s Heart for the Nations. We’ll see God’s plan and ultimate desire. And we’ll see how we’re involved in that plan.

But sin keeps believers from pursuing and accomplishing the will of God. Last week, Jesse helped us understand the biblical theme of repentance. Can someone describe repentance for us again?

Essentially repentance is turning from sin and turning to God. Repentance requires obedience.

In our lesson today, we see how God interacts with a prophet who rejected God’s call, ran from his enemies, and eventually obeyed grudgingly.

Jonah, God’s prophet to the Ninevites, exposes God’s heart. Hence, the title of our lesson — God’s Heart for the Nations. And here’s the big idea that Jonah communicates — God sends His church to all people.

Turn with me to Jonah 1. Does everyone have a Bible, or a way to read the passage along with me?

God had called Jonah to be a prophet to Ninevah. What’s interesting about this is that Jonah is the only Old Testament prophet that is called to proclaim God’s judgment and redemption to a nation outside of Israel. All of the other prophets were sent to Israel. The message of the Gospel is meant to be shared. God’s desire was for the Ninevites to repent of their sins. This is the same for us today, God sends His church to all people.

Yet, what was Jonah’s response? Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord (1:3). Jonah ran in the opposite direction of Ninevah to a city called Joppa — 550 miles away from Ninevah. His target destination was Tarshish — 2,500 miles away from Ninevah. Jonah ran, but God pursued.

Look with me at Jonah 1:10-17.

God Pursues Jonah (1:10-17)

Jonah 1:10–17 KJV 1900

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. 15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows. 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah ran from God. But God pursued Jonah.

What did God do to prevent Jonah from escaping? What might this story teach us about running from God? We can’t run from God! Jeremiah 23:23–24 “Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” We haven’t thought things through. (*illustration about running away from school)

We run from God to our own harm. It never produces the results we imagine, and in the end, God cannot be outrun. Many times, we try to fix the mess we make because of running from God. Look at the sailors’ valiant effort to row back to land. But their attempt failed. Superficial solutions to the entanglements caused by our rebellion and disobedience seldom work. The solution to the sailor’s problem was Jonah’s repentance and obedience.

Jonah modeled for us what a lack of repentance looks like. Jonah was meant to preach the message of repentance to the Ninevites, yet was battling an unrepentant and disobedient heart.

Running from God reveals a desire to accomplish our own will, not God’s will.

What does/can running from God look like in our lives?

What has God used in your life to pursue or redirect you? What are some ordinary things God uses to pursue us? (a big fish?) Bible, Preaching, Friends, leaders, etc.

God pursued Jonah because He had a purpose for Jonah that could not be fulfilled as long as Jonah was going in the wrong direction. Same with us, God has given us a purpose — God sends His church to all people — and God will sometimes interrupt our path and redirect us to His purpose. Yet often we fail to participate in proclaiming God’s heart to the nations. God has sent His church to all people, but often we have fled from God’s will.

Our disobedience will not thwart God’s plan for the nations.

Jonah attempted to flee from the presence of the Lord, and yet the Lord met Jonah in the bottom of the great fish’s stomach to offer Jonah a second chance. Look at Jonah 3:1-5.

God Uses Jonah (3:1-5)

Here’s the Big Question — Why didn’t God just let Jonah run away and use someone else? God could have used anyone. But, He wanted to use Jonah. God didn’t give up on Jonah or His plans for him. Thankfully, God doesn’t just move on to someone else when we mess up either. He brings us back, redirects our path, and accomplishes His purposes for us. What good news! God delights to use broken people.

Many times when I’ve heard this story of Jonah, the focus has been on the messenger of God (Jonah) instead of God himself. This text, more than anything else, points to God’s sovereignty and his insistence upon the accomplishment of his will.

Jonah was given another opportunity to participate in God’s plan for Ninevah. Jonah 3:1–2 “1 And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”

Thankfully for Jonah, he obeyed this time and preached to the Ninevites. Jonah 3:3–4 “3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. 4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

What happened when Jonah went to Nineveh? Jonah 3:5 “5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”

Jonah warned of God’s judgment, and the people humbled themselves before God. They listened to Jonah’s warning and acted accordingly. (*interesting how quickly the people of Ninevah repented and believed)

Essential Doctrine:

The Bible teaches that the gospel is both an event and a story. First, it is an event that took place at a specific point in history, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the redemption of sinners (1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Second, the gospel is also the story of redemption that God has planned since “before the foundations of the earth” (Ephesians 1:4), which runs through Scripture, and which culminates in a restored and redeemed creation — a new heaven and a new earth where sin, death, and suffering will never again plague humanity, and God’s people will live with Him forever (Isaiah 25:8; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21). The event and story do not exist apart from or in conflict with one another, but together inspire us to a life of devotion and mission.

What does this tell us about God? Exposes God’s heart for the nations. Forgiveness wasn’t just offered to the Israelites. Exposes God’s commitment to His plan — God sends His church to all people.

Back to our story…

Think about how dramatic of a shift happens in this story. Prophet of God runs from God and His will. He’s swallowed by a big fish. He begrudgingly preaches the message of the Gospel a large, hostile city. This city repents and believes in God. And yet, this summarizes many great stories of the Bible — Moses and the Exodus, Elijah and Mount Carmel, the Apostle Peter, etc. God delights in using imperfect people to bring imperfect people to Himself. We should trust that God can still use imperfect people to do His perfect will. All of us are imperfect. If God can accomplish His will through Jonah, He can work through us too. But if you think you must be perfect for God to use you, then you will never be “good enough.”

What is the will of God? How is he accomplishing this in your life? Matthew 28:18–20 “18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” God sends His church to all people.

But the story doesn’t end there. God has more to teach us as He teaches Jonah.

God Teaches Jonah (4:5-11)

Jonah 4:5–11 KJV 1900

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. 10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: 11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Jonah had seen God’s pursuit of a wayward prophet, the mercy of God to give second chances, and the depth of God’s love for the nations. Yet, God had one more thing for Jonah to learn.

What do you think God was trying to teach Jonah? God was showing Jonah that if Jonah cared so much about a plant that he did not create, how could God not care about all the people of Ninevah whom He had created? God had every right to love them and want them to experience his mercy. Jonah cared more about his comfort than the Ninevite’s lives. His values did not align with God’s.

How can we have skewed priorities that don’t live up with God’s priorities?

Just as Jonah’s provision was the shade of the vine he did not deserve, the Ninvites’ provision was a deliverance they did not deserve based upon a repentance they did not fully understand. God’s wish for his creation is salvation, not destruction. He will work to see that the salvation is accomplished if there is a willingness on the creation’s part.

And God invites us to participate in this mission and work of salvation — God sends His church to all people.

Why is it important to truly love people as we seek to carry out the great commission?

It is possible to do good things, yet not love people like you should — just look at Jonah! When we fail to love people, it shows that our message hasn’t actually changed our own lives.

Think introspectively — God has sent His church to all people to love them and proclaim the Gospel. If you are not actively participating in the plan and purpose of God, may it be that the message of the Gospel hasn’t actually changed your life?

Conclusion

Jonah was a prophet sent to proclaim the message of salvation to Ninevah. He rejected God’s call, ran from his enemies, and eventually obeyed grudgingly. Jonah imperfectly participated in God’s plan of salvation. Yet Jesus followed God’s call perfectly. He loved his enemies and obeyed the Father’s will joyfully. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. God sent Jonah. God sent Jesus. And now God sends His church to all people to proclaim the good news of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s spend some time thinking through these last couple of application questions — we want to leave changed/transformed any time we encounter God’s Word. This happens as we think through how what we’ve heard or read applies to us.

How should we think about God’s relationship to the lost? How should this impact us? 2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

How can we develop a heart for people just as God does? Matthew 9:36 “36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

How might we need to stop running from God’s calling and obey God’s commands?