Jonah and His Big Fish
Notes
Transcript
Handout
(S1)
An angler at the fishermen’s club was describing his toughest catch. “After 3 hours I landed this terrific monster of the sea” he said. “I saw the pictures and he was only 6 inches long,” said one member. “Sure” admitted the angler “but in 3 hours of fighting a fish can lose a lot of weight.”
Some stories are just hard to believe...but fun to tell
Jack and the Bean Stalk—Pinochhio...
(S2)
SERIES: Sunday School Stories
— A queen who singlehandedly saved a nation
— How one man’s army brought down the massive wall of Jericho
— The strong-man who defeated his enemies with one push
Today; a man who survives 3 days/3 nights in the belly of a fish
…a Sunday School kid thinking the worst thing that ever could ever happen was getting swallowed by a “big ol’ fish.”
Is Jonah’s story a myth, legend or otherwise? In case your a bit skeptical...
British seaman named James Bartley, age 21. Thrown into sea while hunting a sperm whale near Falkland Islands in 1891. He disappeared. Just before nightfall the dying whale came up. Men noticed the stomach was moving. They cut into stomach to find unconscious Bartley.
In a comma for two weeks. After a month he was able to tell of being thrown in the air, seeing great mouth open up and swallowing. He had been inside the stomach for 15 hours. His hair fell out and his skin was bleached white. He lived 18 more years.
This is certainly not proof that the same happened to Jonah, but it is certainly saying that it is not impossible...especially when it comes to God.
Jonah’s big ol’ fish story may seem a bit out there...it is in the Bible...and it does reveal a lot about God and humanity; after all who has never tried to distance themselves from God, to go where they wanted to go?
Psalm 139:7 “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!”
Maybe you have been reluctant to go a place you did not want to go? To a certain people...been asked to do something you didn’t want to do?
Jail Visit
Jonah is a dramatic story that goes far beyond swallowing by fish. For Jonah to bring God’s saving message to the people of Nineveh, God had to first get Jonah in the right frame of mind
—Jonah’s big Ol’ fish was not sent by God not as punishment, but to rescue him for a greater purpose
Pray—Bibles
(S3) — Book of Jonah
— (2) Jonah prays...(3) Jonah preaches...(4) Jonah pouts...
Today...(1) Jonah flees...
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:
The Bible in 2 Kings speaks of Jonah as a living prophet who restored the boundaries of Israel. He preceded Amos...and ministered under Jeroboam; Israel’ most powerful king.
Prophets heard the word of God and were told what to say to kings and the people; good or bad news!
How would you like that job?
Jonah is different from other prophetic books because it tells the story of a prophet rather than centering in on the prophecies” (NIV Bible).
Only one verses summarizes his message to Nineveh; the people he was sent
Jonah 3:4 “On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!””
For the people needed to hear of Gods’ coming judgment in order to be saved. The book of Jonah is about Jonah...his refusal to go where God needed him to go.
(S4)
Go only where YOU wanna go; you may end up where you don’t want to be!
Go only where YOU wanna go; you may end up where you don’t want to be!
The Drowning Man; stuck on his rooftop in a flood; praying to God for help.
Row Boat — Motorboat — Helicopter (rope) — Each time... “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.”
Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned.
Jonah the prophet had gotten his message from God; not only ignores it, but runs the other way and ends up in the belly of a big fish.
Go where YOU wanna go and you may end up where you don’t want to be.
God’s directive is clear
(S5)
2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.””
The Great City of Nineveh
— was great in size; 120,000 people…
Jonah 3:3 “…a city so large that it took three days to see it all.”
— was great in its wickedness—founded by one of the first tyrants of the world; a warrior named Nimrod (son of Ham, Noah)
Nahum 3:1–4 “the city of murder and lies! She is crammed with wealth and is never without victims. Hear the crack of whips, the rumble of wheels! Horses’ hooves pound, and chariots clatter wildly. See the flashing swords and glittering spears as the charioteers charge past! There are countless casualties, heaps of bodies— so many bodies that people stumble over them. All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere.”
Nineveh was going to face God’s judgement! Jonah was told to ...not only go there...but to preach against it.
Sign me up for that mission trip!
(S6)
instead…3”Jonah ran in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.
Jonah flees...make a linear movement away from perceived danger. Who wouldn’t blame him for going in the opposite direction?
Melissa’s Haunted House Scare
Jonah’s reluctance?
Nineveh wasn’t worth his time/effort
The people didn’t deserve it—they were beyond saving
The problem; Jonah is from his responsibility—going where he wanted to go instead of where God needed him to go.
The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 22: Hosea / Joel / Amos / Obadiah / Jonah The Prophet of the Pocket Veto
“Jonah was a faithful prophet as long as God wanted what Jonah wanted”
It wasn’t just that Nineveh was a difficult place to go; Jonah knew God would save them, because he was…
4:2 ...gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love
One has to ask the question, has Jonah truly accepted the responsibility of his calling?
Sadly, Jonah represent most faithful Christians today; going as long as God wants us to go where we want to go…
Why it took me so long for me to accept God’s call on my life
The people of Nineveh, needed to hear of God’s salvation...
What are the hard places God is calling you too? Are you willing to be faithful to what God wants you to do...where he wants you to go?
Then we see just how far Jonah would go to get away from where God wants him to go…
(S7)
3b He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.”
For God to save Nineveh, He had to first rescue Jonah
He boards a ship...going in the opposite direction...the Lord’s anger, now unavoidable
God’s Storm {4-10}…
Jonah 1:10 “The sailors were terrified...he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.”
Jonah’s mess is now the sailors mess (storm); what do you do when a storm comes and your on a boat in the middle of the ocean? Hold onto whatever you can
All of us will face our share of storms. No one gets through life scot-free. At one point or another the sky will darken, the winds will rage, and we will find ourselves in the storm of our life. Hold on to Hope Max Lucado
The sailors find themselves in the middle of their own storm…
(S8) —
5 “Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.”
God’s perfect storm was not only meant to turn Jonah around; but to turn the sailors to himself. What was Jonah doing? Nothing!
What do we do with the good news we’ve been given? How can it affect others when we run from God?
— they will lack the peace and joy…spiritually blind to the truth of God—Influenced by the ways of the world—suffer without hope—separation from God (death)
Followers of Jesus by their action or inaction, will either point people to or away from the God in our storms
The sea grows increasingly violent…leaving them 3 choices
(13) Row back to land...
(14) Cry out to Jonah’s God...
(15) Lighten the Load
(S9)
15 “The sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.”
Even in Jonah’s mess, God is working…
—The people of Ninehveh didn’t deserve saving, yet God sent Jonah
—The sailors didn’t know God yet he sent a storm to turn them to him
Even when I don't see it, You're working
Even when I can't feel it, You're working
You never stop, You never stop working
You never stop, You never stop working
Waymaker, Michael W. Smith
While God is still working; Jonah accepts responsibility for the storm. The result; MAN OVERBOARD! Jonah is destined to the deep; except for God...
(S10) —
Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
A big fish, I am guessing was not Jonah’s first choice...anything would be better; a canoe, motorboat or better yet, a helicopter...
3 days/3 nights…as close to death as one can get without dying…
Jonah discovers in a very real way four very important lessons
He could not run from his responsibility…
Even in his mess; God was still working
Going where HE wanted to go, meant ending up where he didn’t want to be
“Look at Jonah in the fish belly – surrounded by gastric juices and sucked-in seaweed. For three days God has left him there. For three days Jonah has pondered his choices. And for three days he has come to the same conclusion: he ain’t got one. He blew it as a preacher. He was a flop as a fugitive. At best he’s a coward, at worse a traitor. And what he’s lacked all along he now has in abundance – guts.
So Jonah does the only thing he can do: he prays. He says nothing about how good he is – but a lot about how good God is. He doesn’t even ask for help, but help is what he gets. Before he can say amen, the belly convulses, the fish belches, and Jonah lands face first on the beach.
(S11)
God provided the prophet...to bring a message of salvation to Nineveh
God provided the storm...to turn the sailors to himself
God provided a Big Ol’ Fish...to rescue Jonah from himself
A myth, legend, glorified fish story…?
— Josephus, an early Jewish historian, believed Jonah a historical figure rather than fictional
— Jonah is the only "minor prophet" mentioned by Jesus himself
— The apostle Paul, it is believed, alluded to Jonah in..{1 Cor. 15:4}
God knew the people of Nineveh needed a way out so he sent Jonah...
God knew the sailors needed a way out, so he sent the storm...
God knew Jonah needed a way out, so he sent a Big Ol’ Fish...
God knows everyone needs a way out, so He sent Jesus
(S12)
For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
Jonah ran away from his responsibility as a man of God, and it almost cost him everything. Jesus ran to his responsibility, as the Son of God, and it cost him everything…
Just as a big ol’ fish would save Jonah so he could bring God’s message of deliverance from His judgement...Jesus was willing to go where know one wants to go...to save us to himself
“Those who run from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day.”
Questions to consider
Which direction are you headed? Away from or towards God?
2. What difficult place is God calling you to? Where is your Nineveh?
3. How do you see God working in your storms?
May we learn from Jonah’s story
We can’t run from our responsibility...if we are truly following Jesus
Even in our messes; God is still working
Go where YOU wanna go, and you may end up where you don’t want to be
(S13)
The Psalmist words still ring true for us today...
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
