Jonah 2: God of 2nd Chances

What does God want us to know? He is the God of second chances

Why? Some of us think God is done with us because we have failed, fallen or rebelled

What does God want us do? Follow the call

Why? It leads to good for you and others and glory of God.

ME/WE

Last week we dove into answering the question “Does God have a purpose for me, a call for me?”

Through the story of Jonah—and throughout the whole of Scripture—we discovered a resounding “yes.” God does have a call on your life. He has created you with purpose and has invited you into something meaningful.

At the foundation of that calling is this truth: God is calling you to do good works.

We begin to discover those good works through prayer and by listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes the GOOD WORKS with be small things such as be present with others, stop working

Other times the GOOD WORKS will be HUGE things such as change or vocation or location.

TODAY

We are asking a similar but different question.

Does God STILL have a call for me to do?

When do we often ask this question?

After a fall, after a failure, or after season of rebellion

We wonder: “After I did that... or did it again... After I wandered so far from God... Could He still have a purpose for me?” “Is His call on my life still intact?”

That’s the very question we’re faced with today in the life of Jonah.

Jonah is deep in a season of rebellion. He’s not drifting—he’s running from God.

Anybody been there before?

Let’s reminder ourselves where we are in the story.

Can I get several young people to help illustrate where we are in the story?

Ben is Jonah.

We learned in chapter 1 God gives a call to Jonah the prophet a call to preach to the people in Nineveh, which is 550 miles east of Jonah.

We discovered problem Nineveh were evil people and did horrible things to people who were against them.

And how does Jonah respond?

He goes down to Joppa

He goes down into a boat that heading toward Tarshish 2500 miles away

WHY? Not because he was afraid of evil Nineveh but because he doesn’t want Nineveh to repent and receive the grace of God.

Boat starts sailing away

And then storm comes (fake water), not just any storm a huge storm, throwing cargo over board, panicked and prayed to their gods.

Where is Jonah? Sleeping, a deep sleep, a sleep of mourning because of what God has called him to do

The pagan sailors are saying this is an act of God and they cast lots to see who’s fault it is of why they are in this storm and the LOT falls on JONAH

They say who are you what is going on?

Jonah says I am a HEBREW and I fear YHWH…we are thinking…no your not…you are running from God.

Jonah said this will all stop if you throw my overboard….Jonah thinking my life is over and I don’t need to go to Nineveh.

The sailors are said no…we don’t want your blood on our hands

The storm became worse and the sailers are reluctantly throw Jonah overboard and the sea stopped.

Give them a hand

Wha is going to happen next to Jonah the prophet running and rebelling from God.

Is this it?

Is Jonah life over?

End of story

Prophet of God disobeys God and now is done?

Yes and no…God is bringing Jonah to a kind of death—not a physical death, but a death to his old self.

We’ve been there before…When God brings death to our old life.

Let’s look at Jonah 1:17 which is the beginning of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible

Jonah 1:17 ESV

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.

YHWH…God appointed a fish to swallow up Jonah.

What is going on?

God what are you doing?

God is going to be a death and resurrection to JONAH….giving JONAH SECOND chance to live out the call….and we see this dear readers of God’s word all over the HEBREW TEXT in this one verse and the verses to follow.

Where do you see it?

Where have you see three days

Where else have I seen three days happen before followed by a redemption, rebirth?

Jesus was was in the grave three days in the grave and rose again to new life.

Who’s life did we look at last month? Abraham…where was the three days in that story?

Abraham when we took Issac to be sacrifed on Mt Moriah. “On the third day Abraham looked up…For three days, Abraham carries the weight of offering Isaac, his son. On the third day, God provides a substitute a ram and Abraham is reborn from someone with a up and down faith to a person now called Father of the Faith. pointing ahead to Christ.

Three days: often signifies a period of trial, death, or waiting, followed by deliverance, resurrection, rebirth or transformation.

We as readers are having our sense drawn to something is going on here.

NOT ONLY is three days showing us this

Where does the the fish take JONAH?

- Into the water

where do we see someone going into water and coming out of water

- The Exodus (Exodus 14)Israel passes through the Red Sea—from slavery to freedom.

Our baptims we are burried in baptism, raised to new life in Christ.

Romans 6:3–4 ESV

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Not only that

In Jonah 1:17 the word for word fish is mascline…God appointed a fish, Jonah was in the fish

And then it says in Jonah 2:1…female fish.

Why does it change to femine fish when Jonah is in the fish?

Who gives birth?

What the scirptures are showing us about God is Jonah is trying to run from God in rebellion and God is coming after him to give Jonah a new birth to live into the calling God has for him.

THIS IS ALL SINGNALLING NEW BIRTH IS COMING

OLD JONAH IS DEAD

How does Jonah respond

Jonah 2:1–2 ESV

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

Jonah finally prays.

Sheol is the grave…Jonah is on death

God hasn’t given up on Jonah

Jonah 2:3–4 ESV

For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’

I look to you for salvation

Jonah 2:5–6 ESV

The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

I went down

Yet you brought me up

Jonah 2:7–9 ESV

When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

God you are my salvation

Jonah is being reborn and repented

Jonah 2:10 ESV

And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Vomited out a NEW JONAH…a reborn JONAH

Jonah 3:1–3 ESV

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth.

Pretty amazing story!

The Good News God is the God of second chances.

It answers the question: Is God still have a purpose for you after the fall, failure, and rebel and the answer is YES!

We don’t just see this with Jonah

This is the pattern of grace we see all through Scripture.

Think about David: he failed miserably—adultery, deceit, even murder. But God wasn’t done with him. He called David again—to repentance, to restoration, to legacy.

What about Abraham? he doubted, lied, tried to take God’s promise into his own hands—and yet, God still called him the father of many nations.

What about Peter? Also know as Simon bar Jonah (son of Jonah) Peter denied Jesus three times…and God gives him a second chance….and one of Peter’s calls comes in Joppa the place were Jonah was called and Peter’s call was go to the Gentiles and

God is not finished with you—not after your failure, not after your rebellion, not even after your running.

You still have a call by God

Because the God who calls Jonah, David, Abraham, and Peter— still calls people like you and me.

And He’s not done yet.