Sermon Tone Analysis

Open with discussion about the 4th of July event that we had last night and ask of thoughts and what we could do to make it better and also geared towards giving the gospel message (having a prayer before the fireworks, an introduction from the Pastor, etc.

Maybe put a book with which people could sign in to give us a headcount and if they would like, list a number or email in case they want info from the church and maybe also list prayer requests and a follow up call on it!)

Ask the question: How many of each type of species did Jonah take on the Ark with him?

ANSWER: None.....it wasn’t Jonah that was on the Ark, but rather Noah!

I just wanted to throw some of you a curve and check your perceptual skills!

Also, since, we just had an amazing opportunity last night and God willing, will have another chance next year, to declare the gospel message to those around us, I was thinking about the man in the Bible known as Jonah.

In looking at the account of Jonah in the Bible, we see a very important point that needs to be stressed.

That point is what I am briefly touching on here tonight.

How many of you have ever heard of Roy Riegels?

The Golden Bears of University of California Berkeley, were playing Georgia Tech, in the 1929 Rose Bowl and there was a fumble.

Cal’s center, Roy Riegels recovered the fumble (which was good for Cal and bad for Georgia Tech) and then he proceeded to run the ball towards the end-zone for a hopeful touchdown (again, good for Cal and bad for Georgia Tech!)

The problem was. he became disoriented and took off the wrong direction, running 65 yards towards his own team’s end-zone!

(Good for Georgia Tech and bad for Cal!)

He was tackled by his own teammate at the one yard line and with a blocked punt, Georgia Tech made a safety on the play and ultimately won that Rose Bowl by a score of 8-7, thanks to the misdirected effort of, then titled, Wrong Way Roy!

The reason that I mention the account of Wrong Way Roy, is this same thing is seen in the story of Jonah, as we are getting ready to look at.

I think that most everyone knows the story, or at least the gist of the story of Jonah.

It is a relatively short book in the Bible, consisting of only 4 chapters and is a really quick read.

We are not going to sit and read tonight, but rather just skim through it to make a point.

I would encourage each of you to go home and read through this story at some point this week.

(There may be a pop quiz next week!)

Let’s read the opening verses of chapter one and you’ll see why the comparison to Wrong Way Roy. ,

So, did you see it, in this passage?

God calls His servant, the prophet Jonah, to go to Nineveh with a message and what does Jonah do?

He jumps and runs the opposite direction, of where he was to go!

Jonah left his hometown of Gath-hepher, near Nazareth in Israel and went to Joppa, which was a coastal city.

Once there, he paid the fair to board a ship that was headed to a certain destination.

The problem was, this destination was the WRONG WAY, the complete OPPOSITE DIRECTION, from the place that God had just told Jonah to go.

Jonah was a commissioned prophet of God, as we can see in , where it says, “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.

“

Nineveh was located EAST of the Tigris River in modern day Iraq, about 500 miles from his home town.

Tarshish, was located WEST of his home town and a distance of some 2,500 miles from Israel and the complete opposite direction of Nineveh!

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

This was probably the most remote destination available to Jonah, that would put him the furthest distance from Nineveh (the Assyrians) and where God wanted him to be!

The question that probably most people would ask, if you were telling this story to them for the first time, would be, “WHY?

Why did Jonah go to such great lengths to get as far away as possible from where God was wanting to send him?”

Well, first of all, I think that we need to look at who were the people pf Nineveh and what was so significant about them?

Nineveh was established by a guy that many of you may know the name of.

His name was Nimrod, and he was the great grandson of Noah (not Jonah, but Noah!)

According to the Bible, in , we see this about Nimrod,

Nimrod was very instrumental in developing some large pagan areas which were great sources of contention for Israel!

Nineveh was a massive city and according to different accounts, it had walls that surrounded it, that were estimated to be from 50 to 100 feet high and 8 miles long.

The city had a circumference of some 60 miles!

There were possibly several hundred thousand inhabitants of this area.

(Show video re-enactment of the city of Nineveh.)

The people of Nineveh worshipped Nanshe, the fish goddess, the daughter of Ea, the goddess of fresh water.

They worshipped Dagon, the fish god, represented as half man and half-fish.

Funny, don’t you think, that two of their major gods they worshipped were likened to a fish and what did Yahweh use to hold Jonah in?

They worshipped Assur, highest god in the Assyrian pantheon and protector of the city.

And they worshipped Ishtar, the goddess of love, war, fertility and sex.

Besides being a city of vast pagan worship, Nineveh was, at one time, the capital city of Assyria.

This possibly being one of the reasons that Jonah didn’t want to make the trip to Nineveh.

The Assyrians were a ruthless civilization and enemies of Israel.

In fact, the Assyrians were noted for their cruel methods of capturing and punishing those whom were opposed to them.

says this of Nineveh,

This was written about the destruction of Nineveh, that would take place about 100 years after the account here found in Jonah.

The Assyrian people were noted for methods of cruelty like no other.

Literally skinning their enemies alive and leaving them to die under the scorching sun and then hanging their skins on their walls.

Cutting off the hands and feet of rulers and nailing them to city walls.

Making great pyramid structures out of the heads of their foes.

Burning the cities children alive, or impaling the people and leaving their bodies on the stakes for all to see.

Cutting off ears, noses and gouging out eyes to make a point!

This is why the Assyrians were feared by other civilizations and why their empire reigned for over three centuries!

So, if you want to put into perspective, Jonah probably despised these people and saw no value in their lives.

When God gave the command to go and give the message to them, Jonah may have thought, “Give them the warning that God is going to destroy, or else they perish............I SAY THEN, THEY PERISH!”

Jonah was an embittered man and right out of the gait wanted to leave God’s presence and dismiss an entire city of people, knowing their fate!

What kind of prophet of God just turns his back on God and completely dismisses what God has commanded him to do?

The answer, is simple: one that is filled with hate, disdain and only sees through his own eyes.

In short, Jonah was a BIGOT!

He only wanted to see his people, (God;s chosen people) prosper and he cared nothing about this pagan group.

Jonah jumps on the boat and off he goes.

Jonah

Look at the account of while he is on the boat (verses 4-17)

God created a massive storm to pound the ship to the point that it was about to break the ship apart and that the seasoned sailors were fearful, having not experienced something like this! (How many here knows that when God does something, it is beyond anything we can imagine?

When God says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it”, you had better know that He means it!

The sailors are all praying to their various gods for help and throwing things overboard to lighten the ship and the captain goes down below and finds Jonah asleep!

“How can you sleep at a time like this”, the captain asks.

And then tells Jonah to get up and pray to his God for help!

Either Jonah was in a depressed and despondent state and slept,(how many know that people that are depressed sleep easily?!) or, he was confident in his own decision and felt at peace with whatever happened and had security in his own decision and of himself and didn’t care about the ship, its crew and what was going on!

The thing is, the pagan sailors had more reverence and respect for God than the prophet of Jehovah himself did!

They ask Jonah, after casting lots over whose fault it was that the storm had come upon them, “Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded.

“Who are you?

What is your line of work?

What country are you from?

What is your nationality?”

Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

Tyndale House Publishers.