The Jonah in Us
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nahum 3
1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs.
2 The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots!
3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses— They stumble over the corpses—
Open your bible’s to the book of Jonah
Known as the “ Reluctant Prophet”
Do you know what it means to be reluctant?
Hesitant, unwilling, lacking motivation
There are some things in life we should be reluctant to do...
Im not the most gifted person mechanically and yet I’m pretty frivolous when it comes to saving money on maintence...
Typically I end up wasting time and causing more problems than if i would just take the car to get fixed.
Principle - I should NEVER be reluctant to take God at His word and to build your life upon it.
Principle - I should NEVER be reluctant to take God at His word and to build your life upon it.
Read
Verse 1 - The Word of the Lord Came to Jonah...
How awesome would that be…
How often do we struggle with discovering God’s will for our lives...
We Serve a God who loves to speak...
God Speaks through Creation
God Speaks through Circumstances
He
God speaks through People
GOD Speaks through his word...
In Fact, He completely Reveals everything we need to know about Himself, Relationships, Finances, Suffering...
We have something far greater
We have God’s Word right here… Available to us 24/7
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
So many are wanting God to speak to them in a mystical way, as if his COMPLETE REVELATION was not enough...
Beware of those People who always have a word from God apart from the Word of God....
I labor on this point because we need to be people rooted in His Word… Not seeking a fuzzy goose bump experience
How Did Jonah respond to the Word of God? Complete Surrender and Submission?
No
What about You, how do you respond to the Word of God?
Do you pick and Choose which areas are open to Him? Are there areas in your life that are off limits to God?
Gods Word should draw us closer to Him not cause us to run away...
Lets Get some context on Jonahs situation...
Why would Jonah be reluctant to obey the Voice of God?
Because What God asked was a difficult assignment.
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”
Well he is a prophet, whats the big deal?
Understand a bit about the place God was sending Him...
Nineveh was the capital city of the Assaryian Empire.
Empire known for its ruthless conquest
A people who were Enimies of Israel...
1 Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs.
2 The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots!
3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses— They stumble over the corpses—
nah
Nahum 1. The Violence and Immorality in Nineveh (1–4)
i. Not only where the rulers of Assyria terribly cruel, they boasted of the cruelty on monuments that exist in museums to this day. Boice quotes some of the choice boasts from various monuments:
• “I cut off their heads and formed them into pillars”
• “Bubo, son of Buba, I flayed in the city of Arbela and I spread his skin upon the city wall”
• “I flayed all the chief men who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins”
• “Many within the border of my own land I flayed, and spread their skins upon the walls”
• “I cut off the limbs of the officers, the royal officers who had rebelled”
• “3,000 captives I burned with fire”
• “Their corpses I formed into pillars”
• “From son I cut off their hands and their fingers, and from other I cut off their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes”
• “I made one pillar of the living, and another of heads, I bound their heads to posts round about the city”
Nahum 1. The Violence and Immorality in Nineveh (1–4)
i. Not only where the rulers of Assyria terribly cruel, they boasted of the cruelty on monuments that exist in museums to this day. Boice quotes some of the choice boasts from various monuments:
• “I cut off their heads and formed them into pillars”
• “Bubo, son of Buba, I flayed in the city of Arbela and I spread his skin upon the city wall”
• “I flayed all the chief men who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins”
• “Many within the border of my own land I flayed, and spread their skins upon the walls”
• “I cut off the limbs of the officers, the royal officers who had rebelled”
• “3,000 captives I burned with fire”
• “Their corpses I formed into pillars”
• “From son I cut off their hands and their fingers, and from other I cut off their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes”
• “I made one pillar of the living, and another of heads, I bound their heads to posts round about the city”
Why did he not want to Go?
Persecution - FEAR
Can we cut him some slack? How many would be signing up for that Job?
God’s presence accompanies God’s Commands.
Prejudice - Look how ruthless they were, if anyone did not deserve Grace, surely it was them...
Sometimes God will ask us to do somethings we don’t desire to do…
Sometimes God will ask us to do somethings we don’t desire to do…
Let that sink in… It’s in these moments we discover if He is truly Lord or not?
Lord of All or Not Lord at All
There are going to be times I don’t feel like serving
There are going to be times I don’t feel like _________
Obedience > Feelings
Look at Jonah’s response… Excitement, lets get going
No!!!
3 But Jonah arose 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 from the presence of the Lord.
Isnt that a laughable thought… I will run away from God
(if i dont go, He will never know)
I love the word picture and progerssion...
Principle #2 You will always be able to find a ship going in the other direction. Satan will see to it...
Principle #2 You will always be able to find a ship going in the other direction. Satan will see to it...
If we are not careful, we will beging to justify our disobeince...
God said this, but he opened a door to Go here or do this...
Check out God’s Repsonse
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
jonah
Jonah lost many things when he boarded that ship...
He lost the voice of God…
God was no longer speaking through his Word but through His works…
God has the power and ability to discipline and chastize those he loves.
Principle #3 God has a way of sending a storm our way to get our attention.
Principle #3 God has a way of sending a storm our way to get our attention.
Not every storm is a result of sinful behavior...
In fact, remember on the sea of Galilee Go to the other Side.
Jesus Calmed the Waters
others may not know why, but you will… Gods Spirit has a way of revealing his loving rebuke to us...
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
Principle #4 Your disobedience affects more than just yourself.
Principle #4 Your disobedience affects more than just yourself.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
.5-9
How often do you hear someone justify there disobedience with, its not hurting anyone but yourself?
5-9
Storms have a way of affecting more than just you...
During this Storm Jonah not only lost God’s voice, he lost his desire to fellowship.
What were all the other sailors doing? Casting out Cargo and calling out to there false Gods.
Where was Jonah? Asleep
Its hard to pray for delivarance when you know the reason why you need to be delivered.
Jonah also lost his testimony
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
Jonah Lost all Hope
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
Principle #5 Gods Grace is greater than your disobedience...God can use your disobedience to reach others & to teach us to depend on him even more
Principle #5 Gods Grace is greater than your disobedience...God can use your disobedience to reach others & to teach us to depend on him even more
God can use your disobedience to reach others
God can use your disobedience to reach others
& to teach us to depend on him even more
& to teach us to depend on him even more
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
jonah 17
IT was in this Fish that Jonah got right with God and God used him to do great things.
As we bring this to a close… I want to highlight the fact that we all have a jonah living inside of us. We must learn to Trust and Obey what God is leading us to do instead of being reluctant and filled with Doubt.