Second Chances

 On the eve of a final exam, college seniors Bob & Ben, drove an hour to a bar to blow off steam. They blew off too much steam & spent the night. When they got to class, their professor was collecting the last exams. They begged, "We headed back in time last night, but we had a flat. It was morning before we could get it changed. Please give us a 2nd chance. Please?" Prof said, "OK. Be here at 8:45am, tomorrow. Don't be late." They agreed. At 8:45am, they returned. Prof ushered them into separate rooms. On the table in each was a paper & a pen. At exactly 9am, Prof said, "You may turn over your exams." On each test was one question: "Which tire?" Bob & Ben lied about the flat. They didn't really deserve a 2nd chance. Neither did Jonah. In Jon 1:1-2, the Lord sent him to Nineveh. "Go... & proclaim against it." Instead, Jonah booked a cargo ship in the opposite direction. The Lord sent an epic storm. The ship was near breaking apart. The crew tried to save the ship every way they knew, even throwing the cargo overboard. It just kept getting worse. The crew found out Jonah was running away from God. That terrified them. In Jon 1:11, they asked him, "How do we make the sea calm down?" In Jon 1:12 he told them, "Throw me into the sea." Instead, they tried rowing the boat to shore. But the seas grew so wild they had no other choice. The crew asked the Lord's forgiveness & threw Jonah overboard. But the Lord isn't done with Jonah & provides a great fish to swallow him. God has Jonah's full attention. He starts praying. Days go by. On the 3rd day, God has His prophet again. So, God caused the fish to spit Jonah out onto dry land. Let's sum it up so far. "God is sovereign, Jonah. What part of 'God' don't you get?" Remember God's 1st word to Jonah? "Go to... Nineveh & proclaim against it..." In Jonah 3:1-5, 10, God will give him a new word. A 2nd chance. 1The Lord's word came to Jonah a 2nd time. This is the key to our message for today. With God, it'll never be one & done. It'll always be grace & mercy. Always a 2nd chance. Always. When Adam & Eve sinned, we think it only meant their death. Not true. God loves us too much. The instant they sinned, it's as if He had said to them, "On the day you eat from that tree, I will die." And God did die on the cross for us. He died to give us a 2nd chance for eternal life. God gives us 2nd chances, no matter what it costs Him. Jonah's 2nd chance? 2a"Go to the great city of Nineveh. 500-600 miles from where the fish spit him out. Maybe 5 weeks on foot. 2bProclaim to it the message I give you." This is the prophets call & choice. The call? Say what God says to say. Only that. No more, no less. Choose otherwise? It's the fish... just sayin'. That too is a lesson for us. God won't let us run away from obedience any more than He let Jonah. Even if He has to put storms, a great fish, or even the surety of destruction in our path. God can make obedience incredibly attractive compared to the alternatives. He's God. We're not. Get it? Jonah got it. 3aHe obeyed the Lord & went to Nineveh. He has a 2nd chance. So does Nineveh. Why them? Why? Several reasons. For one, it's a Gentile city. Israel was supposed to be a light to the Gentiles. So far, how many Gentile nations have they reached for God? Zero. Just the opposite, for centuries they've treated all Gentiles as unclean. Also, its population is ≥250k. (By comparison, Samaria-larger than Jerusalem-was only ~30k.) If one person is worth dying for, how does God feel about a city of 250k? Besides, God wants to reach them because they're on course to become the cruelest nation of its day. If God can't change their course, He knows what He'll do. So, God sent Jonah. 3bNineveh was a very important city! It's the capital, of what will soon be the most powerful nation in its world. How big was Nineveh? 3cA visit required 3 days-to walk around? Through? The Hebrew may mean either. Either way, <picture> archeology shows that it was big & sprawling, like Dallas. 4aOn the 1st day-as soon as he got there, Jonah started into the city. How can we do a giant-sized task God gives us? Start. Immediately. We're responsible to obey. God is responsible for results. 4bJonah proclaimed as walked toward the city's center. In Hebrew, his message is only 5 words! 4b"40 more days, & Nineveh? Overturned." Jonah didn't care if people liked him or approved of his message. (Assyria was a cruel, powerful enemy of Israel. He more than likely hoped Nineveh wouldn't listen, & God would destroy them!) But no matter how he felt, he kept preaching what God told him to proclaim. 40 days & you're doomed. 40 days. A God timetable. (Noah's 40-day flood. Moses's 40-days on top of Mt Sinai. Jesus' 40-day testing in the wilderness.) 40 days, & you'll be Overturned. Overthrown, as in Ge 19:25. God overthrew Sodom & Gomorrah & the entire plain around them. Think scorched earth. It's a God-action on a God timetable. It's life or death for the Ninevites. It's a 2nd chance. Why does God warn Nineveh? Why give this cruel nation a 2nd chance? If He has any other choice, God isn't willing to destroy them! Likewise, God isn't willing to destroy us. He wants us with Him forever. He won't let us to be destroyed (lost) if we give Him a choice by choosing Jesus! The scary thing? God so respects our free will He allows us to choose death! Like the Ninevites, He'll warn us. But in the end, it's our choice. (Lord, help me choose wisely!) 5aThe Ninevites face a choice! And they 5bbelieved God. Their belief is faith. How do we know? The Hebrew for overturn can mean repent. Nineveh's people heard a message of doom in 40 days. But they also saw in Jonah's message a hint. If they turned from their sin, God might turn from His wrath. They heard both a warning of Nineveh's overthrow & a call for repentance. By believing God, they also believed their repentance could make a difference. To show they were serious, 5cThey declared a nation-wide fast. 5dAll of them, from the greatest to least, put on sackcloth. Jon 3:7-8 says they even put sackcloth on the animals & let them fast too! Best of all, they prayed for mercy. That's a lesson for us! Under judgment? Turn to God & pray. In Jon 3:8, they do more than pray & fast. 8bThey gave up their evil ways & violence. God noticed. 10aGod saw what they did & how they turned from their evil ways. They turned. In Hebrew, they שׁוב. They repented. Remember how God describes Himself in Ex 34:5-7. "6Compassionate & gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in love & faithfulness. 7Maintaining love to thousands. And forgiving wickedness, rebellion & sin." God wants to show mercy. How can we enter? Look at 1 Jn 1:9. 9If we confess our sins, He's faithful & just & will forgive our sins. Repentance is the doorway to God's mercy, a 2nd chance. Repentance shows that our faith for God & our love for Him are real. And the Ninevites repented. God saw, & they entered His mercy. 10bGod had compassion. He 10cdidn't bring upon them the destruction he'd threatened. These pagan Gentiles responded in one day to God's message. One message. They believed. Immediately! And Israel? For centuries, God's chosen people rejected or even killed the prophets God sent. God also revealed Himself in Scripture. He entrusted His Word to Israel as with no other nation. But they either ignored it or twisted it to do religion their way. Nineveh's response is an indictment on Israel & Judah. And on us. When God confronts us in His word, what's our response? Repentance isn't just turning away from sin. That's only the start. To be saved, turn toward God. The Ninevites' did both. Their repentance didn't last (<150 years). But it mattered to God. Why? He was able to save that generation. Look at Mt 12:41. Jesus lifts up their repentance as a good example for us. What will He say about ours? Want a 2nd chance? Jonah 3:1-5, 10 - Second Chances Page 1 of 1