The Joy of Jonah

Text: The Book of Jonah

Jonah 4:3 ESV

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Intro: The book of Jonah opens up with The Lord speaking to Jonah. He disobeys and tries to flee from the Lord. Then we are introduced to the people on the ship, we see how the other people in Jonah’s life are affecting him. Then we come to the moment when Jonah has to remember who his is, he has to face himself. He has to realize that its not about what he wants, that he can no longer hide from his identity. Today, we are going to take a deeper look into these three aspects of Jonah’s journey to find Joy in our own lives.

I. J for Jesus (Chapter 2)

1. God’s commands bring joy

John 15:9–11 ESV

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

2. God breaks chains or uses them

a. Philippians reference

b. Cast Example

c. Whale Example

3. Life vs. More Life

Philippians 1:21 ESV

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

II. O for Others (Chapter 3)

1. The Company You Keep

a. We aren’t meant to be alone

b. The men on the boat

c. The friends you choose

2. The Lack of Compassion

a. No desire to win the lost

b. No effort from Jonah

Jonah 3:1–5 (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.

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

3. The Hatred For Others

a. We Gotta Forgive

Jonah 3:10–4:1 (ESV)

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

Jonah 4:2–3 (ESV)

And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

III. Y for Yourself (Chapter 4)

1. Know Who You Are

a. Identity on the boat

Jonah 1:8–9 (ESV)

Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”

And 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.”

b. Find love for yourself

Jonah 1:11–12 (ESV)

Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”

2. Know Its Not Your Way But God’s

Isaiah 55:8–9 (ESV)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

3. Don’t Rely On Comfort

jonah 4.5-11

Jonah 4:5–11 (ESV)

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.

And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

a. Gotta be willing to step out your comfort zone

b. Don’t become complacent

Conclusion: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; its what this nation was built on. But yet we choose death or we live in chains. We all want happiness but we don’t want to pursue it. We all wish we could have Joy but we don’t take the steps to obtain it. I believe the Book of Jonah reveals the steps we must take. A Love for God, A Love for Others, and A Love for Yourself.