December
19th Jonah 1 A.
Jonah does wrong Jonah runs away for
the Lord
1: Now the word of the LORD came unto
Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2:
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness
is come up before me. 3: But
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went
down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare
thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence
of the LORD. 4: But the LORD
sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea,
so that the ship was like to be broken. 5:
Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth
the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah
was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. 6: So the shipmaster came to him, and
said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be
that God will think upon us, that we perish not. 7: And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast
lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots,
and the lot fell upon Jonah. 8:
Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is
upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country?
and of what people art thou? 9:
And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven,
which hath made the sea and the dry land. 10: Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why
hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the
LORD, because he had told them. 11:
Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm
unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. 12: And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into
the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you. 13:
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not:
for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. 14: Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech
thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay
not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. 15: So they took up Jonah, and cast
him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. 16: Then the men feared the LORD
exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. 17: Now the LORD had prepared a great
fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and
three nights.
Jonah
2 B. Jonah does right Jonah
prays from the fish
1: Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his
God out of the fish's belly, 2:
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me;
out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3: For thou hadst cast me into the
deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy
billows and thy waves passed over me. 4:
Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy
temple. 5: The waters compassed
me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were
wrapped about my head. 6: I
went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me
for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. 7: When my soul fainted within me I
remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8: They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. 9: But
I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that
I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. 10:
And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Jonah
3 B. Jonah does right Jonah
goes to Nineveh
1: And the word of the LORD came unto
Jonah the second time, saying, 2:
Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that
I bid thee. 3: So Jonah arose,
and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an
exceeding great city of three days' journey. 4: And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and
he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 5: So the people of Nineveh believed
God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them
even to the least of them. 6:
For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he
laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7: And he caused it to be proclaimed
and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,
Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed,
nor drink water: 8: But let man
and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them
turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9: Who can tell if God will turn
and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? 10: And God saw their works, that
they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said
that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Jonah
4 A. Jonah does wrong Jonah
angry with God
1: But it displeased Jonah
exceedingly, and he was very angry. 2:
And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my
saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish:
for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 3: Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live. 4: Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? 5: So Jonah went out of the city, and
sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it
in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. 6: And the LORD God prepared a gourd,
and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to
deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. 7: But God prepared a worm when the
morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. 8: And it came to pass, when the sun
did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the
head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is
better for me to die than to live. 9:
And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said,
I do well to be angry, even unto death. 10:
Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast
not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in
a night: 11: And should not I
spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons
that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much
cattle?
In
this OT book of only four chapters Jonah to describes his unusual life and
ministry. (785-760 BC). Jonah shows the extent of God’s grace. Some people
think that the message of Jonah is not prophetic but obviously Jonah was a
Prophet to the city of Nineveh. His Mission was a total success much to the
disappointment of Jonah who felt that God would destroy the city in spite of
whether the people repented. It is said that in Hebrew he preached only three
words and yet the people repented from the King on his throne to the poorest
person. The main characters of the story are not the fish or the city or the
plant, but God and how God moves in the life of a man of God and how obedience
and compassion are required of all prophets. The messages of the book are... 1.
Salvation is by faith. 2. Repentance can avert judgement. 3. God sometimes
gives us another chance. 4. God is good and gracious. 5. While God is the God
of Israel he also is the God of the Gentiles who turn to him. 6. Sometimes
preaching works. 7. God’s prophets are not always nice people.
In
chapter one Jonah describes his call to be a prophet to Nineveh but Jonah takes
ship to go completely in the opposite direction. He sets out for Spain. He paid
his fare and set out - away from the presence of the Lord. However the Lord
sent a great wind into the sea, so that the ship was likely to be broken up.
The seamen were afraid and finding Jonah asleep they wake him to tell him to
pray to his God. Jonah rose but did not reveal that he was the cause of the
storm. The seamen decide that one of them is at fault so they cast lots to find
out who it is. The lot fell on Jonah. Then they asked him what he had done.
What was his job and where had he come from. He confessed it all. He said l
fear the God of heaven (The name of God when speaking to Gentiles) they ask him
what he had done and what they should do about it. He says throw me into the
sea but they are afraid to kill him. In the end they prayed that God would
forgive them and they threw him into the sea. Immediately the storm stopped.
The seamen were now even more afraid and worshipped the Lord. The next thing
was that the Lord prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish
for three days and nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord out of the belly of
the fish. His prayer is eloquent fluent and full of promise. He gets to the
point in which he says salvation of the
LORD. So far this is an object lesson on Israel’s relation to the Lord of their
rebellion and of how the Lord will use even the most drastic means to turn them
around. The fish vomited Jonah into dry land. Then we heard wonderful words.
‘The word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time’. The Lord is always
prepared to give men of God and Israel who he loves, a second chance. So the
Lord sends him to Nineveh and he is the most successful evangelist in history.
Nineveh is a very great city and they all respond favourably to the lord and
they turn to the Lord. his message is simple in Hebrew it read ’40 days’
‘Nineveh’ ‘overthrown’. The whole city repented and sat in sackcloth and ashes
and they fasted and cried desperately to the Lord and they turned away from
their evil ways. God heard them and forgive them. This did not please Jonah one
bit. He was furious with God. He said l knew you would do this because you are
a God of great kindness, merciful and patient – now he said kill me – get it
over. Then the Lord said to Jonah are you doing the right thing to be angry?
Jonah went to sit on a hill to see the destruction of Nineveh. There he made a
sort of arbour with a bush to protect his head from the sun. Then the Lord
prepared a gourd a plant with large leaves to give him protection from the sun
and it grew up quickly over him. Jonah was very glad of the bush. Then the Lord
prepared a worm that ate the plant so that it withered and died. When the sun
rose up hot Jonah fainted in the heat. And he said to God that it was better
had he died. Then the Lord asked him why he felt sorry for the bush and angry
at its withering. Then the Lord put to him this simple logic which shattered
his childishness he said you have pity on this plant which grew up in a day and
withered in a day but you had not thought of kindness to the people of the city
of whom there are 60,000 children. Jonah like all men of God was complicated;
he was rebellious, obedient, successful and childish. But the Lord loved him
and went to great lengths to teach him better things.
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