Jonah

Jonah

 

  1. The Word of the Lord

    1. 1:1-2 THE WORD OF THE LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, Arise GO to Nineveh the great city and cry against it for their wickedness has come up before Me

    2. Nineveh = the capital city of Assyria during the time of Jonah

    3. If Nineveh did not repent God was going to judge it like Sodom and Gomorrah

    4. THE WORD OF THE LORD came to Johan and said GO and Jonah said NO he thought he could take it or leave it

 

  1. GO In The Right Direction

    1. 1:3 But Jonah rose up to FLEE to Tarshish from the PRESENCE OF THE LORD, so he went DOWN to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went DOWN into it to go with them to Tarshish from the PRESENCE OF THE LORD

    2. Jonah RAN from God’s will because he thought that the Lord was asking him to do an IMPOSSIBLE task

    3. Assyrians/Ninevites were known for their violence

 

  1. THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD

    1. In the Presence of the Lord ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

    2. There is Fullness of Joy PS 16:11

    3. There is Protection  PS 31:20

    4. There is Rest Ex 33:14

 

  1. Do Not RUN AWAY from Jesus

    1. 1:4 And the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great STORM on the sea so that the ship was about to break up

    2. There are consequences for RUNNING from The Lord

    3. Sin brings STORMS in to our souls Sin brings STORMS in to our families

    4. 1:5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god and they threw the cargo which was in the ship in to the sea
      When people are in CRISIS they turn to God and don’t care about possessions

    5. 1:7 And each man said to his mate, Come let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.  So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah

    6. Your sin will find you out you cannot run from God forever

    7. 1:15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him in to the sea

 

  1. Radical Adjustment

    1. 17:1 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Johan was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights

    2. The Lord will put you through a time of radical adjustment

    3. He could not go anywhere or talk to anyone except Jesus

    4. Can be jail

    5. Can be caused by tragedy or accident

    6. Can be caused by sickness all you can do is lay there in bed and read the Bible

    7. This period of radical adjustment no matter how hard or extreme it may seem is God’s way of preserving you. The fish that swallowed him prevented him from drowning

 

  1. Repentance

    1. 2:2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly and said, I CRIED OUT to the Lord because of my affliction and He answered me

    2. God answers prayer when we repent

    3. 2:10 the fish vomited him out of the situation

    4. Repentance is a complete turnaround in thinking and actions.

    5. 3:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time

    6. 3:3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord

    7. Jonah obeys God’s plan anyway

    8. You will serve God’s purpose one way or another

    9. 3:5-10 God’s purpose is fulfilled and Jonah is used by God to bring repentance to over 120,000 people and averts the wrath of God because the people repent at Jonah’s word

 

  1. The real issue

    1. Jonah reveals the root problem

    2. 4:2 Thou art a gracious and compassionate God slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and one who relents concerning calamity

    3. The Ninevites were the enemies of Israel, Jonah did not want God to forgive them

    4. Jonah wanted God to Judge them

    5. 4:11 And should I not pity Nineveh that great city in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much live stock?

    6. They Ninevites were ignorant spiritually

    7. We must GO