Jonah - Part 1

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Introduction: When you think of Jonah, most people think of the fish.

 

Proposition or Thesis: But Jonah is not just a story about a fish

 

Interrogative: How many of us know what else this story represents?

 

Transition: What do we know about Jonah?

 

I. Jonah was a man of God

 

  1. He had a relationship with God
    1. Jonah 1:1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai:
  1. He had the ear of kings of the land: 
    1. 2 Kings 14:23-25 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. 24 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. 25 He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo [e] Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, [f] in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.
  1. Was called by God to go to preach repentance in Nineveh: Jonah 1:2 - "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
    1. Nineveh was part of Assyria was plagued by many of the same things that plague us today (world, US and locally)
    2. Assyria was HATED by Israel - and vice/versa
    3. Nineveh was a horrible place that was guilty of a multitude of sins (the book of Nahum is focused towards Nineveh and the Lord's anger towards it and it's pending fall.  It also explains Nineveh's sin.
  1. Openly calls himself a Hebrew
    1. v1:9 - "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."


Transition: But Jonah decided not to heed the Lord's command

 

II. Jonah didn't live what he preached

 

  1. Even though Jonah heard clearly from the Lord, he tried to run away from God's call
    1. v1:3 - But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
  1. He sleeps through a violent storm, oblivious to the safety of his fellow travelers
    1. v1:5 - All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
  1. Even though the captain exhorts him to pray, there's no evidence that he does
    1. v1:6 - The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."
  1. When questioned by the crew (after the lot fell on him) he openly calls himself a Hebrew
    1. v1:9 - "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
  1. He refuses to admit wrongdoing, even when the lot falls on him
    1. v1:10 - This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)
  1. Rather than praying and/or repenting, he asks to die by being thrown into the sea.  Jonah thought that by sacrificing himself, he could avoid God's call (suicide)
    1. v1:12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."

 

Transition: Though Jonah was a solid man of God, he, like us, struggled in walking out his faith

 

III. How many of us struggle with doing what God is telling us?

 

  1. We hear God tell us to start or stop doing something and refuse
  2. We try to run away from God the same way that Jonah did
    1. Maybe we try a different church
    2. Maybe we try a different job
  1. We ignore the signs that God has put all around us
    1. We "fall asleep in the bottom of the boat"
    2. We attribute the things that are happening as "coincidence"
  1. We ignore promptings to pray for guidance / deliverance
  2. Even after all of this, we still claim (with our mouth) to be a Christian

 

Conclusion: Today's message is a call to action

 

  1. Are you hearing from God, but running away from what he has for you?
  2. As you ignoring the signs that God is showing you?
  3. Are you refusing to pray - even when asked?
  4. Would you rather consider death (physical or spiritual) before you allow God total control?

 

Invitation:

 

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