Old Llantrisant Hill
Introduction
- Looking at Jonah
- Example of young Christian
- Jonah was backsliden
- Did his backsliding start with his decision not to go to Nineveh?
- The Hebrew says he goes ‘down‘
- He is a discouraged and disappointed prophet
- It is a difficult time in Israel’s history
- He does not want the Gentiles to know God’s mercy
- His backsliding was to do with his heart
- Not loving others
- Not true loving the God of Israel
- Not accepting that God would have love for the nations around
- He has sin in his heart so does not obey
- He tries to escape the presence of God
- We had a challenge last week – we are charged the the great commission – to share the gospel with others
- Are we like Jonah not obeying the call to preach the gospel to those around us
- God has a way of bringing us back
- 2:1 – Then Jonah prayed
- He had not really prayed until this point
- Often it may be a crisis that calls us to cry out to God
God’s Hand
- Overview:
- God sent a storm
- A consequence for Jonah and the sailors with him
- God knew he needed to be shaken
- To reach rock bottom / the end of himself
- He is delivered but still has prejudice
- Jonah recounted this story and it is recorded in Scripture
- He must have been a changed man
- God uses people
- God sent a storm
- The sailors cry out to their god
- They are superstitious men but believe in spiritual things
- The captain comes down to Jonah
- He wonders why Jonah is asleep
- Such exhaustion fighting against God’s will
- A human story and a divine story
- God used the captain
- God can use non-Christians to speak to Christians
- He rebukes Jonah for not praying when they are praying!
- Are you asleep? – Eph 5:14 "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
- They cast lots
- It falls on Jonah
- ‘Bad luck’ but also divine appointment – Prov 16:33
- They question him
- He wanted to keep quiet
- Where are you from?
- He was a nationalist – my people matter more than any other, he does not want God to bless others
- He begins to confess (1:9)
- He charges them to throw him overboard
- The sailors reject this and row harder
- Perhaps he is surrendering himself to God?
- The storm becomes more tempestuous (1:11, 13)
- They throw Jonah overboard
- The sea becomes calm
- The sailors pray to God asking for forgiveness (1:14)
- There is a great miracle (1:16)
- The worst day in a sense becomes the best day
- Pagans saved through Jonah’s disobedience
- Even though Jonah’s backsliding caused great damage to them – God is merciful
- A preview of the gospel
- One man dies and others are saved
- Matt 12:39, 16:4
- Jonah was from Galilee, 3-5 miles away from Nazareth
Jonah Prayed
- "Then Jonah Prayed" (2:1)
- We do not have details about the fish/his survival
- A polished prayer – composed of various verses from Psalms
- Remember, he is a prophet and knew the word of God
- Jonah cried out to God and God answered him – Ps 18:6
- Do we cry out to God in our affliction?
- He mentions the temple twice
- A physical and spiritual temple
- A terrible experience (2:5-6)
- Jonah cried out to the Lord God (2:7-9)
- Example of the Chilean miners
- God can lift us out of the mire, out of our terrible situations
Closing Remarks
- Jonah tried to escape God’s presence to go his own way
- You cannot escape the presence of God
- What a mercy that God is there
- He brings His people back to himself
- Jonah is a book about God’s mercy: to the sailors, to Jonah, to Nineveh
- How did Jonah feel afterwards?
- Joy at their salvation
- Sadness at the harm he had caused
- It would have been better if he had not backslidden
- We must be careful of our movement away from God
- We must monitor the attitudes of our heart