Jonah the prophet of God.
Usually, people think about Jonah has some one who rebelled.
Yes Jonah disobeyed, and came back.
But God has so much love for His prophet. Usually if God is having a discussion with a person, even after that person disobeyed means He wants to bring him in line.
At the end of the book , you can see how much does God loves Jonah and engages him in conversation to make him understand.
Jonah was like a child at home who is pampered, but still God loves Him and first disciplines him and then even after disciplining he was angry that God forgave the Ninevites , but still God uses many ways to make him understand that He cares for the people.
Gods ways are amazing.
What you don't want to do, God uses you to do that.
Jonah 1:2
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its
wickedness has come up before me.”
Nineveh is gentile city, it is not one of the cities of Israel.
Nineveh was established by Nimrod
Nimrod was descendant of Cush -> Ham -> Noah
Ham was cursed by father Noah.
Genesis 10 : 11
11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh
The land of Nineveh was 3 days journey, it was one of those big cities in those days.
It was a major city for the trade, ports, connection regions.
Wickedness has come up before me
Nineveh's wickedness has come before God.
Wickedness coming before God is very dangerous. Another time where it was mentioned that come before God was about Sodom
Why Jonah says No to Gods plan,
Nahum 3:1
1 Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its [a]victim never departs.
3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain,
A great number of bodies,
Countless corpses—
They stumble over the corpses—
Nineveh was such kind of bloody city that they would not tolerate the enemies.
they would even peel the skin of enemies and they throw dead bodies on the road and they stumble over corpses.
Genesis 18:20
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
when the sin was so grievous, God takes notice and takes action.
In the case of Sodom,
God expressed His heart to Abraham, but did not ask Abraham to take any action to cry out or to intercede.
But Abraham took action by interceeding for Sodom.
If you are a man or woman of God , you care , even for the gentiles.
Sodom was a gentile city and Abraham cared for it.
God looks for righteousness in a city to keep it.
We are Abraham children and not Jonah children.
Gods Word to Jonah is Command.
Jonah hiding.
We do hide many times. We hide from the people.
First task in the mission
He told them that he is running away from God.
When you associate with people who rebel then it affects everyone.
You see people in Church, they come to Church but could be out of God's will so much.
He says throw me in the sea.
Fish was ready to do God's will to swallow Jonah.
Gods judgement message.
Chapter 3:
Jonah spoke judgement.
Many times we speak only Love of God, but we rarely speak of judgement.
only 40 days left.
the king repents, nobles repent, all people repent.
Jonah was actually running from salvation of a city.
Greatest revival - are we missing Gods move in our cities.
Even the animals were having sackcloth.
God relents
10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Jonah was angry
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
Did you get angry or dont like when someone gets saved,
If you can not give the grace that you receive, it is doubtful whether you really received it.
Every true believer who received grace actually dispenses.
Matthew 12:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God.
but Revival comes by preaching , preaching the Word of God.
Jonah preached and there was revival.
Sometimes there is opposition when we speak the Word, people might be very tough like Nineveh.
Am I my brothers keeper.? Cain's question?
Usually, people think about Jonah has some one who rebelled.
Yes Jonah disobeyed, and came back.
But God has so much love for His prophet. Usually if God is having a discussion with a person, even after that person disobeyed means He wants to bring him in line.
At the end of the book , you can see how much does God loves Jonah and engages him in conversation to make him understand.
Jonah was like a child at home who is pampered, but still God loves Him and first disciplines him and then even after disciplining he was angry that God forgave the Ninevites , but still God uses many ways to make him understand that He cares for the people.
Gods ways are amazing.
What you don't want to do, God uses you to do that.
1 Corinthians 14:24
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 [g]And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 [g]And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
Jonah 1:2
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its
wickedness has come up before me.”
Nineveh is gentile city, it is not one of the cities of Israel.
Nineveh was established by Nimrod
Nimrod was descendant of Cush -> Ham -> Noah
Ham was cursed by father Noah.
Genesis 10 : 11
11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh
The land of Nineveh was 3 days journey, it was one of those big cities in those days.
It was a major city for the trade, ports, connection regions.
Wickedness has come up before me
Nineveh's wickedness has come before God.
Wickedness coming before God is very dangerous. Another time where it was mentioned that come before God was about Sodom
Why Jonah says No to Gods plan,
Nahum 3:1
1 Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its [a]victim never departs.
3 Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear.
There is a multitude of slain,
A great number of bodies,
Countless corpses—
They stumble over the corpses—
Nineveh was such kind of bloody city that they would not tolerate the enemies.
they would even peel the skin of enemies and they throw dead bodies on the road and they stumble over corpses.
Genesis 18:20
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
when the sin was so grievous, God takes notice and takes action.
In the case of Sodom,
God expressed His heart to Abraham, but did not ask Abraham to take any action to cry out or to intercede.
But Abraham took action by interceeding for Sodom.
If you are a man or woman of God , you care , even for the gentiles.
Sodom was a gentile city and Abraham cared for it.
God looks for righteousness in a city to keep it.
We are Abraham children and not Jonah children.
We are children of faith.
One reason why God chose Abraham is this.
Jonah's thoughts on Gods Word.
When God said this, Jonah even spoke back to God.
Jonah
Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love
Jonah knows Gods character. - that God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Whatever He says that He will destroy , He will not do so easily, even if I go and tell them and if they turn back , He will not do it.
But He does not like that. - He has some preconceived notions, these are the only people that needs to be saved.
We can say how can Jonah do that, but we do that many times.
Ninevites may be wicked, and Jonah might not have liked the idea of going to such wicked people.
Jonah's thoughts on Gods Word.
When God said this, Jonah even spoke back to God.
Jonah
Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love
Jonah knows Gods character. - that God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Whatever He says that He will destroy , He will not do so easily, even if I go and tell them and if they turn back , He will not do it.
But He does not like that. - He has some preconceived notions, these are the only people that needs to be saved.
We can say how can Jonah do that, but we do that many times.
Ninevites may be wicked, and Jonah might not have liked the idea of going to such wicked people.
And he didn't liked the thought that God would forgive them.
Gods Word to Jonah is Command.
Jesus Words are Commands is not a suggestion.
Many in the world, gives suggestions but God does not give suggestions , but God give commandments.
But are we going to opposite direction?
Jonah hiding.
Jonah hide. Same like Adam.
God says Arise and Shine.
Isaiah 60:1-3 NKJV
Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
This Word says Arise and Shine, Glory of the Lord is upon you and Gentiles shall come to your light.
But Jonah arose and flee from the presence of the Lord.
Don't we do the same thing day after day , we arise and instead of shine, we flee and we don't declare the gospel.
He went down to Joppa,
Again went down into the ship.
And then we know he went down into the sea and he went down in the belly of the fish.
Whenever we go out or God's will it's always going down.
We do hide many times. We hide from the people.
Jonah paid fare, and went down.
Whenever God sends on mission he provides for the mission.
But when you go out of God's mission you pay yourself.
For Philip after he preached the gospel, he was taken away
Acts 8:39 NKJV
Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
But the farther we go away from God's will , we keep paying ourself.
When you go against God, you pay.
Moses mother was paid
When Moses was hidden in God's will , he was protected in palace and God even made sure Mom got paid.
Nineveh is 500 miles east from Nazareth.
Tarshish is 2500 miles west
But Jonah was so determined that he would runaway so long that 40 days would over.
When we try to run away God has His way chastening His Children.
When we try to run away God has His way chastening His Children.
Whom He loves he chasties.
I believe Sometimes we see the storm in our life's when God has put us in a place to decalre His Word and we don't do it.
For Jonah the storm warning so big and he is sleeping.
When you go so down out of God's will , you will sleep not even checking the storm, then gentiles have to tell you that there is a storm.
And has to ask Pray.
Jonah went to lowest part of ship and gentiles called him Sleeper.
Jesus slept in the storm
Jonah slept in the storm
What is the difference?
There are storms that test your faith, you can sleep
But there are storms you have to respond.
First task in the mission
People on the ship believed Jonah's God is true God.
They were afraid.
He told them that he is running away from God.
When you associate with people who rebel then it affects everyone.
You see people in Church, they come to Church but could be out of God's will so much.
He says throw me in the sea.
He wants to die.
Sometimes just revealing your identity can help save people.
Even in rebellion God can still do His work.
Jonah's was swallowed by fish.
Fish was ready to do God's will to swallow Jonah.
Gods judgement message.
Chapter 3:
Jonah spoke judgement.
Many times we speak only Love of God, but we rarely speak of judgement.
only 40 days left.
the king repents, nobles repent, all people repent.
Jonah was actually running from salvation of a city.
Greatest revival - are we missing Gods move in our cities.
Even the animals were having sackcloth.
God relents
10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Jonah was angry
4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2 So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
Did you get angry or dont like when someone gets saved,
If you can not give the grace that you receive, it is doubtful whether you really received it.
Every true believer who received grace actually dispenses.
Matthew 12:
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Faith comes by hearing, hearing the Word of God.
but Revival comes by preaching , preaching the Word of God.
Jonah preached and there was revival.
Sometimes there is opposition when we speak the Word, people might be very tough like Nineveh.
John 16:3333 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you [f]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
How many times we wished somebody would go to hell.
Everybody deserved to go-to hell, but God's grace we are saved.
An enemy,boss, or some relative who is painful.
Jesus says Pray for those who persecute you.
John and James - want to bring down fire , but Jesus says what kind of Spirit you have.
54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, [j]just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, [k]and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 [l]For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.
What kind of Spirit we have? do we have spirit of saving peoples lives. or do we have spirit of destroying peoples lives.
55 But He turned and rebuked them, [k]and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 [l]For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.
What kind of Spirit we have? do we have spirit of saving peoples lives. or do we have spirit of destroying peoples lives.
James 4:17
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Am I my brothers keeper.? Cain's question?
Many times we are just satisfied with living a good life, when people see me they will believe, no they won't believe.
We are like news anchors.
Imagine a news anchor not speaking but just having a good life.
How can they believe unless someone send him.
Romans 10:14
Romans 10:14
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
The Older Prodigal son, angry with younger brothers.
Great Commission of Church
19 Go [c]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
19 Go [c]therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The Word says Go to whole world and make disciples. It is not about just having a good lifestyle but go and preach.
No comments:
Post a Comment