Jonah

Bible Study with Pastor Terry Gray


Jonah


Perspective: As Christians, we are called to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. Our first priority is our love for God and to everything according to His will (not our own).


Matthew 28:19
Jesus told us to go and make disciples. In His previous sermon, the sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us to be the salt, to be the light.


Roman 1:16
Paul told us not to be ashamed of the Gospel.


1 Peter 3:15
Peter told us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have in us.


Jonah, one of God's chosen prophets, must have been one of the best examples of the above commands, right?




Jonah, the Prophet
Jonah was a bona fide prophet who knew God. Yet, he fled from the mission God gave him. That is, he behaved like someone who did not know God, someone who lacked wisdom in God's Word.


Jonah 1:1
God directly gave Jonah a mission; an unambiguous, unequivocal command to preach to the Ninevites. This wasn't one of those commands that needed further prayer or fasting for illumination. This was a straightforward command that Jonah just needed to obey. "Go and do it, Jonah."


Jonah 1:2
Jonah was go to Nineveh and preach, to call that city to repentance. Nineveh was largely pagan at the time--very corrupted, very idolatrous. Yet, God still called out to them, to give them a chance to turn around.


Jonah 1:3
Instead of doing God's will, Jonah ran away from his mission. This is one of the most blatant examples of God's servant being disobedient against God. Jonah didn't just run away. He ran in the exact opposite direction (southwest) to take a boat to take him 2000 miles further west away from Nineveh.


Some of Jonah's reasons for running away:


Fear
Nineveh was an atrocious city. Its people were brutal. However, fear should not an excuse to disobey the Lord, for the Lord will never give us a challenge more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).


Prejudice
Jonah did not like those people. Jonah exhibited selfish judgment toward the Ninevites. Jonah did not want them to repent. He didn't want them to have a second chance. They were the enemy of his people!


Jonah 1:4-17
We see subsequently what the results for running away: Jonah's fate spiraled down, down, down, down to the belly of a fish for three days and three nights.


Disobedience leads to spiritual confusion. Disobedience leads to loss of credibility, destroys our witness, destroys our credibility as a witness.


When we place our faith in God, we need to trust Him fully. Just like we never fully understand why our parents limit us to do certain things or push us to do others, when we get older, we eventually understand better, especially when we become parents ourselves. This is the same concept when we are bathed in God's love. We may not understand why He takes us on certain journeys, but we should never doubt His great love for us. There is always a reason for what God does in our lives. We shouldn't be so quick to judge, and instead, be patient enough to wait and learn.


Jonah 1:4-5
Instead of just letting Jonah run away and let him rot in his selfishness, God reached out to Jonah. Jonah certainly didn't make it easy for God (within him running as far away as possible), and it took a lot to get his attention.


Jonah 1:6-8
We learn that Jonah got on the boat as anonymously as he could. We further learn that the disobedient Christian sleeps when others are in need. He stops praying; he stops being a light for others.


Marks of a disobedient Christian
Downward spiral in spirit
Spiritual foggy
Lousy and ineffective witness


Compare Paul's shipwreck with Jonah's, we see that in Jonah's case, he better served the pagans by leaving the ship. How sad for that to be the case for a witness of God! In Paul's case, Paul served the people better by being on the ship. Paul led his crew to safety. Paul took the chance to witness to the pagans, and the pagans were saved--not just physically but spiritually.


But, God is amazing, and He is compassionate. The storm, despite Jonah's disobedience, converted the pagans, because they witnessed God's sovereignty (as opposed to being witnessed about God by Jonah). God is also compassionate, because the storm was meant to discipline Jonah, not to punish. It was meant to wake Jonah up so that he could walk with the Lord again. (Well, we see that Jonah wasn't very easy to "wake up"... it took him 3 days in the belly of the fish to come to his senses... and even then, he move forward grudgingly... and when the Ninevites repented, he still pouted... I think this is one of the best illustrations of how awesome God's compassion is.)


Storms
1. Often come when we disobey the will of God
2. Reveal character
3. Opportunity to witness to others


Jonah 1:17
Jonah was taken up by a fish (The Greek word for fish here is "dag," which is a general term for sea creature)


Jonah didn't start praying until his 3rd day in the fish... 3rd day! Stubborn fella, that Jonah! (If I were swallowed by a fish, I'd be praying even as I'm being swallowed! I don't think I'd have the nerve to rebel against God for 3 days before I decided to turn around.)


Jonah 2
Jonah has been called the prodigal son of the Old Testament. Jonah had to fall all the way to the bottom before he realized the error of his ways and found the courage to return to the Father.


Jonah 3
It is thought that due to the stomach contents of the fish, Jonah's skin would have been bleached white. Furthermore, when the fish vomited Jonah up on the shore of Nineveh, some Ninevites may have witnessed the whole thing, which may be why they readily repent.


Jonah 4
Jonah wanted to see Nineveh judged, not given a second chance. And when God gave Nineveh that second chance, Jonah did nothing but pout. Well, actually, Jonah would rather die. God, to the end, continue to teach Jonah about compassion. We don't know whether Jonah finally learned his lesson, but I hope we learn from Jonah.


From Jonah's story, we learn that God is always guiding us, even when we are running hard the complete opposite way. In Jonah's case, look what God did to bring Jonah back, to get him to see beyond his selfish wants:
1. God prepared a fish
2. God prepared a plant
3. God prepared a worm
4. God prepared a wind


This is what God does. He pulls us out of our hole and helps us see beyond ourselves. So, let us see beyond and show compassion to the world. We are here to do God's will, not ours. See God's will.