Jonah part i

Jonah

Feb. 13, 2011 - Mesheir 6, 1727 AM

Memory Verse

“I long for Your salvation, O Lord and Your law is my delight.” (Psalm 119:174).

Forgetting God

• Away from God• Committing to many sins• Inventing other gods to worship.• Man’s suffering increased as the

people kept away from God.

God had a Plan

• God’s MERCY WAS FOR EVERYBODY• A chance to repent• They needed someone to save them.• So God sent them prophets

(messengers) along the way.

God Calls Jonah

• “Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it; for the cry of her wickedness has come up to me.” (Jonah 1: 2)

Jonah Escapes

• Jonah paid his fare to get on the ship going to ________________ ?? – TARSHISH – the opposite direction of

Nineveh!

This reminds us of the verse; “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10).

The Lord is Angry with Jonah

• The Lord raised up GREAT WIND on the SEA and the ship was in DANGER!

• The SAILORS were scared.• Everyone went to pray to

their own God • They threw out the cargo

to lighten the ship.

Where was Jonah?

• Sleeping below – and was snoring !!

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?” (Psalm 139:7).

WAKE UP JONAH

• Captain: “Why are you snoring? Get up and call upon your God, that your God may keep us safe.”

• They cast out lots to know who might be responsible for this– It fell on Jonah!

• Captain: “ Tell us, what is your Job? Where are you coming from and What country and people are you?

Jonah Confesses

• Jonah: “I am a servant of the Lord , and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

• They knew that Jonah was fleeing from God’s presence.

• Captain: “What should we do to you that the sea will calm itself for us?”

Cast Me into the SEA

• Jonah: “Take me up and cast me into the sea, and the sea will grow calm for you, for I know this great storm is because of me.”

• The Sailors did not want to throw Jonah off the ship and tried to go back to land.

• But the storm grew stronger!

• Sailors: “Please, O Lord do not punish us for this man’s life, for you, O Lord, have brought this about.”

The Sailors Believed

• They threw Jonah into the sea. – “To sink down into Hades”

• The sea immediately calmed!

• All men feared the Lord even more!!

• They offered a sacrifice to the Lord and vowed vows.

GOD’s Power in Nature + Jonah’s Witness = Sailors believed in the True God of Israel.

Swallowed by the WHALE

• The LORD COMMANDED a huge sea creature to swallow Jonah!!!

• He stayed in the belly of the Fish 3 DAYS and 3 NIGHTS.

What did He do while inside the Whale?

• PRAYED!!! ---- REALLY HARD with all his HEART!– He was sorry to God!! – Repented : “ Those who follow vanity and

lies forsake their own mercy”– He asked God to

• 1) hear his prayer• 2) forgive him • 3) deliver him from the whale.

• Did Jonah learn his lesson?

Symbols : Jonah in the Whale

• On the 3rd day – Jesus Rose from the Tomb of DEATH

• “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.” Matthew 12:40

God Saves Jonah

• The Lord commanded the sea creature, and it cast up Jonah onto the dry land.

THE LORD COMMANDED NATURE and it OBEYS!- The Wind- The Sea- The WhaleThe LORD COMMANDED JONAH but he DID NOT

OBEY!!- Because God gave Jonah a choice free will!

God Calls Jonah AGAIN• “Arise and go to Nineveh, the great

city, and preach there according to the message I previously spoke to you.”

Jonah OBEYS

• Nineveh a was a big city- 3 days journey

• Jonah got up and started walking into the city and said:– “YET THREE DAYS AND NINEVEH SHALL

BE OVERTHROWN”

NINEVEH BELIEVED GOD

• Everyone stopped their bad actions and Repented– The King – The Children– The animals

• All fasted and wore sack-clothes and put ashes on their head.

The King Proclaimed

• “Let not the men, cattle, oxen, or sheep taste anything, eat or drink water.”

• They cried to God, each turned back from their evil ways:– “ Who knows if God shall have a

change of heart and turn from His fierce anger, that we should not perish?”

God Had Compassion

• This was God’s original plan:• That He gives them a chance to

repent and forgive them all! • God Saves Nineveh !!

• God’s Holy Spirit in Jonah Convinced Nineveh to repent and be saved.

Conclusion

• GOD’s WILL is that all repent and come back to HIM

• To BE FREE!!! FROM SIN and the BONDAGE OF THE ENEMY

• TO ENJOY GOD AND HIS PRESENCE = TRUE HAPPINESS

St. John Chrysostom

• For your sake, O man, He prepared the kingdom! For your sake, He prepared indescribable blessings, an inheritance prepared in heaven, a unique abundant life and inexpressible joy.

(St. John Chrysostom)