What does Jonah do, say and experience ?
–Hears God – 1:1; 3:2
–Flees from God’s presence – 1:3, 5, 10
–Pursued by God (Wind and storm - 1:4, 7)
–Hurled into the Sea – 1:15
–Swallowed/vomited out by fish - 1:17; 2:10
–Prays from belly of fish – 2:1-9
–Goes to Ninevah and preaches judgment – 3:2-5
–Angry with God, flees again – 4:1-5
–Rebuked/taught by God (Plant, worm, wind sun – 4:6-10; Dialogue with God – 4:2-4, 8-10)
Act 1: Hearing and fleeing
Jonah hears God, but flees. 1:3,5,10 tells us that Jonah was “fleeing from God’s presence”, and 4:1-5 tells us Jonah got angry and went “east of the city”. Do you recall any other OT characters that heard God and fled?
(Genesis 3:8,24; Isaiah 53:6a; Romans 3:9-12)
What does this tell us about Jonah and his standing with God?
–Jonah was sinning against God. Sin isn’t just about doing bad things, it is about being in rebellion against God
Act 2: Pursued, swallowed and vomited out
How does God respond to Jonah’s fleeing? (1:4,7)
–God pursues Jonah
Why does hurling Jonah into the sea calm the storm? (1:12,15)
–Jonah knew that he had sinned against God, and that the only right payment for sin was death.
Why does God send the fish? (1:17; 2:6; 2:10)
–To save Jonah from His death
Did Jonah do anything to deserve the fish?
–No, he did nothing to deserve it
Act 3: Preaching judgment
What did Jonah preach, and how did the people respond? (3:4-5)
–Judgment, and they repented. Book of Jonah should have ended here! Revival had broken out, people had been saved. God’s will had been done. Yet, God was not done with the heart of His prophet. The ‘Gospel’ had to go deeper.
How does that compare to how Jonah responded when he heard God’s word?
–Jonah, God’s prophet heard but fled. The pagans heard and responded. Irony.
Act 4: Sulking in the presence of God
Why was Jonah angry and how does God respond?(4:6-10, 4:2-4,8-10)
–Because God is merciful to Israel’s enemies. Did he somehow feel that he deserved the salvation of God?
Why did God appoint the plant ? (4:6)
–“to save Jonah from his discomfort (evil)”
How does Jonah respond when God takes away the plant and brings him discomfort?
–He sulks, thinking that in some way he deserved the plant
What was God teaching Jonah by removing the plant? (4:10)
–Jonah “did not labour for the plant”, he did not deserve being “saved from his evil”
The story ends abruptly. Jonah’s final response is not recorded. How do you think the story ends, does Jonah finally repent?
–Only he could have written the book of Jonah. Who else would be privy to the prayer in the fish. The fact that we can read the book of Jonah, in the way that it has been written probably indicates that he did repent
"We are Jonah" (adapted from Mars Hill Church website)
-In Jewish tradition, Jonah, together with the final three verses of Micah, forms part of the ritual on the Day of Atonement when Jews in repentance confess their sins to God’ (Waltke, p81) In response to the reading of the book of Jonah the people reply, ‘We are Jonah’.
-We are Jonah. Jonah receives the Word of the Lord. We have the Word of the Lord. Jonah is called to a great city. We are called to a great city. Jonah runs. We run. Jonah’s sin affects others. Our sin affects others. God uncovers Jonah’s sin. God will uncover our sin.
-Jonah knows a lot about God, but doesn’t truly believe what he knows. Often, we know about God but don’t truly believe it. Jonah’s repentance begins with confession. Our repentance begins with confession.
-God pursues Jonah for His purposes and Jonah’s good. God pursues us for His purposes and our good.
-This week we are forced to examine our own selfishness, self-righteousness, and reluctance to participate in God’s unfolding plan of salvation in this great city of Singapore and like Jonah, we must own our sin and fly to Jesus.
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