Preached: LR Jonahs Travel Plans Introduction A. Our children can tell us most of the story.

They may not know every detail, but the account of the life of the OT prophet Jonah is one of the most amazing that is found in Scripture. From the attitude of this man to the story of the great fish; from the storm at sea to Jonahs 8-word sermon; from a prayer inside the belly of an animal to arguing with Godthis short book has it all, and it ALL is true. B. Jonahs story occurred in the early to mid-700s BC, but one thing that gives this book a powerful ring is that Jonah did not prophecy to Judah or Israel; rather, he was sent to the city of Ninevah, the capital of the Assyrian empire. He was sent to a nation that was completely pagan, and he knew it. C. However, Jonah was, in a way, speaking to the northern kingdom, Israel. The Assyrians would be the feared enemies of the Israelites, and if they came to obey Jehovah, Israel would have a further wake up call. Listen to the summary of this background from one scholar: As a prophet to the ten northern tribes of Israel, Jonah shares a background and setting with Amos. The nation enjoyed a time of relative peace and prosperity. Both Syria and Assyria were weak, allowing Jeroboam II to enlarge the northern borders of Israel to where they had been in the days of David and Solomon (2 Kings 14:23-27). Spiritually, however, it was a time of poverty; religion was ritualistic and increasingly idolatrous, and justice had become perverted. Peacetime and wealth had made her bankrupt spiritually, morally, and ethically (cf. 2 Kings 14:24; Amos 4:1ff; 5:10-13). As a result, God was to punish her by bringing destruction and captivity from the Assyrians in 722 BC. Ninevehs repentance may have been aided by the two plagues (765 and 759 BC) and a solar eclipse (763 BC), preparing them for Jonahs judgment message. (MacAurther Bible Handbook, page 241) D. But its Jonah himself who stands out in this story as a man of great interest. He is obviously a passionate man, but that passion sometimes gets him in trouble. His journey in this book is one that, at times, we all have taken. E. Interestingly, in each chapter of the 4-chapter book we see Jonah going in a different direction and for a different reason. Tonight, I want you to ask yourself: in which direction am I going, as it pertains to my relationship with God? You are headed in one of these 4 directions in your walk through life. Lets take a look at Jonahs travel plans and see what plans we have for our life as well. Body I. In Apprehensiveness, Jonah ran AWAY from God (ch. 1).

A. Have you ever taken the time to notice the strength of Gods call of Jonah? We often just state that God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but there is far more to it than that. 1. In 1:2, God said to Jonah, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. 2. God was honest with Jonah about the assignment. Nineveh was well-known, but God called it great. It was a great city, both in size and in influence. How great was it? At the time, it was the largest city in the world. It was also one of the first cities to have suburbs, and that has led to some contradictions about the actual size of the city. There were three other cities that bordered Nineveh, and the entire fourcity area was sometimes called Nineveh, while others just called the main city Nineveh. Whichever it was, the city was about 10- to 12-miles in circumference, which was massive by the standards of a day and time when there were no cars or highways! It was also great in that it was ancient, even then. Remember, Nineveh was built by a man named Nimrod, who was Noahs great-grandson, according to Genesis 10:11. 3. But as great as this city was, it was also an evil city that needed someone to call out against their sins. God never sugar-coats an assignment, but He does expect His word to be obeyed. B. Instead, Jonah, in fear and apprehension, ran away from God, or at least attempted to. C. Instead of heading towards the great city, we are told the Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. 1. That last phrase is the key. Dont worry so much about the geography when you read this book as you do about the fact that Jonah thought he was going to leave Gods presence. 2. Jonah was not trying to hide from God necessarily, but was withdrawing himself from Gods service by traveling as far away from the assignment as possible (or so he thought). 3. However, we also need to remember what happens later in the book. Folks, we are not told in this book that Jonah ran because he was afraid of Nineveh or of the Assyrians (as we often teach). What we ARE told in chapter 4 is that Jonah was afraid of Gods forgiveness! Jonah was an Israelite and he was afraid of God showing favor and forgiveness to these wicked, outsider Gentiles. D. So, for fear of what God not MIGHT do, but WOULD do, Jonah ran away. E. Do you ever run from God for that reason? 1. We often are reminded in our reading of the Scriptures and our sermons and classes that we are to take the Gospel to the whole world. We further make constant application that the whole world includes those in our neighborhoods, schools, and places of work. 2. But, we know those people. We know their bad attitudes. We know how they have treated us in the past. We know of some of their sinful actions. If we take the time to share the truth about Christ with them and they actually accept Him and obey Him, then then God will actually forgive them and they will be on par with me.

II.

F. What a sorry, terrible attitude! I dont think any of us would admit to having such an attitude, but do we not struggle with that from time to time. We run from following Gods command to sow the seed, which if the Word of God, for fear that the seed might actually take and that God will actually remove the sins of someone. G. May we lose that apprehension! We need to follow Gods Word no matter who it is that needs to hear. Friends, ALL need to hear, and God will forgive. He forgave you and me, and we were not deserving of it either. In Anguish, Jonah ran TO God (ch. 2). A. Famously in the book, God was not going to allow Jonah to just run away and hold on to these negative attitudes. First, the Lord sends a storm on the sea that nearly capsizes the ship upon which Jonah is traveling. Then, once Jonah is thrown into the sea, the Lord sends, out of His mercy, prepares and sends a great sea creature to swallow Jonah whole and preserve his life. 1. By the way, some have argued over the years as to whether this was a whale or a great fish. Ive even heard people not buy certain childrens books about Jonah because it used one of those words instead of the other. 2. Im here to settle the debate. The Hebrew word is dag, so thats what this was. 3. Seriously, the word dag is usually translated fish, but it literally means, an aquatic animal. So, the point is, we do not know specifically what this was, and it doesnt matter! The point of this text is that God prepared this animal to swallow Jonah, yet keep him alive. B. And that was enough for Jonah, so in chapter 2, we have one of the most poignant prayers recorded in the OT. It is prayed in obvious anguish of spirit and out of a heart that realizes mistakes. While Jonah will still struggle with his attitude problem later in the book, in this moment, he is in anguish over what has happened, and he prays. C. Notice verse 2: I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and He answered me. The word for distress was a Hebrew term that meant the straights of life. Jonah was crying out to God from a moment of total anguish and pain, spiritually speaking. He realized his mistake, and knew that only God had saved him from certain death in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. D. The end of this short prayer also shows us that Jonah is going to place God first (verse 9): But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord! 1. It is interesting that we are not told anywhere in the text of the book that Jonah made a literal sacrifice of an animal in accordance with the law of Moses. 2. At the moment, he may be thinking that he will not get to make a literal sacrifice, considering he is praying from the belly of a sea creature in the middle of the sea! 3. However, his hope is that God will make one more delivering move (salvation), and he will sacrifice. Either he means a literal sacrifice (most likely) or the sacrifice of going to Nineveh. Whichever it means (or it could be both), Jonah is changed. E. Have you ever cried out to God like that? Have you ever been so low that you were in anguish of spirit and ran to God?

III.

F. Are you that place now where an attitude or an action is keeping you from truly fulfilling what God would have you to be? Let me give two suggestions: 1. First, if you are at that low point in your life, its time to turn things around and run to God. You have tried things your own way long enough and you see where it has gotten you. Is walking with God always easy? No, and that is clear in Scripture. But, is it worth it? It most surely is. Fully devote yourself to the Lord and run to Him. 2. Second, if you are not at that low point but have been drifting away from the Lord, take a cue from Jonahs life. You see how low Jonah was. He ended up thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish. While those things will not literally happen to us, in a very real way we can have similar things happen mentally, socially, spiritually and even physically if we continue to drift from what we know to be right. Stop drifting and run back to a right relationship with God. With Authority, Jonah ran WITH God (ch. 3). A. Jonah knew that he was not the authority, nor the Savior, but that God was. However, now that Jonah was walking to God, he gained the great confidence to walk with God. B. And where did he walk? Right into the city of Nineveh to proclaim the message of God to the citizens of that great city. 1. I find it to be a great part of the book of Jonah that chapter 3 begins almost identically word-for-word as chapter 1 had: Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you. 2. But what follows is the glorious opposite of chapter 1. Instead of but Jonah rose to flee, as found in 1:3, we are told so Jonah arose and went in 3:3. The key phrase is later in 3:3, where we are told that Jonah did this according to the word of the Lord. C. Jonah travelled a days journey preaching his message. It took about 3 days to walk across or around Nineveh (depending on which scholar you read), but we are not told that Jonah walked for a day and THEN started to preach. Instead, he walked for a day preaching. D. What a message it was: Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown (3:4). Keep in mind that God had promised to give Jonah the message he was to preach, so these were the words of God. Thus, we are told in 3:5 that the people believed NOT Jonah, but God. 1. Either we are not told the entire sermon (which is very likely, since in the Hebrew language it is only four words in length), or we are not told of the manner in which it was told (which is true, but may not make a ton of difference to the overall meaning of the text), or we are not told of miracles or signs that accompanied the message (which is not likely, since the Bible nearly always points these out or at least mentions that they were there). 2. Whatever the case is, the people were drawn to the message of God and were convicted of their own sins.

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E. 3:6-9 tells us that the message made such an impact that the king and his nobles (basically like our Presidents cabinet) decreed repentance! But the key is that they were not turning to Jonah or his message, the people were turning to God and His message. F. And so it is when we run with God. He gets the honor and glory. 1. Why is denominationalism wrong, for example? One major reason is that God does not get the glory. People are running to a message from a man, instead of the message given by the Lord. 2. Why do we need to be sure that we dont teach people our opinions when we study the Bible with them? Its because we cannot save them, only God and His Word can. G. Run with God. Have that confidence that only comes when you are standing firm on His Word and on His promises. When did Christ say He would be with us? When we are sharing His words and converting the lost (Matthew 28:18-20). Stand firm on that promise, and teach others the pure word of the Bible. Have confidence in the power and perfection of Scripture. Plant and water the seed, and watch God bring the increase. In Anger, Jonah ran BEHIND God (ch. 4). A. Oh, how I wish Jonah only had 3 chapters! What a wonderful way to end the book it would be to read that the city repented and God forgave them; that God, the One who is the great giver of second chances relented from the punishment to come. B. Sadly, there is a fourth chapter, though, in which we see Jonah running behind God. Jonahs anger gets the best of him again, and he lashes out at God. Verse 1, in the Hebrew states that the people repenting and God forgiving them was exceedingly evil to Jonah. In other words, Jonah could think of nothing worse than what had happened there! C. So, he says (verses 2-3), O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. D. I call this running behind God, in part, because Jonah is stating that he knew God would do this and is basically saying, Let me take care of the problem. Just kill me and that will end my misery. 1. But misery over what? 2. Misery over these people being forgiven! Jonah would like nothing more than for the 40 days to come and go and Nineveh to be destroyed. They were idolatrous, pagan, evil and (worst of all to Jonah) Gentiles. He wants this nation to be destroyed, but now he has played a role in bringing about their transformation to people who are obeying God. E. More than that, though, this chapter is running behind God because Jonahs heart is way behind Gods compassionate heart. He is still hard-hearted and lacks compassion for people who needed to turn to Jehovah. 1. To prove that, God takes care of Jonah by sending a vine (or plant, ESV) to grow and keep the scorching sun from burning Jonah as he pouts outside the city.

2. Then, God turns around and has a worm eat the plant, so the misery of the sun and, later, a burning wind that God sends makes Jonah sour and bitter. 3. Why all this? God states in 4:10 that Jonah showed more pity over this plant than he did for the people of this city. The word for pity is a word that means to look upon with compassion. It also means to spare, because it spoke of the root of an emotion, since a root could spare a plant that was dying. 4. Jonahs attitude toward these people was so sour that he thought more about one solitary plant that would keep the sun off his head than he did about 120,000 people who needed to keep eternal damnation away. F. What a sorry attitude, but it is one that we can have, if we are not careful. Do I care more for my car than the lost? Do I have more emotional thoughts about fishing and shopping than I do about the eternal destiny of others? G. And, especially, what if the people I am thinking about are terrible, awful, sin-filled people? What if I think their sins are totally appalling and even grotesque? H. God says they still need the truth. They still need direction. Jonah ends with one of the most tender statements in the Bible. In 4:10, God says that Jonah had pity on a plant that just lived a little while. Then, in 4:11, the Lord says, Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle? I. Jonah, get your priorities like mine! I care about the people in this city who dont know which way they are going. Jonah, even cattle are more important than this one little plant that you loved so much! Conclusion A. Oddly, thats where the book concludes. There is no response from the prophet, because the point of Gods compassion is the point of the book, and it cannot be made any more strongly than this. B. OT scholar C.F. Keil words it this way: The history, therefore, breaks off with these words of God, to which Jonah could make no reply, because the object of the book was now attained,--namely, to give the Israelites an insight into the true nature of the compassion of the Lord, which embraces all nations with equal love. (Minor Prophets, page 282) C. Which way are you walking? Are you running away from God in apprehension over His depth of forgiveness? Are you at a low point and needing to run to God? Are you truly, fully, and confidently walking with God and preaching His message in such a way that He shines through. Or are you walking behind God, needing a heart of compassion that is far more like His? D. If you need to find that compassion and forgiveness, we pray you will do so. [invitation]