We all know the story of Jonah, but reading it closely can give us a fresh appreciation for the deep literary features that make the story compelling and even moving. Reading it rightly helps us to see ourselves in Jonah (or see Jonah in ourselves) and rediscover the God of abundant Grace.
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the VerseVerse Podcast. My name is Justin Thomas and I'm really excited
[00:00:09] for our journey from Genesis to Revelation a couple of chapters a week. My goal is that you
[00:00:16] would grow in your ability to understand the story that the Bible tells as a whole,
[00:00:21] as well as your ability to read the Bible for yourself. I would love to connect with you
[00:00:25] on social media. You can find us at Verse, Slash, Verse all spelled out on Instagram or Facebook.
[00:00:32] Thanks again for tuning in.
[00:00:38] We have the privilege of working through the book of Jonah together. Jonah is probably the best known
[00:00:44] of the 12 minor prophets and there's a couple of other unique features that are worth mentioning right off the
[00:00:52] bat. Along with Micah, Jonah is the only other prophet from the 12 who is named in the historical
[00:01:01] books of the Old Testament, First King, Second Kings, First Second Chronicles. A lot of the prophets we've
[00:01:08] been looking at, Obediah Neham that we looked at last week, we have no connective tissue with
[00:01:13] the rest of the story of Israel and so we have to put together the clues to figure out when they
[00:01:20] were alive, when they ministered from the details of the messages that they bring. But Jonah is directly
[00:01:26] referenced in the book of Second Kings and so let's go ahead and start there. So here in Second Kings
[00:01:35] in chapter 14 we have a cameo from our prophet tonight from our prophet Jonah. Here in Second Kings
[00:01:43] chapter 14, look at verse 25. It says that Jeroboam in verse 24, that would be Jeroboam the second, a king
[00:01:52] over the northern tribes of Israel, verse 25, he restored the border of Israel from Label Hameth as far as
[00:02:00] the sea of Areba according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel which he spoke by his servant Jonah, the
[00:02:09] son of Amatai, the prophet who was from Gath, heifer. Jonah the son of Amatai as we'll see is the same
[00:02:17] person from the book of Jonah and we find out here that he was a known prophet in Israel in fact he was
[00:02:24] a verified prophet. Okay this will become important when we get to the book of Jonah itself but back in
[00:02:32] the book of Deuteronomy chapter 18 it says that the way that you will recognize that someone who
[00:02:38] claims to be a prophet speaks for me is when his predictions come true. And so here Jonah had prophesied
[00:02:45] that during the days of Jeroboam the boundaries or the borders of Israel would be expanded and that's
[00:02:51] exactly what happened, okay? And so when we turn to Jonah this you know malcontent prophet who runs
[00:03:00] from the Lord we need to recognize that he is the only example of in scripture of a faithful proven
[00:03:08] prophet of God in abject disobedience. Now we find the opposite in scripture think of Bailem in the
[00:03:16] book of Numbers. Here is a false teacher from another religion who truly prophecies, right? That's
[00:03:23] not his intention. His plan is to curse Israel but the spirit comes upon him and he gives a real
[00:03:28] word both blessing Israel and speaking of a messianic prophecy that would be to come, okay? And so in
[00:03:35] the same way that God uses Bailem's donkey God has no problem using Bailem. But when we open up to
[00:03:42] the book of Jonah we need to recognize his status as prophet is not questioned. He is a known prophet
[00:03:50] end to be honest based on this one message we have of him probably a well-liked one. His message was
[00:03:57] pro-Israel. God is going to bless Israel and expand our borders, defeat our enemies, give us back
[00:04:04] some of the land that was taken and the people say amen, right? Unlike many of the prophets that we
[00:04:09] read about during this time he doesn't bring a message of judgment or warning a very positive
[00:04:16] message, okay? And so that's the same Jonah and there's two more notes that I want to make about
[00:04:23] passage here in Second Kings one right now and the other we'll revisit later but I want you to
[00:04:28] recognize that this expansion that Jonah prophesies happens in the days of Jeroboam II. Now as Jeroboam
[00:04:36] II a good king or a bad king he is a certifiably bad king on your own time just go back and read
[00:04:42] right in that chapter and you will see that he is a king that displeases the Lord. And so the fact
[00:04:47] that God does this expanding of Israel's boundaries is an abundant act of grace during the reign of
[00:04:54] a wicked king. During a time where Israel is unfaithful as a people. The other note will return to
[00:05:00] later but let's go ahead and open up Jonah here in chapter one verse one. Now the word of the Lord
[00:05:06] came to Jonah the son of Amitai right that's the same person we just encountered saying
[00:05:13] arise go to Nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before me
[00:05:20] and so we begin here with a commissioning not a commissioning like Isaiah chapter six or Jeremiah
[00:05:27] chapter one where someone who has never carried a prophecy before becomes a prophet but a
[00:05:32] commissioning with a certain message for a certain people and God sends Jonah okay. Now here it's
[00:05:41] worth pointing out the other thing that's unique of the twelve prophets about Jonah and that's
[00:05:45] the fact that Jonah is almost entirely narrative. I've said week after week for the last few weeks
[00:05:52] that we know very little about the life or the happenings of the prophets we only have their message
[00:05:58] the emphasis is on the message but here the only message that Jonah gives in this book is five words
[00:06:05] in Hebrew 40 days and then judgment that's it the rest of the book is narrative it's an account
[00:06:13] of Jonah's life this book is semi-biographical it focuses more on the prophet than the message
[00:06:21] and again that is unique in the midst of the twelve whereas we have lots of biographical material
[00:06:27] in the book of Jeremiah in the minor prophets again usually we just have an introductory sentence
[00:06:34] so we know that Hosea took a wife we know that his wife was unfaithful that's about it
[00:06:41] we know that Amos was a shepherd and that he also did something with fig trees that's it right
[00:06:47] but with Jonah we have an entire four chapter biographical account in fact if you wanted to connect
[00:06:53] the narrative of Jonah to a similar place in scripture you would naturally think of the ministry
[00:07:00] of Elijah and Elijah right where it's not just a message of the Lord but a messenger a messenger
[00:07:07] goes from here to here who sees God's hand in nature we you know no Jonah and the big fish or the whale
[00:07:15] here but when you look at Elijah's life we also see God using animals remember Elijah is fed by
[00:07:22] crows for a long period of time right this is at its finest not a collection of oracles a book
[00:07:31] of prophecy but Hebrew narrative in fact people who study such things would say that Jonah is the
[00:07:39] best example of Hebrew narrative in all of the Old Testament it is the high water mark
[00:07:46] of how Hebrews told stories how the Jews communicated their history another one that's right up
[00:07:53] there would be the life of Joseph right and so what I mean when I say that it's a high example
[00:07:59] of Hebrew narrative is this is so intricately put together its literature par excellence okay it
[00:08:08] is intentionally leaning on all of the format and feature of Hebrew narrative to great effect
[00:08:16] and it's very easy for us to mishap because let me remind you none of us are Jewish okay and so
[00:08:22] I'll try and draw that out as we go along but but that's kind of where the power in the book of
[00:08:28] Jonah comes from is in the way that it achieves its goal literally okay so for example notice
[00:08:37] that verse two says arise go out to Nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil
[00:08:44] has come up before me now here's one of the things that makes Jonah especially interesting
[00:08:50] to an original Hebrew audience the word there for evil is much more broad than our English word evil
[00:08:58] evil in English always implies moral right there is a moral emphasis to the word evil it's not
[00:09:06] just a bad thing that happened it's an evil thing right in Hebrew this word is used so broadly
[00:09:13] that if somebody has trouble it's this word okay when it says that disaster comes upon a city
[00:09:20] it says evil befell the city that doesn't mean that there's an attacker or even some sort of malicious
[00:09:25] intent necessarily the word is broader than that and that brings a level of ambiguity to it
[00:09:31] so notice how much it changes the story if we read verse two there arise go to Nineveh the great
[00:09:36] city and call out against it for their trouble has come up before me okay now right now I'm just
[00:09:44] laying the groundwork for things that become interesting later but we need to know that when you
[00:09:48] read this in the Hebrew it doesn't hit you over the head with those wicked minivites okay not necessarily
[00:09:55] there's a there's a generalness here there is a reason that is given but the reason could be a problem
[00:10:01] it could be a trouble it could be an impending disaster or it could be a sentencing you are an evil
[00:10:07] people but it's not stated clearly okay now notice how verse three opens with the word but that
[00:10:16] should be surprising to us like many familiar stories whether it's from the flannel graph or just
[00:10:23] from the you know the cultural artifacts of growing up in a Christian related world and knowing
[00:10:29] the story of Jonah we know where this is going but you have to suspend that for a second you have
[00:10:35] to think about this you have to read it as if it's the first time you have to you know remember
[00:10:41] to forget that Bruce Willis is dead right you have to remove the surprise ending and so here
[00:10:47] we have the normal standard pattern God called a prophet gave him a message and a mission and what
[00:10:54] supposed to happen next and the prophet went in fact notice he says arise Jonah verse three but Jonah
[00:11:00] rose okay step one no problem Jonah rose to flee to Tarsish from the presence of the Lord
[00:11:09] now Tarsish is one of those geographical places that Bible critics argue about because it's far
[00:11:15] enough a way that we can't be confident what place it actually represents in the Jewish mind okay
[00:11:21] the most likely guess is Spain so Israel sits right on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean
[00:11:28] Spain would be the outlet of the western side of the Mediterranean you know in a usual
[00:11:35] ancient history sense usual life the other end of the earth okay as far away as you can imagine
[00:11:43] because what's past Spain the Pacific Ocean which seems to be limitless okay so the other thing
[00:11:50] you need to know is that Nineveh is directly east and a long way east thousands of miles east of
[00:11:57] Israel okay so him getting on a boat here and heading west he's literally going the wrong way okay
[00:12:05] but notice again and this is one of the features of Hebrew narrative his motive isn't stated
[00:12:11] it doesn't say but Jonah because he felt this or because he thought this all we have here is the
[00:12:17] bear naked action okay again ambiguity we are trained because we're familiar with the story
[00:12:24] to preload why he's doing this but we don't actually find that out till chapter four
[00:12:30] all we see now is surprise surprise a prophet who hears the call and not only does he not do it
[00:12:38] but he tries to go in the opposite direction to do something to get away to go to Tarsish
[00:12:45] okay now here's another thing that I want you to keep track of as I read here I want you to watch for
[00:12:50] the word down okay one of the things that happens in Hebrew literature are patterns and one of the
[00:12:58] patterns here in Jonah chapter one and extending into chapter two is a descent okay so although we
[00:13:06] talked about him heading west instead of east what we're really going to see is him heading down
[00:13:12] and down and down and down so notice verse three Jonah rose to flee up to Tarsish from the presence
[00:13:18] of the Lord he went down to Japa and found a ship going to Tarsish so he paid the fare and went
[00:13:25] on board or literally again down into the ship to go with them to Tarsish away from the presence
[00:13:32] of the Lord okay here the repetition there why is he traveling in this way to get away from the
[00:13:38] presence of the Lord okay but verse four the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea and there
[00:13:46] was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up okay and so he's on the
[00:13:54] ship the ship gets out into the Mediterranean a storm comes and it's a big one right it's one
[00:14:00] that threatens to tear the ship itself apart but notice the origin of the storm again in verse four
[00:14:06] but the Lord hurled a great wind another thing I want you to watch for every time we start reading
[00:14:12] tonight is all the things that God does he is incredibly active in the story of Jonah basically nothing
[00:14:19] happens unless God does it okay and so the first thing we see is that God sends a storm he literally
[00:14:26] hurls it and we'll see that word repeated over and over again the Mariners okay the other people
[00:14:32] on the ship were afraid and each cried out to his God okay Japa is in the land of Israel
[00:14:40] but it's a port town and like many port towns is more metropolitan so all of these sailors are
[00:14:45] worshipers of other gods from other places okay and so they see this storm and they begin to
[00:14:52] in their own religions cry out to their own gods to deliver them and then notice and they hurled
[00:14:57] the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them okay I'm sure we've all
[00:15:02] seen that in the movies right you you make the boat more buoyant so that the so that the storm
[00:15:09] isn't so threatening but I but notice that word hurled right the Lord hurled a storm and then they
[00:15:15] hurled the stuff off the boat okay that's an intentional use of the same word okay but Jonah had
[00:15:23] done what gone down into the inner part of the ship okay so he goes down to Japa and then he
[00:15:29] goes down onto the deck of the ship and then he goes down into the center of the ship right he is
[00:15:34] on a downward trajectory here he'd gone down into the inner part of the ship and it rained down and was
[00:15:40] fast asleep now one of the temptations when we study bad guys in the Bible is to criticize their
[00:15:49] every action and so it's easy here to go look at Jonah he's just asleep while everybody else
[00:15:55] is freaking out but I don't really think you can say very much about this except that he's a deep
[00:16:00] sleeper if anything it does say that he has some level of confidence that this whole escape plan
[00:16:07] is going to go fine right and so notice though and this is important verse six the captain came
[00:16:13] and said to him what do you mean you sleeper arise call out to your God okay now there's irony here
[00:16:22] and this is another thing that Hebrews loved to take make use of there's irony here in the fact
[00:16:28] that the prophet of Israel is being called on to call upon his God right take for instance in contrast
[00:16:38] Paul's terrible storm while he's on a ship in the book of Acts there he gathers everybody's
[00:16:44] attention and says I've prayed to God and he's promised the safety of everybody on board but Jonah
[00:16:50] is just sleeping and when he is woken up he's woken up by a pagan who says hey get's work be more
[00:16:57] religious our lives are on the line but there's more than that notice the language again arise call
[00:17:04] out to your God arise and call out our word for word the commission that God gave Jonah arise
[00:17:11] and call out to Nineveh about the evil about the Nara and so here it's as if he can't escape
[00:17:20] the call you know you can imagine as he's coming to and it's like he's having a nightmare
[00:17:25] about this call that he was given and then notice perhaps the God will give a thought to us
[00:17:31] that we may not perish verse seven and they said to one another come let us cast lots that we
[00:17:39] may know on whose account this evil has come upon us the ancient world was very religious in a way
[00:17:46] that the modern world isn't okay we tend to look for cause and effect and so we would check a
[00:17:53] weather report but in the ancient world there was always a connection between the heavenly realm
[00:17:57] in the earthly realm there was always a connection between good things that happen and bad things
[00:18:02] that happen and the judgment of the gods who were watching okay there was always the possibility
[00:18:08] of offending or appeasing a god and that playing out very specifically in your life and so they look
[00:18:15] at this storm they recognize their life is on the line and they think this is somebody's fault
[00:18:21] and let me just remind you they're right they know instinctually that something is wrong and casting
[00:18:28] lots is a way of discerning the will of the gods right you know we don't know how casting lots was
[00:18:34] always done but you can think of it like drawing the short straw and it would still pull off the
[00:18:39] same thing it's it's an opening up and saying okay if you want to show us what's going on here show
[00:18:45] us but notice they cast the lots and the lot fell on Jonah now Proverbs reminds us that we cast our
[00:18:53] lots into the lap but God directs the meaning of it okay in other words what happens here is not
[00:19:01] coincidence God is driving and he lays his finger on Jonah we see the same thing in the book of Joshua
[00:19:07] right when Aiken has hidden something in his tent and so when Israel goes out after the battle of
[00:19:12] Jericho against AI and they are routed and God speaks to Joshua and he says the reason is because
[00:19:18] there is unconfess in in the camp and so they draw lots first by tribe then by family then by household
[00:19:26] and then the person in the household Aiken right it's drawn in and so the same thing happens here
[00:19:33] verse eight then they said to him tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us
[00:19:39] now notice they don't assume here that Jonah is the culprit they assume that he's the mouthpiece
[00:19:46] for what's going on right they don't say all right Jonah what have you done they said
[00:19:52] do you have some sort of insight on what's going on and then notice they ask them some questions
[00:19:57] what's your occupation profit where do you come from Israel what is your country okay Israel
[00:20:05] and of what people are you you're the Hebrews now watch his Jonah responds and notice which one
[00:20:09] he misses verse nine he said to them I am a Hebrew I fear the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea
[00:20:15] and the dry land and then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him what is this that you have
[00:20:21] done now what doesn't he tell them his occupation it's kind of an awkward point at this point
[00:20:27] I am a prophet he doesn't say that he leaves that off the table and clearly it wasn't on the manifest
[00:20:34] right Jonah didn't come into this ship and say hey I'm a prophet I work for God and I'm going to
[00:20:38] this place he came under the guise of anonymity right he came hiding out and not wanting people
[00:20:46] to know who he was or why he was there but here he is outed and then notice it says that he fears
[00:20:52] the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land most of the ancient near east religions
[00:21:00] believed that there was a territorial nature to a God's power so the gods only had jurisdiction
[00:21:09] over their land or their country or their people or their mountain or their sea or those types of
[00:21:14] things okay Jonah here by recognizing that he serves the God is revealed in the Old Testament and
[00:21:20] identifying him as the Lord of heaven who made the sea and the dry land is communicating monotheism
[00:21:28] in a polytheistic world okay he's basically saying I serve the most important God who made everything
[00:21:36] okay there's no limit to his jurisdiction so no surprise verse 10 the men were exceedingly afraid
[00:21:43] again in their pagan understanding if there's a God you don't want to offend it's this one
[00:21:49] okay the sea and the dry land makes this consequence this circumstance of the storm inescapable
[00:21:58] okay and so they said to him what is this that you have done for the men knew that he was fleeing
[00:22:04] from the presence of the Lord because he had told them now I would suggest you that that statement
[00:22:11] is delayed information for us by only a few moments so again I would suggest Jonah didn't put on
[00:22:18] the manifest I'm buying a ticket to run from God okay instead in this conversation he explains
[00:22:25] the whole thing but it's delayed just a moment so that it will be delayed for us and so we discover
[00:22:32] here that they discover and it's like we discover with them so now here let's put together the math it's
[00:22:38] relatively simple a storm that is threatening the whole ship is happening because Jonah has been
[00:22:43] disobedient from a God who owns everything okay now they have to decide what to do
[00:22:49] and so verse 11 they said to him what should we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us
[00:22:56] for the sea grew more and more tempestuous and he said pick me up and hurl there's that word again
[00:23:02] me into the sea then the sea will quiet down for you for I know it is because of me that this great
[00:23:08] tempest has come upon you okay so basically he says the storm is after me this is my punishment
[00:23:16] just throw me into the sea but we need to understand here this is not Jonah being sacrificial on
[00:23:24] behalf of these people he's endangered if he wanted to save their lives he could repent right he
[00:23:30] would rather die than obey this is not sacrifice for other people this is suicide this is still
[00:23:38] Jonah being stubborn he'll take the storm that God rages and so he just says just throw me
[00:23:44] throw me into the sea and it will be fine but notice verse 13 nevertheless the men rode hard
[00:23:50] to get back to dry land but they could not for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them
[00:23:57] okay so they don't want to throw Jonah into the sea they don't want to sacrifice his life
[00:24:04] and so they fight against the storm but there's no point in that verse 14 therefore they called out
[00:24:09] to the Lord now notice who they're praying to now not their gods they call out to the God the one
[00:24:16] that Jonah revealed to them which again is a little bit awkward because Jonah is running from this
[00:24:23] God and yet he is a successful representative of Yahweh there's a similar encounter that happens
[00:24:30] between Abraham and Abimalak in the book of Genesis Abraham has this habit of trying to save his
[00:24:38] own skin by convincing his tremendously beautiful wife not to identify as his wife but as his sister
[00:24:45] and there is no positive way to spin this because the only thing that could happen next
[00:24:52] is that she would be taken since she's clearly not attached to anyone into another relationship
[00:24:58] and Abraham's life would be spared he is just trying to save his own skin and that's exactly what
[00:25:04] happens Abimalak the ruler over this area sees Sarah find she's very beautiful find she's
[00:25:10] unattached and tries to integrate her into the heron but God's watching out for Sarah and so he wakes
[00:25:16] Abimalak up in the middle of the night and says if you keep this woman your whole household will be
[00:25:21] sterile and so he speaks back to this God who reveals to himself in his dream and he goes hey wait a
[00:25:27] minute how am I morally culpable here this guy told me it was just his sister I didn't know anything
[00:25:33] about this and God says the craziest thing he says give the man back his wife and ask him to
[00:25:39] pray for you for he is my prophet in fact it's the only place that Abraham is identified as a prophet
[00:25:46] awkward right so here he says here is your wife and then Abraham has to lay his hands on the guy who's
[00:25:54] life he just put at risk his you know his lineage he just put at risk and he is the representative
[00:25:59] of this same God okay that's what's happening here with Jonah and I want you to remember it
[00:26:05] because one of what one of the things we're going to see in this is everybody is more receptive
[00:26:10] to the God of heaven and earth and Jonah and it starts with these rough shod super pagan sailors
[00:26:18] and so they pray here and notice what they pray oh Lord let us not perish for this man's life
[00:26:23] and lay not on us innocent blood for you oh Lord have done as it pleased you now that statement
[00:26:30] you Lord have done as you please is very orthodox okay if you were to turn to Psalm 115 verse 3 or
[00:26:39] Psalm 135 verse 6 you'll see it word for word they're not bringing their impositions on God from their
[00:26:47] own pagan understanding they get it right they know that this storm is God driven and they know
[00:26:52] that the reason they can't escape it is because God won't let them escape it and so they say all
[00:26:56] right we're going to throw Jonah in the sea but let us not perish for this man's life they don't
[00:27:01] want to count as murderers they're going to throw a man in the sea in a in a moment that means
[00:27:08] guaranteed death but that's against their conscience and it's against morality and so we find out
[00:27:13] here they've been trying to avoid that they see that it can and so they kind of like a bim like
[00:27:19] say let us maintain our innocence here okay verse 15 so they picked up Jonah and hurled him there's
[00:27:26] the last time hurled him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging confirmation just as Jonah
[00:27:35] said just as they expected as soon as Jonah hits the water the sea goes still okay but apparently as
[00:27:42] we'll see in a moment Jonah sinks like a stone but notice this in verse 16 then the men feared
[00:27:49] the Lord exceedingly and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows okay now one does this
[00:27:57] mean that they offered a sacrifice right there on the ship probably not in fact when it says here
[00:28:02] that they made vows the idea here is that they put on the calendar a plan to worship this God
[00:28:10] when the journey is over we're gonna make a pilgrimage okay in fact the language that's used here
[00:28:15] the men feared the Lord exceedingly it's not just a recognition of God's power it's the normal
[00:28:21] language for Gentiles who become worshipers of Yahweh old Testament and new right if you read
[00:28:28] the New Testament in the book of Acts it talks about Paul going into the synagogue and then it says
[00:28:34] those who feared God those are Gentile converts okay it's how Cornelius is identified as one who fears
[00:28:41] the Lord okay so again disobedient prophet gets everybody in trouble successfully leads a whole
[00:28:49] group of Gentiles to the to the God of Gods to the Lord of Lords verse 17 and the Lord appointed a
[00:28:56] great fish to swallow up Jonah and Jonah was Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and
[00:29:02] three nights okay a couple of things here first again I want you to notice here that God is in control
[00:29:10] where does this fish come from he's appointed by God just like Jonah was except the fish does what
[00:29:17] he was supposed to okay God is orchestrating he is sovereign everything that happens happens
[00:29:23] at God's hand right the sailors got it right you do whatever pleases you
[00:29:29] second although I think we would all agree and the word here again is is a big broad word for the
[00:29:36] word fish it's not a word that we would translate whale but it could be in fact it's a word that
[00:29:43] you could translate sea monster it's a word that you would literally translate sea creature okay
[00:29:49] go back to the book of Genesis where it talks about the birds of the air
[00:29:53] and the animals of the land and the fish of the sea right that word fish includes all sea life
[00:30:00] so does this word okay we're not given really any focal point on on what type of thing happens here
[00:30:08] just that a sea creature swallows Jonah and here's the point this is not a punishment
[00:30:14] this is salvation right if God wanted to punish Jonah he would have let him drown
[00:30:20] and we'll see that Jonah gets this when we get to chapter two okay but here Jonah is delivered
[00:30:27] by this great fish he's there for three days and three nights and then as we'll see he's
[00:30:32] vomited up safe and sound on dry ground verse two then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from
[00:30:39] the belly of the fish saying what do you do when you're stuck in a fish for three days and three
[00:30:44] nights for Jonah he composes a psalm okay and I want you to notice that it's a very specific type of
[00:30:51] psalm it's a psalm of thanksgiving or more specifically a psalm of deliverance here he rejoices in
[00:30:59] the fact that God has saved him so notice what he says verse one here I called out to the Lord out
[00:31:06] of my distress and he answered me out of the belly of sheol I cried and you heard my voice okay
[00:31:14] belly of sheol is doing two things there at once one it's making a reference to the place of the dead
[00:31:20] okay the place where people go after they die and in Jewish reckoning this is the people who do not
[00:31:27] know God okay and so he's recognizing here not just that death was his desert but that he he's
[00:31:36] dying disobedient right but second here obviously out of the belly of sheol is a is a recognition
[00:31:43] that he is sinking to the bottom of the metatranian sea and so he says and you heard my voice for you
[00:31:51] I want you to notice the pronouns here for you cast me into the deep into the hearts of the seas
[00:31:56] and the floods surrounded me and all your waves and your billows passed over me this is not deliverance
[00:32:04] from generic trouble this is deliverance from judgment okay we know that the storm was sent
[00:32:12] he knows that it's what he deserved he is disobedient he cries out nonetheless for God to spare him
[00:32:20] and he does so verse four then I said I'm driven away from your sight yet I shall again look upon your
[00:32:27] holy temple the waters closed in over me to take my life the deep surrounded me weeds were wrapped
[00:32:33] around my head at the root of the mountains I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me
[00:32:39] forever that's the final descent right presumably he didn't physically hit the sea floor in the
[00:32:46] middle of the metatranian but poetically he reaches the bottom of his journey here you know the
[00:32:53] bottom of the barrel he bottoms out you know in in the way that we talk about when when an addict
[00:33:00] finally comes to the end of himself right this is the lowest point of Jonah's life geographically
[00:33:06] and spiritually he says I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever yet
[00:33:12] you brought up my life from the pit oh lord my god when my life was fainting away I remembered the
[00:33:18] lord and my prayer came to you into your holy temple and then notice verse eight those who pay
[00:33:26] regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love he makes a contrast here a very classic one
[00:33:33] in the Psalms a contrast between the living god and the empty idols right a contrast between the
[00:33:39] god who actually helps because he's actually there and the other things that people worship okay
[00:33:47] and so we contrast here he says those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast
[00:33:52] love but I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay
[00:33:58] salvation belongs to the lord okay so we recognize this here that god has saved him he recognizes
[00:34:05] here that that's because god is real and he contrasts that with the worship of idols but I want you
[00:34:12] to notice something that we should flag look at the at the end of this he says he says but I with
[00:34:18] the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay notice this isn't just
[00:34:23] a distinction between god and idols it's a distinction between idol worshipers and Jonah do you see that
[00:34:31] he says they trust in vain idols but I and then ironically what does it say he's going to do
[00:34:38] I will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will pay sound familiar it's exactly what the so-called
[00:34:45] idol worshiping sailors did in response to god as well what I would suggest to you is here Jonah has
[00:34:53] a severe and obvious encounter with divine grace he does not deserve to be alive he is a covenant
[00:35:00] breaker he has been disobedient to god and and stubbornly to the death disobedient okay
[00:35:08] and then he kind of wakes up to the reality of his circumstances cries out for help and god
[00:35:14] saves him salvation belongs to the lord that's not just something Jonah proclaims it's something he
[00:35:20] lived right he knows it personally now he experiences it but in verse 8 and 9 it's hard to feel like
[00:35:28] we don't see that there's still some sort of underlying root Jonah has an encounter with god
[00:35:35] but the question becomes has Jonah changed verse 10 and the lord spoke to the fish
[00:35:42] and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land so here he finds himself now this is another thing that
[00:35:49] is really significant in Hebrew literature that's easy for us to miss because we're bad readers
[00:35:54] we've completely forgotten how to read books okay but one of the things that's most important
[00:35:59] to Hebrew literature is structure and one of the amazing things about the book of Jonah is that
[00:36:05] it has two even halves that are presented as mirror images of themselves okay so for example in chapter
[00:36:14] 1 Jonah is called given a message he goes Gentiles respond in chapter 3 Jonah is called given a
[00:36:23] message he goes Gentiles respond in chapter 2 Jonah speaks with god in chapter 4 god speaks with
[00:36:31] Jonah okay there's an intentional paralleling of the book but the easiest place to see this without
[00:36:37] having to kind of look at the whole thing is just to look at chapter 3 verse 1 then the word of the
[00:36:42] lord came to Jonah the second time saying arise go to ninova that great city and call out against
[00:36:47] it the message that I tell you what is that it's chapter 1 verse 1 in fact the language is almost
[00:36:54] word for word except with the addition of a second time okay it's a restart it's a new beginning
[00:37:02] okay and it puts us back at square one and so the same prophet after unsuccessfully trying to run
[00:37:12] from god's presence is given the same calling to the same people with the same message verse 3 so
[00:37:20] Jonah arose and went to ninova this time he obeys this time he goes he went to ninova according to
[00:37:29] the word of the lord now ninova was an exceedingly great city three days journey in breath now
[00:37:38] it seems like when he says here it's an exceedingly great city he's not talking about the walled city
[00:37:44] of ninova but the greater ninova area right in other words I would accept I would suggest you that
[00:37:52] exceedingly great in this context is how we would say metropolitan okay it's a recognition that
[00:37:58] ninova at this time during the days of jereboa which by the way is before israelis destroyed it's
[00:38:05] before a syria is a superpower it's a hundred years before Babylon conquerors a syria okay but it
[00:38:11] is a big and booming city and not just within ninova itself but the suburbs of ninova that extend
[00:38:18] all along the tyros and of grot tygress and have grown into this big area he sent to the whole thing
[00:38:24] okay it's as if god said arise and go to sial but what he actually meant was from linwood to
[00:38:30] rent okay that's the idea here okay it's three days journey in breath that's walking distance
[00:38:38] presumably about 60 miles okay it's a large area so jona began to go into the city going a
[00:38:45] days journey and he called out yet 40 days and ninova should be overthrown now notice how simple
[00:38:53] how terns and how limited his messages there's no reference of god there's no call to repentance
[00:39:03] it's just a countdown clock in fact there's not even any possibility of avoiding this message right
[00:39:11] 40 days and then judgment that's the whole message now again we can't overplay our cards here
[00:39:18] we can't say clearly jona says as little as he possibly can we don't know that he was supposed to
[00:39:25] give a message god said he'd given the message maybe this is all there is but in the literary sense
[00:39:31] that becomes important because notice what happens verse five and the people of ninova believed god
[00:39:41] they called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them
[00:39:47] now i want you to notice one other thing here that seems to be intentional go back to what it says
[00:39:52] in verse three it says ninova was an exceedingly great city three days journey in breath
[00:39:57] and then it says jona began to go into the city going a days journey okay so where are we in the
[00:40:03] timeline day one a maximum of 20 miles in and what happens ninova response he doesn't make it all
[00:40:13] the way to the other end of the city it's in the beginning of his ministry that the whole city
[00:40:20] begins to respond collectively universally emotionally with sackcloth and ashes in fact
[00:40:27] look at verse six the word reached the king of ninova and he arose from his throne removed his robe
[00:40:34] covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes and he issued a proclamation and published
[00:40:40] through ninova by decree of the king and his nobles let neither man nor beast nor herd nor flock take
[00:40:47] anything taste anything let them not feed or drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth
[00:40:54] and let them call out mightily to god this is this is above and beyond right this isn't just a
[00:41:00] fast for adults this is a fast for all human beings and it's not just a fast for all humans
[00:41:06] it's a fast of all of their livestock in fact did you notice that the sackcloth and ashes go on
[00:41:11] the cows as well right there's clearly a picture of thoroughness here okay of wholehearted across
[00:41:21] the community call to repentance okay and then notice it's not just an act verse eight but let man
[00:41:29] and beast be covered with sackcloth and let them call out mightily to god let everyone turn from
[00:41:34] his evil way and from the violence that there is in their hands true repentance remember we saw
[00:41:40] on amus amus was talking to a people who were totally fine with fasting sackcloth and ashes but
[00:41:46] wouldn't turn away from their ways but this is true repentance it's not just an external show
[00:41:53] it's not just an emotional appeal it's real change and then notice this in verse nine who knows
[00:42:00] god may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish does he see this
[00:42:07] as being a secret formula that will twist god in the direction that they want no he knows as we
[00:42:15] already saw from the sailors and was repeated in Jonas psalm god does whatever he wants
[00:42:21] you can't put god in a corner you can't put him in your pocket you can't overwhelm him by accomplishing
[00:42:28] your own will but maybe although we deserve judgment right that's a recognition in calling wicked
[00:42:35] what god calls wicked that's what we call confession so there's a confession of sin here
[00:42:40] there's a confession of culpability and expectation of rightly deserved judgment but maybe god will
[00:42:45] relent maybe god will show mercy notice verse 10 when god saw what they did how they turned from
[00:42:52] their evil way that same word there nara god relented of the disaster also the same word nara
[00:42:59] that he had said he would do to them and he did not do it so when they turned from their evil god
[00:43:05] relented of his but again remember the word doesn't always carry a moral connotation
[00:43:10] god destroying ninova wouldn't have been an evil act it would have been a just act
[00:43:14] but it would have been awful it would have been destruction it would have been trouble
[00:43:19] it would have been devastation same word so notice here we can start to draw some parallels
[00:43:26] in the same way that Jonah was deserving of judgment
[00:43:32] cried out to god and god relented of that judgment and saved him so also ninova that pattern is
[00:43:39] intentional it's on purpose but chapter four verse one it displeased Jonah exceedingly I don't
[00:43:49] remember how the Hebrew plays out in this sentence but i'm almost positive that this makes it come
[00:43:55] off less than it is he's not disappointed he is exceedingly displeased in fact we're going to see
[00:44:04] that he is hot head angry it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry and he prayed to the
[00:44:11] Lord and said oh lord is not this what i said when i was yet in my country now notice this
[00:44:18] he is mad because he wasn't surprised he is mad because god behaved like he thought he would
[00:44:26] ninova's repentance and god's sparing them is the reason he ran not declaring the message
[00:44:35] not the danger of being in the midst of the ninovites not the impending judgment but the possible
[00:44:41] salvation of the ninovites that's the problem in fact notice what he says he says is this not what
[00:44:48] i said when i was yet in my country this is why i made haste to flee to tarshish for i knew
[00:44:54] that you are a gracious god merciful slow to anger abounding instead fast love and relenting
[00:45:00] from disaster now notice again the irony here he is angry with god because he knew that god is let
[00:45:09] me read it again merciful slow to anger abounding instead fast love it's weird isn't it
[00:45:16] i'm just a side note because i think this might lift the hood a little bit he adds at the end
[00:45:22] there and relenting from disaster the first statement that he makes there when he says i knew this
[00:45:27] to be how does Jonah know that's who god is because that's how god reveals himself all the way back
[00:45:32] in de ronami 34 in fact as we talked about i think last week that is the most recited passage
[00:45:40] in all of the old testament we saw it last week in neha we see it in amus we see it in hosea
[00:45:46] we find it in isaea and jeremia and is ekil we find it repeated in the Psalms over and over again
[00:45:52] if you want to know who god is according to the old testament de ronami 34 gives you the template
[00:45:57] but when jona adds and relenting from disaster there's only one version of all of those iterations
[00:46:04] that has that phrase and it's found in the book of joe which is interesting because again as we see
[00:46:10] all the time jona is not just a writer of scripture presumably i haven't made that case yet but i
[00:46:16] will he's also a reader of scripture he's not just a prophet of the lord he's a recipient of other
[00:46:21] prophets he knows the words of joe and he brings them up here now why does that matter because if
[00:46:28] you remember joe's prophecy is during a locus plague and he says if you do not repent a great big much
[00:46:36] worse locus is coming by the name of assyria jona knows that assyria is god's final plan to bring
[00:46:44] judgment on his own people if he could avoid warning them of judgment if they don't repent
[00:46:51] then they don't exist his concern here is not so much racist those dirty minivites as it is
[00:46:59] nationalist okay in the interest of his own people their self-preservation now like is always the
[00:47:07] case in resisting god the logic falls apart he couldn't even escape god's presence the minivites
[00:47:14] being you know it doesn't make any sense there was no avoiding the outcome of joe that's what a
[00:47:20] prophet does he foretells what god is going to do and he will do it read is a 45 but nonetheless
[00:47:27] here he doesn't want to be part in fact i would suggest you that it would be very understandable if
[00:47:33] jona realizes that running from tarshish he's not sparing ninova he's just sparing his own
[00:47:37] involvement god you do whatever you want with ninova but i don't want any part of it he says
[00:47:42] i'm angry i ran away because i knew that you were merciful slow to anger abounding instead fast
[00:47:48] loving resenting from disaster therefore now o lord please take my life from me for it is better
[00:47:54] for me to die than to live okay he experiences real deliverance in the belly of that whale he
[00:48:00] experiences real grace but he's still the same jona and he finds himself in the same place
[00:48:06] he obeys he goes to the motions but now he'd prefer death he says take my life he says it's better
[00:48:12] for me to die than to live and remember to live with what to live with the salvation of ninova
[00:48:19] to live with witnessing you not bringing judgment on the ninovites in verse four the lord said do
[00:48:26] you do well to be angry now one of the things that's really fascinating about god throughout the
[00:48:33] scriptures is how often he enters into dialogue with his people remember this is an all knowing
[00:48:39] full authority bearing god what he doesn't say here is you have no right to be angry although he
[00:48:46] should have could have it would have been totally appropriate he asks jona a question he interrogates
[00:48:53] god does the same thing all the way back in genesis adam where are you does god know the answer to
[00:48:59] that question what about the next one have you eaten of the fruit of which i told you not to eat
[00:49:04] does god know the answer to that question why is he going through the motions for adam
[00:49:10] he's trying to draw confession out of adam he enters into dialogue for the sake of he's operating
[00:49:16] as if i could reach forward to jesus as a great physician and this is part of not his diagnosis but
[00:49:23] is cure and so he interrogates jona here to challenge jona in a place that he knows jona doesn't have
[00:49:31] an answer for you're so angry but is it righteous anger is it appropriate for you to be angry
[00:49:37] now think of all the answers that we could give that would lead to the implication know
[00:49:41] how about the fact that jona has already not just experienced this salvation but personally
[00:49:47] needed it and cried out for it is he different than the ninovites not in the sense of sin
[00:49:53] equals judgment god graciously delivers it's the same story but he asks him here do you do well to be
[00:50:00] angry is it right to be angry verse five jona went out of the city and sat to the east of the city
[00:50:06] and made a booth for himself there he sat under it in the shade till he could see what would become
[00:50:12] of the city he's acting like a toddler here he says i've already argued with you god now i'm going to
[00:50:20] wait for you to do the right thing and burn it to the ground and he doesn't have anywhere else to go
[00:50:25] doesn't have anywhere else to be i will remind you that he's in the middle of a very awful wilderness
[00:50:31] right he doesn't go into the next town and get a hotel room and watch through binoculars
[00:50:36] he is out in the wilderness so he has to build himself a shelter this is how committed he is
[00:50:41] to the end of ninova he sat under it in the shade till he should see what would become of the city
[00:50:47] verse six now the lord god appointed a plant where does this plant come from god doesn't
[00:50:53] he appoints it just like he did the fish okay the lord god appointed a plant
[00:50:59] and made it come up over jona that it might be a shade over his head to save him from discomfort
[00:51:04] now what is the spoken reason what is god's intention his purpose why does he bring up this plant
[00:51:12] just to give comfort to jona jona who's mad at him jona who's finally been obedient after being
[00:51:20] externally disobedient but is still willfully against god internally what is this again it's undeserved
[00:51:28] grace god cares for jona because god is a caring god not because jona is fun to care for
[00:51:34] verse seven but when the dawn came up the next day god appointed a worm that attacked the plant so
[00:51:41] that it withered okay how does the plant go away circumstance is that the work of the devil no
[00:51:48] the same god who appointed the plant to miraculously grow up all of a sudden in the day a
[00:51:52] appoints a worm to kill it the next okay now if i could just put a paraphrase on that that we've
[00:52:01] hit over and over again the lord does whatever he wills right you cannot escape the sovereignty of
[00:52:08] god in the book of jona it is on every page jona couldn't escape it and he lived it
[00:52:14] right it is on every page and so here the same god who graciously raises up a plant just for
[00:52:20] jona's comfort sends a worm to kill it now i don't think we have to get hyper ecologically
[00:52:27] introspective and say well you know a worm has to eat and god cares about the worm so he eats the plant
[00:52:32] it doesn't matter that's not the point as we're going to see the whole story of this plant is
[00:52:37] a parable god asks jona are you right to be angry and now he makes his defense and he says let
[00:52:46] me show you why you're not right to be angry in other words this whole process here is to reveal
[00:52:53] something about jona to himself and so notice verse seven when the dawn came up the next day god
[00:52:58] appointed a worm that attacked the plant so it rithered when the sun rose god appointed a scorching
[00:53:04] east wind and the sun beat down on the head of jona so that he was faint this is the soroco
[00:53:11] okay it is a known phenomenon it's an incredibly hot wind it is so hot there are medical consequences
[00:53:18] related to being caught in this storm in fact we have a handful of ancient law books that would
[00:53:25] write off crimes of passion during soroco because it's that distressing of you physically
[00:53:33] it's like you just lose your mind okay and so he goes from discomfort to miraculous provided comfort
[00:53:42] to miraculous provided great discomfort that's what's happening here okay and so the sun beat down
[00:53:49] on the head of jona so that he was faint and he asked that he might die and said it's better for me
[00:53:55] to die than live but god said to jona again do you do well to be angry but notice here he's
[00:54:03] specifies it first it was do you do well to be angry about ninova now it's do you do well to be
[00:54:08] angry about the plant and he said yes I do well to be angry angry enough to die right there's no other
[00:54:14] way to read that sentence he is at the end of his rope he doesn't think it through he he argues his case
[00:54:23] and he says if you'll forgive me the language your damn right I am right he is self-justifying to the
[00:54:31] core how could you do this to me that plant was so good for me and you destroyed it
[00:54:39] verse 10 and the Lord said you pity the plant for which you did not labor nor did you make it grow
[00:54:45] which came into being in a night and perished in a night he says hey wait a minute
[00:54:52] did I take your plant did you grow this plant was it by your power and ability have I stolen
[00:54:59] something from you jona would you have had the plant without my giving of it to begin with
[00:55:06] right jona didn't make the plant he didn't grow the plant he wasn't the origin of the plant
[00:55:11] and yet he is deeply invested in the survival of the plant why what is he accusing god here of
[00:55:20] of being wrong of being evil of being unjust but notice what god says
[00:55:28] the Lord said you pity the plant for which you did not labor nor did you make it grow which came
[00:55:31] into being in a night and perished in a night and should I not pinny niva
[00:55:37] here jona says god you're unjust and he says jona your fingers on the scale
[00:55:43] notice the contrast here one little plant
[00:55:48] and a great city full of people and so he says they deserve to die but the plant deserves to live
[00:55:55] all right even the most committed environmentally friendly activist of today would have a hard time
[00:56:03] making an equivalency of that of this level right one plant or 120,000 people
[00:56:11] all right he catches jona in his logic and he says come on now
[00:56:17] but why is jona so committed to the plant because he benefits
[00:56:23] right that's what I mean when I say his finger is on the scale he wants god to be just when it
[00:56:29] serves jona and he wants god to be merciful when it serves jona that's the problem everyone else
[00:56:35] in the book is willing to let god be god but jona wants the reins and he wants it to always turn
[00:56:42] up in his favor and let me remind you that's not because jona is just and right
[00:56:48] he is a disobedient cover covenant breaker he is somebody who needs and has received god's mercy
[00:56:58] but he doesn't want it for anyone else not if it moves in the way and the truth is
[00:57:04] there's another plant that's implied by this whole thing it's also one jona didn't plant
[00:57:10] it's the nation of Israel that's god's vine he miraculously brought it out he cared for it
[00:57:17] it is his it belongs to him is it not in his just decision to decide when it deserves to be judged
[00:57:25] is it not his just decision to bring about the consequences as he sees fit
[00:57:32] if jona answers no it's not then who is he to condemn in of a see this is the problem disobedience
[00:57:42] is innately and inherently here in the book of jona and all the way back in jenesis chapter 3
[00:57:50] self-enthronement it says i will be god i will decide what is right i will pursue my will
[00:57:59] and therefore rejects god rejects his view of what's right rejects his will that's the issue here
[00:58:07] and notice here verse 11 should i not pinning in of that great city in which there are more than
[00:58:12] 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also much cattle
[00:58:17] okay so the first thing he says here is there's a whole lot of people and the second he says
[00:58:21] and these 120,000 of them don't know their right hand from their left this means one of two things
[00:58:26] in the book of Isaiah this is used to refer to a child who hasn't learned right from wrong yet
[00:58:32] okay so maybe he's saying will you just think of all the innocent children
[00:58:36] that would make sense to us that would even appeal to us it's one of the things we wrestle with
[00:58:40] with god's indiscriminate judgment is how it plays out on the children of those who are culpable
[00:58:45] right but here god cares he sees he asks he pities but it may even be more than that
[00:58:54] it may be here the 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left or not
[00:58:58] the innocent children but the ninovites themselves that are so caught up in their idolatry and their
[00:59:04] deception they don't even know and that's an reasonable understanding because when Jonah goes in
[00:59:12] and says that's it you got 40 days and god shuttling the whole thing down they respond
[00:59:18] they're surprised they're like oh man we gotta get our acts together right it's not like
[00:59:24] Jonah it doesn't take a lot of convincing there's no arguing there's no compromise
[00:59:30] they just respond but also notice it says and also much cattle
[00:59:36] does god care about animals absolutely but it's hard not to read that as being a reference to the
[00:59:41] plant again right well maybe this will get you Jonah you care so much about that plant how about
[00:59:46] the cows right it's almost funny and I think it's supposed to be but I want you to notice one last
[00:59:53] thing that I love about this book here that's the end the last statement in the book of Jonah
[01:00:01] isn't a statement at all it's a question and it's a question on the lips of god that's posed to Jonah
[01:00:09] but why does the story end there two reasons I would suggest you one is because the question
[01:00:14] isn't just for Jonah it's for us and so here the Hebrew storyteller leaves the point of the story
[01:00:21] in our laps it has to be responded to are you right to be angry is a question that god wants to
[01:00:28] send home with you tonight that's how it's written in the book but the second thing that I think
[01:00:33] is interesting about this ending of the story go back over it and recognize how much of this
[01:00:40] is not publicly witnessed we know Jonah's conversation that he has in the wilderness with god
[01:00:46] how is it that the story becomes scripture who is the author of the book of Jonah I would suggest
[01:00:55] you that Jonah is I would suggest you that he may sit in this angry or in this anger for 40 days
[01:01:02] or maybe 40 years but eventually it sinks in to the degree that he humbly presents himself
[01:01:10] not as some self-righteous deserving as special treatment Jonah but as the disobedient prophet who
[01:01:18] couldn't get it Jonah and lays it out okay and so I would suggest to you that this isn't just a
[01:01:26] story about the god who pities ninova it's the story about the god who pities Jonah and who is so
[01:01:33] persistent and patient with Jonah that he walks him through this whole process knowing
[01:01:41] that it's hard to kick against the gods knowing that although Jonah needs to repent
[01:01:48] that repentance and change is possible and committed to that end okay it's a story not just of a
[01:01:55] disobedient prophet but a tremendously committed and gracious god let's pray Jesus I'm reminded of
[01:02:05] the story you told of the man who was in great debt to his master hundreds of thousands of
[01:02:12] dollars never possible to repay it and his master just forgave him but a few days later he came
[01:02:21] across a friend who owned him a few hundred dollars and he throttled him by the neck
[01:02:27] they said you'll repay me every cent and if you don't you're going into the debtors prison
[01:02:32] and Jesus you labeled that as being an inconsistency that doesn't recognize
[01:02:37] the true nature of our salvation that either salvation is freely given and therefore undeserved
[01:02:45] and therefore freely offered to those even who it wouldn't be convenient for us
[01:02:54] even for those we judge unworthy even for those we count among our enemies the problem is not
[01:03:03] that we are a people committed to mercy and grace and have to convince you the problem is that
[01:03:08] we have to be convinced to like the king of ninova get off the throne of our hearts
[01:03:14] and repent and sat cloth and ashes and and identify you as king of kings and lord of lords
[01:03:22] identify you as god surrender our right and our righteousness and our
[01:03:30] our
[01:03:31] door man position to determine who is worthy of your salvation we thank you for the book of Jonah
[01:03:39] we thank you for the places where it parallels our own lives where we can look back and like
[01:03:43] Jonah with thanksgiving say yes you have saved us but we also thank you lord that you were committed
[01:03:48] to save us to the very core of our being and not just spare us from the consequence of sin
[01:03:54] but uproot its reign in our heart as well and i don't care if it takes a hot wind
[01:04:02] or the belly of a whale to do so lord we just pray that you would continue that work
[01:04:08] pray this in your name amen