Jonah 1-4

[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

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[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