Mar. 09, 2022

“MAN ON THE RUN”

“GOD’S PATIENCE WITH JONAH”

JONAH 1:1-17

2 Kings 14:25 “He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He had spoken through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath Hepher.”

Matthew 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

Luke 11:32 “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

God is a God of all nations. Jonah discovered God’s compassion for those outside Israel, even those who were their enemies. God had called His people to be a blessing to the Gentiles:

Genesis 12:1-3

Jonah’s book magnifies the sovereignty of God as well as the love and mercy of God. Jehovah is the “God of the second chance,” even for rebellious prophets.

The Main Idea of the book of Jonah:

Obeying God’s will brings blessings to us and to others through us; disobedience brings discipline.

Key Verse: Jonah 2:9 “But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”

God’s Patience With Jonah:

1.   Jonah Tries To Escape (His Disobedience)

Jonah 1:1-3

What is the book of Jonah all about? It’s about God! God is mentioned thirty-eight times in these four short chapters, and if you eliminate Him from the book, the story wouldn’t make sense. The book of Jonah is about the will of God and how to respond to it. It’s also about the love of God and how we share it with others.

*Rebellion

*Jonah the prophet disobeys God.

It’s in obeying the will of God that we find our spiritual nourishment:

John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

*Spiritual enlightenment:

John 7:17 “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”

*Spiritual enablement:

Hebrews 13:21 “Make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

To Jesus, the will of God was food that satisfied Him; to Jonah, the will of God was medicine that choked him.

Jonah’s wrong attitude toward God’s will stemmed from the feeling that the Lord was asking him to do an impossible thing.

Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations.”

Luke 6:46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable:

Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

Jonah had a wrong attitude toward circumstances; he thought they were working for him when they were really working against him.

Finally Jonah had a wrong attitude toward the Gentiles.

2.   Jonah’s Lack of Concern or Interest.

Jonah 1:4-10

Jonah the Jew becomes a curse instead of a blessing. 

Consider all that Jonah lost because he wasn’t a blessing to others:

*Jonah lost the voice of God- vs.4

*Jonah also lost his spiritual energy- vs.5

Proverbs 24:33-34 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; 34So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.”

*Jonah lost his power in prayer- vs.5-6

Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”

Loss of power in prayer is one of the first indications that were far from the Lord and need to get right with Him.

*Jonah lost his testimony- vs.7-10

The God who created the sea was punishing His servant and that’s why they were in danger!

3.   Jonah The Rebel Suffers For His Sin.

Jonah 1:11-17

Charles Spurgeon said that God never allows His children to sin successfully, and Jonah is proof of the truth of that statement.

Hebrews 12:6 “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Jonah 1:14 “For You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.”

For us to rebel against God’s will, as Jonah did, is to invite the chastening hand of God. We glorify Him by enjoying His will and doing it from our hearts, and that is where Jonah failed:

Ephesians 6:6 “Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

Jonah could say with the psalmist:

Psalm 118:18 “The Lord has chastened me severely, But He has not given me over to death.”