Apr. 13, 2022

“MAN ON THE RUN”

“JONAH FINALLY OBEYS GOD”

JONAH 3:1-10

Jonah was a “sign” to the Ninevites:

Matthew 12:38-41

“The life of Jonah cannot be written without God,” said Charles Spurgeon, “take God out of the prophet’s history, and there is no history to write.”

1.   God Reminds Jonah His Call Hasn’t Changed

Jonah 3:1-2 “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

*God Meets With Jonah

It was God who controlled the storm, prepared the great fish, and rescued Jonah from the deep:

Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Joshua 1:5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

Deuteronomy 31:8 “And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

*God Speaks With Jonah

vs.2 “Arise, go to Nineveh…”

*God Commissions Jonah

vs.2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.”

“The victorious Christian life,” said George H. Morrison, “is a series of new beginnings.”

vs.1 “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time”

Micah 7:8 “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me.”

You don’t have to read very far in your Bible to discover that God forgives His servants and restores them to ministry:

Abraham- fled to Egypt, where he lied about his wife, but God gave him another chance (Genesis 12:10-13:4).

Jacob lied to his father Isaac, but God restored him and used him to build the nation of Israel.

Moses killed a man (probably in self-defense) and fled from Egypt, but God called him to be the leader His people.

Peter denied the Lord three times, but Jesus forgave him and said, “Follow Me” (John 21:19).

Psalm 130:4 “But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.”

Galatians 6:8 “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

*God Challenges Jonah

Nahum 3:10 “Yet she was carried away, She went into captivity;
Her young children also were dashed to pieces At the head of every street; They cast lots for her honorable men, And all her great men were bound in chains.”

The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God can’t keep you and the power of God can’t use you:

2 Corinthians 2:16 “To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?”

2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”

2.   Jonah Preach’s To Nineveh

*Jonah’s Message

Jonah 3:3-4 “So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

vs.4 “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

Throughout Scripture, the number forty seems to be identified with testing or judgment:

Noah- it rained forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:4,12,17).

The Jewish spies- explored Canaan forty days (Numbers 14:34).

The Nation of Israel- was tested in the wilderness for forty years.

The Giant Goliath- taunted the army of Israel forty days (1 Samuel 17:16).

*Nineveh Response to God

Jonah 3:5-9

Jonah 4:2 “…for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.”

*God’s Message To Nineveh

Jonah 3:10 “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

Jeremiah 18:1-11 

How deep was the spiritual experience of the people of Nineveh?

Acts 20:21 “Testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

For the people of Nineveh repented and had faith in God.

vs.5 “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.”

The fact that Jesus used the Ninevites to shame the unbelieving Jews of His day is further evidence that their response to Jonah’s ministry was sincere:

Matthew 12:38-41