Post by YeledAhuv on Aug 18, 2013 15:01:51 GMT -7
Our church has recently taken up a study of Jonah, and I thought I'd share it on here.
I will be adding more to this as I go on.
(Read from NKJV, taken from BibleGateway.com)
Jonah 1:
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Now the one thing we have to first realize, is WHY Jonah is so un-willing to go to Nineveh. At the time (8th century B.C) the Assyrian Empire was at its greatest. Not only was it sitting in the most desirable spot, but some writers describe Nineveh as being over 60 miles wide (In Jonah, he describes the city being a 3 days journey; Jonah 3:3), was approximately more then 120,00 people (Jonah 4:11), and it was the center for worshiping Ishtar, a fertility goddess.
Knowing all this would be bad enough, but Jonah was a prophet of God; knowing that the Ninevites were a wicked people. The Hebrew bible often refers to the words used in the book of Jonah as Ra (Hebrew for evil or wicked.) This is confirmed by the fact that these people had killed children in great wars.
In contrast to today's world: Asking Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, would be like asking a Christian to go preach to the Taliban.
Only Jonah wasn't just AFRAID to go, he was dead-out against saving these wicked people that would more then likely kill him and his people. We get the sense that Jonah despised these people and didn't want to be the cause of their salvation through God's grace. We see evidence of this through his "pouting" even after the city repented, he still wanted God to strike the city and even wished to die, even though God showed him grace, not once but twice (With the fish and the branch, we will come to that later). Jonah 4:8, Jonah claims that it is better to die then to live. Why do we think this is? He is so intent on just sitting there, getting ready to "see what would become of the city." (Jonah 4:5) He expected God to honour His promise to destroy the city.
So now we know roughly the reason behind Jonah's will to run away from God's will for him, what brought him physically to the great fish that ate him.
I will admit, there are people I feel shouldn't get grace. I am like Jonah to them; wanting to run the other way and never show them the goodness of God. For me (YeledAhuv) personally, those people are rapists and murderers of little children. I feel like they deserve jail and what they have coming to them, much like how Jonah felt about the Ninevites. But when I look back and read about how God loves me, and the grace He has shown me, I am no better then a rapist or murderer. I am a wretched sinner, just as we all are, and should I not give mercy to those who've wronged me, or those I feel don't deserve any better then me? No, God tell us in 1 John 4:20; "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."
So... Tell me, or write it down; Who is your Ninevite?
Remember as you write, that this person or these people still deserve God's love and grace.
(Notes taken from sermons by Pastor David Funk and Pastor Chris Hughes, Dates ranging from July 28 '13 to August 18 '13, all paraphrased and a little added by Kate Evans (YeledAhuv))
I will be adding more to this as I go on.
(Read from NKJV, taken from BibleGateway.com)
Jonah 1:
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.
5 Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
6 So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?”
9 So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.
12 And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.”
13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, “We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Now the one thing we have to first realize, is WHY Jonah is so un-willing to go to Nineveh. At the time (8th century B.C) the Assyrian Empire was at its greatest. Not only was it sitting in the most desirable spot, but some writers describe Nineveh as being over 60 miles wide (In Jonah, he describes the city being a 3 days journey; Jonah 3:3), was approximately more then 120,00 people (Jonah 4:11), and it was the center for worshiping Ishtar, a fertility goddess.
Knowing all this would be bad enough, but Jonah was a prophet of God; knowing that the Ninevites were a wicked people. The Hebrew bible often refers to the words used in the book of Jonah as Ra (Hebrew for evil or wicked.) This is confirmed by the fact that these people had killed children in great wars.
In contrast to today's world: Asking Jonah to preach to the Ninevites, would be like asking a Christian to go preach to the Taliban.
Only Jonah wasn't just AFRAID to go, he was dead-out against saving these wicked people that would more then likely kill him and his people. We get the sense that Jonah despised these people and didn't want to be the cause of their salvation through God's grace. We see evidence of this through his "pouting" even after the city repented, he still wanted God to strike the city and even wished to die, even though God showed him grace, not once but twice (With the fish and the branch, we will come to that later). Jonah 4:8, Jonah claims that it is better to die then to live. Why do we think this is? He is so intent on just sitting there, getting ready to "see what would become of the city." (Jonah 4:5) He expected God to honour His promise to destroy the city.
So now we know roughly the reason behind Jonah's will to run away from God's will for him, what brought him physically to the great fish that ate him.
I will admit, there are people I feel shouldn't get grace. I am like Jonah to them; wanting to run the other way and never show them the goodness of God. For me (YeledAhuv) personally, those people are rapists and murderers of little children. I feel like they deserve jail and what they have coming to them, much like how Jonah felt about the Ninevites. But when I look back and read about how God loves me, and the grace He has shown me, I am no better then a rapist or murderer. I am a wretched sinner, just as we all are, and should I not give mercy to those who've wronged me, or those I feel don't deserve any better then me? No, God tell us in 1 John 4:20; "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."
So... Tell me, or write it down; Who is your Ninevite?
Remember as you write, that this person or these people still deserve God's love and grace.
(Notes taken from sermons by Pastor David Funk and Pastor Chris Hughes, Dates ranging from July 28 '13 to August 18 '13, all paraphrased and a little added by Kate Evans (YeledAhuv))
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