(Book of Jonah) - Several lessons can be learned from the Book of Jonah. Could we be more like Jonah than we think? - 2/16/2014

1. The Reluctant Preacher
Rebellion, Repentance, & A Merciful God

2. The Reluctant Preacher
The prophet Jonah,
[dove], was the son of
Amittai - (1:1; 2 Kings 14:25) $
Gath%Hepher
!
He was from Gath
Hepher (2 Kings 14:25), a
town in the tribe of
Zebulun (Josh. 19:10, 13).

3. The Reluctant Preacher

4. The Reluctant Preacher
Jonah prophesied during the
reign of Jeroboam II of the
Northern Kingdom (2 Kings
14:23-25 - [793BC – 753 BC]).
(Amaziah was king of Judah). (
Israel’s boundaries (2 Kings
14:25) were extended under
Jeroboam who had fought
back the Assyrians to Hamath
- victories led to great prosperity.

5. The Reluctant Preacher

6. The Reluctant Preacher
Jonah 1:2 (NKJV)
2 "Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their
wickedness has come up before Me."
Nineveh was the
capital of Assyria;$
Well known as a place
of cruelty. (Approx 500
miles NE of Samaria &
220 miles NW of presentday Baghdad)
s
le!
mi
0#
50

7. The Reluctant Preacher
A huge city, 3 days to walk
all its streets$
The palace covered 5 acres$
Shalmaneser IV - 783-772$
Ashur-dan III - 772-754

8. The Reluctant Preacher
Jonah 1:3 (NKJV)
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.
Joppa - about 35 miles
from Samaria and about
the same distance from
Jerusalem.$
Tarshish, probably
Tartessus in southern
Spain, about 2,500 miles
west of Joppa.

9. The Reluctant Preacher
Jonah 1:3 (NKJV)
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.
Authenticity:$
Historical record of an
actual fact(
The Jews accepted Jonah
and was included(
Jesus confirmed the story
and regarded it historical
& accurate - Mat 12:40

10. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 1:1-3
God calls Jonah$
Commanded to go to
Nineveh - Israel’s enemy.(
Jonah makes preparation(
Went to Joppa - Found a
ship - Paid for his fare(
Boarded the ship - But the
ship is going the wrong way!

11. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 1:1-3
Why Did Jonah Disobey?$
The war with Assyria had just
ended but there were hostilities
still breaking out on the border
- his life would be in jeopardy (
God said to rebuke Nineveh,
but Jonah understood that God
was forgiving - what if they
repented? - 4:2

12. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 1:1-3
God calls us by the gospel$
Some refuse to hear & go their
own way - Acts 24:25; 26:28(
Some hear the initial call and
follow until it conflicts with
what they want and then go
their own way - 2 Tim 4:10(
Our duty is to obey God - Eccl
12:13; Acts 10:9-23

13. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 1:4-17
Can’t Run From God$
God sends a huge storm - 1:4(
God directs the lots to pick
Jonah as the cause - 1:5-7(
Jonah confesses & instructs the
Phoenician sailors to throw
him overboard - eventually
they cry out to God, obey &
offer sacrifice - 1:8-16

14. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 1:4-17
Can’t Run From God$
God prepared a fish to swallow
Jonah - 1:17(
Jonah was in the belly of the
fish three days & three nights 1:17; Mat 12:40(
Fish or whale? Both the
Hebrew & Greek words simply
mean sea creature. Miracle?

15. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 1:4-17
Can’t Run From God$
No place to hide from God (Ps
139:7-11; Heb 4:13; 10:30,31)(
It is easier & better to obey God
(1 John 5:1-3; Mt 11:28-30)(
Eventually we must face God,
He will hold us accountable for
our actions - (John 5:28,29;
Acts 17:30; 2 Cor 5:10)

16. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 2:1-10
Jonah’s Prayer To God$
Jonah prays from inside the fish, on
the brink of dying - (2:1)(
A prayer of thanksgiving - (2:2)(
A prayer of recognition of God’s
righteousness & his sin - (2:3-4)(
Jonah’s experience - (2:3-7).(
Jonah repents - (2:7-9)(
God spares Jonah - (2:10)

17. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 2:1-10
Jonah’s Prayer To God$
Sometimes we need to be
awakened - (Luke 15:14-21)(
Repentance requires a change of
attitude & action, not just being
sorry for the punishment(
Need to know God’ is willing to
forgive (Ezek. 18:31,32; 2 Pet
3:9; 1 John 1:9)

18. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 3:1-4
God again commands
Jonah to go preach to
Nineveh - (3:1,2)$
This time Jonah obeys - (3:3)(
A huge city, 3 days to walk all
its streets - (3:3) [The palace
covered 5 acres](
Preached Nineveh’s destruction
in forty days - (3:4)

19. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 3:1-4
Past failures do not
determine future success$
God is willing to forgive us, to
save us - but God saves us to
serve Him - not to continue in
sin! - (Tit. 3:14; Rom 6:1,2)(
God wants to use us to spread
the gospel to a lost & dying
world - (Acts 8:4; 1 Thes 1:8)

20. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 3:4-10
Nineveh Repents$
They believed message of
punishment for sins - (3:5)(
King proclaims fast for people
and animals - (3:6-9)(
Cried out to God, turned from
evil - Pleaded w/ God. - (3:8,9)(
God changed His mind about
destroying them - (3:10)

21. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 3:4-10
Nineveh Repents$
God prefers salvation to
punishment - Ez. 18:31,32(
God can forgive anyone - and
does forgive those who repent
and obey Him - Jer 18:5-10(
Sometimes the best prospects are
the least godly people - (a
rebuke of Israel) - Rom 10:21

22. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 4:1-3
Jonah’s anger$
Expressed to God in prayer (4:1,2)(
Jonah knew of God’s grace and
mercy – thus he did not want to
go to Nineveh because he feared
success–(1:2; 4:2)(
Desires to die - Why is he so
upset? - (4:3)

23. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 4:1-3
Jonah’s attitude in NT
people:$
The prodigal son’s older brother
(Luke 15)(
Jews towards Samaritans &
Gentiles - (Jn 4:9; Acts 10,11)(
The Pharisee’s toward Jesus
eating with sinners (Matthew
9:10-11)

24. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 4:4-11
God’s Lesson For Jonah:$
God questions Jonah - (4:4)(
Jonah leaves city to pout still
hoping God would destroy
Nineveh - (4:5)(
The plant, worm, and scorching
wind - (4:6-8)(
Jonah still doesn’t get it - (4:9)(
God exposes Jonah - (4:10)

25. The Reluctant Preacher
The Text - 4:4-11
God’s Lesson For Us:$
We should seek the salvation of
even our enemies! - Mat 5:43-48(
We should rejoice when any
person repents! - Luke 15:7(
Do we value things more than
the souls of men? - Mat 16:26(
Do we get it? How many lost
souls are in this city? Children?

26. The Reluctant Preacher
Conclusion
We Are God’s People – (1 Pet
2:9,10)(
We have God’s message –
(1 Cor 1:18)(
We Are To GO & Preach It –
(Mat 28:18-20)(
We Can Be Guilty of The Same
Sins That Jonah Was Guilty of

27. The Reluctant Preacher
Conclusion
Do Not Run From God’s
Commission!(
Be Concerned About The
Salvation of Others!(
Realize That God Intends
To Work Through You To
Save Others!

28. Matthew 12:41 (NKJV)
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.

29. Charts by Don McClain
Prepared February 12-15, 2014
Preached February 16, 2014
West 65th Street church of Christ
P.O. Box 190062
Little Rock AR 72219
501-568-1062
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The Reluctant Preacher
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30. 2 Kings 14:23-29 (NKJV)
23 In
the fifteenth year of Amaziah the
son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam
the son of Joash, king of Israel, became
king in Samaria, and reigned forty-one
24 And he did evil in the sight of
years.
the LORD; he did not depart from all the
sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
had made Israel sin.

31. 2 Kings 14:23-29 (NKJV)
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
26 For the
who was from Gath Hepher.
LORD saw that the affliction of Israel was
very bitter; and whether bond or free, there
was no helper for Israel.

32. 2 Kings 14:23-29 (NKJV)
27 And
the LORD did not say that He would blot out
the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved
them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash. 28
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he
did--his might, how he made war, and how he
recaptured for Israel, from Damascus and Hamath,
what had belonged to Judah--are they not written in
the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 29
So Jeroboam rested with his fathers, the kings of
Israel. Then Zechariah his son reigned in his place.