Jonah Week Six

This is a good song to start with. God is the God of the nations. He always has been. Jonah gives us an up close and personal view of this. When God told Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him, The book of Jonah is showing us what some of that will look like. Opening up salvation to gentile sailors and evil Ninevites, how scandalous? To God's chosen people this would seem so strange.

Well after an amazing revival last week, we now see Jonah at a low point. He would rather die than watch these people repent. Read all of Jonah 4 here.

It really opens up some hard questions for us to examine of ourselves.
In verse one what emotion was Jonah feeling?

In revival we usually rejoice! But Jonah was not in the rejoicing mood. Jonah is not just experiencing your average everyday kind of angry either. In the Hebrew this verse is expressed as this being a great calamity. Jonah is burning with anger. He is literally hot. He is not a happy camper seeing this repentance. Though ironically he was just forgiven for his sin and God saved Him by His great mercy. He received it but did not accept it for others. Before you judge Jonah though don't we often do the same?

Jesus called it the log in the eye issue. Matthew 7:5 states, " Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." Often we have this glaring issue that we cannot see though it is blinding us, yet we see the small thing in someone else. We want to judge them but not deal with our won stuff. How have you seen yourself doing this?


Now in verse two we see why Jonah ran in the first place. Jonah knew something about God that we and the world need to know. Verse two is stated like this, "So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people."

Jonah knows God is:

• merciful - or gracious is used only of God and used 13 times in the Old Testament. (The NIV Application Commentary)
• compassionate - The primary meaning of this word is "to be soft like a womb" (NIV Application Commentary) I love that picture of God.
• slow to anger - The Hebrew expression means "forbear, continue long, be patient, postpone anger, tarry long" (NIV Application Commentary).
• filled with unfailing love - This is the more intense word for love in Hebrew (hesed) and is best understood as  God's unrelenting love, which is God's covenant commitment to his people. With this unrelenting love he binds himself to His promises to them (NIV Application Commentary).

Picture taken from http://biblelexicon.org/jonah/4-1.htm

Then in verse three Jonah states, "Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen." Jonah cannot stand it that these enemies will be forgiven and not judged. He would rather just die. He is so angry. So unforgiving. He is being the opposite of God right now. But I must admit I have been here as well. We must remember God forgave us, no one is beyond forgiveness. We are hypocrites to expect any different. We cannot accept forgiveness for ourselves and not freely extend it to others. It does not work that way. I am sure it is easier for us to see this since we are on the other side of the cross. We have been grafted into the family of God. I am so thankful for that. I am so thankful for God's pursuit.

So God intervenes here. He asks Jonah a simple question, "Is it right for you to be angry about this?"

We need to examine our own hearts here. When we are angry, we need to ask ourselves this same question. Is it right for us to be angry about this? God's love and grace is scandalous! We have no right to say who can or cannot be forgiven by God. Now this phrase can be translated more like this, "Is it causing good that you burn with anger?" (NIV Application Commentary).

God tells us in Ephesians 5:26-27, “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."and Hebrews 12:15 states, ^"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled."
How can you see either of these things causing trouble? Give practical examples.

Jonah ignores God. He does not answer the questions and moves out to a place where he can observe the city. He was waiting to see what happened. God uses this time to teach Jonah a lesson using His creation.

God first provides a nice vine to shade Jonah. It made him comfortable and happy. God also though in His wisdom appointed a worm to chew and cause this plant to die. Also He made an uncomfortable hot (like Jonah's previous anger) wind blow making Jonah faint. Jonah wished to die again. Clearly he is only happy in his circumstances that work out the way he thinks is right. However, God uses these things to bring Jonah back to Him and back to conversing with Him again.

I love how God continues to pursue us. Psalm 119:71 states, "My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees." This is what we see happening with Jonah.
Have you seen this happen in your own life? Explain.

God then says,  “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”
I like this question God asked. It is pretty similar to questions God asked Job after he questioned God. Job was humbled by this. You can read that in Job 38-42. It just makes you sit back and stand in awe of God.

We as humans cannot fathom God's ways. But we can trust them. He is amazing and His love for us is great. In this alone we need to trust Him. God does not have to answer our questions. He is good and unpredictable.  He is sovereign and we cannot understand. Just as a parent may give instructions to a child, they cannot always understand them but need to obey. We are like this with God. We must trust. His goodness and loving kindness need to be enough.
 
But Jonah answered in a poor way. In Jonah 4: 9 he says, “Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

Oh poor Jonah. He is not looking outward at God and His amazing character instead his eyes are focused on himself. Having a pity party is never a good way to behave. It only leads to bad things. This is what Jonah is doing. But God is still not giving up on His servant. 

This is how God replies,"Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:10-11).

God really cares for all He made. Psalm 104:31 states, "May the glory of the Lord continue forever! The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!" God ends this discourse and book of Scripture with a question. We do not know how Jonah replies. The point is however, how will we reply? Will we continue to withhold mercy from our enemies or extend it?

It gives us a time to just be amazed by God. He saw that these people He made are in spiritual darkness, they are blinded and He takes pity on them. He goes to them and gives them a chance to repent. He wants Jonah to realize that he was feeling sorry for a destroyed plant that he had nothing to do with, so how much more should God be concerned about a people He created.

It reminds me of Jesus. He said, "“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He made this statement while on the cross. While soldiers were dividing his clothes by lot and while people sneered at him. After he was severely beaten and nailed up on the cross. Jesus said, "forgive them they do not know what they are doing." Now if that is not mercy I do not know what is. If that is not love then I do not know what is. This is who we worship. This is who we follow. This is who God is conforming us to be more and more like. Jesus.


I liked this statement, "God does not suggest that justice should not or will not eventually be done. He simply argues that he would rather forgive and take the risks of letting evil persist in the world. This is a difficult dilemma for people of faith" (The NIV Application Commentary). Later you will see that Ninevah is destroyed. I am not sure how long repentance lasted but the book of Nahum makes it clear they are no longer people who are repentant.

Application
1- Give an example of a time you gladly received mercy but became angry when it was extended to someone else.

2- Are you struggling to forgive someone? Talk about it here. Don't use names but let's walk through it in community and walk through complete healing. Possibly even reconciliation

3- Above I used Scriptures Ephesians 5:26-27 and Hebrews 12:15.
How can you see either of these things causing trouble? Give practical examples.

4- Has God used creation to teach you a lesson about His character?

5- I love how God continues to pursue us. Psalm 119:71 states, "My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees." This is what we see happening with Jonah.
Have you seen this happen in your own life? Explain.

Jonah Week Five

Oh the joy of a second chance! I am so happy that we serve a God who loves us enough to give us second, third, fourth, and infinite number of chances. God is so good. If we are in Christ then we are clean. Period. I love that.


Love this song! Listen to it to prepare your heart. I think it is a good song of thankfulness especially after given a second chance. Oh how loved we are by HIM.


We start this week with Jonah being given the task again. Chapter 3 opens this way, "Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you (NLT).”

Now this translation really blows my mind and I hope it does yours too. Literally translated in the Hebrew it is, "Ninevah was a great city to God." To God can be translated as an idiom for very (The NIV Application Commentary). WOW! Eventhough the Ninevites were cruel people these people and this city was important to God. That is why He even paid attention to its wickedness. God could have destroyed it in an instance but because of His love and compassion He sent His prophet Jonah.

Psalm 24:1 states, "The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it." God cares for all people on this Earth. Even if we think they are unlovable or not worth caring about. Christ died for all people who would come to Him. Yet He gives us a choice in love to do good or evil.

The word in the original language is used again when God tells Jonah to arise. Remember in Chapter one Jonah did arise but went the opposite direction. This time we see Jonah rise and go the right direction. Read the rest of Chapter 3 here.

Before I really studied this and before I had a look at the map I just assumed God had the whale spit Jonah out right at the city of Ninevah. However looking at the map again that is not possible. Jonah would have most likely had to start over again and make that 500 mile trek to Ninevah. Then upon arriving the city was so big it took 3 days to get through it.

Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Jonah 3:4

The word in the Hebrew here for began is important as well. The word in its simplest form means pierce. It implies he had to let go (The NIV Application Commentary). For Jonah to now follow through on this message of preaching to his enemy he had to let go of things that caused him to feel the need to run away in the first place.

Jonah's message is simple, "“Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!(Jonah 3:4(NLT))” A message of judgment. What Jonah wanted for these people in his heart. However, in the original Hebrew the word for destroyed here does mean judgment but it also can mean bring repentance. The word means turn over leaving room for the possibility of repentance. Jonah would have known what this meant and would have known it could go either way. It was up to God.

However, did Jonah's heart change after the Great Fish incident? We will soon find out. But now he gets to give this message. He obeys and immediately the next verse states, "The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow (Jonah 3:5, NLT)."

What an amazing response! The people took this seriously and were sad. Interestingly the word for God here is the generic word for god. It is Elohiym which can be used for rulers, false gods, etc. But it can also be used for the One true God. The Ninevites believed this message quickly. Now is that a good gift of evangelism or what?! I think it is important to note that if God gives us an impression to share Christ with someone we need to do it. It is not us who brings someone to God it is God Himself. If He wants us to tell someone we better do it and sit back and watch Him work.

Now I find this even more interesting when the news makes it to the king. The NAS translation states Jonah 3:6 like this, " When the word reached the king of Ninevah, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes." (It is a mini chiastic structure.) This is interesting because the Hebrew words have some significant meaning here. We see here again this word arose. The king rose to action when he heard this news of coming destruction. The wording shows his humility in this situation. He basically lays aside his throne and robe (which is his glory as head of this large nation) and replaces it with humiliation by putting on sackcloth and sitting in ashes. This is a big deal for a ruler of a nation. Generally the people of a nation will follow the leader of the nation. The leader will be a good reflection of the people in many cases.


This king then proclaims a decree for everyone to fast while putting on sackcloth. Even including the animals. He is serious about this. They are in mourning. They are commanded to turn from their evil ways. They are also commanded to cry out to God with force. They reason that perhaps God will see this and change His mind. God looks at them and sees what they have done and He decides to relent on the coming destruction. What a compassionate God! He is slow to anger and loving and kind.

This is an interesting note. When others outside of the Israel clan address God they do not call Him by His covenant name. This is because these people are not the covenant people. However it is a foreshadowing of God opening up salvation to all, He does this little by little through the old testament. It is a foreshadowing of the fulfillment of the coming Christ. The words spoken to Abraham stating all the nations will be blessed through him. Once Jesus left He gave the command to go out into the world and make disciples. The world would never be the same after that. Because of Christ, us as gentiles can now call out to the covenant God. He is our God, our Father. How amazing is that?


Application
1- Ninevah was a great city to God. Are there any cities you think may be too far gone for God to care about or are beyond God's hope? Or let's apply this to people, are there people that you have considered beyond God's hope? 

2- Now that Jonah has arrived, he must deliver a message to the enemy and watch God work. Have you ever had to do this or know anyone who has? Share. 


3- Part of living the gospel in everyday life is extending grace to others. How has God allowed you to participate in this lately? It may not be like Jonah to an enemy but living amongst people requires much grace.


4- A people will usually follow the spiritual tone of their leaders. We see this all throughout the old testament and in this book of Jonah. How have you seen this in our world today?


5- Do you have a covenant relationship with the One True God? How did He first woe you to Himself?

Chiastic Structure Jonah Chapter Two

Since I am a lover of words and word structure. I had to add something I left out in the study of Jonah Chapter 2. We see a chiasmus in Jonah's Prayer. A definition of Chiamus is, "A grammatical figure by which the order of words in one of two of parallel clauses is inverted in the other" (Oxford English Dictionary).

I love this and you will find it all throughout the Bible. An example of a chiastic structure is this phrase,

We eat to live
          X

not live to eat.

You see how these phrases are turned around from one sentence to the next? That is the structure of a chiasmus.

Jonah 2:2-6 is a chiastic structure.

 A -  2 -“In my distress I called to the LORD and he answered me. 

From depths fo the grave

I called for help,
   and you listened to my cry.
 B -3 You hurled me into the deep,
   into the heart of the seas,
   and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
   swept over me.
 C- 4- I said, ‘I have been banished
   from your sight;
yet I will look again
   toward your holy temple.’
B- 5- The engulfing waters threatened me,
   the deep surrounded me;
   seaweed was wrapped around my head.
A- 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
   the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
   brought my life up from the pit.

Do you see the order of things here? C represents the central point of things here. It turns things around. This is where we find hope. Also the wording for look toward in the Hebrew here is the same word used when Moses had to make a bronze snake for the Israelites to look at for healing. (Numbers 21:9). I wrote about it here in detail. Here we see the gospel again, pointing us toward Jesus who will come! Don't you love that?!  I just thought this was an interesting thing to add to the study...Sorry I left it out before. Hope you enjoy it like I do. :)

Jonah Week Four

A cry for help in a desperate situation, we find our dear Jonah now in the belly of a sea creature. In all the slime and decaying food product he sits or lays, not sure how this is done in a fish belly. I am pretty sure though it did not remind him of what a baby would feel like in a mother's womb.

Jonah finds himself in a nasty gross place yet he is finding himself thankful. Being in this fish meant that the death he deserved he did not get. Instead by God's grace he was saved by the fish. Just as salvation is a gift of God that we do not earn or deserve. It is just given to us. We are saved from death to life.

I just had to post this video for this week. I love it!

Jonah 2 is his prayer to God. This week we will explore this.

Read his prayer all the way through and then let us discuss it. First it is evident that Jonah is a man who knows Scripture. Here he is sitting in a stinky, tight, dark place but reciting Scripture. It is so important we memorize Scripture and store it in our hearts. In this prayer Jonah is praying Scripture which I love.

Copied from www.enduringword.com commentary. Here are the Psalms he prayed.

•   In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple (Psalm 18:6)
•  Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and billows have gone over me (Psalm 42:7) 
• For I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to You (Psalm 31:22)
  
  
  Chapter Two starts like this.
  Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. He said,  “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me! (Jonah 2:1-2, NLT)
  
  
  
  Have you ever felt like you were in the land of the dead? This is how Jonah felt. Yet God heard his prayer. It does not matter how far we have strayed if we are His He will always hear us when we cry out to Him. He is waiting for us to return to Him. He will not force you to return. He may step up the heat in His pursuit of you but He will never force anyone to come to Him. 
  
  
  “For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me.
  All Your breakers and billows passed over me" (Jonah 2:3 NASB).
  
  
   Jonah knows it was God's plan for him to be tossed into the sea though it was through the hands of the sailors. These sailors are in a location off shore. Jonah is now in the middle of the after math of the storm. It had ceased its raging but any winds or storms will affect the surface currents of the ocean. It seems that this overtook Jonah and he started sinking down. The ocean waves are also breaking over him. It is too much.
  
  Have you experienced life's waves and breakers being too much to handle? Have you ever felt one thing after another go wrong. It hit you like waves not knowing when it would stop and if you could even rise up above it?
  
  
  “So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Your sight. Nevertheless I will look again toward Your holy temple." (Jonah 2:4NASB).
  
  
  
  Jonah knows this is all his fault. He has run from God. He feels rejected and thinks he has been expelled from God's sight (this is often where the enemy would like to sow in us the guilt of shame) BUT take notice of this, He remembers God's goodness and faithfulness and in faith he says we will look again toward God's holy temple. There is no condemnation for us who are in Christ (Romans 8:1) no matter what we have done. Sin has consequences but His grace has taken away all guilt and shame.
  
  
  "Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. “I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. “While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple." (Jonah 2:5-7 NASB).
  
  Jonah had literally hit rock bottom. The word for descended in the original language is used once again here. Thus indicating Jonah falling further down closer to death. He did not think he could get out of the pit he was in. He got a seaweed wrap in the process but mind you not the good kind. Yet God reached down and got him out of the pit. He used the fish to save him. And take note of what Jonah yet again remembers....He again remembers the Lord and His love and faithfulness to those who are His. He believes though in the pit that his prayer will still be heard by God.
  
  
  Have you ever descended into a pit because of poor choices? It is so easy to do. We make one compromise then another and another and before you know it you hit rock bottom. Yet God can reach down into that pit and lift us up. We must confess before Him. Cry out to Him. Jonah came clean about his situation when he told the sailors what he was doing. His crying out to God shows he knew he needed God. God saved him from drowning by the fish.
  
  "Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds, walk away from their only true love.
  But I'm worshiping you, God, calling out in thanksgiving! And I'll do what I promised I'd do! Salvation belongs to God!" (Jonah 2:8-9 Message).
  
  I love how the Message words this last part of Jonah's prayer. He sees the importance of God being our first and foremost heart's desire. Any other focus is hollow and takes us from the Lover of our soul. Jonah's false God was judgementalism (Jonah 4:2). He did not want God's mercy to extend to anyone outside of his Israelite circle. So He ran. Everything spun downward because of this idol. Here is where we see him turn. He turns from his judgementalism back to worshiping God. This puts him back on the right path. He again is able to be thankful in all things even in the belly of a fish he is still in. He says he will fulfill his promises to God. He realizes salvation alone belongs to God. We have a turning point in Jonah! It is great to see.
  
  Now Dee Brestin has done a Bible study on idols of the heart. These idols can be summed up into three areas, Idols of Security, Identity, and Comfort. If we seek to get our security outside of God alone then that thing we seek is an idol. If we seek to get our identity anywhere outside of God then that thing is an idol. If we seek to get comfort anywhere outside of God then that thing is an idol. These are the deep root idols and they surface through our actions.
  
  An example of a challenge for me continues to be needing to be in control. I have a hard time trusting all the decisions my husband makes. Now that can come out as disrespect toward him. It can come out as manipulation to try to sway him in my direction. It can come out in just plan judgementalism toward him. When really the issue is not my husband it is this idol in my heart. I think if I am in control then I will be secure. God says the only way to security is trust in HIM. He has established the order of things in my home. If I do not trust my husband's God-given leadership then I am not trusting God. It is a deep root idol of security but comes out as sinful action or behavior in various ways.  If you want to study this more go over to Dee's blog and look up all the stuff on idols. It has been so liberating! 
  
  
  With that said, can you identify a possible deep rooted idol in your life? Thoughts?
  What do you think Jonah's was based on all we learned so far about him? Of course we cannot know for sure but can make good guesses based on his actions.
  
  
  Jonah returned to God because of his remembering God's character of love and faithfulness. That too is how we turn back. God is our everything and we cannot lose sight of that. He is our salvation. That is why is is so important to preach the gospel to ourselves everyday maybe even every hour. Doing this is a way we can live God's grace.
  
  And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land (Jonah 2:10).
  
  This is amazing. When Jonah sorts things out in his heart, God speaks to the fish and Jonah is now free. He is now on dry land. A second chance he is given.
  
  
  Questions to answer
  1-What are some Scriptures that you have hidden in your heart for hard times or challenges?
  
  2-Share an example when you felt like you were in the land of the dead. How did God save you?
  
  3-Have you experienced life's waves and breakers being too much to handle? Have you ever felt one
  thing after another go wrong. It hit you like waves not knowing when it would stop and if you could even rise up above it? How did God intervene?
  
  4-Have you ever descended into a pit because of poor choices? How did God get you out?
  
  5-With that said, can you identify a possible deep rooted idol in your life? Thoughts?
  What do you think Jonah's was based on all we learned so far about him? Of course we cannot know for sure but can make good guesses based on his actions.
  
  

Jonah - Week Three

No other world religion of any kind has a pursuing God like ours. The major difference is that we have the ability of having a personal relationship with our God. Not because of anything we have done but only because of His grace. We can earn nothing from Him, He freely gives. Now that is an amazing God. Listen to this wonderful song to prepare your heart for worship. For this week.


We ended last week with Jonah tossed in the water instantly calming the ferocious storm. God is a ferocious lover. He will go great and unthinkable lengths for us. Do you believe this? If yes it will really change your life. I just love this next part of the study.

And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah 1:17

(Picture is from reformationart.com)

This verse is an amazing part of this book. God loved Jonah so much that not only did He pursue him in the storm but also God appointed a great fish to swallow and transport Jonah. Three days and three nights he was on this first class slime ride. This part of the story is one example that many atheists try to use to discount believing God. Things like this are just too hard for them to believe. But if you know God and believe He made all things and He controls all things then it is not too far fetched to believe God could use an animal to transport a person. God does what He pleases and it is not the only time He used His creation in His works.

I mentioned earlier that Jonah was mentioned in the New Testament also. I want you to get this. Jesus Himself referenced Jonah. Jesus proves that this is real history. It is an actual event that actually happened in the history of the world. Sadly even some proclaimed Christians doubt this happening. It is fact though. Listen to Jesus.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher,we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 

Matthew 12:38-41

 

Prior to the scribes and Pharisees talking to Jesus, they are accusing Him being a demon because He has just healed a demonic man. They are so hard hearted they just could not get it. It is so very sad. Many moralists or legalists walk around today thinking they know Him but actually they do not. This is a place to check your heart. Does it long for the Savior alone? Or recognition of power, honor, what the Savior will give you, or a following of man? Don't fall into the trap of needing the approval of man by right living. You cannot earn God's love by right living either, you must have a relationship with the Savior.

 

Jesus speaks of Jonah here. I love this part! In all we have learned about Jonah and all the wrong things he has done, as God's prophet he not only points us toward Christ with words but also with action. Jonah's time in the belly of the fish is in direct relation to pointing us toward Christ Himself in the tomb! Can you believe that? The reluctant Jonah was used to point to the greatest time in the worlds history, the death and resurrection of Christ. Now my heart just wants to shout hallelujah. God uses the most ordinary, stubborn servants for His extraordinary purposes. I am always in awe of this when I see it. I wrote an entire study on this when I wrote, Abundant Grace: Lessons from the Family Line of Christ. It is at the Kindle store and Sunday Scholar for sale, but if you are interested I will send you a free copy. Just let me know.

I am in awe. We can be very hard on Jonah running from God. Yet, God used this moment as a very sign that pointed to Christ and our salvation. Now, do not think that I am saying disobedience or delayed obedience is okay, it is not. However, God uses it all. He knows we are dust. He knows what we are going to do and uses it anyway for His greater purposes. This is one of Jonah's most embarrassing moments as a prophet yet the miracle of it, the appointed fish, the "new life" Jonah receives from repenting and getting back on course is used in a huge way. Does this make you want to just stop and worship? You can do nothing absolutely nothing to thwart God's plan. Period. 

Like Christ, Jonah was used to satisfy God's wrath in the horrible storm. But unlike Christ, Jonah deserved the storm, Jonah ran from God. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God taking all of our sin on Himself. Jesus did not deserve this. He was the only one who lived fully sinless. He was fully God but he was also fully man. He satisfied the wrath of God when He did nothing to deserve it.

Above also states that the men of Ninevah repent. This is not a surprise to you if you have read this book of the Bible. We will look at this in the weeks to come. Just as Jesus was in the earth for 3 days and 3 nights, Jonah was in this fish. What happened in there to Jonah? How did he get out? That is what we will look at next time. This is enough for this week. 

Our assignment?

• Ponder the cross.(Hebrews 12:1-3)
• Ponder God's great and deep love for us. So much love that before the world was formed He planned Jesus coming and dying for you. (Ephesians 1:4)
• Ponder Jesus giving up all His riches and glory of Heaven restricting Himself to skin and bones limiting himself to humble means for us. Dying and being separated for the first and only time from the Father taking our sins so we don't have to carry them.(Philippians 2:8)
• Ponder Him beating sin and death once and for all so we can be free.(Hebrews 10:10)
• Ponder Him doing this so we can be friends and children of God with all the rights a family is entitled. (1 John 3:1)
• Ponder the Holy Spirit being sent to live in us and seal us guaranteeing our inheritance in Heaven. (Ephesians 1:13)
• Ponder Christ. Ponder His deep love for you. (Zephaniah 3:17, John 3:16, Isaiah 62:5)

Write a praise or prayer to God thanking Him for this. What is most striking or meaningful to you?

Jonah - Week Two

Listen to this to prepare your heart. Last week we saw Jonah running, oh but this week we will see God's relentless chase. How He loves us and will do whatever it takes to get us back. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Wherever you are He will pursue you. He wants you on His path.

This week we will look at Jonah 1:4-16. I have linked to it if you want to pull it up online to read. I linked the NLT version. I like to read through this one but study in ESV or NIV or NASB mostly. It is quite a bit of info so just take it all in.

Study
This portion of Scripture opens this way, "But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart" (Jonah 1:4). Last week we saw how Jonah ran from the task God gave him. He was planning on going the furthest place away from God that was possible. This is how God responds. I am just in awe of God's pursuit. Luke 15:4-5, NLT, says it best, "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders." Because of one gone astray He throws this violent storm on them. God has the power to stop a ship. God will get back His man, Jonah, and pick up a few others on the way.

Now I want you to consider this, the ship was about to break up. This issue of Jonah's disobedience did not just affect Jonah, it also affected those around him. Just with our sin, it is never personal. It always effects those around us. That is enough to make me rethink poor choices.

The culture of the time was polytheistic. The people believed in many different gods. The response to this disaster was calling out to those gods to try to stop this storm. This even cost them precious cargo because they had to start throwing it overboard to save the ship. But how did Jonah respond?

 "But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold. So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”" ~Jonah 1:5b-6.

It is interesting to me that Jonah could sleep so soundly through this. It just shows you how being steeped in sin can exhaust us. It overwhelms us. Separation from God is not what we were made for.  Just for a second I want to contrast this with Jesus in a familiar scene. Just as being steeped in sin can exhaust us, so can serving others. Read Mark 4:35-41. We see another storm situation and another panicky crew. This time Jesus is sleeping I believe because He rests securely in His Father's care. It is a great examination of our faith when storms arise. Do we panic or can we also rest securely in our Father's care despite the circumstance?

I find this very interesting because prophets were Christ-like characters for the people. They point to the One to come. Hebrews 1:1-2 states it like this, "Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe."

We will see another interesting comparison of Jonah and Christ coming up next week. I love that all Scripture will continually point us to Christ. As we study the Old Testament we need to keep our Jesus glasses on. We need to always be looking for clues of Him. It makes Scripture more meaningful and Christ centered.

Now the crew practices an ancient tradition of casting lots. It was a type of drawing straws. Proverbs 16:33 states, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (NIV). The lot of course fell to Jonah it was his fault and he knew it.

Now the crew quizzes Jonah. They want to know who he is and what his business is. Jonah the prophet now shares his testimony with them. He says, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9). Again here is the name of the Triune God. Yahweh (which I think last week I said Jehovah...but really the name God is using is Yahweh, I will correct that.) The covenant keeping God. I also find it comical that Jonah is running away from the Maker of the sea by the sea. Ironic, huh?

After hearing this testimony the crew is struck with fear. This word for fear is the proper word used for fearing the Lord in the Hebrew. They are now exceedingly afraid by knowing that the Lord can crush them. It is a healthy respectful fear. Their natural question is what can we do then? They were upset to be put in this situation.

Jonah says to throw him in the sea and it will stop the storm. He is afterall the one running from God. Jonah knows it will stop the storm. But the crew is afraid to do this to a man. This storm is the most outrageous storm you can imagine. It just keeps getting worse.

The response of the crew is to row. They appear to care more about the lives of others than Jonah did. They want to reach land they cannot imagine throwing Jonah into this mess. However when they see they cannot get past this storm they listen and throw him in. This is their prayer, "Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons" (Jonah 1:14, NLT).

Interestingly the word used for the crew "throwing" Jonah over is the same word used when God "hurled" the storm on the sea. I find that interesting. Just as the first week how God said "arise" and go to Ninevah but Jonah "rose" and went the opposite direction.

The instant Jonah was in the sea the storm stopped. Just like when Jesus said to the storm, "quiet, be still." At the sight of this this crew became real believers of Yahweh. This is their response, "The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him" (Jonah 1:16, NLT).

Now I really do love this because if Jonah was not here in this situation would these men have come to know the Lord? Even in our sin God still uses it for His purposes. There are new believers because of it. This goes to show that absolutely nothing we do will thwart God's purposes. Nothing. We may find ourselves in a very bad and uncomfortable place for a time but God never gives up on us. Never.

Application
1- Are you surprised by God's relentless pursuit of Jonah? Why or why not? If God is the same as yesterday, they wouldn't He pursue you in this same way? Do you see this happening in your life? Give an example.

2- Our personal sin will always affect those around us in some way. Have you considered this? Share an example in your life where you saw this. Or let us pray for you if there is a way right now you need to turn back.

3- Have you ever been utterly exhausted spiritually because of your sin? Explain.

4- Even the weakest of testimonies, like Jonah's above, can cause change in people's hearts. It never depends on us. God is the mover of hearts. He just allows us to take part in His greater work. Share how God wooed you to Himself with the group. Also I keep thinking of Naomi and Ruth. Naomi was in the middle of a pity party when Ruth decided to follow her and God's people this is just another example of this, God's power drawing us.

5- God uses this situation to bring great glory to Himself. He brought new believers into the kingdom. There is nothing that can stop God's ultimate plan. Nothing. Does this thought help you any?

Jonah - Week One

Explanation of How This Will Work
First I am so excited to be digging deep into the word with you! I pray this will be an amazing experience for all of us to be challenged and drawn closer to God. To get started, you can leave a comment below on the bottom of this post. Just click on comments to do so. I would love for each of you to introduce yourself and tell us what you would like to get out of this study. We can keep this in mind as we fellowship and pray for one another.

Because of the problem of spam comments your comments will not show up until I approve them. So a better place to post answers and thoughts would be on our Facebook page. Find it here. I have linked you to the place where you can just type your answers. Easiest spot. You may have to like the page to do this I am not certain of this. Hope this all makes sense.

Now I think this may go beyond 4 - 5 weeks after contemplating what treasure is in this book of the Bible. Hope that is okay with you all. This week we will contemplate just the first three verses because there is a lot of history to discuss to get us into the setting. Read this entire book through and come with your questions or thoughts as we study along. Please feel free to make this as interactive as you like. Unless noted otherwise all Scripture is from the ESV Bible.

THE STUDY
The book of Jonah is formed from only 4 chapter breaks and 48 verses. It is an easy quick read. However as we dig deeper into this word we will learn a lot about God. The truth is God had salvation available for all nations beyond Israel in the works from the beginning but it did not really open up like this for the majority of people until Jesus hit the scene. When Jesus left He told the disciples to, "Go forth and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). Before this the Israel nation alone were considered the chosen people of God.

The setting of Jonah is during the period when the kings of Israel ruled. The Israelite nation is split into northern and southern kingdoms. Sadly Jeroboam II was ruling the northern kingdom and Israel was in a sinful state. We often see this pattern in their history. The ruler of the nation often sets the tone for the people. This was a time of great sin when people did what seemed right to them. It reminds me of today. It probably would have been very similar. Many today do what is right in their own eyes as well. The period of Jonah was also during a time of prosperity for Israel.

Who was Jonah? He is mentioned in two places besides this book in the Bible. Once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. We will look at the mention in the Old Testament today.

2 Kings 14:25 states, "He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher."

The "He" mentioned in this verse is the king Jeroboam II. Jonah prophesied that Israels borders would be restored. He is a true prophet because what he spoke came true.  This word Jonah was given to speak was a popular word. Prosperity is something everyone wants to speak. You know the saying, "Don't kill the messenger." Jonah probably had a good life. He was probably well liked and wealthy. Also do not forget that the only people who heard from God were the prophets. This was a position of privilege.

However just like in any life a task will come that one does not desire to do. This happened to Jonah when God told him to speak to a certain people group, the Assyrians. The Assyrians were a cruel people. They would torture and kill people in awful ways. Some of their work is what horror movies are made from except it was real. I will spare you the details but if you look them up you will see they even made statues honoring this torture done. These people had a history of irritation with Israel. They were an enemy.

Now this is where we will begin with the book of Jonah.

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." But Jonah rose 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 on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.  ~Jonah 1:1-3

I really want you to pay attention to word repetitions. They are important. Here we see that God has given Jonah, His chosen prophet an assignment. God tells Jonah to ARISE and go to Ninevah. But Jonah ROSE to flee. Arise and rose are the same word in the Hebrew. They mean "to rise,to be fixed." God tells Jonah to go one way but he goes another. It is like our minds needing to be fixed on God yet at times we fix them on other unimportant things. Jonah's mind had caused him to flee! Now I am going to post a map of what is going on with this flight.

                                          (found map at http://pccwired.org)
Joppa was the port city where Jonah was going to get on a boat headed for Tarshish. During this time, this was considered the furthest spot you could go. Tarshish is about 2000 miles away from Joppa. Nineveh would have been only about 500 miles away.

Jonah's thought was to run away from the presence of the Lord. Which we all know we really cannot do. Jonah would have probably known the Psalm that states, "Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me" (Psalm 139:7-10). But Jonah was trying to get away from the place God dwelled, the sanctuary.


Why did Jonah run?
Honestly we need to let the word answer this for us. No speculation needed. Jonah 4:2-3 tells us, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

Application
1- What does Jonah know about God from these passages? So what do we learn about God from them?
Jonah did not want God to extend mercy to this enemy. Have you ever felt this way? I mentioned that Assyria was a cruel enemy. Perhaps they had hurt some of Jonah's relatives in the past? Maybe Jonah was struggling to forgive them for something? He really wanted nothing to do with seeing these bad people come to repentance. How have you been like this? Can you relate?

2- Jonah was probably comfortable in his life when God gave him the assignment to go to this enemy. Have you ever been given an assignment from God like this? Something you did not want to do? How did you respond? Do you still need to respond? It is never too late.

3- Another important thing to take note of is that the words, "went down" to Joppa and "went" on board in the Greek mean, "to descend, decline, to sink". These are indicators of Jonah's sinking deeper into sin as he flees from God. The further we let ourselves sink the harder it is to get out. The more choices we make toward sin the easier it becomes and the more numb we feel. Any examples of this you would like to share with the group?

4- Is there someone you are struggling to forgive? Is there someone you are struggling to extend mercy? Please share and I will pray for you. None of this means what they have done is right. It frees you to be free in who God made you to be.

5- Lastly the word LORD in this passage is Jehovah. It is the name for the Triune God (God the trinity). It is the name that God introduced to Moses when asked who to tell the people God was. God said, I am. He is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, He is the one who holds all life, He is self-existent, He is the covenant keeping God. He is sovereign. He is everything. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Even if He gives us an assignment we would rather not do shouldn't we do it anyway because of who He is. He chose us and sent Christ to the cross for us to make us acceptable to Him. He did that all in love. We can trust Him. Do you know Him like that? Explain.

Jonah Pilot Study Online - Intro

JONAH - INTRO

Does God care about all people? Does He want us to forgive our enemies? What about terrorists? What about those who have greatly wronged us or our family? What does God think about this? What do you think about this? Truthfully these are hard things to think about. But the book of Jonah addresses the character of God in these things. We will find all of these answers. Whatever our thoughts are now we must make them line up with the word of God

When you hear about the book of Jonah what questions do people ask? Maybe some like, Is this book about a whale? A crazy sea adventure? A stubborn servant of God? A wicked people? The answer to these questions are yes. It is about all of these things but most importantly it is about God. We will see His heart and His relentless love for us. We will see His amazing mercy and grace. We will see His great power.

Let’s get started. You will need your Bible and if you like to mark it for deeper study then get some colored pencils to aid you in this process. Let’s dig into this amazing book that reveals the character of God in ways that may surprise you but ways that undoubtedly will change you.

I will post the first part of this study Tuesday July 5th. This will be the beginning of it. Please sign up or email me if you would like to be a part at angela [at] refreshmysoul [dot] com. I am looking forward to it. May He change us through it. May we grow to know HIM better through it. This will probably be a 4 to 5 week study and I would love for it to be interactive. Please leave comments on your thoughts and answers to questions. Please spread the word and let me know if you are in.

Listen to this song to prepare your heart...Start by reading through the book of Jonah...More to come Tues.