Jonah's Journey

Jonah’s Journey

Theme: God’s providence through our lives whether we accept or reject it.

INTRODUCTION

A. Each month we go through one of the lives (or portion of a life) of an individual in the Bible.

1. To be sure, there are lessons we can learn about individuals, their attitudes, and their actions to

apply in our lives.

2. More and more, however, what we are actually learning about is how God works through the lives

of men to accomplish His divine will.

3. Such is easily seen in the portion of Jonah’s life when he was commissioned to go to Nineveh with

a message of repentance.

4. Further, what we can apply are the lessons on how God uses us today even though we may not

have His divine revelation.

B. In this lesson we shall look at:

1. The story of Jonah regarding God’s will.

2. How the divine providence seen in Jonah’s life is also applied to our lives.

I. THE STORY OF JONAH (outline from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, Book of Jonah.)

A. Running from God’s will. Jonah 1

1. The commission of Jonah. 1:1-2

2. The flight of Jonah. 1:3

3. The pursuit of Jonah. 1:4-16

4. The preservation of Jonah. 1:17

B. Submitting to God’s will. Jonah 2

1. The helplessness of Jonah. 2:1-2

2. The prayer of Jonah. 2:4-7

3. The repentance of Jonah. 2:8-9

4. The deliverance of Jonah. 2:10

C. Fulfilling God’s will. Jonah 3

1. The commission renewed. 3:1-2

2. The prophet obeys. 3:3-4

3. The city repents. 3:5-9

4. The Lord relents. 3:10

D. Questioning God’s will. Jonah 4

1. The prophet displeased. 4:1-5

2. The prophet rebuked. 4:6-11

II. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF GOD THROUGH OUR LIVES

A. Through Jonah’s life.

1. We see people turning to God even though Jonah rebelled at His will.

2. It took a near death experience (and a miraculous experience) for Jonah to humble himself before

His God.

3. We see the people of Nineveh repenting when Jonah fulfilled God’s will to preach to them.

4. Through the above experiences we see how Jonah’s actions literally affected the lives of other

men.

B. How are we any different from Jonah today?

1. In essence we are no different than the experiences we see in Jonah’s life.

a. Whether we rebel or accept God’s will His divine providence will bring about the fulfillment

of His plans.

b. The bottom line for each of us as individuals is whether we accept or reject His will.

2. What is different is that the message of Christ is much more than that of Jonah’s. Matt. 12:41-42

CONCLUSION

A. Jonah – albeit a prophet of God – is no different than any among man today.

B. God can work through us whether we accept or reject His will.

C. The question is: what will you choose to do with His will?