Sermon Central
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Learning From Jonah
Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Feb 9, 2026 (message contributor)
Summary: The story of Jonah teaches us that God is a God of second chances and God of the impossible. When we do what God tells us to - as Jonah eventually did - God can bring about an amazing result. The story of Jonah is also a picture, a foreshadowing, of Jesus and God's great plan of salvation.
This was for a family service, meaning that the children stayed in. We had chairs set in the shape of a boat in the centre of the church. Jonah, sailors etc., were dressed for their parts and we had a short participatory reading of some of the key moments in the story of Jonah earlier in the service.
PART 1, early in the service
We just sang the hymn, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.’
The prophet Isaiah had a vision. In his vision, he sees seraphim – winged angels – calling to each other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty’ [Isaiah 6:3, NIV]. Isaiah immediately senses how sinful he is. He cries out to God, 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips' [Isaiah 6:5, ESV].
The word ‘holy’ means that something or someone is set apart from the ordinary. But in the Bible and through history, God’s people have understood that when we say that God is holy, it means that God is absolutely pure, morally perfect. He is at a completely different level to us.
God, who is absolutely pure, morally perfect, does not like sin. God doesn’t like people hurting and killing each other. He isn’t going to put up with it.
In the time of Jonah, there was a nation which was doing a lot of hurting and killing. The nation was Assyria. God was going to do something about the Assyrians. He was going to destroy their capital city, Nineveh. But first, God wanted to try something.
God wanted to give Nineveh a chance. They had messed up. But if they were to change their ways, well then, he wouldn’t destroy Nineveh. God likes to give people a second chance.
To carry out his plan, God decided to use a man called Jonah. For Jonah to play his part in God’s plan, Jonah needed to do what God told him. What did God tell Jonah?
The very first verse of the book of Jonah says this:
‘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...”’
God spoke to Jonah. He gave Jonah an instruction. Would Jonah do what God was telling him to do?
We don’t have to wait long to find out. Verse 3 says this, ‘But Jonah…’ BUT Jonah. The word ‘but’ tells us the answer. Jonah did NOT go to Nineveh. He got on a boat going in the opposite direction to Nineveh.
Why would Jonah not want to go to Nineveh?
Some people think that Paris is the most beautiful city in the world today. It has the River Seine, Montmartre, and the Champs-Elysées. It has the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame and the Louvre. It’s full of art and culture.
Nineveh was perhaps not beautiful in the way that Paris is. But Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and Assyria was the biggest empire the world had ever known until that time. Nineveh had great palaces, gardens, parks, and an amazing library, the Library of Ashurbanipal. It was the most magnificent city of its time in terms of its size, power, and achievements.
Why would Jonah not want to go to Nineveh?
I mentioned that Nineveh was the capital of Assyria – and the Assyrians were doing a lot of hurting and killing. The Assyrians weren’t nice people at all. There is a woman called Erika Bleibtreu. She’s a professor and an archaeologist and a specialist in Assyria. She wrote that Assyrian history is ‘as gory and bloodcurdling a history as we know.’ I simply can’t tell you the things the Assyrians did. You’d probably run out of the church screaming and never come back. The Assyrians were incredibly cruel. The Assyrian empire was growing, and it had started to attack Israel. Why would someone from Israel want to go to Nineveh?
No, Jonah did NOT want to go to Nineveh!
God had told Jonah something, and Jonah knew what it was. But Jonah didn’t want to do what God was telling him. What do you think? Good idea?
In Jonah chapter 2, Jonah is swallowed by a big fish. Later, the fish spews Jonah up. If I was Jonah, I might have thought, maybe I should listen to God!
Jonah chapter 3 starts as follows:
‘THEN THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JONAH THE SECOND TIME, SAYING, “ARISE, GO TO NINEVEH, THAT GREAT CITY, AND CALL OUT AGAINST IT...”’
Does that sound familiar? Have you heard that before? God told Jonah exactly the same thing as he’d told him before! What would you have done if you’d been in Jonah’s place? At this point, would you have paid attention to what God was telling you?
