The heart of God: Jonah 3:1-4:10
Jonah 3
1And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.
4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious. 2 He prayed to the LORD: "Please, LORD, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that You are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to become angry, rich in faithful love, and One who relents from [sending] disaster. 3 And now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4 The LORD asked, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
5 Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God appointed a plant, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort. [Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant. 7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.
8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, "It’s better for me to die than to live."
9 Then God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?"
"[Yes,]" he replied. "It is right. I’m angry enough to die!"
10 So the LORD said, "You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. 11 Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people [who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, (as well as many animals?"
Let’s look at a little background. You know the story of Jonah
Chapter 1 Jonahs Call and Flight
God called him to go to Ninevah to the East of Israel
Jonah said no and ran to Tarshus to the West
Why?
Jonah had a couple of reasons he didn’t want to go to Ninevah.
1. He hates Ninevites. Assyria was one of the most brutal nations of the world. They tortured people. They would take a man into the desert and bury him to his head. They would put a stake through his tongue and leave him there to die.
It is said that whole towns would commit suicide rather than fall into the hands of the Assyrians. It is possible that Jonah had seen his people suffer at the hand of these people, possibly even his own family.
It was certain that Assyria would try to destroy his home, Israel.
Some scholars suggest that He didn’t know or understand God well enough.
Let’s remember he is a prophet. I actually think it is just the opposite.
2. Jonah knew God and that is why he went in the opposite direction. He knew that if the people turned that God in his Grace would save the city and he did not want this to happen. He knew that God was gracious. vss. 1 and 2
Chapter 2 Jonah’s Prayer and recall
A supernatural storm comes up
A big fish swallowed Jonah
Jonah agreed to go
The big fish vomited
Chapter 3 Jonah Preached
Jonah went
Let’s try to keep a correct perspective on Jonah. The fish is not what is important in Jonah. The fish is simply a prop in this story about God and Jonah.
Too many people write off the story because they think it is just a fish story. In doing so, they miss what I believe to be the meat of the story.
That said, let me make it clear that I do not believe this book is figurative or symbolic, I believe it is a true account of an actual event!
I believe this book is about Jonah finding the true heart of God and in turn, us finding the heart of God.
Ninevah was the great world power of the day. They were in their hayday. Ninevah was a great city.
1. One man can change the world.
One man, being obedient, even though he didn’t understand or agree, goes into this great city and the entire city turns to God.
His message was one sentence. In chapter 3 verse 4 it says he walked through the city proclaiming “in 40 days the city will be overthrown.”
The king sent out a decree and the city followed.
The king and the city were in sackcloth and ashes.
The city turned from their evil way. They chose to follow God and not be disobedient to him.
2. God saved the repentant
10 Then God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—so God relented from the disaster He had threatened to do to them. And He did not do it.
What does it mean when it says God repented or relented?
The word in the greek from the septuagint is metanoyacin means to change your mind.
If God is immutable or never changing, what does this mean?
God knows the beginning and end and everything in between. There is no need for God to change his mind.
It says god repents though?
There are expressions called anthropomorphic terms all throught the bible. The Bible is anthropomorphic, that is, divine truth is brought down to the human level and expressed in human concepts.
Anthropomorphic terms mean that an attribute of man is ascribed to God. They are largely masculine, but not entirely. Anthropopathism is when man feelings are ascribed to God.
He has endured not only eternity, but also human history as He moves through it and through and with people to bring about His sovereign will and purpose. Should we then assume that God would not relate to us in terms familiar to our own actions?
merely means to make the Divine nature and operations intelligible, not to transfer to Him the defects and limitations of human character and life.
It involves Gods, actions, emotions and phsyique
Some are physical:
Example: the eyes of the Lord run to and fro over the earth.
Does this mean God has eyes? No, God is a spirit, he does not have eyes like we do but an anthropomorphic term was used so we could understand.
The Hand of God
Isaiah pictures god as a woman in labor
There are also psychological.
God’s love is like that of the groom to the bride
God has anger toward sin and wickedness.
Is his anger like our anger? No, I get angry when someone talks about me etc. God’s anger is toward the sin.
God repents is an anthropomorphic term.
This is a human attempt at explaining Gods actions
Does God change his mind? No He does not. It appears that way to us in our limited understanding.
Isaiah 55
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts,? and your ways are not My ways."? [This is] the LORD’s declaration.
9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, (A)? so My ways are higher than your ways,? and My thoughts than your thoughts.
The city of Ninevah had two options when Jonah entered in.
They could reject God’s message and if they did, they would be destroyed in 40 days.
They also could accept the message and be saved. God is immutable, never changes. When someone turns to God and accepts his message, He will always save them.
They chose to believe God and turn from their wickedness.
When God saw what they did, not just what they said, that they had turned from their wicked ways!!! Jonah 3:10
God saved them as he always will.
It looked like he changed his mind but God didn’t change, the city of ninevah changed and it made all the difference in the world to them.
3. Jonah found the heart of God
God prepared a plant, evidence of the graciousness of God. vs 6
God appointed a worm and the plant withered vs 7
Jonah was suffering and asked to die. vs. 8
Do you do well to be angry for the second time
Jonah is stubborn.
Have we ever said to God that we want what we want, it doesn’t matter if it is what God wants at the time.
Take pity on a plant but not on a great city of children. Left from the right was a Hebrew way of referring to little children.
Revelation of the heart of God:
God loved the ninevites even though Jonah did not.
Sometimes we act as if we would be thrilled if some enemy nation would be laid to ruin.
Or maybe some personal enemy. What does God say?
God loves them.
We are sent with a message to the world.
All around us are the unsaved people; are we just like Jonah?
Have we caught the sense of the heartbeat of God who loves the world.
God wants everyone to repent and come to him. When presented with the gospel, everyone has the choice to make.
I think we have…you are a good church, a church that is on the brink of an amazing breakthrough for the Lord.
Look at how you showed the heart of God this summer.
Video
Things may get tougher before they get better.
Easy doesn’t always mean we are in the will of God.
When we are in the will of God, it makes the devil a little uneasy.
Trouble doesn’t mean you are out of the will of God either, it might just mean the opposite.
Satan doesn’t like it when we are following Him.
We must carry his message to a dying world.
0. Human actions - changed mind, relented, remembered, rested
?. Exodus 32:14, "So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people."
?. 2 Sam. 24:16, "When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough! Now relax your hand!”
?. Gen. 9:16, “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
?. Gen. 2:2, "And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done."
-1. Human emotions - sorrow, jealousy, pity, regret
-1. Gen. 6:6, "And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."
-1. Exodus 20:5, "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me."
-1. Judges 2:18, "...for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them."
-1. 1 Sam. 15:35, "And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel."
-1. Human physique - hands, face, mouth, eyes, arm.
. Exodus 7:5, "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”
. Num. 6:24, "The Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you."
. Psalm 33:6, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host."
. Psalm 34:15, "The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry."
. Psalm 89:10, "Thou Thyself didst crush Rahab like one who is slain;?Thou didst scatter Thine enemies with Thy mighty arm."
-1. Other - Wings
Psalm 57:1, "Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in Thee; and in the shadow of Thy wings I will take refuge, until destruction passes by."
