THE PREACHING PROPHET
TEXT- JONAH CHAPTER 3
INTRODUCTION
I’ve learned a great deal about preaching the last 5 years. Now don’t think that I mean that haven’t got a lot more to learn, because I know I do.
I have found out the need for a solid scriptural sermon. I need to support all the points I make in a lesson with scripture. I also found out the value of an illustration. People learn differently and some learn best by a good illustration.
If a sermon is going to hit home for all of us, it must have points that hit home in their neighborhood. The sermon must be relevant to their lives.
I have also learned the value of humor in a good message. Some people don’t like humor and I know that. They don’t mind you crying, but don’t ever laugh. To some people laughing is just NOT acceptable.
I know I must work on shorter sermons, because they are always the crowd favorite. As one Preacher put it, “when sitting on the old wood pews that have no cushions, a member can absorb no more than the backend can endure.”
Well, if the Ninevites were like most people they should have loved Jonah’s sermon. It has to be the shortest sermon on record for 27 centuries. His messages to the Ninevites lasted for only 8 English words in English, depending on the translation of the Bible that you’re using and when he preached it. Jonah preached in the Aramaic language, which he means it only took 5 words.
How would you like it if the sermon on Sunday only lasted a mere 5 words? No one answer that please!!!
Before we look at this mini-sermon and the Ninevah’s response, lets look at how Jonah’s life up to this point.
Jonah was a popular preacher from Gath-helper, and he was sent east to preach God’s message TO THE Ninevites. The city of Ninevah was part of the Assyrian Empire.
Due to Jonah’s hatred for these people , Jonah bought a ticket on a ship for Tarhish which was headed to the western most point on the map. He was trying to run from the presence of God. He didn’t want this preaching assignment.
He went down in the ship and went to sleep. God bought a storm and they were about to sink. They told Jonah to pray to his God for safety. Jonah said that all this was his fought, after the lots fell his way. He said to solve it, just throw me over the side and it will be safe for you. Jonah knew that God had brought this storm for him. They didn’t want to at first, but finally did, or they would drown.
Old Jonah sank to the bottom and was about to drown. He began to pray to God for forgiveness. He knew he did wrong. God heard his prayer and sent a big fish to swallow him and save him from drowning. After three Days, the fish spit him up on the shores of Joppa. Strangely, it was the same place he got on the ship. So, old Jonah was right back where he started.
SERMON
Now we pick up with chapter 3 and see about this 5 word sermon. If you have your Bibles with you read with me.
Read Jonah –3
ALL THIS HARDSHIP COULD HVE BEEN AVOIDED
Jonah found himself back at the place he started on the ship for Tarshish. He was right back in Joppa. I bet he was really kicking himself now. He was back in Joppa with egg on his face , so to speak. What a lesson! How many times have we said to ourselves, “only if I had done it right the first time.”
So the Bible says, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Now he had a 30 mile trip to Nineveh and kicking himself with every step.
In our prison visits for two years, when I talked an inmate who had been here before and now back, I ask them, “ Does that old mule have to kick you twice before you get the message.”
Jonah did found out something about God that we all need to know, and that is that God does give second chances. Most of the time people will not do that, but God will. We have all made mistakes in our lives in some way and we wanted another chance. God is great and he does give us second chances.
John Ortberg writes, “If there is one way that human being consistently underestimate God’s love, it is perhaps in His longing to FORGIVE.” He says, “Redeeming is what God is into. He is finder of directionally-lost sheep- the searcher of lost coins- the embracer of foolish prodigal sons. His favorite department is LOST and FOUND.
Jonah learned when we repent we can start over again. Paul writes to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
As all Preachers, we must learn from our own sermons. What did Jonah learn from his sermon?
1-JONAH LEARNED THAT GOD USES A PREACHERS PAIN IN A POWERFUL WAY.
He can use all of our pain in a powerful way. When you have been there before and listeners know that fact, then your message is more powerful because they understand hard times and painful experiences. This pain teaches us that God is trustworthy.
After Jonah endured the storm and being in the fish’s belly it all worked to his advantage.
If you stop and think about, what would a man look like after he had been in a fish’s belly for three days? Would the acid turn is hair white or his skin white? I don’t know, but somehow I don’t think he looked the same after this experience. Now another thing that an enquiring mind might consider is , “If someone saw a fish puke a man up on the beach would he report it?”
An interesting point of history here is that the main God of the Ninevites looked like a BIG FISH. Now, figure that one out.
God can do the same thing with our pain and use it to His advantage and OURS. When people who have suffered talk, they are like EF Hutton-“People listen.”
2- JONAH LEARNED FROM HIS SERMON THAT THE RESULTS OF THE MESSAGE DEPENDED ON GOD’S POWER AND NOT HIS OWN.
That is a hard lesson for a preacher to learn! What happens to the people who heard the message is between them and God- not them and the preacher. They are to be converted to God –not to the preacher.
When Jonah crested the final hill and saw Nineveh in the distance, he must have been overwhelmed because the text says that Nineveh was, “An exceedingly GREAT CITY.”
I would imagine that Nineveh was very impressive to a country preacher from the hills of Palestine. The Bible says that Nineveh was so big that a visit would require three days. History says that Nineveh at this time would include 5 surrounding cities covering 60 miles in circumference.
It had great aqueducts and canals, huge gardens, and a library. When the archeologist examined the ruins centuries later they found 16000 volumes in that library. It contained information about the creation and the flood.
The main city was surrounded by a huge wall about 10 stories high and wide enough for 3 chariots to ride side by side. They had 1500 towers about 20 stories high that served as watchtowers. They ere used to look for approaching enemies and also were a storehouse for weapons.
History says the population was between 600,00 and a million people. Chapter4 said they 120,000 that did not know there right hand from there left. The scholars seem to think this was a reference to children.
Nineveh was a very significant city in the world at this time. Jonah might have thought , after looking at this place, ‘How I can alone impact this city- why would they listen to me?” You know, we need to have confidence in God, even when we don’t have confidence in ourselves.
Well, Jonah found out he was worrying for no reason, because God was in control here and not him. When we preach and teach God’s word, then it will take on a power all it’s own. Amazing things can happen because God says in Isaiah 55:11
“And my word will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
This is exactly what happened in Nineveh. The text says the people listened to Jonah’s sermon and “believed God.” In this little phrase, “Believed God”, the Hebrew text makes it clear that the Ninevites personally trusted God. Theirs was a response of Faith.
The exact phrase is used in Exodus 14 to describe Israel’s response of faith for what God had done to release them from Egyptian bondage. It is also the same terms that are used in Genesis 15:6 to describe Abraham’s faith in God. So, you see these so-called pagan people heard God speak to them through this little sermon.
Jonah found out that when we are obedient to the will of god we become vessels filled with God’s power.
Insert 2 cor.3:5
The truth of the text was clearly seen in Jonah’s experience because God used a 5 worded sermon to stir the Greater Nineveh Area, from the King on the throne to the lowest person in the field. They were given 40 days, but they didn’t need that long to repent. The entire city responded to that sermon very quickly.
This might have been the greatest revival in the History of the world. In Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost there were 3,ooo people that were baptized as recorded in Acts chapter 2. But here we find 100’s of thousands of People responding to God’s message. All because this prophet named Jonah let God speak through him. As we study God’s word, do we let that message speak through us?
3- AND JONAH’S SERMON ALSO HELPED HIM TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS AN URGENCY IN HIS TASK.
These people, being gentiles, really needed that sermon. This Empire, which is often called one of the greatest empires in the history of the world, might have looked mighty, powerful and self-sufficient, history, which there is a lot recorded about them, says they had been going through some real rough times.
They had recently had 2 plagues that had killed thousands of people. A solar eclipse had occurred recently and it scared them to death. Plus Babylon was rising in power and also other neighbors bordering there them were making war.
The Assyrians at this time were being threatened on 4 sides. These people were probably looking for a little help from a above, and ripe for REPENTANCE.
I would imagine, when they heard Jonah preach, their ears perked hope and they stopped what they were doing and LISTENED intently.
God knew about their situation and their hearts. He knows our situation and our hearts also.
Then God them a time period, and he told them they had 40 days to repent. In the ancient East the “40 Days” takes on a religious significance. It seems to mean, “Waiting on Divine intervention.”
If you think about the Old Testament, this time period of 40 something has been used before- several times. Israel wondered in the wilderness 40 years. The flood in Noah’s day was brought on by 40 days of rain.
In the New Testament, Jesus wondered in the wilderness 40 days during His temptation time on earth. Jesus remained on earth 40 days after His resurrection. There always seem to be something significant about the number 40. I really believed that they understood the meaning of 40 days, especially when God said it.
The KING listened and he understood Jonah’s sermon . In verse 9 he urged the people to repent of their sins, ‘Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His anger so that we will not perish.
Jonah watched these people listen and respond even though he considered them depraved. They still needed God, because everyone ever created needs God. Jew and gentile all need God. Whether they lived under the Law of Moses or lived under a law God gave them, they still needed God.
Read. Romans 2:13-14 and it will explain another law to you other than the Law of Moses. God has always cared about ever soul who ever lived in this world, and he still does. It is His nature to love all people.
We should always remember that regardless of exterior appearances, all people need the Lord.
Philip Yancey writes, “We must ask God to give us grace-healed eyes, so that we can see people who offend us, not just as immoral people but THRISTY PEOPLE.”
The 2 years that Richard and I visited inmates in Prison down at Tennessee Colony, the prison Chaplin old us, If a prison didn’t ell us what they were in prison for, it might be better not to twister their arm to find out or try to get that information. He said if we knew some of the things they had done we might never want to talk to them again.
All people desperately need to know God through Jesus Christ. A life Insurance salesman was talking to a customer about a policy. He said, “I believe this is very important, but I don’t want to pressure you, so go home and think about it tonight, and IF you wake up in the morning call me.” We have to consider that in our country alone a person dies every 15 seconds.
4-JONAH SAW WHAT TRUE REPENTANCE LOOKED LIKE, AS HE HEARD THE KINGS INSTRUCTION TO HIS PEOPLE
1- They showed humility. The king ordered them all to wear sackcloth and ashes.
2- Everyone was told to cut themselves of from their problems. They fasted and prayed. They were told to “cry urgently to God.”
3- The King spoke of the fruit of repentance. They were turn from their evil ways and their violence. They had a well- earned reputation fort heir wickedness.
