1. Jonah Life Enrichment University St Mark Missionary Baptist Church Session 01 Ps Darryl M. Matthews, Instructor
2. Themes Of The Book Of Jonah When we fail to obey God’s calling, we go no where but ‘down’ God is a sovereign God who’s plans might not line up with our agenda or expectations
3. Structure Of Jonah Chapter 1: The Prophet’s call & disobedience Chapter 2: The Prophet’s distress in the belly of the fish
4. Structure Of Jonah Chapter 3: The Prophet’s declaration of judgment to the people of Nineveh Chapter 4: The Prophet’s displeasure at God’s withholding judgment after the Ninevite’s repent
5. Background About Jonah Northern Kingdom – King Jeroboam II (792-753 B.C.) Israel initially prosperous under Jeroboam but forgets about the Lord. Israel’s disobedience leads to the Lord’s judgment through Assyria
6. Jonah’s Flight From His Calling The commission: 1:1-2 The flight to Tarshish: 1:3 Jonah in a storm: 1:4-8 Jonah’s proclamation of faith: 1:9 Ps Darryl M Matthews
7. Jonah’s Flight From His Calling The commission: 1:1-2 The assignment and its source is clear to Jonah Source: Objective: Traveling to Nineveh was no small task Nineveh, for an Israelite, was not a resort location ( Jonah 3:8; Nahum 3:1-4) Ps Darryl M Matthews
8. Jonah’s Flight From His Calling The flight to Tarshish: 1:3 Deliberate rebellion against the Lord Headed in the opposite direction from his instructions Ps Darryl M Matthews
9. Lessons Learned From Jonah’s Life God has a calling upon each of our lives. God’s calling on our lives may take us places that for us are undesirable How we respond to God’s calling has a big impact on the course of our lives Jonah – Lesson 1 Ps Darryl M Matthews
10. Lessons Learned From Jonah’s Life God chooses to partner with humankind but is never dependent upon us to accomplish God’s will Jonah – Lesson 1 Ps Darryl M Matthews
12. Next Week Jonah’s Flight From His Calling (Conclusion) Ps Darryl M Matthews
Notas del editor
Jeroboam referenced 2 Kings 14:23-29 and it is there that Jonah is referenced as well (v. 25) in a positive light. 2 Kings 14:25, “He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.”The book that bears his name doesn’t show Jonah’s positive attributes but his negative response to a new assignment from God.
Jonah 1:1-9, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” 7 Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”
Jonah 1:1-9, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah’s name means “dove” in HebrewSource: God AlmightyObjective: Preach against the wickedness of Nineveh. This is the only case in the OT where a prophet of God is sent to a heathen culture to cultivate it. Throughout the OT, God literally destroyed cultures and peoples who live contrary to the revealed law. God is a god of the entire world so Assyria is accountable to the Lord for its conduct & moral tone. Travel: Nineveh was at least some 550 miles away which would have taken a month just to travel there. No comforts of today’s modes of travel. Distance equal to traveling from Tampa to Columbia, SC (can drive that distance in 8.5 hours). Jonah 3:8, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.”
Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.” What do you think was going through the mind of Jonah when he headed to Joppa? Do you think his reputation as a good prophet and his acceptance by the homeland played a factor in his decision to disobey the commandment of the Lord to help bring salvation to the enemy of Israel? Should our feelings be factor in whether we are obedient to the Lord?Tarshish was an ancient Phoenician colony on the southwest coast of Spain. It was about the farthest city to the west known at that time.
Undesirable: I can’t tell you the number of places that I’ve lived that I never thought about going and didn’t think that I would like (e.g., PA, OK, IN, MI). They turned out to be places of tremendous blessing. I first came in contact with our Minister of Music (Donna Brown) in Indiana over 20 years ago. Respond: Some avenues of opportunity (i.e., God’s calling) come only once in a lifetime and if you pass it up can change the rest of your life. For example, the call to the Friendship Baptist Church in Schnectady, NY in 1996. Had I taken that pastorate, how would my life have changed? Would my first pastorate in Hawaii have happened?
Undesirable: I can’t tell you the number of places that I’ve lived that I never thought about going and didn’t think that I would like (e.g., PA, OK, IN, MI). They turned out to be places of tremendous blessing. I first came in contact with our Minister of Music (Donna Brown) in Indiana over 20 years ago. Respond: Some avenues of opportunity (i.e., God’s calling) come only once in a lifetime and if you pass it up can change the rest of your life. For example, the call to the Friendship Baptist Church in Schnectady, NY in 1996. Had I taken that pastorate, how would my life have changed? Would my first pastorate in Hawaii have happened? Partner: God chooses to include us as parnters in accomplishing His will but God can certainly get things done even if we don’t cooperate. See Esther 4:11-14