Bible Text: Jonah 1:1-16 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: Jonah, When God’s Will Becomes I Won’t

Recap of 11/24/13:

1.  “God has a marvelous way of bringing His children great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations!  Consider Jonah.  Summoned by God on short notice to preach to Israel’s cruelest foe, Jonah hits the panic button and runs for cover.” (The Daily Walk Bible)

2.  Why did Jonah flee?

-he thought it was his patriotic duty (no Assyria…no captivity for Israel).  “[The Assyrians] were among the most cruel and violent of peoples ever to inhabit the earth.” (Bible Personalities)

-he had an appreciation for judgment but not for compassion

-he knew God would forgive the Assyrians if they sought Him

-It was a period of weakness/decline for Nineveh (Assyria), a good time for them to be destroyed not revived

3.  Jonah was in effect “resigning his commission” from God. Jonah could not spatially leave the presence of God (Psalm 139) but he could abandon his post.

4.  Things Jonah can teach us:

-“The ready way [easy way] is not always the right way.”  God’s will may be hard or may not coincide with our wishes.

-“When we run from God’s will, we always go down-“ (Warren Wiersbe)

-We must have genuine concern for unbelievers, even the most unlovely. “Jonah was in complete sympathy with the righteousness of God proceeding to punish the wicked; but he had no sympathy with the divine compassions.  Therefore he fled….  A passion for righteousness which makes us vindictive and incapable of forgiveness, even in the case of those as cruel as Nineveh, puts us out of fellowship with God.” (G. Campbell Morgan)

5.  “In our eyes, some people’s wickedness seems to demand immediate punishment.  But God is more merciful than we can imagine.  God feels compassion for the worst of sinners, and He devises plans to bring them to Himself (2 Samuel 14:14).  The community of believers can succumb to the same values that Israel had, hoarding all God’s blessing without blessing others in turn.  This was not God’s intention.  The Church is meant to be a channel for god’s blessing to flow into people’s lives.  What is your part in it?” (The NLT 1-Year Study Bible)