Tag: Jonah

Sign of Jonah

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Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 6: Sign of Jonah

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

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When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation…The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Luke 11:29-30, 32 (ESV)

In our final lesson this Sunday, I want to take some time to reflect on this Son of Man. I want us to think about how Jesus is greater than Jonah by looking at three passages from the New Testament and letting them speak into how we not only read and understand Jonah but how we better understand Jesus himself through the Book of Jonah. There are a lot of passages I could have chosen to look at, but I wanted to focus on three that fit with our theme of why we studied the Book of Jonah. Namely, how our heart sees others, how our heart sees God, and how our heart is drawn to Jesus. To do this, we will have one person for each point come up and share a little bit about what they have learned this quarter in relation to the theme assigned to them before I speak on the passage. I am really looking forward to this time of sharing and pray that the Lord will use it to speak to each of us individually.

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Lesson on Compassion

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Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 5: Lesson on Compassion

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

Having just obeyed the command of God to preach the message of destruction and seen the people respond with repentance, Jonah remembers and rekindles his displeasure at the mercy of God being lavishly given to the city of Nineveh. All those old feelings of hurt, anger, injustice were that were never dealt with in the first place are bubbling up to surface and are about to explode. It is time for Jonah’s final lesson on compassion and mercy from his loving and compassionate God.

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Mercy Not Destruction

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Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 4: Mercy Not Destruction

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

“Fresh from his detour in the belly of the fish and with a heart full of repentance for his wayward decisions, Jonah begins the journey that started with his original calling. He receives the call once again from God to arise and go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah does indeed arise and go to Nineveh. As we will see, there is obedience in his actions but there is still lingering doubts and feelings of injustice deep within his heart that will need to be dealt with at some point.

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Waiting in Sheol

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Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 3: Waiting in Sheol

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

We have reached a point in Jonah’s journey where he is now confronted with the severe mercy of God. The Lord meets Jonah in this moment of crisis and brings his amazing grace and mercy to bear on the situation. The funny thing about being hurled off a ship into the raging sea is that you sink. And Jonah did that very thing. He sank down to the bottom of the sea. This is where God met Jonah and rescued him. The prayer of Jonah that we are about to talk and think through together will recount his journey downward and God’s appointed rescue.

When I read this part of the story and picture it in my mind, I always imagine Jonah bobbing up and down on top of the water with the sailors watching as a giant fish appears and swallows Jonah. But we will see as we go through the passage, that this is not how Jonah relays the story. His account has him sinking to the bottom of the sea before God’s appointed fish comes and rescues him. There are two points of interest to think about.

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Consequences of Sin

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Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 2: Consequences of Sin

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

Begin at the Beginning

Welcome back to the life story of Jonah. I know it’s probably been a hectic week for everyone. So, I want to take a minute or so to briefly review last week’s lesson.

Before we move forward to this next passage, let’s remind ourselves where we last left Jonah.

  • Jonah received a personal call from God to go to the hated city of Nineveh and preach a message of warning and repentance.
  • Jonah decided to do the complete opposite of what God was commanding him.

One point I didn’t bring up last week when speaking on Jonah’s actions being set as opposites is the words he chose to depict his choices.

You can see in 1:1-3 that God called Jonah to “Arise” and he kind of sort of obeyed as he “rose” to flee. From that point forward his journey was on a continual journey downward. This theme will continue through the rest of Chapter 1 and into Chapter 2.

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Running from God

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Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy
Part 1: Running from God

This is a summary of my notes for a 6-part Sunday School lesson I recently led. It is an adaptation of my previous posts on Jonah along with some points based on the book, The Prodigal Prophet by Time Keller.

View the Series

Why study the Book of Jonah?

Jonah is one of those books of the Bible which seems all too familiar. We all know that Jonah runs from God and is swallowed by a great fish after being cast into the sea. But there is so much more depth to this short book. Jonah tells his story in this book to share deep life lessons of faith and compassion.

I want us to consider and engage with the life of Jonah as we compare it to our own experiences. Over the past couple of years, God has been using this story to engage my heart on a deeper more intimate level and my hope is that he will do the same for you.

There are three important areas where I have seen God using the life of Jonah to reveal himself to me and I want you to keep these at the forefront of your mind as we go along.

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Lesson on Compassion

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Group Discussion // May 4, 2022

This is a lesson I prepared for a community group discussion. I have reworked it a bit to provide a summary of the discussion points during our time spent together in Jonah chapter 4.

Jonah 4

4:1-4 Self-righteous Anger

  • (v1) Anger…What should have been a moment of joy and praise about the relenting of the promised destruction of a city, Jonah finds himself exceedingly displeased with the outcome that led to anger. Anger with the Lord for not destroying this enemy of Israel and by extension an enemy of God.
  • (v2) Prayer of accusation, but using positives. The self-righteousness of Jonah leads him to pray to God not with superlatives of praise for his mercy but of accusing God of being wrong about Nineveh.
    • “I knew that you are” – Jonah here knows the doctrinal truth about the character of God. He even states that the reason he fled previously was that because of God’s character, there would be mercy instead of judgement at this message.
    • If we read this prayer out of context, it would seem like a psalm of praise. Starting with “for I knew,” this phrase could easily be a hymn of praise and worship. Not a cause for bitterness and anger.
  • (v3) He is so angry that he would rather die than see Nineveh spared. Jonah hates these people so much that he does not want to live in a world where it is possible to have mercy and grace given to them.
    • Do we have these same thoughts about our supposed enemies?
      • Different political party?
      • Different social justice issues?
      • Different lifestyle choices?
      • Sinners being sinners?
  • (v4) God’s response to Jonah’s anger is a simple question, “Do you do well to be angry?”
    • God wants Jonah to examine his heart and motivation. Clearly there is a disconnect between the doctrinal head knowledge of Jonah and his doctrinal heart knowledge.
    • How often do you ask yourself this same question? Do you meditate on the Word of God and let it examine your heart with critical questions or do you sit and wallow in your indignation and self-righteousness? Letting this poison of bitterness and anger grow and infect every area of your life.
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Mercy Not Destruction

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Group Discussion // April 27, 2022

This is a lesson I prepared for a community group discussion. I have reworked it a bit to provide a summary of the discussion points during our time spent together in Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah 3

3:1-5 Take two… with an amendment

  • God gives Jonah the same message as in the beginning except that instead of focusing on the sin of Nineveh, he focuses on Jonah’s faithfulness. God seems a little more direct with Jonah this time as he specifically commands Jonah to give the message he is told.
  • Jonah’s response is obedience. There doesn’t seem to be any hesitation with Jonah this time. He obeys the Word of the Lord.
  • This is every preacher’s dream response. Not only did the people listen to the message he delivered, but they were convicted of their sin.
  • Picture Jonah’s appearance and then hear the message God gave him. How does his appearance affect the people’s response?
    • Jonah had to look like a ghost almost. Someone that has been recently in the grave. Which is not far from the truth.
  • The people didn’t believe Jonah… They believed God.
    • This is key for us to understand. We want to personalize the calling God has given us and take ownership of it.
    • We see success and failure based on how the people respond to us. We get our feelings hurt or our pride is wounded when people reject our message and by extension they reject us.
    • But the key element is that the people believed God and not the messenger. This is important for us as well. We want to make everything, even ministry, about us doing the Lord’s work. We are so self-righteous and full of pride that we take even the gospel message of hope and cloud it with our sin.
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Waiting in Sheol

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Group Discussion // April 20, 2022

This is a lesson I prepared for a community group discussion. I have reworked it a bit to provide a summary of the discussion points during our time spent together in Jonah chapter 2.

Jonah 2

2:1-2  Prayer During Distress

  • Assuming this is day three in the belly, What do you think it’s Jonah’s current state of mind? What is he feeling?
    • Jonah had to be feeling desperation, hopelessness, helpless. He doesn’t have any indication of how long he has been in the bell of the fish. In the darkness, the days all seem to run together and I am sure this just adds to his disorientation. He has to be feeling hurt, remorseful, ashamed, guilty even.
  • What do these first two verses of prayer tell us about those the days?
    • He is in distress. It is out of his distress that he prays. He likens his situation to being in Sheol, the grave. And truly that must be what it was like. This filthy, pitch black, putrid belly of a giant fish. It had to beyond unpleasant. 
    • They also tell us that Jonah is beginning to see the folly in his previous line of thinking. For it is here in Sheol that they Lord not only heard him, but answered him. The man than was trying to flee the presence of the Lord finally realizes that even in the depths of despair in the belly of a fish at the bottom of the sea the Lord is present with him.
  • When we are most overwhelmed, most troubled, most anxious – these are times when we need to cry out to the Lord. We can rest assured that he not only hears us, but answers us. Even when it doesn’t feel that way. When  everything around us seems hopeless, God is near.
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Fleeing His Presence

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Group Discussion // April 13, 2022

This is a lesson I prepared for a community group discussion. I have reworked it a bit to provide a summary of the discussion points during our time spent together in Jonah chapter 1.

Jonah 1

1:1-3  Fleeing the Presence of the Lord

  • Think about God giving you this calling to go to the epicenter of the country that is the sworn enemy of your home. Not only the enemy that wants to destroy you, but you and your fellow countrymen hate them as well. For Jonah, it was even more than that. Nineveh represented not only the enemy of Israel, but the enemy of God.
    • Now, personalize this calling for yourself. What’s your reaction? How is it different than, or the same as Jonah’s?
  • Jonah chose to go the complete opposite direction of where God had called him. A complete 180 degree turn. It wasn’t that Jonah just decided to disobey, but Jonah decided to go the complete opposite direction than what the Lord said.
  • What’s the significance of him fleeing the presence of the Lord?
    • Jonah is clearly aware that he cannot flee the presence of the Lord, but his heart intention was to flee God’s presence.
    • It hearkens us back to the Garden. After Adam and Eve had sinned, they realized they were naked and felt ashamed. So, when they heard the Lord walking in the Garden, they hid themselves. They were in essence fleeing the presence of God.
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