Jonah
April 12, 2023

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Pastor Jason Forbush
April 12, 2023


The last

of the Old Testament are known as the Minor Prophets.


The Hebrew word for fish used in the text is

.


Matthew 12:40 (NLT) For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.


The name Jonah is pronounced Yonah in Hebrew. His name literally means

.


2 Kings 14:25 (NLT) Jeroboam II recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.


Jonah 1:1 (NLT) Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”

3But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.

4But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.

5Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.
But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.

6So the captain went down after him. “How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted. “Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”

7Then the crew cast lots to see which of them had offended the gods and caused the terrible storm. When they did this, the lots identified Jonah as the culprit.

8“Why has this awful storm come down on us?” they demanded. “Who are you? What is your line of work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

9Jonah answered, “I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10The sailors were terrified when they heard this, for he had already told them he was running away from the Lord. “Oh, why did you do it?” they groaned.

11And since the storm was getting worse all the time, they asked him, “What should we do to you to stop this storm?”

12“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.”

13Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it.

14Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.”

15Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once!
16The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him.

17Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.


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Lesson #1: God’s mercy is

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Lesson #2: God’s mercy is

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Jonah 2:7 As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.

8Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.

10Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.


Jonah 3:1 “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

2‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’”

3This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

4On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”

5So, the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.

6Then the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.

7He caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying, “Let neither men nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink water.

8People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.

9Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

10Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.


Lesson #3: God’s mercy is

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Jonah 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.

2So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.

3Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”

4Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5 Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city.

6And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves overJonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

7But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.

8And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

9Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”
“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

10Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly.

11And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”


Lesson #4 - God’s mercy is

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Psalm 118:9 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.”


Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”