WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:06.000 Alright, well get your Bibles open to Jonah chapter three right now. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:25.440 And as you're you know finding your way over there, uh have you have you ever asked somebody or or or even told somebody to do something, like a task or something like that, and uh they did it for you, technically, uh, but you could easily tell that their heart wasn't exactly in it. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.079 Of course, it's called parenting, right? 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:29.280 That's exactly what that is. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:32.719 You know, you've asked your kids to do some kind of a chore around the house. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:46.560 It's you know, take the, you know, take the garbage out, and you know, sure, they they do it, but the entire time they're huffing and puffing or they're complaining or they are you know swirling in bitterness or whatever it might be, maybe that's it. 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:52.640 Or or maybe for you, you've noticed this is kind of what happens in uh in your marriage a little bit. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:58.479 Maybe for you, you know, you're desiring a little bit more of uh of the romance, maybe from your from your spouse. 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:06.159 And and so you've talked about it and you've asked, and you've said, you know, we need to grow in this, and these are some of the things that you know I think we could get better at here. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:27.680 And so you've looked for that, but instead of like you know, the candlelit dinner and the and the wooing that you're kind of hoping for, it turns into you know, like a couple of boxes of craft dinner and you know, sitting on the couch and you know, maybe a passing comment about how you look great, but it's while you know he distractedly scrolls through his phone or or whatever. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:39.200 And so you you kind of recognize you know, there's I guess there's something kind of happening, but it's kind of a far cry for you know what I would really like to see and for what I've asked for. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:52.400 Now, before the rage starts to like boil right towards our loved ones here, uh let's recognize that uh we we are guilty of some of these same kind of things ourselves, right? 00:01:52.560 --> 00:02:00.000 Our our boss at work gets us to do something, and sure, we do it, but we're not exactly happy about having to do it. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:09.120 You know, we're we're guilty of pursuing our spouses half-heartedly, though they've you know asked for more and real effort. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:18.960 Or, you know, for us it wasn't that long ago that we were kids, or at least we can remember, you know, being forced to do a bunch of stuff around the house as well, and we didn't like it either, right? 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:26.319 Well, as Christ followers here, okay, we understand that God has called us to obey, right? 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:27.280 To obey Him. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.800 Now He commands we follow through, right? 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:42.240 As the you know, the great and holy sovereign creator of the universe, he has every right to command and have us fall in line with all of that. 00:02:42.560 --> 00:02:45.680 Now we we know that, at least to some degree. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:47.120 We we we kind of get that. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:55.280 We know that God saved us by grace, that he's you know, mercifully invited you and I into a relationship with him that you and I don't deserve, right? 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:57.280 We don't deserve all of this. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:02.800 And it's an it's an honor and it's a privilege to you know to be called to obey him. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:07.120 We we get that, at least on some kind of head level. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:22.080 But like in like these examples of parenting or marriage or or work, we know that when it comes to the Lord, sometimes we just struggle to to follow him or to obey him with the right attitude, if you want to put it that way. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:30.159 Well, this is exactly where Jonah finds himself here in the third chapter of this book. 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:39.599 And like him, maybe maybe you and I have fallen into his version of obedience to the Lord. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:44.560 Where we we we do it technically, right? 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:55.759 We're we're kind of going through that, but something's clearly missing somewhere in the realm of our desire and our love and our and our joy and all of that. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:01.520 Okay, we we understand that that God's not looking for disobedience. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:02.719 We we get that, right? 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:17.360 That's pretty obvious, but but surely he's looking for more out of us than dry, you know, stiff, dragging our feet or complaining along the way, kind of obedience. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:22.000 Okay, so so what kind is God getting from us? 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:30.639 Is he getting the kind of obedience that that he desires and that he longs to draw out of us? 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.720 Well, again, this is where we're going here today, and so we're gonna read this now. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:40.160 Uh, if you would follow along in Jonah chapter three, we're just gonna read the entire chapter there, starting in verse one. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:50.240 Here's what it says it says, And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:54.399 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:59.120 Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:07.120 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey, and he called out, Yet forty days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.000 And the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:14.959 They called for a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:24.000 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:34.160 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock taste anything. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:41.680 Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.120 Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:54.240 Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish. 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:05.839 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he said he would do to them, and he did not do it. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:30.319 Lord, we read a passage like this, and Lord, we kind of know our own hearts, and Lord, as we grow closer to you, you start to reveal kind of where we're really at, and something that I believe every Christ follower in our sanctification comes to realize is that maybe we're just not quite following you and obeying you from a true and right heart. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.600 Maybe some of this is a little bit too for the sake of optics. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:37.839 Maybe it's so that we look impressive. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:43.279 Maybe it's to keep people from asking how we might be doing and probing deeper. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:44.959 Maybe it's even to get you off of our back. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:46.480 Lord, Lord, look what I'm doing. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:48.000 See how I follow you? 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:53.759 It's because we don't want you to bring greater conviction and to disrupt our comfort lives. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:57.920 Lord, I pray that you would in fact do that very thing here today. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:03.759 Lord, I pray that you would get down into the kind of mucky areas of our hearts. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:10.240 Lord, I pray that when it comes to obedience, you would show us where this is merely external only. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.439 It's not really coming from a place of love for you. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:18.319 It's not being driven by a heart that loves Jesus Christ through the gospel. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:24.399 Lord, I pray that you would have mercy on us as you showed great mercy to the Ninevehes. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:36.560 Lord, I pray that as we have looked at this series and how you pursue us relentlessly, Lord, we see that in your servant Jonah, Lord, who is a far cry from where he needs to be spiritually, but Lord, you continue to come after him. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.279 Lord, you do the exact same thing with us. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:58.000 Lord, I pray that as we see your heart towards us, the people that you have called to your name, the people that you have saved from sin, Lord, I pray that every ounce of our energy in following you would come from a place of true to true desire, Lord. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:01.439 Gratitude, thanksgiving, joy. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:13.120 So, God, bit by bit, Lord, in in big ways and in all the small ways that we don't quite see, I pray that you would you would reveal to us where we've erred. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:21.839 I pray that you would show us your goodness, and I pray that, Lord, you would inspire us to repentance here and to follow you and obey you with our whole hearts. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.600 We pray this in Christ's name. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:24.560 Amen. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:25.759 Amen. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:26.720 Well, here we go. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:28.079 We're jumping right into it here. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:29.519 First thing, two points here today. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:30.639 Here's the first one. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:37.759 When God calls me to obey, he's looking for more than superficial compliance to his commands. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.080 Okay, it's safe to say he's looking for more than that. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.639 We've been barking up this tree already here this morning. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:43.200 Here we go. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:45.120 We see it in the first five verses. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:50.720 Okay, and as we pick it up here in chapter three, uh, Jonah is back on dry land again. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.639 I can only imagine that he's had a phenomenal shower, right? 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:02.639 He's you know been spit up, been vomited up by this fish, and it's like axe body spray everywhere, whatever, and he's feeling real good. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:03.600 Now, verse one. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.120 Okay, verse one says, Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.320 Isn't this kind of amazing when you really think about it? 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:20.639 Because most prophets, if you realize it, if you if you, especially if you know your Old Testament, you know that most prophets don't get a second chance, do they? 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:21.120 Right? 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:29.200 If they fail to obey the Lord, they they're held to a higher standard, as all leaders are, and they often don't get that. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:33.519 And the Lord's like, all right, you're not gonna do it, I'm just gonna do it without you, and you're off to the side. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.440 Now we never hear from them again. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:46.159 But here we see this amazing grace and mercy towards the prophet Jonah here, and here's what God commands him to do, verse two. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:54.159 He says, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you. 00:09:54.399 --> 00:10:02.159 Now you see that, and you're like, all right, pretty much verbatim, what he had said to him originally back in chapter 1, verse 2. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:05.840 He's like, he's like, get up, right, get get going now. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:11.200 Time to relay my message, my my words to these people. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.639 Okay, now verse 3. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:23.039 Jonah says, so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:27.039 Now you see that, and you're like, wow, that's that's a lot better. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:27.440 Right? 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:31.039 Better, better response, better reaction uh out of him. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:31.519 Right? 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.080 He he he doesn't he doesn't flee. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:37.519 He doesn't go down when God says up. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:43.360 He's not looking for the you know the next ship out of town, he's not doing any of that stuff. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:44.000 Right? 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:46.720 You look at that, you're like, good start here, Jonah. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:48.000 Way to learn your lesson. 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:49.200 Now keep going. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:54.559 It says, now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:03.120 Now you might see a little number there, and there's a footnote down at the bottom in the ESV, anyways, it tells us that that literally means it was a great city to God. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:20.960 Okay, which tells us that the Lord had just such a heart for these people, even though their evil had gone up before him, it told us uh earlier, even though they were wicked and it was bad, and their sin was completely against him, and they were there there was violence as we learn later, and and it was a bad scene. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:24.159 He still has a heart for the people that he has created. 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.600 It was it was an exceedingly great city to God. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:35.200 Now, next it says there that Nineveh was a three days' journey in breadth. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:44.720 And it likely refers to how it took uh three days to get there, probably, I'm assuming, kind of from wherever the fish spat up uh Jonah. 00:11:44.799 --> 00:12:00.240 Now, it's been a phrase that has long kind of puzzled interpreters a little bit, because we know that the city, uh, while it was great, and while there was a you know significant size to it, and we see some of those numbers in chapter four, uh we know that it it wasn't large enough to take three days literally uh to walk through. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:05.120 So this is probably the best uh understanding of uh of those words there. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.440 Now, verse four, keep going. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:17.679 It says, Jonah began to go into the city, and going a day's journey into it, he called out and he said this, yet 40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.759 And the people of Nineveh, look what they do, believed God. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:29.519 They called for a fast and and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:40.960 Now, if we were to take all of that at face value, okay, it would definitely appear that, like, wow, everything is like totally worked out perfectly. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:41.440 Right? 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.080 Everything has gone gone completely to plan. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:48.080 God says, all right, you know, Jonah to Nineveh, take two, right? 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:48.720 That's what he does. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:55.759 Jonah, Jonah goes, he he proclaims the message, and and the people, it says, believed God, right? 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:57.440 They they repent, right? 00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:58.399 They believe him. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:08.240 So you're looking at it and you're like, man, there's the there's the Disney ending, there's the Hollywood ending that you know we love and we want to see uh so much. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:26.320 Okay, only as those committed to understanding the text as God gave it to us, as we are, you and I have to be really careful here to realize the overarching context of what's really going on in this story. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:42.320 I've mentioned it a few times here over the last couple of weeks as we've been going through this book, but a careful look at the story as a whole really gives us a better understanding as to what was happening in these very in these kind of specific moments here. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:14:01.039 All right, if if we were to simply isolate verses one to five, the ones that we're looking at right now, from the greater context of the book, if we were to like bring that out and just look at it by itself, it certainly seems like Jonah has has completely reformed. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:03.919 He's learned his lesson. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:04.480 Right? 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:11.919 God commands him this second time, and I mean he's been through the whole you know fish stomach situation, that doesn't seem real great. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:12.320 Right? 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.279 He's learned his lesson, he doesn't want to go through any of that kind of stuff again. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.240 He there there's no objections this time in the text. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:18.799 Right? 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.399 He he just goes. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:22.240 No complaints. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:28.240 But listen, when you see what unfolds in chapter four, and trust me, we're getting there. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:29.840 We're gonna get to that next week. 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:35.440 And how Jonah, in that chapter, he just like he just snaps. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:36.240 Right? 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:44.000 And how he really thinks and what he really feels just comes spewing out of him. 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.799 Like he can't handle it anymore. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:56.799 And when you realize that, and when you see that, it begins to shed light on these verses in front of us now. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:05.600 Where all of a sudden you start to understand, whoa, like Jonah's Jonah's not completely on board with what God is commanding him to do here. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:06.080 Right? 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:18.639 He he he goes, certainly, which is definitely a lot better than jumping on a ship to to Tatarshish and running away and and and giving in to rebellion and all of that. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.519 It's like he he goes to Nineveh here, but he does it while biting his tongue. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:24.320 Right? 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:25.279 Fine. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:27.360 I'll go do this. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:37.519 I'll say the words that you want me to say, but I've got some real thoughts here, and I can't wait to give you a piece of my mind, God. 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:42.559 And again, that's all coming, that's all coming in chapter four. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:45.519 But here he just he stuffs it. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:46.080 Right? 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.720 He he kind of he presses that down. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.120 He doesn't he doesn't let that come out. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:54.399 So you understand here that context is king, right? 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:02.799 And he and how chapter four begins to give us an understanding of what he's really going through in these specific moments in chapters one to three. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:09.919 Okay, but there's even more here that sheds light on how his obedience isn't much more than superficial compliance. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:17.679 Because if you look carefully at what Jonah actually says to the Ninevites here, it's pretty telling. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:18.159 Right? 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:20.159 He says in verse 4, take a look at it again. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:24.320 He says, Yet 40 days and and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:33.279 And now some have noted that usually when a prophet speaks on behalf of God, they make it a point to say so. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:34.000 Right? 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.720 Thus, thus saith the Lord, right? 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.720 Thus says the Lord, and then they deliver the oracle. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:41.120 Right? 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:47.679 In the New Testament, uh, the apostle Paul and and and the writers of the New Testament say something very similarly. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.360 Uh, you know, an apostle of cr of Christ Jesus. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:52.960 Then comes the letter. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:53.360 Right? 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.840 They're pointing to that the authority is not within themselves. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:56.720 This isn't my message. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.759 This is this is God's word, this is God's message. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:01.519 But he does, but he doesn't say that here, right? 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:05.039 There's there's nothing in here to to authenticate his message. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:06.400 It seems to me missing. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:08.880 I don't know, I kind of find that interesting. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:17.759 Now he also doesn't mention the reason or or the grounds for God's judgment. 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:23.680 He doesn't say what God had originally told him to say back in chapter 1 in verse 2. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:28.319 What was the reason for for God's judgment that he had to go and call out against it? 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.759 It says there, for their evil has come up against me. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.240 Right? 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:36.559 That's that's the reason that they're being called to repentance. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.279 But you notice how that's that's missing from what Jonah says. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:44.720 Jonah essentially says, hey guys, 40 days and you're dead. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:45.920 Right? 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:47.920 That's that's the message there. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:48.640 Right? 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:55.279 Well what's more is he doesn't even he doesn't even tell them what they could do to avert this disaster. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:59.119 It's just like this this is coming, you're done. 00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:03.599 He doesn't tell them that that they could that they could repent, right? 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:07.680 That they could turn from their sin if they if they would confess it to the Lord. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:12.559 Now there's also that part in there about 40 days, right? 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.319 He says it's the 40 days reference. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.480 Maybe that for you, as you start to think about this. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:24.480 I mean, the earliest writers, the Israelites, they that that would have you know kind of pricked their thoughts and got them thinking about a couple of different episodes in the Old Testament. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:34.319 We got them thinking about uh the flood, right, and and the 40 days and and nights that it that it rained, and and that was God's judgment, right? 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.799 So the earlier readers would have been thinking about that uh absolutely. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:45.440 But another 40 days mentioned in the Old Testament was that whole uh golden calf situation. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:46.160 You remember that? 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.240 We actually talked through that a number of months ago. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:19:03.759 We pre- I preached through that sermon uh a while ago where where Moses was was up on the mount, he's getting the the Ten Commandments, and and the Israelites are all gathered at the base and and you know, and it and it's Aaron there, and and they're saying, like, Moses seems to be gone. 00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:05.519 Uh can you kind of help us out here? 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:07.279 We need we need a God to worship. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:15.200 And so they you know put all their gold together and as Aaron says, out pops this this calf, and and they worship it. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:20.640 And I mean that's uh that's kind of a problem to the Lord, I think. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:21.279 Right? 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:25.680 It stirred the Lord to anger and and to judgment. 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:28.799 Again, this is what these are these things are recalling. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:35.279 But in this situation, it that story was also what did Moses do? 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:37.279 He prayed for the people. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:37.839 Right? 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:40.720 He interceded for them for how many days? 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:42.319 Forty. 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:42.880 Right? 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:44.079 There's the reminder. 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:45.279 But what do we see here? 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:53.839 I mean, we don't get any sense that Jonah was, you know, had that kind of care and that kind of you know desire to intercede on behalf of the Ninevehites. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:54.799 We don't see that. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.720 He's like he's not praying for them. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:19:58.000 Not at all. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:03.119 He just seems to want them completely wiped out, Sodom and Gomorrah style. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:18.480 So again, both both the reason for God's impending judgment and the opportunity to repent, which are again typically very much present when a prophet calls out a foreign nation in the scriptures, both those things are kind of curiously missing here. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:23.039 And on top of this, you see that Jonah uses the word overthrown. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.440 Now, nothing wrong with that necessarily. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:30.720 I mean, generally speaking, that word means uh bring to ruin and and demolish. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:37.359 It's absolutely how Jonah using it, and certainly, certainly part of God's warning to the Ninevehes here. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.079 But it can also carry another meaning. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.079 It can mean to change. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:55.119 To change, which is exactly what verse 5 and onwards through the rest of this chapter that we're gonna look at, it reveals that God does in the hearts of these people. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:21:00.400 He changes them, he transforms uh their lives, their hearts. 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:13.759 So you take all of this that we've been discussing here all together, and a clearer picture starts to come into focus for us here that that Jonah is just he's just not interested in those things for this city. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:17.839 He he desires that they simply face judgment. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:18.720 Right? 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.160 They deserve death, punishment, wrath, obliteration. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.720 That's his mentality, that's his attitude. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:51.359 Now, the the amazing thing that kind of jumps out at me is as I think through all this and I look at the at the book of Jonah is that even though his message to the Ninevites here is it's incomplete at best, and and not doesn't seem to be coming from a place of you know, like a heart for them and a desire for them to turn back to the Lord doesn't seem to be coming from a place of joyful obedience, really, at all to God. 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:54.000 Isn't it interesting that God still uses it? 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:56.319 How great is that, right? 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:03.119 The Lord takes this message and this man that's That's so flawed and uses it to save these people. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:04.799 How great is that? 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:05.359 Right? 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:06.319 It's so good. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:12.640 I mean, the text here, it even emphasizes God in the process of all of this. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:14.000 Verse 5, look at it. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.039 It says, and the people of Nineveh believed God. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:20.960 He doesn't say that they believed Jonah. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:25.440 They believed God through a flawed man like Jonah. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:29.759 But I mean, how how awesomely reassuring is that for you and I? 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:31.839 I think it's so great. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:38.240 You know, people who who struggle with the same kinds of things as Jonah, like you and I do. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:47.759 For us to know that God, God moves and He acts and He works despite our deficiencies. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:51.039 Does that not bring you some sense of relief? 00:22:51.599 --> 00:23:02.160 Some sense of joy that even when our repentance isn't full, even when our repentance is missing something, it's not like the Lord's like, well, now I can't possibly move. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:03.920 Because you guys aren't perfect. 00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:06.079 He knows we're not perfect. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:13.279 He knows that our our our turning to him, our our obedience, that none of that is perfect. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:14.640 It's deficient. 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:45.519 And as reassuring as it is to know that that doesn't stop God and he still pursues relationship with us in this never giving up, relentless type way, where he just cuts through our brokenness and changes us as he's, you know, at the at the same time, you know, graciously using us in our brokenness and how we we often are so blind to where we're at, and we don't, we don't get it, and we're insensitive to where he's leading us. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:53.200 He still uses us in the making of disciples and in ministry and on mission and all of that, and carrying out the Great Commission. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:54.079 Right? 00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:05.200 As we think about all of these things, it should really cause us to, you know, our our desires to kind of well up with like, I want to get on board with the Lord. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:12.000 It should really get us thinking about like and examining where is where is my obedience at? 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:14.799 Where is it coming from? 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.480 Where where's my attitude at in all of these things? 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:21.039 Is it like Jonah's? 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:26.880 Have I fallen into this rut of of superficial compliance? 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:34.880 Where if you were to, you know, if if you were to ask anybody who knows me, they would say, yeah, that guy's you know completely on point. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:38.559 He's following the Lord. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:44.559 Well, it looks like it, but there's some things not really happening under the hood here. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:56.799 We should be examining these things and thinking about our obedience as we kind of realize the grace that He's shown us and He continues to show us. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:00.559 So listen, think about that today. 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:03.920 Think about that as we go through the next week. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:05.440 Where's our obedience at? 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:11.279 I'm telling you right now, our small groups as we gather this week in homes, we're gonna be discussing these things. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:18.079 Is my obedience just superficial compliance or or is it joyful? 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:19.680 Is it genuine? 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:20.960 Is it is it real? 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:25.359 And I was thinking about it, you know, just this week. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:34.960 You know, how are we doing in that as individuals and as families and as a church when it comes to things that our church is committed to? 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:36.240 I was thinking about our four pillars. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:41.119 We're gonna have some of these up or have them up on the screen here and go through this just a little bit. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:47.039 How are you when it comes to your obedience to the word of God? 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:47.839 Right? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:51.839 Our first pillar, you see it there, it's unapologetic preaching. 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.920 Now you might be like, well, I guess I'm not obeying it very well because I've never preached in this church. 00:25:56.000 --> 00:25:57.440 No, that's not what we're talking about. 00:25:57.680 --> 00:25:57.920 Right? 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:06.400 You may not get an opportunity to actually, you know, preach God's word in a service or something like that, but but are you obeying it? 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:11.599 Are you proclaiming it to yourself? 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.440 Let's start there. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:18.960 Do you preach the word of God to yourself when your thoughts want to go a different direction? 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:27.759 When your emotions are leading you down a path that's not healthy and it's dragging other people with you, do you proclaim truth to yourself? 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:32.799 Are you an unapologetic proclaimer of God's word? 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:35.039 Are you obeying what it says? 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:36.720 Are you leading your spouse? 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.119 Are you leading your kids in that? 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:45.039 Are you working that out in the relationships that we've got here with each other? 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:52.720 Is your obedience to that real and genuine, or again, has it become more superficial than anything? 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:54.480 What about the second pillar? 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:56.400 Our second pillar is worship. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.119 This is what we're about as a church. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:07.119 Am I showing up on Sundays worshiping unashamedly? 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.279 Have I prepared my heart through the week? 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:13.200 Am I longing for this? 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:17.039 Am I eager to just express glory and praise to the Lord? 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:18.559 Am I obeying him in that way? 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:19.920 That's not an option. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:22.319 It's not a suggestion. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:26.720 It's not something we do if we feel it necessarily. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:28.960 It's something we do because God commands it. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:34.160 And we want it to be real, we want it to be from the heart, but again, are you doing this? 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:40.160 Are you obeying the Lord when it comes to worshiping him unashamedly? 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:42.480 What's our third pillar? 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:43.839 Well, it's prayer. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:44.400 Right? 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:46.160 Unceasing prayer. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:49.119 How's prayer going for you these days? 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:50.079 Right? 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:55.759 No way to make us feel more guilty about our relationship with the Lord than just to start talking about prayer and how we're doing, right? 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:56.160 Right? 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:58.319 We all feel terrible out of our prayer lives. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:02.559 Are we growing in it though, like bit by bit, piece by piece? 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.440 Or is it superficial compliance? 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:10.160 Is it, you know, I say a few words before I drift off at night? 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:20.480 Is it that that rote liturgical prayer we pray before meals just to show my kids that, you know, we're trying in some kind of surfacey way to bring Christ into this? 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:24.000 Or are you are you joyful? 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:25.599 Are you are you are you genuine? 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:26.960 Are you real in your prayer life? 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:31.119 Are you obeying him by by bringing your needs, your concerns, your things to the Lord? 00:28:31.200 --> 00:28:33.279 Are you worshiping him in that way too? 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:36.319 A fourth pillar here. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.079 It's evangelism. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:39.920 Unafraid witness. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:45.920 Are we obedient when it comes to the call to share the good news with the lost? 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:48.319 Are we obedient in that? 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.480 Are we asking the Lord, God, bring us people that are right for this? 00:28:52.720 --> 00:29:01.200 Lead people to me who would ask questions, lead people to me where I can have a real conversation with, not people that I'm just gonna get into arguments with, not people that just wanna pick fights with me. 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:04.319 Lord, give me wisdom to discern the difference there. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:10.720 But our Lord, give me boldness to give me boldness to just be an unafraid witness here. 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:17.039 Listen, this is what our church is committed to, but this is this is an every Christ follower thing. 00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:17.599 Do we understand? 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:19.279 It's not just a harvest thing. 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:25.680 This is everybody, every church, every person who has given their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.160 How's our obedience in this area? 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:28.720 Right? 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:35.440 Do you notice that these are all areas, areas for us where we we just quickly kind of just throw it in autopilot, don't we? 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.920 Ah, they're kind of happening. 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:38.720 Kinda. 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:42.640 But it's superficial compliance. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:46.240 You realize that God's looking for more than that, right? 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:59.119 Obedience that's passionate and grateful, coming from a place of deeper and truer humility that that comes from repentance. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:02.799 And that's where all of this is really going here in the final thing. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:03.920 Take a look. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:12.240 When God calls me to obey, he's looking for a wide-scale turn from evil in response to his word. 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:18.000 Alright, so verse 5 told us there that all of Nineveh repents, which is so cool. 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.839 Now, verse 6 unpacks what went down and how it all went down. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:28.720 Okay, so it says there, verse 6, the word, okay, so Jonah's message that he proclaimed, but really we know this. 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:30.000 It was God's message, right? 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:32.160 It was God's message through Jonah. 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:39.599 And it's somewhat interesting and telling to note that for the rest of this chapter, uh, Jonah's absent. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:40.319 Right? 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:47.759 The focus is entirely on the Lord and on these people and what the Lord has done and the people's response to that. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:57.039 It's about God's word, it's about God's message, it's about God's power and what that and what he accomplishes in the hearts of sinners. 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:12.240 Alright, so again, the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:16.400 Okay, that's not like standard operating procedure for a pagan king. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:17.839 Alright, just letting you know that. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:21.759 This is him like revealing his grief over this. 00:31:21.920 --> 00:31:27.039 Like the Lord, you can tell the Lord, the Spirit of God just smoked him in this moment, right? 00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:32.079 He's showing sorrow, heartfelt, godly sorrow, contrition. 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:34.319 Keep going. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:38.640 It says, and he issued a proclamation and and published through Nineveh. 00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:39.759 This is what he says to all the people. 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:48.400 He says, by decree of the king and his nobles, let neither man nor beast, herd, nor flock taste anything. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:54.240 Okay, so he's he's issuing a nationwide or a citywide, you should say, uh, fast. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:58.720 He's like, we're gonna get our hearts right with the Lord here. 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:02.720 Now, now the mention of animals there is kind of interesting. 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:08.319 It's not to say that animals are morally responsible uh for sin and they better repent too. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:10.319 That that's not what this is saying. 00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:23.680 Okay, they're not made in the image of God like mankind is, but it's rather to emphasize that all of creation is affected and impacted by the sin of man. 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:34.160 Okay, it also seems to kind of show here that that even, this is crazy, even animals are more responsive to the Lord than Jonah was. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:35.279 Right? 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:38.319 That's that's devastating. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:42.160 I mean, don't don't miss that here. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:50.319 Okay, the the Ninevites do what Jonah, God's own prophet, refuses to do. 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:52.720 Okay, keep going. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:33:04.799 The king continues in his decree, he says, Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. 00:33:05.039 --> 00:33:12.160 Let everyone, you see this here, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.079 He says, Who knows? 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:20.319 God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger so that we may not perish. 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:22.400