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“The Prophecy of Jonah” Divided Kingdom, part 2 Judah Alone Lesson 1 “The Prophecy of Jonah”

Some Introductory Comments… This quarter’s highlights: – Israel’s end in captivity (722 B.C.) – Judah alone as God’s people for ~136 yrs – Judah’s end in captivity (586 B.C.) We’ll examine more of the prophets and their books than we did last quarter From Jeremiah’s prophecy: 25:4 26:5 29:19 35:15 44:4 3:6-11 Easy application for us to make today

Kings Approx. 786 – 745 B.C. Israel Judah Jeroboam Nadab Baasha Elah Zimri Omri Ahab Ahaziah Jehoram Jehu Jehoahaz Joash Jeroboam II Rehoboam Abijam Asa Jehoshaphat Jehoram Ahaziah Athaliah * Joash Amaziah Approx. 786 – 745 B.C.

The Prophecy of Jonah One of the “Minor Prophets” Son of Amittai Jon 1:1 From Gath-hepher 2 Kings 14:25 (territory of Zebulun Josh 19:13) Prophetic call was to Nineveh Jon 1:2 Prophesied in Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II 2 Kings 14:23-25 He was a “sign” Mt 12:39-41 Lk 11:30

The Prophecy of Jonah A unique book among O.T. prophecies A book about a prophet…not by a prophet Other prophecies (“Major” & “Minor”) are full of oracles against Israel, other nations This book has but 1 prophetic statement… it is only 8 words long Jon 3:4b No other O.T. book shows God’s universal love for sinners as much as this one

The Prophecy of Jonah The book is easy to divide, outline “Never run FROM God” Jon 1 “Always run TOWARD God” Jon 2 “Always run WITH God” Jon 3 “Never run AHEAD OF God” Jon 4

The Prophecy of Jonah Running FROM God Jonah 1 God’s call to Jonah v. 2 Jonah’s response to God v. 3

The Prophecy of Jonah X Running FROM God Jonah 1 God’s call to Jonah v. 2 Jonah’s response to God v. 3 God’s response to Jonah vv. 4-17 – Divine power in nature (storm, sea creature) – Providential choices of other humans (compare their concern for Jonah to his concern for Ninevites) Once in sea creature’s belly, we wonder how good Nineveh looked to Jonah?

The Prophecy of Jonah 3 Running TOWARD God Jonah 2 Jonah’s prayer vv. 1-9 – A despairing cry for help – An acknowledgment of God’s fair judgment – A confession of his own wrongdoing – An expression of God’s salvation – A vow to fulfill his responsibilities to his God God answers his prayer v. 10 1 Pet 3:12 Jonah’s “resurrection” became a sign to the Ninevites Mt 12:40 Lk 11:30

The Prophecy of Jonah 3 Running WITH God Jonah 3 Compare v. 2 with 1:2 – How much had Jonah’s previous actions changed the will of God? Jonah fulfills his prophetic duty vv. 3-4 Nineveh’s response to Jonah vv. 5-9 – Belief, repentance…from royal to riffraff God’s response to Nineveh v. 10

The Prophecy of Jonah X Running AHEAD God Jonah 4 Jonah’s response to his own work vv. 1-3 God’s reply to Jonah v. 4 Jonah’s further actions v. 5 God teaches Jonah a lesson vv. 6-11 – Again, God uses His power over nature (plant, worm, sun, scorching wind) – Jonah’s hypocrisy needed exposing, and his perspective needed correcting

The Prophecy of Jonah LESSONS God’s love truly is universal to all men, not wanting any to perish 2 Pet 3:9 When God forgives, He forgets – Notice what God doesn’t say to Jonah after he is out of the sea creature – God won’t remind us of past failures when we come to Him penitently Heb 8:12

The Prophecy of Jonah LESSONS We cannot run away from God or the responsibilities He places on us…a certain impossibility Psa 139:7 Our actions/inactions do not change heaven’s settled will – Emphasizes the durability of God’s word Mt 24:35 1 Pet 1:23b-25

The Prophecy of Jonah LESSONS Sometimes (to our own shame), our “religious bigotry” is exposed by the misguided religion of those we should be trying to teach – Sailors on Jonah’s ship – Ninevites Jonah wanted destroyed

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