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Well, I wonder if you heard
the story about the guy that

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was swallowed by a whale.

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Ever heard about that one before?

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No.

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I mean, it, there's a story about it.

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A guy literally got swallowed
by a whale recently.

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It happened.

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It really happened.

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It was just a few months ago.

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These two guys were hiking, father son
duo, or not hiking, kayaking in Chile.

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That'd be more impressive if they were
hiking and they respond by a whale

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whole different ball game at that point.

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They're kayaking and the son is sitting
there mining his own business, and out

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of nowhere this large whale comes in.

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Are you able to see that
this large whale comes in?

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Yeah.

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There's your video.

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He comes in and he opens his mouth
and just takes the guy whole.

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Oh,

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unbelievable.

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Well, of course this guy's name is Adrian.

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He thinks at this point
in time, I'm gonna die.

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This is it.

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This is how I die.

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I die like Jonah.

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He didn't die, though I die.

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Well, surprisingly, as you're able
to see here, the whale let him out.

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So surprising and twist of fate here,
his father said to him, stay calm.

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Stay calm in Spanish.

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He tells him that, and Adrian
safe in sound begins to.

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Make his way back to shore.

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Both father and son are safe.

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All things are fine.

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Everything ends nicely for them now,
thankfully, even though Adrian didn't

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die, uh, we do know that this story is
found not only in real life in 2025, but

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also in the Bible about 2 2800 years ago.

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This story is a famous story.

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It's a familiar one.

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It's one that you might already know.

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In fact, that's actually a problem
for us because you're coming at

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it with a, an understanding about
it that might be different than

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where we need to go with it.

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Jonah's story is truly about not the
whale, not the fish that swallows

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him, but about his heart before God.

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In fact, it's probably the most important
thing that we're gonna learn about Jonah.

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It's gonna teach us how to respond
to God, what God is looking for

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from us, because Jonah was in fact
swallowed by a great fish, but he was

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also swallowed by a few other things.

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He was swallowed by pride.

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He was swallowed by prejudice.

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He was swallowed by a nationalistic,
uh, focus for his people, Israel.

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He was swallowed by a, a lot
of other things, a cold heart.

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He was swallowed by more
than just a great fish.

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The fish just happened to be
representative of God's working

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in Jonah's life, and that's
what the story's really about.

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We're often fascinated with the
spectacular and, and rightly so.

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We're, we're visual creatures.

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We see things or hear things, and
that's what really grabs our mind.

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But I think God wants us to focus on
something more important this morning.

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Even though Jonah and the Great Fish
is gonna be a part of what we look

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at this morning, I want you to think
about maybe God is asking you to focus

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on your heart and less on the fish.

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Maybe God wants you to raise
the question, okay, what's the

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similarity between Jonah and myself?

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You see, because a lot of people,
if you're to ask them, what makes

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a mature and godly Christian, how
do you know that someone is making

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progress in their faith toward God?

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And a lot of the times you might get
answers like, well, they're studying

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their Bible every day and they're
going to church, and they're doing

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the right things, or maybe getting
money to the church if they're

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really on, on fire for the Lord.

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You might say that they do a lot of things
and, and those are certainly helpful.

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Jesus says, if you love me,
you'll keep my commandment.

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So there's certainly validity to
the idea that if you're growing

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in your walk with Christ, there
is gonna be evidence about that.

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But what Jonah teaches us, even though
he's teaching it by contrast, is

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that there's more to it than that.

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While God does want obedience,
he doesn't just want obedience.

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In fact, this is gonna be a
theme that we're gonna see all

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throughout the minor prophets.

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This is a constant refrain that
God sends to Israel and to Judah.

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I don't want your sacrifices.

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I don't want your outward righteousness.

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What I really want, what I
really, really want is this.

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How does he answer that?

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What do you think he says there?

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I think that's the focus of our book.

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Jonah's example for us, or his
counter example, is showing us what

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God really wants from his people.

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And what's interesting about
Jonah is that he's a prophet.

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He's got this great platform,
this great gifting, but what we

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see is that great gifting doesn't
always mean great godliness.

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It's fascinating because
Jonah is a prophet.

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By contrast, he's an, he's an example
for us by contrast, that is, and God is

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giving you an opportunity this morning to
confront yourself in the story of Jonah.

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That really is the punchline, even
though I haven't gotten there yet.

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Jonah chapter four is gonna turn
the page around and look at you.

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He's gonna hold a mirror
up and say, what about you?

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Where are you in this story?

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And that's the most
exciting part about Jonah.

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That's what we need to see this morning.

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We're gonna see that what God
really wants from us is to share

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his heart by showing his mercy.

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God wants us to share his
heart by showing his mercy, and

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that is a big idea to unpack.

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But before we jump in there, let me
just give you a quick sketch on the

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prophet Jonah as we make our way there.

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Again, I know you guys know this
story, but I need to make sure that

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we're oriented the same direction.

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First, let's start with this here, Jonah.

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The theme of it is God's mercy.

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On the on the repentant, we're
gonna see God's mercy on the

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repentant, and that really is
the outline of our story as well.

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You're gonna see the story of
Jonah broken off into really two

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major pieces, his first commission
and his second commission.

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First time God sends him out.

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He doesn't go.

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Second time, God sends him out.

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He goes, but it's broken
down into two pieces.

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God's mercy on Jonah, excuse
me, and God's mercy on Nineveh.

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There's your rough and dirty sketch.

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Now, the writing of it is a bit
debated, but we're just gonna

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say for the sake of our purposes
here, he's writing about seven 80.

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Give or take seven 80.

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Now that's a date.

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That may not mean a whole lot to you,
but maybe it should, uh, in fact.

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And the date of Jerusalem, the date
of Israel's fall is 7 22, so we're

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writing about 50 years before the
Northern Kingdom falls to Assyria.

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Now, those are two things that should be
important to you because, uh, Jonah is

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sent to Nineveh from the Northern Kingdom.

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He is a northern kingdom prophet.

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He is squarely in the middle of
what is called the Northern Kingdom.

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Now, let's just remind ourselves here.

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What the Northern Kingdom is and about
nine 70, uh, rather nine 30, uh, you have

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the Northern and Southern Kingdom split.

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And so God's people used to
just be called Israel and Judah.

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That was the way they were known.

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But during the splits where the Northern
Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom are

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suddenly two different entities, now
you have this looming threat of Assyria.

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You see them over there in the east.

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At some 0.7

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22, Assyria gets strong enough to
overcome Israel and he takes him out.

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God judges Israel by using Assyria
to come and tear them down.

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It's a terrible story.

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You can read about that in In Two
Kings chapter 1617, thereabouts.

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That's the, that's the backdrop here.

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So Jonah is sent to those people.

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He's a Northern Kingdom prophet who's
interacting during the time of Jira ii.

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This is about 150 years after the division
between United and Divided Kingdom.

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He's sent to Nineveh, and God is saying,
Jonah, I want you to go to these people.

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And Jonah knows we often give him
flack for this, but he knows that

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these people are not good people.

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The Assyrians are violent,
oppressive people.

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They're known for their brutality.

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They're not good people.

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It just so happens that at the time
that God sends him, this is a period of

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relative peace and weakness for them.

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They're in between strong rulers and so
they're uncertain about their future.

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Jonah is sent to them, and of course,
you know, Jonah has an issue with this.

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A few more things about Jonah
that are helpful for you to know.

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First of all, uh, Jonah's the only
prophet who Jesus likens himself to.

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He's the only one that Jesus says I,
I'm gonna give you the sign of Jonah.

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It's gonna be like Jonah.

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He uses himself, uses Jonah
as a reference to himself.

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Furthermore, he's the only
prophet, in addition to Nahum that

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ends his book with a question.

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And interestingly, both are about Nineveh.

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They're, they both end on a
question and both are about Nineveh.

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That'll be important soon.

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Furthermore, he's the only prophet
whose book focuses on himself.

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As we, as we make our way to book five
of 12 in the minor prophets, this is

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the only book that we have where the
prophet, his message is not the message.

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He gives a message that's five words
in the Hebrew to the Ninevites, but

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really the story focuses on Jonah.

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Jonah is the centerpiece
of the story, not Nineveh.

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Which is interesting because
the other prophets are focusing

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on the northern kingdom.

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Israel or the southern kingdom
of Judah or mayhem is promising

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judgments on the Ninevites.

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This is a few years later, and
this is the only prophet that we

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have is saying, this is my story.

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This is what happened to me.

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Who wrote, John, we don't know.

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But this is certainly, uh, a,
a difficult biographical sketch

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because it doesn't look good on him.

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In fact, of all the characters
in the story of Jonah, he's

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the only one who doesn't obey.

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Everyone in the story of
Jonah does what God says.

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Even a plant, God appoints a plant.

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The plant does what God says.

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Jonah's the only one who's supposed
to be the holiest man in the story.

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He's the only one who
flees runs away from God.

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Those are all the backdrops
to this story here.

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With that said, we have a lot of
ground to cover and I'm excited about

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all of it, so let's jump into it.

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Jonah, chapters one and two, Jonah's
chapter, Jonah, chapters one and two,

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and we're gonna start in verse one.

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It's a helpful place for us to begin.

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That's where the beginning is.

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Here's what it says.

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Now the word of the Lord came to
Jonah, the son of Amite, saying,

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arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city and call out against it for

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their evil has come up before me.

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Now this is expected.

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This is something that Jonah
would've been okay with.

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In theory.

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God wants to judge Nineveh.

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Fantastic.

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I'm on board, except in verse
three we have a surprise.

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But Jonah rose and fled to Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord.

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So instead of doing what God says, Jonah
is gonna go south to Joppa, make his way

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all the way across the sea to the furthest
known part in, in the known world at this

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point, for his people to, to tar Tarshish.

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00:09:41,805 --> 00:09:44,505
He's trying to re relieve himself
from the presence of the Lord.

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00:09:44,775 --> 00:09:47,085
And so he flies, he flees about 2000.

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00:09:47,085 --> 00:09:52,065
He's attempting to flee 2000 miles west
instead of 600 miles east to Nineveh.

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00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,449
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going
to Tarshish, and he paid the fair, went

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down into it to go with them, to Tarshish
away from the presence of the Lord.

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00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,840
Maybe you saw the repetition there and
he's trying to get away from the Lord.

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Now, you might say to
yourself, well, he isn't.

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He kind of a prophet.

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00:10:06,569 --> 00:10:08,880
He should know that you can't
get away from God's presence.

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Can't really flee from God's
presence, and yet this is his mo.

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He's not leaving.

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He knows God's omni presence.

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He's not confused about that.

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What he's trying to do is flee from God's
call for him to do what he's called to do.

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And so he's running away from his
call lest his presence and more

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what that presence refers to.

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He's hoping he can get far away
enough from God's call that he'll

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send somebody else or just send.

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00:10:29,475 --> 00:10:34,635
Better yet, nobody else
notice verse four, but God.

233
00:10:35,175 --> 00:10:38,625
But the Lord, these are one of
the, the great buts in scripture.

234
00:10:38,625 --> 00:10:40,815
It contrasts something
against something else.

235
00:10:40,815 --> 00:10:44,985
And in this case, even though Jonah's
on the run and in the background, in

236
00:10:44,985 --> 00:10:48,255
your mind, maybe you hear the cop song,
bad boys, bad Boys, what you gonna do?

237
00:10:48,915 --> 00:10:50,955
What you do I gonna do When
The Lord Comes for You?

238
00:10:51,945 --> 00:10:56,805
The Lord stops him in his tracks by
hurling a great wind upon the sea.

239
00:10:57,390 --> 00:10:59,939
And so there was a mighty
tempest on the sea so that the

240
00:10:59,939 --> 00:11:01,079
ship threatened to break up.

241
00:11:01,079 --> 00:11:03,150
So this is more than just
a natural occurrence.

242
00:11:03,150 --> 00:11:06,360
This is God's supernaturally
intervening into Jonah's life.

243
00:11:06,449 --> 00:11:09,630
In order to stop Jonah from doing
what he's trying to do, he's sending

244
00:11:09,630 --> 00:11:12,810
him an obstacle so that perhaps the
prophet might say, you know what?

245
00:11:12,810 --> 00:11:14,189
This isn't working out so well.

246
00:11:14,550 --> 00:11:17,939
Maybe I should stop what I'm
doing and go do what God says.

247
00:11:18,900 --> 00:11:19,890
But surprise again.

248
00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:21,689
Here's another interesting
feature of the text.

249
00:11:22,620 --> 00:11:25,890
While the Mariners were afraid calling
each to his God, they're starting

250
00:11:25,890 --> 00:11:29,160
to hurl cargo that was in the ship
into the sea to lighten it for them.

251
00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,960
But Jonah had gone down into the
inner part of the ship and had

252
00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:35,970
laid down and was fast asleep.

253
00:11:37,110 --> 00:11:42,300
Jonah snoozing, the sailors are
aware, they're spiritually aware

254
00:11:42,300 --> 00:11:43,500
that something's happening.

255
00:11:43,650 --> 00:11:47,430
That's beyond normalcy, and so even
though ballast in the ship helps it to

256
00:11:47,430 --> 00:11:49,140
stay stable, they're tossing it out.

257
00:11:49,755 --> 00:11:50,475
What's that about?

258
00:11:50,985 --> 00:11:54,075
Instead of keeping the ship heavy,
to give it some more stability on the

259
00:11:54,075 --> 00:11:56,025
rough waves, they're throwing stuff out.

260
00:11:56,925 --> 00:12:01,245
Hard to know for sure, but maybe these
sailors are spiritually attuned to the

261
00:12:01,245 --> 00:12:04,815
fact that there is a God that's angry
and maybe they're trying to appease the

262
00:12:04,815 --> 00:12:07,125
God of the sea, throwing their cargo out.

263
00:12:07,635 --> 00:12:11,025
Maybe they're trying to say, we
recognize something's amiss here.

264
00:12:11,175 --> 00:12:14,235
Let's give this God a sacrifice and
hopefully he'll turn away his fears.

265
00:12:14,235 --> 00:12:17,025
Anger, Jonah on the other hand.

266
00:12:17,595 --> 00:12:20,685
He went down to Joppa, down
to Tarus, down to the ship.

267
00:12:20,685 --> 00:12:22,515
He's going down, down, down.

268
00:12:23,865 --> 00:12:27,375
And so he needs a pagan sailor, a
sailor who has no connection to Yahweh.

269
00:12:28,035 --> 00:12:30,375
He needs the captain to
come to his attention.

270
00:12:30,375 --> 00:12:36,045
Verse six, the captain came and said to
him, what do you mean you sleeper a rise?

271
00:12:36,075 --> 00:12:40,395
Call out to your God and perhaps the
God, whoever he is, will give a thought

272
00:12:40,395 --> 00:12:42,405
to us in that we may not perish.

273
00:12:43,155 --> 00:12:45,615
It's interesting that
verse six, the captain.

274
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,150
Says the same words
that God says to Jonah.

275
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,370
Arise, arise, and go.

276
00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:52,380
In this case, he's saying, arise.

277
00:12:52,380 --> 00:12:53,100
Call out to your God.

278
00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,430
He's trying to help Jonah help them.

279
00:12:57,690 --> 00:12:59,250
So the sailors do
something interesting here.

280
00:12:59,250 --> 00:13:00,660
They cast lots, they take the dice.

281
00:13:00,660 --> 00:13:00,690
I.

282
00:13:01,365 --> 00:13:02,985
Uh, two rocks, essentially.

283
00:13:02,985 --> 00:13:07,425
One black on, black on one side, white on
the other side, and they cast the rocks.

284
00:13:07,425 --> 00:13:09,314
Two whites mean yes, two blacks mean no.

285
00:13:09,735 --> 00:13:13,005
They cast these rocks into their ship
and they're saying, whose fault is this?

286
00:13:13,095 --> 00:13:17,415
Oh God, whoever you are, you're
reminded of Proverbs chapter 16.

287
00:13:17,475 --> 00:13:20,415
The lot is cast into the lab, but
it's every decision is from the Lord.

288
00:13:20,805 --> 00:13:21,645
Again, these are pagans.

289
00:13:21,645 --> 00:13:25,755
These are not Yahweh followers, but
they understand something, so they say,

290
00:13:25,755 --> 00:13:28,845
let us cast lots that we may know on
whose accounts as evil has come upon us.

291
00:13:28,845 --> 00:13:30,555
And so they cast lots and
the lot fell to Jonah.

292
00:13:31,425 --> 00:13:35,565
And they say to him, tell us on whose
account this evil has come upon us.

293
00:13:35,835 --> 00:13:37,065
What is your occupation?

294
00:13:37,185 --> 00:13:38,265
Where do you come from?

295
00:13:38,355 --> 00:13:39,285
What's your country?

296
00:13:39,345 --> 00:13:40,035
Who are you?

297
00:13:40,035 --> 00:13:41,895
Essentially, they're trying to
get a sense of, is this right?

298
00:13:42,285 --> 00:13:45,195
They're double checking their lots,
discerning whether or not this is the

299
00:13:45,195 --> 00:13:47,055
problem, and here's what Jonah says.

300
00:13:47,055 --> 00:13:48,525
Notice how he starts in verse nine.

301
00:13:49,155 --> 00:13:54,315
I am a Hebrew, and by
the way, I fear the Lord.

302
00:13:55,215 --> 00:13:56,625
Do you feel the irony in that?

303
00:13:57,584 --> 00:13:59,444
I'm a Hebrew, I'm one of God's people.

304
00:13:59,535 --> 00:14:01,875
You may have heard about us,
we're the ones whom God delivered

305
00:14:01,875 --> 00:14:04,035
from Egypt, and I fear the Lord.

306
00:14:05,324 --> 00:14:06,824
Does anyone feel the dripping sarcasm?

307
00:14:07,610 --> 00:14:09,915
I, I fear, do you really, Jonah?

308
00:14:10,365 --> 00:14:12,165
Why are you on this ship
running from the Lord?

309
00:14:12,165 --> 00:14:12,795
Then I fear the Lord.

310
00:14:12,975 --> 00:14:13,275
Okay.

311
00:14:13,545 --> 00:14:16,635
I fear the Lord, the God
of heaven who made the sea.

312
00:14:17,145 --> 00:14:17,745
The sea.

313
00:14:17,834 --> 00:14:19,844
They're saying, oh no,
your God made this sea.

314
00:14:19,844 --> 00:14:21,525
Okay, well then why are you here?

315
00:14:21,584 --> 00:14:22,305
What's happening?

316
00:14:22,485 --> 00:14:23,084
He made the sea.

317
00:14:23,084 --> 00:14:26,324
He made the dry land, and then the men
were exceedingly afraid and said to

318
00:14:26,324 --> 00:14:27,675
him, what is this that you've done?

319
00:14:29,745 --> 00:14:31,605
Where the men knew that he was
fleeing from the presence of the

320
00:14:31,605 --> 00:14:32,745
Lord because he had told them,

321
00:14:35,235 --> 00:14:39,074
verse 11, they said to him,
what shall we do to you that

322
00:14:39,074 --> 00:14:40,275
the sea may quiet down for us?

323
00:14:40,334 --> 00:14:40,454
How?

324
00:14:40,454 --> 00:14:44,145
How do we fix this problem that it
seems like is here on your account?

325
00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:49,500
They note for the sea grew
more and more tempestuous.

326
00:14:50,250 --> 00:14:52,050
The sea grew more and more tempestuous.

327
00:14:53,070 --> 00:14:54,660
This is again, the direction.

328
00:14:54,870 --> 00:14:57,330
We don't know exact exactly
know how long Jonah made it.

329
00:14:57,990 --> 00:15:01,170
We don't know how far along the
Mediterranean they actually made progress

330
00:15:01,170 --> 00:15:04,830
in, but Jonah and these sailors are
struggling pretty quickly after departure.

331
00:15:04,860 --> 00:15:06,120
And so he's on his way.

332
00:15:06,270 --> 00:15:07,439
They're now saying, what do we do?

333
00:15:07,530 --> 00:15:09,510
We've, we, we've jettisoned
all of our cargo.

334
00:15:09,689 --> 00:15:10,620
How do we fix this?

335
00:15:10,620 --> 00:15:12,480
We've made a sacrifice
to the God of the sea.

336
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:13,650
It doesn't seem to be responding.

337
00:15:13,710 --> 00:15:17,280
And so Jonah says, verse 12.

338
00:15:18,105 --> 00:15:22,515
Pick me up and hurl me into the sea,
then the sea will quiet down for you,

339
00:15:22,845 --> 00:15:25,515
for I know it is because of me that
this great campus has come upon you.

340
00:15:25,694 --> 00:15:26,535
Isn't that interesting?

341
00:15:26,775 --> 00:15:30,885
Jonah's saying, just kill me, sacrifice
me, throw me into the sea, and then God

342
00:15:30,885 --> 00:15:32,625
will bless you guys by protecting you.

343
00:15:34,814 --> 00:15:36,225
Why couldn't you just throw
yourself into the sea?

344
00:15:37,334 --> 00:15:39,525
Why couldn't you have them just
turn around and go back to land?

345
00:15:39,975 --> 00:15:42,525
It seems like what's happening
here is Jonah is saying, I would

346
00:15:42,525 --> 00:15:45,345
rather die than do what God says.

347
00:15:46,260 --> 00:15:48,690
I'd rather just not put me into the sea.

348
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:50,520
Better that you do it than that.

349
00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:50,940
I do it.

350
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:51,840
I don't want to go.

351
00:15:52,290 --> 00:15:52,890
Please kill me.

352
00:15:54,660 --> 00:16:00,090
Verse 13 again, you have these pagan
sailors who are, they have a better

353
00:16:00,540 --> 00:16:02,250
ca calibration than Jonah does.

354
00:16:02,670 --> 00:16:06,205
Nevertheless, these men rode hard to
get back to dry land, but they couldn't.

355
00:16:06,780 --> 00:16:10,350
Because the sea grew more and
more tempestuous, so you have

356
00:16:10,410 --> 00:16:14,070
escalating circumstances here,
God sends the wind and the waves.

357
00:16:14,250 --> 00:16:17,640
Now things are getting from bad
to worse to worse, and things

358
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,470
are continuing to get bad here.

359
00:16:19,890 --> 00:16:22,710
So bad that they're saying, okay,
therefore, they call out to the

360
00:16:22,710 --> 00:16:25,530
Lord in verse 14, oh Lord, this
is the, the name of Yahweh.

361
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:26,160
Oh Yahweh.

362
00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,740
Let us not perish for this
man's life and lay not on us.

363
00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:32,280
Innocent blood for you o Yahweh,
have done as it pleased you.

364
00:16:33,105 --> 00:16:35,895
And they're basically asking, God,
please don't hold this against us.

365
00:16:35,955 --> 00:16:38,175
We see no other recourse in
order to spare our lives.

366
00:16:38,175 --> 00:16:40,665
And so they pick 'em up, they
hurl 'em into the sea, and the

367
00:16:40,665 --> 00:16:41,865
sea see sits from its raging.

368
00:16:43,125 --> 00:16:43,935
That was the answer.

369
00:16:44,505 --> 00:16:51,015
The sea stops as soon as Jonah's feet
touch the water, presumably, which

370
00:16:51,045 --> 00:16:54,195
suggests then that maybe Jonah could
have swam, could have at least pad

371
00:16:54,195 --> 00:16:55,725
paddled some water for a minute or two.

372
00:16:56,415 --> 00:16:58,035
Maybe he could have swam back to dry land.

373
00:16:58,035 --> 00:16:58,545
Who knows?

374
00:16:59,699 --> 00:17:01,064
We, we will pick that up in a second.

375
00:17:02,535 --> 00:17:08,263
Verse 16, notice here, then the men feared
the Lord exceedingly and they offered a

376
00:17:08,263 --> 00:17:10,064
sacrifice to the Lord and they made vows.

377
00:17:12,584 --> 00:17:15,973
Things get from bad to worse for
Jonah, for one, clear and obvious

378
00:17:15,973 --> 00:17:17,954
reason, and I think it's important that
you and I spend a few minutes here.

379
00:17:19,019 --> 00:17:21,509
I need you to see in, in your
life and your connection.

380
00:17:21,509 --> 00:17:23,699
As you look in the mirror and you
think about Jonah's life and your

381
00:17:23,699 --> 00:17:26,608
life, I need you to see a clear
connection between his and your life.

382
00:17:26,669 --> 00:17:27,689
Here's what it's point number one.

383
00:17:27,868 --> 00:17:32,069
I need you to expect rebellion
to have increasing consequences,

384
00:17:32,519 --> 00:17:35,459
increasing consequences in your life.

385
00:17:36,239 --> 00:17:38,759
That is when you do the opposite
of what God wants you to do.

386
00:17:38,939 --> 00:17:40,439
In this case, Jonah go to the Ninevites.

387
00:17:40,439 --> 00:17:41,310
He says, no thank you.

388
00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:42,300
I'd rather do something else.

389
00:17:42,539 --> 00:17:46,050
He is stopped almost immediately
because God cares about him.

390
00:17:46,050 --> 00:17:47,699
God says, no, you're not going.

391
00:17:47,999 --> 00:17:51,209
I'm gonna put everything in your
way to make your life hard so that

392
00:17:51,209 --> 00:17:53,129
you humble yourself before me.

393
00:17:53,249 --> 00:17:54,689
And so all of this is intentional.

394
00:17:54,779 --> 00:17:56,219
God is trying to get his attention.

395
00:17:56,219 --> 00:17:58,019
And the same thing works
in your life and in mine.

396
00:17:58,379 --> 00:17:59,790
When God's trying to get your attention.

397
00:17:59,879 --> 00:18:04,620
Often, although not always,
often it is through a multitude

398
00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:06,420
of increasing consequences.

399
00:18:07,260 --> 00:18:10,500
Increasing consequences,
trying to run away funny.

400
00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:12,180
'cause even though we could
look at Jonah and say, Jonah's

401
00:18:12,180 --> 00:18:13,950
so silly, we do the same thing.

402
00:18:13,950 --> 00:18:16,770
We do try to run away from God,
although not usually physically.

403
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:19,920
We could still come to church
running away from God, but we

404
00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:21,180
can still do the same routine.

405
00:18:21,180 --> 00:18:22,920
We can open our Bibles
running away from God.

406
00:18:23,774 --> 00:18:25,455
We evade his conviction.

407
00:18:25,455 --> 00:18:28,725
We're looking for ways to make sure
that we don't, maybe silence his voice

408
00:18:28,725 --> 00:18:30,824
entirely, but severely minimize it.

409
00:18:31,875 --> 00:18:33,915
There's a group of people
called, uh, the Jitsu.

410
00:18:33,915 --> 00:18:37,635
Actually, there's a, there's a term for
people that are running away from society.

411
00:18:38,219 --> 00:18:40,500
Um, there's, there's services
that you can buy now, like

412
00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:43,229
delete me or, uh, or incog me.

413
00:18:43,409 --> 00:18:45,750
They're web services that will
delete your data from online.

414
00:18:45,750 --> 00:18:47,669
So if you have your personal
information on your, on your

415
00:18:47,669 --> 00:18:50,070
Google, you see, oh, there's my
address, there's my phone number,

416
00:18:50,070 --> 00:18:51,209
there's my spouse, there's my kids.

417
00:18:51,209 --> 00:18:52,770
How does the internet know
all this stuff about me?

418
00:18:53,250 --> 00:18:55,500
Our services that will go and
scrub your data on your behalf.

419
00:18:55,500 --> 00:18:58,139
It'll call these services, these data
brokers and say, we'd like to get

420
00:18:58,139 --> 00:19:01,110
this person's information off of your
website so that they don't have access.

421
00:19:01,830 --> 00:19:02,909
There's another service.

422
00:19:03,570 --> 00:19:06,269
Where they're called night movers,
and I guess they're popular in

423
00:19:06,269 --> 00:19:09,629
Japan these night Movers will
help people disappear entirely.

424
00:19:10,499 --> 00:19:13,830
They'll leave their families, they'll
leave their, their workplaces, they'll

425
00:19:13,830 --> 00:19:16,769
just up and be gone, and they're,
they're called night movers because

426
00:19:16,769 --> 00:19:18,209
they do this all in the dark of night.

427
00:19:18,539 --> 00:19:21,029
They'll come to the person's house,
they'll pack everything up and then

428
00:19:21,029 --> 00:19:23,370
help them leave so that they can
start a new life somewhere else.

429
00:19:23,850 --> 00:19:27,029
It's kind of a witness protection program,
but for people that are electing to do

430
00:19:27,029 --> 00:19:29,610
it and not those who have to do it in
order to escape some kind of danger.

431
00:19:29,969 --> 00:19:31,229
And so the jitsu.

432
00:19:31,739 --> 00:19:35,550
A word that means evaporation refers these
people who do this, one of the founders,

433
00:19:35,610 --> 00:19:39,570
uh, said what we do is help people.

434
00:19:39,570 --> 00:19:39,870
Here's it.

435
00:19:39,899 --> 00:19:42,719
Normally the reason for moving is
something positive, entering university,

436
00:19:42,719 --> 00:19:43,830
getting a new job or marriage.

437
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:47,669
But there's also other reasons like
dropping out of university, losing a job,

438
00:19:47,699 --> 00:19:49,560
or escaping from something dangerous.

439
00:19:50,189 --> 00:19:53,459
What we did was support
people to start a second life.

440
00:19:54,449 --> 00:19:57,540
We're helping people start a second life,
and that's exactly what Jonah tries to do.

441
00:19:58,050 --> 00:19:58,949
I wanna start a new life.

442
00:19:58,980 --> 00:19:59,850
I'm gonna get away from the Lord.

443
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:00,840
We do the same thing.

444
00:20:01,050 --> 00:20:03,149
We try to evade God by
starting a second life.

445
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,169
Even in the midst of our normal life,
this is called compartmentalization.

446
00:20:07,290 --> 00:20:09,480
We can say, I'm serving the Lord God here.

447
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,520
I go to my church, I,
I do my churchy things.

448
00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:14,310
But on the inside we're saying,
I'm gonna guard my heart from being

449
00:20:14,490 --> 00:20:16,590
penetrated by God's convicting gaze.

450
00:20:16,620 --> 00:20:18,780
And, and we go about our normal
lives and say, Lord, I don't

451
00:20:18,780 --> 00:20:20,310
wanna feel your your pain.

452
00:20:20,639 --> 00:20:22,679
And so I'm gonna try to
keep my mind elsewhere.

453
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,379
And this is our active disobedience.

454
00:20:25,949 --> 00:20:29,159
What's interesting about all these
things is that disobedience, every

455
00:20:29,159 --> 00:20:31,649
disobedience, as one scholar put,
it has a storm attached to it.

456
00:20:32,189 --> 00:20:35,309
Every time you disobey God, when
you are consciously aware of your

457
00:20:35,309 --> 00:20:40,019
disobedience to God, God has every
incentive to make life painful for you.

458
00:20:40,860 --> 00:20:41,100
And why?

459
00:20:41,100 --> 00:20:42,389
Well, because God cares about you.

460
00:20:42,989 --> 00:20:43,679
God cares.

461
00:20:44,129 --> 00:20:47,429
God cares enough to make life
difficult for you if you choose

462
00:20:47,429 --> 00:20:49,620
to evade his word and his will.

463
00:20:50,294 --> 00:20:51,764
This is part of the problem for us.

464
00:20:51,825 --> 00:20:54,885
It's not just that we're trying to
disappear here as we're expecting God

465
00:20:54,885 --> 00:20:56,804
to, uh, insert these consequences.

466
00:20:56,804 --> 00:21:00,435
There's lots of consequences that we see
in, in this particular book of the Bible.

467
00:21:00,764 --> 00:21:03,585
First of all, you'll notice God uses
the storm to get Jonah's attention.

468
00:21:03,585 --> 00:21:05,355
So God uses natural disasters.

469
00:21:05,925 --> 00:21:08,475
He uses natural disasters
to get our attention.

470
00:21:08,745 --> 00:21:11,564
And if we're paying attention, it's
not just our own natural disasters.

471
00:21:11,564 --> 00:21:13,935
Maybe there's disasters in other
people's lives that we ought to

472
00:21:13,935 --> 00:21:15,375
be closely paying attention to.

473
00:21:15,585 --> 00:21:16,514
God is saying.

474
00:21:16,904 --> 00:21:20,504
Life is fleeting, it's fickle, and you
better be sure that you're right with me.

475
00:21:21,225 --> 00:21:25,394
Every time I go down Preston and I
see an accident, I'm always reminded,

476
00:21:25,425 --> 00:21:26,654
Lord, thank you that that's not me.

477
00:21:26,654 --> 00:21:27,945
Thank you that that's no one I know.

478
00:21:28,455 --> 00:21:31,874
Please help me to drive safely
and please let me live life aware

479
00:21:32,354 --> 00:21:33,884
that it could be done shortly.

480
00:21:35,114 --> 00:21:37,334
I don't wanna have a
long account with God.

481
00:21:37,634 --> 00:21:39,824
It's important for us not to
be like Jonah and try to flee.

482
00:21:40,004 --> 00:21:41,534
Natural disasters happen all the time.

483
00:21:42,030 --> 00:21:42,180
Right.

484
00:21:42,180 --> 00:21:45,510
We live at the very bottom, most part
of tornado alley, which means where

485
00:21:45,510 --> 00:21:47,100
all of us are susceptible in some way.

486
00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:50,340
If it's not a tornado, we've got
these other severe storms, things

487
00:21:50,340 --> 00:21:52,800
that could happen to us, that
could honestly just destroy us.

488
00:21:53,700 --> 00:21:56,700
We're so vulnerable, and
yet we rarely remember that.

489
00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:57,899
Jonah.

490
00:21:58,050 --> 00:21:59,879
Jonah has given his given awareness.

491
00:21:59,939 --> 00:22:00,540
He's vulnerable.

492
00:22:00,540 --> 00:22:02,939
He's trying to sleep it off and
trying to just get himself through it.

493
00:22:02,939 --> 00:22:04,770
He's doing something
called bed, bed rotting.

494
00:22:04,980 --> 00:22:06,570
He's just sleeping it off,
trying to get through the day

495
00:22:06,570 --> 00:22:07,679
without even thinking about God.

496
00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:09,750
That's a really good way to
try to ignore God, but God's

497
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:11,370
stronger than our ignorance.

498
00:22:11,399 --> 00:22:12,899
He's willing to do whatever's necessary.

499
00:22:13,530 --> 00:22:14,669
He can use natural disasters.

500
00:22:14,669 --> 00:22:15,720
He can also use people.

501
00:22:16,050 --> 00:22:18,179
He uses unbelievers to show Jonah.

502
00:22:18,179 --> 00:22:20,399
Look, dude, you should be
shamed by these unbelievers.

503
00:22:20,490 --> 00:22:22,110
There's more spiritual than you are.

504
00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:24,870
These unbelievers are living a
better life, at least at that

505
00:22:24,870 --> 00:22:25,980
moment than you are Jonah.

506
00:22:27,044 --> 00:22:30,794
God's trying to get his attention through
people, and I wonder if maybe you've ever

507
00:22:30,794 --> 00:22:33,854
had the experience where people in your
life make you feel ashamed that you're

508
00:22:33,885 --> 00:22:37,725
not doing half as much as they're doing,
even though they're not a believer, or

509
00:22:37,725 --> 00:22:40,544
maybe they're part of a cult, or maybe
they're part of some other religion and

510
00:22:40,544 --> 00:22:43,514
they just look like they're better people,
man, they have their families together.

511
00:22:43,514 --> 00:22:44,655
They're doing it better than I am.

512
00:22:44,655 --> 00:22:45,735
I, I'm ashamed by that.

513
00:22:46,725 --> 00:22:49,875
It could be, not certainly, but it could
be that God's getting your attention.

514
00:22:50,655 --> 00:22:51,254
God is showing you.

515
00:22:51,254 --> 00:22:55,844
Look, the Pagans, the the Mormons, the
Jehovah's Witnesses, whoever it is.

516
00:22:57,030 --> 00:22:59,280
They're doing it better and, and
maybe they are, maybe they're not.

517
00:22:59,340 --> 00:23:00,149
That's really not the point.

518
00:23:00,149 --> 00:23:03,330
The point is God is using people
to showcase what he's up to.

519
00:23:04,050 --> 00:23:05,790
And maybe if you're sensitive
enough to say, Lord, help me.

520
00:23:05,820 --> 00:23:09,030
I don't, I don't wanna, I don't wanna be
a bad husband, a bad father, a bad mother.

521
00:23:09,030 --> 00:23:10,110
Help me to do the right thing.

522
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,689
God uses these pagan LERs
to get Jonah's attention.

523
00:23:16,290 --> 00:23:16,919
A couple things.

524
00:23:18,810 --> 00:23:20,639
Another Deuteronomy eight, three and four.

525
00:23:20,639 --> 00:23:21,240
Write this one down.

526
00:23:21,270 --> 00:23:25,290
I don't need you to go there,
but this is a section where Moses

527
00:23:25,290 --> 00:23:30,270
tells the people of Israel, God
humbled them and he let them hunger.

528
00:23:30,690 --> 00:23:32,070
God made them hungry.

529
00:23:32,430 --> 00:23:34,770
He made their bellies gurgle with hunger.

530
00:23:35,850 --> 00:23:37,530
In order to humble them.

531
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,480
You catch that God is withholding
from them a basic necessity food in

532
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:45,960
this case in order to say, I want
you to be humble and respond to me.

533
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,650
God may use that uses all
kinds of circumstances.

534
00:23:50,070 --> 00:23:51,180
He also uses death.

535
00:23:52,004 --> 00:23:52,844
This is the last card.

536
00:23:52,844 --> 00:23:55,754
God obviously can play with you, but
if you're going to rebel against God's

537
00:23:55,754 --> 00:23:58,245
word and God's will, you should expect
that because God cares about you.

538
00:23:58,245 --> 00:23:59,385
He may have to take you out.

539
00:24:00,465 --> 00:24:01,304
This is what scripture says.

540
00:24:01,905 --> 00:24:07,784
Jot down one Corinthians 1129
and 31 Corinthians 11, 29 and 30.

541
00:24:08,354 --> 00:24:11,780
Paul is telling the Corinthian church,
those who are taking the Lord's, the

542
00:24:11,784 --> 00:24:14,624
the Lord's Cup in an unworthy fashion.

543
00:24:14,925 --> 00:24:19,814
He says this, this is why many of you are
weak and ill, and some have even died.

544
00:24:21,945 --> 00:24:25,274
He's saying God is willing to
take you out if necessary, if

545
00:24:25,274 --> 00:24:28,574
that's what's gonna prevent you
from sinning yourself into aposty.

546
00:24:28,874 --> 00:24:31,574
God cares, God cares that we care.

547
00:24:32,745 --> 00:24:35,804
If you wanna jot down Acts chapter five,
you, you'd be reminded of anani of fire.

548
00:24:36,824 --> 00:24:38,414
Some people question whether
or not they were believers.

549
00:24:40,029 --> 00:24:44,475
Seems fitting, but it seems like
if, if they are, God disciplines

550
00:24:44,475 --> 00:24:45,674
them with death as well.

551
00:24:47,370 --> 00:24:49,110
Adrian Rogers once said,
the most miserable man on

552
00:24:49,110 --> 00:24:50,159
earth is not an unsaved man.

553
00:24:51,299 --> 00:24:54,870
The most miserable man on earth is a saved
man out of fellowship with Jesus Christ.

554
00:24:57,029 --> 00:24:57,689
Couldn't agree more.

555
00:24:58,620 --> 00:24:59,850
Jonah's pretty miserable right now.

556
00:25:00,269 --> 00:25:03,629
He's struggling because he's trying
to evade a God who cannot be deterred,

557
00:25:04,709 --> 00:25:06,870
and I need you to know that if, if
you're gonna do the same thing, you

558
00:25:06,870 --> 00:25:08,339
should expect increasing consequences.

559
00:25:08,850 --> 00:25:11,370
God is willing to turn up the heat on
you in order to get your attention.

560
00:25:11,370 --> 00:25:12,539
The question is whether or
not you're paying attention.

561
00:25:13,215 --> 00:25:16,154
If God has to take you out, he'll do that,
but you should expect God to give you

562
00:25:16,455 --> 00:25:19,455
opportunities, steps along the way for
you to turn around and do it differently.

563
00:25:24,884 --> 00:25:28,695
After these first two chapters, we
find out the reason behind Jonah's

564
00:25:28,695 --> 00:25:32,745
departure, why he runs, and it's
startling and difficult to read.

565
00:25:33,614 --> 00:25:34,364
Let's go there together.

566
00:25:35,054 --> 00:25:35,924
Jonah chapter three.

567
00:25:36,855 --> 00:25:39,705
Actually, let's read out the,
uh, uh, let, lemme read Jonah

568
00:25:39,705 --> 00:25:42,135
chapter one, verse 17, and then
we'll jump to Jonah chapter three.

569
00:25:42,135 --> 00:25:46,455
I'll, I'll quickly summarize for you
Jonah two, uh, verse 17, chapter one.

570
00:25:46,455 --> 00:25:48,855
The Lord appointed a great
fish to swallow up Jonah.

571
00:25:49,499 --> 00:25:51,780
And Jonah was in the belly, the
fish, three days and three nights.

572
00:25:52,139 --> 00:25:53,729
Notice here, God's the
one who appoints it.

573
00:25:54,090 --> 00:25:55,379
God sends the fish.

574
00:25:55,379 --> 00:25:58,649
God is making sure that that fish is there
at the right place at the right time.

575
00:25:58,979 --> 00:26:00,209
Um, note, it's not a whale.

576
00:26:00,269 --> 00:26:01,709
It's very likely not a whale.

577
00:26:02,100 --> 00:26:02,850
Uh, it's a great fish.

578
00:26:02,850 --> 00:26:03,629
That's what the word is there.

579
00:26:03,629 --> 00:26:04,800
It's the belly of a great fish.

580
00:26:04,860 --> 00:26:08,610
He swallows Jonah and he holds him
there for three days and three nights.

581
00:26:09,749 --> 00:26:14,580
Jonah then in chapter two, prays
to the Lord and he, he gives thanks

582
00:26:14,580 --> 00:26:15,749
to the Lord for his salvation.

583
00:26:16,409 --> 00:26:17,759
But what are you missing in chapter two?

584
00:26:18,405 --> 00:26:19,905
You notice what's not there.

585
00:26:20,415 --> 00:26:22,185
I read it to you during
our scripture reading.

586
00:26:23,024 --> 00:26:26,175
There's no evidence of repentance.

587
00:26:27,284 --> 00:26:30,465
There's no evidence of Jonah
saying, Lord, I was wrong to run.

588
00:26:31,455 --> 00:26:36,314
Lord, I was so foolish and stupid to,
to leave and to try to escape you.

589
00:26:36,675 --> 00:26:37,215
I repent.

590
00:26:37,245 --> 00:26:37,935
I will go.

591
00:26:39,014 --> 00:26:39,585
It doesn't say anything.

592
00:26:39,585 --> 00:26:44,804
In fact, in fact, he says
here, um, he, he says.

593
00:26:46,754 --> 00:26:47,324
Verse four.

594
00:26:47,385 --> 00:26:49,604
He says, uh, in Jonah chapter two,
sorry, I know I'm going backward.

595
00:26:49,604 --> 00:26:50,564
Let me just point this out.

596
00:26:50,564 --> 00:26:51,465
Jonah, chapter two, verse four.

597
00:26:51,675 --> 00:26:54,014
Then I said, I am driven
away from your sight.

598
00:26:55,334 --> 00:26:55,995
Is that true?

599
00:26:56,264 --> 00:26:57,405
I am driven away from your sight.

600
00:26:57,405 --> 00:26:58,965
No, Jonah, you left.

601
00:26:59,084 --> 00:27:00,584
You're the one, you're the guy.

602
00:27:01,125 --> 00:27:02,235
You left me, Jonah.

603
00:27:02,415 --> 00:27:03,584
I'm trying to rewrite history here.

604
00:27:04,094 --> 00:27:06,584
Jonah has time in the, and the,
and the great fish to think

605
00:27:06,584 --> 00:27:07,485
about what's happening here.

606
00:27:07,844 --> 00:27:09,495
And it's a beautiful poem.

607
00:27:09,495 --> 00:27:10,395
It's a beautiful psalm.

608
00:27:10,395 --> 00:27:10,979
It's, it's fantastic.

609
00:27:10,979 --> 00:27:12,074
It's true as far as it goes.

610
00:27:12,719 --> 00:27:15,360
And in fact, the way that he
ends in chapter two verse nine,

611
00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:16,590
salvation belongs to the Lord.

612
00:27:16,590 --> 00:27:18,090
We would echo that and say Amen.

613
00:27:19,199 --> 00:27:19,709
Verse 10.

614
00:27:19,709 --> 00:27:21,719
I'm not the first to notice
this, but others have noticed.

615
00:27:22,199 --> 00:27:27,810
We wonder if the fact that the great
fish vomits Jonah out is evidence of

616
00:27:27,810 --> 00:27:30,780
the fact that maybe the fish was sick
to his stomach by what Jonah said.

617
00:27:32,070 --> 00:27:32,760
Come on man.

618
00:27:32,834 --> 00:27:35,645
Come on, get it together, Jonah.

619
00:27:36,689 --> 00:27:37,949
Even the official obeys, God,

620
00:27:40,199 --> 00:27:43,320
there's no evidence of his repentance
in chapter two, but there is obedience.

621
00:27:43,620 --> 00:27:45,120
Look at chapter three verse one.

622
00:27:46,290 --> 00:27:49,199
The word of the Lord came to
Jonah second time saying, arise.

623
00:27:49,199 --> 00:27:51,479
Go to Nineveh, that great
city and call out against it.

624
00:27:51,479 --> 00:27:54,870
The message that I tell you, this is
almost verbatim, chapter one, verse two.

625
00:27:55,229 --> 00:27:55,979
Almost.

626
00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:01,530
Almost with one major difference, and
it's a subtle one, but perhaps it has.

627
00:28:02,370 --> 00:28:03,479
Enduring significance.

628
00:28:04,110 --> 00:28:07,019
He says, arise, go to Nineveh, that
great city and call out against it.

629
00:28:07,019 --> 00:28:11,340
The message that I tell you the
word for against in verse two is

630
00:28:11,340 --> 00:28:14,370
actually the word to call out to it.

631
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,739
The word is against in chapter one,
verse two, call out against it.

632
00:28:20,310 --> 00:28:25,439
But there is a subtle change in chapter
three, call out to it, which suggests

633
00:28:25,439 --> 00:28:30,090
that there's a difference between
call out to versus call out against.

634
00:28:32,025 --> 00:28:32,835
Let's see what he means.

635
00:28:33,225 --> 00:28:36,045
So Jonah arose, went to Nineveh,
according to the word of

636
00:28:36,045 --> 00:28:36,945
the Lord, as he should have.

637
00:28:37,515 --> 00:28:40,905
Now, Nineveh was an exceedingly great
city, three days journey in breath.

638
00:28:41,475 --> 00:28:41,805
Um.

639
00:28:42,705 --> 00:28:45,524
People will often say, well, Jonah,
this isn't, this is incorrect.

640
00:28:45,554 --> 00:28:47,024
Nineveh actually wasn't that large.

641
00:28:47,024 --> 00:28:50,415
We have excavations that are showcasing
that the city actually was not that big.

642
00:28:50,865 --> 00:28:52,935
Uh, you could walk around the
city gates seven or eight miles.

643
00:28:52,935 --> 00:28:54,314
We, we don't think it's actually that big.

644
00:28:54,554 --> 00:28:57,764
Uh, but perhaps here what is being
said is that this is not Nineveh

645
00:28:57,764 --> 00:28:59,655
proper, but this is the Nineveh region.

646
00:28:59,955 --> 00:29:01,365
It's like when someone says,
okay, where do you live?

647
00:29:01,365 --> 00:29:02,774
I live in North Texas.

648
00:29:02,865 --> 00:29:04,305
Um, oh, north Dallas?

649
00:29:04,305 --> 00:29:05,745
No, north Tech.

650
00:29:05,745 --> 00:29:07,425
I guess you could call it north of Dallas.

651
00:29:07,485 --> 00:29:08,475
It's not quite true.

652
00:29:08,895 --> 00:29:12,045
We don't live in North Dallas proper,
but I guess you could say for the sake of

653
00:29:12,075 --> 00:29:13,725
ease of understanding, north Dallas, sure.

654
00:29:14,115 --> 00:29:15,345
North Texas is a region.

655
00:29:16,185 --> 00:29:20,295
In a similar sense, this could be
saying go to the Nineveh area and

656
00:29:20,295 --> 00:29:22,095
preach to all of its different peoples.

657
00:29:22,514 --> 00:29:24,105
And so that would be a three day journey.

658
00:29:24,465 --> 00:29:26,655
The city itself, the city
proper, maybe not that.

659
00:29:27,179 --> 00:29:28,979
In any case, that's not his point.

660
00:29:29,009 --> 00:29:30,120
It's a great city to God.

661
00:29:30,124 --> 00:29:31,709
The the city is great in God's eyes.

662
00:29:32,879 --> 00:29:37,439
Verse four, Jonah began to go into the
city going only a day's journey, and

663
00:29:37,439 --> 00:29:42,209
he calls out five words In the Hebrew,
40 days in Nineveh shall be overthrown.

664
00:29:43,769 --> 00:29:48,479
Many times scripture will abbreviate
the words that are being said.

665
00:29:48,539 --> 00:29:49,560
A lot of times, scripture does this.

666
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:50,429
There's no problem with that.

667
00:29:50,699 --> 00:29:52,709
Uh, it's saying this is
the gist of what he said.

668
00:29:53,489 --> 00:29:56,070
Uh, one wonders though,
if this is more accurate.

669
00:29:56,775 --> 00:29:57,345
Here's why.

670
00:29:58,215 --> 00:30:00,525
He only goes in the city a day's journey.

671
00:30:00,645 --> 00:30:04,004
So instead of going in three day's
journey to get everybody to talk to

672
00:30:04,004 --> 00:30:05,985
all the people, he only goes in a day.

673
00:30:06,735 --> 00:30:09,825
We wonder if we're seeing
begrudging, begrudging, obedience.

674
00:30:09,855 --> 00:30:12,315
Like, I'll do it Lord, but I'm not
gonna do it the way that I should.

675
00:30:12,315 --> 00:30:12,764
I'll do it.

676
00:30:12,764 --> 00:30:13,095
Fine.

677
00:30:13,695 --> 00:30:15,195
You're gonna twist my arm.

678
00:30:15,195 --> 00:30:17,145
I'll do it, but I'm not
gonna do it all the way.

679
00:30:17,415 --> 00:30:21,675
He goes in one day and then maybe
he preaches, but he doesn't preach

680
00:30:21,675 --> 00:30:22,635
the way that God wants him to.

681
00:30:22,635 --> 00:30:24,230
All he says is, you're,
you guys are gonna go down.

682
00:30:25,169 --> 00:30:26,610
If God said, 40 days, you're going down.

683
00:30:26,610 --> 00:30:27,060
That's it.

684
00:30:27,929 --> 00:30:28,889
He's like, all right, I'm, I'm done.

685
00:30:28,889 --> 00:30:29,520
Mic drop.

686
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:29,969
I'm walking.

687
00:30:33,959 --> 00:30:39,209
And yet for all of that, Jonah
is the most successful preacher

688
00:30:39,449 --> 00:30:40,979
probably ever to walk the planet.

689
00:30:41,639 --> 00:30:42,419
Look at verse five.

690
00:30:43,590 --> 00:30:48,030
The people of Nineveh believed
God, they called for a fast.

691
00:30:48,179 --> 00:30:51,300
They put on sackcloth from the
greatest of them to the least.

692
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:52,649
No one's eating.

693
00:30:52,649 --> 00:30:54,090
Guys, we need to take this seriously.

694
00:30:54,090 --> 00:30:56,159
Jonah has given us a word of destruction.

695
00:30:56,159 --> 00:30:58,259
It is our wisdom to respond to that.

696
00:30:58,499 --> 00:31:03,629
Let's put on, uh, rough, itchy clothing
to symbolize our repentance, and let's

697
00:31:03,629 --> 00:31:05,159
make sure that none of us eats anything.

698
00:31:05,159 --> 00:31:06,570
We're not even about the animals eat.

699
00:31:06,959 --> 00:31:10,199
We're gonna make sure the animals
also sit in ashes and in sackcloth.

700
00:31:10,199 --> 00:31:10,860
We're not gonna feed them.

701
00:31:10,860 --> 00:31:14,159
We're gonna feel the
pain of our repentance.

702
00:31:14,774 --> 00:31:16,455
And so it gets up to the royalty.

703
00:31:16,605 --> 00:31:20,205
They hear about it, they declare,
uh, let neither man nor beast

704
00:31:20,205 --> 00:31:21,705
herd nor flock, taste anything.

705
00:31:21,705 --> 00:31:23,565
Let them not feed or even drink water.

706
00:31:23,565 --> 00:31:27,014
This is a serious fast, verse
eight, but let man and beast

707
00:31:27,014 --> 00:31:27,945
be covered with sackcloth.

708
00:31:27,945 --> 00:31:29,685
Let them call out mightily to God.

709
00:31:29,895 --> 00:31:33,615
Let everyone turn from his evil way and
from the violence that is in his hands.

710
00:31:34,155 --> 00:31:34,725
Who knows?

711
00:31:34,725 --> 00:31:38,294
He says, perhaps with the shrug
of the shoulders, maybe God will

712
00:31:38,294 --> 00:31:41,774
turn, he'll relent from his fierce
anger so that we may not perish.

713
00:31:42,435 --> 00:31:45,614
Which tells us that what Jonah said,
at least is represented accurately.

714
00:31:45,794 --> 00:31:47,834
You're gonna be judged
40 days, is it guys?

715
00:31:47,834 --> 00:31:48,554
And you're done.

716
00:31:48,914 --> 00:31:51,104
Nothing about mercy,
nothing about repentance.

717
00:31:52,064 --> 00:31:58,904
And yet, verse 10, when God saw
what they did, how they turned from

718
00:31:58,904 --> 00:32:04,695
their evil way, God relented of the
disaster that he has said he would

719
00:32:04,695 --> 00:32:06,524
do to them, and he did not do it.

720
00:32:08,384 --> 00:32:09,465
Did God change his mind?

721
00:32:10,919 --> 00:32:11,340
Well, no.

722
00:32:11,550 --> 00:32:11,969
No, he didn't.

723
00:32:13,020 --> 00:32:18,479
He didn't change his mind because in
every, in every time that God sends

724
00:32:18,479 --> 00:32:20,939
judgment in it is always baked into it.

725
00:32:21,030 --> 00:32:24,419
A mercy that says, you will
be forgiven if you repent.

726
00:32:24,899 --> 00:32:28,439
If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us of our sins and

727
00:32:28,439 --> 00:32:29,879
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

728
00:32:30,060 --> 00:32:30,989
This is God's Mo.

729
00:32:31,020 --> 00:32:32,159
This is how God operates.

730
00:32:32,610 --> 00:32:34,290
It doesn't have to do it this
way, but this is what he does.

731
00:32:34,530 --> 00:32:36,810
God is saying, I will
forgive you if you'll repent.

732
00:32:36,870 --> 00:32:38,729
That's always the offer on the table.

733
00:32:39,090 --> 00:32:40,740
And that's the offer for
all of us this morning.

734
00:32:40,740 --> 00:32:43,530
If you're walking in sin, if
you repent, God will forgive.

735
00:32:43,620 --> 00:32:45,120
Notice how quickly God does this.

736
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:47,940
When God saw what they did,
how they turned, God relented.

737
00:32:48,660 --> 00:32:51,840
It didn't say, well, God stood back from
his throne and said, let's just give

738
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,340
it a few days and see how things go.

739
00:32:54,270 --> 00:32:55,350
Humans might need to do that.

740
00:32:55,350 --> 00:32:56,520
We, we do that all the time.

741
00:32:56,910 --> 00:32:58,920
We're looking at our family members
and when they repent, we're like,

742
00:32:58,950 --> 00:33:00,060
okay, well we're gonna watch.

743
00:33:00,465 --> 00:33:03,135
We're gonna wisely sit back and see
how you act in these next several

744
00:33:03,135 --> 00:33:06,405
days and see if your behavior truly
is changed as evidence of repentance.

745
00:33:06,735 --> 00:33:07,515
God doesn't need that.

746
00:33:07,545 --> 00:33:09,495
He knows your heart inside and
out, and he doesn't need time

747
00:33:09,495 --> 00:33:11,085
to weigh you and consider you.

748
00:33:11,115 --> 00:33:15,015
He knows exactly, so when you
repent toward God, he says,

749
00:33:15,015 --> 00:33:16,845
all right, I can let you go.

750
00:33:16,845 --> 00:33:18,975
I can legally dismiss your case.

751
00:33:19,125 --> 00:33:21,585
Put all of your judgment
on Christ and let you go.

752
00:33:21,585 --> 00:33:24,015
That is the gospel in a nutshell,
and thank God we have that.

753
00:33:24,705 --> 00:33:25,635
Thank God we have that.

754
00:33:26,295 --> 00:33:27,735
This is what God does to Nineveh.

755
00:33:28,095 --> 00:33:28,695
He lets him go.

756
00:33:29,745 --> 00:33:30,825
Now they don't know anything.

757
00:33:30,825 --> 00:33:31,305
Why?

758
00:33:31,815 --> 00:33:33,345
They don't know why that God can do this.

759
00:33:33,345 --> 00:33:37,395
We know now 2000 years later, rough
and dirty, he would send Jesus to

760
00:33:37,395 --> 00:33:40,095
live and die in their place and take
on the penalty that they deserve.

761
00:33:40,095 --> 00:33:41,925
But in this moment, God
dismisses their cases.

762
00:33:41,925 --> 00:33:42,495
I'm gonna relent.

763
00:33:42,495 --> 00:33:43,635
I'm not gonna do what I said I would do.

764
00:33:43,725 --> 00:33:45,165
And he lets them go.

765
00:33:45,915 --> 00:33:49,935
Chapter four takes us into a stunning
and surprising, and for this is

766
00:33:49,935 --> 00:33:50,925
probably the point of the story.

767
00:33:50,925 --> 00:33:52,395
By the way, chapter
four, this is the point.

768
00:33:52,695 --> 00:33:55,185
Everything besides this was
leading up to this moment.

769
00:33:55,485 --> 00:33:58,095
Nineveh is basically
incidental to this story.

770
00:33:58,364 --> 00:34:02,475
Jonah chapter four, but it
displeased Jonah exceedingly.

771
00:34:02,475 --> 00:34:03,314
And he was angry.

772
00:34:03,404 --> 00:34:08,833
He's mad about this, uh, verse two,
and he prayed to the Lord and said, oh

773
00:34:08,833 --> 00:34:11,444
Lord, Yahweh, covenant name for God.

774
00:34:11,685 --> 00:34:13,299
Is this not what I said when
I was yet in my country.

775
00:34:14,399 --> 00:34:15,000
What did you say?

776
00:34:15,540 --> 00:34:20,399
This is why I made haste to
flee to Tarshish for I knew

777
00:34:20,549 --> 00:34:24,089
that you are a gracious God and
merciful, you're slow to anger.

778
00:34:24,210 --> 00:34:27,418
Now, bounding instead of as love
and relenting from disaster,

779
00:34:27,569 --> 00:34:28,859
God, I knew you would do this.

780
00:34:28,859 --> 00:34:30,540
I knew you'd forgive these scoundrels.

781
00:34:31,350 --> 00:34:32,190
Oh God.

782
00:34:33,359 --> 00:34:35,969
It's almost like Jonah is just
sticking his finger right in God's

783
00:34:35,969 --> 00:34:37,649
face and saying, you are the problem.

784
00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:39,418
This is an issue.

785
00:34:39,779 --> 00:34:40,710
How do you do this?

786
00:34:40,710 --> 00:34:41,790
These guys are enemies.

787
00:34:42,210 --> 00:34:43,469
They're a threat to Israel.

788
00:34:44,565 --> 00:34:48,225
Earlier I pointed out to you that when the
sailors asked who Jonah was, what was the

789
00:34:48,225 --> 00:34:51,614
first thing that he said, I am a Hebrew.

790
00:34:53,324 --> 00:34:55,665
It wasn't his identity as a prophet.

791
00:34:56,324 --> 00:34:58,365
It wasn't the fact that
he was right with God.

792
00:34:58,365 --> 00:34:59,985
It was his Hebrew status.

793
00:35:00,675 --> 00:35:05,115
Maybe that's a hint that what
Jonah was most identified by was

794
00:35:05,115 --> 00:35:07,755
not his relationship to God, but
his relationship to his people.

795
00:35:09,045 --> 00:35:10,035
You understand that, right?

796
00:35:10,605 --> 00:35:12,105
Uh, if someone asks you, Hey, who are you?

797
00:35:12,105 --> 00:35:13,305
You might say, oh, I'm American.

798
00:35:13,395 --> 00:35:14,985
You know, I live in North Texas.

799
00:35:15,015 --> 00:35:18,405
There's a lot of descriptors you would
use to say who you are, but here we wonder

800
00:35:18,405 --> 00:35:23,565
if Jonah's allegiance wasn't primary to
the Lord, but to his people, his national

801
00:35:23,565 --> 00:35:25,365
identity with the covenant people of God.

802
00:35:26,355 --> 00:35:29,355
So God challenges him and he says,
look, God, this is your fault.

803
00:35:29,385 --> 00:35:30,285
I knew that you would do this.

804
00:35:30,285 --> 00:35:32,595
Exodus 34, 6 tells me that
you would be this way.

805
00:35:33,464 --> 00:35:34,874
Joel chapter two, verse 13.

806
00:35:34,874 --> 00:35:37,365
When Pastor P just recently preached
that, I knew that you would act this way.

807
00:35:37,365 --> 00:35:38,444
You're gracious and merciful.

808
00:35:38,654 --> 00:35:39,705
This is a problem in you.

809
00:35:39,705 --> 00:35:41,774
This is not a good thing, and
so I knew you would relent.

810
00:35:41,894 --> 00:35:44,834
Therefore, now, verse three,
please take my life from me.

811
00:35:44,894 --> 00:35:46,334
It's better for me to die than to live.

812
00:35:47,354 --> 00:35:48,705
And notice how God responds.

813
00:35:49,095 --> 00:35:49,995
Verse four, highlight this.

814
00:35:49,995 --> 00:35:53,894
God gets angry at Jonah and calls him
out and says, what is your problem?

815
00:35:53,894 --> 00:35:56,415
You knucklehead highlight that part.

816
00:35:56,595 --> 00:35:57,104
Let's put that in there.

817
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:03,359
It doesn't say that God's response
to Jonah is probably the most res,

818
00:36:03,525 --> 00:36:04,799
the the most surprising thing to me.

819
00:36:05,129 --> 00:36:07,140
The Lord said, do you do well to be angry?

820
00:36:07,589 --> 00:36:11,069
It's almost like this gentle patient,
father just saying, dude, you're,

821
00:36:11,069 --> 00:36:12,629
you're all worked up about these things.

822
00:36:12,629 --> 00:36:14,670
Is that, is that really
the best response for you?

823
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:15,660
Is that right?

824
00:36:17,490 --> 00:36:18,480
We don't know how Jonah responds.

825
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,370
Maybe he doesn't respond at all,
but in verse five, Jonah goes outta

826
00:36:20,370 --> 00:36:24,120
the city, goes east of the city and
made a booth for himself there, sat

827
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,430
under it in the shade till he should
see what would become of the city.

828
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,680
And the Lord appointed a plant.

829
00:36:28,710 --> 00:36:29,819
Here's that word a point again.

830
00:36:29,940 --> 00:36:30,990
God appointed the fish.

831
00:36:31,109 --> 00:36:34,080
Now God a points the plants and
made it cover up over Jonah that

832
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:37,170
it might be a shade over his head
to save him from his discomfort.

833
00:36:38,009 --> 00:36:40,710
And so Jonah was exceedingly
glad because of the plant.

834
00:36:41,430 --> 00:36:42,359
God appoint a fish.

835
00:36:42,390 --> 00:36:43,020
Jonah is mad.

836
00:36:43,170 --> 00:36:44,069
God appoint a plant.

837
00:36:44,069 --> 00:36:44,670
Jonah's happy.

838
00:36:46,245 --> 00:36:46,875
That's what's happening here.

839
00:36:48,555 --> 00:36:53,475
But notice God is not only asking
him inviting questions, God is the

840
00:36:53,475 --> 00:36:57,555
one who appoints a plant so that
it would be a shade over his head

841
00:36:57,555 --> 00:36:59,174
to save him from his discomfort.

842
00:37:00,134 --> 00:37:03,315
The word there can mean from his own
evil, the word for discomfort, there

843
00:37:03,315 --> 00:37:06,404
is a word that can be appropriately
used to say His evil, to save him

844
00:37:06,404 --> 00:37:11,024
from his rah, his evil disposition, or
maybe even further evil in his anger.

845
00:37:12,615 --> 00:37:13,125
Verse seven.

846
00:37:13,875 --> 00:37:16,605
When the dawn came up the next
day, God appointed God again.

847
00:37:16,665 --> 00:37:18,615
Here's sovereignly
intervening in Jonah's life.

848
00:37:18,615 --> 00:37:20,775
God appointed a worm that
attacked the plant so that it

849
00:37:20,775 --> 00:37:22,035
withered when the sun rose.

850
00:37:22,035 --> 00:37:24,345
God appointed a scorching east
wind and the sun beat down on the

851
00:37:24,345 --> 00:37:25,695
head of Jonah so that he was faint.

852
00:37:26,145 --> 00:37:27,705
And he asked that he might die again.

853
00:37:27,765 --> 00:37:29,385
He said, it's better for
me to die than to live.

854
00:37:29,415 --> 00:37:32,115
But God said, do you do well
to be angry for the plans?

855
00:37:32,115 --> 00:37:34,035
And he said, yes, I do well to be angry.

856
00:37:34,185 --> 00:37:34,875
Angry enough to die.

857
00:37:34,875 --> 00:37:36,435
God, get rid of me.

858
00:37:36,435 --> 00:37:37,245
Just take me out.

859
00:37:39,674 --> 00:37:41,354
Adding a little bit of
emotional drama for your sake.

860
00:37:41,354 --> 00:37:42,254
Hopefully that makes sense.

861
00:37:42,884 --> 00:37:45,104
We don't know if that's the way
he said it, but clearly he's, he's

862
00:37:45,104 --> 00:37:48,345
flabbergasted, he's angry, he's
upset at this whole situation.

863
00:37:48,345 --> 00:37:51,435
He's upset that God showed mercy
to his least favorite people.

864
00:37:51,464 --> 00:37:52,214
To put it mildly.

865
00:37:52,484 --> 00:37:55,334
And I wonder if we know a little
bit of something like that.

866
00:37:55,634 --> 00:37:57,555
Maybe you're not angry at
a certain people group.

867
00:37:57,944 --> 00:38:00,555
Maybe you're not threatened
by their existence in North

868
00:38:00,555 --> 00:38:01,785
Texas and they're growing.

869
00:38:01,964 --> 00:38:03,555
Uh, maybe you're not in that place.

870
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,160
But I do think all of us know what
it is to want to deny others the

871
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,200
same mercy that we ourselves receive.

872
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,519
And so I'm gonna say that
for point number two.

873
00:38:11,700 --> 00:38:16,740
Don't deny others the same mercy you
depend on Jonah's fatal flaw and mistake

874
00:38:16,740 --> 00:38:20,519
here was that he was unwilling to give
others what he himself had received.

875
00:38:20,519 --> 00:38:24,149
So often, especially in his own
book, he received the grace and

876
00:38:24,149 --> 00:38:25,649
mercy of God, but he was unwilling.

877
00:38:25,769 --> 00:38:27,390
He was even begrudging, stingy.

878
00:38:27,450 --> 00:38:28,589
He didn't wanna give it to them.

879
00:38:29,339 --> 00:38:30,539
It's for me, it's not for thee.

880
00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:35,220
Driving in North Texas
is always an experience.

881
00:38:35,249 --> 00:38:37,769
You know, that take your
life in your hands every day.

882
00:38:37,769 --> 00:38:38,279
You pray.

883
00:38:38,850 --> 00:38:40,049
Hopefully you make it down the road.

884
00:38:41,729 --> 00:38:42,419
How do you feel?

885
00:38:43,439 --> 00:38:43,890
Excuse me.

886
00:38:44,519 --> 00:38:46,830
How do you feel when someone
cuts in front of you?

887
00:38:48,479 --> 00:38:50,279
You're driving, you're doing
what you should be doing.

888
00:38:50,279 --> 00:38:50,700
When you're driving.

889
00:38:50,700 --> 00:38:52,620
You're 10 and two, you're doing
your thing, and someone just

890
00:38:52,620 --> 00:38:53,879
goes, err right in front of you.

891
00:38:55,019 --> 00:38:57,359
Maybe you're like me, you throw your
hands in the air and say, what do you do?

892
00:38:57,479 --> 00:38:57,839
Why?

893
00:38:57,899 --> 00:38:59,100
Like, why is this necessary?

894
00:38:59,339 --> 00:39:00,450
Just drive like a normal person.

895
00:39:01,365 --> 00:39:02,325
Why do you gotta drive like this?

896
00:39:03,975 --> 00:39:06,435
But how does your opinion change?

897
00:39:06,435 --> 00:39:10,694
How does your thinking change when as
you see that person cut you off, you see

898
00:39:10,694 --> 00:39:17,145
that little yellow magnetic sticker that
says, please be patient, student driver.

899
00:39:20,415 --> 00:39:20,865
Okay.

900
00:39:21,285 --> 00:39:22,395
Don't let it happen again.

901
00:39:23,295 --> 00:39:23,895
Forgiven.

902
00:39:24,430 --> 00:39:25,785
But I'm not, I'm not happy about it.

903
00:39:25,995 --> 00:39:29,865
Still, you shouldn't be doing that
way and you, and maybe you're like

904
00:39:29,865 --> 00:39:32,865
me, you wanna get around 'em to see
if they're really a student driver.

905
00:39:34,185 --> 00:39:36,135
Look and see, are you
really who you say you are?

906
00:39:36,915 --> 00:39:38,295
Occasionally I'll see an adult in there.

907
00:39:38,295 --> 00:39:38,925
I'm like, are you really?

908
00:39:38,925 --> 00:39:40,065
I don't know if that's you.

909
00:39:41,145 --> 00:39:42,765
If it's you and you're
not a student driver.

910
00:39:42,765 --> 00:39:43,755
Well, now I'm angry again.

911
00:39:43,785 --> 00:39:44,685
She shouldn't be driving like that.

912
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:49,379
But it's that sticker that really
kind of dismisses or, uh, at least

913
00:39:49,379 --> 00:39:53,459
it, it decreases our anger in that
moment or our drive for justice.

914
00:39:53,459 --> 00:39:55,049
Our drive for you shouldn't
be driving this way.

915
00:39:57,479 --> 00:39:58,620
Why does it do that?

916
00:39:59,189 --> 00:40:00,059
I thought about that.

917
00:40:00,479 --> 00:40:03,899
'cause it's happened to me several
times because, and I think what's

918
00:40:03,899 --> 00:40:07,919
behind it is that I recognize
that I've been there before.

919
00:40:08,430 --> 00:40:10,079
I used to be a bad driver.

920
00:40:10,455 --> 00:40:11,834
For a week, and then I was great.

921
00:40:14,265 --> 00:40:17,564
I know what it was like to be terrified
behind the road and to be 10 and two and

922
00:40:17,564 --> 00:40:21,495
looking at all my mirrors and just anxious
and trying not to just kill anybody.

923
00:40:22,725 --> 00:40:26,325
Now, today when you're driving, if
you're like me, maybe you're doing

924
00:40:26,325 --> 00:40:30,524
a lot more than driving, answering
a couple phone calls, text messages,

925
00:40:30,615 --> 00:40:34,935
typing out an email, you know, sending
first class mail at the same time.

926
00:40:34,935 --> 00:40:35,564
You're just doing everything.

927
00:40:37,424 --> 00:40:39,015
Your body is taking over most of the time.

928
00:40:39,194 --> 00:40:40,305
I'm not saying if you
should do that or not.

929
00:40:40,305 --> 00:40:42,854
I'm just saying it's you, you
know, between you and the Lord.

930
00:40:44,055 --> 00:40:46,934
We remember that what it was like
to be a, a, a first time driver and

931
00:40:46,934 --> 00:40:50,204
to feel the, the scariness and, and
just hoping that no one kills you.

932
00:40:50,204 --> 00:40:52,634
Especially in Texas where
carrying is not illegal here.

933
00:40:52,814 --> 00:40:55,064
You just hope no one kills
you, so you remember.

934
00:40:55,095 --> 00:40:56,204
Oh, that's what it feels like.

935
00:40:56,204 --> 00:40:56,714
I get it.

936
00:40:56,745 --> 00:40:56,984
Okay.

937
00:40:56,984 --> 00:40:57,914
Let me give you grace.

938
00:40:57,944 --> 00:40:58,904
'cause I needed that too.

939
00:40:59,954 --> 00:41:00,434
I need that too.

940
00:41:01,725 --> 00:41:02,055
That's.

941
00:41:02,805 --> 00:41:04,035
That's exactly what we need today.

942
00:41:04,515 --> 00:41:07,875
We need to be able to look at people
around us, who sin against us, who maybe

943
00:41:07,875 --> 00:41:10,665
say bad things about you, and to be
able to say, look, I remember what it

944
00:41:10,665 --> 00:41:12,105
was like to not be right with Christ.

945
00:41:12,855 --> 00:41:14,265
I remember the desperation.

946
00:41:14,265 --> 00:41:15,285
I remember the sorrow.

947
00:41:15,285 --> 00:41:18,495
I remember what it was like
to, to feel like my life is

948
00:41:18,495 --> 00:41:19,785
lost and without direction.

949
00:41:19,785 --> 00:41:20,565
I remember that.

950
00:41:21,495 --> 00:41:22,995
I'm not saying that what
they do makes it right.

951
00:41:22,995 --> 00:41:25,575
It's not suddenly okay when they do
things to you or say things about you.

952
00:41:25,575 --> 00:41:27,225
But Jonah is angry at these people.

953
00:41:27,225 --> 00:41:28,575
He's saying, I don't wanna
give them God's grace.

954
00:41:28,575 --> 00:41:29,535
I don't wanna give 'em God's mercy.

955
00:41:29,595 --> 00:41:30,825
How dare you even offer that?

956
00:41:31,035 --> 00:41:34,004
Your job is to remember where
God took you from always.

957
00:41:34,154 --> 00:41:36,225
You have to keep this at the
forefront of your mind, lest you

958
00:41:36,225 --> 00:41:39,285
forget, because when someone cuts
you off on the road, you, you forget.

959
00:41:39,345 --> 00:41:41,234
You forget in that moment,
oh, I was there before.

960
00:41:41,294 --> 00:41:44,685
Instead, what we need to do is
reconnect to what God has done for us.

961
00:41:45,314 --> 00:41:48,194
Don't deny others the same mercy
and grace that you depend upon.

962
00:41:49,470 --> 00:41:51,780
Two terms that we use interchangeably,
but they are different.

963
00:41:51,990 --> 00:41:53,850
Mercy is not getting what we deserve.

964
00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,010
Grace is getting what we don't deserve.

965
00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:58,830
Mercy is not getting what we deserve.

966
00:41:59,040 --> 00:41:59,850
I deserve punishment.

967
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:01,110
God says, I'm not gonna give it to you.

968
00:42:01,470 --> 00:42:03,300
Grace is getting what I don't deserve.

969
00:42:03,450 --> 00:42:05,850
I get a good gift from God and
it's something I don't deserve.

970
00:42:05,970 --> 00:42:09,060
Notice that for both mercy and
grace, what's the common factor?

971
00:42:09,330 --> 00:42:10,260
I don't deserve?

972
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:11,430
I don't deserve it.

973
00:42:13,275 --> 00:42:16,365
And sometimes as Christians, we get to a
place of saying, man, I do deserve good.

974
00:42:16,425 --> 00:42:17,775
I do deserve God to do differently.

975
00:42:17,775 --> 00:42:22,215
I do deserve God's preferential
treatment, but we never outgrow our

976
00:42:22,215 --> 00:42:24,135
need for undeserved, mercy and grace.

977
00:42:24,315 --> 00:42:27,105
You're never gonna be at a level
where God suddenly says, great.

978
00:42:27,105 --> 00:42:30,195
You're now operating
on works and not grace.

979
00:42:30,435 --> 00:42:33,285
And from this point forward, I'm gonna
treat you like you're a perfect person.

980
00:42:33,765 --> 00:42:34,875
Thank God he never does that.

981
00:42:35,025 --> 00:42:39,135
What we need is to do is live on God's
mercy and grace all throughout our lives.

982
00:42:40,230 --> 00:42:42,015
We need to recognize how
much we've been forgiven.

983
00:42:42,345 --> 00:42:45,675
And remember, God wants us to give to
others as we ourselves have been given.

984
00:42:46,575 --> 00:42:49,154
This is what's gonna provoke us to
make a difference in our communities.

985
00:42:49,815 --> 00:42:53,865
The moment we forget and become
amnesia, uh, am am the moment we

986
00:42:53,865 --> 00:42:54,675
forget, I'm gonna stick with that.

987
00:42:55,005 --> 00:42:59,295
The moment we forget is the moment
that we're in danger of living

988
00:42:59,295 --> 00:43:04,035
our lives as though we are no
longer debtors to God's grace.

989
00:43:04,725 --> 00:43:06,884
We'll become calloused and
hardhearted toward people.

990
00:43:07,125 --> 00:43:09,045
This is exactly what can take
place at a church like ours.

991
00:43:09,465 --> 00:43:12,615
We are exactly like the church
and Ephesus, we have a high view

992
00:43:12,615 --> 00:43:13,815
of scripture, high view of God.

993
00:43:13,815 --> 00:43:14,475
And this is a good thing.

994
00:43:14,475 --> 00:43:17,685
It's not a bad thing, but God says,
but you've left your first love.

995
00:43:18,405 --> 00:43:20,475
You have the head knowledge,
but is your heart along with me?

996
00:43:20,475 --> 00:43:21,555
This is what God wants from Jonah.

997
00:43:21,675 --> 00:43:22,695
I want your heart with me.

998
00:43:23,835 --> 00:43:24,825
Do you do well to be angry?

999
00:43:24,825 --> 00:43:26,865
Jonah, do you do well to
to respond in these ways?

1000
00:43:26,865 --> 00:43:27,315
No.

1001
00:43:28,125 --> 00:43:29,055
I want your heart, Jonah.

1002
00:43:29,055 --> 00:43:30,135
I don't want just your obedience.

1003
00:43:30,225 --> 00:43:30,795
I want your heart.

1004
00:43:30,795 --> 00:43:32,715
I want you to feel the
same things that I feel.

1005
00:43:37,424 --> 00:43:39,854
Remember that you don't deserve
God's grace and his mercy.

1006
00:43:40,995 --> 00:43:41,745
That's the whole point.

1007
00:43:42,285 --> 00:43:43,575
We never get to that.

1008
00:43:43,575 --> 00:43:44,564
We never deserve it.

1009
00:43:44,564 --> 00:43:47,084
We never have earned it
and we still need it.

1010
00:43:48,854 --> 00:43:54,075
These last few verses here, I
narrowed it down to these final,

1011
00:43:54,075 --> 00:43:56,144
because I, I think these final
verses really make the point for us.

1012
00:43:56,144 --> 00:43:57,944
Look at verses 10 and 11.

1013
00:44:00,524 --> 00:44:04,305
Lord said, you pity the plant
for which you did not Labor.

1014
00:44:04,755 --> 00:44:08,745
Nor did you make it grow, which came into
being in a night and perished in a night.

1015
00:44:09,225 --> 00:44:13,125
In other words, is a temporary
verse 11 and should not I

1016
00:44:13,125 --> 00:44:15,645
pity Nineveh, the great city.

1017
00:44:15,645 --> 00:44:19,154
That great city in which there
are more than 120,000 persons who

1018
00:44:19,154 --> 00:44:22,815
do not know their right hand from
their left and also much cattle.

1019
00:44:26,085 --> 00:44:27,525
God is making a few points here.

1020
00:44:28,095 --> 00:44:32,145
Notice God is saying, you pity the
plant, but you didn't labor for it.

1021
00:44:32,174 --> 00:44:32,955
You didn't make it grow.

1022
00:44:33,420 --> 00:44:34,980
And it came into being
in a night in perished.

1023
00:44:35,250 --> 00:44:35,910
It's temporary.

1024
00:44:36,420 --> 00:44:37,710
You didn't labor forward the plant?

1025
00:44:37,980 --> 00:44:39,029
I labored for Nineveh.

1026
00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:40,950
You didn't make the plant grow.

1027
00:44:41,070 --> 00:44:42,060
I made Nineveh grow.

1028
00:44:42,750 --> 00:44:43,620
It perished in a night.

1029
00:44:43,620 --> 00:44:44,310
It's temporary.

1030
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,745
Nineveh has immortal souls that are
on their way out who don't know.

1031
00:44:48,305 --> 00:44:48,424
I.

1032
00:44:48,959 --> 00:44:49,950
And also they got animals.

1033
00:44:49,950 --> 00:44:52,649
They got cattle, which tells me
again, this is not Nineveh proper.

1034
00:44:52,649 --> 00:44:54,120
This is Nineveh in the surrounding region.

1035
00:44:54,149 --> 00:44:54,959
'cause there's cattle involved.

1036
00:44:54,959 --> 00:44:56,069
You don't keep cattle inside the city.

1037
00:44:56,069 --> 00:44:58,019
You keep cattle outside the
city where there are pastures

1038
00:44:58,019 --> 00:44:59,160
and places for them to to roam.

1039
00:44:59,490 --> 00:45:02,910
So God is saying, look, you care about
this, this plants, and you're really

1040
00:45:02,910 --> 00:45:05,309
glad about it, but you're missing
the whole forest for the trees.

1041
00:45:05,309 --> 00:45:05,579
Jonah.

1042
00:45:05,579 --> 00:45:07,289
You should care about the
people that I care about.

1043
00:45:11,504 --> 00:45:16,124
God leaves it here with the question
and we never know Jonah's answer.

1044
00:45:16,995 --> 00:45:20,654
And that's intentional by the author of
Jonah because he's putting the finger

1045
00:45:20,654 --> 00:45:21,794
in our chest and say, what about you?

1046
00:45:22,424 --> 00:45:23,024
What about you?

1047
00:45:23,024 --> 00:45:24,104
Do you care?

1048
00:45:24,555 --> 00:45:27,854
Do you care about the
120,000 of the Ninevites?

1049
00:45:28,184 --> 00:45:31,515
Who 50 years later are
going to overthrow Israel?

1050
00:45:31,604 --> 00:45:32,294
Destroy them?

1051
00:45:33,644 --> 00:45:34,305
Do you care about them?

1052
00:45:34,814 --> 00:45:36,794
Do you care about the people who don't
know their right from their left hand?

1053
00:45:36,794 --> 00:45:37,575
Do you care about the animals?

1054
00:45:38,865 --> 00:45:43,575
I think the last point here that we
have in our sermon on Jonah is God's

1055
00:45:44,055 --> 00:45:48,195
allowing you to ask yourself the question,
do I care sufficiently about people?

1056
00:45:49,065 --> 00:45:49,875
Do I care enough?

1057
00:45:52,065 --> 00:45:53,625
That's a tricky question to answer.

1058
00:45:53,625 --> 00:45:55,695
'cause there's, it's like, well,
okay, what, what number, at what

1059
00:45:55,695 --> 00:45:56,865
point do I, do I care enough?

1060
00:45:56,865 --> 00:45:57,495
How do I know?

1061
00:45:58,155 --> 00:46:00,285
And I don't think there's a,
there's an answer to that.

1062
00:46:00,975 --> 00:46:02,055
I don't think there's an answer.

1063
00:46:02,055 --> 00:46:05,834
I, I think there's multiple answers
that God wants us to feel, but

1064
00:46:05,839 --> 00:46:09,225
he, he really wants us to ask the
question, do I care about people?

1065
00:46:10,785 --> 00:46:13,305
We sometimes talk about the people
around us as the lost, and that's true.

1066
00:46:13,305 --> 00:46:16,095
We should care about the lost,
but what about people in here?

1067
00:46:16,274 --> 00:46:17,865
There are lost inside our building.

1068
00:46:18,285 --> 00:46:18,915
Do you know who they are?

1069
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:21,375
We should care about Christians.

1070
00:46:21,435 --> 00:46:24,104
We should have compassion
and energy for Christians.

1071
00:46:24,254 --> 00:46:26,384
That's not the point here, but he's
saying, do you care about people?

1072
00:46:26,685 --> 00:46:30,435
The Ninevites are one of God's set of
image bearers, and I want you to care

1073
00:46:30,435 --> 00:46:35,955
about them, to do this, to do, to care
the way that God wants us to care.

1074
00:46:35,955 --> 00:46:37,545
We, we just can't go through the motions.

1075
00:46:37,605 --> 00:46:38,205
We just can't.

1076
00:46:38,985 --> 00:46:41,685
We have to disrupt our thinking because
I'll tell you what happens when I drive

1077
00:46:41,685 --> 00:46:46,755
and I'm driving past Costco, I see a
massive people, and here's what I see.

1078
00:46:47,745 --> 00:46:50,565
I see traffic and I see inconveniences.

1079
00:46:51,555 --> 00:46:53,745
How long is it gonna take me
to get in Costco and get out?

1080
00:46:54,104 --> 00:46:57,404
Well, if there's the parking
lot's, 85% full, 90 Oh, it's

1081
00:46:57,404 --> 00:46:59,354
gonna be a long time at Costco.

1082
00:47:01,185 --> 00:47:02,145
I'm missing the point, aren't I?

1083
00:47:03,194 --> 00:47:03,705
I'm missing it.

1084
00:47:04,125 --> 00:47:04,424
I'm missing.

1085
00:47:04,424 --> 00:47:09,104
I see, I see people, but only
incidentally to my problems.

1086
00:47:09,104 --> 00:47:11,444
And you're, you're adjacent
to my thinking here.

1087
00:47:11,444 --> 00:47:13,544
You're, you're really an
inconvenience on my life.

1088
00:47:14,279 --> 00:47:17,370
The traffic on El Dorado, the
traffic on DNT, all the construction

1089
00:47:17,370 --> 00:47:19,650
that's happening around us to make
room for more and more people.

1090
00:47:19,830 --> 00:47:21,960
Uh, I know a lot of people
are like, oh, here we go.

1091
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:23,970
Get ready for the traffic, get
ready for all the construction.

1092
00:47:23,970 --> 00:47:24,509
And I understand that.

1093
00:47:24,509 --> 00:47:24,900
I get it.

1094
00:47:24,900 --> 00:47:26,610
I'm not, I get it, I get it.

1095
00:47:26,850 --> 00:47:28,170
But here's, here's, here's the reality.

1096
00:47:28,650 --> 00:47:30,645
Right now we are 8.7

1097
00:47:30,645 --> 00:47:32,190
million people in North Texas.

1098
00:47:32,220 --> 00:47:33,120
Just, just about give or take.

1099
00:47:33,590 --> 00:47:35,660
And this is hard for us
because humans aren't meant to

1100
00:47:35,660 --> 00:47:36,890
think in these abstractions.

1101
00:47:37,190 --> 00:47:39,440
We can understand 10 people,
20 people, 30 people.

1102
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:40,595
But when we start talking about 8.7

1103
00:47:40,595 --> 00:47:43,190
million, it's now like, okay,
well I, it's, it's a statistic.

1104
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:45,560
Uh, we, we struggle to feel those numbers.

1105
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:46,370
And I get that too.

1106
00:47:46,820 --> 00:47:47,450
I get that too.

1107
00:47:47,570 --> 00:47:49,220
Which is why I'm gonna encourage
you with this last point.

1108
00:47:49,220 --> 00:47:52,040
When you're asking the question to
discern whether I sufficiently care about

1109
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:53,630
people, I'm gonna ask you to be specific.

1110
00:47:54,260 --> 00:47:57,650
Think about your neighbors, their
faces, their problems, their

1111
00:47:57,650 --> 00:47:59,450
think about them when you're
walking around your neighborhood.

1112
00:47:59,450 --> 00:48:02,240
Think about those people specifically.

1113
00:48:03,450 --> 00:48:04,290
Be specific.

1114
00:48:04,590 --> 00:48:05,370
Think about them.

1115
00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:08,940
One of the things I, I did recently
is I went to the local temple.

1116
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:10,259
This is in Frisco.

1117
00:48:10,259 --> 00:48:10,920
Do you notice this one?

1118
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:11,790
Have you recognized this one?

1119
00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:12,990
Have you been there yet?

1120
00:48:14,220 --> 00:48:15,270
I've been there a few times.

1121
00:48:15,300 --> 00:48:17,820
Um, 'cause I was interested by
the architecture driving by.

1122
00:48:17,820 --> 00:48:18,570
I'm like, oh, what is that?

1123
00:48:18,570 --> 00:48:19,140
Lemme take a look.

1124
00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:21,630
It was closed and I've been
there twice when it was closed.

1125
00:48:21,630 --> 00:48:23,460
And this last time I got
to go and it was open.

1126
00:48:24,060 --> 00:48:27,630
So I went inside, um, and I
went to their worship center.

1127
00:48:28,710 --> 00:48:32,280
And in that worship center, it was
packed and it was packed to the gills.

1128
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:35,190
Lots of people there, they were
chanting and worshiping, and they

1129
00:48:35,190 --> 00:48:39,060
were doing all sorts of things
that I know God says is wrong.

1130
00:48:39,090 --> 00:48:42,450
They're bowing down to idols and
they're, they're, they're singing things.

1131
00:48:42,810 --> 00:48:43,650
I don't know what they're saying.

1132
00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:45,870
It was in their own language, but
they're saying things that I know

1133
00:48:45,870 --> 00:48:46,740
God does not want them to do.

1134
00:48:47,790 --> 00:48:50,100
What happened is that, A, I
became more aware of what they're

1135
00:48:50,100 --> 00:48:52,920
doing, how, how they operate, and
then BI began to feel for them.

1136
00:48:53,294 --> 00:48:55,725
Because I'm seeing faces pass
by, they see me, obviously.

1137
00:48:55,725 --> 00:48:56,144
I stand out.

1138
00:48:56,144 --> 00:48:57,765
Kristen and I are there and they see her.

1139
00:48:57,765 --> 00:49:00,345
We both stand out like sore thumbs,
but they're looking at us and I'm

1140
00:49:00,345 --> 00:49:02,685
looking at them and we're like making
awkward faces at each other and I'm

1141
00:49:02,685 --> 00:49:03,765
saying, I'm praying for you right now.

1142
00:49:03,944 --> 00:49:04,814
I care about you.

1143
00:49:05,384 --> 00:49:09,314
Suddenly the ethereal and the difficult
to wrap my mind around became real.

1144
00:49:09,615 --> 00:49:14,504
They became real flesh and blood people,
families with kids and grandparents.

1145
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:16,980
You know, and they're, they're,
they're literally bowing down

1146
00:49:16,980 --> 00:49:18,810
to idols inside their temple.

1147
00:49:18,810 --> 00:49:20,640
They had three temple
structures, maybe more.

1148
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:21,840
I actually didn't go inside that part.

1149
00:49:22,170 --> 00:49:25,350
But they're bowing down, they're chanting,
and, you know, they're, they're doing

1150
00:49:25,350 --> 00:49:29,520
all the things that are related to their
Hindu ideology, and it became real to me.

1151
00:49:29,820 --> 00:49:31,740
These are people, this
is not just theology.

1152
00:49:32,010 --> 00:49:32,610
These are people.

1153
00:49:32,940 --> 00:49:33,600
I care about the people.

1154
00:49:34,470 --> 00:49:35,475
So even though there's 8.7

1155
00:49:35,475 --> 00:49:37,020
million in North Texas and we're growing.

1156
00:49:37,815 --> 00:49:40,305
I need you to start thinking
specifically, disrupt your

1157
00:49:40,305 --> 00:49:42,225
thinking, get off of autopilot.

1158
00:49:42,285 --> 00:49:44,625
And when you're driving down precedent
and you see all the traffic, and

1159
00:49:44,625 --> 00:49:47,955
you see all the construction, take
that, take that quick feeling of I'm

1160
00:49:47,955 --> 00:49:50,025
annoyed to, Lord, help me to care.

1161
00:49:50,775 --> 00:49:53,805
And maybe the people that are driving
next to you, you look at them and

1162
00:49:53,805 --> 00:49:56,025
you see them thinking about whatever
they're thinking about their, their

1163
00:49:56,025 --> 00:49:57,465
life and their kids and their marriages.

1164
00:49:57,465 --> 00:49:59,895
And you see the other person next to
you who's driving the near the lifted

1165
00:49:59,895 --> 00:50:03,195
truck and he's whoever, whatever he's
doing, maybe he's a construction worker.

1166
00:50:03,195 --> 00:50:03,885
Think about that guy.

1167
00:50:03,885 --> 00:50:04,905
Say, what's going on in that guy's life?

1168
00:50:04,905 --> 00:50:06,135
Lord, Lord, please bless that guy.

1169
00:50:07,110 --> 00:50:08,700
If he doesn't know you, help him know you.

1170
00:50:09,540 --> 00:50:11,610
See people don't see masses.

1171
00:50:11,610 --> 00:50:14,880
See people and ask us, Lord,
do I care enough about people?

1172
00:50:15,510 --> 00:50:16,530
'cause that God cares.

1173
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:18,270
God cares.

1174
00:50:18,270 --> 00:50:20,370
And, and God asked Jonah, do
you, do you do well to be angry?

1175
00:50:21,870 --> 00:50:23,700
Should I not pity
Nineveh, that great city?

1176
00:50:25,470 --> 00:50:29,160
And which there are more than 120,000
persons, God cared about 120,000.

1177
00:50:30,030 --> 00:50:30,990
How much does God care for?

1178
00:50:30,990 --> 00:50:31,530
8.7

1179
00:50:31,530 --> 00:50:32,070
million?

1180
00:50:34,560 --> 00:50:38,010
We need to discern whether we sufficiently
care and care the way that God cares.

1181
00:50:38,430 --> 00:50:40,890
The way that God cares is
detailed in Matthew chapter nine.

1182
00:50:42,300 --> 00:50:45,180
Lemme just read this and, and
then we'll end in prayer together.

1183
00:50:46,170 --> 00:50:47,220
Matthew chapter nine.

1184
00:50:47,940 --> 00:50:50,820
Jesus is preparing to commission
his disciples to go out, and he

1185
00:50:50,820 --> 00:50:53,940
says this, when he saw the crowds,
he had compassion for them.

1186
00:50:55,455 --> 00:50:57,705
Because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

1187
00:50:58,065 --> 00:51:00,975
And then he said to disciples, the harvest
is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

1188
00:51:00,975 --> 00:51:04,305
Therefore, pray earnestly to
the Lord of the harvest to send

1189
00:51:04,305 --> 00:51:05,745
out laborers into his harvest.

1190
00:51:07,424 --> 00:51:11,775
Jesus application for the masses
that we see as man, start praying,

1191
00:51:12,435 --> 00:51:13,634
pray that God send laborers.

1192
00:51:14,355 --> 00:51:16,515
And what will happen inevitably
is that you'll begin to share

1193
00:51:16,515 --> 00:51:17,475
God's heart about these people.

1194
00:51:17,475 --> 00:51:19,515
And you're gonna say, I, I want to
be part of the answer to that prayer.

1195
00:51:19,515 --> 00:51:21,015
Lord, open up doors.

1196
00:51:21,045 --> 00:51:21,674
Help me love them.

1197
00:51:21,674 --> 00:51:21,944
Well.

1198
00:51:23,444 --> 00:51:24,345
Let's do what Jesus says.

1199
00:51:24,404 --> 00:51:25,305
Let's pray together right now.