Friends, we are kicking off a new series in a book of the Bible called Jonah.
! And if you've never read Jonah before, you've definitely heard about it.
People have heard about the story of Jonah, normally when they were a kid.
And I had an interesting experience as a kid with the book of Jonah.
I was talking to a friend of mine this week who was interested in why we were doing the book of Jonah as a church.
Why are we exploring it?
And I mentioned to him that as a kid, I grew up in a place called Eden.
That's Eden there.
Well, I grew up nearby at least, 10 minutes away in the country.
And you'll see on your right there that that's the harbour in Eden.
There's a huge, big harbour where ships can sail in.
And that's where, if people get hit by a storm during the Sydney to Hobart, where everyone retreats before going across Bass Strait.
It's a beautiful part of the world that if there's ever a sunny day, it's a lovely place.
Now, historically, Eden was a whaling town.
They would hunt whales there.
There's this story that I was told every year when I went on a school excursion to the museum, the Eden Whaling Museum.
There was a man who fell into the sea during a hunt.
They would go on these boats.
They were incredibly dangerous.
They would all be standing up throwing harpoons.
No one could swim.
People drowned all the time.
And a man fell in and was assumed drowned.
But two days later, they found something in the belly of a whale that they'd caught.
It was a person.
It was this man.
He'd been bleached completely white.
He'd either lost or had all his hair bleached as well.
And he completely lost his mind.
Now, this friend I was talking to about my experience of thinking about this story from where I grew up,
and Jonah said, look, you've got this wrong.
That man was swallowed by a whale.
Jonah was swallowed by a fish, and a whale is not a fish.
And I thought, is that really what Jonah's about?
Is it just for a historical verification of the kind of sea creature that could inhale a human hole?
No.
That's not what it's about at all.
This book isn't a fairy tale or fable.
It's actually history, and it's not even about Jonah.
It's about God.
This book reveals the depth and waywardness of humanity's sin.
This book is about God's heart toward all those who run away from him.
See, God longs to save people who are nearest to him and furthest away
by gifting them his unearned grace and love.
So as I set up Jonah for us for this next season as a church,
I'm going to ask God for his help as he speaks through his word.
Let's pray.
Lord God, would you please make your words loud and clear from the pages of our Bible?
Deliver to us a great message from your prophet,
so we might turn to you and receive your grace.
Amen.
Now, you might have had some trouble finding Jonah in your Bible,
because it's hard to find.
It's somewhere just past the middle in the Minor Prophets.
It's in the Old Testament.
And this bit of history is recorded from a unique time in Israel's history.
It's around about 780 BC.
Israel was a divided nation.
The glorious reign of King Solomon,
the wonderful riches and majesty of his reign,
had come to an end,
and he had sons,
at least two of whom wanted to be king.
And the kingdom couldn't agree on who was going to be their king,
so they split in two.
There was a northern kingdom who retained the name Israel,
and a southern kingdom who had the name Judah.
The kingdoms from then on jostled in this uneasy brotherhood.
They were sandwiched between nations who hated them,
and they hated,
all around them.
And Jonah was a northern kingdom Israelite.
And he was a prophet.
Prophets were how God had chosen to communicate to his people
since the time of Moses.
He had chosen people, raised them up.
They didn't go to uni and become a prophet.
But he called them, literally spoke to them,
gave them a message,
and then they would pass it on to the people and their leaders.
And God gave Israel simple tests
to check who the chosen prophet was and who was not.
So here's one from Deuteronomy chapter 18.
You may say to yourselves,
how can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?
If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord
does not take place or come true,
that is a message the Lord has not spoken.
The prophet has spoken presumptuously,
and so do not be alarmed.
And therefore,
or if what the prophet says comes true,
then they are a prophet from the Lord.
That's the level of confidence we should have
if someone says,
God has said to you,
blank,
and then prove whether it's true.
We're to listen to a prophet
if God is speaking through them.
Jonah's credentials as a prophet,
his resume,
was read out by Helen just before in Two Kings.
Jonah had spoken God's message in 780 BC
to the then king called Jeroboam II.
Jeroboam was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel
from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea
in accordance with the word of God,
the Lord God of Israel,
spoken through his servant Jonah,
son of Amittai,
the prophet from Gath-Hefer.
God had spoken to Jonah,
he'd spoken to the king,
the king had obeyed
and done what Jonah had said from God,
and a great victory was won.
So Jonah truly was God's prophet.
Israel would have been eager to hear
what Jonah had to say next.
He would have been a celebrity.
He would have been the,
not just lifestyle guru,
but lifestyle guru for the nation
that everyone had listened to
and they'd had their boundaries restored.
Did you hear Helen read that verse
where it said,
from the free to the slave,
everyone was in bitterness
and God heard them.
Jonah had done a wonderful thing
by sharing God's word here.
So imagine their excitement
when God speaks to Jonah again
in Jonah 1 verse 1.
Would God help them win another victory
against their enemies?
But as we heard this morning,
God's second message from Jonah,
through Jonah,
was not for Israel,
it was for Nineveh.
Nineveh.
Go to the great city of Nineveh
and preach against it
because its wickedness
has come up before me.
There were prophets
during this season of Israel
being a divided nation
that went from one brother kingdom
to another,
but never outside Israel's borders.
No prophet had ever been asked
to leave Israel
to speak a message to an enemy.
And the enemy God chose
for Jonah to go to
was the worst one.
Nineveh was a capital city in Assyria.
Assyria was this fearsome,
the words today would be terrorist state.
Ruthless killers in battle
and in politics.
Nineveh was known as great
for its force and power
over the world around it,
for its great evil,
but also because of its vast size.
Apparently, it would take three days
to travel from one edge of the city
through the middle
and out the other side.
It's a huge place
full of tens of thousands of people,
at least.
Israel had already paid
huge tributes to Assyria
and Nineveh was the seat of power
for that world power.
It was utterly unthinkable
that any prophet of God
would go leave Israel
to warn an enemy of God
about God's coming judgment.
The first prophet
to go beyond Israel
on a mission of mercy
was Jonah.
So Jonah had a choice.
He could obey and go,
leave his land,
go warn his worst enemy,
or not.
So have a look at verse 3.
What does Jonah do?
Jonah ran away from the Lord
and headed for Tarshish.
He went down to Joppa.
He found a ship bound for that port
and paying the fare,
he went aboard,
sailed for Tarshish
to flee from the Lord.
Jonah chose
to run away.
Now, if Jonah had,
press play on this, Wendy,
if Jonah had had a phone
at the time,
he would have looked up Google Maps
and he would have just checked
how far Nineveh is away.
As you can see here,
that's round about where he was
and there's Nineveh in the northeast,
about 1,200 kilometers away.
It's a long way.
It's an intimidating walk.
But Jonah instead decides
to check his local travel guide
and jump on a boat
and head completely
the other direction.
Go to the opposite end
of the Mediterranean Sea,
to the edge of the known world,
away from the will of God.
It looks like Jonah was scared,
like an angry, worried kid
throwing a temper tantrum.
But his choice has at least
three reasons that Jonah thinks
are very good behind it.
God was asking Jonah,
a national hero,
to help save an enemy.
And the word in his country
in Israel would have been
treason.
A treasonous request from God.
Jonah was running away
from the shame
of becoming a national disgrace.
It also would have been
a suicide mission.
Jonah walking into Nineveh
with God's message
would have been like
a Jewish rabbi
stepping up to a microphone
at a public rally
in Berlin in 1940.
Jonah was running from danger.
And if Jonah had been bold enough
to risk treason
and the dangers of Assyrian hatred
toward Israel,
would have expected Nineveh
to ignore him anyway
and for God to destroy them?
Jonah ran, actually,
because he knew what God was like.
He'd seen God's words
prove miraculously true.
He knew that God would relent
and show grace to Nineveh
if they listened to his message.
He was running
away from God's grace
to Nineveh.
He even expected
that God would save them.
Jonah
doubted
what God was doing
was good,
offering mercy
and warning
to sinners
like the Ninevites.
And so he ran.
So the book of Jonah
answers for us
this question.
How does God respond
to people
who are running away from him?
All people
running from God
like Jonah
need an answer
to that question.
In the book of Jonah,
we see him run
from the will of God
in two ways.
First,
in chapters one and two,
he runs away
in open disobedience.
And then in chapters
three and four,
from God's will,
Jonah runs away
internally,
revealing a hidden distrust.
In the first half,
Jonah runs away.
He's on a boat
that hits a storm.
He's thrown overboard.
No more storm.
He didn't drown.
He was eaten by a fish.
He survived three days
and was spat up
on land.
That's his
disobedient
running away
that you've heard about.
It's out in the open.
Everyone's heard that story.
But the second half
of the book,
Jonah gets
a second chance
from God
to carry
the message
to Nineveh.
He obeys.
Nineveh,
listen,
repent,
fast,
pray,
and God
relents
from bringing
the disaster.
And Jonah
is devastated.
Jonah reveals
his hidden distrust
of God
in an outburst
of anger.
He just pours out
his hatred
of God's gracious heart.
Jonah was running
from God
even as he obeyed,
but on the inside.
So he sat
and watched
this city
from afar,
hoping against hope
that God might
still destroy it.
And as he sat there,
God was gracious
and caring toward him.
And the book
ends
with
God still
with Jonah
offering him
his grace.
And we're left
with this question.
What will
Jonah
do?
Will he
accept
God's grace
to him?
And that's it.
We don't get an answer.
Series over.
We're done.
Well,
at least
that's what
we might think.
There's a
striking similarity
to this
abruptly
ending story.
To a
teaching story
or a parable
that Jesus
tells.
In Luke
15
in verses
1 and 2
we get this
scene where
Jesus is
standing
up in front
of a crowd
and in front
of him
there are
tax collectors
and sinners.
Now those
two words
aren't used
very often
today,
but if you
can imagine
anyone
or group
of people
or job
that people
do
that people
don't think
highly of
or even
hate,
people
who've
done
things
that make
society
think that
they're not
worthy
or even
that they
hate,
they're all
around Jesus'
feet,
they're closest,
they're listening
in.
They were
hated openly
by the
respected
religious leaders
of Israel,
the Pharisees.
Jesus knew
their hatred
and so
he told
a parable
about the
grace of
God to
all sinners,
the most
rebellious,
open sinners
who were
sitting at
his feet
and to the
most religious
shaking their
heads in
the back.
And this
story is
about a
family,
a father
and two
sons.
Another story
you might have
heard of
before.
Jesus'
story starts
with the
younger son
rebelling
openly
against his
father.
He demands
his inheritance
early.
He shames
his family
and leaves.
He leaves
lavishly,
that squanders
all his
wealth and
nearing
death,
he desperately
turns and
goes back
to his
father,
hoping to
be accepted
as just
a lowly
slave.
But the
father,
seizing
coming from
a long
way away,
runs to
him,
embraces
him and
restores this
rebel son
to his
former
honour as
a son.
All the
son did
was return
and he
received grace
from his
loving father.
And upon
hearing about
this,
the older
brother who's
been working
out in the
field is
furious.
He'd
stayed.
He'd
worked at
his father's
business and
done the
right thing.
He feels
that his
father's mercy
is against
his rights
to his
father's
inheritance
as the
good son.
he feels
owed for
his obedience,
not thankful
for his
father's
love and
generosity.
The
father replies
with an
offer of
the same
grace that
the younger
brother has
already
received.
Will the
older brother
accept
God's
grace to
him?
But just
like Jonah,
the story
ends there.
It's on a
cliffhanger.
Jonah is
structured in
the same
way each
brother ran
from their
father.
How every
human runs
two ways
from God's
will in
our lives.
Since Adam
and Eve,
all people
have doubted
that God's
will is
good.
every
person does
this.
We
measure what
God says
against our
own will
and we
usually win.
We each
run two
ways away
from God.
Firstly,
we run
openly away
like Jonah,
like a
Ninevite,
like the
younger
son.
with open
rebellion
against God.
If you've
ever heard
the phrase
follow your
heart or
you do
you,
that's our
society
affirming
running away
from God
like this.
What evils
we commit
following the
desires of
our nature
in direct
conflict
with the
will of
our
creator.
These
actions are
what we
think of
when we're
confronted
by the
word
sin.
But
secondly,
we can do
openly good
works,
good things,
but with
religious
motives
to try and
earn our
right to
God's
favor.
again,
like Jonah,
but also
like the
older
prodigal
son.
This is
an internal
rebellion
against the
will of
God
to save
us,
not by
what we
do,
but by
his grace.
That's
his heart,
that's his
intention,
but instead
our internal
rebellion
is to
trust
our
own
perspective
and our
own
strength
of will
over
God's.
The
better we
are at
being good
Christian
people,
the less
we allow
ourselves to
feel that
we need
God at
all.
The more
we expect
life to
turn out
how we
want,
because
after all,
we've
obeyed.
we believe
God owes
us for
our
allegiance
to him.
This
too is
running
from God.
It's
not a
virtue,
it's
not a
lesser
sin,
it is
sin.
Be
confronted
by this
as it
confronts
me.
Imagine
someone
who is
more of a
sinner
than
you.
Who is
more far
gone
than
you?
Are you
imagining
a person
or a
group of
people?
Be
honest.
Romans
3.23
says that
all have
sinned
and fall
short
of the
glory of
God.
Many
other
scriptures
say
likewise.
If
no
human
gets
themselves
any
closer
to
God
by
anything
that
they
do,
how
dare
I
look
at
another
human
as
more
in
need
of
God
than
me
or
as
less
worthy
of
God
than
me?
Lifting
ourselves
up
as
better
than
those
people
or
those
sinners
reveals
our
hidden
running
away
from
God's
grace.
And if
we are
honest
with
ourselves
we will
only
see
our
desperate
need
to
embrace
God's
grace.
There
is good
news for
anyone who
runs these
two ways
from God
because
God
shows
grace
to
Jonah
after
he
runs
both
ways.
Cliffhanger
endings
are
written
into
songs
poems
stories
hopefully
not
movies
because
those
are
terrible
movies
when
you
don't
get
an
ending
that's
terrible
but
they're
written
for the
audience
to
respond
they're
written
for the
person
reading
to
do
something
with
something
happened
next to
Jonah
we don't
know
we don't
know
what he
chose
to do
we don't
know
if
his
heart
turned
but
our
knowledge
of
history
ending
right
there
is
a
message
for
you
all
of
us
who
run
two
ways
from
God
like
Jonah
will
you
accept
God's
grace
to
you
we
need
a
prophet
to be
sent
out
of
Israel
again
a
prophet
who
obeys
a
prophet
who
shares
God's
grace
with
the
rebel
and
the
religious
and
the
good
news
is
there
is
a
prophet
like
that
who
did
not
run
from
God's
will
despite
the
great
cost
one
midnight
that
prophet
was in
a
garden
and
he
knew
that
when
the
sun
came
up
he
would
be
falsely
charged
with
treason
for
sharing
God's
message
to
sinners
he
faced
danger
violent
torture
and even
death
all
while
his
followers
abandoned
him in
fear
and
doubt
this
prophet
cried
out
to
God
as
he
sweated
blood
in
the
dark
father
if
you
are
willing
take
this
cup
from
me
yet
not
my
will
but
yours
be
done
two
things
this
prophet
says
there
a
hope
for
runaway
sinners
first
he
yielded
to
God's
will
when
Jonah
did
not
my
will
but
yours
he
said
that
is
his
surrender
to
this
hopeless
looking
mission
and
trusting
God's
will
the
rebels
to
Israel
the
rebels
of
Israel
and to
all
the
nations
of
the
world
every
human
as
we
run
two
ways
from
God's
will
God
had
one
final
message
for
his
prophet
to
share
and
that
was
death
on
a
cross
that
message
that
ultimate
message
of
grace
to
all
people
was
that
this
prophet
himself
would
drink
down
number
two
the
full
cup
of
judgment
the
cup
that
belonged
to
me
to
you
to
all
runaway
sinners
this
prophet
completed
God's
mission
and
died
also
sinners
like
us
could
live
that
is
how
God
justly
fairly
forgave
a
generation
of
repentant
Ninevite
sinners
that
whole
city
that
were
living
on
in
front
of
Jonah's
angry
gaze
this
book
Jonah
points
all
sinners
and all
foreigners
all
rebels
all
religious
runaways
from
God
to
long
for
this
prophet
who
did not
run
away
from
the
will
of
God
and the
prophet
who
does
not
run
is
Jesus
Christ
Jesus
did not
run
from
God
and
he
will
not
stop
running
to
us
that
1200
kilometers
to
Nineveh
not
intimidating
at all
it's
not 28
days
on
foot
it's
worth
it
so
this
prophet
says
to
all
those
running
from
God
in
open
rebellion
who
are
hearing
this
message
today
repent
of
your
sins
turn
to
Jesus
and
surrender
your
life
to
God's
will
receive
his
forgiveness
by his
grace
turn
and follow
him
today
no matter
how far
gone
you feel
or how
far
you have
run
from
God
Jesus
runs
toward
you
to
declare
himself
to
be
your
salvation
and
to
all
those
running
from
God
in
religious
rejection
of
his
grace
repent
of
your
pride
filled
religious
behavior
turn
from
your
distrust
and
surrender
your
life
and
receive
his
perfect
life
in
place
of
your
own
rest
from
your
striving
you
never
stop
needing
God's
grace
hear
Jesus
voice
in the
pages
of the
Bible
accept
God's
grace
from
the
mouth
of
the
prophet
Jesus
we
all run
away
from
God
without
his
help
so
he sent
Jesus
after
us
Jesus
our
great
prophet
runs
to
us
and
stays
alongside
us
will
you
accept
God's
message
from the
mouth
of the
prophet
Jesus
all you
need
to do
is turn
and receive
the grace
of the
father
and no
matter how
far you
run
God's
grace
will
always
overtake
you
God