The Mercy of God | The Book of Jonah | Gary Hamrick

boy have I got a whale of a story for you today you knew that was coming is that's a little fishy yeah I know but we're here in the Book of Jonah so what do you expect me to say the last 12 books of the Old Testament are known as the Minor Prophets and we come now to probably the most familiar of them all even for people who don't know the Bible most people are familiar with this story about Jonah and the Whale although I have to tell you that the word whale does not appear in any English translation of the Bible it's it's just simply a great fish so we don't know what kind of a great fish could have been a sperm whale it could have been a self or bottom whale it could have been a whale shark could have been something large but the Bible just doesn't say the Hebrew word for fish used in the text is dag da G as in dag what a big fish but but this is the story that is most familiar to a lot of people and before we get into the story itself I'll read chapter 1 we'll pray a little background on Jonah and the book that bears his name the Book of Jonah is included among the prophetic books but it is very different from the other prophetic books in that this is more of a narrative this is more of a story it's less about what Jonah said it's less about his actual message and it's more about what he did or what he didn't do and it is somewhat of an embarrassing narrative at that because a prophet of God writes about his own disobedience to God that's what this book is about in in large part none of the other prophets rebel against God or make an overt attempt to sidestep God's divine will like Jonah does so this is his story and God has preserved it for us and there are many reasons and we'll look at one particular theme today the name Jonah is pronounced Jonah in Hebrew it's with a why not a J and his name literally means dove dove Jonah we first read of Jonah in 2nd Kings chapter 14 verse 25 when he is a prophet during the reign of king jeroboam ii making his reign around 780 bc some mid 8th century bc a time when and this is important a time when mid eight century BC when the Assyrian Empire was on the rise we'll talk about that in a moment and this makes Jonah a contemporary of a couple of other minor prophets Amos and Hosea they all prophesy administered during the same time period so I'm gonna read from chapter one then we're gonna pray and dig out really the whole book because as I said at the beginning of our study of the twelve minor prophets as we close out the Old Testament that I'm taking one minor prophet per Sunday there's probably a lot I could say about Jonah but I'm gonna just keep it to one theme today and we'll do a survey of the whole book but let's start here just with chapter one first it says now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amitai saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and cry out against it for their wickedness has come up before me but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish so he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord but the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken out then the Mariners were afraid and every man cried out to his god notice the sailors are pagans here they're crying out to their gods and they threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten the load but Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship had lain down and was fast asleep so the captain came to him and said to him what he means sleeper arise call on your God perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish and they said to one another come let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us so they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah then they said to him please tell us for whose cause is this trouble upon us what is your occupation and where do you come from what is your country and of what people are you so he said to them I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land now pause for a moment you know I mean I intentions are that he fears God but his actions show otherwise I mean he doesn't fear God enough to obey God he's fleeing from God but anyway that's how he presents himself to these pagan sailors I'm a Hebrew I fear the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea in the dry land and then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him why have you done this for the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them and then they said to him what shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us for the sea was growing more tempestuous and he said to them pick me up and throw me into the sea and then the sea will become calm for you for I know that this great tempest is because of me nevertheless the men rode hard to return to the land but they could not for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them therefore they cried out to the Lord and said we pray O Lord please do not let us perish for this man's life and do not charge us with innocent blood for you O Lord have done as it pleased you notice they're crying out to Jonas God now these pagan sailors all of a sudden get religion right because they realize we're being tossed to and fro here was supposed to be just a three-hour trip you know and all the sudden it's turned into anyway if you're old enough to know Gilligan's Island you know that whole deal and it's turned into this terrible storm here and all of a sudden now they start crying out - Jonah's God verse 15 so they picked up Jonah and threw them into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging and then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows and then the chapter ends saying now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights we'll pause it there let's pray father thank you for this story a story that is familiar to many of us but help us to see it for its truth and help us to see it for its application for our lives today you thank you Lord as we begin a new year for your grace and your mercy we pray for your blessings we pray Lord for your continued care and watch over us that you would guide us and direct us give us your wisdom for this day for this year and we praise you in advance for your goodness to us thank you Lord in Jesus name we pray and everybody said amen some of you may be familiar with the name Robert Ingersoll Robert Ingersoll fought in the Civil War he was a civil war vet he was a lawyer and a politician after that and he was also a humanist he was very opposed and very outspoken critic of Christianity in fact he was nicknamed the great agnostic in the nineteenth century despite the fact that his father was a Presbyterian pastor and his father was an assistant to Charles Finney Ingersoll grew up in a very devout Christian home but he had gone a different direction and as this outspoken critic of Christianity the story is told one day of Robert Ingersoll who engaged this woman in conversation on a street corner she was with the Salvation Army and she was on a street corner sharing the gospel of Jesus with people as people were walking by and Ingersoll started making fun of her and got the crowds laughing at her and he said to the woman you don't really believe the Bible do you and she said of course I do and he said what about that story of Jonah and the Whale you don't honestly believe that story do you she said I do and he said to her how do you suppose that he survived all that time inside the belly of a fish and she answered she said I don't know but I guess when I get to heaven I'll ask him and ingersoll said to her well what if he get to heaven and you find out that he's not there that he's actually gone to hell she said to him well then I suppose you can ask him some interpret this story as Ingersoll did as fictional a fable something out of Herman Melville's moby-dick others classify this story as allegorical that it's not really a true story it's just an allegory it paints the picture of God's mercy and his forgiveness for sinners that theme is definitely there but those who take the allegorical position believe it's not a true story when in fact this story really needs to be received as not fictional not allegorical but factual Jonah was a real person this really happened he was swallowed by a great fish he was barked up by that same fish and he went on to preach to some really pagan people in Iraq that's what this story is about the best evidence for it being factual is because Jesus said it was Jesus refers to this story twice in Matthew chapter 12 and again in Matthew 16 and he doesn't refer to it as a fable as just a parable or an allegory he refers to it as an actual event that happens in fact he compares what happened with Jonah and the miracle of how God preserved his life three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish to his own impending crucifixion and resurrection and the time between the two that he will spend in the heart of the earth listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and so Jesus makes this comparison not to a fable but to an actual story to an actual event to an actual man who was swallowed by a great fish now over the centuries there have actually been a few rare documented cases of people who have been swallowed by a large fish things that are large enough to swallow human beings would be a sperm whale a sulfur bottom way a whale shark a 1-story that surfaced in 1891 published in the Yarmuth Mercury newspaper in England was about 1 James Bartley who fell overboard during a whaling expedition in the Falkland Islands they gave him up for dead until two days later they were filleting a whale they had harpooned and when they got to the stomach content they found Bartley alive but shriveled and white from the gastric juices the New York Times picked up the story in 1896 I want you to picture you know what a surprise when they can open the stomach contents of this of this whale to find James partly all shriveled and bleached white from the gastric juices I want you to picture Smeagol from Lord of the Rings and that event was actually written about in a few other publications Ambrose John Wilson wrote about it in the Princeton Theological review in 1927 and also by the great British engineer Sir Francis Fox he referred to it in 1924 in his writing 63 years of engineering so you can google it some say it's an urban myth but there are several publications about it that have documented it and just as a matter of fact sperm whales are capable for example of swallowing humans they live on squid which they swallow whole and in 1955 there was a documented case of a four hundred and five pound squid removed intact from the belly of a sperm whale so you'll have to decide for yourself if this is a true story or not I settled it years ago as a true story because I believe Genesis 1:1 if you can get by Genesis 1:1 then you can believe the rest of the Bible if you choked at Genesis 1:1 you're gonna choke on a lot of the rest of the Bible so it's factual it is something that you have to believe by faith because none of us was there to eyewitness this there are some liberal Old Testament professors and theologians who will tell you that it isn't true but since Jesus said it was I will choose him over any Old Testament professor any day now there's one major theme I want us to focus on as we do a survey through these four chapters of The Book of Jonah and it's this The Book of Jonah is about the mercy of God it really is about the mercy of God and just so that we understand what we're talking about God's mercy is his love kindness and compassion towards people that's the main theme with this book it's God's love kindness and compassion towards people and psalm 145 verse 8 it says the lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and great in mercy he's great in mercy he abounds in mercy the Bible says he is merciful it is an attribute of God and he opts for his mercy long before his wrath he's a merciful God and we're gonna see four things about God's mercy from the Book of Jonah today it's a good way to start off the year and so in Chapter one here even though Jonah disobeys God initially we see God's mercy extended towards the Ninevites in the way that he calls Jonah to go preach to the Ninevites in hopes that they might turn repent from their sins and turn to God now who were the Ninevites so for those of you taking notes the Ninevites were Assyrians they were ancient Assyrians they were called Ninevites because they lived in the city of Nineveh Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire it was situated along the east bank of the Tigris River they the ruins of Nineveh are still there today just on the outskirts of Mosul Iraq so that's where this story takes place here at least that's where the heart of God is directed towards the Ninevites they are a serious they occupy the capital city of nineveh which is again the complicity of the Assyrian Empire but beating Assyrians they were a ruthless godless people I've referred to the Assyrians before in our journey through the Old Testament but for those of you who are unfamiliar with them the Assyrians were notorious for their savage brutality with regard to wartime practices when they would conquer a city they would impale people on stakes they would rape the women burn the children chop off hands cut off heads rip out tongues Flay people while alive mutilate the dead pillage and then burn the city and the prisoners of war that they would take they would string together like fish with hooks through their jaws or their noses string them together drag them off to Assyria and take them as prisoners of war they are a ruthless barbaric savage people and yet God says to Jonah I want you to go preach the good news to them in hopes that they might turn from their evil ways and turn to me these people God says to Jonah are worth saving it's very challenging God extends his mercy to the worst of worst like even the ruthless Assyrians but this is God's Way Ezekiel 33 11 says as I live says the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live God longs to be merciful to every person on the planet and so number one God's mercy is undeserved I mean do you think these people really deserve it by the way that they lived and the practices that they engaged in and the truth is maybe you haven't done some of the stuff that they've done I hope that you haven't cut anybody's tongue out I hope that you haven't chopped off anybody's hands or filleted them while still alive but the fact of the matter is that all of us are in equal need of God's mercy all of us this is the reason why Paul describes himself in first Timothy 1 verse 15 as the worst of all sinners and that verse he says Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief New King James says NIV says of whom I am the worst now Paul didn't look around at other people and compare himself to others he looked to God and realized that between himself and God the way that he measured himself was looking at God in His perfect perfection and holiness and righteousness and he realized in comparison to God I'm the worst of all sinners he didn't care about other people in the room because that's not the basis that's not the standard by which we will be judged Paul looked at himself in light of who God is and he says on the worst of all sinners I'm the worst of all sinners all of us should be willing to say such a thing and stop playing the comparison game and think of ourselves more favorably or less favorably based on the comparison of other people around us there's only one standard by which we will be judged when Paul looked at his life in comparison to God he says you know what Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm the worst but yet he adds in the next verse in first Timothy 1:16 however for this reason I was shown mercy see he realized I'm the greatest sinner of all because I'm not looking at what other people have done is just me and the Lord but in that in that perspective of Who I am in relation to God I see myself as the worst of sinners and yet I'm also the one who's gonna receive His great mercy because that's the character in nature of God God extends mercy to all because God wants all to be saved and all of His mercies undeserved none of us deserve it the Ninevites certainly didn't deserve it but God in His mercy extends it now unfortunately Jonah didn't think that the Ninevites were worth saving which means that he thought of himself as a higher authority than God he thought he was a better judge of the Ninevites than God was and so he disobeying God's calling God says I want you to go preach to that in mites and Jonah's like I ain't going there doesn't invite people not worth saving I'm not gonna go preach to them and so he disobeys the call of God and he boards a boat in the port city of Joppa he's living in Israel Chapas a port city in the Mediterranean it's called Jaffa today he goes down to Joppa but gets on a boat heading to the Bible says Tarshish now Herodotus the 5th century BC historian says that Tarshish was Spain now he's supposed Jonah's supposed to go east to Nineveh as Iraq ok he's living in Israel supposed to go east he decides to get the bunker west that's how far he's trying to go to Spain which is at that time the farthest part of the known world as far as you can go west and so he's trying to run from God I'm not gonna go to preacher than invite so you crazy God I'm not gonna go do that and so he runs and God could have chosen to put an end to Jonah's life right there get to the boat I'm gonna leave I'm disobeying God and in his arrogance and insolence against God and disobedience God could have chosen right there enough of you but God chose to spare Jonah's life and more than that God chose to give Jonah a second chance how many of you are thankful for the many chances God gives us amen amen and so when the storm rages at sea these pagan sailors they start crying out to their pagan gods so that that's to no avail so then Jonah's asleep and in the hull of the boat so they wake him up Jonah you know you need to pray to your God and Jones like oh yeah yeah yeah about the storm I'm kind of the cause like what do you mean you're the cause well I'm running from God you know I'm a Hebrew I fear God and and he sent me on this mission and I'm running for I'm the cause of the storm what you need to do is throw me overboard and the storm will subside now Jonah knows this he knows the storm is raging because God is trying to get Jonah's attention and Jonah realizes that these other guys they're gonna get caught in the storm because of my sin just throw me overboard it'll go well with you now I want you to notice something from chapter 1 that it tells us it says that these sailors with good intention try to row back to land to drop Jonah off did you see that in chapter 1 because he said just throw me overboard they're like no we can't do that kind of a thing that's not a nice thing that's a cruel thing to do so we're gonna try to row you back to land and the Bible says the harder they try to row the more tempestuous the storm becomes why because they're interfering with what God wants to do I want you to hear me on this this is just a side note has nothing to do with the topic of our theme here but sometimes with good intentions we try to rescue people that in fact we need to let God deal with because we make matters worse it's with good heart a lot of people try to intervene let me just try to rescue somebody let me just try to help somebody you know sometimes helping someone is actually hurting someone we have good intentions of helping them but if we're interfering with God dealing with them we're doing them more harm than good by trying to help them what we need to do is take our hands off and let God deal with them somebody needs to hear that today that's a side note when the storm continues to increase the sailors realize alright we just need to throw the chapel overboard and they pray to God first Lord forgive us for what we're about to do they throw them overboard and when that happens instead of letting Jonah drown in the Mediterranean God provides a great fish to swallow him up and that's how chapter 1 ends verse 17 now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights please note God's mercy sometimes comes in different forms and as miserable and unpleasant at the time I'm sure it was to be in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights that fish was God's mercy for Jonah that fish was God's mercy for Jonah number two God's mercy is unexpected God's mercies unexpected sometimes we can't see the mercy of God because it comes in forms that we weren't expecting and so we dismiss it we don't really see it as the mercy of God we don't recognize it as a mercy of God because sometimes it's unpleasant sometimes at the moment it's uncomfortable sometimes at the moment it's inconvenient but perhaps God has brought it along in order to reorder our steps in a big way or a small way now I don't mean to make light of this at all and I don't mean to trivialize the little things in life but I really sometimes believe that those things that we dismiss as inconvenient things could actually be God's way of intervening in a merciful way to redirect our steps even if it's just for the day or maybe it's for our lives you know that flat tire may have just actually spared you from a bigger car accident down the road the the missed flight the the relationship that that broke up the the job that you lost we can always interpret those things as being inconvenient and no doubt they are and we can look at those things and we can think to ourselves you know that that's sad and no doubt those things can be sad but in fact God may be using those things to rescue us in different ways and we just don't see it at the moment I don't know how much Jonah realized that that great fish was actually sent as a life preserver for him at some point he realizes that because in the middle of being in the belly that fish in chapter 2 he says in verses 7 and 8 if you look at chapter 2 verse 7 and 8 he says when my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord and my prayer went up to you into your holy temple and he says in verse 8 those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy God wants to be merciful to us Jonah was given mercy that he didn't deserve but Jonah admits that if we cling to worthless things that take the place of God we can end up forsaking that mercy and so chapter 2 ends by telling us at the end of chapter 2 verse 10 so the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land and now I like that verse I'm gonna tell you why because it doesn't tell us how far away the great fish was from land when God caused it to vomit up Jonah so I like to think of it as a projectile vomiting moment could it have been like a mile offshore wouldn't that have been awesome nevertheless he lands and Chapter three now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying arise go to Nineveh that great city and preach to it the message that I tell you so Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city a three-day journey in extent and Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk and then he cried out and said this is the sum total of his message in Nineveh eight words yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown that's the whole record of his sermon verse five so the people of Nineveh believed God proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them then the word came to the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his noble saying let neither men nor beast hurtin or flock taste anything do not let them eat or drink water but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God yes let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands who can tell if God will turn and relent and turn away from his fierce anger so that we may not perish and then God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them and he did not do it it takes Jonah three days to walk around the city because it's that large and he goes around preaching those eight words that's it those eight words that's the that's the whole record of his sermon but it was enough and people began to turn to God they repented the King issues this proclamation everybody needs to fast we need to repent we need to turn to the Lord and once again we see God's mercy because that's how the chapter ends in verse 10 that he did not bring the disaster upon them that he had intended number three God's mercy is unbiased these are ruthless barbaric people that God has compassion for him he doesn't discriminate with his mercy he doesn't dispense it for some and withhold it from others he is unbiased in his mercy God is no respecter of persons he loves all he died for all and he extends his mercy to all even the Assyrian people now you would think that this should be the end of the story God calls the Prophet to preach to some evil people the Prophet resisted God gave him another chance the Prophet went preached and the people the people repented and God had mercy on them end of story but that's not where it ends God has a sense of humor he's like Jonah I want you to put that fourth chapter in there about you about that time that you got angry that I was so merciful to the Ninevites someone should write all that down too and so we have chapter 4 look at chapter 4 but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he became angry so he prayed to the Lord and said ah Lord was not this what I said when I was maybe I got to put on my whiny voice boy it was it's not this when I sin when I was still in my country therefore I fled previously to Tarshish for I know that you're a gracious and merciful God slow to anger and a bunt and abundant and loving-kindness one who relents from doing harm therefore not oh lord please take my life from me food is better for me to die than to live now you know what's so tragic about this what's so tragic about what he's saying here is I'd rather die than for you to show mercy to people that I don't think deserve it ouch think about that we have to be careful that we are not blind to the mercy of God and here's how we're blind to the mercy of God when we want mercy for ourselves but not for others this is Jonah and God says I want you to write that part down so everybody can learn from you Jonah remember that time you were angry you were all sullen because I was merciful to the Ninevites people you thought I should not be merciful to verse 4 of chapter 4 then the Lord said is it right for you to be angry and so Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city and there he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade until he might see what would become of the city and the Lord God prepared a plan and made it come up over Jonah that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery and so Jonah was very grateful for the plant and that nice God's being so merciful giving him shade Jonah likes it but verse 7 as morning dawn the next day got prepared to worm and it's so damaged the plant that it withered and it happened when the Sun arose that God prepared a vehement east wind and the Sun beat on Jonah's head so he grew faint and then he wished death for himself and said it is better for me to die than to live this is the death wish number 2 verse 9 then God said to Jonah is it right for you to be angry about the plant and he said it is right for me to be angry even to death death wish number three I mean at this if you don't see God's mercy in this story man you need some glasses because at this point three times Jonah is like I just want to die I mean it's a wonder God just didn't okay but he's so merciful so he says in verse 10 you have had pity on the plant for which you had not labored nor made it grow which came up in a night and perished in the night and should I not pity Nineveh that great city in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock by the way that last part there about 120,000 people who can't discern their right hand from their left most Bible scholars believe that's a reference to children 120,000 children God's us to Jonah do you not think I should have a mercy at least because there's a 120,000 kids in that city they can't distinguish their right hand from their left God is trying to teach Jonah something by the fact that he gives this plant a shade and then removes the shade he's saying Jonah mercy is my prerogative and I extend it to whomever I wish because I'm unbiased in my love for all because all need my mercy including you Jonah and even God in His patience with the Jonah didn't smite him for his arrogance and for Jonah's prejudice I mean Jonah was being prejudiced towards the Ninevites people towards the Assyrians they had slaughtered I got you know we could have understanding we don't we don't condone it but we can at least understand where's Jonah coming from the Assyrians had slaughtered and butchered his own people okay but Jonah you can't be prejudiced because God is merciful to all including you none of us deserves it the God extends it to all of us because God's mercy last point number four is unlimited in psalm 118 verse 29 it says oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever there is never a moment in your life when you come to the Lord that he stops being merciful to you God's mercy is limitless that's why Hebrews 4:16 says let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need as you start this new year this is a great book to begin a new year with to remind us of God's limitless mercy for us is unbiased undeserved unexpected unlimited mercy there's a fresh dose of it for you today and for this new year for some of you maybe you came here today you're carrying a weight some shame some guilt something in your past something in your life recently or distantly and you're wondering is God really merciful can you forgive me yes and amen because all through the book of johna God displays His mercy to the Prophet himself and to a people who otherwise were undeserving but so are we all undeserving and God is still rich in mercy toward us amen amen let's pray together father we thank you that you're a merciful God when we think about the Assyrians and historically we know how ruthless they were how brutal how savage they were in their wartime practices especially and yet you wanted Jonah - especially go and speak to them because they were worth saving that's how you see all of us Lord we were all worth dying for in your eyes so you send Jesus to die for us all because you're a merciful father thank you that we can approach the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need your forgiving God and a loving God we thank you that you're merciful toward us help us in this coming year to just walk in your mercy to appreciate your mercy never to take advantage of it Lord but to appreciate that you are a merciful God we love you and we thank you together in Jesus name and everybody said

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel Leesburg Va, Bible, Sermons, Faith, Christian, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, Biblical sermons, salvation, evangelism, Pastor Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Connection, hamrick gary, the mercy of god sermon, sermon on the mercy of god, is the story about jonah and the whale true?, Was jonah really swallowed by the whale?, how long can you survive in the belly of a whale, what if a whale eats you, the book of jonah summarized

Id: VJbPrh27YkQ

Length: 37min 51sec (2271 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 06 2020