In Jonah 4:4-11 we see God begin to question Jonah. He first asks if Jonah has a right to be angry. Interestingly, Jonah doesn’t answer that question. So God sets up a little example for him. Jonah has gone out and is sitting outside the city watching and waiting for God to do the destruction that he originally said he would. While he is there God provides a plant that gives him shade and great comfort. The next day God brings a worm to eat the plant. Jonah gets mad again. When God questions him as to why he is mad and if he has a right to be mad,…

Jonah finally says, “I told you so.” He has delivered the message that God had for the people. The people repented and God had mercy on them. Now Jonah is mad. Jonah 4:1-3 shows us that Jonah does really know and understand the character of God. Unfortunately, Jonah wanted the people destroyed. Jonah didn’t think they should have access to the same mercy and grace that he has. Now we see the real reason that he ran. Do we believe that God’s mercy and grace should be available for all people? Or, are there some people who have hurt us too badly that we don’t want them to know and…

What’s the most effective sermon in history? Many people might reference a Billy Graham Crusade, or some other famous preacher. Others might also look at Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts chapter 2. However, whether you’re looking at total number of lives impacted or total percentage of response, Jonah chapter 3 is probably the largest on both. Reading Jonah 3:6-10, we see the king himself repenting and turning to God. We’ve already seen every single person that heard Jonah’s message repenting and turning to God. We find out later in chapter 4 that there are over 120,000 people in the city of Nineveh. That’s quite a crusade! In the very last…

Jonah finally saw the light, while sitting in the dark recesses of the belly of the fish. In Jonah 2:7-10 we see Jonah repent and tell God the he will do whatever God asks of him. Jonah had no promise of salvation from his situation. But he still recognized that he needed to get right with God. Do we seek to repent, even when there is no obvious gain to be had? Are we more concerned about the state of our relationship with God than our own personal comfort? Only when we get real with God will we repent of our disobedience solely to see our relationship with God restored.…

Jonah finally turns to God. After all his running and disobedience, we’re finally told that Jonah prays. In Jonah 1:17-2:7 we see a man who finally realized that every plan he made was thwarted by God. Even his desperate suicide attempt was foiled by a passing great fish who swallowed him. What was Jonah to do? He finally called to the Lord. It’s so interesting to me that Jonah indicates that God caused his situation and God is also the only one who can deliver him. Do we see that in our own life? When we have been disobedient, God will put up barriers and obstacles to get our attention.…

Reading Jonah 1:8-17, we see men who are at the end of themselves, desperate for answers, who are open and interested in learning about God. Now that they have figured out that Jonah is somehow responsible for the situation they are in, they ask question after question of him. Jonah shares his story. Interestingly, Jonah’s not trying to convert these men, he just wants them to help him die so he won’t have to obey God. The men try everything they can think of to do this their own way, but in the end, they come back to Jonah’s suggestion and they throw him in. The sea immediately becomes calm…

Are you awake or asleep? In Jonah 1:4-7 we find Jonah having run off and God seeking after him. Jonah runs off and God decides, “Oh no, you don’t get off so easy.” and sends a storm after him. Jonah goes to sleep. He’s in the midst of disobedience and he’s so comfortable with it that he sleeps and doesn’t recognize the danger around him. How often are we so steadfast in our disobedience that we ignore the dangers around us? We ignore the signs and we stop looking for how God is trying to get our attention and just continue on blindly running. Don’t shut your eyes to the…

What happens when God’s will and our will don’t match? Well, there’s really only 2 options, either we become obedient to God’s will for our life, or we run. In Jonah 1:1-3 we see that he was faced with that exact question. God wanted him to go and preach in Nineveh, but he didn’t want to. So, Jonah ran. What do we do? God brings people and opportunities into our lives for a reason. God allow certain things to come our way in order to give us the opportunity for obedience. We simply have to decide if we are going to or not. Jonah’s disobedience started an entire set of…