Journey Through the Bible: Jonah - God of the Second Chance

Journey Through The Bible
Jonah, Nahum, Habbakkuk And
Zephaniah:
God of the Second Chance
Bible Readings:
Jonah 1-4 (Page 654)
Luke 11:29-32 (Page 736)
1
Friday, 28 November 2014

Justice and Mercy
• God is perfectly just. He is the
source of all justice. But He is
also full of mercy and loving
kindness.
• “Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of Your throne;
Mercy and truth go before Your
face.” (Psalm 89:14, NKJV)
• The balancing of mercy and
justice flow right through the
Bible from Genesis to
Revelation.
2

Justice and Mercy
• “And the Lord God commanded
the man, saying, “You may surely eat
of every tree of the garden, but of
the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil you shall not eat, for in the
day that you eat of it you shall
surely die.”” (Genesis 2:16–17, ESV)
• The heart of God's command is
obedience. Obey and live and enjoy
life; disobey the command and suffer
and die.
• This law runs right through the
whole of the Bible.
3

Justice and Mercy
• “Let the Law take its course.”
• The law must be carried out.
• If God allowed the Law to take its
course all people, all those He
loves, will die and be lost.
• So God needs to show mercy and
not allow the law to take its course.
• But how then can He be just?
4

Justice and Mercy
• In Amos we saw God's great anger
at injustice and greed of those who
exploited the poor
• Hosea we were given an insight into
the “Hesed” of God for His people,
God's loving kindness and mercy.
• Like Hosea taking a wife who had
been a prostitute, God overlooked
Israel’s unfaithfulness and enfolded
them in His arms of love.
5

Nineveh
• Capital of the Assyrian
empire. 700 - 612 BC
• 8 square kilometres,
100,000+ people.
• 80 Km aqueduct, libraries,
parks, the hanging gardens.
• A city of pitiless cruelty,
squalor and suffering.
• The name of Nineveh was a
name of terror and hatred
to all the peoples around it,
including Israel.
6

Jonah: a shocking message
• “The Lord gave this message to
Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and
go to the great city of Nineveh.
Announce my judgment against it
because I have seen how wicked
its people are.” But Jonah got up
and went in the opposite
direction to get away from the
Lord. He went down to the port
of Joppa, where he found a ship
leaving for Tarshish. He bought a
ticket and went on board, hoping
to escape from the Lord by sailing
to Tarshish.” (Jonah 1:1–3, NLT)
7

Jonah: a shocking message
• First is was shocking to Jonah
himself. Nineveh!
• Second it was shocking that
Jonah a prophet of God should
disobey God's call to prophesy.
• Third it was shocking because it
showed that God was concerned
about injustice not only within
Israel but in every nation, even the
worst, even Nineveh.
8

Jonah: Love God
Love Your Neighbour
• Chapters 1 -2
Jonah has to learn to love the
Lord with all his heart and soul
and mind by obeying the Lord's
command. Obedience is the
essence of loving God.
• Jonah had to put aside all his own
fears and prejudices and obey and
go to Nineveh.
• Chapters 3 – 4
“Love your neighbour as yourself.”
9

Jonah: Love God
Love Your Neighbour
• God wants Jonah to learn to
understand and love the people of
Nineveh as He does.
• “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,
and he was angry. And he prayed to
the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not
this what I said when I was yet in my
country? That is why I made haste to
flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you
are a gracious God and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love, and relenting from
disaster.” (Jonah 4:1–2, ESV)
10

God of the Second Chance
• God gave Jonah a second chance just
like he did to Nineveh.
• Jonah disobeyed God but God
brought him to the point of death and
Jonah repented
• “Then the Word of the Lord came to
Jonah a second time, “Go to the great
city of Nineveh. . . .”
• God warned Nineveh of His coming
judgement on their sins, He gave then
a second chance and they repented.
11

Nahum
• The Lord is patient – He
allows time for people to
repent but His anger is great
toward those who continue
to walk in rebellion and He
will execute justice.
• “The Lord is good, a refuge in
times of trouble. He cares for
those who trust in him, but
with an overwhelming flood
he will make an end of
Nineveh; he will pursue his
foes into darkness.” (Nahum
1:7–8, NIV84)
12

Nahum
• “Nineveh summons her picked troops,
yet they stumble on their way. They
dash to the city wall; the protective
shield is put in place. The river gates are
thrown open and the palace collapses. It
is decreed that Nineveh be exiled and
carried away. Her female slaves moan
like doves and beat on their breasts.
Nineveh is like a pool whose water is
draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but
no one turns back. Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold! The supply is endless,
the wealth from all its treasures! She is
pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts
melt, knees give way, bodies tremble,
every face grows pale.” (Nahum 2:5–
10, TNIV)
13

Nahum
• “Behold, on the mountains the feet of
him who brings good tidings, Who
proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your
appointed feasts, Perform your vows.
For the wicked one shall no more pass
through you; He is utterly cut off.”
(Nahum 1:15, NKJV)
14

Habakkuk
• The book of Habakkuk is a dialogue
between the prophet and the Lord.
• Habakkuk looks at all the injustice and
lawlessness both in his own city of
Jerusalem and in all Assyrian empire.
• “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but
you do not listen? Or cry out to you,
“Violence!” but you do not save? Why do
you make me look at injustice? Why do you
tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence
are before me; there is strife, and conflict
abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails. The wicked hem
in the righteous, so that justice is
perverted.” (Habakkuk 1:2–4, NIV84)
15

Habakkuk
• Habakkuk’s vision:
The power and sovereignty of the Lord
is the guarantee that though evil may
seem to triumph, Justice will be done.
• “Woe to him who builds a city with
bloodshed and establishes a town by
crime! Has not the Lord Almighty
determined that the people’s labor is
only fuel for the fire, that the nations
exhaust themselves for nothing?
For the earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as
the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk
2:12–14, NIV84)
16

Habakkuk
• The power and majesty of God is
contrasted with the useless idols that
those who commit evil worship.
• “Woe to him who says to wood,
‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone,
‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is
covered with gold and silver; there is
no breath in it.
But the Lord is in his holy temple; let
all the earth be silent before
him.”” (Habakkuk 2:19–20, NIV84)
17

Habakkuk
• “Though the fig tree may not
blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food; Though
the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy
in the God of my salvation. The Lord
God is my strength; He will make my
feet like deer’s feet, And He will make
me walk on my high hills.
• To the Chief Musician. With my
stringed instruments.” (Habakkuk
3:17–19, NKJV)
18

Zephaniah
• He lived in Jerusalem in the time of King
Josiah and the last 20 years of Assyria's
power.
• Zephaniah prophesies hope in the middle
of certain disaster.
• But how can people put their hope in
God who is the one orchestrating the
crisis they were going through?
• The descriptions of the “Day of the Lord”
the Day of Judgment leaps across the
ages to the final judgment at the End.
• It is a warning to all peoples not just
those of Zephaniah’s day.
19

Zephaniah
• “Neither their silver nor their gold
will be able to save them on the day of
the Lord’s wrath. In the fire of his
jealousy the whole world will be
consumed, for he will make a sudden
end of all who live in the
earth.”” (Zephaniah 1:18, NIV84)
• “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the
land, you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be sheltered on the
day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zephaniah
2:3, NIV84)
20

Message to the World
• In Jonah we see with amazement the
Lord's compassion for the world that
has rebelled against Him.
• In Nahum we are faced with the
reality and inevitability of God's
judgment upon the world.
• With Habakkuk we learn how to live
with hope and faith during times when
evil and darkness seem all powerful.
• With Zephaniah we are reassured that
in the time of judgment God will not
just comfort us but rejoice over us
who remain faithful.
21

Message to the World
• The mystery of how God can be both
totally just and full of mercy is
resolved in the light of His power and
majesty.
• There is no limit to His love and
faithfulness to all who seek Him. There
is nothing He will not do to save us.
• He sent His own Son to teach us
about Himself, to show us what He is
like and to die suffering the judgment
that we deserve.
• This is our God who is both totally
Just and totally merciful and loving.
22

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