Sermons
A Second Calling... Obeyed
Series: Man Overboard: Jonah In JeopardyA SECOND CALLING …OBEYED
Pt#6 / Man Overboard: Jonah In Jeopardy
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / February 28, 2016
Last Sunday we suggested that had Jonah gone to Nineveh when God first directed him to go,
his evangelistic outreach campaign among the Assyrians would have likely ended up a disaster.
I know, that’s a rather bold speculation on my part, but it is based upon two things.
First of all, Jonah had a chip on his shoulder and a bad attitude.
His ministry as a prophet of God had previously focused on the northern tribes of Israel.
He knew that but for the grace and mercy of Jehovah God, Israel would have collapsed.
2Kgs.14:23-27 is the only other Old Testament text that mentions Jonah.
But these five verses give us considerable insight into that status of Israel.
Israel was led by Jeroboam II, who was a weak king who contributed to Israel’s sinful ways (vs.24).
He did EVIL in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of (of his father), which he made Israel sin.
Israel prospered under his reign but it was only because of God’s grace & goodness to them (vss.25-27).
Amos, another prophet, was a contemporary with Jonah (both can be dated c. 785-745 BC).
King Uzziah ruled Judah from 783-742BC … and King Jeroboam II ruled Israel from 786-746 BC.
Amos’ prophecy reveals the sinful conditions that permeated both Judah & Israel.
~ Amos 2:6 – they were selling righteousness for money
2:7 – both father and son were engaging in immoral acts with the same maiden and profane God’s name
~ 4:1-2 – they were filled with drunkenness but would soon be taken away with meat & fish hooks
~ 5:12 – they were distressing the righteous and accepting brides, and turning aside the poor at the gate
~ 6:4 – they were reclining on beds of ivory
~ 8:5 – they were cheating with dishonest scales
In a nutshell they were making a farce of God’s charge to them to led holy lives.
And to add insult to injury, they were going through the hypocritical motions of sacrificing to God (4:4-5).
They were living in denial while resting on a false claim that calamity will not overtake or confront us (9:10).
As I mentioned in an earlier message, Jonah knew that Israel was in desperate need of God’s grace.
And yet, his vision and heart was clouded in his failure to accept that Nineveh might also be needing grace.
With a such a chip on his shoulder and such a negative and unmerciful attitude toward the Ninevites,
had Jonah gone to Nineveh when God first directed him to do so, his mission would have been an utter failure.
Secondly, my speculation concerning a failure that would have awaited Jonah had he gone on to
Nineveh without experiencing a genuine change of heart is based on Jesus’ words in Jn.12:24,
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but IF IT DIES, IT BEARS MUCH FRUIT.
But in his flight away from Nineveh and away from God, the old Jonah died and a new Jonah was reborn.
The Jonah that came forth from the whale was not the same Jonah that went into the whale.
Open your Bibles and follow along as we read from Jonah 3:1-4.
Jonah is now given a second “chance”.
We need to work on fine-tuning our language. This is not CHANCE is the sense of happenstance or being lucky.
This is the providence of God and the providence of God never comes by accident.
We have heard over the years that, “God is a God of the second chance”.
I understand what is meant, but chance is a poor choice of words. Perhaps “opportunity” is not much better.
In the interests of speaking more Biblically, we ought to just say, “God is a God of new beginnings.
God is a God of a fresh start. By God’s will and grace we are able to become a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST JESUS.
Thus far, throughout this series, we have found ourselves identifying with Jonah.
Sometimes shamefully so. We seen Jonah in ourselves.
Like him, we are often obstinate … recalcitrant … defiant … rebellious … and willfully disobedient.
But we also find ourselves, like Jonah, being on the receiving end of a new birth and a fresh start.
Who among us has not rejoiced in the fact that our God is a God of a new beginning?!
All of us have made a mess of things (on different levels and to varying degrees).
All of us have tasted the bitter fruit of going our own way and turning aside from God’s paths.
We join together in singing with gusto the words of Jeremiah the prophet (Lam.3:22-23),
the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end - - they are new every morning.
This time when Jonah receives a call from God (Jonah 3:2), “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city
and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you” - - this time Jonah goes …
not to Joppa ... not to Tarshish … but to NINEVEH.
Jonah 3:3, “So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.”
I think we can rest assured that with this second calling Jonah charted a straight course to Nineveh.
No lingering … No loitering along the way … No side trips … No detours … He did not dally and did not delay.
Nineveh is called a GREAT city (cf. 1:2 and here again in 3:2 and in 4:11).
It was not great because it was good. It was great (large) because it was evil.
Nineveh grew strong and big (enclosed with a 7.5 mile wall with 15 gates) at the expense of those she conquered.
With muscle and cruelty the Assyrian empire of which Nineveh was the capital had overwhelmed weaker ones all around her and had gorged herself on the spoils of war. The pillage & plunder of war enlarged her borders.
It was a city that required a three days walk (3:3b) - - not to circumscribe it walls but to visit its many neighborhoods.
In some of our travels, Jeannie and I have tried to do a city in one day (well, that was my plan anyway).
Have you ever tried to do New York or San Francisco or London in a day??
Those of you who have taken part in one of our TerryTours, can only imagine how much fun this would be.
Nineveh was so large that it required an extended expedition. Jonah 4:11 states that it was a city in which,
120,000 persons do not know the difference between their right hand and their left.
This is likely a reference to young children. You can do the math - - it was a large metropolis.
Here in this great and terribly wicked city Jonah begins his trek. His initial mission was to “cry against it” (1:2).
His second calling (3:2) specifies that he is to, “proclaim to it the proclamation”.
That verse adds that God would tell him what to tell them.
Jonah 3:4 gives us a summary of his God-given message.
In Hebrew it was just five words. In most of our English translations, it is about eight words.
Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
The number “forty” is used often in Scripture.
It always speaks of a time JUDGMENT - - a time of trial, testing and/or tribulation.
In the flood, God sent the rains for 40 days and 40 nights / Gen.7:4, 12 & 17
In receiving the Ten Commandments, Moses went up on Mount Sinai for 40 days & nights / Ex.24:18
Joshua sent twelve men to spy out the land of Canaan over a period of 40 days / Num.13:25
Because of their sinfulness, the children of Israel were made to wander in the wilderness for 40 years / Num.14:34
In His judgment on Egypt, God made the nation desolate for 40 years / Ezk.29:11-12
For 40 days & nights Moses fasted (Ex.24:18) … So did Elijah (1Kgs.19:8) … And so did Jesus (Mt.4:1-2).
A number of the judges governed for 40 years / Judg.3:11; 5:8 & 31; 18:28 and 1Sam.4:18
Because of their wickedness, God gave Israel into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years / Judg.13:1
The Philistines taunted Israel by sending forth Goliath for 40 days & 40 nights / 1Sam.17:16
Israel’s three kings reigned for 40 years each - - Saul (Acts 13:2) … David (1Sam.5:4) … and Solomon (1Kgs.11:24).
Embalming was to be done over a period of 40 days / Gen.50:3
Punishment was to be doled out in the form of 40 stripes / Deut.25:3 and 2Cor.11:24
Human gestation covers a span of 40 weeks.
The time between Pentecost (AD 30 – first gospel sermon) and the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) was 40 years.
And, as we see here in Jonah 3:4, God gave Nineveh 40 days to repent.
One more point and then we will close in prayer.
If you have read ahead you know that there is going to be an exciting and quite positive response in Nineveh.
Next Sunday we’ll look at some of the elements that worked to produce remorse & contrition among the Ninevites.
I think you’re going to find this to be quite enlightening.
But for now, I want to wrap this lesson by emphasizing once more Jonah’s verbal message.
Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
We preachers in particular and Christians in general have often so yearned to be positive and upbeat with our message, that we have, perhaps unwittingly, contributed in diluting and dulling the full message of the gospel.
The good news is “good” news because it arrives to counteract the “bad” news.
The bad news is that, left to ourselves, we are in a heap of trouble with no favorable outcome in sight.
In being harbingers of the good news of the gospel we must not blunt or skirt around THE PROBLEM OF SIN.
That which makes grace so amazing is that “once I was lost” but now I am found.
Way back in the 8th century BC, Jonah’s starting place in urging repentance was to address the problem of sin.
Here we stand in the 21st century and our starting place is no different at all.
It is the problem of sin (sin separates us from God / Isa.59:2) that makes the proclamation of the gospel necessary.
And it is the knowledge that in Christ Jesus we can find forgiveness for our sins that makes the gospel good news.
