Four part series and so this is the third of a four part series. So let's ask the Lord to guide us tonight. Father in heaven, Lord, we are grateful for the opportunity to pull away from our daily life and to come together as a group and to hear from you. And thank you, Lord, that your word is living and active. sharper than any two-edged sword, able to divide soul and spirit, joint and marrow, judge of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Thank you, that is the word that gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that you have spoken are spirit and life. So thank you, O God, that as these words are given, I'm edified, even though I might be a vehicle tonight in giving these words. We all benefit from your holy words. In fact, we live on them. Man does not live by bread alone. And so thank you, O God, for the chance to be together tonight. Please lead and guide. May the Holy Spirit direct our hearts, direct us even as a group. May our eyes be lifted. May we be duly warned. And so we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. So we've been considering emerging adulthood. So let's see if we can list five traits of those who are in emerging adulthood, which is basically your early 20s. So give me some traits here. Yes, Jaden. Self-focus. Self-focus. That's one. Self-focus. Yes, Gia. Feeling in between. Yeah, not quite fully adult, like, you know, everything's under my control, but definitely not in high school. So, yes, Eden. Good. Optimism. Possibilities. It's like life spreads out before me. I could do this. I could do this. I could live here. I could work there. Yes. Yes. It's more of a side. Because of the possibilities, it gets hard to commit. Because then the door is shut. So that is something that this age group is showing right now, it's difficult to make commitments. Michaela? Confusion? Okay, just not understanding like where to go, what to do, decisions? Yes, Rob? Okay, it's a lot of anxiety. This is very common because the pressure is on to optimize your future. Freedom like it's basically your happiness is the highest like end result and Freedom is seen as the best way to get there So as long as I can keep my options open not commit, you know, I can I can have that elusive Feel like I can attain freedom I think one of the byproducts of that is that actually it gives you the feel that you can get a dream job if you were just careful enough, looked hard enough, or you can get a soulmate. You can get the one, like the perfect match for you. And almost whatever future that you can dream up looks like it could be yours. So these are the kinds of things. So you put self-focus together with all sorts of possibilities, you put those two together, I think you end up with a nice recipe for large-sized disappointment. Because at some point, life hits and you realize that the universe was not structured around you, and that it's not actually working your way, And now the possibilities don't seem so endless. So both doors start closing, life doesn't seem to be so much about me. Sometimes basically that's coming at some point. But at this point, when you enter those days, it can look at the one hand amazingly optimistic, and the other hand amazingly anxious, because there's too many choices. Okay, but who likes to be told what they're gonna do, right? You know, like nobody likes to be told, okay, you're gonna be this and shove down a conveyor belt for that. It's like, we don't want that. But there's something nice about, you know, it's like, I know I talked to one person that was nervous about getting married, you know, and like finding the right person, different things. And it was almost like, you know, if right now you woke up tomorrow married, And like this is your spouse, God chose your spouse, this is married, you would actually be happy, wouldn't you? And you'd love that person, wouldn't you? And the person agreed with me. God just chose it, you follow me? But because God hasn't chose it, and I look at the whole landscape and I go, what in the world? Who am I gonna love? Where am I gonna live? What am I gonna do for work? You follow me? It just seems so big that it leads then to that element of anxiety. So, in order to address this, we've chosen three books of the Bible, and then we'll kind of close with some words of Jesus next week. That's the plan. But the books of the Bible we've looked at is, one is Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes takes those lofty ideal visions and just brings them down to earth and just says, no matter who you choose, no matter what job you have, no matter where you live, it will all be a breath. It will just be vain. It will be striving after the wind. You won't get ahead. It won't satisfy what you were looking for. And so it just brings those lofty feelings of anticipation down to earth. Kind of like what we heard Ben do over here. Let's just bring this exercise into proper focus, you know? And so, you know, just brings it all down. Your future spouse someday will thank you if you're able to start ratcheting it down. Okay? Because Eros, a kind of fixated love, where you get euphoria, will put that spouse up on a pedestal. Like, I have found the one. I can't believe that God has been so good to me. And then when that wears off, that pedestal will fall over. And then you'll be like nitpicking and so critical, and I can't believe I'm married to this person, and what's going on here? It just, it's inevitable. But if you don't, if you start realizing I'm marrying a sinner and they're not perfect and there's plenty of flaws already and I have flaws, but you know what, we love each other. It brings it down to more reality. Okay, does that make sense? So this is Ecclesiastes, that's why I chose that book. And I also chose it because you can't put the weight of expectation of happiness on this life. It's not gonna do it, you need the resurrection. Paul said, if we have hoped only in this life, we are of all men most miserable. If the dead aren't raised, let's eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. Basically, you get a weekend. Live for the weekend. That's about the best you can get. And then you die. But there's a resurrection. And so the resurrection makes every event a possible act of worship, and every event has consequences. Now, every event, even a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus, doesn't lose its reward. And so it turns life on its head. There's a resurrection. So Ecclesiastes is an awesome book for our age. It just is a book that speaks to people. But they have to have the bubble popped for it to speak with them. Because otherwise, they're like, I don't want to hear it. You're so negative. It's like, but the bubble will pop. You're going to hit a wall at some point, and it'll pop. So that was two weeks ago, Ecclesiastes. Last week was Ruth, and Ruth is a beautiful book. Because Ruth tells us what Ecclesiastes can't. Ecclesiastes is just looking at what normally happens in life, kind of like science. You just kind of look at normal processes, and you see the world is cyclic. But when you open up the story of the Bible, and you hear God's revealing the back story of history, God has an amazing way to take normal processes of life and actually direct them in a linear fashion towards gain. And it's called redemption. So we saw how the house of David started. And the house of David, a thousand years later, leads to Christ. And Christ, being raised from the dead, brought something new into the world. And now that something new is in the world, the gift of the Holy Spirit gives you a taste of heaven now. And so things are building and moving in a direction. And it all started with one woman, a little older probably than you, because she was married already, you know, and then was widowed, who looked after an elderly, bitter mother-in-law who didn't want her, And then she committed herself and God then, as she took refuge under the shadow of God's wings, God then took up her cause and showed her loving kindness. So as she sought it by faith to give loving kindness freely given love to Naomi then God showed his freely given love to Ruth and led her to Boaz's field and then to marriage to Boaz and then the blessings as Bethlehem came along and Ruth became like Rachel and Leah who built the house of Israel Probably died without even seeing the fulfillment of it You know, never knowing David personally, but the blessing ringing in her ears of anticipation. And so last week is just a beautiful call to like, you know what, love your grandma, you know, I mean, Why don't you, you know, maybe you're considering what to do in the summer, and you know that one of your family members needs you, like, needs you, and nobody else is gonna fit the bill. And you're thinking, but I'm gonna lose this summer. It's one of those calls, like, you know, lose your summer. He who seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will find it. And so, there's a paradox here. If you live for that self-focus, And I need to keep my options open. And I don't know if this is the best widow to take care of, even though it's the one right in front of you. But maybe another widow would actually suit the bill. And I don't know if this is actually my kind of work. Maybe I'm not actually called to widow help. It's like something else may be really the real me. And that kind of mindset gets in. Then we pass by these real needs. And then we keep seeking that elusive, self-expressive, you know, dream job. You follow what I'm saying on this? So, just meet real needs. People are in front of you, seek to meet the needs that are there. And that's kind of what the message of Ruth is. Take refuge under the shadow of God's wings, meet the needs that are there, and then wait on the Lord. Watch Him do it. Trust Him and see what He brings. And those that have walked that way in the church can tell you stories. They can tell you stories on how God has surprised, because the same God of Ruth is the same God today. He does the same kinds of things. And so this is a life of adventure. But it's going to look like you're dying. It will feel like you're dying. But that's the only way to multiply, because unless a grain of wheat dies, it remains by itself alone, Jesus said. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. That word alone haunts me. I don't want to so strive to not die and keep my possibilities and my freedom and my happiness so precious that I like turn away from real needs. At the end of my life, I'll be holding this little thing called self and go, and it'll be worthless. So questions or comments from the last two weeks? Things that need clarity or does that make sense? Yeah, Jaden. So it's a word of Jesus when he knew that it's hour had come for him to go to the cross. And so he used the analogy like one kernel of grain, if it doesn't fall into the ground and get buried, it just remains a kernel of grain. But if it gets buried, It multiplies. So I think I said, you know, like I counted the kernels on a corn cob and it was 800. So Jesus, he used it of himself. I am going to go to the cross and die. But in doing so, I'm going to be glorified. I'm going to be multiplied. I'm going to have glory as a result. I'm not just going to remain me. For the kingdom of God Yep, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added What you need your food your clothing and such you don't need to worry. They'll be added But yeah seeking first the kingdom of God and it will feel like death It just well. We'll talk a lot about that next week. That's gonna be like describing a with Jesus' language what that is. That's for next week as far as like going out and looking at it closely. In fact, you can't be a Christian. We'll learn next week you can't even be a Christian unless you die. Now, that doesn't necessarily be martyrdom. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, I die daily. Which that's an interesting phrase, you know, but it means every day he was making choices that felt like death. You know, others first, others first, others first, others first. And so, good, other comments from Ruth or Ecclesiastes? Okay, the question of the night is, what happens if I don't align myself with a universe run by this kind of loving kindness? What happens if I bucket and say, I'm going to resist it? I'm going to make my way happen. Serena, I think I told this story earlier at school today. You have to forgive me, I guess. But it's on my mind. I remember a church that I was at. And I was like, we were struggling with getting some things to move. I had some agenda. The leaders of the church weren't buying it. And I just felt like there was some attitudes or some maybe differing opinions or differing agendas. And I had that wonderful, grinchy, awful idea run across my mind where it's like, I could do a Solomon move. You know how Solomon had those two prostitutes? where one, they both claimed that the baby was theirs, and they said that the other slept on their child, on her child, and suffocated it, and so they both were claiming the baby. And so Solomon said, let's get a sword out, divide the baby in half, and give half to each woman. That was Solomon's idea. Now my idea was worse probably, but anyways. And so, and it flushed out immediately. The hearts were revealed, right? The real mom was like, no, no, no, give her the baby. The other mom was like, cut the baby in half, right? Because, and all of a sudden you saw who the real mom of the child is, right? So then Solomon's like, give the mother her child back, you know? So it fleshed out, and I was like, I'm gonna do it. And I can't even remember the details. All I can remember was the result. Because when I threw out some wild, crazy idea, it brought out the hearts of the men. And I had not seen a deacon meeting that riled up and angry. It went on for an hour and a half. It just fomented. And I'm going, wow, this really worked. But then I felt horribly guilty, because now I was like, I got real disunity in the church. And I'm the cause. That's the feel of what I'm talking about tonight. You know, it's like all of a sudden you get in your mind like, I know how I can make this happen. Get what I want. Have you ever had that cross your mind? And all of a sudden you see a pathway to like force the issue? I'm not going to wait around anymore. I'm going to force the issue. I'm going to take care. You know, I don't like the way God is driving my vehicle. The timing, the curves, the route he's taking. Here, move over, let me drive. Boom! Have you ever felt that in life? Where it's like, I'm going to make something happen here. If you haven't, you're more holy than I am. And I had to confess to the whole church. I did confess to the entire church. I caused problems. I mean, God's hand is so heavy on me. And it was a miserable ending to that pastor. Actually, that was the last hurrah. And I ended up just confessing my sin and just like, please forgive me. What happens when you grab this and you resist? We're going to look at Jonah tonight. Because this is exactly what Jonah did. So find the book of Jonah. It's in the Old Testament, near the end. It's in the Minor Prophets. Yep. Yep, it would be, if you open your Bible halfway, it actually is like two-thirds of the way in. But it's really small. So you got Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah. In my Bible, it's just like two pavies, front and back. It's really, really small. There is a table of contents in the front of a Bible, and that helps define the small ones. So Jonah, Jonah chapter 1, context. Jonah's from the northern kingdom. 200 years prior Judah stayed in the south the rest of the tribes became a larger more powerful nation in the north and Jonah is a national hero according to first second Kings. He prophesied that the current king Would actually bring out Would expand the borders of the kingdom in the history of that nation. It's called the Silver Age and It wasn't as great as the days of Solomon, but it was an expansion of borders and they were feeling the riches, feeling the power. And Jonah had been the prophet that had prophesied it. He's a hero. But now he's told to go prophesy against the capital of their enemy. Assyria is their biggest threat. And within about 25 years of Jonah, or 30 years of Jonah, Assyria will come in and wipe their nation out. And Jonah is told to go to that capital city. It would kind of be like back in the Cold War and an American prophet being told to go to Moscow, Idaho. I'm about ready to destroy Moscow, not Idaho, Moscow, Russia. With the Christian nationalism of Moscow, Idaho, that's actually kind of funny. So go to Moscow, Russia, OK? And warn them. In the Cold War, a lot of Americans wouldn't have wanted Russia to be warned that God was up to destroying them. And so that's Jonah's job. He needs to go east and north. So most east, a little bit north, but he's going to go west where it's wet. So let me read chapter 1. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise. That means stand up. Go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry against it. for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish. That's in Spain. Nineveh is in modern day northern Iraq. From the presence of the Lord, he went to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Jaffa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his God and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, lay down, and had fallen sound asleep. So the captain approached him and said, how is it that you are sleeping? Get up. Call on your God. Perhaps your God will be concerned about us so that we will not perish. Each man said to his mate, come, let us cast lots. It's like throwing dice. Let us cast lots that we may learn on whose account the calamity has struck us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, tell us now, on whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your occupation, and where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you? He said, I'm a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, God of heaven. who made the sea and the dry land. Then the man became extremely frightened. And they said to him, how could you do this? For the man knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. So they said to him, what should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us? For the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. He said to them, pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you." However, the men rode desperately to return to land, but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. Then they called on the Lord and said, we earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life, and do not put innocent blood on us. For you, O Lord, have done as you have pleased. So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. At this point, Jonah prays a prayer. And then if you turn to chapter three, the last verse of verse 10 of chapter two, then the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah up onto dry land. And then chapter three, now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time saying, arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation which I'm going to 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 days walk. that Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk, and he cried out and said, yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown. Then the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. When the word reached the king of Nineveh, He arose from his throne, lay aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, sat on ashes. He issued a proclamation, and it said, in Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth. And let man call on God earnestly. that each man may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and withdraw his burning anger so that we will not perish. Last verse. When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented, concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them. And he did not do it. Now, here's some interesting questions. Notice, please, the cycle of the story so far. God tells Jonah in Israel, this is north, east, west, rise up, go to Nineveh. He rose up and went down to Joppa at the sea and then went down into the ship. And then he went down into the hold of the ship. Down, down, down. And they went off into the Western Sea, the Mediterranean. And so God threw a great wind, threw a great storm. The sailors are afraid. They cast lots. Jonah, you're the guy. What have you done? He told them that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord. Who are you? I am a Jew. I fear God, the one who made the dry land and the sea, the God of heaven. They don't want to throw them into the sea. They try to row desperately. They throw the cargo over. They try to row until finally they realize we're left with no options. They pray that God will not hold them guilty, and they throw them overboard. Perfectly calm. And then they really freaked out. And they called on the Lord, and they made sacrifices, and they fulfilled their vows. They made vows and they sacrificed to the Lord, even though they were pagans. Now, here's some questions. First of all, why didn't Jonah throw himself in? He seemed pretty calm about it. I'm the problem. I know why this is happening. He's asleep. The captain has to wake him up. He's cold. Do you get the feeling? Like Jonah's cold. He put this entire ship into danger. And he's not bothered. He's not praying. Every other man's calling on their God. Why aren't you calling on your God? You're sleeping. And he knows why. He knows exactly why this is happening. And he doesn't care. And they say, what must we do to you? Throw me in. And he just stands there. Why doesn't he throw himself in? Apparently it'd be suicide. Then the blood would be on his own hands. So some have said, look at how cold he is. I mean, just look at this man. He doesn't care they're in danger. He doesn't care that they had jeopardized their own hands. Remember, these sailors are afraid of killing innocent blood. They pray specifically, don't hold this man's blood against us. And they pick him up and throw him in. Now, it could be argued that they did ask, what must we do to you so that this goes away? They did ask. But the picture that we get of Jonah is a very cold individual. Do you follow me? A very cold individual. But then he gets thrown overboard, and a big fish swallows him. It's in the belly of the fish. Now, feel the emotion in this chapter. I'm going to read now the prayer. Then Jonah prayed, chapter 2, to the Lord from his God, his God, his God. He prayed to the Lord, his God, from the stomach of the fish, and said, I called out of my distress to the Lord, and he answered me. I cried for help from the depths of Sheol. You heard my voice, for you had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, the current engulfed me. All your breakers and billows passed over me. So I said, I have been expelled from your sight. Nevertheless, I will look again towards your holy temple. Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me. Weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountain. The earth and its bars were around me forever, but you brought up my life from the pit. Oh, Lord, my God. While I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came to you into your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord. What do you think about the emotion of that psalm? He was thrown into the deep. Waters engulfed. Currents moved him around. He went down to the roots of the mountains, got to see where the earth is down in its foundations. Weed starts wrapping around his head. Now it's poetry, it exaggerates, you know? But he's like going down, down, down, right? And he remembered the Lord, and he cried out, save me! And a big fish came along like, what? God sent a submarine. That's what it is, OK? A big submarine showed up. Okay, and he's in the belly of the fish and he prays this from the belly of the fish. Some have said he's calling out for help from the belly of the fish. I think he's actually thanking God. You saved me. Look at me. I'm alive. I can breathe. I don't think he can see anything. But you know, it's like, I am alive. I mean, he knows he's going to get out of here. He knows he's going to be OK. God heard his prayer, saved him. And of course, the fish vomits him onto dry land. He's back on land. OK. I remember a story from World War II where nine bombers went over Chichijima And they were all going to strike out radio towers. And eight of them perished. One plane got struck, and then he parachuted into the water. That was George Bush, Sr., long before he became president. And a US submarine surfaced and took him in. That's Jonah. God sent his submarine, took him in. This is a prayer of thanksgiving. He even says it, right? He says here, I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving, that which I have vowed I will pay. Why? Because salvation is from the Lord. I got saved. And he's happy. And the language of this is filled with the Psalms. You can find phrases of this all over the Psalms. Either he had absorbed the Psalms, knew them really well, or the Holy Spirit is enabling him to just, you know, speak it, or whatever, or the Holy Spirit is crafting this in such a way that even now, as he's writing it later, whoever's writing it later, is to give you the heightened feel of great emotion. Whatever it is, this is a prayer of thanksgiving, he is happy. Okay, everybody got the idea? So, second question then. Next question is, did he repent? You're shaking your head, Matt. Did I catch it right? Would you mind telling us why? What do you think? He's saying he didn't repent. So let me take a show of hands. So he's praising God because of his own comfort. He's not really repenting. How many of you think that? OK. All right, how many of you think he actually repents, that he does repent? Raise your hand. Okay, Maddie, can you give us a reason? I got, look at this, I got a Madison and your name's not Madison though, is it? Yeah, this is a different Maddie. Okay, different, similar, what? It's kind of interesting. Okay, Maddie, what do we got here? Okay That's true, isn't it right? right second time chapter 3 says for the second time the word Lord came a second time a And it's basically the same thing. Arise, go to Nineveh. And this time, he arrives and goes to the Nineveh. So it would look like he repented, right? But the odd thing is, when you read chapter 2, there's not a word of like, I was such a fool. What was I doing out on the water? I'm not even a sailor. And you told me to go east, and I went west. What was I doing out there? Forgive me! Right? There's nothing like that. It's just like, save me, right? Just get me out of the water. You follow me? So, we have the prayer, which is just thanks, thank you, thank you, thank you for the fish. And the action, where now he's obeying. So we're kind of left with a ambiguity. It's kind of like, what is this? Did Jonah really repent? Because it seems like His words are more about his comfort. His actions now are obedient. He's doing what God said. Fourth, last one, third thing regarding these, just how we understand the text. Nineveh repented and God, it says, relented. This is an interesting thing about prophecy. Prophecy is not foretelling the future. Because Jonah's a prophet, that's his occupation. He shows up in Nineveh and he goes, 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. And what it tells us at the end of chapter three is, God didn't do it. Jeremiah chapter 18 says, this is expressly God's words. If I tell a nation that I will destroy them, and they repent, I will relent, meaning I will feel bad over the destruction I was gonna send them, and I won't do it. But if I tell a nation a blessing, I'm gonna do you good, and they turn from their ways and turn to wickedness, I'm gonna feel bad that I had good plans for them, and I'm gonna throw bad on them. Okay, now you see, Jeremiah? This is very clear. God is a God who looks for repentance in us when he warns us. And if we're sinning and doing wickedness, as Nineveh was, and we repent, we know God is such a God that he will relent from doing the harm. Joel chapter two is clear. There's other places, too, where this phrase that he is a God who relents from causing harm is added to his name, taken from Moses. His name is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth, who relents concerning evil or concerning harm. Yes? So how is that not in any way an act of, like when people see themselves in their repentance, this will make someone That's a good question, yeah. The forces that are involved are bigger than them. So they can't, they themselves can't directly hold off the enemy, bring in the rain, hold off the drought, you know what I mean? So their appeal then is to God to do it. So the words of the king are appropriate here. He says, perhaps, right, let every man turn, perhaps the Lord, it's not guaranteed, because he's threatened and said he would do it, but perhaps the Lord will turn. So in that sense, it is still, you follow me, it's still God doing it. But you're right, what's odd about it is God is responding. This is like an incarnational mode of God, where God enters into time, All throughout the Old Testament, He enters into time and He interacts with us. He did the same thing, guys, at Mount Sinai. They had the golden calf. They created this golden calf. They said, this is the God who brought you out of Egypt. They broke the Ten Commandments. They haven't even left the mountain where God said, you shall not make a graven image. They're still at the foot of the mountain. Moses went up to get the design for the tent to have the privilege of having God live among them. And while he's up on the mountain, they build the golden calf. It would be like being on a honeymoon and finding your wife running off with another man. You haven't even hardly left the altar and she's unfaithful. And so Moses snaps the tablets because that symbolized they broke the covenant. They broke their marriage vows. And God says, stand back, Moses. I'm going to wipe them out and make a great nation out of you. And Moses appeals to God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You said to them that you would make them a great nation. You would be breaking your covenant if you now made the great nation of Moses instead of the nation of Israel. You can't do that, God. You're not a God who breaks covenants. And what would the Egyptians think? Your name would be tarnished. It would be defiled. And so because of God's name, which is right for him to uphold his name, and because of God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he doesn't do it. And the text says he relented, which just means in Hebrew, he felt bad. He felt bad that he was going to destroy Israel, and he didn't do it. Moses then goes, I got to know this God. And so he says, show me your glory. And God says, I'll pass. I'll proclaim my name and pass by you. And he says, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and truth. The same God that Ruth was seeking refuge under is the name proclaimed. I'm a God that would much rather forgive 100 times than destroy people. I take no delight in the death of the wicked. but rather that they repent and live. Okay, that's our God. You recognize that? That's our God. That's his name. If he's not that kind of a God, this story wouldn't even be there. They would be wiped out. But the Jews exist because he's that kind of a God. Okay, do you all have this in your mind now? Because this is necessary to do a little structural analysis. Alright? So, how many chapters are in Jonah? Four chapters, right? Okay. Chapter 1. Jonah's in the boat with pagans. Chapter 2. Jonah's out of the boat with God. Chapter 3. Jonah's in the city with pagans. Chapter 4, Jonah's out of the city with God. Now do you see the pattern? In fact, when he's in the boat with pagans, they have a leader. There's a captain and there's sailors. When he's in the city with pagans, they have a leader. They have a king and they have the citizens. This book is highly structured in the way it tells its story. Chapter 1 matches chapter 3. They both start the same way. Arise, go to Nineveh. Arise, go to Nineveh. You follow me? Chapter 1 and chapter 3 match each other. Chapter 2 and chapter 4 match each other. Now, I haven't read chapter 4, and I purposely kept it. The book purposely keeps chapter 4 hidden. Because if we stopped right now, it would look like the story could end. Jonah finally obeyed. Thank you, Jonah. Took a little while. I'm glad you repented. Nineveh was saved. They repented in dust and ashes. God relented. City's not destroyed. Mission accomplished. It's exactly what God wanted, to warn them He doesn't want to destroy the city. He's gonna if they don't repent. But that's not what he delights in. So it looks like we're done. Mission accomplished. You follow me? Finally. Took a little while to get there, but we finally got it done. If we stop the story right now, you would miss completely the point of this book. In fact, if we stop this story right now, you would miss completely who Jonah really is. Jonah is a scary individual to me because Jonah is somebody who clearly identifies with God. I'm a Jew. I'm a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven who made the dry land and the seas. And you look at him and go, Are you kidding me? Do you really fear God? It seems like to me, you're not really responding to him. You follow me? But I fear God. It flows off his lips. He gets in trouble. He knows where to call. He calls direct. I will remember. My prayer will go to the temple. He heard me. He saved me. And you go, look at this man. Psalms come out. It's like a song comes out of him. And you go, wow. Pastor Matt over here, we did a preaching exercise back in February. And I got assigned chapter 2. I was like, I know exactly what I'm going to do with chapter 2. I'm going to tell these pastors, guys, look, you can get so busy, you lose your devotional life. So what you need to do is you need to remember how good God's been to you. And then go get alone with God and sing his praises of how good he's been to you and how he's saved you. And then after I got all done thinking about this, I was like, wait a minute. I told him to just do what Jonah did. Jonah was definitely alone with God. Talk about your closet. Go into your closet and pray to the Father in secret. OK, he's definitely in his closet, right, in the fish. He's all alone with God, and he's remembering how good God's been to him. Because you know what it is as Christians, the nine that didn't come back and thank Jesus, the one that came back and thanked him, right? Jonah's thanking God. Look at this guy. He didn't just go, hey, I'm OK, and then never thank God. No, he thanks God. He worships God. And I'm like, this guy's scary. You mean I could actually be praising God? when nobody's looking for the good things and the kindness he's done for me, and I'm no different than Jonah, perhaps? Because we get a little suspicious. A man who's so cold to the sailors, but so warm when God saves him, and then is so cold, it appears, to the pagans in the city. Who is this guy? And could this man be you or me? Or could it be somebody who sits next to us on a Sunday morning? You follow me? Who's like, sings God's praises over how good God's been to me and my family. Because listen to what he says in chapter four. Chapter four shocks us. But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, please, please, Lord, was this not what I said? Now we finally know why Jonah fled. It didn't tell us. The story has purposely kept it hidden. The prophet has kept it hidden until now. Wasn't this not what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to stop this, I fled to Tarshish. For I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. That's God's name. I knew it. I knew you'd do this. I knew you're a God that doesn't want to harm people, don't want to cause calamity, don't want to send judgment on somebody, that you're gracious and compassionate and slow to anger. Like, I knew you'd forgive him. And he's mad. It's like, wait a minute. He hates God. He hates who God is. Or does he always hate who God is? Let's keep reading. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life. After chapter two, I'm not sure I believe him. Like, I'm dying, I'm dying, please, Lord, save me. You know, it's like, you know? And like, oh, oh, oh, oh, thank you, thank you. I'm not sure he wants to die. But he just hates the Ninevites so much. I don't care. Just kill me. Death is better than life. OK, now listen to how God treats him. The Lord said, do you have good reason to be angry? Do you got a right to be angry? Do you got a good reason? Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself, made a little hut. sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. Don't you feel like this is a genuine pouting exercise? I mean, I didn't get my way. I'm ticked off. I ain't going home. I'm just going to sit out here. Maybe, maybe it'll go up in flames. Maybe. So I'm just going to sit. Now notice, he's on the other side of the city. He's on the east side of the city. Going home would be on the west side. He's on the opposite side of the city, parked out there, seeing what might happen. So the Lord God appointed a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. And what's the response of Jonah's, what's his emotional response here? He was extremely happy about the plant, but God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant. Maybe one of those, what, hog worms or whatever that go after the, like, tomato plants and just eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. They're about the size of my finger, you know, and they just gorge themselves, right? Oh, rats. So here comes Attack Worm, and he climbs up the plant and attacks it, and it withered. And when the sun came up, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head, so that he became faint, and begged with all his soul, saying, death is better to me than life. I mean, the drama of this chapter is so wonderful. It's like, you know, it's like, now, This helps us to understand what chapter 2 is about, because remember chapter 4 matches chapter 2. Why is Jonah happy in praising God in chapter 2? Madison, you are exactly right. Why is Jonah happy in chapter 4? It's when he's comforted. The text actually says it saved him. It saved him from the sun. The fish saved him from the water, you follow me? So whatever saves Jonah and gives him comfort, makes him happy, he'll thank God for it. But as soon as the comfort is taken away, he's ticked off. Kill me, right? He's upset. So this is quite a guy, okay? I mean, this is an amazing individual. that can be so happy and so angry all over what? Physical discomfort. I don't know, about five years ago I heard hangry for the first time in my life. I don't think we're much beyond Jonah sometimes, right? If I gotta wait an hour for this meal, the bear comes out. God said to Jonah in verse nine, chapter four, again, second time, do you have good reason to be angry? This time he adds, about the plant. Now listen to the logic of this, because Jonah says, yes, I have good reason to be angry even to death. So then the Lord said, you had compassion on the plant for which you did not work, and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. You got more feeling in your heart for a plant that you did nothing to do to work for, and it only lasts a day. And yet it brings up all sorts of feeling in you, feeling of pity. My poor plant. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh? The great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left hand, that's children. As well as many animals. Can we all agree an animal is better than a plant? Right? And can we all agree children are better than animals? Jonah, forget the adults. You had pity on a plant. Should I not have pity on 120,000 children as well as many animals? Are you going to blame me? You follow? He indicts himself. You know, it's the logic here actually indicts him for his cold heartedness. And the question just hangs in the air. This is the way the book ends. I remember quoting this book in downtown Minneapolis in 1996 when I brought a bunch of, 95 actually, I brought youth down to Minneapolis on a trip to downtown Minneapolis. And I remember looking up at the skyscrapers and quoting this text. Should I not have pity on this great city in which there are 120,000 who don't know their right hand from their left? I mean our cities can be wicked, but yet there's children there. There's children. Shouldn't I have pity at least on the kids? God says to Jonah. Now think about this. This reminds me very much of the story of the prodigal son. Because Jesus is gathering together sinners. prostitutes, tax gatherers, and eating with them. And the Pharisees are sitting over there grumbling. He eats with sinners. He's not righteous. And they're grumbling. You follow me? So Jesus tells a story about a lost sheep and the joy in heaven. Come rejoice with me. And the lost coin and the joy in heaven. Come rejoice with me. And then the lost son. Come rejoice with me. And if you know the prodigal son story, there's actually two sons. The one son is lost. He goes off and wastes, prodigal means waste, he wastes the father's inheritance, right? And comes back and the father sees him far off and runs to him. You never ran in that society if you were a dignified adult man. He runs to him. And the man can't, the son can't hardly get out the confession. You know, of like, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm not worthy to be your son. Make me a slave here. Just make me a slave. He can't even get the words out. The father's like, quickly, quickly, bring the robe. Bring the ring, which is the authority of the family. Put it on him. Kill the fattened calf. We need to rejoice. We need to live it up and have a feast because this son of mine who was dead is alive. What's lost is now found, right? And the older brother hears what's going on. What's going on? There's music. Your brother has come home. And your father has killed the fattened calf. And the older brother goes, And the father comes out to him, lowers his dignity as well, to come out to him and say, come. And the man says, cold hearted, like, you know, like, like, look, I've been slaving for you all these years, and you've never given me a goat that I would have a party with my friends. But this son of yours, who wasted your money on prostitutes comes home and you kill the fattened calf for him. Now what's odd is that son came home and said, let me be a slave. I'm not worthy to be your son. This son has been acting like a slave all along. And you'll never get anything out of dad unless you slave for him. His view of his father is he's such a stingy man. You've never, ever given me a goat. And the father looks and says, son, all that I have is yours. At the beginning of the story, he divided his inheritance between both boys. This man has the entire estate in his own name. He could have had a party any time. The father had already given him everything. And he doesn't even recognize the generosity of the father. He thinks he's stingy. I remember working in a shop once, and one of our coworkers, I told this story. I mentioned the prodigal son. And the coworker looked at me and said, I've always hated that story. That father should have never forgave that boy. Let's not assume everybody's happy that God's a forgiving God, that he's compassionate and gracious and receives sinners back. You follow me? There's a lot of people in this world that think, I've worked hard. I deserve my degree. I deserve my pay. I deserve my honor and my recognition. This person wasted God's goods and doesn't deserve to be in heaven. And if they're in heaven? I don't want to be in heaven. You follow? That's Jonah. Jonah's like the older brother. In the prodigal son story, the father is not God the father. The father is actually Jesus, who's been going out to the tax gatherers and sinners and going out to the Pharisees, saying, come and rejoice in God and who he is. That older brother is Jonah. And the way this book hangs that question in the air, it's given to the Jews. Do you really like your God? Or do you hate him? John MacArthur once said, there was a sequel to the prodigal son story. You didn't know there was more to the story. The older son grabbed the father, took him out away from the house, and beat him to death for destroying the dignity of the family name by receiving back that son who never deserved to have that signet ring put back on him. And the first time I heard this, I was like, Whoa, that's a little over the top, isn't it, John? I don't call him John, but you know, Pastor MacArthur is like, I mean, it's like, that's a little like, but he's like, you tell me what happened in the gospel story. Those self-righteous scribes took the father, Jesus, and they did exactly that. They crucified him. They killed him. You tell me. If Jonah could have got his hands on God, what would he have done to him? You follow? He is so angry. I knew it. I knew you're that kind of a God. How many of us tonight have anger in our heart that we have not been able to let go because God hasn't done this and God hasn't done that and look it, he's done it for that and I'm more worthy than that person. I can't believe you'd do that for that person. What about me? You follow? How many of us have anger in our heart over how God's treating us in comparison to others? And if God shows his blessings on us, we're all about the praise. The songs, the thanksgivings, they're all there. But when God shows that kindness to our enemy, we're like, we're ticked off. You follow? How many of us are like that woman that I met years ago in a previous ministry who was mistreated by her father, scandalously wrong? And she looked at me and said, if what you're telling me is true, that somebody can do that kind of a thing and still be forgiven if they repent and end up in heaven. If my dad is in heaven, I don't want to go there. That was exactly her words. How many of us cannot let go of our anger in our heart and we are living with our hands gripped around the wheel like, I'm gonna make sure this car drives the way I want it to drive. And God's in heaven going, I will treat you with compassion and grace just as much as I would treat anybody else. Do you have a right to be angry? Do you have good reason to be angry? Shouldn't I have compassion? Didn't I have compassion on you? Won't I have compassion on you? Why will you not drop your anger and come to me and believe in me and receive my grace? Please, in the name of God, let go of that anger, whatever that is, about who's mistreated you, and how it all is like God's not treating you well. Did not God demonstrate his love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us? Do we not have, on this side of the cross, testimony that God is a gracious, forgiving God, even to the point of bearing the sin of the world and dying. Don't we have reason to let go of our anger and receive his love? An interesting question I'm going to end tonight with. Ruth has how many chapters? Four. Joan has how many chapters? Four. They're both my favorite short stories in the Old Testament. They're the only short stories in the Old Testament. They are my favorites, though. And they appear so similar. But one of the oddities is, Ruth is in the history section, and Jonah's in the prophecy section. So what makes Jonah a prophet book, rather than just a storybook? History, true history. A history book. What do you think, Rob? OK. So what Rob is saying is that it foreshadows the bringing in of Gentiles, of kind of grafting in, like Ninevites, Romans, Greeks, and such, you follow? Okay? Yes, Will. Okay. Ruth ends with a genealogy. Punchline of Ruth is David's coming, right? This is where David came from, birth narrative. Punchline in Jonah is a hanging question, which implies When will you repent? Right? Yeah, Luke. Part of it is the, I guess, two of the main characters are from the main group. She's not a prophet. She's, I guess, more of a secular part of the world. It's hard to say. But it fits in with the larger, like, judges and prophets. Whereas, you know, she talks to God directly and delivers the message. So it makes sense to put them in the section by the prophet. Amen. All three of these. It's all good. I mean, this is all good. Watch this narrative thread. Key verse. No sign will be given to this generation except what? Sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the, right, in the sea, three days and three nights, in the belly of the fish, so the son of man will be in the heart of the earth, right, three days, three nights. Remember that? So chapter 2, fish spits him out, goes into the deep, comes out. Chapter 2 is the death and resurrection of Jesus. Chapter 1, interestingly, has Jonah asleep in a boat. And then that individual, right, is brought forth and the sea goes perfectly calm. Maybe that kind of rings a bell with something, right? And then, so you follow me? Jesus is back here with the boat scene and the calm sea. Then there's the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection. Then the gospel is preached to the Gentiles, chapter three, and the Jews reject it, chapter four. Now you see the gospel narrative, the flow of history is actually pictured through Jonah. And you go, well, wait a minute. This is what bugged me about this the first time I thought of it. That makes Jonah the Jesus figure. I don't like Jonah. Why should he be the Christ figure of this, you know? But he's a prophet. He is a prophet. He's going to show forth Jesus whether he wants to or not. Just like he's going to save Nineveh whether he wants to or not. You follow me? And so what's interestingly is you and I have a choice. We can be a Ruth and we can gladly align our life with the way God made the universe and seek refuge under his wings and die to self and live in loving kindness for others. and wait on the Lord and he will raise us up in due season. Or we can be like a Jonah and go, I hate the way God's treat, well, when he treats me nice, I'm really happy with him. But I hate when he treats my enemies nice. It's like, I want my way. I have a right to be angry. And we can act like that and God will still get his glory out of us. Because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Ultimately, both sides are going to glorify God. The only question is, are we going to do it willingly like Ruth? Are we going to do it unwillingly like Jonah? You follow me? We're both going to exhibit the glory of the king. And so I hope tonight is at least encouraging the emerging adults among me tonight. Let's do it willingly. Let's die and let God raise us up in due season and see what he does with our lives. rather than hold a grudge against God because he didn't do it my way or give me what I thought I deserved. So may the Lord bless you with that tonight. And so let's pray. Father in heaven, we are grateful for your word, which is perfect. And story has a way of just bringing emotion into it. And Lord, we've been there. We've been there over the silliest things at times. and had a bad attitude and been angry over not being noticed, not being treated well, not being getting what we anticipated. But some of us in the room are struggling and have struggled with deep angers due to childhood and all sorts of things that should not have happened. But you and your providence allowed it, as you did the wickedness of Nineveh. and the fall of this world. Tonight, Lord, we're just praying as a group. If there's any that's struggling with anger, we pray, O God, that tonight would be the night where those hands are released, where we return back to our gracious God, and we see that he has a right to be compassionate to our enemies, and that he will be compassionate to us. Please, O God, grant that to be released. And may we all learn to trust you with the timing of when you will bring your freely given love and kindness into our lives as we seek to show it to others. So we commit all this to you in the name of Jesus, your son. Amen. If you think counseling would help with any issue, if you do have like a deep-seated anger issue, if you think counseling would help, please notify me. If you think I could help with that, SB Academy. 1210 at gmail.com. And we can schedule a time to talk together. SB Academy, 1210 at gmail.com. So OK. Two weeks burrito night. Next week, we'll be in the Gospel of Mark. So Lord willing, have a good night. Thank you, Bob. Yeah. Yeah.