journey through the bible: jonah - god of the second chance

Journey Through The Bible

Jonah, Nahum, Habbakkuk And Zephaniah:

God of the Second ChanceBible Readings: Jonah 1-4 (Page 654)Luke 11:29-32 (Page 736)

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.”

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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journey through the bible: jonah - god of the second chance

Spiritual

mercy god

love god

lord god

neighbour god

hesed of god

prophet of god

essence of loving god

throne mercy