2022.10.02 Jonah Not Another Whale Of A Tale

Text Jonah 1:1 Opening Statement: Let us start our time today with a pop quiz. • Zacchaeus climbed ----------- • Adam and ----------------------- • Noah and ------------------------ • Daniel and ----------------------- • Ammishad’dai and ------------- • Jonah and ------------------------ In less than fifty verses of scripture, there is a storm at sea, the conversion of idolatrous sailors, a miraculous rescue, a song of praise, the repentance of a brutal nation, the unique revelation of God’s relationship to unbelieving Gentiles, a disobedient Jew, and uses of all sorts of nonhuman creations – the wind, a fish, a vine, a worm, and cattle. The book of Jonah is much more than a Whale of a Tale. I) The Evidence that God is at Work A) Why Should we Believe this Story to be True? Because Jonah is not make-believe. He was a real man, living in a real time, with a real challenge on his hands. Jonah, in fact, has already been around for quite a while. He was the court prophet for Jeroboam II who reigned in the northern kingdom of Israel 750 years before the birth of Christ. (II Kings 14:25). This verse collaborates the time and place of Jonah’s ministry. II Kings even mentions his hometown which would become known during the days of Christ as Galilee. B) Why don’t Some Believe this Story to be True? There is little wonder that Satan has attempted throughout history to make the book of Jonah the butt of many jokes and sneers. Let me briefly lay out a few of their objections. 1. They object to the abundance of miracles in the book of Jonah. 2. They consider Jonah a fairytale because of the strange unique mission of Jonah. 3. Their objection is that Jonah uses some words that seem incompatible with his vocabulary. II) The Evidence of God’s Call (Jonah 1:1) “Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai” A) Key Lessons about Jonah Jonah is the Hebrew word for “dove”. So, this is a man whose name was the symbol of peace, sent as a messenger to extend the olive branch to a nation headed for d