Introduction

Transition to a Book Study: The Book of Jonah

0:04 It has been a very deep longing felt very keenly for many months to engage with you in a book study, in a careful verse-by-verse exposition of some large section of the Word of God, and yet I have been under constraint of vital pastoral considerations which has kept me, as it were, locked in to the topical method of study both morning and evening with the Here We Stand series and then the series on worship and the Practical Christianity series in the evening, but this seemed to be a very natural transition point and a good

0:45 time to make perhaps a fresh start in the evening expositions as I continued my studies with respect to the doctrine of stewardship. The more I studied, the more I felt I was utterly unprepared to give any kind of a comprehensive statement of the biblical. The more I understood the biblical principles relative to Christian stewardship, and certainly one cannot preach beyond the measure of his own understanding of the Word of God, and as I wrestled with the matter of what ought to form the basis of our study for these evenings for at least a few months to come, why my mind was directed to this book on which I

1:25 had occasion to preach several summers ago at a family conference in a very cursory manner, and at that time I gave promise to some of you. I said, hopefully some day we would have a more expanded version. Well, I am now at least beginning to keep that promise. And so as I announced this morning, we shall begin tonight a study in the book of the prophet Jonah.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Studying Jonah

1:49 Now, coming to a book such as the book of Jonah has very distinct advantages and very distinct disadvantages. Some of the advantages are that most people have some previous acquaintance with the prophet Jonah. I doubt there are very many, if any of you sitting here tonight, who do not know that somehow Jonah has something or other to do with a big fish, and something to do with a preacher that wouldn't mind the Lord, and then God dealt with him until he did mind the Lord. Well, if you know nothing else, well, that's pretty much the heart of the book.

2:26 So there is a distinct advantage in that we do not come to the contents of the book as it were cold turkey. There is some previous acquaintance. And it is therefore easy to draw upon some of that acquaintance in teaching and preaching. Furthermore, there is a great advantage to a book like the book of Jonah as far as studying it because it is a story, and it's easier to apply one's mind with close attention to a story than it is to closely reasoned argument.

2:58 Anyone who found it easier to read the book of Romans and the book of Jonah is an oddball. Now, it's not that easy to read the book of Romans and the book of Jonah. It's an oddball. It's an oddball.

3:05 Now, we may have an oddball amongst us, but I would like to say to you with a smile and kindly, you are an oddball. If you find it easier to read Romans or Ephesians or Hebrews than the book of Jonah, then you're the odd one. Most of us find it much easier to read a book like the book of Jonah because, as it is often said, everyone loves a story. And there's something about the gripping nature of a story, of a narrative, that is much easier in terms of understanding the story.

3:35 And I'd like to say to you, I would like to show you that it's all a matter of benefit for you. Now, the question is, are there any advantages, advantages, or disadvantages to a book of Jonah? Well, those are some of the advantages of studying a book like the book of Jonah, but there are distinct disadvantages. One is that familiarity breeds contempt, and in many ways, this is true with respect to the book of Jonah.

3:52 It may be that some are thinking, well, everyone knows the book of Jonah and knows the story and knows the obvious lesson that when the Lord tells you to do something, do it or else, and that's about the beginning, middle, and end of what people would expect. That's the thing that I would suggest, probably, I', and I would suggest that it ought to be done. I wouldn't be that kind of more conservative. expect to find in the book of Jonah. So it's a disadvantage because in many ways people already

4:11 have their minds made up. Because the book is not totally new, they already have some preconceived notions as to its message, as to its significance in the word of God. And one must then break down those preconceptions, those false notions, sweep them away and prepare the mind for the true understanding of this portion of the word of God. And then of course the temptation for a preacher when he's in a book like the book of Jonah is to preach more on the basis of his imagination than on the basis of a careful study of the grammar and a careful comparison of the whole teaching of the word of God to make sure that his expositions are not the effusions of his own

4:55 imagination. See whenever you come into biblical narrative it is there that the preacher is most tempted to preach more on the basis of his own imagination. to make assertions and draw conclusions on the basis of his own imagination rather than on the basis of sound exegesis. So there are the advantages, there are the disadvantages, and yet the fact that this portion of the Word of God comes under the clear directive statements of 2 Timothy 3 ought to encourage us greatly to come in the expectation that God will minister powerfully to our hearts.

Jonah's Profitability According to 2 Timothy 3

5:33 For we read in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 14, the apostles' exhortation to Timothy, Abide in the things which thou hast learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a babe thou hast known the holy writings, the sacred writings, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus, all Scripture is inspired of God and is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.

6:15 Well, when Paul wrote to Timothy and said that the Scriptures were able to make him wise to salvation, included in that designation of the sacred writings was the book of Jonah. So, the book of Jonah is part of that portion of revealed truth which is able to point us to the salvation of God in Jesus Christ. And perhaps more than many books in the Old Testament, the evangelistic thrust of the book of Jonah is powerful. The fact that God is willing to show mercy to the vilest of sinners is stamped upon the very face of the book of Jonah.

6:58 Furthermore, as we shall see, Jonah is rich in its typological significance, that is, in pointing forward to the great Redeemer, who by death and resurrection would preach mercy to the Gentiles. And so, there is a distinct advantage in coming to the book of Jonah to apply ourselves to grasping its message, because as part of Scripture, it is able to make us wise unto salvation, and we are not looking in, as it were, upon an interesting historical tidbit about a prophet who lived hundreds of years ago, concerned about why he did what he did and where he went where he went.

7:42 When we open the book of Jonah, we are opening that which God has ordained to point us to the knowledge of our own sin and to the knowledge of the only Redeemer of sinners and to encourage us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to be saved. And then, of course, the second great function of all Scripture, and this includes the book of Jonah, is given to us in verse 16. All Scripture is inspired of God and is also profitable for teaching.

8:15 And there is rich doctrine in the book of Jonah. Some of the richest doctrine in all of the Old Testament concerning such vast themes as the sovereignty of God. What a book! Setting forth God's sovereignty.

8:30 We see him Lord of the sea and of the waves in an instant. A sea that he has made to just boil with furor is quieted.

8:42 He's Lord over the hearts of pagan sailors. He brings them to their knees in the midst of a storm to offer up sacrifices to God, expressing their faith in the God of Israel. We see him as the sovereign Lord over creation, the sovereign Lord over the hearts of men. There is much rich teaching in the book of Jonah concerning what we would call natural religion.

9:07 That second chapter, as we see the detailed account of the response of these heathen sailors in the midst of this unusual storm, there is a tremendously graphic commentary upon the whole truth of Romans 1, much that will be applicable to the consciences of our hearers. It is rich in doctrine, but it is also rich in correction and reproof, for surely we cannot read the book of Jonah without feeling something of the reproof of God to our own hearts, that God has spoken to us, not in audible tones as He may have spoken to Jonah, but by the clear revelation of His word. And so frequently, like Jonah,

9:51 we have turned to move 180 degrees away from that which God has said to us. And as we see God's dealings with the prophet, we too shall be reproved as well as instructed in doctrine. There is much helpful correction and there is specific instruction in righteousness. And so you see the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and should whet our appetites to come to this portion of the word of God.

The Nature of the Book of Jonah: Historical Narrative

10:19 Now what I propose to do tonight is simply to give a general introduction to the book of the prophecy of Jonah, and then God willing next week begin a specific and detailed exposition and application of the first three verses of chapter 1. We come to the book of Jonah then, convinced that it is profitable both to make us wise unto salvation, to teach us rich doctrine, searching reproof and helpful correction and specific instruction in righteousness, but we will miss much, if we do not by way of introduction come to grips with several fundamental issues

11:03 that will, as it were, spread the table so that we may sit down and eat together. And what I would like to do tonight is just to address your attention to three or possibly four lines of thought by way of general introduction. First of all, we must start with this most fundamental of all questions, namely, what is the nature of the book of Jonah? When we pick up the book of Jonah and open up to this prophecy, as I am doing right now, and we read chapter 1, verse 1, the word of the Lord came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city,

11:48 and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me. And then the narrative unfolds of Jonah's disobedience, the great upheaval in the sea, Jonah's being swallowed by a great fish, vomited out upon the land, recommissioned, sent to Nineveh, preaching the great revival in Nineveh, the growth of this strange gourd, the withering of the gourd, Jonah's pouting, God's remonstrating with Jonah. What is the nature of all this that we read in the book of Jonah? What precisely are we reading?

12:23 Is it sort of an inspired pilgrim's progress? An allegory containing very vital and profound spiritual lessons? This is one of the problems we've had in reading through Pilgrim's Progress in family worship in times past. It's hard at times for children to get hold of what an allegory is.

12:44 When Bunyan makes his character so real, it's hard for children to realize that there was no real person called Christian who had a real pack on his back, leaving a real city called the city of destruction, heading to the city of destruction, heading to the city of destruction, heading to a real place called the celestial city. That under all of these figures, there are profound spiritual lessons taught in the literary device of allegory. Allegory is like an extended metaphor or figure of speech in which you do not continually say, sin is like a pack on a man's back. Repentance is like a man leaving his sins and the world.

13:26 You simply take, you simply take those realities and dress them up in a story. Now there are some who would say to us that the book of Jonah is just that. It is an allegory filled with God-inspired and profound spiritual lessons. Well, is that the nature of the book?

13:44 Is this an inspired Pilgrim's Progress? An allegory? Is it a myth with some kind of God-directed events and circumstances to convey? Spiritual lessons?

13:59 Or when we pick up this book, are we reading the record of actual events in the life of a real man who was commissioned by the true and living God, who actually disobeyed, was actually swallowed by a great fish, actually vomited up upon the land, actually preached, actually saw this strange gourd grow up in a day and then withered? What is the nature of that? What is the nature of the book of Jonah? Well, my assertion is, and I trust your conviction shared with me is, that the book of Jonah as to its nature is straight, plain, unadorned narrative.

14:43 It is a record of historical facts. Now how do we know that that is so? Well, we know it for three reasons. Number one, the internal evidence points in that direction alone.

14:57 Number two, the internal evidence points in that direction alone. Number three, the internal evidence points in that direction alone. There is nothing internally in the book of Jonah, in the four chapters, that in the slightest degree intimates that God is giving us an allegory. That the prophet is, as it were, caught up in a vision in which he goes one place and then is turned from that place to go to another.

15:21 The internal evidence of the book of Jonah points to this one thing with respect to the question of the nature of God. The internal evidence of the book of Jonah points to this one thing with respect to the question of the nature of God. The internal evidence of the book of Jonah points to this one thing with respect to the question of the nature of God. The internal evidence of the book of Jonah points to this one thing with respect to the question of the nature of God.

Christ's Affirmation and Typological Significance Confirm Jonah's Historicity

15:29 of the book. We are dealing with historical narrative. We are dealing with facts rooted in history, facts that attach themselves to real people, real places. And then, secondly, we know that we are dealing with real history, not only because of the internal evidence that points in that direction, but because of the assertions of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15:57 There are no fewer than three distinct references recorded in the Gospels from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ in which he indicates the factuality, the historicity of the contents of the book of Jonah. Matthew chapter 12, verses 38 to 41. Certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign. From thee. And he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh

16:34 after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with the Son of Man, and the men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with the Son of Man, and the children of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with the Son of Man, and shall condemn it. For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

17:08 Now it is quite obvious that when our Lord makes reference to Jonah, to the belly of the great fish, to the three days, and three nights in the heart of the earth, which will be part of his own history, the repentance of the Ninevites, there is not a shred of evidence that this is not true. It is only evidence, there is only evidence, and there is no doubt, that this is not the case. And yet when our Lord makes reference to Jonah, and the belly of the great fish, and the three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, that he is simply using an allegory as a touchstone to teach some wonderful lessons. Our Lord is treating the book of Jonah as straight history, as something embedded in factuality.

17:45 And this also comes through in chapter 16 and verse 4 of the same gospel writer, Matthew 16, verse 4, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of Jonah. And then we have a parallel reference in Luke chapter 11, verses 29 to 32. So the second indication that the nature of the book is to be understood as a book of history is not only the internal evidence, but the assertions of our Lord, and then thirdly, the nature of a type demands that we are dealing with history.

18:28 Now we are not a church that indulges in fanciful typological preaching. That is, preaching that finds a type under every blade of grass on Canaan's hillside, under every ripple of a wave upon Jordan's banks. There are schools of thought which treat the Old Testament as though only someone with special mystical glasses can really understand it. And there are schools of thought which treat the Old Testament as though only someone with special mystical glasses can really understand it.

18:58 And this kind of interpretive philosophy early plagued the church. You had early interpreters who said, well, you have the surface meaning. That's the one that anybody can get. But then you have the spiritual meaning.

19:12 And that, the real in people, they can really get hold of that, you see. And so a simple-minded person would read in the book of Genesis that in the Garden of Eden, out of that garden came a river that split into four heads. And he'd say, well, that's a description of the geography and the topography of that area. And these people would say, aha, that's what simple-minded believers see.

19:33 But we who have the spiritual understanding, we see in that river split into four heads the four great virtues of wisdom, of this, of this, of this, of this. Well, you see, there are people who treat the Word of God that way. And they find a type in everything in the Old Testament. And much of it is sheer, arbitrary imagination.

19:54 Imaginative manipulation of the Word of God that destroys confidence in the average believer really to understand the Word of God. But, when you come to the New Testament and you find from an inspired New Testament writer a reference to the Old Testament and an event as foreshadowing a great reality in the New, there you do indeed have a type. Now, our Lord Himself says, as Jonah was, so shall the Son of Man be. How, then, can we define a type?

20:31 And what are the characteristics of a type? Well, the finest statement I have ever found on this question is found in the Baker's Theological Dictionary. And I would encourage every household to have this dictionary, Dictionary of Theology, published by Baker. And I get no commission, so I'm not commercializing.

20:53 But so often people will say, Pastor, what does, what does this word mean, or that theological word mean? Unlike a Bible dictionary that contains only nouns that are found in the Bible, a theological dictionary will take non-biblical but theological terms and give you a definition of them. And in the definition of type, we have this given to us. A type is a shadow cast on the pages of Old Testament history by a truth whose full embodiment or antitype is found in the New Testament, New Testament revelation.

21:27 You see what the author is saying? There are these spotlights shining in the direction of this pulpit. If I put my arm, a substantial reality, between that light and this curtain, now we can get it,

21:44 a shadow is cast upon that curtain. Now the substance and the reality is not that which you see upon the curtain. My arm placed between the light and the curtain is the substantial reality. Now a type is a shadow cast upon the pages of the Old Testament from a great spiritual reality which is yet to be manifested in time, but is already rooted in the purpose and plan of God.

22:16 Now then, the characteristics of a type are these. And I quote now from this article. They are thoroughly rooted in history. The first thing that is true is that it is rooted in history.

22:26 The first thing that is true is that it is rooted in history. The first thing that is true is that it is rooted in history. The second thing that is true of every God-ordained type in the Old Testament is that it is an historical event. It is rooted in history.

22:38 This author says, they are thoroughly rooted in history. Jonah's experience is just as credible as the momentous event which it prefigures. Is the resurrection of Christ to be a true, valid, historical event? So that which is its type, as Jonah was in history, truly in the belly of the great fish, and was vomited out upon the land, and through this ordeal of death becomes a resurrection preacher, so Jesus Christ, through the bowels of death, will be raised to life to become a messenger of mercy to the Gentiles.

23:21 The first thing then about a type is it is thoroughly rooted in history, and then he goes on to say, he goes on to give the other aspects of a type, and I don't want to get sidetracked and I'll not go into them, except to say that they will always cluster around something to do with the person and work of Christ. They are Christocentric, since the whole Old Testament points to Christ. Those peculiarly ordained historical events which are shadows of great realities will find their substance, with reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, since this is a type,

24:03 and we have New Testament evidence to assert that, it must be rooted in history, for it is of the very essence of a type that it has historical substance and reality. So then, our first consideration tonight is the nature of the book of Jonah. What is it when we take the book into our hands and read, this certain man went to this certain place and these events and circumstances followed, we have before us plain, unadulterated, factual, historical narrative. Now why is it important to emphasize this?

Why Jonah's Historicity Matters: Confessing Christ in a Skeptical Age

24:42 Well, I remind you of the words of our Lord in Mark 8 and verse 38. Very sobering words. Jesus said, Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man shall be ashamed of him when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Now I want all you children and young people to listen very carefully to pastor for a moment, will you?

25:20 If in the average public school, the Bible is discussed, and if the story of Jonah should ever come before the discussion, someone will be present, probably the teacher, to say, now, is there anyone here who goes to a Sunday school and a church that really believes that a whale swallowed Jonah? No, nobody here really believes that, do you? In other words, it will be said in such a way as to bully you into feeling if you were really stupid enough to believe that, you'd be a fool to let anyone know about it. The whole

26:01 pressure, the whole intellectual climate of our day is such as to bully people into feeling ashamed of accepting plain, Biblical narratives for what they really are, because they contain the element of the miraculous. And that's the great stumbling block of the Biblical narrative. It's not that there is so much that is offensive in the history of the Old Testament. But the great offense is that the history reveals that there is a personal, powerful God

26:39 as the Lord of the entire historical process who at any point can break in in any way that He wants to to accomplish His purposes.

26:51 And men cannot stand that fact. Why? Because it's a reminder to them that that's the God to whom they're accountable. And if they can only rid history of the miraculous, they have rid the world of God.

27:08 And if they've rid the world of God, then they're free to do their own thing without any twinges of conscience.

27:19 Now Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me and my words, what words? Part of His words we've read tonight. In His own words, He accepts the book of Jonah as historical. It's a historical narrative with all of its offensive supernaturalism.

27:41 With its great fish that swallows a prophet. With its God who keeps that swallowed prophet alive for three days and nights in the belly of a fish.

27:57 Christ accepts the narrative of Jonah with all of its supernaturalism as true, bona fide history. And He says, if you're ashamed of me. If you're ashamed of me and of my words. If you cower and shrink before the bullying, proud, anti-God mentality of this sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when He comes in His glory.

28:32 You see, to confess Christ in an age that prides itself in its knowledge. Why, we have examined every single form of marine life. And there is...

28:45 There is no whale going that has a big enough throat to swallow a man. It doesn't seem to bother them that the text says the Lord prepared a great fish. Did He actually create a new species? Well, that wouldn't be any problem to Him.

29:07 He made galaxies by a word. Did He perform a little operation and enlarge the mouth and the belly? That's no big deal for Him. Is that a stumbling block to you?

29:19 No, why? Well, as a biblical theist, your biggest stumbling block was resolved when you accepted the first words of Genesis. In the beginning, God created the...

29:34 So when you come to Jonah and says, you prepared a fish, you say, what, what's the big deal? You prepared a fish. That's no stumbling block. Why?

29:43 Because you accept a view of the world that begins with the fact that God is free to do all His holy will. Some of you children have learned that in your children's catechism. God do all things. And the answer is God can do what, kids?

30:01 All His holy will. Now do you see why I've paused in the introduction to focus on this issue? What is the nature of the book of Jonah? The nature of this book is narrative.

30:17 And if we claim to be the people of God, we will confess our confidence in the historicity of the book of Jonah as part of our confession of Jesus Christ. The confession of Jesus Christ our Lord. And we say without embarrassment, with our Lord. We accept a view of life and of history and of the universe that includes the supernatural.

The Uniqueness of Jonah: Message in the Narrative

30:43 Well then, in the second place, I want to say a word about the uniqueness of the book of Jonah. Having focused on the nature of the book, now just a word about its uniqueness. Apart from the brief reference to the content of Jonah's preaching in chapter 3 and verse 4 of the book. Chapter 3 and verse 4, you have this reference to the content of Jonah's preaching.

31:11 Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried and said, and this is the only record of his preaching, Yet forty days Nineveh shall be overthrown. Everything else in the book is a record of the prophet's activities, his attitudes and God's dealings with respect to his activities, and to his attitudes. Now that's utterly unique among the prophetic books. In all the major and minor prophets, the message of the prophet is contained in these records of his prophecies.

31:51 The word of the Lord came unto me, Say, Son of man, go to the house of Israel and say. Now granted, in books such as the book of the prophet Hosea, you have narrative woven into the record of specific pronouncements. With respect to Daniel, you have several chapters given over wholly to narrative, but, and this is what makes the book of Jonah singular, it makes it unique. In Hosea and in Daniel, in those books, the bulk of the message is found not in the narrative, but in the specific prophecies that are given,

32:34 now in the book of Kings, you have the record of the lives of men such as Elijah and Elisha, towering figures among the prophets, you have some of the lesser prophets mentioned, you have Abijah, you have that dear young prophet who was deceived by the old prophet, and I read that narrative this week and I wanted to cry. I think that's one of the saddest chapters in all of the Bible, but contains a profound lesson, and I even thought of preaching on that tonight before I settled on the book of Jonah, but you do have some of that in the Kings, but you see in the major and minor prophets,

33:15 that is, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, with lamentations thrown in between, and then the minor prophets beginning with Hosea, Joel, Amos, etc. Why, you don't have this kind of narrative predominating in the prophecy? Well, what does this tell us? Well, it should tell us at the outset this, that unlike the other prophets, major and minor, in which the message is contained in the words that the prophet brings, the message in the prophecy of Jonah is to be found

33:56 in the narrative of what the prophet did and how God dealt with him. In other words, Jonah himself as a man becomes the message of God to Israel. And that's what makes this book among the prophetic books entirely unique. The message is in the narrative.

34:22 And that, I trust, will unfold in the process of our study. But you need to know it at the outset. And anyone reading through for the first time, you see, and this is where our previous knowledge is a stumbling block, anyone who for the first time was picking up the minor prophets, and he started with Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, he would find all the way through that the thrust of the message was in the record of what the prophet said, and suddenly he'd come to the book of Jonah, and he'd read this narrative, the word of the Lord came to this prophet, and then you don't find what that word was, except that he was to go and preach. And then all this narrative.

35:06 And he didn't go, and God did this, and God did that, and God did the other, and the prophet did this. And you'd say, what's here? Something different here. And you'd begin to raise the question, could it be that the message of this prophet is in the man himself?

The Fundamental Message of Jonah: Didactic and Prophetic

35:21 And that is precisely what God has designed to do in the book of Jonah. Well, that leads us very naturally then to our third introductory consideration. What is the fundamental message? What is the fundamental message or purpose of the book of Jonah?

35:35 And I should like to suggest or declare that its fundamental purpose is twofold. It is, on the one hand, didactic, that is, morally instructive, and on the other hand, it is prophetic. That is, it points forward to a great reality in the purpose of God. Now, what is the essential didactic or instructive purpose of the book of Jonah?

36:03 Well, I want to assert, and then we shall prove in the subsequent studies, that the essential teaching purpose to Israel was to instruct the nation concerning the largeness of God's heart. To demonstrate that God's compassion to men extended beyond the borders of Israel. If you want to feel something of the power of that message, just connect with me as I read the opening verses and the closing verses of the book. And it is like a mighty work of beautiful musical composition,

36:44 where the main theme will be introduced in the opening bars and then form the substructure of the conclusion when all of the instruments are raised to a full pitch. Feel something of this with me. Seek to feel something of this as I read. The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go, not to Judah, not to Israel, not to Samaria, not to Jerusalem.

37:16 Arise, go to Nineveh, seat of Gentile world power, seat of tremendous pagan influence, seat of pagan idolatry, seat of pagan licentiousness. Jonah, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness is come up before me. And now the closing words of the book, verse 11. Should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city,

37:58 wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle? Often when I have read the book of Jonah, I said, Something else ought to be there to round it out nicely. That is sort of an abrupt ending. Ah, but you see, the abruptness merely enforces the message.

38:23 Should not I have regard for Nineveh? Bring together the opening bars. The opening bars of the composition. Jonah, arise.

38:34 And I can imagine Jonah's ears pricked up and said, All right, God's going to send me to my countrymen to warn them to turn from their sins as He has sent other prophets. And then the words come, Arise, go to Nineveh. And then the pouting prophet, who's disturbed that God should show mercy to this bunch, has ringing in his ears, Should not I have concern? For Nineveh.

39:17 I say the great didactic or morally instructive purpose of this entire book is to teach the nation of Israel that God's heart is larger than the borders of Palestine. Someone has stated it this way, The purpose of the book is primarily to teach that God's gracious purposes are not limited to Israel, but extend to the Gentile world. The author wishes to enlarge the sympathies of Israel so that as God's missionaries they will lead the Gentiles to repentance and to God.

39:58 The ready response of the Ninevites shows that the heathen are capable of genuine repentance. The book of Jonah may be regarded as a great work on foreign missions. It is the Old Testament counterpart. The Old Testament counterpart of John 3.16.

40:17 For God so loved the world. I shall have occasion in the opening up of the book to come back and make reference to that point again and again. And then of course to draw out its applications to us as the people of God. For remember, this book is profitable not only to teach us what was Israel's great sin when she allowed her sympathies to be narrowed and her vision to be constricted, and therefore becoming ingrown, finally became ripe for judgment.

40:51 But in that is a warning to us as the people of God that our sympathies should never become constricted and our vision should never become narrowed, but that we should always remember that the God who has shown grace to us in Jesus Christ blesses us as we sang from the 67th Psalm tonight to the end that his way may be known upon the earth and his salvation among all the nations. So the fundamental purpose then of the book of Jonah is first of all didactic. It is to teach this great lesson to the nation of Israel by the example of the prophet and God's dealings with him.

41:33 And then of course in a didactic manner it is also profitable as we've already intimated for reproof and correction and instruction in many other areas. And the book of Jonah is rich in fleshing out profound biblical doctrines and I hope some of these doctrines will come alive to us as we see them not in the abstract theological definition of them such as we would have them say in Romans 1, but here you have Romans 1 in picture form in Jonah chapter 2. And you have what are the advantages and disadvantages the raw elements and the limitations of natural or revealed religion

42:17 I'm sorry not revealed but what would be called natural revelation or natural religion. It is full of tremendous teaching and so God has given us the book not only to teach that great lesson to Israel but to teach these lesser lessons as well. But then its second main purpose is to be found in its prophetic significance in the sense that it is a type and God's dealings with Jonah and the Ninevites become this wonderful picture which prefigures the great work that Christ will accomplish as the Savior of his people. It's a tremendous thing for our Lord to say

43:02 again and again in his own history no sign shall be given this generation but the sign of Jonas. This is the key sign. This is the great sign. This is the profound, the pinnacle, the apex sign.

43:22 And what is that great sign? That by means of the ordeal of death and resurrection mercy and grace are brought to the Gentiles. And so the book of Jonah becomes in Old Testament history a wonderful prefigurement of that truth upon which all of our hopes hang as the people of God. Most of us here are from backgrounds that would be classified as the nations, the heathen.

44:00 Very few of us can trace our bloodlines to Abraham's seed. How is it that sitting here in this place we should be recipients of such light and gospel mercy? It's because the sign of Jonas was fulfilled in our Lord. And having gone into the ordeal of death and having spent three days and nights in the heart of the earth he has come forth as Jonah did.

44:30 Jonah preached to the Ninevites as a resurrection man apparently coming into the borders of Nineveh. His very appearance would bear witness to the fact that he had come through this ordeal and he would explain to them, I am here by way of a commission that led to the belly of a whale as it were into death itself and from that deliverance of death I come to preach mercy. Oh, what a conviction this was that God desperately longed that the Ninevites know of impending judgment that it might lead to the seeking of His mercy. And what a wonderful privilege it is

45:14 to say to sinners in this place tonight, my friend, if you perish in your sins it's not because God has not made His good will known. For I preach mercy through Jesus Christ, mercy confirmed by death and resurrection. He died, He rose and as the living Lord He commissions His servants to preach repentance unto remission of sins in His name. How much does God yearn to show mercy to you sinner?

45:49 Answer that question in beholding a Savior who died and who rose again and who lives and who says in the Gospel, repent and believe and find pardon and mercy. Here is the great prophetic significance of the book of Jonah. As Jonah came through that ordeal to preach mercy so our blessed Lord has come through the ordeal of death and the glorious resurrection on the third day and now He through His servants preaches peace to them that are far off and to them that are nigh. And then finally,

Working Outline: The Prophet Running, Praying, Preaching, Pouting

46:32 and I'll only touch for this in just a moment, as we try to think through the book of Jonah by way of general introduction having considered the nature of the book, it is history, the uniqueness, the message, is in the narrative, the fundamental purpose, didactic, prophetic. Now then, can I give you a working outline by which you can hold together the contents of the book of Jonah. And I'm not seeking to be clever when I do this but helpful. And I hope each of the children can always remember the book of Jonah.

47:01 It has four chapters and each chapter has a distinct unit of thought. There are some variations and subplots but the main points can be stated in a word. In chapter one you have the prophet running. From what? God's commission.

47:18 To where? Into a ship and everything follows. Chapter two you have the prophet praying. Why? Because he's in the belly of a fish.

47:27 What's he praying? Well the chapter tells us. What happens when he prays? The chapter tells us.

47:32 So you have the prophet running, chapter one. Chapter two, the prophet praying. In chapter three you have the prophet preaching. Where? In Nineveh. What?

47:41 Forty days Nineveh should be overthrown. What happened when he preached? The Ninevites repented. That's the whole third chapter.

47:48 Then you have chapter four, the prophet pouting. And that's exactly what he's doing. He's pouting. It says when they repented in God's purposes mercy that the prophet is grieved.

48:02 And he sits down and he pouts. Well why did he pout? Well the chapter tells us. What did God say to him when he pouted? The chapter tells us.

48:14 What is God's attitude to the pouting prophet? Well that's the essence of the fourth chapter. So if you can remember. The prophet running.

48:22 The prophet praying. The prophet preaching. The prophet pouting. You've got the four chapters of the book of Jonah.

Concluding Exhortation: Embrace Mercy and Missions

48:30 And you can think your way through. Well then as we come as it were to the table that I've sought to spread tonight. I hope your appetite has been whetted. To plead with God for an enlarged and teachable heart and mind.

48:44 And then to plead with God that we would be instructed from this portion of his word. But oh dear friends as God has sovereignly reminded us of the brevity of life. I cannot assume that we'll all be gathered together again next Lord's Day evening. Death has broken into the ranks of one of our families.

49:06 One of our young men played football with a young man. Who a week ago was as full of life as any seventeen, eighteen year old boy. And he's now in eternity snatched away. By a bullet put into his head by his own father.

49:21 Little did he think a week ago that he'd stand before his God. You see these are not mirages. When Pastor Fisher preached last Lord's Day evening from James. And reminded you your life is a vapor.

49:34 You know not. He wasn't just using preacher scare tactics my friend. And I wish that I could lay out the substance of the book in such a way. As to assume that everyone who reads it.

49:48 Who hears the introductory message will hear the final message. That God may exercise his sovereign prerogatives by snatching some of you away. Oh my friend if you're out of Christ. Hear the message of the book of Jonah.

50:03 One has come back from the dead to preach mercy. And that one is the Lord Jesus. And he stands ready tonight to save the vilest of sinners. Who will turn from their sins as did the Ninevites.

50:17 And seek mercy. They only had a message of negative judgment. But they were able to reason from that message. Forty days Nineveh will be overthrown.

50:27 Well if God was determined to zap us. Why did he tell us forty days? Why didn't he do it? Maybe God is telling us by that.

50:36 There's mercy if we'll turn. My friend you don't need to reason that way. You have a more full message. And that message is this.

50:45 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Repent and believe the gospel. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

50:57 And I will give you rest. Oh may God grant. That you will receive the offer of mercy. Not from a fellow mortal.

51:06 But as it is pronounced by a fellow mortal. In the name of the greater than Jonah. Who came back from the dead. And lives to pardon sinners.

51:18 And dear child of God. Pray that God will plow up your own heart. Wherein there is anything of the spirit of Jonah. Few things will cripple a church more quickly.

51:30 Than the spirit of a Jonah. A constricted narrow spirit. That does not share something of the beating heart of God. For the nations.

51:41 Pray that God will enlarge us. And cause us as a church as never before. To be consumed with a holy longing. To see the nations brought.

51:51 Into the orbit of God's saving mercy. Through the preaching. Of the greater than Jonah. Who has come.

Prayer of Gratitude and Supplication

51:59 Let us pray. Our Father. We are indeed grateful this night. That we have the scriptures.

52:16 Oh how we thank you. For this blessed book. This lamp unto our feet. And this light to our pathway.

52:26 And we pray that grace may be given to us. To understand and to heed its truth. We thank you for the book of the prophet Jonah. We thank you that.

52:39 You humbled him sufficiently. To write this narrative. That exposed him for what he was. And oh how we pray.

52:48 That the same spirit will humble us. And instruct us. And that this portion of the sacred writings. May be effectual to bring some to faith in Christ.

53:01 And may be profitable to all of us who are in Christ. Both for doctrine reproof correction. And for instruction in righteousness. Hear then our prayer.

53:12 And help us as we seek in the days of this coming week. To live to the praise of him. Who has bought us with his own precious blood. Even our lives.

53:22 Even our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.