STUDY AND DEVOTIONAL GUIDE

WEEK NUMBER THREE – JONAH CHAPTER THREE

(June 11-June 17)

SUBMISSION TO GOD’S MISSION

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city,

proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

(Jonah 3:3-5)

Week three, reflection #1 –SUBMISSION

Jonah chapter two ends with Jonah finally agreeing to do what God commands – even if he doesn’t like it.

Jonah says: “I will fulfill what I have vowed.” He ends his prayer with this phrase: “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” (Jonah 2:9).

Jonah has his theology right at this point. What is “theology”? _________________________

Jonah concedes that only God is Lord and in control. God alone will decide whether Jonah should be saved from the belly of the fish. And God alone can decide whether the people of Nineveh should be saved from their sins.

After three days stewing in the belly of the fish Jonah submitted to God’s authority.

How do you define the word “submission”?________________________________________

When we submit we recognize the authority of someone else. Biblically speaking, we do what God says – like it or not! That kind of submission actually runs a bit counter to our political and cultural environment. Independence, self-reliance, self-determination and personal choice are highly valued.

What are some areas of life where submission to the authority of another is necessary and good?

How do YOU feel about the subject of submission?

Rate your immediate response to each of these statements on a 10 point scale, with 10 being very positive and 1 being very negative:

a. “I must submit to God …” ___b. “Children should obey their parents …” __c. “We must submit to governmental authorities …” ___d. “We should obey our leaders and submit to them …” ___e. “Young men should submit to their elders …” ___f. “Wives should submit to their husbands, as to the Lord …” ___g. “Wives should submit to their husbands in all things …” ___h. “Employees should submit to their supervisors …” ___

Which statement received your highest rating? ____ Why so?

Which statement received your lowest rating? ____ Why so?

Match the statements above with the corresponding Bible verses: Ephesians 6:1; Hebrews 13:17; Colossians 3:22; Ephesians 5:22; James 4:7; Titus 3:1; Ephesians 5:24; 1 Peter 5:5.

Say this out loud: “A Christian recognizes the absolute authority of God. So, as a Christian I accept the absolute authority of God over my life.”

You said basically the same thing when you made your confession of faith. “I believe that Jesus is the son of God; and I accept him as my LORD and Savior.” When we say “Jesus is Lord,” we mean that he is our Master.

Consider: Is it possible to fully submit to God without also submitting to others as God commands in the Bible?

To “meddle” a bit, can we fully submit to God if we do not submit (for God’s sake) to our spouse, parents, supervisors, teachers, and our spiritual and political leaders?

Jonah recognized that if he went to preach to Nineveh he would in that way be serving the people of Nineveh, which is a form of Biblical submission. Jonah didn’t want to do that. It didn’t make sense to Jonah that God would want to save the evil people of Nineveh, who were a dangerous enemy to Israel.

Jonah was apparently willing to obey God’s commands only when he agreed with God – but not when Jonah thought God was wrong.

What about you? Do you have a practice of “cherry picking” God’s commandments? Do you obey God when you agree with what he says, but ignore commands that are “outdated” or offensive or just “too hard”?

Here is the ultimate question: Can God be Lord of part of your life, but not all of your life?

Wrap it up: Identify a life circumstance where you have obeyed God when you disagreed with God’s commandment:

Identify a time when you have obeyed God’s commandment when it was hard or painful to do so:

In Jonah one and two God is working to change Jonah’s will. God used the storm and the belly of a fish to break Jonah’s stubbornness. Jonah still didn’t like the idea of going to Nineveh, but he was ready to submit. At that point God “commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:10). In Jonah chapters 3 and 4 God will be working to change Jonah’s hard heart. We will see that it is much harder to soften a hard heart than it is to crack a hard head!

Week Three, reflection #2 – HARD HEADED and HARD HEARTED

In Jonah one and two God is working to bring Jonah’s mind and stubborn will into submission.

In chapter three Jonah finally does what God commands. Jonah still has a bad attitude about it – but at least he does it. God has won the war of wills with Jonah. That’s a good start!

In Jonah three and four God will work to also soften Jonah’s heart. What does it mean to be hard headed?

Search your own heart by asking whether there is something God wants you to do that you have been resisting.

It is easier to do what God commands when our heart is in it – but it is good to start doing what God commands even if we don’t want to. That is the nature of Biblical submission.

What does it mean to be hard headed?

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

What does it mean to be hard hearted?

Is that a good thing or bad?

Jonah was hard headed and hard hearted toward the people of Nineveh. He disliked them – He wanted God to judge and punish them.

Had Jonah ever actually met a citizen of Nineveh?

Have you ever felt dislike for a person whom you had never really met or come to know on a personal basis?

Sometimes we may have good reason for disliking another person. What are some things that people have done that caused you to dislike them?

How does God feel about that person?

It is one thing to dislike a particular person, but how do we come to dislike a whole group of people? We might dislike or distrust people of a particular nationality or race or life-style. We sometimes call that racism or prejudice. Is that an in-born trait that comes from our sinful nature, or is it learned?

How does that kind of racism or prejudice develop?

Are you racist or do you have dislike or an unfair prejudice toward any group of people? How did that come to be in your life?

How does God feel about that group of people? How does God want you to feel about that group of people?

Is racism and prejudice mostly a head problem or a heart problem?

Are you hard headed? What kind of persuasion or evidence is most useful in changing your mind about something important?

How do you change a hard heart?

What is God’s role in softening a hard heart? (See Jeremiah 17:9-10, Ezekiel 36:26 and Psalm 51:10)

How can you partner with God in softening your own heart?

What are some ways you might participate with God in softening someone else’s heart?

This is a prayer that King David prayed when God disciplined him for secretly having an affair with his friend’s wife. David first confessed his sin to God, and then prayed that God would help him fix his heart problem: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.” (Psalm 51:10-13).

Notice that when David confessed his own sin and asked for forgiveness he was ready to teach others that they can also repent and receive God’s forgiveness.

David prayed that God would give him a good heart to teach sinners about God’s love and forgiveness.

Is a hard head keeping you from sharing the gospel with other people?

Is a hard heart getting in the way?

Please pray in this way: Confess that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and he has the right to direct your life. Pray that that God will reveal your own sin and guilt. Ask for forgiveness. Thank God that he has forgiven all your sin through the loving sacrifice of Jesus. Pray that God will give you joy in your salvation that you want to share with others. Ask God to soften your heart toward other people who need forgiveness. Pray that God will open doors for you to share God’s love with others and show them how to also be forgiven.

Week three, reflection #3 – PREACH IT!

What images come to mind with the word “preach” or preaching? Mostly positive or negative? Why so?

What images come to mind with the word “preacher”?

Have you ever felt called to be a preacher?

What would one have to do to become a “preacher”?

Have you encouraged your children, grandchildren, nephews or nieces to become preachers? Why or why not?

What qualification(s) did Jonah have for preaching to the people of Nineveh?

Jonah 3:1-10 -- Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim (some translations say “preach”) to it the message I give you.”

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

In what part of the city did Jonah do his preaching?

If God sent you to warn the people of St. Louis that they must repent or be destroyed, where would you start … and why there? What would you say?

The Bible describes Jonah’s sermon this way: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” In the original Hebrew language the “sermon” is just five words long.

Do you think your preacher’s sermons are too long? … Don’t answer that question!

Look at the words of Jonah’s sermon again. What is missing?

Do you think this is the whole sermon that Jonah preached, or just the summary?

What was the response to Jonah’s preaching?

Why do you think the people responded to Jonah’s message in such a dramatic way?

We have talked about reasons why Jonah might have been a bad choice as missionary to the people of Nineveh (he didn’t want to go, he didn’t like Ninevites, he was racist, he didn’t want them to be saved …).

So, is it surprising that the people of Nineveh believed Jonah and repented the way they did?

When we know the end of the story, it becomes clear that Jonah really was the RIGHT messenger for this job – revival came to Nineveh!

Brainstorm some reasons why Jonah was successful with this missionary campaign?

Think about this: What did Jonah look like after three days in a fish belly? Did that help the delivery of his message?

What did Jonah know about God’s judgment and power after experiencing the violent wind-storm and man eating fish? Would that help with the certainty of his message?

How would surviving the storm and fish-belly affect Jonah’s fear of rejection, persecution or even death at the hands of the “evil” people of Nineveh?

Now consider this: Did God know in advance that Jonah would run from God’s calling?

Did God know that he would send a violent storm, that the sailors would repent and be saved, and that Jonah would be thrown into the stormy sea and spend three days “stewing” in a fish-belly before going to Nineveh?

Was that really part of Jonah’s preparation and training for the mission?

Was God focused on saving Jonah or Nineveh – or both?

In this week’s sermon Brent Sheridan taught us that we learn from Jonah’s preaching that “even our minimal effort can be used to God’s maximum effect.”

Jonah was by no means “perfect” as a messenger, yet God used him in a powerful way.

How can God use YOUR OWN prior rebellion and disobedience as training grounds and witnessing tools to make you a better missionary to your own family, friends and neighborhood?

God HAS also called you to be his missionary! Matthew 29:19 says, “Go ye into all the world and preach the good news to every person.” Go ye means “go me!” With that in mind, take a few minutes to write your own short gospel message that you can share with family, friends, neighbors and enemies.

Here is an example: “God wants to have a relationship with you. He wants to forgive all the bad things you have ever done. Jesus gave his life to pay the price for your sins and to make you a child of God. If you will tell God that you are sorry for your sins he will forgive you. I know this is true because God has done that for me. I would be happy to pray with you and help you get baptized to show that your sins have been washed away and you can start life all over as a child of God.”

Write your own short witnessing statement that you can use for inviting people to become followers of Jesus:

Next week: Jonah four – God is TOO GOOD