Jonah. At RbC we will spend the next 4 weeks in Jonah. Some of the themes you will discover in Jonah include:

Transcription

1 Rockbridge Church Jonah Series Study Guide October 2017

2 Jonah Those who regard vain idols Forsake their faithfulness, But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD. Jonah 2:8-9 The story of Jonah is a story about God... and Jesus. The real hero of Jonah is the Lord God (Jonah 1:9). His merciful heart and sovereign will and saving acts are the center of the story. The story of Jonah is also about Jonah... and us. Like Jonah, we are called and we are sent. Like Jonah, our very nature is turned in upon ourselves. Robertson McQuilkin has said, The most common idol of all is self. There is great turmoil and despair for the person who forsakes God in order to please himself. At RbC we will spend the next 4 weeks in Jonah. Some of the themes you will discover in Jonah include: The missional heart of God God is a sending God The vanity and agony of idolatry The attributes of God Who God is and what He is like God s desire for our thorough repentance Our responses to God what does it mean to fear the Lord God in our lives? Do we ever have a right to be angry with God? Does our disobedience necessarily disqualify us from further service to God? But of all the themes in Jonah, the one that may surprise you the most is seeing Jesus in Jonah! Jonah is the only prophet whom Jesus likened to Himself: Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Matthew 12:38-41 Like Jonah, but much greater, Jesus was sent by God on a mission to lost and undeserving people. Unlike Jonah, Jesus gave Himself completely to the will of God. He proclaimed freedom for captives, and forgiveness to those bound up in sin and the idolatry of self. So for the next few weeks, as we study Jonah, we will be studying Jesus!! We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. Colossians 1:28

3 Jonah Lesson 1 Jonah 1:1-16 The living God of the Bible is a sending God. The mission is always God s, for it is God who sent the prophets, His Son and His Spirit. Of these, the mission of the Son is central, for it is the culmination of the ministry of the prophets, and it included as its finish the sending of the Spirit. And now the Son sends us all who call Him Lord and themselves His disciples. Read the book of Jonah through. Then focus on Jonah 1:1-16 for Lesson 1, and your group discussion. 2. God called Jonah and sent him to Nineveh (in Assyria; about 600 miles all land travel northeast of Galilee). So Jonah went... heading west and out to sea toward Tarshish! Why might Jonah have not wanted to go to Nineveh/Assyria? In what ways do you identify with Jonah? 3. Do you think God called us to plant a church, or to reach a county, or both? Discuss. Also discuss together the thoughts on mission in the box below. 4. In this chapter the most basic response to who God is and what He is like is to fear Him (Jonah 1:9, 16). The fear of the Lord includes more than awe or reverential respect. It also includes adoring the God Who wants to know you. It s abandoning yourself to His will. It s finding God to be delightful! Look up the following verses, and jot down a few things you discover about the fear of the Lord: Isaiah 11:2-3; Proverbs 1:7; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Psalm 33:8; Genesis 22:12; Psalm 25:14-15; Proverbs 3:7; Proverbs 8:13; Proverbs 16:6. 5. How do you see Jesus in this section of Jonah? Thinking about mission... The word mission describes our relationship to the world. It is a large and comprehensive word, embracing everything God sends His people into the world to do (John 17:18). At its essence our mission, like Jesus, is giving ourselves in selfless service to others. Its outworking includes both works and words, and a concern for people physically and spiritually. Mission includes both social responsibility and evangelism, since both are authentic expressions of the love which longs to serve and to save people in their need. RbC has a missional identity, and every Christian has missional DNA. Mission is not just what we do; it s who we are. We are the salt of the earth... we are the light of the world... we are ambassadors for Christ (Matthew 5:13-16; 2 Corinthians 5:20). How do these thoughts shape your understanding of who you are, your life purpose, why you are alive at this time and place?

4 Jonah Lesson 2 Jonah 1:17-2:10 In this chapter we see Jonah calling out to God from his unique prayer closet. Read Jonah 1:17 through chapter Jonah knew he was forsaking God fleeing from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3, 10). He seems to identify this as his personal idolatry forsaking faithfulness. Discuss with your group the following quotes and Scriptures, and the description of idolatry in the box below: o Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness Jonah 2:8 o o The heart of man is a perpetual factory of idols. John Calvin Every day in a thousand ways I make myself the center of the universe. William Temple o Little children, guard yourselves form idols. 1 John 5:21 3. What do you think Jonah meant when he said that he remembered the Lord while he was fainting away? Had God forgotten Jonah? What does Jonah s prayer teach you about the heart of God? 4. How do you see Jesus in this section of Jonah? How has Jesus brought rescue to you in your distress? Thinking about Idolatry You shall have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3). To have a god is to ascribe to someone or something attributes that belong only to God or to relate to someone or something as the ultimate to seek above all else, to love above all else, to serve and obey above all else, is to treat as god. To make something central in life, the pivot or ultimate reference point is to have a god. To yield ultimate allegiance to or to consider someone or something as the ultimate happiness or the most desirable object is to have a god. Anything more fundamental than Jesus to my happiness, meaning in life, or identity, is to have a god. If I really want to change, and replace the idols of my heart, Jesus Christ must become my overmastering positive passion.

5 Jonah Lesson 3 Jonah 3:1-10 Jonah was probably happy being a prophet. Some fame and prestige following in the footsteps of Elijah and Elisha. Probably spent time dreaming of that first big assignment maybe to one of Israel s beautiful coastal towns. But... Nineveh! Absolutely not! Way off to Assyria? Unthinkable! To Gentiles? No way!! Even later in history, when the church was first planted, Peter resisted Jesus Spirit sending him to Gentiles in Caesarea. Yet, both Jonah and Peter ended up going where God sent them. And God did great things through their obedience. How about us? Are there people groups we are so prejudiced toward that we would say no to God should he send us their way? Read Jonah 3: Thankfully, Jonah finally went to Nineveh. But it was God who really showed up big time. From the words of the text, and using your imagination, what all was going on in the market places and palaces and homes and ghettos in Nineveh? Describe their repentance. 3. In Christ we see One who is greater than Jonah. Like Jonah, but much greater, Jesus was sent by God on a mission to lost and undeserving people. Unlike Jonah, Jesus gave Himself completely to the will of God. He proclaimed freedom for captives, and forgiveness to those bound up in sin and the idolatry of self. Jesus traveled further than Jonah. He gave up much more than Jonah. The people He came to were far more diverse and difficult. Look at what Isaiah says about Jesus mission: Thinking about Mission The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3 Ponder how you were the recipient of Jesus mission. He came to you and for you. Now He wants to live in you and through you. And ponder who God might be sending you to to bring good news to them and to proclaim freedom in Christ.

6 Jonah Lesson 4 Jonah 4:1-11 Well, Jonah was not a happy camper! The story of Jonah ends with 3 probing questions God asks Jonah. Let s not miss the character of God as revealed in this closing chapter. Read Jonah 4: The most significant fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. So said A.W. Tozer. He also noted, There is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian morals that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God. What does Jonah 4:1-11 teach you about what God is like? What does this mean to you in your daily life? 3. God likes to ask questions because they are effective in helping us see the state of our hearts. He did this to Jonah with 3 searching questions: Have you any right to be angry?... Do you have any right to be angry about the vine?... Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, that great city? (Jonah 4:4, 9,11). If you were to stop and be open to God s voice, and really listen, what question(s) do you think God may be asking you? 4. In what ways do you see Jesus in this section of Jonah? 5. What life-long lessons have you learned from these 4 weeks studying Jonah? What has God impressed on your heart through Jonah? Thinking Ahead... Next week we will start a series called The Treasure Principle based in Matthew 6. You may want to read Matthew 6 to prepare for this coming Sunday.