Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 675. Bible Study: Jonah 2,3 &4 (We can't run from God, Repentance affect on Judgement, God's Mercy and Compassion)

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675. Bible Study: Jonah 2,3 &4 (We can't run from God, Repentance affect on Judgement, God's Mercy and Compassion) · Faith by annm2705

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  We will start with chapter 2 of Jonah, but we might finish the
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  book of Jonah because it only goes to chapter 4 and there
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  isn't a whole lot here. So and there's a powerful
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  message though, so let's begin with the prayer.
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  Dear God, please be with us as we read through this scripture
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  and let the Holy Spirit give us wisdom and insight and how we
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  apply this to our own lives and how it might affect us and what
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  we should be doing to be in your will.
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  We ask for this in Jesus name, Amen.
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  So starting with chapter 2, Jonah's prayer.
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  Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah
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  was in the belly of the fish 3 days and three nights.
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  OK, so again we see the three days and three nights.
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  This is literal and symbolic, for it was a literal account of
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  Jonah. This was his experience that was
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  documented. And this is also symbolic
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  because it points to Jesus being on the cross and being away for,
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  you know, on the third day he rose from the dead in
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  fulfillment of Scripture. So Scripture talked about it and
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  all throughout the Testament. Just do a search.
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  Get an electronic digital Bible, blueletterbible.org.
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  That's a great one. And just search 3 days and see
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  how many references there are to three days and read all of the
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  verses and then also read it in context if you have time for
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  that as well. But even just reading all the
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  verses that show up, you may start to see the pattern it's
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  really referenced throughout these three days.
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  Really ultimately point us, direct us their symbolism that
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  really is all about Jesus and the whole Bible is revealing of
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  Jesus and his importance. Even if even though we're in the
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  Old Testament before Jesus was born, this talks about Jesus and
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  what he would eventually do for all people.
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  And this book of Jonah is so important.
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  It's about, it's about all people, God's mercy, compassion
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  and love for all people. And it's all, ALL, all people.
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  Everyone who is a Christian needs to remember that.
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  And even those who are not Christians or who don't even
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  believe any of this, they need to know that it's for all
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  people, all religions, people that are of all religions.
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  But The thing is, people from different religions need to turn
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  away from that, turn away from false religions and turn to God
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  in repentance for the salvation that Jesus offers and to be in
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  God's Kingdom. And if that doesn't seem to make
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  sense or you don't understand anything about that, then get in
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  the Bible and read it. Read the Bible because the Holy
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  Spirit will make it known to you.
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  But our faith grows from reading the Word of God.
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  The Bible is older than, I mean, it's the the one document that
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  the religion actually people recently have asked AI and
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  supposedly AI is programmed or whoever this person was that was
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  doing it said that it seemed like AI was programmed to
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  respond based on a person's belief.
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  So first it would like respond back to find out what the person
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  believes to kind of support that.
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  But then when the question was asked, you know, with all of the
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  archaeology, all of the history, all of the information that's
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  out there, of all the religions all over the world, which one
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  seems to be the most accurate and possibly the truth?
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  And it said it responded by far it was Christianity.
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  So not to go, I'm not saying go to AI for answers because that's
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  very dangerous. But at the moment someone had
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  done this and got that response. You probably could find it on
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  some social media, but I don't recommend going to AI because
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  obviously a person has programmed that or multiple
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  people have and they could program it to put out whatever
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  belief that they they want people to come to.
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  So but it does. The Bible does say that faith
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  comes by hearing the gospel message.
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  And we find that in the Bible, in Scripture.
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  And I recommend, I mean, if you have never read the Bible, the
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  book of John is great, the Gospel of John.
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  But a lot of Christians just stay in the New Testament.
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  They don't go into the Old Testament.
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  And I think if they aren't in the Old Testament, they don't
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  really understand the New Testament because they tie
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  together. It's like the foundation of
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  everything. So anyway, I'm going to go back
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  to Scripture because I'm getting off track here.
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  OK, so 3 days and three nights Jonah was in the whale.
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  From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
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  He said, in my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me
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  from deep in the realm of the dead.
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  I called for help and you listened to my cry.
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  OK, That's something that God does.
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  I mean, even when we are in the middle of all of our sin and we
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  haven't yet repented, something will.
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  It says that God calls us. Something will happen where we
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  just have questions or we're seeking God.
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  Well, that I believe is God actually calling us.
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  And sometimes God will put people in our paths to get us to
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  think about or question things or look into Scripture.
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  And God uses people who are willing to do his will to help
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  essentially other people to help their eyes be opened to the
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  truth about God's Kingdom. Because in reality, all of this
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  is about getting people access to the Kingdom of God and having
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  a relationship with God. God wants a family in his
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  Kingdom. He created all of us out of
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  love. He wants us to be in his
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  Kingdom. And the Bible tells us how that
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  happens. And if we're not reading about
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  how that happens, we may not know.
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  I mean, Jesus is the one who made it possible for us to be in
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  God's Kingdom. And then he also said Jesus
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  himself said that we must be born again if we are to enter
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  the Kingdom of God. That's missed by a lot of
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  people. A lot of people say just believe
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  in Jesus, but there's more to it because Jesus himself said that
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  one must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God.
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  And that's when we become, that's a spiritual rebirth, when
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  we align with God, when we reconcile with God, when we ask
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  for forgiveness of our past, when we turn to God, and then we
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  ask God for the Holy Spirit. Jesus will ask the Father for
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  the Holy Spirit and give it to us if we ask in his name.
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  And, and Jesus also does things without us even asking for it.
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  But we do need the Holy Spirit because we can't overcome our
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  sinful nature unless we have the Holy Spirit.
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  So it's the Holy Spirit strength when anyone, when you see anyone
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  change from a sinful way of life into a more holy way of life, it
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  is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, but it's not forced on
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  anyone. The person has to give
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  permission, essentially because God gives us free will.
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  So God will. He will let us stay in
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  rebellion. He will let us deny him.
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  He will let us go whatever path we want to choose, but He warns
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  us along the way. He's like, don't do that because
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  it's going to be bad for you. But if you turn to God, then the
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  Holy Spirit can work in your life, but you have to give
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  permission. There's something about
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  authority and permission and laws, and we don't fully
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  understand all of it, but the Bible gives us some of it.
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  But it's because of our free will.
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  If we don't allow this Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the
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  Holy Spirit won't so because of free will, because God gave that
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  to us. So we have to make that choice.
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  We have to invite the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we
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  can become holy like God. And we have to be willing to
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  give up our sinful past and let God do that work.
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  But all along we will face with choices.
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  We will be tempted because as soon as somebody turns to God.
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  I know I experienced this then the enemy of God does come
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  after. I don't know if he does it to
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  everybody. It happened to me for sure and
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  and I didn't realize it. I didn't know about spiritual
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  warfare until I was praying to God about like God, what is
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  happening? I'm turning to you and now bad
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  things are happening to me. This isn't right.
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  It should be good if I'm turning to you, my life should be good.
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  Well, that's a a naive understanding because I didn't
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  read the Bible. I didn't know.
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  And then I opened the Bible just randomly, and it opened to the
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  book of Job. And that's all about being
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  tested. That's all about spiritual
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  warfare. And the ending is that God
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  restores everything. And so through that I learned
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  about spiritual warfare and it was through prayer to God, just
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  not knowing. I had no mentor guiding me
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  along. But these are things that I
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  learned as a result of seeking God and as as a result of God
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  putting people in my life and pointing me there.
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  I mean, I ignored so many times, but finally I listened.
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  So I was very much like Jonah in a lot of ways that there were
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  opportunities years ago, but I passed them by and then finally
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  got in to do some drastic things with me.
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  He had to take away everything so that I kind of hit rock
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  bottom before I responded to God.
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  So I did it the tough way. If you're fortunate enough and
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  you're not as, I don't know, stubborn maybe, I guess as I
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  was, then maybe you don't have to go through all the stuff that
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  I went through, but and maybe you've gone through more than
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  what I have because even though it was rock bottom for me,
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  others have gone even like had worse things happen.
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  But thankfully, I turned to God instead of away from God when
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  bad things started happening and God restored everything and God
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  provides. And I fully 100% trust God.
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  And he reveals things. He revealed things like in
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  dreams about scripture. And then I learned more that
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  way. I mean, it's just been
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  completely amazing. And he's done that for people in
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  the Bible. He did that for me.
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  I personally experienced it and I know that He will do it for
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  you. If you seek Him, God will show
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  up in your life. So anyway, in what Jonah's
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  praying to the to God, he's saying, you know, from the deep
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  realm of the dead, I called for help.
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  I mean, that's a lot of what happens to all of us.
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  Not too many of us, let me say, is that we get to a really bad
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  place in life. And that's when we cry out to
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  God. And God is so compassionate.
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  Even though we've done stupid things, God still comes to the
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  rescue because of His love. So Jonah's saying this.
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  You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart heart of the
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  Seas, and the currents swirled about me.
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  All your waves and Breakers swept over me.
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  I said. I have been banished from your
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  sight, yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
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  The engulfing waters threatened me.
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  The deep surrounded me. Seaweed was wrapped around my
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  head. I mean, have you ever fallen
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  into a lake or something and then where there was seaweed,
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  deep seaweed, and all of a sudden it wraps all around your
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  arms or legs or something like that?
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  I mean, Jonas describing like being thrown over that boat that
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  he was on and he's, he's in desperation at this point to the
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  roots of the mountain. I sank down the earth beneath me
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  barred me in forever. But you, Lord, my God, brought
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  my life up from the pit. When my life was ebbing away.
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  I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you to your holy
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  temple. Those who cling to worthless
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  idols turn away from God's love for them.
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  That's interesting. We should read that again.
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  Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love
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  for them. If we are, if we have idols in
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  our life, anything we put more import as a priority, more
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  important than God, that's an idol.
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  If we have that in our life and we rely on that, like if
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  something goes wrong in our life, what do we go to?
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  What? Who do we go to?
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  Do we go directly to God, or do we go to something or someone
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  else? Whoever we go to when we're in
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  trouble, that's somewhat of an idol to us.
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  Ultimately, we should go to God. God may provide people to help
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  us in that time of need, but our first response, God wants to be
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  the one that we call upon because people can't save us.
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  They might temporarily help us in situations, but ultimately
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  it's God. And if we don't have that
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  relationship with God, we're missing out.
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  He's continues on but I will will but I but I with shouts of
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  grateful praise will sacrifice to you what I have vowed I will
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  make good. I will say salvation comes from
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  the Lord and the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah
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  onto dry land. So God is in charge of all
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  creation and he stopped storms. He can have fish swallow people.
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  He can have fish throw people out unharmed.
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  And did you notice here that Jonah said what I have vowed I
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  will make good? So apparently he prayed
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  something to God and said he would.
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  He said, I will say salvation comes from the Lord.
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  So Jesus hadn't even been born yet.
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  But Jonah knows and is is to me, it sounds like he's going to go
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  to Nineveh where God asked him to go.
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  And salvation comes from the Lord.
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  So he's going to tell people salvation comes from the Lord.
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  We are saved by the Lord. He may have just, you know, been
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  talking about his own personal experience.
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  But again, this also has a literal and a symbolic meaning
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  because the Lord is the one who saves all of mankind through the
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  Son of God, Jesus. And, and that's where salvation
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  comes from. And this is even before Jesus
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  was born, this this was being proclaimed and understood by
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  Jonah and the Lord command. So and then God just took over
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  there. So I will read there's only a
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  couple questions and answers for chapter 2.
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  Did did Jonah pray to be rescued or forgiven?
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  Jonah's prayer is actually a prayer of gratitude, thanking
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  God for saving for from saving him from drowning in the sea.
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  Despite his strange surroundings inside the fish, Jonah's prayer
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  focused more on God's goodness in saving him than on what God
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  would do with him next. Was Jonah truly sorry for his
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  rebellion? It's difficult to believe that
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  Jonah was truly sorry for his disobedience to God's call.
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  When Nineveh repented, Jonah sulked, saying he feared that
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  God would be gracious and forgive Nineveh.
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  That is hardly the reaction of a repentant prophet, one who
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  should rejoice at God's mercy. OK, so Jonah goes to Nineveh,
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  chapter 3. Then the word of the Lord came
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  to Jonah a second time. Go to the great city of Nineveh
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  and proclaim to it the message I give you.
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  Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.
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  Now, Nineveh was a very large city.
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  It took three days to go through it.
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  Just, you know, why does that get pointed out in Scripture?
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  And it's recorded for thousands of years.
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  Why? Because there's symbolism in it.
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  Because eventually God knew that someone would figure out that
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  three days are mentioned a lot, 40 days are mentioned a lot.
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  Is there symbolism? Does this have meaning?
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  And yes, they do. And, and he has them scattered
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  throughout. There's what, 40 different
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  authors that wrote the Bible, but yet they all share with the
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  same concepts to proclaim a cohesive message from beginning
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  to end. That's, you know, the people
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  have done probability studies on that.
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  And all I can say is that it's very rare, if not impossible
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  that this could actually happen unless it was from God.
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  OK. Jonah began by going a day's
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  journey into the city proclaiming 40 more days and
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  Nineveh will be overthrown. So that's judgement. 40 days, 40
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  was a time of testing. Moses was in the wilderness with
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  for 40 days with the Israelites. They just wandered around and
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  people say the area that they were walking it, they must have
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  been doing circles for 40 days. Like that wouldn't have been a
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  normal path of travel for them. But that was a period of
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  testing. And God did eliminate some
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  people during that time. The rebellious people he did
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  eliminate and he was testing people to see where they were
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  with their faith. God does test.
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  He does not tempt, but he allows tempting.
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  And you know, that's what God'll use evil.
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  For his good. But he will also show us through
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  our testing where we turn. If we turn away from God, then
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  we know that our faith needs to be stronger.
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  That means we need to get into the Word of God and study it
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  more and pray more and our faith will grow.
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  It says faith comes by hearing the Word and are the gospel
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  message. I don't know if I have that
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  correct, but but it's through Scripture that hearing about the
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  message of salvation that our faith does grow and that's found
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  in the Bible. So if we lack faith, that means
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  we just need to be in the word more and study it more and
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  question it more and you will come to faith.
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  I mean, that's actually how I came to true faith.
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  True saving faith was after I read the Bible.
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  I was convicted by what it said and knew I needed to change my
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  life and wanted God to do that, and he did.
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  So the Ninevites believed God, a fast was proclaimed and all of
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  them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
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  That's like sackcloth is showing that they're grieving.
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  So it says all of them did when Jonah's warning reached the king
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  of Nineveh. Now we're talking about modern
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  day Iraq, that area. He rose from his throne, took
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  off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat
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  down in the dust. This is the proclamation he
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  issued in Nineveh. Think about this.
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  This is somebody that doesn't. They're the enemies of the
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  Hebrews like they are today. If we think about Iraq or Iran,
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  I mean, they're not great friends with Israel.
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  We're in the midst of a war, a volley between missiles right
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  now in June of 2025. And so this, this reading of
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  this is very timely. And this would be like telling
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  somebody from Israel a Hebrew, you know what a Hebrew is a like
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  a Jewish Christian. But so it would be like go and
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  to the people of Iraq and proclaim God, you know, and, and
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  this would be like, no, I'm not going there.
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  They're the enemies. That's how Jonah was replying.
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  He was saying, no, I'm not, I'm not going to go.
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  I, I, I don't want to go to my enemies and give them the grace
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  of God. The grace, that's what it is.
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  It's the grace of God that we all, anyone who believes, anyone
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  who will be in God's Kingdom has and will experience grace
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  because we don't deserve being there.
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  We are sinful. And it's only by the grace of
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  God, which I like to say the grace of God is the power of the
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  Holy Spirit. If we substitute that word grace
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  and replace it with power of the Holy Spirit, that's what grace
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  is. And anyway, that's the only way
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  that we are able to overcome these things.
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  And thankfully Jesus was the final sacrifice for all of us.
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  The the blood of Jesus it let's see it fulfilled the law of God
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  that an unblemished lamb. Jesus is symbolic of the lamb,
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  but he was the because he was the son of God, he was perfect
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  and he was the only one who could qualify to die on a cross
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  and his the blood of him covers all of us, makes atonement for
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  our sins. God allowed substitute
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  sacrifices so that people didn't die forever, were eternally
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  separated from him. And in the Old Testament, before
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  Jesus came, that was done through animal sacrifices.
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  And God never wanted the animal sacrifices.
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  He wanted people to change, but he allowed the sacrifices to
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  happen as a substitution, so that person did not die or
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  become eternally separated from him and gave people time to
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  repent, to change their ways. But if you notice all of the
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  prophets, the ones who hear from God, they talk about repentance.
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  The message of repentance is very apartment from many
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  churches. Many churches love to talk about
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  love, but they don't talk about repentance because they don't
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  want to offend people. But all the prophets of God talk
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  about repentance like that is essential.
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  If you're not hearing about repentance, then you might want
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  to search for another church because you're getting a watered
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  down own message of God and I don't know if it's going to do
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  then if it's going to benefit you to get you into the Kingdom
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  of God. Ultimately that's what the
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  churches should be doing is encouraging people, supporting
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  people, and helping people. Primarily helping people have a
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  relationship with God and enter the Kingdom of God one day.
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  And if a church is not helping people enter the Kingdom of God,
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  they're not doing what Jesus sent his disciples out to do.
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  And Jesus himself said repent. There's repentance all over.
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  We don't like to hear that because it requires us to die to
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  ourself, die to our sins like in a in a non literal way, but to
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  put away our sins, to remove our sins through the Holy Spirit.
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  The Holy Spirit helps us with that.
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  We just have to be willing to let the Holy Spirit work in our
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  lives so that we can be in God's Kingdom.
• 26:08
  OK, so anyway, Jonah, you know, he's not wanting to go to
• 26:14
  Nineveh, obviously. OK, that here's what the decree
• 26:18
  that the king put out by the decree, the king, by the decree
• 26:24
  of the king and his nobles, do not let people or animals, herds
• 26:28
  or flocks taste anything. Do not let them eat or drink.
• 26:33
  So he went way beyond. He's not even letting the
• 26:36
  animals. I mean, he's taking this really
• 26:38
  serious. They are going on a fast because
• 26:42
  they're going to go. They're they're going to.
• 26:45
  This is what they do in repentance.
• 26:50
  But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth.
• 26:54
  Let everyone call urgently on God.
• 26:58
  Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.
• 27:02
  Who knows? God may yet relent and with
• 27:06
  compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not
• 27:11
  perish. This is an example of God.
• 27:15
  I mean, it's not an example of it because he hasn't done it
• 27:18
  yet, but this is what the way God is.
• 27:21
  This is scripturally accurate. God does have mercy.
• 27:27
  He has compassion. He doesn't look forward to
• 27:31
  somebody being destroyed. That's what his enemy likes.
• 27:35
  His enemy likes destruction. God wants people to come to
• 27:38
  repentance and to come to relationship with Him and to be
• 27:42
  in His Kingdom. And He wants to give gifts, good
• 27:45
  gifts, and He wants to give joy, happiness, peace, all those
• 27:50
  things that's from God love. And it's His enemy who does the
• 27:58
  other. When God saw what they did and
• 28:02
  how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not
• 28:07
  bring on them the destruction He had threatened.
• 28:11
  So God does withhold the judgement when somebody asks for
• 28:18
  forgiveness and turns away from what they were doing.
• 28:21
  That means that all of us who have done wrong things to God,
• 28:26
  don't let God's enemy just completely condemn you for that,
• 28:32
  because that's not what God does.
• 28:34
  God, if we are serious and asking for forgiveness for our
• 28:37
  sins, God Forgives us and he forgets those he He treats us as
• 28:42
  if we were a new person. And our job is not to go back to
• 28:48
  what we just confessed to God. And we can't do that on our own.
• 28:53
  We need the Holy Spirit for that.
• 28:55
  So if we ask God for the Holy Spirit, he will give us the Holy
• 28:58
  Spirit to strengthen us when we come in to a choice again that
• 29:04
  we have to make with that temptation, the Holy Spirit will
• 29:07
  give us strength. He will also give us a way out.
• 29:12
  We're not, we're not doomed to repeat it again if we rely on
• 29:18
  the power of the Holy Spirit, not our own power, but the power
• 29:22
  of the Holy Spirit. And that's why many, I mean,
• 29:25
  there's so many people who have instantly overcome serious
• 29:30
  things in their life, serious addictions, and they claim that
• 29:35
  it happened instantaneously for them.
• 29:37
  Their desires for that went away.
• 29:41
  So it's probably a matter of how much we surrender and just give
• 29:45
  it to God. Like when it's comes time for
• 29:48
  that testing, if we call on God, you, you better bet he's going
• 29:53
  to deliver us from that because he wants that for us.
• 29:55
  And when he sees us submitting to his will, like it may come
• 29:59
  upon us and we might be like, oh, I want to do that
• 30:02
  temptation. But in that moment when we
• 30:05
  realize that we're going back to our sinful ways, in that moment,
• 30:09
  say God, please help me, help me overcome this and God will make
• 30:15
  a way. That's the power of God.
• 30:18
  So chapter 4. But to Jonah this seemed very
• 30:22
  wrong and he began became angry. He prayed to the Lord.
• 30:28
  Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?
• 30:32
  This is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to
• 30:36
  Tarshish. I knew that you are gracious and
• 30:40
  compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love.
• 30:44
  A God who relents from sending calamity.
• 30:49
  So he's just upset now that his enemy experienced this, somebody
• 30:55
  that they didn't get along with. Like God was that compassionate
• 30:58
  that he went to the enemy of Israel and and gave this same
• 31:06
  grace that he was giving to Israel.
• 31:09
  I mean, that's important to know right now.
• 31:11
  Again, June 2025, there's a battle between opposing people.
• 31:17
  There's, there's people in Iran that may not support the
• 31:23
  authorities that are in power, but they may not like the
• 31:27
  Israeli people either. But God still loves the people
• 31:33
  and if the people will turn to God and God can relent.
• 31:38
  It seems like, you know, there is a little destruction
• 31:41
  happening on Israel's side, but they, there's many of the
• 31:45
  violent leaders have been eliminated.
• 31:49
  It's not by Israel doing that. I believe that God is with them
• 31:53
  because these are the enemies of Israel.
• 31:55
  They, it's they, they just want Israel to be exterminated from
• 32:00
  the face of the earth and God, God's word said they're not
• 32:05
  going to be completely exterminated from the earth
• 32:09
  because they are his chosen people.
• 32:12
  And we talked about this in, in the book of Esther that, you
• 32:15
  know, there's throughout the Bible, it says those who bless
• 32:19
  Israel will be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be
• 32:23
  cursed. So again, reading the Bible, we
• 32:27
  can learn some things that will really cause harm in people's
• 32:31
  lives. So if we are a person who
• 32:35
  doesn't like Israel, we need to get over that because it will,
• 32:42
  it will turn into something, it'll turn into anger and it
• 32:47
  will cause harm to the individuals who feel that way.
• 32:52
  Turn it over to God. Let God deal with the anger.
• 32:55
  Anger comes from the enemy of God.
• 32:59
  It because then it, it gets deeper and deeper the less we
• 33:02
  deal with it. So we can speak to God, We can
• 33:05
  tell God just like Jonah was saying, he was being honest with
• 33:08
  God. He was like, that's why I was
• 33:10
  trying to get away from you because I knew you would do
• 33:12
  something like this. I didn't want to go there.
• 33:14
  And now you're giving them compatibility and mercy.
• 33:18
  No, I'd rather die. I don't want to see that happen
• 33:20
  to them. And then God's going to have to
• 33:22
  deal with Jonah about this because and he will, he'll,
• 33:27
  he'll mention this. But you know, this is a normal
• 33:30
  human reaction. Even though Jonah was a prophet,
• 33:33
  he was hearing from God. He still is like, oh, you're,
• 33:36
  you're doing this for my enemies.
• 33:38
  God. Really.
• 33:39
  And that's what's happening. That's who God is.
• 33:44
  So now the so that he's like so distraught about this and says
• 33:48
  now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die
• 33:52
  than to live. That seems extreme to me, but
• 33:55
  that's what Jonah said. But the Lord replied, is it
• 33:58
  right for you to be angry? Jonah had gone out and sat down
• 34:03
  at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter,
• 34:07
  sat in the shade, and waited to see what would happen to the
• 34:11
  city. Then the Lord God provided A
• 34:15
  leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his
• 34:21
  head to ease his discomfort. Look at how compassionate and
• 34:25
  caring God is makes a plant grow up over Jonah to give him shade.
• 34:30
  And Jonah was very happy about the plant.
• 34:34
  But at dawn the next day, God provided a worm which chewed the
• 34:39
  plant so that it withered. He's teaching Jonah a lesson
• 34:44
  because Jonah's angry. He doesn't like what God did.
• 34:47
  So God's like, OK, well, I got to teach you a lesson now.
• 34:51
  So when the sun rose, God provided A scorching E wind, and
• 34:56
  the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint.
• 35:01
  He wanted to die and said it would be better for me to die
• 35:06
  than to live. But God said to Jonah, is it
• 35:09
  right for you to be angry about the plant?
• 35:14
  It is, he said, and I'm angry. I wish I were dead.
• 35:18
  Just Jonah. He is so angry about stuff and
• 35:20
  it yet he he was saved like God saved him.
• 35:24
  Despite all of his rebellion, he goes the opposite direction.
• 35:27
  He God sends a storm, then he gets thrown overboard.
• 35:33
  He thinks he's going to drown and God sends a fish and then
• 35:36
  the fish swallows them up and saves him and spits him out and
• 35:40
  lets him do God's will. So when God wants us to do
• 35:44
  something, he's going to keep on like, come on, do this.
• 35:49
  Like you're telling me that you're willing to do this, but
• 35:52
  show me in your actions that you're willing to do this.
• 35:55
  Like, didn't Jonah say I'm going to keep my vow?
• 35:59
  And then now after He did, He did what He said He would do,
• 36:02
  and now he's like crabby about it.
• 36:05
  OK, going back to Scripture. But the Lord said you have been
• 36:09
  concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or
• 36:14
  make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died
• 36:19
  overnight. And should I not have concern
• 36:22
  for the great city of Nineveh in which there are more than
• 36:27
  120,000 people who cannot tell the right hand from their left
• 36:34
  and also many animals. So right there we need to, a lot
• 36:40
  of people say, well, what about all the people who live on this
• 36:44
  remote island somewhere and they have never heard about God?
• 36:48
  That's not fair. If they, you know, you know, get
• 36:51
  killed or something like that. God doesn't do that.
• 36:55
  It shows throughout Scripture that God gives everyone a chance
• 37:00
  to make the choice. He doesn't just make people to
• 37:04
  destroy them. He makes people out of love.
• 37:07
  He creates people, all people, out of love.
• 37:10
  He loves the people that he creates.
• 37:13
  He wouldn't create it if he didn't love the people.
• 37:16
  And yet people turn away from him.
• 37:20
  They don't know that there's something inside all of us that
• 37:24
  we do seek. And we often turn to different
• 37:29
  things that are not God and get it wrong.
• 37:32
  But eventually we get it right and God is very passionate with
• 37:38
  us, but God is compassionate. So when someone is given a
• 37:43
  choice of God and they turn away from God, that's when judgement
• 37:49
  comes upon them. But some people receive God and
• 37:53
  they turn and they change their ways.
• 37:56
  And this is showing a group of people were willing to do that.
• 38:00
  God knew the timing was right for these people.
• 38:03
  That's another thing about Christians and something
• 38:06
  probably I need to learn too, is that there's a, there's a timing
• 38:10
  for everything and we need to be in communication with God.
• 38:14
  No, what God wants, listen to God's, listen to God, be
• 38:19
  directed, be guided by God and not by our own feelings and
• 38:25
  emotions and thoughts, which is something we need to submit to
• 38:30
  God and make sure that it's not just us, that it's God that
• 38:34
  wants us to do something. And I need to listen to my own
• 38:38
  advice that I just gave there. But God knows the right timing
• 38:44
  when someone will be receptive to hearing this.
• 38:48
  And apparently the city of Nineveh was receptive.
• 38:52
  Even the king, he, he put on all the animals, he said, no, don't
• 38:55
  let them eat. You know, we're all going to go
• 38:57
  into fasting and we're all going to ask God to hopefully relent
• 39:03
  in this judgement upon us and, and turn away from our evil.
• 39:07
  And so all these people, these 120,000 people that were there
• 39:14
  that were, that just like he said, couldn't tell their right
• 39:17
  hand from their left. They, they were clueless.
• 39:20
  They didn't know about God. God revealed himself through
• 39:24
  Jonah to these people. These people were ready to
• 39:27
  receive whatever Jonah said. They believed and then they
• 39:32
  escaped the judgement that was going to come on them within 40
• 39:36
  days. They had 40 days to repent and
• 39:39
  they did it. But the Israelites, not all the
• 39:42
  Israelites did. When they were wandering in the
• 39:43
  wilderness. God was patient with them for 40
• 39:46
  days also, but they didn't all repeat.
• 39:49
  Some of them were destroyed during that time because of the
• 39:52
  things that they did. So you know, God doesn't have
• 39:58
  favoritism. He did choose Israel, but
• 40:01
  doesn't mean that. That is his favorite.
• 40:05
  It's just that he he his word, it's throughout Scripture.
• 40:12
  It says it's because of his name, like his name will not be
• 40:16
  will not be tarnished. And that's why he is with
• 40:20
  Israel, because he chose Israel of all the people and he chose
• 40:25
  them to bring forth the Son of God and to be his people and all
• 40:33
  nations also. So they were the chosen, but we
• 40:37
  are grafted in. Those who are not Israel are
• 40:40
  grafted in and are treated as brothers and sisters by Jesus in
• 40:46
  the Kingdom of God. So there's so much to look
• 40:49
  forward to. I'm going to read through the
• 40:50
  questions and answers of this chapter because we finished the
• 40:52
  book now. But anyway, let's go through
• 40:56
  chapter 3 questions and answers. Was was Jonah's message of doom
• 41:00
  untrue? Not at all.
• 41:02
  Jonah only told the Ninevites what would happen if they didn't
• 41:06
  repent. The truth of his message
• 41:08
  prompted the Ninevites to avert the promised judgement by
• 41:12
  changing their ways. Why would idol worshippers
• 41:16
  listen to a foreign prophet? Jonah's news of coming judgement
• 41:22
  was more important to them then who he was or where he came
• 41:28
  from. Can a ruler decree a revival?
• 41:32
  The royal decree set the stage for repentance among the
• 41:36
  Ninevites. The people had to obey the
• 41:39
  King's decree, but in their hearts they could still choose
• 41:44
  whether or not they were sincere.
• 41:46
  Does God always pursue those who run from him?
• 41:49
  No. In Jonah's case, God apparently
• 41:52
  had a particular mission in mind for a particular person.
• 41:56
  He hounded Jonah until the reluctant prophet obeyed.
• 42:00
  In other cases, God may not pursue those who run from him,
• 42:05
  perhaps because he knows that running away will eventually
• 42:09
  result in their coming back to him.
• 42:11
  For instance, in Jesus parable of the lost son, the Father
• 42:16
  allowed the son to leave home. Though the father did not chase
• 42:20
  after the son, the hardships caused by the son's choices
• 42:24
  later brought the son to his senses and caused him to return
• 42:29
  home to his father. Whether by pursuing someone or
• 42:33
  choosing not to, God's goal is the same.
• 42:37
  He works to firming firmly and lovingly reach out to those who
• 42:43
  turned from him. Why involve animals and their
• 42:48
  religious acts? The animals were used to express
• 42:51
  the sincerity and depth of repentance in the city.
• 42:54
  Causing the animals to go without food and wear sackcloth
• 42:57
  was a symbolic gesture of mourning.
• 43:00
  How long did Nineveh's repentance last?
• 43:03
  The people eventually returned to their wicked ways.
• 43:06
  God judged the city in 612 BC, about 150 years after Jonah's
• 43:13
  ministry. Why was Jonah upset that the
• 43:16
  people turned to God? The Ninevites were known far and
• 43:20
  wide for their savage cruelty. Jonah felt they deserved
• 43:24
  punishment. He wanted them destroyed, not
• 43:27
  saved. Why would a successful preacher
• 43:31
  want to die? As a Jew, Jonah preferred to die
• 43:36
  rather than help the enemies of his people.
• 43:39
  He wanted to see judgement fall on the people of Nineveh.
• 43:44
  What kind of plant was this? Perhaps a Castor oil plant,
• 43:47
  which can reach a height of over 12 feet and has large shady
• 43:52
  leaves. God caused its astonishing rapid
• 43:55
  growth. Why did God take away what He
• 43:58
  had just given? God used the plant not to
• 44:01
  provide Jonah with shade, but to teach Jonah an important lesson.
• 44:06
  He took the took away a source of Jonah's comfort to expand the
• 44:12
  prophets understanding of God's goodness and concern for all
• 44:16
  people. What made Jonah so angry?
• 44:20
  Along with emotional and spiritual distress, Jonah
• 44:24
  experienced physical discomfort from the sun and harsh wind.
• 44:29
  Did Jonah have a warped view of God?
• 44:31
  Jonah had a deficient view of God and His presence.
• 44:35
  The prevailing opinion among many Israelites in Jonah time
• 44:39
  was that God was somehow restricted to the temple in
• 44:43
  Jerusalem, or at most to the territory of Israel.
• 44:47
  Perhaps that's why Jonah thought he could flee from God.
• 44:52
  At the same time, however, Jonah had begun to envision a broader
• 44:57
  scope to God's power. He knew God's grace was
• 45:01
  available to idol worshippers who turned from their idols.
• 45:06
  He also knew that salvation comes from the Lord.
• 45:10
  This is the central message of the book.
• 45:12
  Though the Jews had a keen sense of being God's chosen people,
• 45:16
  they lacked a keen sense of His grace.
• 45:20
  Evidently, they wanted to keep God all to themselves.
• 45:25
  Jonah, however, was beginning to discover that God is the God of
• 45:30
  all people. Salvation comes from the Lord,
• 45:33
  not on the basis of belonging to a particular ethnic background
• 45:38
  or nationality, but on the basis of grace.
• 45:43
  Jonah found God not in the Holy Land, but in the belly of a
• 45:47
  great fish and again later in a wicked Pagan city.
• 45:52
  Jonah learned that God wanted to make himself known to all people
• 45:57
  everywhere, even to the despised Ninevites.
• 46:02
  Why couldn't the Ninevites tell the right hand from their left?
• 46:05
  This expression was used to show that, like young children unable
• 46:10
  to distinguish right from left, they were spiritually ignorant,
• 46:14
  unable to discern right from wrong.
• 46:16
  No one had ever told told them about the one true God, so they
• 46:22
  knew nothing about Him. How does God show His concern
• 46:26
  for all people? If not for God's patience and
• 46:30
  mercy, the world would have been judged for its sins long ago.
• 46:34
  But beyond that, God sustains all physical life, provides
• 46:39
  life's pleasures, demonstrates his power and existence in
• 46:43
  nature, and sends prophets and missionaries.
• 46:47
  Most important, he shows his concern by offering forgiveness
• 46:52
  in Jesus.