Jonah 2:10-3:1 Big Idea: God sovereignly exercises his mercy toward us to save in order to prepare us for service. 1 Timothy 1:15–17 (ESV) — 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. God _________________ Saves Jonah 2:10 (ESV) — 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. In these verses are found the education of the pouting prophet and the affirmation of God’s sovereignty. It is God who is the most important character. He is the one who affects salvation, and he is the one who enables deliverance. Neither Jonah nor the fish had control. It was God and God alone. It pleases the Lord to redeem! Matthew 12:38–41 (ESV) — 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Ephesians 2:8 (ESV) — 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, Romans 7:6 (ESV) — 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (ESV) — 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. God’s Sovereignly Saves for ________________ Jonah 3:1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” All that Jonah had been through was sovereignly orchestrated by God to prepare him to minister to the Ninevehites. God is sovereign in this chapter, as elsewhere in the book. He designates the fish (v 1 [1:17]). He effects by it the rescue celebrated in the psalm Jonah prays. He tells the fish to put Jonah ashore (v 11 [10]). Neither Jonah nor the fish has had any control over events. And God has used his sovereignty to rescue a disobedient prophet! He will accomplish what he intends (cf. 1:14) and his intention, it is becoming clear, is that Jonah should be taught a lesson about grace. If Jonah himself experienced deliverance from a deserved death, maybe then he will have some ability to commiserate with the citizens of the city and nation to whom he has been called to preach. God ordained Jonah’s suffering to fit Jonah for service. And he does the same for you and for me.
Questions to Consider
Do you take hope in God’s sovereign ability to save? Why or Why not?
In what ways have you seen God’s salvation in your own life both initially and in your sanctification?
In what ways has God specifically fit you to serve others?
