The Journey of Jonah

Transcript

my brother already uh kind of gave me a x hard time but we are going to start with x a short before we get into our Sunday x school class is an interesting x development in Israel x so we're going to start with a short x video on the land of Israel and then x we'll get into uh get into our class x ancient place of pilgrimage has been x sustaining life for thousands of years x but recent times have seen this x freshwater lake shrinking to x historically low levels forcing the x government to act by leveraging the x country's expertise in water technology x this is part of the Ashton water x desalination plant one of five such x plants along the coast of Israel after x the seawater is pumped through the x desalination process the Sweet Water is x held here in this 100 x 000 cubic meter Reservoir the water x under this tarp I'm standing on right x now x for decades now Israel has taken sea x water from the Mediterranean and treated x it with a process called reverse osmosis x providing nearly all of the country's x tap water x from ashdud a pipeline pumps water from x all the desalination plants North to x Israel's main water filtration facility x near Haifa from there a new 31 kilometer x pipe is being laid Eastward to connect x via stream with the Sea of Galilee x the end is in sight the 264 million x dollar project is due to be completed by x next year x it sounded a strange proposition from x the beginning but very soon we x understood the value it has to the x National Market itself and also it x contributes to other challenges such as x global warming development of x agriculture in the entire Sea of Galilee x region and also with our neighbors the x kingdom of Jordan here this is another x part of the solution that will help us x maintain the provision of water to the x kingdom of Jordan as per the existing x treaties this 1.6 meter wide pipe will x be able to carry 120 million cubic x meters of water per year but only what's x needed to replenish the lake will be x released at any time the uniqueness of x this project is that it gives us almost x infinite flexibility if you look at the x system from end to end we can basically x take the water where it is available be x it desalinated water in the center of x Israel and just divert it and transport x it to wherever it is needed the x desalinated water will end up here at x the Sea of Galilee now this Lake used to x pump out the vast majority of Israel's x drinking water but now the water will be x flowing in the opposite direction the x need to do things radically differently x was driven home to authorities by the x most recent five-year-long drought which x ended in 2018. they looked at what x happened over five years drought x conditions when the lake lab was really x low they looked into the future climate x change and what's going to happen in x rainfall in this area and also looked at x you know the increase in population in x projected increase in demand of water x and realized that 30 40 years from now x there's going to be a serious problem in x maintaining lake level in the lake and x maintaining water quality as for x concerns about what non-native water x could do to the Lake's ecosystem x research so far suggests it won't make x much of a difference and may actually x help the lake fight the effects of x climate change by increasing the x turnover rate of the water and cooling x it down the risk of introducing this x unaid water is a risk that is worthwhile x taking as long as you know it's a x certain quarantine we don't talk about x huge quantities of water it's a x scientifically uncomfortable and x unprecedented step Dr Gaul says he x wishes they didn't have to take but one x the realities of climate change is x forcing upon them x hadass gold CNN the Sea of Galilee x so interestingly enough x um x there's a prophecy which I'm not x suggesting that this fulfills that x prophecy but it's it's interesting x because there's a prophecy that says x when Christ returns x the water is going to reverse Direction x and flow from the south up to the North x Springs are going to birth burst forth x in the desert and that water will become x plenteous and the desert will Bloom we x have a hymn that we sing a rose shall x Bloom and x um here in the video you saw they said x we've reversed the water flow they're x taking it from ashdod on the x Mediterranean and flowing the water x North up to the Sea of Galilee so I x thought that was really interesting x um development in the land of Israel x that they are water sufficient and they x are giving water to their neighbors x which is as if you listen to a lot of x environmentalists they say water is x going to become more and more scarce as x as time goes on x all right x now we can get into our the meat of our x class here x so what I'd like to do is is set a kind x of backdrop for when Jonah comes on the x scene what was x life like what had been happening in the x nation and what was the need for uh x Jonah why why did God send his prophet x Jonah who was the king at the time and x why would Jonah want to flee from uh x preaching to the ninevites x and we're going to see as we make x a way through Jonah how true Jonah x chapter 3 verse 9 is who knows God May x yet relent and with compassion turn from x his Fierce anger so that we will not x perish and isn't this such an important x principle for us to consider in our own x lives and and with each other that that x idea of compassion and that lesson is x really going to be hit home uh with x Jonah who changes his attitude and who x goes through some trials x um I guess you could say getting x swallowed by a by a fish is a trial x and he's going to learn x what God is all about in terms of not x just having salvation for just the x nation of Israel x but for the entirety of mankind x and it's something that we should keep x in our minds whatever our circumstances x might be is God's compassion it will x never fail us x in how God instructs us to do the same x uh with one another and there's a great x passage in Colossians chapter 3 x verse 12 and it says therefore as God's x chosen people which we are grafted in x through baptism holy and dearly loved x clothe yourselves with compassion so x this idea of being holy and how God it's x not he just doesn't like yeah I love you x and sometimes you know Megan will be in x a room ready to go to sleep and I'll go x hey love you and she'll say I love you x too x and I know she does love me most days x but um x you know God has this intense love for x each one of us it's it's a dear love x that he cares about each one of us in x our lives and we're going to see that x come through with the ninevites a wicked x Nation but yet God was willing to give x them an opportunity to repent x so it says clothe yourselves with x compassion so it's not just uh a cursory x quality that we should possess we should x be clothed with it uh it should it x should permeate from from our being x and it says have kindness x humility x gentleness and patience x so x in conjunction with compassion x these qualities make perfect sense we x have to be humble if we're going to show x compassion we can't think that we're x better than somebody else you know that x would never happen to me or I would x never do that we have to look at each x other esteeming one another better than x than ourselves to be gentle there's x nothing like a a soft hand on the x shoulder that says you know hey I I x understand what you're going through x I've been there or I can only imagine x how hard this is for you do you want to x talk how can I help what can I do and x most of the time just just providing a x listening uh ear or listening spirit x in it says with patience naturally we x like to solve problems really quick you x know you have a situation I know I like x to just you know fix something and then x move on but you find out in the truth it x doesn't work that way and in families x and in relationships it takes a lot of x patience and so you have to be willing x to x weight you have to be willing to let x things work themselves out and you have x to be willing to deal with all the bumps x around along the road while still trying x to maintain that cheerful disposition x and uh we'll see we'll see Jonah in in x these qualities as we as we work through x our class here x so we we're going to back up x um to jeroboam one because there are two x Jero bombs jeroboam II is King when x Jonah is on the scene but we have x jeroboam one who was about 120 years x before x Jonah uh x gives his prophecy and at this time it's x one nation undivided x but unto jeroboam 1 we see that there's x this terminal in the land x and in First Kings 11 verse 9 it says x and the Lord was angry with Solomon so x we're back to the time of Solomon x because his heart had turned away from x the Lord the god of Israel who had x appeared to him twice x he had commanded him concerning this x thing that he should not go after other x gods x but he did not keep x what the Lord commanded x therefore the Lord said to Solomon since x this has been your mind or your attitude x and that really that caught my attention x when when x um I saw that because so many things in x life are about attitude having a x positive uh bright attitude about a x situation no matter how how bad it might x seem and as I've gotten older I used to x look at different things whether it be x work or a situation that would come up x like you know uh got to deal with this x now I look at it because I've seen God x work in my life as we all have now I x look at it and say what opportunity is x God going to give me through this x situation that's before me what x opportunities are there for me to x show forth a certain character to maybe x get a a better situation for myself or x for my family or whatever it might be so x I don't I try not to look at it as a x problem so much as an opportunity for x success and for an opportunity for x growth in the Lord and there's a saying x that there are no bad days there are x character building days and it's a x little cliche and when you're in the x middle of maybe a situation that's not x so great you we tend not to want to x think that way x but there's always great opportunities x to grow and to help one another but x Solomon's attitude was in a different x place his mind was thinking in a x different way in the nation so it's a x good x it's good instruction for us to maybe x check our attitude maybe check uh the x way we're thinking when I x got into health care I was working at x New England Medical Center I was 19 x years old so I was like a little baby in x in the hospital I was working with all x these doctors who I was just like wow x this is this is impressive x and when I got this job x I just thought wow how cool is this like x I have this great job x but after I was there for about a year I x started like nitpicking a little bit x like oh how come this guy's a little bit x late to work and you know there's a x problem here and oh there's a problem x there one of my co-workers pulled me x aside and he and he put his arm around x me and he said hey Jason x you know a year ago when you got this x job you you loved it you were the x happiest guy in the lab you you were x such a bright person that we loved x having here but I noticed now you you x kind of develop in a little bit of a bad x attitude x and he was right and I had to kind of x look at myself and say you know what x yeah this job is still great and a lot x of these little things that I'm focusing x on I need to have a better attitude I x need to have my mind in a different x place when I walk into work and be that x person I was a year ago so x it that's what this verse reminded me of x since this has been your mind to your x attitude God was like listen you're x you know your your attitude stinks x and you have not kept my Covenant and my x statutes which I have commanded you I x will surely tear the Kingdom from you x and will give it to your servant so now x this is becoming a matter of Prophecy x because God is telling Solomon it's no x longer going to be your kingdom but I'm x giving it and it's going to be to you a x servant and Solomon at his level he was x he was x except for Christ he was one of the x wisest people on Earth he had x everything and we look at Solomon's x wisdom and Ecclesiastes and x he there was nothing that this man x didn't have and now he's going to give x his his kingdom to his servant and that x was actually one of the things that x Solomon worried about x um he writes about that and says you x know I've worked for all this all these x things and once I'm dead someone's going x to come after me x and they're going to take everything x that I work for so God basically says x yeah he unlocked that x that mentally for Solomon said hey one x of your servants which is gonna is gonna x take all take the kingdom over x but it does say yet for the sake of x David your father I will not do it in x your days but I will tear it out of the x hand of your son x however I will not tear away all the x kingdom but will give One Tribe to your x son for the sake of David my servant for x the sake of Jerusalem which I have x chosen x Jerusalem will remain with David's x family so Solomon has to process this x because of his attitude and because of x his behavior taking all these additional x wives that he shouldn't have worshiping x all the gods from x um all the foreign Gods to keep peace x treaties or whatever his reasoning was x God says enough is enough x I'm going to be taking the Kingdom from x you but I'm not going to take the whole x thing because of your father David who x actually did the right thing x and Jerusalem is going to is going to x remain so now we have this prophecy that x says the kingdom is going to be in some x way changed in in uh for in First Kings x 11 verse 26 it says x also jeroboam son of nebat rebelled x against the king he was one of Solomon's x officials in Edomite so he jeroboam x Rebels against Solomon x in ephraimite from zareda and his mother x was a widow named zeroa here is the x account of how he rebelled against the x king of Solomon and built the terrorists x and had filled the Gap in the wall of x the city of David his father now x jeroboam was a man of standing x and when Solomon saw how well the young x man did his work he put him in charge of x the whole labor force of the tribes of x Joseph so here we have this servant x comes on the scene x and Solomon you know he's not x considering one of his servants is going x to take his kingdom x we won't turn it up but jeroboam was x told by ahija the prophet x that he would take x the ten pieces of the Kingdom for x himself so now we we get an insight into x what's going to happen the kingdom is x going to be divided x he was told God was going to tear the x kingdom out of Solomon's hand God also x says he will be with jeroboam x in verse 38 of that same chapter if you x do whatsoever I command you and walk in x obedience to me and do what is right in x my eyes by obeying my decrees and x commands I will be with you so jeroboam x sees that Solomon's losing the kingdom x because he was disobedient jeroboam is x going to come on the scene and be x disobedient and we can read this and x think x boy these guys aren't that bright until x we recognize The Human Condition and we x see ourselves for what we really are x where we have been given the same x commission the same opportunity but yet x we fail x we fail on a regular basis just like x these kingsfield x they set a lifestyle around sin x and that's what God wants us to guess x against not to have a lifestyle that is x centered on sin we need we need to have x a lifestyle that is centered on the word x of God so that when we fall x we have that strong Foundation that's x going to pull us back to the things that x are Eternal and these Kings just didn't x do that they they fell away at certain x times to devastating effects and they x affected the people around them in very x negative ways x it goes on to say that after Solomon x um x starts thinking about this prophecy he x hears about ahija x he set out to kill jeroboam so jeroboam x fled to Egypt and we pick up the story x there in First Kings 12 verse 1. it says x rehoboam went to shechem for all Solomon x dies in rehoboam goes to shechem x for all Israel had gone there to make x him King when jeroboam son of nebat x heard this because he had fled to Egypt x he was still there x he returned from Egypt so they sent x fajeroboam and he and the whole assembly x of Israel went to rehoboam and said to x him x your father put a heavy yoke on us but x now lighten the harsh labor and the x heavy yoke he put on us and we will x serve you and this is one of those x famous situations in the Bible where x there's there's this x problem that's put forward to two x different individuals and they have they x have to make a decision and we know that x taxes were dramatically increased for x the building of the temple and the x people were tired of it they they were x getting uh overly taxed overly burdened x and maybe we feel that way they the x nickname for Massachusetts is Texas you x know there's always there's always a new x tax that's coming up you know whether x whether it's you know the gas tax or the x this tax or the you know whatever it is x you get your bill in the mail and it's x like where did this come from so the x people were fed up with it they they x wanted to change and they but they were x willing to have jeroboam rule over them x so long as x taxes they got the relief from from x taxes x so it says the young men who had grown x up with him replied these people have x said to you your father put a heavy yoke x on us but make I yoke lighter x now tell them my little finger is x thicker than my father's waist my father x laid on you a heavy yoke I will make it x even heavier x my father scored you with whips I will x scored you with scorpions x wow I mean x what a what a response to a problem is x that actually we're going to make taxes x worse x it's it's x um you have to imagine that there's a x a very healthy ego at work here and x perhaps with rehoboam and just the x advice of the old men to the younger men x because we know the older men said yeah x give in to the people lighten their load x and everybody will serve you you'll be x you'll be a hero x but he didn't listen to that he said x actually it's going to be even worse he x said you know my father's weight was x like a little Pinky and and mine is x going to be like a thigh the taxes that x I'm gonna that I'm gonna put on you x I just and I think there's just really x some uh some wonderful advice here for x us as we look at humility x it's it's never good to and we're told x this in scripture to make a rash x response you know jeroboam here gets the x advice on both sides but he he got bad x advice and then he and then he took that x advice x which maybe we've been in that situation x maybe we've gone to a few different x people with an issue we've had and we x um we don't take the right advice and x then we look back and we think x yeah I I should have done things x differently I know in my own life I can x do that and we can have regrets about x decisions we've made or advice that we x maybe wish we had but we didn't because x we didn't seek out advice we thought x maybe we had all the answers x but Proverbs 15 tells us x a gentle answer x turns away Wrath x but a hash word stirs up anger and I x think jeroboam's words here were were x it was harsh x it was it was a harsh way to take the x the nation this is how x we're gonna this is how we're gonna run x things x um so it it goes on to say here the x tongue of the wise adorns knowledge but x the mouth of the fool gushes folly x the eyes of the Lura everywhere keeping x watch on the wicked in the good and this x this is really a blessing that we have x that you know God is Is Watching Over Us x he's bringing people into our lives to x help us to provide us with with good x advice and good guidance we just need to x have the wisdom to take it x it says the soothing tongue is a tree of x life x but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit x this idea of building one another up and x it's been said many times how well x Stoughton does that how well the x brothers and sisters here do that the x very soothing welcoming spirit that it x helps people it helps people live the x truth it helps people feel at home and x it helps people leave here with a built x up spirit and not and not a crushed x Spirit it says if fool spurns a parent's x discipline x but whoever heeds correction x shows prudence x so we'd be wise brothers and sisters to x listen to advice and not just any advice x we do have to think about it x but verse 22 in that same chapter says x refuse good advice and watch your plans x feel x Take Good Counsel and watch them succeed x I used to work with a guy who he would x if he didn't like somebody or if he x wanted to create a better work situation x for himself he would give bad advice to x people around him to get them to maybe x leave the company or to take a different x job he was very good at it but if you x looked at these people two three years x down the road it never worked out for x them they were unhappy or they lost that x job x so we need to make sure we surround x ourselves with people that care about us x people that are giving us advice who x have our best interest at heart and you x know who who is that it's our brothers x and sisters it's it's our parents it's x the people in the Ecclesia who want to x see us succeed and number one it's the x word of God that really provides us x guidance for every situation that we x might find ourselves in x um x and it says wisdom's instruction is to x fear the lord in humility comes before x honor so that idea of x you know the beginning of knowledge is x the fear of God if that's a attitude if x that's our mind then we're going to be x setting a straight path for our feet x and in Proverbs 12 15 it says the way of x a fool is right in his own eyes but a x wise man is he who listens to counsel x and when I was growing up my dad he x started out x in housekeeping in a hospital and then x there was a there was a brother there x that worked in the respiratory x department and my he got my dad a job in x respiratory Department my dad showed x himself to be conscientious and a hard x worker and then he got promoted and x started working in the cardiac cath lab x and he became the manager of the cardiac x cath lab x and when I was growing up I saw this x example he was out of the house at 5am x he was home late sitting in traffic and x he was doing it to provide for his x family and what I saw more than just x words of advice you know some people x give you advice but x then that you can see that they're not x living it they're not taking their own x advice x it doesn't mean the advice is bad but x some of the best advice we can give x people x is the way that we live x the things that we do and how that comes x through x in the way in the way that we act Chris x did you have something x epitomize Solomon he you know he x certainly said a very bad example for x rehoboam but he was full of very wise uh x sayings but he he didn't live it he so x he said a very bad example right yeah x great point x um but yeah my dad told me you know get x get a college degree go he's go through x this program do this then you can uh get x into working in the cath lab and my dad x took me to work with him one day I think x did were you there too rich x yeah I think you were there it was we x thought about bringing you at the last x minute you know x but you know what x foreign x so you know my dad brought us in and x showed us what he did and he gave us x advice x and fortunately we followed it rich and x I followed it we got an education and we x we uh you know it doesn't necessarily x have to be through college to get a x skill that you can have but the best x advice was we watched him do it we x watched him live it in x that's really a great way for us to show x forth the love of God the love of Christ x and to help one another being here today x it's a great example x um to see everybody's smiling face and x and it builds us up just to be here x anyone else yeah x so I always I always found this um x this story both fascinating and x frustrating because there's you know so x I have a lot of unanswered questions x about how everything took place but x jeroboam when we're talking about taxes x in this regard x we're not necessarily talking about x money we're actually talking about time x and and work so if you remember that x verse that you uh that you quoted from x uh x from First Kings it said that jeroboam x was over the workers of Ephraim and so x every tribe had an obligation to go to x work for the House of David to go to x work for Solomon and then rehoboam x saying yeah I'm going to continue this x even on a grander scale I'm going to be x building stuff for Jerusalem he was x going to build up Jerusalem what does x that mean it means that he's becoming x pop more powerful on the backs of x uh the ephraimites oh the backs of you x know the the tribe of Manasseh every x month they had to send you know their x work crew so the northern tribes are x like we're done with this and so I think x that's one of the reasons why rehoboam x goes up to she she come to get uh x crowned as king it was almost like him x going up into Ephraim like the center of x power in North uh in Northern Israel and x saying hey I'm getting Crown King in x your land like I'm in charge here it's x just another layer of belligerence I x think on rehoboam's pod and jeremon's x like no and he has been down in Egypt x too all this time because Solomon wants x to kill him and he's eating with uh you x know the Pharaoh he's he's in the x politics of Egypt and then I'm sure x Egypt had you know a vested interest in x splitting up Israel from becoming a very x powerful kind of buffer between them and x Syria now you break them up and now you x have more power and you can control the x northern part so a lot of politics going x on and you know cultural stuff so thank x you yeah great Point thanks for that x it's um x and you could you could imagine the x children of Israel saying instead of x working nine to five now I'm you know x seven to eight and I don't have any I x don't have any time here and you're x you're away from your family you know x you know for for months on on end x building things x for other people yeah that you have no x place in yeah it's just like no I'm not x I'm not doing it no thank you x anybody else x all right so it that's a great Point x rich and and on that you know things x kind of go from bad to worse now we're x going to have the splitting up of of uh x the nation we're going to have Judah the x two tribes and then we're going to have x the ten tribes in uh in verse 26 of that x same chapter it says jeroboam you know x now he's taken bad advice and perhaps x you know down in Egypt that influence x sent him in a direction that didn't work x out very well for the nation x um it says jeroboam thought to himself x the kingdom will now likely revert to x the House of David if these people go up x to off a sacrifice at the Temple of the x Lord in Jerusalem so now he's got the x tribes that he's over heading down to x Jerusalem and he's thinking I'm never x going to be able to hold on to my x kingship here x if these people go to office sacrifices x at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem x they will again give their allegiance to x their lord rehoboam king of Judah they x will kill me in return to the king of x rehoboam so x he must have sensed obviously how x much distaste the people had for his x idea of continuing the building to not x having it be about the people but having x it be about the government x and it says after seeking advice the x king made two golden calves he said to x the people it is too much for you to go x up to Jerusalem here are your Gods x Israel who brought you up out of Egypt x so here we go right back to this again x with golden calf when they came out of x Egypt in worshiping false gods you don't x have to go to Jerusalem you can do it x right here we can create out our own new x worship setup x he set up when he set up in Bethel and x the other in Dan and this thing became a x sin the people came to worship the one x at Bethel and went as far as Dan to x worship the other and these ruins are x still here today where they set up these x altars and so it seems as if jeroboam x was acting out of a fee out of fear he x didn't have that trust in God that he x should have uh he should have asked God x what to do rather than the young men and x the old men it's okay to get that advice x but our first petition should be to God x to seek wisdom to seek understanding to x seek Direction x um but this resulted in the whole split x of the nation and it was based on x leaders not seeking uh God's advice x so we'll we're we're at time here x um we'll finish with this verse here in x Philippians as it relates to the nation x as it relates to these Kings as it x relates to x having a certain mind in in a certain x attitude when we come across x difficulties in our lives and it's a x it's a well-known passage in Philippians x 4. x be anxious for nothing but in everything x by prayer and supplication with x Thanksgiving let your requests be made x known to God and the peace of God which x surpasses all understanding will guard x your hearts and Minds through Christ x Jesus x so when we have a situation in our life x or even if it's just a great sunny day x like today x let's seek God In Prayer with x Thanksgiving x he wants to know what our requests are x he wants us to communicate with him and x let the peace enter us that we know that x God is in control of all things to our x ultimate salvation

Transcript

last week we x were talking about uh jeroboam and x rehoboam and how the kingdom became x split about 120 years before Jonah came x on the scene so there was a drastic x change in the nation of Israel they went x for What from one United Nation x to a divided nation ten tribes to two x tribes x in x jeroboam uh two was on the scene and x continued to do evil as the the people x before him we saw that Solomon x um x did not take x kindly to following all the commands of x God that he strayed from that and go he x was told that the kingdom would be taken x from his hand x in the admonition from Colossians that x we see there in in chapter three x therefore as God's chosen people holy x and dearly loved clothe yourselves with x compassion kindness humility gentleness x and patience and that was the admonition x to Solomon and the children of Israel at x that time to jeroboam in to us as well x in our lives but it we're told that x Solomon's attitude and heart were not x inclined to serve God x and he was told the kingdom would be x taken from him and given to a servant we x talked about x having a positive attitude amongst x ourselves and how important having a x positive attitude is in living the truth x in supporting each other as we go x through uh trials so x jeroboam becomes king over the ten x tribes after conflict with rehoboam x jeroboam took bad advice x and we talked about how the best advice x we can give is how we live our lives in x Christ x in x you might remember last week we had a x video that we showed talking about how x Israel was x taking water from the Mediterranean x and bringing it into the Sea of Galilee x and we had some trouble with that video x loading so I I want to uh x I had sent the video to Phil I'm going x to give Phil a little plug here and he x gave me some advice when I sent it to x him he got the video already perfect x took out the ads everything and he said x please download it onto your computer x and I thought x I don't really know how to do that x so but I didn't ask him x and I thought yeah it'll be fine the x internet at the hall works pretty good x well sure enough x it it wouldn't run Phil had a x re-download the IDI the video put it on x his computer and and play it for us x right but there were a couple things and x I didn't take the advice that I should x have x but Phil also you know when when it x wasn't playing he didn't say hey x knucklehead uh I told you to download it x no he uh Jim did but x um x you know Phil said oh we're almost there x we're almost there and sure enough then x he played the video x you know and I appreciated that and x afterwards I thanked him and he said x next time please download the video x right x he in private he didn't he didn't take x the opportunity to say like x what happened I told her to download it x I just thought it was a wonderful x example not only we all know how much x Phil does but that spirit that we need x to have one to another x um you know what's going to be better x received x if Phil calls me out in front of x everyone and says well I told you this x what's going to happen and take that hot x approach no he took a very soft graceful x approach even when it was just the two x of us and he could have been more harsh x and it's just a wonderful example of x that kindness gentleness compassion and x patience that we need to have one for x another and I'll never forget that x lesson and I'm gonna TR I'm gonna work x to show that same character trait to x somebody else when I have the x opportunity x so thank you Phil x um x Proverbs tells us x chapter 15 refuse good advice and watch x your plans fail x Take Good Counsel and watch them succeed x and x we've probably all been in a x situation where we've wished that we x could backtrack x and um x and redo a situation in our life x and the other point that we touched on x was this idea of praying to God x jeroboam seems like he just took the x bull by the horns to do everything him x his way Psalms 118 Verse 6 tells us when x Hyde pressed I cried to the Lord he x brought me into a spacious place the x Lord is with me I will not be afraid x what can me and Mortals do to me the x Lord is with me he is my helper I look x in Triumph on my enemies it is better to x take refuge in the Lord than to trust in x humans it is better to take refuge in x the Lord than to trust x in princes and jeroboam would have been x wise to heed this advice rather than x listening to his young friends who maybe x didn't have all that much experience x about taxing a nation and being King x and we talked about how jeroboams x um situation after he takes the bad x advice his situation goes from bad to x worse in in taking bad advice can do x that once we head down a path x we could make some more poor decisions x those poor decisions then start to catch x up with us x and he sets up Golden calves in Bethel x and Dan and he acted out of fear he was x afraid that his kingdom would be lost x that of all the people would say well x what are we doing up here we got to go x to Jerusalem to worship that's what God x told us to do so he thought he'd x circumvent that problem x by setting up Golden calves which is x exactly what they did when they came out x of Egypt and they got right back into x false worship x so it's pretty much a summary of of what x we spoke about uh last week so we're x gonna we're gonna fast forward about 120 x years the nation continues on like that x the tribes of Judah and then the ten x tribes x and jeroboam II comes on the scene and x we read about that in second Kings x chapter 14 and it's interesting x because there's a a separate prophecy of x Jonah you know we know the prophecy of x Jonah prophesying to Nineveh but if we x look in Second Kings it says in the 15th x year of amaziah son of joash King of x Judah jeroboam son of Jehovah king of x Israel became king in Samaria and he x reigned 41 years and he did evil in the x eyes of the Lord and did not turn away x from any of the sins of jeroboam son of x nibat so it brings us right back to the x first jeroboam which he had caused x Israel to commit he was the one who x restored the boundaries of Israel x from Libo hamath to the Dead Sea in x accordance with the word of the Lord the x god of Israel spoken through his servant x Jonah son of amitai the Prophet from x gath heifer so this was Jonah's first x prophecy was that the land of Israel x would be restored unto jeroboam from x Libo hamath to the Dead Sea and we'll x have a map of that so that you can see x it x and this happened and so x Jonah makes a prophecy he's validated as x a prophet it came to pass x so the land is is enlarged and it goes x on in verse 26 to say x in Second Kings the Lord hath seen how x bitterly everyone in Israel whether x slaves are free was suffering there was x no one to help them and since the Lord x had not said he would blot out the name x of Israel from unto Heaven he saved them x by the hand of jeroboam son of jehoiah x so at this time that Joan is on the x scene you have jeroboam military x campaigns the people is suffering God x sees it the land is expanded and they x have relative peace there x even though they have the ninevites up x to the north x and I think there's a there's a x wonderful principle there for us that x shows God's mercy to his people they x were Wayward at the time x but God still showed Mercy to them x and compassion and this idea that God x understands The Human Condition he x understands the struggles that we face x every day and he's looking for x opportunities to direct us x to care for us just like he did here x with the children of Israel he saw that x they were under Affliction and so he x drove out the enemies and expanded the x land and they had relative peace x Psalms 103 verse 14 says x as a father hath compassion on his x children x so the Lord has compassion on those who x fear Him x so there's a there's a tie in there we x can't just go through our lives you know x 100 miles an hour and forget about God x no we have to have this reverence this x respect for God that causes us to follow x his Commandments to the best of our x ability and in turn we get this x compassion x for he knows how we are formed he x remembers that we are dust God made us x you know Adam formed Out of the Dust God x knows x how short our lifespan is as it says in x verse 15 the life of Mortals is like x grass x they flourish like a flower of the field x I sometimes at home I wax you know x eloquent about this and you know gentle x say to Megan oh here goes dad again he's x talking about us being like grass x but that's the analogy that God gives us x that we're we're like grass they x flourish like the flower of the field x the wind blows over it and it's gone x and its place remembers it no more but x from Everlasting to Everlasting is the x Lord's love x with those who fear Him x and his righteousness with the with x their children's children x with those who keep his Covenant and x remember to obey his precepts so it's x this Walk In Christ it's this walk x before God that shows a fear a reverence x for keeping his Commandments and for for x exhibiting those characteristics one end x to another now jeroboam didn't do this x but God still was looking out for his x people he was working with them he was x waiting for the result of the children x of Israel to turn back to him x so as we we read in the days of x jeroboam the kingdom was expanded so we x can see prior to his Reign then we have x that first prophecy of Jonah so the land x is expanded and Joan is validated as a x prophet x so it becomes a matter of Prophecy and x Jonah would have been very aware of the x prophets before him you know there was x false prophets and the people would wait x to see hey is what Jonah's saying is it x is it coming to pass x um x and x jeroboam x while he was reigning over Samaria for x 40 years x they had relative x um x calm they had trade it was a peaceful x time for the most part they they had x that little inkling in the back of their x head that they had um x the ninevites to the north x but the King was guilty of continually x sinning against God and he became wicked x wicked in worshiping idols and he caused x Misfortune for the children of Israel x and Josephus says now one Jonah a x prophet foretold to him that he should x make war with the syrians and Conquer x their army and enlarge the bounds of his x kingdom on the Northern parts of the x city hamath on the southern of the lake x of the Dead Sea for the bounds of the x Canaanites originally were these as x Joshua their General had determined them x so jeroboam made an expedition against x the syrians and ovary in all their x country x as Jonah had foretold x Amos prophesied at the same time as x Jonah as well and says this is what the x Lord says for three sins of Israel even x for four I will not relent they sell the x innocent for silver in the needy for a x pair of sandals they trample on the x heads of the poor as on the dust of the x ground and deny Justice to the oppressed x so here's God showing Justice and trying x to be kind to his people but yet in the x land they're not being just just one to x another they're oppressing those that x are rich or oppressing the poor those x that have means are oppressing those x that don't and while this is going on x God is being patient he's trying to to x work with his people x and it says I brought you up out of x Egypt x this is God's response and led you 40 x years in the wilderness to give you the x land of the amorites I also raised up x prophets among your children in x nazarites from among your youths is this x not true people of Israel so God's x imploring them change your ways didn't I x do all these things for you x and that's what we're instructed to do x in our lives as well x we're told seek good not evil that you x may live then the Lord God Almighty will x be with you just as he says he is hate x evil love good maintain Justice in the x courts perhaps the Lord Almighty will x have mercy on the remnant x of Joseph x and we do we see this around the world x inequity whether it be in this country x we have you know plenty of food and x other parts of the world they don't have x food in certain areas of the world x there's war and oppression and no rights x for anybody and in other parts there x there is peace and Harmony to an extent x and and Christ tells us when he returns x he's going to equalize all of these x things that there will be Justice will x reign uh throughout the Earth Earth and x this is a little bit of a microcosm of x um x what we can expect when Christ returns x that these you know if was to x have a commentary right now and he does x about the household the faith and about x the world in general x some of these same things would be said x about today's uh Modern Age x and it's interesting to note in x Revelations chapter 3 when Christ talks x about uh you know we have the commentary x on the nation of Israel at this time in x Revelations chapter 3 it talks about the x final Ecclesia x before the return of Christ and it says x in the angel of the Ecclesia and x laodicea right these are the words of x the amen the faithful and true witness x the ruler of God's creation I know your x Deeds that you were neither cold nor hot x I wish you were either one or the other x so you know hot cup of tea nice cold x drink after Butch watches his kids you x know rake the yard x that's refreshing but God's saying you x know the way that you're acting it's x it's nothing like that x um and he says I'm about to spit you out x of x my mouth you say I am rich I have a x quiet wealth and do not need a thing but x you do not realize that you are wretched x pitiful poor blind and naked I counsel x you to buy from the gold refined and the x fire or tried Faith so that you can x become rich x and clothe yourself with white clothes x so you can cover your shame x and SOB to put on your eyes so that you x can see so this idea of you know like x when Paul x Saul put the mud on his eyes and the x scales fell x Christ is telling us you're living in x the last days it's very easy to become x complacent particularly like at the time x of Jonah when the nation was living in x peace we live in a peaceful country we x have excess and so we can very easily x settle in to a routine maybe where we x need to put that eye SOB of God's word x on our eyes to be soaking in the word x every day just to make sure just to x check in with ourselves because we know x that we can become easily influenced by x the humanism that's around us and Christ x says here I am I stand at the door so x that idea of Christ he's just getting x ready to knock so he's saying just take x an inventory of your life make sure that x you're you're up to speed with x following my Commandments with having a x life that is disciplined with having a x life that is rich in the things that x cannot be taken away those things that x are rich in Christ x so Nineveh was the oldest and most x populous city in the ancient Assyrian x Empire and it was situated near the x Tigris River it was a large Pagan City x uh and it symbolized enmity with God or x as we know Babylon it was it was a uh x nation that only worshiped uh pagan gods x didn't recognize the the Creator x uh of the world the the Assyrian Empire x was a constant threat uh to Israel both x before and after Jonah's time x in the Assyrians were a fearsome Society x so they weren't like this tiptoe you x know we're just going to leave you alone x you do your thing we'll do our thing x Nineveh was known for violence and is x singled out for that in Jonah 3 verse 9 x it says but let people and animals be x covered with sackcloth let everyone call x urgently on God let them give up their x evil ways and their violence and we see x similar things today and I and when you x turn on the news violence and it's a x very sad to see that in a in a life x that's not governed by Godly principles x well anything's possible because there's x nothing to hold it in check there's x nothing to say well I I shouldn't do x that because x that's going to lead to this result and x that's not the the type of individual x that Christ requires of us x Assyria had a very efficient army with x chariots uh the records depict that x there they had four men on each Chariot x so they would have been very x intimidating to the Israelites who x didn't have a ton of weapons x and once they defeated a city they were x known to torture its captives so if Joan x is on the scene with this he knows x Nineveh to the north he's got Israel x relative peace their borders have been x expanded and but he but he knows that x they're not listening x to the call that God has has put before x them x and the ninevites would use torture as a x political tactic to warn countries who x might want to start a war against them x so from Jonah's standpoint in any x Israelite the Assyrians at Nineveh were x to be hated x because of what they had previously done x to the Israelites it would be x um x it would be like you know we we see Joan x is going to flee and be told to go go x preach to Nineveh or be like telling you x know Jim boyko to wear a Toronto Maple x Leafs uh t-shirt to a Bruins game right x I'm not going to do that and this is how x Jonah viewed the ninevites he he didn't x want anything to do with them let alone x preach to them so that they would repent x he wanted them to be destroyed x um x so Israel had fortified their cities x with this expansion and it was near the x Assyrian border and Israel was probably x thinking x hey God's gonna just uh show Grace to us x look what he's done for us and he's x gonna x probably bring judgment upon the x ninevites x and it's it's reminiscent of what we x read in the New Testament right the x nation of Israel they believe that hey x we're the chosen people and they are but x they thought that could save them just x being the fact that they were of the x Seed of Abraham and and John 8 verse 9 x tells us x what did the Jews say to Christ they say x we don't we don't need you they answered x him we are Abraham's descendants in x Christ says I know you are Abraham's x descendants yet you are looking for a x way to kill me right I mean where's the x irony there like yeah we're we're x Believers we're we're in Christ we're x we're looking for the Messiah and we're x going to act this way but yeah we're x trying to kill you x and it says because you are thinking x this way you have no room for my word x but they answer back Abraham is our x father x and Christ says if you were Abraham's x children said Jesus then you would do x what Abraham did as it is yeah looking x for a way to kill me a man who has told x you the truth that I heard from God x Abraham did not do such things right so x and in many respects we we run into this x in our workplace because x people are can be very sensitive to x watching us in what we do particularly x where we profess being a Christadelphian x where we're a follower of Christ well x okay well why did you speak like that x how come you didn't speak up when when x you were supposed to do this and x so we need to be we need to be mindful x of that and just like Christ says here x well hey Abraham didn't do such things x and that just got them more frustrated x but as we go on in this story one lesson x we're going to see is that God seeks the x repentance of even the most wicked like x the Assyrians in isn't that wonderful x for us isn't that wonderful for this x creation that even a nation that had x been Wicked and cruel to God's people x God still wants to save them he's going x to send one of his prophets to them x so that they can be saved and Luke 9 x verse 54 talks about this it says and it x came to pass when the time was come that x he should be received up or Christ was x going to ascend to Heaven he steadfastly x set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent x Messengers before his face and they went x and entered into the village of the x Samaritans to make ready for him and x they did not receive him because his x face was as though he would go to x Jerusalem x so they simply didn't receive Christ x when he came and it says and when his x disciples James and John saw this they x said Lord wilt thou that we command x fighter come down from heaven and x consume them as Elias did x just like the Israelites hey destroy the x ninevites only save us x but Christ says it's he turned to them x and rebuked them and said ye know not x what manner of spirit ye are of for the x son of man has not come to destroy men's x lives but to save them right isn't that x why Christ was put into the Earth to x save not just us but the whole entire x world to save Sinners and that was God's x intention here too not just to save the x nation of Israel x but to also save the ninevites if they x would repent x and Jim turned me on to the series x um x The Chosen I've watched certain clips of x it and they have a clip of this scene x and they x you know put a little bit of color into x it and basically Christ says to his x disciples you want to kill them because x they were mean to me like that doesn't x make any sense and it was just to drive x that point home that that's not the x character of God yes there will be a x time when this judgment brought on this x Earth but God as he waited in the days x of Noah which our time is compared to so x that more people can be saved and we see x that that God is still calling out a x people for his name and his purpose and x his patience and his love for his uh x creation x So In Jonah chapter 1 we are told in x verse 1 the word of the Lord came to x Jonah the son of amitai so second time x Joan is going to prophesy here x his first prophecy was fulfilled it says x go to the great city of Nineveh and x preach against it because it's x wickedness has come up before me x he was had Jonah was happy to go preach x the first time when it meant good things x for Israel right expand the land x things are going to be good x but when it came to doing a prophecy x that related to x something where the ninevites might x repent and leave them around even though x they were hated people from x for the children of Israel's perspective x Jonah says I don't think so x and in verse 3 it says but Jonah ran x away from the Lord and headed to Tasha x so he's intending to go 2500 miles as x far as he can get away from the x situation he went down to Joppa where he x found a ship Bound for that port and x after paying the fear he went aboard and x sailed fatacious to flee x from the Lord x anybody here had that experience in life x where x you have a decision to make x in making that right decision x that we know is the right decision that x God wants us to make but it's just too x hard to make it x it's it's it's painful and it's a x struggle within us it's that struggle x between the mind of the spirit and the x mind of the flesh x and I've had as you probably have many x times in life that we have that struggle x and we're told we're going to have that x struggle with with the nature that we x have x but one one time that it really x um stood out for me was when I was 17 x years old x I was a senior in high school x and I was captain of the wrestling team x I had friends I was I was living the x high school dream so to speak x um going out uh playing ball with people x doing what I wanted to do I had a I had x a motorcycle I had a car and life was x good and I thought hey this is great x and I was just kind of mapping out x everything that I wanted to do with my x life and x it started to x bother me x you're not baptized and you know you x should get baptized x and I let it sit there and I tried to x push it out of my head push it out of my x head x and I thought well I don't want to get x baptized x I want to do what I want to do I want to x keep living my life the way I want to x live it x and it became such a struggle within me x that it just it was almost paralyzing x and x I knew I had to make a decision x because I couldn't go on every day x having the struggle and I made the wrong x choice x it didn't get baptized I thought you x know what I'll I'll wait I have too much x other stuff going on right now so I'm x going to wait to get baptized x and not long after that I made that x decision x God put Jen into my life x and x it was like okay x just made it a whole lot easier for me x to get baptized and my whole perspective x on it changed x and I ended up getting baptized soon x after we got married x so if you're having a struggle whether x you're baptized or you're not baptized x or you're thinking about it or you walk x might not be the way it should because x you're having this struggle within x yourself x turn to God x he'll deliver you from the struggle x he'll provide a way x out x and you know I also thought well I'm not x going to be able to enjoy my life if I x get baptized x but my life was so much more enriched x once I got baptized and x you have forgiveness God knows you're x going to make mistakes you don't have to x be perfect x so if you're putting off baptism because x you think you need to get to a certain x spot you need to you know experience all x this before you do x I'd give you some advice that says don't x do that and so doesn't God's word x he's saying commit yourself to me and x I'll take care of you so it was It was a x it was a um x it was a big struggle that I had and x fortunately x God God delivered me through it and x he'll deliver all of us through our x struggles if we turn to him x and we can't hide from God you know x Jonah here he's going to run he's going x to get as far away from Nineveh which x you know he's he can't get on a face x time and preach the nine of us so he's x going to get get as far away as possible x and the Psalms tells us x in 139 verse 7 where can I go from your x spirit where can I flee from your x presence x if I go up to the heavens you are there x if I make my bed in the depths you are x there if I rise on the wings of the Dawn x if I settle on the far side of the sea x even there your hand will guide me your x right hand x will hold me fast x so Jonah is having this struggle within x himself should I preach or should I not x preach I don't want the ninevites to be x saved they're the enemy of Israel if God x Saves them what does that mean about x Israel who's who's being Wicked x in x uh x Jonah would have recalled the message in x First Kings chapter 13 where it says x you know what's going to happen to a x prophet that doesn't listen to what God x tells him to do it says when the prophet x who had brought him back from his x journey heard this he said x it is the man of God who disobeyed the x command of the Lord therefore the Lord x has delivered him to the lion x and it has mauled him and killed him x according to the word that the Lord had x spoken to him x this Prophet was told not to turn back x not to eat bread or drink water x with this in mind Jonah he he didn't x care he was willing to turn from God and x run even though though that he had x remembered that previous prophets had a x had a quick demise when they did that x and brother Mansfield comments on this x it says God had further work for Jonah x to do he was told to go to Nineveh x and won the people of Assyria that if x they did not repent within 40 days their x City would be completely overthrown x this was exciting news for Jonah x the Assyrians were Israel's greatest x enemy and Jonah knew his people were not x safe while they existed x here was the possibility of them being x destroyed if they did not heed this x message x the only problem was that his preaching x might cause them to repent and thereby x they would be saved x and then their threat to Israel would x continue x but what if the prophet avoided going to x Nineveh for God would remain true to his x word x but did he disobey the command of God x Jonah knew the consequences of doing x that x but was prepared to sacrifice even his x own life x to save his people so Jonah thinks he's x got a better plan x and he's going to do it his way he's x going to set out to escape from the x situation x and how true is that in our lives that x sometimes we think we know better well I x think we can just do it this way it'll x turn out okay x and we can be like Jonah and forget x um x the important message that's brought out x in First Corinthians chapter one x verse 26 where it says brothers and x sisters x think of what you were when you were x called right Joan is being reminded in x this situation you know to save anybody x I'm going to use you and you're going to x preach my message and I'm going to save x the ninevites I'm going to save Israel x it says not many of you were Wise by x human Spirits not many were influential x not many were of noble birth but God x chose the foolish things of the world to x shame the wise God chose the weak things x of the world to shame the strong x God chose the lowly things of this world x and the despised things and the things x that are not to nullify the things that x are x and why does God do this it tells us so x that no one may boast before him x it is because of him that you are in x Christ Jesus who has x become for us wisdom from God that is x our righteousness Christ has become our x righteousness x and Jim Sullivan says this many times x you know I can do nothing of myself it's x it's Christ that works in me x therefore as it is written let the one x who boasts boasts in the Lord so that's x where our boast comes in that that as x Sinners God loved us x and we know that sins creation humans x have been trying to exalt themselves x against God choosing to do things their x own way x and we know through experience x there's only one way that works x eternally and ultimately we're told x every knee will buy to bow to Christ x every human being on this Earth will x learn to see through experience that x they are weak and God is strong x and it's through his grace x that we're saved x so it goes on in that chapter God's x response to Jonah so Jonah takes off x and immediately it says then the Lord x sent a great wind on the sea in such a x violent storm arose that the ship x threatened to break up x all of the sealers were afraid and each x cried out to his own God and they threw x cargo into the sea to lighten the ship x he cast it forth or hurled it x so this storm would have come it's x almost like a javelin like God threw a x javelin the Storm shows up x in even the sailors who were very x accustomed to this type of weather this x is a storm like they've never seen x before x in it it reminds me in our own life x sometimes there's an immediate response x to x the way we're living our life and x sometimes situations are left to x work themselves out and sometimes x prayers aren't audience it and things x happen that we think why in the world is x that happening right now why is this x brother going through this why did this x happen to my family x and x this is where we have to have patience x we have to do as it says in Ecclesiastes x 12 verse 13. now all has been heard here x is the conclusion of the matter and as x hard as it is to do in difficult x situations fear God and keep his x Commandments for this is the duty of all x mankind for God will bring every deed x into judgment x people who have wronged us bad x situations that have happened x including every hidden thing whether it x be good or whether it be evil x the character of God is so just x it's so x kind to the extent that he is going to x be accountable to the things that he x says and I don't say that in a x disrespectful way but God is always x accountable to his word x when he says something he brings it to x pass x in whatever situation we may have had to x deal with in our life or a situation x that we're watching we know that we can x count on the judge of the earth to right x every wrong when Christ comes to x establish his kingdom that's the x character of God he's just x so we can have that that expectation x it tells us but Jonah had gone below x deck where he lay down and fell into a x deep sleep x and this word deep sleep here is the x same sort of sleep that Adam was in it's x the same word when God took a rib so I x guess that's a pretty deep sleep to have x a rib removed x so he was fast asleep in the middle x of one of the biggest storms of his life x and probably emotional exhaustion and x we've probably all been there you know x you go through a really trying time and x you know what you go to sleep x it's a it's you're not thinking of x anything you're you're able to x rejuvenate your body you're able to just x cut everything out and that's that's x what Jonah did here x you know Jonah was a man of passion he x was he was driven by his feelings at x time he was deeply engaged in the nation x in it led him to make a poor decision to x get on this boat and to to run from God x and God understood that and he x ultimately will deliver Jonah x uh from from his own poor choices x all right well we'll conclude there with x thinking about the advice that we take x thinking about the choices that we make x thinking about the care of God in our x lives that he will deliver us he's x working in our lives and just like he x wanted to deliver the ninevites who were x a evil people he wants to deliver this x this world and he wants to use us to do x that and he particularly wants to x deliver each one of us in our own lives x from from suffering from trial and x that's why he sent his son and as Jonah x is delivered here and ultimately the x ninevites do repent x that's the expectation that we have for x this Earth is that when Christ returns x it's going to be x a glorious x creation x where every tear shall be wiped where x um every person will have their own plot x and it will be glory to God in the x highest and uh it's it's the wonderful x hope of the Gospel