THEME:
This entire drama has launched from God’s desire to offer mercy to an evil people. He calls his man, Jonah, to go to Nineveh and call out against it. Jonah refuses to go, he runs away, the storm on the ship, the sailors throw him overboard, the fish obeys its creator and swallows up Jonah. Jonah prays from the belly of the fish, he declares that “salvation belongs to the LORD” and once again the great fish obeys the command of its master and vomits Jonah onto the dry land.
KEY SCRIPTURE
Jonah 3:10
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Jonah 3:5
And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Jonah 3:7-9
And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
Jonah 3:10
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
“I’m not asking whether you’re living a good life. I’m not asking you whether you’re happy. I’m not asking you whether you read your Bible and whether you pray. What I’m asking you is this: Do you know God?” – Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones
God sees, and is moved with compassion
Matthew 9:36
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Psalm 139:7-12
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
God’s Mercy is incredible
Ephesians 2:4
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…
Live your life before the God who sees
As you receive mercy, freely give mercy