Jonah

Do we Celebrate Punishment for Others?

• Where it fits: This book is a narrative (story) more than a sermon; it fits well in the era where Assyria is a major power in the region.
• Core message: God cares about nations, enemies, and outsiders, and He confronts the hardness in His own messenger.
• Big themes: mercy, repentance, prejudice, God’s sovereignty, mission.
• Structure:
  1. Jonah runs → storm → fish
  2. Jonah obeys → city repents
  3. Jonah sulks → God teaches him with a plant object lesson
• Why it matters: Jonah challenges a “small” view of God. God’s compassion is bigger than our comfort zone.

As seen in Obadiah, God grieves over someone rejoicing over someone else’s suffering. This same characteristic is seen in Jonah, God is grieved by Jonah’s prejudice against the Assyrians. We must not make the same mistake as Jonah.